GAEA
Real Name: Gaea
Identity/Class: Elder God (Distant Past, Pre-Cataclysmic, through to present day)
Occupation: Mother-Earth
Group Membership: Elder Gods
Affiliations: Brother Nature,
Brother Voodoo(s), Clea, Cognoscenti, Dark Mairi, Defenders,
Demogorge, Dr. Strange, Humus Sapien,
Morgan Le Fay,
Neurii, Odin, Sisterhood of Danu, Thor, Topaz, Uatu the Watcher, Young Gods;
Gaea continues to be worshipped in a number of religions on
Earth.
Enemies: Chthon, Dormammu, Ravagers of Creation, Set, Umar, Yandroth
Known Relatives:
Demiurge (father);
Chthon, Set, Hyppus (brothers), Isuus, Oshtur
(sisters), other Elder Gods (siblings) and their offspring (varying
relations);
Atum/Demogorge (son by the Demiurge), the Cyclopes,
the Gods of Earth, the Hecatcheiroi,
Omm,
Spider
Clan, Spider-People,
the Titans (sons and daughters/progeny), Frey (son by Njord), Freya (daughter by Njord), Leir
(son), Ninmu (daughter by Ea), Thor (son by Odin), Typhon (son)
Aliases:
Aditi (Hindi Name), Akka (Finnish), Ala (Yoruba), Ammavaru (Vedic),
Citlalicue (Olmec), Coatlique (Aztec name), Danu (Celtic name),
Eithinoha (Iroquois), Erce (Russian), Gaia (alternate spelling), Great
Mother, Hou-Tou (Chinese Name), Izanami (Japanese), Jord (Norse), Mother Earth, Mother
Nature, Nana (Dahomey), Neith (Egyptian name), Nertha (German),
Ninhursag (Sumerian name), Nokomis (Algonquin), Pachamama (Incan),
Prakriti (Brahmanic), Papahanau-Moku (Oceanic), Vaat (Siberian/Mongolian), Yo
(Japanese);
Gaea has also been equated with Rangi (who is actually the
masculine deity of the Kahuna/Oceanic Gods) - indicating that Gaea either posed
as her own mate, that Rangi spawned directly from Gaea as an aspect of her, or
that there has just been confusion since Papa is seemingly a masculine name;
Gaea has also been identified with Izanami of the Amatsu-Kami/Japanese
Gods;
numerous other names within the various pantheons of Earth;
possibly Bright Lady (see comments);
the World
Base of Operations: Mobile on Earth
First Appearance: Doctor Strange II#6 (February, 1975)
Powers/Abilities: Gaea possesses great mystical powers of an undefined nature. She can draw on the spiritual energies of all of Earth’s living beings since all of these beings share part of her life essence. She can command the forces of nature on Earth, such as storms and volcanic activity. Although Gaea’s powers may seem similar to many of those of the living planet, Ego, Gaea and Ego are actually two very different kinds of beings -- Ego is a planet that has acquired sentience, whereas Gaea is a goddess who has infused her life essence into the living beings of her planet. Gaea is known to have great powers to heal injured living beings and to cause living beings to grow. She has considerable telekinetic power and can even levitate Thor’s hammer, which few beings can lift through non-mechanical means. Gaea can also bestow mystical power upon sorcerers who know how to call upon her for it.
Gaea is the embodiment of the spirit of life, growth, harvest, and renewal on Earth.
Gaea does have a humanoid form, but she generally manifests herself in whatever humanoid form she chooses. Usually, she appears as a young woman with long black hair and blue eyes, but as Jord, she appeared as a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. It has been suggested that she always appears in the form of however image she was worshipped as by whatever race on earth, so if she appeared before an ethnically diverse group, she would appear in the form of an ethnic image connected to that person such as African to a person of African descent and Asian to a person of Asian descent, even simultaneously. In any of her humanoid forms, it is likely she has superhuman strength (possibly Class 100, although she rarely relies on physical strength), stamina, vitality, enchanted longevity and resistance to conventional injury and terrestrial disease.
Gaea is associated with the Ebon Rose, one of the Cornerstones of Creation.
History: (Thor Annual#10/Silver Surfer Annual#2/5 (fb)/Official
Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#4: Gaea) -
Gaea was one of the Elder Gods who first materialized on
Earth shortly before any other life first appeared there. She and her brother
Chthon were among those Elder Gods who inhabited the land masses of Earth
(as opposed to the sea or skies), and may have had something to do with forming
certain geological patterns. With the exception of Gaea, the Elder Gods
degenerated into demons, becoming parasitic entities, needing to feed on the
life essences of other beings to survive. Since humankind had not yet been born,
the Elder Gods began preying on each other.
