Created in 1976 by Jack Kirby, and based on the 1940 Red Raven Comics story by Martin A. Bursten and Kirby, the Eternals are an evolutionary offshoot of humanity created by the Celestials a million years ago. They were tasked with looking after the human race through the ages. However, the Celestials also created the Deviants, and while the Eternals remained secluded and almost never interfered with humanity’s decisions, they had to come out and fight more than once, with the Eternals always being reborn after they died. However, after two civil wars, the surviving Eternals of Earth decided to finally help humanity and even partnered with the gods of Olympus.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Most recently, the Eternals all began to go mad and turned against each other, with many of them dying. However, as mentioned, they are always revived, and it seems they are returning to their peaceful ways. That is important since the first 10 Eternals introduced in Marvel Comics are among the most powerful in the universe.
10) Domo

Domo debuted in The Eternals #5 (1976) by Jack Kirby. He was the Chief Administrator of Olympia, advising the Eternals and their leader Zuras and dispensing his commands, a logistical and bureaucratic role rather than a combat one. He is an Eternal who almost never uses his powers and prefers his administrative duties, so his abilities are seldom demonstrated at full force in combat. Out of all the Eternals, he is only powerful when looking at his traits, but he rarely utilizes these powers in battle.
9) Kingo Sunen

Kingo Sunen first appeared in Marvel Comics in The Eternals #11 (1977) by Jack Kirby. He is a Japanese Eternal from a settlement in the mountains near Hokkaido who mastered samurai swordsmanship in 16th-century feudal Japan. He was the most famous of the Eternals because he chose to become an actor and director of samurai movies in Japan in his secret identity, but he would still rejoin the Eternals against cosmic threats. He has most of the Eternals’ standard abilities, and his main difference is his samurai swordsmanship, with his weapon forged by the Eternal Phastos, allowing it to cut through almost anything.
8) Sprite

Sprite debuted as a male character in Eternals #9 (1977) by Jack Kirby, and his defining trait was that he was forever stuck in the body of an 11-year-old child, never growing old. He was the most mischievous of the Eternals and often did bad things when bored. However, when he tried to erase the memories of all the other Eternals so he could grant himself the power to grow up, they executed him for the crime. Sprite was then reborn as a female and ended up in the care of Ikaris. Sprite can channel cosmic radiation into blasts of heat or force, levitate himself and others, and create extraordinarily convincing illusions that affect all five senses. His/her illusions are high-tier, but the overall raw power levels remain very low.
7) Zuras

Zuras debuted in The Eternals #5 (1976) by Jack Kirby. He is a Prime Eternal and was the supreme leader of Earth’s Eternals, ruling from the hidden city of Olympia. He is the son of Kronos and was chosen over his brother A’Lars (Thanos’s father) to lead the first Uni-Mind. He is more accomplished at projecting cosmic energy than any other Eternal of his lifetime, firing concussive, electrical, heat, and light blasts from his eyes and hands. He possesses telepathy, illusion-casting, limited teleportation, and flight at roughly 850 mph. As the Prime Eternal, he alone can initiate the Uni-Mind, the merged collective being that has saved Earth. However, he was mortalized and died, and even when he was alive, he couldn’t use the Uni-Mind without other Eternals to help power it.
6) Karkas

Karkas is actually a Deviant, the enemies of the Eternals, but he chose not to fight them and was instead adopted into the Eternals’ circle and is a longtime ally of the team. He debuted in The Eternals #8 (1977) by Jack Kirby, and he was born in Deviant Lemuria and considered monstrous even by Deviant standards. He was enslaved and forced to fight as a gladiator, including a bout against the Reject (Ransak), witnessed by the Eternal Thena. When Eson the Searcher attacked, Karkas begged Thena for sanctuary; she teleported him and Ransak to Olympia, beginning his life among the Eternals. He has superhuman strength capable of lifting roughly 25 tons and heals about twice as fast as a human, making him a tank in battle for the team.
5) Makkari

Makkari debuted inย The Eternalsย #5 (1976) by Jack Kirby, and in a retcon, he turned out to be the Golden Age hero known as Mercury in Red Raven Comics #1 (1940). Makkari gave away most of his Eternal powers to have his cosmic energy used almost solely for speed, which makes him the fastest of all the Eternals. He has superhuman strength and reflexes, can run up walls and across water, and can create cyclones by running in circles. At one time, he could travel beyond the speed of light, but this always proved dangerous. Makkari has resurrected as a female and is still one of the fastest speedsters in the Marvel Universe.
4) Ajak

Ajak made his debut in The Eternals #2 (1976) by Jack Kirby, which was also the same issue that the Celestial Arishem the Judge debuted in. This is because Ajak is the designated communicator to the Celestials, with a cosmic link enabling direct telepathic contact with the Space Gods, including Arishem. He has basic eternal powers, but her bio-energy manipulation extends to healing injuries, generating protective force fields, and molecular-level matter transmutation. Ajak’s importance increases thanks to his story-defining role as the Celestials’ chosen mouthpiece, giving her both raw might and outsized cosmic significance. In recent years, Ajak was resurrected as a woman, and she remains a very powerful member of the Eternals.
3) Thena

Thena debuted in The Eternals #5 (1976) by Jack Kirby, and a retcon makes her the reincarnation of the 1940s Golden Age Eternal, Minerva. She was born as Azura, daughter of Prime Eternal Zuras, but her name was changed by royal decree to echo Athena and seal a treaty between the Eternals and the Olympian gods. She manipulates cosmic energy to grant herself virtual invulnerability and immortality, with superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. Thena can also project cosmic energy from her eyes or hands as heat, light, or concussive force. Thena was actually the Prime Eternal before passing the role to Ikaris.
2) Sersi

Sersi debuted inย The Eternalsย #3 (1976) by Jack Kirby, and she remains the most famous of the Eternals thanks to her time as a member of the Avengers. She is the only fifth-level adept, which is the highest possible rank, among all Eternals in the discipline of matter transmutation. Sersi can transmute nearly any non-sentient item or being into almost anything she wishes, although her one limit is that she cannot create a sentient being capable of independent thought. Her matter transmutation at the fifth-adept level makes her more powerful than any other Eternal on Earth except for one.
1) Ikaris

Ikaris was the first Eternal ever introduced in the modern continuity of Marvel Comics, debuting in The Eternals #1 (1976) by Jack Kirby. Ikaris frequently serves as Prime Eternal, after Zuras died, and Thena passed the role to him, giving him authority to initiate the Uni-Mind. His life force is augmented by cosmic energy, granting virtual immortality, invulnerability to conventional injury, immunity to disease and aging, and total control over his physical form. His cosmic energy beams have hurt everyone from Red Hulk and Hercules to Thanos. Ikaris pairs a complete, combat-proven Eternal power set with the highest feats on this list, including battling Thanos, making him the strongest Eternal ever introduced in Marvel Comics.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!







