OBLIVION
Real Name: Inapplicable
Identity/Class: Cosmic entity
Occupation: Embodiment of non-existence along the spatial axis
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Damage Control (Lenny Ballinger,
Robin Chapel, John Porter, Bart Rozum), Death, Deathurge, Doorman
(DeMarr Davis), Eternity, Galactus, In-Betweener, Infinity, Lord Chaos,
Maelstrom, Martyr (Phyla-Vell), Master Order, Scrier, Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), Uatu the Watcher, Un-Being;
presumably Chthon;
see also the Catalogue of Correspondences for Oshtur from Ian McNee's reading of the First Tarot
Enemies: Edifice Rex, Iceman (Robert Drake), Quasar (Wendell Vaughn)
Known Relatives: Death, Eternity, Infinity (all claimed "siblings"), Deathurge, Idiot, Kali, Kid Reaper, Mirage (Marge), White Light (all "children", creations)
Aliases: Lord of the Outer Void, Lord of Darkness
Base of Operations: Active throughout the universe
First Appearance: (Unconfirmed) Journey Into Unknown Worlds I#36 (August, 1955); (confirmed) Iceman I#1 (December, 1984)
Powers/Abilities: Oblivion embodies non-existence and possesses near-omnipotent cosmic powers. Oblivion utilizes an M-Body (Manifestation Body) from the Dimension of Manifestations when interacting with physical beings, but has no spatial form himself. Oblivion can absorb or recreate virtually any being in the universe, though he rarely intervenes directly, instead dispatching underlings to direct beings into the Void.
Height: Variable
Weight: Variable
Eyes: Variable
Hair: Variable
History:
(All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#8 - BTS) - Oblivion, Infinity, Eternity and Death are the four cornerstones of the universe, abstract embodiments of the extremes that exist in time and space. Oblivion embodies the absence of space, and is considered to stand opposite Infinity on the spatial axis. Oblivion lacks physical form, shape, or substance, though he does possess a chronal dimension. When interacting with others, Oblivion relies on an avatar from the Dimension of Manifestations. Oblivion usually resides in the Outer Void, a corner of the multiverse where little to no space exists.
(Iceman I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Oblivion claims to precede the existence of this multiverse and says he will still exist long after it is gone. He also claims that all that is within space comes from him and will return to him.
(Quasar#25 (fb) - BTS) - In order to help sustain the cosmic balance, Oblivion and Infinity agreed to a non agression pact.
(Iceman I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Craving life, companionship and fullness Oblivion created an entire kingdom with countless servants, among them creatures called Kali, White Light, Idiot (and a being called Deathurge who served as his angel of death). However, this was not enough to bring Oblivion fulfillment. He longed for a special soul that would be closer to him than any mere servant ever could. From the deepest part of his infinite being, he drew a fragment of his own self and birthed it as a child who he named Mirage. However, the "child" proved exceptionally strong-willed and turned away from him, fleeing into the world of time. Afraid Mirage would some day rise to challenge him, Oblivion made plans to get her back.
(Marvel Two-In-One I#72 - BTS / Quasar#21 (fb) - BTS) - Oblivion foresaw that the Deviant/Inhuman hybrid Maelstrom would one day transcend his mortal form and come to serve him. In order to make sure this came to pass, Oblivion sent Deathurge to pose as Maelstrom's underling.
(Journey into Unknown Worlds I#36/text story) - Oblivion tried to bring painter Jay Phillips to the Nothing world. Each night he took another hour from Jay's watch until finally only the 12 was left, but he failed to take Jay with him only managing to take the picture Jay had painted with him when Jay's friend Matt called an ambulance after he couldn't reach Jay one morning he didn't appear at work. Jay was found unconscious in his home and taken away. Jay was sure Oblivion would never be able to get to him again.
(Iceman I#1) - Oblivion tasked his servants White Light and Idiot to retrieve his "daughter", who he learned had started a new life for herself on Earth.
(Iceman I#1 - BTS) - Upon arriving on Earth, Mirage had taken human form, posing as a girl called Marge Smith. She also created parents for herself and took up residence in the house next to Iceman (Bobby Drake)'s ancestral home. When Bobby came to visit his parents, he was immediately taken with her. So much so that when White Light and Idiot arrived to take her back, Iceman tried his best to defend her, figuring the strange beings were merely mutant hunters.
(Iceman I#2) - Failing to retrieve Mirage, White Light and Idiot returned to Oblivion's realm to face his wrath (their final fate is unrevealed, but Oblivion most likely wiped his servants out of existence). He then ordered his greatest warrior, Kali to do what his former servants weren't able to accomplish.
(Iceman I#2 - BTS) - Locking in on Mirage's bounce-box, Kali travelled to Earth and ran into Iceman who by accident had also been taken back to the year 1942. During their battle, Iceman's father William Drake died. Since his father died years before he was conceived, Iceman ceased to exist and was relegated to oblivion, appearing in his realm.