(Avengers I#187 (fb)) - Gaea observed her brother Chthon inscribe the pages of the Darkhold in an unknown manner long before written history existed.
(Thor Annual#10/Silver Surfer Annual#2/5 (fb)/Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe Deluxe Edition#4: Gaea) -
Fearing that the demons' battles would destroy the newly
evolving life on Earth, Gaea called upon the Demiurge, the sentient life force
of Earth's biosphere, and gave birth to the first of the next generation of
gods. Atum slaughtered virtually all of the rest of the Elder Gods, though some,
like Chthon and Set, escaped extradimensionally.
Gaea was the only Elder God permitted by this second generation of gods to exist. She infused her godly life essence into all living beings on Earth.
(Iron Man Annual#10/4 (fb)) - Gaea became aware that the dinosaurs that had evolved on Earth had reached an evolutionary dead end. She also realized that their existence prevented mammals from evolving to their full potential and she shifted her attention to them. The Elder God, Set, however, had become linked with all the dinosaurs on Earth and ordered them to destroy the mammals of Earth. Gaea realized what was occurring and called upon her son Atum, who appeared and did battle with Set, cutting off his head in the process. Set re-grew each head as it was severed until he had seven, but in the course of the battle, nearly all the dinosaurs of Earth were destroyed except for an isolated few in areas such as the Savage Land. With Set weakened, Atum in the form of Demogorge proved victorious in breaking Set’s control on Earth.
(Uncanny X-Men Annual#13/3) - <1,000,000 BC> As the First Host of Celestials approached Earth, Gaea met their ship and gave off star-like light to beckon a wandering tribe to come forward to accept the gifts the Space Gods were bringing them. The Celestials dispelled some of Set's Serpent Men descendants and began their experiments on true humans, creating the Eternals and Deviants, as well as generating the potential for superhuman mutation within mainstream humanity.
(Greek-Roman Myth) - Gaea mated with Ouranus, the sky-god, and gave birth to the Titans, the Cyclops and the Hecatocheiroi (also called the Centimanes). Ouranus, however, was displeased with the Cyclops and the Hecatocheiroi and imprisoned them in Tartarus.
(Mesopotamian Myth) - In her role as Ninhursag, Gaea was approached as a mate by Ea, the Mesopotamian sea-god, and gave birth to Ninsar, the plant-goddess. Ea seduced their daughter when she reached adulthood and she gave birth to the plant-goddess Ninhurra. He seduced Ninhurra as she reached adulthood and she gave birth to Uttu, another plant-goddess. Gaea cursed Ea with eight different diseases for his behavior and he became a living corpse as a result, unable to die due to his godhood. The Mesopotamian gods prevailed on Gaea to remove her curse, but she would not do it unless he surrendered their daughters unto her. Ea recanted his earlier deeds, and his daughters used their knowledge of plants to cure him and then departed his presence under Gaea’s protection.
(Kull II#2 - BTS) - <20, 500 BC> A startled man swore "By the great mother Danu's
bones!".
(Conan the Savage#5-6 - BTS) - <10,000 BC> Conan encountered the Sisterhood of
Danu.
(King Conan#2, BTS) - <10,000 BC> The Druid Diviatix invoked Danu for power.
(Greek-Roman Myth) - Tired of the exile of her other children in Tartarus, Gaea petitioned one of the Titans to oppose Ouranus and free their siblings from the underworld. Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, stepped forth and took a scythe and slew Ouranus, overthrowing him as Ruler of Olympus. Cronus failed to live up to his promise to free his imprisoned brethren, and Gaea warned him that he would have a child that would overthrow him. Cronus, meanwhile, cast all his children into Tartarus as they were born (later myths claimed he swallowed them). Gaea helped to conceal the birth of his son Zeus from him and had Zeus protected and sheltered by other goddesses to conceal him from Cronus. As an adult, Zeus stormed Tartarus and freed his siblings, the Cyclops and the Hecatocheiroi. They helped him to overthrow Cronus and the Titans from Olympus, and Zeus imprisoned the Titans in the underworld.
Several generations later, Gaea realized she was not happy with the Titans being imprisoned in Tartarus and conceived Typhon to oust Zeus from Olympus. After Zeus defeated Typhon, Gaea conceived the Giants to overthrow Zeus, but he and the gods, with the help of Hercules, slew the Giants to stop them from invading Olympus.
(Native American Myth) - In her role as Nokomis, Gaea received the young god Manabozho after he was cast out from heaven through the mischief of his brother Nanabozho, the trickster-god. She raised and protected him on Earth, and as an adult he returned to heaven as Manitou to replace his father as ruler of the Anasazi Gods.
