Originally I wanted to make one Respect Thread for all versions of Darkseid in one thread. Pre-Crisis, Pre-Flashpoint and New 52/Rebirth. However, due to not making this too long and tedious to read, I decided to separate it into two. One for everything before Flashpoint, and one for everything after. While this should technically be the second one, there is a lot less reading material for Post-Flashpoint Darkseid than Pre-Flashpoint Darkseid. Therefor, I decided to make this one first. I got interested in the character pretty recently and considering the fact that he is one of those characters that a lot of people argue over (whether they support him or his opponent), none of them really read a lot of Darkseid comics, if any of them for that matter. So I decided to make complete respect thread for the character so people can know what he is capable of. Not that I want or expect anyone to use these threads as a reference every time they talk about Darkseid, but this is still there as a supporting source of info. This will be similar to regular format I rely on when I made RTs. For the record, I will also use feats preformed by Darkseid's daughter Grail, because she has all of his powers and she is weaker than Darkseid, so he can scale off of her. Enjoy.
Origin and History
The Origin of Darkseid was changed pretty significantly since Flashpoint "reboot". Although the core of the character pretty much remained the same. He is powerful force of the Universe everybody is afraid of. He rules Apokolips with an iron fist and possesses the power of the Omega Effect (although the Omega Effect has never been explored and explained in detail as nearly as much as it was Pre-Flashpoint). He is also the Brother and an enemy of the High Father and New Genesis and a father of Orion. But his road to becoming the New God was changed drastically compared to Jack Kirby's introduction way back in a day.
While his origin wasn't introduced to us during his initial introduction, it was revealed in Justice League Vol. 2#23.1by Greg Pak. Because most New 52 titles went hand in hand and were releasing the same issues every month consistently, until final issue #52, DC decided to include these prequel issues where they will stop focusing on the plot with the release of the issues, and focus on origins of certain characters. For example, New 52's Flash 23.1 served as introduction to Gorilla Grodd. issue 23.2 provided origin for Reverse Flash, and issue 23.3 focused on the Rogues, even tho the plot of the title at the time focused on Flash vs. Daniel West.
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This issue did exactly that, but it focused on Darkseid completely, not being connected to current (at the time) ongoing stories in the Justice League title. What we learned in this issue is that Darkseid was originally a man named Uxas, and unlike his Pre-Flashpoint counterpart, he wasn't always the New God. Instead, he was a mortal and a farmer who struggled to survive with his sister and his brother in law. And all of them were at the mercy of the Old Gods, and while other mortals prayed to the Old Gods and were grateful when they didn't kill them, Uxas hated the Old Gods for not only "not giving a shit about them", but for accidentally killing the mortals and making fun of it once they realized it.
In order to get rid of them, he manipulated the Old Gods, influencing them in their sleep and making them not trust one another, starting the war between all of the Old Gods. Most Old Gods caused a lot of damage to one another, weakening them and allowing Uxas to kill them. Once he killed all of them, Uxas absorbed their Life Force, becoming the first New God, Darkseid. While his sister in law died in that conflict, Uxas' brother in law encountered one of the Old Gods, who gave his powers to him. And thus, he became Highfather and challenged Darkseid, fighting him to a standstill and trying to convince him to "stop this" madness.
For full introduction to Darkseid's origin, click here.
Darkseid and Highfather fought for seven entire days, which cost the life of an entire planet and several lives. Highfather became the ruler of New Genesis, and Darkseid became the ruler of Apokolips. Ruling it with an iron fist, he went into the Multiverse, seeking to conquer it and control it. He also searched for Anti-Life Equation, which will allow him to erase the concept of will from existence and control all life, while the New Gods sought Life Equation (although, Anti Life wasn't as nearly as focused on or as explored as it was Pre-Flashpoint, nor did Darkseid often reference or or sought it on panel as nearly as much as his Pre-Flashpoint version did). - Green Lantern/New Gods: Godhead #1.