(Iceman I#3) - Oblivion welcomed Iceman to his realm, telling the now nonexisting young superhero he could finally rest and get the peace his soul craved. Oblivion revealed his true purpose in the universe and explained all about his "daughter" Mirage. Finally, he offered to return Iceman's father back to life if Bobby would return Mirage to his realm. Fed up with paying the price for Mirage's fight with her "father", Iceman accepted. He was returned to Earth where he sought out and engaged Mirage in battle. After a brief fight, she decided to test her powers against Oblivion. She made her way back to his realm, accompanied by Iceman.
(Iceman I#4) - As Mirage rebelled against her father, Iceman felt he was being played by Oblivion and figured he was to blame for all this. Using all of his powers, Iceman pulled off a surprise attack on Oblivion, defeating his opponent with a giant landslide made of ice. However, seeing her father defeated made Mirage realize how much she loved him. She assumed his form, accepting to merge with Oblivion. As the two combined forms, Oblivion kept his promise: he revived Iceman's father and returned him and Bobby home as if nothing had happened.
(Quasar#18) - Death and Oblivion confronted the Un-Being after his defeat at the hands of Quasar. The Un-Being had failed to kill the Origin but noted he at least had kept Quasar from sensing the arrival of Maelstrom through which Death and Oblivion hoped to claim the cosmos.
(Quasar#20 - BTS) - Now cosmically enhanced, Maelstrom managed to kill the cosmic entity Anomaly. He incorporated its abilities into himself.
(Quasar#21) - Powered by Anomaly's might, Maelstrom sought an audience with Oblivion. He revealed his ultimate goal: collapsing the entire universe into a single anomalous point, which would shunt all of creation into Oblivion's domain. To achieve this feat, Maelstrom needed cosmic awareness. Oblivion advised Maelstrom that the easiest way was to kill the time being Eon, who he figured was the weakest of the time beings.
(Quasar#22-24 - BTS) - Maelstrom succeeded in killing Eon and took over his cosmic awareness. In the process, he also killed Eon's champion Quasar, even taking the hero's Quantum Bands for himself. However, Quasar's ghost lived on, powered by Infinity who picked the superhero as her avatar. In order to carry out his plan, Maelstrom created a black hole so massive it would eventually draw all matter in the known universe to it. Quasar's spectral form intervened, tricking Maelstrom into following him inside the black hole. Because Maelstrom's body was still partially composed of matter, he died when his physical form collapsed. However, this did not halt the universe's collapse.
(Quasar#25) - Hoping to stop the universe from collapsing, Quasar's ghost travelled inside the black hole where he finally encountered Oblivion. However, Quasar learned that the entity had picked the spectral form of the recently deceased Maelstrom to serve as his avatar. Their non agression pact prevented Infinity and Oblivion from directly opposing each other, forcing the two entities to rely on agents to win the day. Equally matched, Quasar and Maelstrom's battle came to a standstill, which was fine for Maelstrom because the black hole kept drawing in more and more of the universe. Quasar suddenly recalled that when Origin had undone the Un-Being's deletion of his identity, she had caused his earlier costumes to cease to exist. He then adopted his old costume, proving to Maelstrom that he was also an anomaly. Beaten by Quasar's status as a rival anomaly, Maelstrom was consumed by the power of the Quantum Bands, having lost the concentration he needed to control the potentially destructive devices. With Maelstrom's death, the black hole ceased to exist. With the battle over, Infinity confronted Oblivion with the fact he'd broken their original pact, forcing them to establish another code of conduct with new terms. In order to finalize this agreement, Eternity and Death appeared so the four cornerstones of the universe could converse.
(Damage Control III#4) - Oblivion and other cosmic entities gathered to discuss how to deal with Edifice Rex who had gained powers of cosmic proportions. On Galactus' request the Silver Surfer had brought the members of Damage Control to deliver testimonies on Rex. Even after hearing how Rex wanted to use his universe altering abilities, the cosmic entities still were unable to fully agree on whether or not to intervene. The situation was diffused when Damage Control's CEO Robin Chapel fired Edifice Rex from his job.
(Quasar#40) - During the cosmic events that became known as the Infinity War, Thanos tricked Quasar into using Galactus' Ultimate Nullifier to wipe out the Magus. However, when Quasar activated the weapon, he accidentally fell victim to the white void it generated. Stuck inside the void, he encountered Oblivion who recreated his Kid Reaper to fight Quasar on his behalf. Quasar tried to trick Kid Reaper into using his scythe on his master without doing any real damage to Oblivion. After Kid Reaper finally seemingly killed Quasar, the hero was teleported to the White Room.
(Avengers: Infinity#3 - BTS) - While facing the enigmatic, all powerful Infinites, Quasar commented that cosmic entities he'd encountered, like Oblivion, Eternity and the Living Tribunal, almost seemed human compared to the Infinites.
(GLA#3 (fb) - BTS) - Oblivion learned that his former servant Maelstrom was constructing a device designed to bring about the end of all things, including him and the other three cosmic cornerstones of the universe. Thus Oblivion dispatched his angel of death, Deathurge to confront Maelstrom.