(Celtic Myth/Thor I#386 (fb, BTS)) - Worshipped as the mother-goddess Danu by the ancient Celts, Gaea conceived and gave birth to the Tuatha da Danaan (Children of Danu) to serve as eternal enemies of the Fomorians -- foremost among them was Leir, god of lightning.
(Thor I#301 (fb), Thor Annual#11) - Odin approached Gaea in her form of Jord, the Norse Mother-Earth, and suggested they conceive a child who would be a worthy heir to Odin. Their son was Thor, who would be raised thinking Frigga, Odin’s wife, was his mother.
(Thor I#300 (fb)) - A thousand years ago, Gaea visited Odin as he attempted to sacrifice himself upon Yggdrasil to atone for all he had put Thor through to avoid Ragnarok, but Gaea informed him of the coming of the Celestials, and Odin got down from Yggdrasil to intervene.
(Thor I#301 (fb)) - To save the Earth from the Celestials, Gaea allied herself with the goddesses of the Earthly pantheons, and had them gather together the best examples of humanity over the next thousand years.
(Doctor Strange III#20/2, BTS) - <17th Century> Laurent, companion of Captain
Tyger, confronted the sorcerer Schango and, using a spell given to him by Legba,
summoned Alexandre's spirit to merge with him to defeat Schango. The Book of
Vishanti states that Gaea may have given Legba the spell that he used.
(Wolverine: Bloodlust (fb) BTS?) - <1700's?> The Neuri, in their homeland,
established a link with the "Earth-goddess" to access her power.
(Uncanny X-Men#262 (fb)) - As the "Bright Lady", Gaea appeared to Storm.
(Doctor Strange II#6) - Gaea called upon the sorceress Clea to protect her from “a growth in the world which was not of her desire.” She was referring to the presence of Dormammu.
(Doctor Strange II#7) - Held captive by Dormammu at the center of the Earth where he’d been imprisoned, Gaea called out to his niece Clea to free her.
(Giant-Sized Avengers#4) - Imprisoned by Dormammu, Gaea watched with joy as the Vision, Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness escaped the demon's clutches.
(Dr. Strange II#8-9) - Gaea again called out to Clea for help, as Dormammu attempted to destroy the Earth, but Dr. Strange transferred part of his power to Clea so that she could set Gaea free, and Gaea harnessed the power of every living being on Earth to banish Dormammu back to the Dark Dimension.
(Classic X-Men#20/2 - BTS) - When a weakened adult Storm was attacked by Richard Twelvetrees and his chemically mutated slaves, Gaea sent down lightning to save Storm.
(Thor I#300 - BTS) - As Odin led the Asgardians to war against the Celestials, Gaea contacted the other pantheons and told them to keep out of the battle.
(Thor I#300-301) - Just before Arishem the Celestial committed a deathblow to Thor, Gaea appeared to save him and presented the Young Gods to the Fourth Celestial Host, which resulted in their judging in favor of Earth. Curing Thor of his injuries from battle with the Celestials, she revealed herself to be his mother and the mother-goddess of all the pantheons of Earth. She sent Thor to visit the god-kings of all the pantheons for the life energies to restore the Asgardians.
(Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide#1 (fb)) - Gaea caused the Hulk to be teleported from the Crossroads dimension to Olympus so that he could wage war against the Gods of Olympus, thereby vindicating the injuries the gods inflicted upon her children the Titans.
(Captain America I#336 (fb)) - Gaea supposedly heard the mental anguish of a park ranger left for dead after trying to protect the forest from developers. She appointed him power as nature’s guardian warrior, Brother Nature.
(Doctor Strange III#2) - Trapped in the body of a female rat by Dormammu, Dr. Strange called upon Gaea for help, but she was too weakened by the events of Inferno to help and sent the mystic Topaz to help him.
(Marvel Graphic Novel: Spider-Man: Spirits of the Earth - BTS) - Gaea's power was invoked by Dark Mairi, one of her Celtic followers.
(Thor Annual#14) - Gaea revealed to Thor that she could not help him to defeat the Elder God Set and that he would have to appeal to her son Atum instead.
(Avengers I#284 - BTS ) - Trying to cure Hercules, Prometheus invoked Gaea for power.
(Fantastic Four Annual#22/4) - As Uatu the Watcher closed his history on Set, he was approached by Gaea, who opined that Set would always meet defeat at the hands of mankind because of humanity's capacity for courage, idealism, and love.
