‘Doom Patrol’: What Is the Decreator?

Weird and unusual is kind of Doom Patrol‘s thing. With a team of characters consisting of super-powered misfits with powers that are as traumatic as they are super, it’s not surprising that they would take on villains and other antagonists equally as odd as they are. That holds true for the latest episode of DC Universe‘s live-action series, “Cult Patrol”, which sees the awakening of The Decreator.

In “Cult Patrol”, while the team figures out their next move in the search for The Chief, a chaos magician named Willoughby Kipling shows up seeking out The Chief as well, but not because he’s worried about his well-being. No, Kipling needs something The Chief took from him at some point in the past, something Kipling needs to try a hail Mary pass at stopping a death cult from awakening a being that will literally un-make the world: The Decreator. And, since this is Doom Patrol, things don’t quite go as planned. Viewers do in fact meet The Decreator at the end of the episode.

But who — or what — is The Decreator? For DC Comics fans, specifically those of Doom Patrol comics, the reference may not be completely foreign. Created by Grant Morrison and Richard Case and first appearing in Doom Patrol Vol. 2 #32 back in May 1990, The Decreator is quite literally the opposite of God. An antigod, The Decreator is a cosmic entity who came into being during the very first moments of creation itself. When God said “Let there be light” he also created the first shadow — The Decreator. Existing in the shadow of God, The Decreator’s purpose is to “unmake” creation as it has the power to just erase things from reality.

It’s not exactly clear how it has been kept safely in the darkness for so long, but in the comics as in “Cult Patrol”, awakening The Decreator is the primary goal of the Cult of the Unwritten Book. The Cult has been patiently waiting for something called the Book of the Fifth Window to be born and then completed. That “book” just so happens to be a child whose skin bears tattoo-like words in a mysterious language that, when completed and read, allows for The Decreator to be summoned. Unfortunately in both comics and Doom Patrol, that happens, and an ominous looking eye appears in the night sky.

While the arrival of The Decreator on Doom Patrol certainly doesn’t look good for the team or the world, the comics might be able to give fans a bit of hope. In comics when The Decreator was summoned it slowly began erasing things from existence, something that gave Crazy Jane just enough time to figure out how to handle the situation. Her Lucy Fugue persona realizes The Decreator’s true nature, allowing her to sort out a way to slow the being down so much that the rate of, well, decreation, will go entirely unnoticed.

How Doom Patrol will deal with its decreation issue is one that fans will get to see when “Paw Patrol” debuts Friday, March 15.

What did you think about The Decreator? Let us know in the comments below.

New episodes of Doom Patrol drop every Friday on DC Universe.

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