BRILLIANT
CITY
BRILLIANT
CITY
Type: Higher plane of reality
Environment: Essentially Earth-like (more
evolved/pure);
It is described as "A singularity. Perfection on the head of
a pin. A timeless home to a perfect race of unfathomable power. Nothing ever
changes in the Brilliant City."
Usual means of access: Vibrational attunement
Dominant Life Form: Cosmically-powerful humanoid
beings.
They have vast energy powers. Qabiri's were sufficient to
cause the destruction of entire worlds, though he was also powerful enough to
defeat a group of the Brilliant City's inhabitants.
They can withstand powerful physical or energy assaults and
can fly at great speeds, survive in space, and travel interdimensionally
Significant Inhabitants: Idris, Melchior, Qabiri
First Appearance: X-Man#67 (September, 2000)
History:
(X-Man#74 (fb) - BTS) - Idris was a resident of the Brilliant City, a higher
plane of existence where the residents believed themselves to be the top of the
spiral of realities, the most elevated forms of life. One day, Idris happened to
glance upward, and she saw that there were spectrums of existence far beyond her
own, beings so great that the people of the Brilliant City were less to them
than the lowliest creature in the spiral was to the people of the Brilliant
City. She realized that the Brilliant City was no less of a broken world than
any other. Unable to bear this knowledge, Idris splintered herself into numerous
forms, including Nicola Zeitgeist of Earth-253, Sister Perpetua of Earth-616,
and Hassan.
(X-Man#67 (fb) - BTS) - Fearing that the lower worlds had learned of their existence and would try to interact with them and thus corrupt the Brilliant City, Qabiri resolved to destroy these worlds to prevent this.
(X-Man#67) - Melchior and others told Qabiri that the lesser
worlds were not of their concern and that contact with the lower worlds was
forbidden as it would corrupt them. Qabiri responded that they placed little
faith in their own purity, and he asked them if they should wait until the
lesser beings overran them and danced in the stained rubble of the Brilliant
City. Qabiri acknowledged that while the people of the Brilliant City were
infinitely more powerful, that the undercreatures vastly outnumbered them, and
if they learned that the City was more than just a dream then they would be
unable to stop the undercreatures. Qabiri further noted that as some of the
undercreatures had learned to travel the spiral and access other planes that
they were indeed a threat to the Brilliant City. Melchior warned Qabiri that his
actions would bring disaster, but Qabiri told Melchior he would do what he must
to save the Brilliant City, then leapt off its edge and began traveling down the
spiral.
Melchior stated that Qabiri now belonged to the darkness.
(X-Man#72 (fb) - BTS) - Qabiri devastated four parallel Earths in succession.
(X-Man#71 (fb), 71-72) -Qabiri destroyed Earth-253. During this time, Nate Grey of Earth-295 (a hero on Earth-616) brought Earth-616's Sister Perpetua to Earth-253 where she encountered Nicola Zeitgeist.
(X-Man#73) - Zeitgeist and Sister Perpetua's powers interfaced, enabling them to escape Earth-253 with Nate Grey, where they encountered Hassan. Bringing all three women to Earth-616, Nate merged them, restoring Idris (or a fragment of her) to existence. Nate took Idris and left Earth-616, telling Qabiri that if he stayed to destroy Earth, he would waste time that would allow Nate to act on Qabiri's greatest fear, the corruption of the Brilliant City.
(X-Man#74) - Nate brought Idris to the Brilliant City where he
tried to help her regain her memory of what trauma had caused her to flee the
Brilliant City so long ago. The other members of the Brilliant City then
appeared, commanding Nate to leave or be extinguished, and denouncing Qabiri as
no longer being one of them or any of their concern. Nate departed, telling them
to ask Idris why he had brought her there.
As Qabiri prepared to destroy Earth-616, Nate projected
himself into Qabiri's mind, warning Qabiri
that he must find Nate before the Brilliant City was destroyed, and told him
that as the City was stagnant and bereft of emotions that it might actually be a
lower world. Nate thus led Qabiri back to the Brilliant City, arriving in time
to save Idris as Melchior and the others judged her as corrupted and moved to
exterminate her. Qabiri arrived soon after, but Melchior and the others told him
he had been corrupted by his interactions with the lower worlds and was no longer
welcome either. Melchior and the others struck at Qabiri, and Qabiri fought
back. Nate used the time and distraction to heal Idris' mind (which was still
spread out across countless fragments on countless worlds).