(Quasar#24-25) - When Maelstrom's black hole threatened the existence of Earth, Gaea alerted Dr. Strange to the danger, and he brought together other mystics to help save the Earth. Ultimately, the black hole was eliminated by Quasar.
(Defenders II#1) - Gaea was captured by Yandroth, who used her power in order to summon the Ravagers of Creation to assault Earth. However, the Defenders banded together and apparently slew him. Yandroth used Gaea's power to curse the Defenders so that they would be forced to band together to save the Earth.
(Defenders II#2-5 - BTS) - Yandroth's curse, empowered by Gaea, forced the Defenders to save Earth from menaces such as Pluto.
(Thunderbolts I#55 - BTS) - The mutant Humus Sapien, possessing the power to control life-force, felt the anguish of Gaea from all the harm humanity had done to the Earth, and nearly took the lives of everyone on Earth in return. He finally allowed himself to be imprisoned in another dimension.
(Defenders II#6-12 - BTS) - Yandroth's curse continued to affect the Defenders, pitting them against the Headmen, the demonic Wayfinder, and Orrgo.
(Defenders II#12/2) - After realizing that it was Gaea's power which held them together, the Defenders confronted Gaea, and asked her to remove the curse. She refused to do so, and they assaulted her, but were unable to harm her. Gaea teleported them away rather than allow the violence to continue.
(The Order#1-4 - BTS) - Yandroth's curse continued to force the Defenders to work together, but they were now corrupted by Yandroth into using their powers to impose order upon the Earth.
(Order#4 - BTS) - Clea invoked the name of Apalla to drain power from the Silver Surfer to create a feminine counterpart to oppose him: Ardina.
"Umar and Hecate, Demeter, Jord, Blazing Apalla guide my reach forward...
on the edge of a knifeblade, at the crest of the storm...
by moontide and lifesblood...
come forth...and take form!
(The Order#5-6) - When Yandroth's spirit was driven back into a physical body, Gaea finally granted the Defenders' request, and lifted her curse from them. Afterward, she secretly contacted Nighthawk to inform him that if the Defenders were ever needed again, he would have the power to summon them together.
(Witches#1) - Gaea was one of the mystical beings of Earth who sensed the Hellphyr being unleashed from the Tome of Zhered-Na.
Comments: Adapted by Steve Englehart and Gene Colan.
In Greek/Roman Myth, Gaea was considered the daughter of Aether and Hemera, two gods considered children of Erebus and Nyx who in turn were children of the Titan Ophion.
In the Marvel Universe, Gaea is the ancestor of all the gods of Earth. Her mates to these perspective pantheons (Ouranus, Buluku, Purusha, Pan-Ku, Atum-Re, Gitche Manitou, et al) might all be further aspects of the Demiurge or splintered off versions of himself.
In the Marvel Universe, Jord and Nertha are two of many aliases that Gaea used before the mortals of Earth, but these may have also been goddesses she masqueraded since Nertha is supposed to be sister of Njord, the Norse sea-god and Jord is the daughter of Dag, god of day, and mother of Frigga.
Conceivably, Gaea
could also be the saltwater-goddess, Tiamat, since she was linked with
all the life forms of Earth, not just those associated with land.
Considering previous glimpses have shown her in the oceans of Earth, it
would not be such a stretch to make her an ocean-goddess. In fact,
Tiamat’s reputation of sending her spawn to attack the Gods of
Mesopotamia has much in common with Gaea sending the Giants of Myth to
attack the Olympians. However, the god Marduk killed Tiamat and her
corpse was then used to create the heavens and the Earth. A similar
myth occurs between the Mexican Gods and the dragon Cipactli who was
also slain to create the heavens and the Earth and she was also equated
with being a goddess of Earth. In the Marvel Universe, at least, it
might be predisposed to consider the dragons Tiamat and Cipactli as
creatures that usurped roles that Gaea had discarded.
Tiamat (or at least its corpse) was seen in:
Gaea might have jumped
the gun in deciding that dinosaurs were at an evolutionary dead end.
Modern archaeologists studying the size of their larger brains and eye
cavities in the fossil record believe that if they had continued to
evolve that they might have developed human characteristics inclined to
civilization. Indeed, Marvel has depicted many reptile alien races such
as the Skrulls and the Snarks as well as other-dimensional worlds where
races evolved from dinosaurs. The TV series Star Trek Voyager also
explored this idea in an episode from the series.
On that same note, from Per Degaton:
Atum's appearance in Iron Man Annual#10, which ties in with the extinction of
the dinosaurs, reveals that Gaea decided to allow the dinosaurs to become
extinct because she did not think they could evolve into a sentient lifeform.
