Comics

Marvel Comics’ Most Powerful Gods, Ranked

Marvel’s godlike figures.

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Marvel Comics has created a world full of colorful superheroes and villains. Unlike DC Comics, it isn’t about godlike heroes, but mortal men who have turned themselves into forces of good. However, that does not mean that Marvel does not have its gods. From the start, Thor was part of Marvel Comics and brought the Norse gods of Asgard with him. Over time, the Greek gods joined the frey, and soon all the different pantheons were represented, with gods from almost every mythology and religious belief as heroes and villains. Each of the gods has immense powers, second only to the most powerful cosmic entities, but some gods are much more powerful than others.

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From the Greek and Norse gods to even Christian-based figures, here is a look at the most powerful gods in Marvel Comics, ranked.

10) Hercules

Hercules in Marvel Comics
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One thing that holds Hercules down is the fact that he is a demigod, and not a fully-powered god. However, the fact that his father is Zeus, the King of the Olympians, makes him still the most powerful demigod in his religious pantheon. Hercules has proven strong enough to fight toe-to-toe with Thor, and this was a long-running theme, as Zeus and Odin often argued about who was more powerful of the two sons. Like in the Greek myths, he completed the Twelve Labors before his time in Marvel Comics, and he has proven his might as a member of the Avengers more than once. Hercules has even proved strong enough to fight Hulk, although he has also shown that he can’t beat Hulk when the Green Goliath gets too angry.

9) Chthon

Chthon in Marvel Comics
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Chthon is one of the Elder Gods of Earth, and he was the first being ever to perfect black magic on the planet. However, he and his brother Set were turned into demons and forced off Earth thanks to the Demogorge, which puts his power level below that god. However, Chthon continued to be a force of danger to Earth, as he was the one who wrote the Darkhold, and a cult rose to return him to Earth. He has caused untold damage thanks to that, as well as the fact that it was Chthon who imbued Wanda Maxomoff with chaos magic, and she used that more than once to cause destruction on Earth, her friends and allies, and even to rewrite history.

8) Bast

Bast in Marvel Comics
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Bast, the Panther Goddess, is the godlike being who empowers the Black Panther warriors defending Wakanda. Bast is one of the eldest of the Ennead, and she is the child of Ra. She is younger than many Marvel Comics gods, as she was worshipped as a god as early as 10,000 BC. About 10,000 years ago, she became the object of worship among the people of the land that would become Wakanda, and she began to grant power to the people who would serve as the king there. Unlike Chthon, who gave dangerous magic to a human, Bast gave good magic to a loyal and morally good ruler, and this makes her legacy much more honorable.

7) Gaea

Gaea in Marvel Comics
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Gaea is another of the Elder Gods who were born from the Demiurge about four billion years ago. Her siblings included Chthon, Set, Oshtur, and more. However, most of the Elder Gods began to degenerate into demons, and Gaea knew that the Earth needed protection from her siblings. As a result, she summoned the Demiurge and mated with it to give birth to a son she called Atum, the sun-god. Gaea then merged with the Earth to become a protector and guide its evolution. Her power is immense, as she can draw on the spiritual energy of all Earth’s living beings and command the forces of nature on the planet. She can also bestow her power to others, which she did to Hercules during the Chaos War.

6) Knull

Knull in Marvel Comics
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Knull is an eldritch god of darkness. He is also the god who created the symbiotes and set them out into the world. Like cosmic figures such as Galactus and the Phoenix Force, Knull has lived since the start of this universe, existing between the Sixth and Seventh Cosmoses. He proved his might and power when the Celestials assigned him as the King in Black. He rejected the offer and then decapitated one of the Celestials, using their divine power to perfect his All-Black sword. As the eldritch god of darkness, he can create, control, and manipulate the eldritch darkness and has used it to create an entire race of symbiotes, their offshoots, and more, with the eventual goal of bringing darkness to the whole universe. He is all-powerful, but as King in Black showed, he can be defeated when enough superpowered beings gather to fight him.

5) Atum

Atum in Marvel Comics
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Atum is the son of Gaea, whom she bore after mating with her maker, the Demiurge. This makes her child even more powerful than his mother, as his existence was made so he could destroy, banish, or eliminate all the other elder gods, which he accomplished. Atum is best known in Marvel Comics as the Demorgorge, which is another name for the God-Eater. People on Earth worship Atum as the God of the Son, and he is one of the most powerful gods to ever exist in the pages of Marvel Comics. Atum can absorb and consume other gods and demons, and he feeds on these beings like food, adding to his powers. When he transforms into the Demogorge, he is nearly unstoppable.

4) Thor

Thor in Marvel Comics
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Thor is the most powerful god who primarily resides on Earth. He has been a member of the Avengers on and off since the team first formed, and in recent years, he has replaced his father, Odin, as the King of Asgard. He is extremely powerful, even without the Odinforce (which he renamed the Thorforce). He has proven he can beat Hercules in a battle and can match up with Hulk until the Green Goliath’s rage gets out of control. Thor has also demonstrated his resolve and strength by killing Galactus and the Black Winter, a feat he accomplished while possessing the Power Cosmic. Recent comics indicate his mother is the Phoenix Force, which would explain why his power is much more potent than that of any other Asgardians, save his father.

3) Odin

Odin in Marvel Comics
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As time goes on, Thor has gotten closer to surpassing Odin in power levels, but from a historical standpoint, Odin remains the most powerful Norse god and is likely more powerful than Zeus, from the Greek pantheon. Zeus has several phases throughout time where he loses his powers, which is why he did not make this list. As for Odin, his powers are significantly superior to those of any other Norse god, and Thanos himself said that Odin has the same power levels as Galactus. This makes his brute power level universal. When he uses the Odinforce, he is so powerful that when he went head-to-head with the dark god Seth, their battle shattered entire galaxies and reignited dying suns.

2) Amatsu-Mikaboshi

Amatsu-Mikaboshi in Marvel Comics
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Amatsu-Mikaboshi is the God of Evil and Chaos. He is a god from the Japanese myths, and he almost destroyed the entire Marvel Universe at one point. Amatsu-Mikaboshi once ruled over Earth until Gaea attacked him, and with the help of other elder gods, imprisoned Amatsu-Mikaboshi when they couldn’t defeat him completely. His power levels were shown later when he crushed all the Olympian gods after the fall of Asgard and the Norse pantheon. Then, he started the Chaos War. Amatsu-Mikaboshi gathered an army of enslaved gods and then attacked the Old Gods. He destroyed these gods, killed the Impossible Man, and even destroyed Nightmare and stole his powers. He defeated Satan and took over Hell before forcing Death to flee the universe. Amatsu-Mikaboshi only lost when Hercules tricked him and trapped him in an eternal prison.

1) One Above All

The One Above All in Marvel Comics
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One Above All is the most powerful and highest-ranking God in all of Marvel Comics. He is the source of everything there is, was, and ever will be, and is more powerful than anything in creation, including other gods. As expected, this is Marvel’s version of the God from Christian religions. The Living Tribunal is the One Above All’s servant, helping keep order in the universe. While holding immense power, his only weapon is love, although there is another side to him called the One Below All, whose only weapon is hate. The One Below All breaks things so the One Above All can build them anew. In some fun trivia, there was one moment the One Above All was shown as a human, and it was in the form of comic book artist Jack Kirby.

Who do you consider the most powerful god in Marvel Comics? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.