Darkseid spent centuries traveling across the Multiverse, conquering and destroying worlds, playing a lot of roles as a ruler, warrior, tyrant, destroyer, explorer and even a father to several children. At some point, he gave his son, Orion to New Genesis under the request of Metron, in order to avoid a never ending and certainly catastrophic war between New Genesis and Apocalypse.
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However, Infinity Man and the Forever People #5 apparently retcons this information, stating that Darkseid and Highfather, weren't actually brothers in law, but actual brothers and sons of Yuga Khan, who apparently brought back the Old Gods killed by Uxas and started a war with his two sons, Uxas and Izaya (who will later become the Highfather). Uxas killed their father and he and his brother Izaya became the New Gods, although this kinda contradicts his first origin story and leaves a lot of holes. Especially Yuga Khan being in the possession of the Anti Life Equation. Regardless, Darkseid and Highfather started a war later.
However, this information was apparently retconned again by Geoff Johns, who later revealed that Mobius, the Anti Monitor, was actually in the possession of the Anti Life Equation all along, which actually turned him into the Anti God, all without Darkseid's knowledge. - Justice League Vol. 2 #44.
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At some point, Metron, the Omniscient owner of the Mobius Chair, decided to end the conflict between New Genesis and Apokolips, by making a deal with Darkseid and Highfather to trade their sons, allowing them to move to opposite sides of their respective fathers and start peace. Darkseid agreed, and after a lot of convincing, even Highfather did, and Darkseid, who had many sons, sent his young son, Orion to live on New Genesis, while Highfather picked his youngest son, who would later be known as Mister Miracle - Justice League Vol. 2 #40.
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Eventually, Darkseid figured out about the existence of Earth, and Superman (Earth 2 Universe to be more precise). He acknowledged Superman's power, and that power has to belong to Darkseid. He sent Steppenwolf and an army of Parademons to attack Earth 2. While his plan to conquer that world failed, it's world's version of Batman and Wonder Woman died, and Superman was considered to be dead as well, but was actually kept in Desaad's lair, which allowed him to create evil Superman clone, Brutaal, who possessed the power of the Omega Effect. Brutaal led Darkseid's forces along with Steppenwolf yet again, when they tried to conquer the Earth for the second time. While it was believed that Brutaal actually was the original Earth 2 Superman people knew, this was proven to be false when he was destroyed in a fight with New Heroes of Earth 2. Darkseid had enough and sent his Furies and Desaad to finally conquer Earth 2. He faced heroes of Earth 2 himself, easily beating them until Alan Scott unlocked his full power and overpowered him. Regardless, most most of Earth 2's population were killed by Darkseid and his forces, and while New Wonders were able to safe a noticeable amount of Earth 2's population and escape Darkseid, the Dark God finally conquered the Earth 2, allowing Apokolips to consume it and stabilize itself.
Darkseid encountered Prime Earth's/Main DC Continuity heroes and their Justice League. Sending their Parademons to open up a Boom Tube, Darkseid eventually entered Earth's dimension and came to face New 52 Justice League and almost capturing Superman. With the help of Batman, he escaped Desaad and faced Darkseid, who overpowered the Justice League. However, with the combined forces of the team, they pushed the Dark God into a Boom Tube created by Cyborg, ending the threat, at least for now (ironically, the appearance of Mother Boxes is actually what brought Justice League members together for the first time.
For more info, click here.