(GLA#4) - Deathurge failed to defeat Maelstrom who banished him from the void and even trapped him on Earth in the form of a squirrel. Oblivion then sought out the recently deceased Great Lakes Avengers member Doorman (DeMarr Davis). Doorman had died saving his teammate Mr. Immortal during the GLA's fight against Maelstrom. Oblivion empowered Doorman to serve as his new observer on Earth. His first act was retrieving the soul of Maelstrom.
(GLX-Mas Special#1/5) - Six months after the ordeal, Deathurge who was still stuck in his squirrel form, summoned Oblivion. He begged his old master for a chance to make up for his failures by bringing him the soul of Squirrel Girl's new pet Tippy-Toe. Oblivion allowed Deathurge to try, setting Christmas Eve as his deadline which, incidentally, only gave Deathurge eight minutes to complete his task. After laying multiple traps for the little squirrel, Deathurge finally failed to kill the animal. Oblivion then left, leaving Deathurge behind, stuck in his squirrel form.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#11 - BTS) - Guardians of the Galaxy members Phyla-Vell and Drax were searching for the missing Moondragon when they were attacked by Maelstrom. He revealed how he had lured them to Oblivion's domain, moments before getting defeated by the heroes. He nevertheless led them to the Dragon of the Moon, who had imprisoned Moondragon. After using the Quantum Bands, Maelstrom overpowered Phyla and Drax. He offered them to the Dragon of the Moon, if the creature helped him in return to leave Oblivion's realm.
(Guardians of the Galaxy II#12) - After the ordeal with the Dragon of the Moon, Maelstrom returned to his master Oblivion and was happy that they finally had an Avatar of Death again in the form of Phyla-Vell.
(Mighty Thor Annual#1) - Oblivion witnessed how the Scrier was helped by Thor and the Silver Surfer in his attack on the Other. During the battle on the Other's barrier the Scrier sensed Oblivion's presence and threatened him to not intervene. Oblivion, who had no intention of doing so, kept watching the events as they unraveled. In the end, he was disappointed when Thor and the Silver Surfer stopped the battle of the giants to prevent the universe from collapsing.
Comments: Created by J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks).
According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Oblivion has claimed Death was his child, but he als identifies himself as her brother. The actual relationships between the various cosmic abstract entities are likely beyond mankind's ability to comprehend, and there is no way to appreciate the way they're tied together. Also, in Fantastic Four I#257, John Byrne pens a meeting between Death and Galactus during which she defines herself as the world eater's "sister, daughter, mother and wife". If anything, this hints to a complex connection between the entities that first emerged after the Big Bang and doesn't necessarily mean Oblivion is Galactus' grandfather.
Oblivion received profiles in 2006's All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#8 and 2009's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#8 (HC). His handbook profile however describes his first appearance as "Iceman I#3", seeing as he showed up in both issue 1 and 2 this is clearly an error.
Thanks to Gammatotem for providing information on the text story in Journey into Unknown Worlds I#36.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Oblivion has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#12, p22, pan1 (main image)
Iceman I#1, p3, pan1 (in his kingdom)
Iceman I#3, p23 (OHOTMU main image)
Quasar#25, p25, pan3 (facing Infinity)
GLA#4, p17, pan5 (empowering Doorman)
Appearances:
Journey Into Unknown Worlds I#36/text story (August, 1955) - Stan Lee (editor)
Iceman I#1 (December, 1984) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Iceman I#2 (February, 1985) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Iceman I#3 (April, 1985) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Janice Chiang (editor)
Iceman I#4 (June, 1985) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Alan Kupperberg (pencils), Mike Gustovich (inks), Bob Budiansky (editor)
Quasar#18 (January, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo (pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Howard Mackie (editor)
Quasar#21 (April, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo
(pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Howard Mackie, Len Kaminski (editors)
Quasar#25 (August, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Greg Capullo
(pencils), Keith Williams (inks), Ralph Macchio, Len Kaminski (editors)
Damage Control III#4 (September, 1991) - Dwayne McDuffie (writer), Ernie Colon (pencils, inks), Fabian Nicieza (editor)
Quasar#40 (November, 1992) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Steve Lightle,
Andy Smith (pencilers), Mark McKenna, Ralph Cabrera (inkers), Kelly
Corvese (editor)
Avengers: Infinity#3 (November, 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), Sean Chen (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
GLA#4 (September, 2005) - Dan Slott (writer), Paul Pelletier (pencils), Rick Magyar (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
GLX-Mas Special#1/5 (February, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Mike Kazaleh (pencils, inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy II#12 (June, 2009) - Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning
(writers), Wes Craig (pencils, inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Mighty Thor Annual#1 (August, 2012) - J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Richard
Elson (pencils, inks), Lauren Sankovitch, Ralph Macchio (editors)
First Posted: 11/02/2014
Last Updated: 05/16/2020
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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