When it comes to power in the Marvel Universe, it doesn’t get much more impressive than Galactus – a gigantic energy being who consumes entire worlds to satiate his never-ending hunger. However, as godlike as Galactus is, he’s not totally unknowable, and over the years, Marvel has revealed a number of cosmic truths about his role in the universe and his larger ‘species.’.

One such reveal comes in 2010’s Galacta: Daughter of Galactus, by Adam Warren and Hector Sevilla Lujan. The story follows Galactus’ daughter, who it’s revealed lives on Earth, having sworn to only feast on non-native beings. In practice, this means she hunts down alien invaders, consuming them to keep herself alive on a cosmic starvation diet. However, that changes when she develops a “tapeworm cosmic” – a parasitic energy being which siphons off her energy, making her hungrier and more dangerous than ever.

However, the comic ends with the reveal that Galacta’s description of the ‘tapeworm’ isn’t quite right – Galactus explains that the parasitic waveform is actually how their ‘species’ reproduces, and that Galacta herself was once a similar energy leech which manifested within his own wavelength. The horrifying, insect-like creature that fans have seen throughout the issue isn’t a parasite that feeds on Galactus’ species – it’s their larval form.

Galactus Reproduces in the Freakiest Way Possible

His ‘Species’ Start Out as “Cosmic Tapeworms”

While Galacta is of questionable canon in the Marvel Universe (though her recent inclusion in the game Marvel Rivals has given her more prominence than ever before), the idea of Galactus reproducing via spontaneous energy parasites makes sense given the way he moves through the universe, feasting on populated planets. Indeed, in everything from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer to alternate realities like Timeslip, the Marvel Mangaverse, the Ultimate Universe, and the Cancerverse, Galactus is redesigned as exactly the kind of insectoid parasite that Galacta finds herself ‘pregnant’ with.

However, while many different comics have imagined Galactus as a leech-like threat to existence, the truth in Marvel’s main continuity is even stranger – the Devourer of Worlds doesn’t have a ‘real’ appearance, with each species seeing him in a different way.

Galactus’ Appearance Changes According to Who Can See Him

However, the Devourer of Worlds’ Helmet IS Real

Galactus is a being of pure energy, and thus has no actual ‘appearance’ other than blazing light. The giant purple human that fans know is just how humans see Galactus, since his cosmic presence exists on a level beyond literal comprehension.

Every species sees Galactus as something familiar, with various comics (most famously John Byrne and Glynis Wein’s Fantastic Four #262) confirming that he has a totally different appearance in the eyes of different species. This even extends to animals, with The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4 (from Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Chris Giarrusso) confirming that to squirrels, Galactus appears as a giant squirrel, though still in his traditional armor. This makes sense, given that unlike his ‘human’ form, Galactus’ armor does exist in some real fashion.

Galactus’ power is so extreme that he actually has to tamp down his cosmic significance, with Galactus: The Origin (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Vince Coletta, and George Klein) confirming that he created his iconic helmet in order to suppress his full power. While the ‘true’ form of his armor is questionable (since the reader is only seeing the version of Galactus they can comprehend), the Devourer of Worlds does wear some kind of armor to help him harness his godlike Power Cosmic.

Galactus Doesn’t Technically Have a ‘Species,’ But He Also Isn’t the First

Omnimax and What-Must-Be Reveal Galactus’ Lineage

While Galactus doesn’t really have a larger ‘species,’ he is a ‘type’ of being rather than a truly unique cosmic entity. Over the years, Marvel has revealed that Galactus doesn’t just exist to destroy. He’s actually storing energy which – come the end of the current version of the cosmos – will be used to kickstart the next cycle of creation. Currently, Marvel exists in its Eighth Cosmos, with the recent Defenders from Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez revealing much of what came before.

Each Devourer of Worlds is created by merging with the dying essence of the Cosmos in which they existed as a mortal. In Galactus’ case, he used to be the scientist Galan of Taa, becoming the latest Devourer of Worlds after merging with the sentience of the dying Sixth Cosmos. Of course, this suggests there had been five prior Devourers, and fans have met several of them.

Before Galactus, the Devourer of the Sixth Cosmos was Omnimax – formerly the sorcerer Moridun. Marvel’s first Sorcerer Supreme, Moridun was born in the Fifth Cosmos, which was the cycle of creation which brought magic into existence. Even earlier was What-Must-Be/What-Can-Be – a monstrous being from the Fourth Cosmos (a world of powerful archetypes rather than actual individuals), which oscillates between a destroyer and healer personality.

Mark Waid and Javier Rodríguez’s History of the Marvel Universe confirmed that Franklin Richards (the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman) is destined to become the Devourer of the Ninth Cosmos, taking Galactus’ place in the cosmic order. However, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’s Immortal Hulk revealed a potential timeline where the Hulk (possessed by the demonic being the One-Below-All) kills Franklin and takes the power for himself, corrupting the role and ending the cycle of creation forever. This shows how vital Galactus actually is – if he doesn’t do his ‘job,’ then all of reality will end for good.

Galactus Was Designed as ‘God,’ But Got More Complex

The Devourer of Worlds Is Part of a Cosmic Ecosystem

Of course, even an apex predator exists in an ecosystem, and over the years Galactus’ place in the cosmos has been expanded and clarified. Notably, Galactus serves to protect his home reality from multiversal threats – predators like Abraxas and Hunger are kept at bay by Galactus standing guard at the walls of reality. The Ultimate Ultimates helped to explain the larger cycle of each cosmos’ Devourer, while the introduction of the Black Winter confirmed that Galactus’ rebirth wasn’t as simple as it seemed, and there are forces which can alter or prevent the birth of each new Devourer.

There are also symbiotic species like the Manifestations – a cosmic alien species which create ‘M-Bodies’ for higher lifeforms like Galactus, essentially acting as a body for them to inhabit on the physical realm when they need to take a direct hand in cosmic affairs. The existence of this species – revealed in Mark Gruenwald and Greg Capullo’s Quasar #37 – revealed how powerfully alien Galactus actually is. Not only does he lack a true physical body, but an entire species has evolved to serve the need for him to manifest, feeding off his spare Power Cosmic in the process.

As Galactus’ co-creator Jack Kirby stated in many interviews (and as noted by The Jack Kirby Museum), Galactus was conceived as the Marvel Universe’s take on an omnipotent, ineffable God – something that was more of a natural, cosmic process than a villain. However, superhero comics never stop building on a good idea, and while Galactus retains much of his awe-inspiring status, today he’s a far more complex entity who may seem godlike to humans, but can be understood as one part of a necessary process going back to the dawn of creation.

It’s easy for Galactus’ victims to see him as a parasite – indeed, even Galacta herself made that assumption about her own species – but ultimately Galactus is both necessary and unknowable, embodying the infinite mystery that makes the Marvel Universe so unique.

Source: The Jack Kirby Museum