Well, if one considers the number of alternate Earths or timelines where
dinosaurs were HERE>>>>the ancestors of human level intelligent beings such as:
Gaea was wrong, since these Earths all had sentient races evolve from the dinosaurs (so Set was right! one wonders if he rules any of these worlds...)
The deaths of the dinosaurs has been ascribed to:
These events are not mutually exclusive (and the Earth X and Ultraverse ones are moot). While the presence of Asgardians around 65 million BC doesn't make sense, the meteor fragments could have been magically sent back in time. Also, time may not function the same way in a magical realm like Asgard. Anyway, That Which Endures' decision and the struggle between Gaea and Set could have occurred concurrently. The magical energies of the the Mjonlir forge, combined with (and possibly drawn through time to/by) the struggle between Gaea and Set, brought forth either one immense comet or a fierce meteor shower that pelted Earth. Without Set or That Which Endures to back them, the dinosaurs rapidly died off.
Atum’s role in defeating Set superficially resembles Hercules’ defeat of the Hydra. It leaves open the possibility at least in the Marvel Universe of Set trying to live again through the body of the Hydra only to be defeated by Hercules.
It is unknown if the Leir in the Marvel Universe is the Llyr of Celtic myth. Both figures are gods of storm who claim to be children of Gaea in her role as Danu, but nothing has been established to suggest they are one and the same.
Is the "Goddess" that Storm worships supposed to be Gaea? Storm's "Bright
Lady" was seen in a flashback to her youth in X-Men I#226.
It has since been confirmed that the Bright Lady is Oshtur,
though Storm also reveres the Earth goddess Gaea.
The original Official Handbook entry for Morgan
Le Fay states that she receives her power from Gaea.
As Danu, she has been invoked in Kull II#2, King
Conan#3, and a couple of issues of Conan the Savage.
Also, in Wolverine:Bloodlust, the Neuri mentioned that they invoked the power of
the Earth-goddess.
--Per Degaton
Classic X-Men#20 explicitly
identifies the Goddess worshipped by Storm as Mother
Nature or Mother Earth, i.e., Gaea.
--Per Degaton
Not really. It says is that
"Mother Nature, Mother Earth, the mother of us all, is the only other parent she
has acknowledged since childhood."
Storm is also described as a loving daughter of Mother Nature.
Later, as Storm's attacked, she is unwilling to kill her
attackers, which seems the only way to stop them. She says "Great Goddess help
me!!" and the narrative says "And, from the heavens, an answer comes. Mother
Nature lifts her hand in defense of a favored daughter." and lightning strikes
her attackers.
To me, all this means is that Storm also worships Gaea, which
makes sense given her connection to the Earth.
The Marvel Tarot notes Gaea's connection or similarities to, or association with, a number of earth (soil/stone/mineral) based beings and objects, like Black Knight, the Rose of Peace, the Thing, Sandman, Ironclad, Terrax, Jack Power, Goat Child, Magnum, Iron Lad, Brother Bear, Mambo Legba, Dyzakk, Raggadorr & Stonecutter, Cyttorak and the Juggernaut, the Tree of Life, Ego, Eternity, Adam Warlock's current incarnation, the Hulk, Atlez, the Spider Clan, the Jungian state sensitive, Genbu - the Black Tortoise, humanity, the Kree, the Darkforce, the force of gravity, containment of energy, the solid phase of matter, the Zodiac signs (Capricorn, Virgo, and Taurus), the gemstone onyx, the card suit diamonds, the tarot suits stones and coins, the colors green & brown, the Western lands, the season autumn, noon time, the symbols egg, apple, tree, wheat, & cornucopia; and the following animals: ox, cow, hen, burrowing creatures (esp. the badger and hedgehog), rabbit, tortoise, fauns, and dryads.
Thanks to Per Degaton for adding the info for Classic X-Men#20 and Uncanny X-Men#262.
by Will U, Prime Eternal, Snood, and Per Degaton
CLARIFICATIONS:
Gaea should not be confused with:
The Gaea Shard was a crystal containing a sliver of the essence of Gaea herself. It was used by Dr. Strange to fight off the Undying Ones.
--Dr. Strange III#41
Images taken from:
Body – OHOTMU#4, pg. 60, Gaea entry
Powers- Thor Annual 14, pg. 17, mid panel
Origin- Silver Surfer Annual 2, pg. 60, bottom panel
Face- Silver Surfer Annual 2, pg. 62, bottom panel
Thor Annual#11, page 5, panel 1
Thor I#301, page 4, panel 6
Last updated: 02/18/08
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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