Qabiri overpowered Melchior and the others, shattering the
Brilliant City in the process, then confronted Nate and Idris anew. Nate, having
viewed Idris' restored memories, told Qabiri that the Brilliant City was nowhere
near perfection. He then told Qabiri and the others to do what Idris had done:
look up. Looking up, they saw that there was a spectrum beyond the top of the
spiral they could see. They viewed beings so great that the people of the
Brilliant City were less to them than the lowliest creature in the spiral was to
the people of the Brilliant City. They realized that the Brilliant City was no
less of a broken world than any other.
Qabiri collapsed, weeping and having nothing left to fight
for, and Nate took Idris away as per her request. Nate noted that the Brilliant
City would survive, as all that had happened was that reality had caught up to
them and they had thus lost their arrogance. Idris no longer wished to be Idris anymore, and Nate gave her the choice of who she would be. He
enabled her to return to existence as Sister Perpetua, no longer plagued by
visions and having no memory of her other existences.
Comments: Created by Steven Grant and Ariel Olivetti.
The story is told as if the Brilliant City
is an alternate Earth, though it seems more of a higher plane of reality.
A big
part of the final (and best) arcs of X-Man involved the idea of a spiral pathway
to the omniverse (or cosmos?) with some realities being higher and more
evolved (upspiral) and others being lower and more primitive (downspiral). They
specifically discuss Earth-616 as a median world, with the Brilliant City
Qabiri named Earth-616 as Earth-612 after he had destroyed four Earths below it, and then after he destroyed Earth-253, he called Earth-616 "Earth-611." Regardless of whether the other Earths are destroyed, however, realities' designations aren't changed. The rest of the universe still exists after all.
Regardless of the downspiral descriptions, I don't think the Core Continuum Designations refer to each world's advancement status. We've seen harsher worlds with higher numbers and more advanced worlds with lower numbers. I think the downspiral world in X-Man#73 could be identified as Earth-16137. I'm not going to designate the Brilliant City, b/c it didn't see anything like an Earth dimension, just a higher plane of existence in the cosmos.
I think the higher race is somewhat reminiscent of the Infinites.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to
A resident of the Brilliant City, he sought to convince Qabiri not to leave the Brilliant City and enter the lower realities. Melchior felt that the Brilliant City could fight off invasion and corruption from others trying to invade it, but that by entering those worlds, one of the Brilliant City's residents would become inherently corrupted. Melchior led the city's inhabitants to try to drive off Nate Grey when he approached, as well as to try to destroy both Idris and Qabiri, whom he saw as having been corrupted by their time in the lower realms. Even backed by his allies he was no match for Qabiri's power, but he survived and learned humility with the others upon learning of the higher race so far above them.
--X-Man#67 (74
higher
beings
Virtually nothing is known about these beings except that they exist in a spectrum beyond the top of the spiral of realitie. They were so great that the people of the Brilliant City were less to them than the lowliest creature in the spiral was to the people of the Brilliant City.
--X-Man#74
images: (without ads)
X-Man#67, p1, panels 1-2
p5, panel 2 (Melchior full body)
p6, panel 1 (Melchior face)
#74, p1, panel 2 (Brilliant City)
p (residents)
p19-20 (higher plane)
p21, panel devastated Brilliant City
Appearances:
X-Man#67 (September, 2000) - Warren Ellis (basic plot), Steven Grant (writer),
Ariel Olivetti (artist), Jason Liebig (editor)
X-Man#71-73 (January-March, 2001) - Steven Grant (writer), Ariel Olivetti
(artist), Lysa Hawkins (assistant editor), Jason Liebig (editor)
X-Man#74 (April, 2001) - Steven Grant (writer), Quique Alcatena (artist), Lysa
Hawkins (assistant editor), Jason Liebig (editor)
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last Updated: 04/09/08
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