Darkseid eventually came into a conflict with Mobius and his forces on Earth, who wanted to kill Darkseid and obtain his power, in order to finally rid himself of the burden of being the Anti-Monitor. This was all the plan of Grail, Darkseid's half Amazonian daughter, who manipulated him and Mobius in order for her to obtain the power of the Anti Life for herself. Mobius finally killed Darkseid and removed the Anti Life Equation from himself, which came into the possession of Grail and caused serious of events that turned almost all members of the Justice League into Gods, and even after losing the power of the Omega Effect, Lex Luthor still had control over Apokolips after freeing it from Darkseid's tyranny. Mobius was defeated with the combined efforts of Green Lantern Corp and Lex Luthor with Darkseid's power, but Grail brought her father back to life and used him to attack the Justice League, thanks to the power of Anti Life. After her mother sacrificed herself to prove Grail that she does not have to be evil, Grail tried to find a way to feel love for his father, who she kept safe when he took the form of a baby. Several months later, Grail realized that her father required energy of the Old Gods which originally turned him into Darkseid, and she kept killing several of Zeus' children on Earth and stored their energy into a Mother Box, and then allowing her father to consume that energy to become older and more powerful. After killing several of of Zeus' children and obtaining the form of a young adult, Darkseid teamed up with Wonder Woman's brother to take her own power, and while he would later betray Darkseid, Uxas was confronted by Zeus himself. They fought to a standstill until Uxas absorbed his life force, fully becoming Darkseid and trying to find a way to go back to Apokolips while hiding on Earth. He encountered Wonder Woman in battle for the second time, but his plans were dwarfed yet again, and he lost the powers of the Gods he absorbed, losing his own power and apparently, not remembering who he is, with his daughter Grail ending up being imprisoned with Ares, still believing her father will come and rescue her. What happens to Darkseid now or what will happen to him has yet to be revealed.
For more information of the events from above, read Darkseid War & Wonder Woman's Rebirth run.
Powers, Abilities & Equipment
Just like his Pre-Flashpoint counterpart, New 52/Rebirth Darkseid has powers of the Omega Effect. However, like I said before, Omega Effect wasn't as established and explained in detail as it was Pre-Flashpoint, and it isn't 100% unknown if he gained access to it after absorbing the power of the Old Gods or if he gained it in similar way his Pre-Flashpoint counterpart did (Lex Luthor obtained the power of the Omega Effect in similar fashion as Kirby's Darkseid), or if Omega Effect has anything to do with the Old Gods in the first place. Regardless, he does have some powers his Pre-Flashpoint counterpart does not have, but while he is apparently physically superior, he lacks versatility and hax his Pre-Flashpoint counterpart had with his Omega Effect. Regardless, powers and abilities Uxas obtained after becoming the New God are the following:
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Superhuman Durability
- Unlimited Stamina
- Healing Factor/Regeneration
- Immortality & Self-Sustenance
- Omega Effect
- Omega Beam Projection
- Energy Projection
- Flight/Levitation
- Size Alteration
- Cosmic Awareness
- Dimension Travel/Teleportation
- Boom Tube Projection
- Death Manipulation
- Apokolips Empowerment
- Godly Empowerment
- Life Force/Energy Absorption
- Genius Level Intellect
- H2H Combat Skill
- Armed Combat Skill
- Leadership & Tactician
- Intimidation & Manipulation
- Apokoliptian Armor
- Boom Tube
- Mother Box
- Scythe (formerly)
- Shield (formerly)
Apparently Darkseid was so powerful, he was able to fight planets (Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #37):
It has been stated by Mister Miracle that Darkseid failed to conquer a world only once, that being Prime Earth Universe's planet Earth during his encounter with the Justice League, which does show how powerful and capable Darkseid is both as a ruler, warrior and a God (Justice League Vol. 2 #41):
He also said he can't beat Darkseid even with help of Fury and Boom Spheres (Earth 2 World's End #11):
It took the entire Justice League to fight against him (Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #36):
Diana called Darkseid the most powerful and evil entity in existence, along with the Anti Monitor, and in the same issue, when Uxas and Mobius fought, they didn't even notice the presence of the Justice League even tho they were only several feet away from them, which showcases their power (Justice League Vol. 2 #44):
His reputation proceeds him as well (Wonder Woman Vol. 5 #31):
Hell, it has even been stated that Darkseid is capable of destroying the entire Universe, and that he has actually done so in the past. This may be hyperbolic but it still showcases his power (Constantine #22):
John Constantine couldn't even stop him without gaining power from outside source (Constantine #23):
And he still couldn't come close to stopping Darkseid and could barely fight him and still failed. Just the mere experience of the confrontation caused him extreme amounts of pain and agony, crushing every cell in his body and ridding him of every moment of happiness, comfort, love, pleasure and hope. He ended up getting knocked out, and after the fight he was completely drained. He only survived because Darkseid spared him.
For full confrontation between the two, click here.
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