Galactus!
Real Name: Galactus, of course! What, you think he needs an alias??
First Appearance: Fantastic Four 48.
Died In: Galactus was presumed killed in Silver Surfer 109, which, as the Marvel Universe itself continued to exist, was utterly impossible. Later issues of the Fantastic Four suggest that Galactus is in an other-dimensional flux, and may have found an endless supply of cosmic energy in Hyperstorm, the grandson of Sue and Reed Richards. In What If? 81, Galactus was killed by Age of Apocalypse X-Men survivors. This utterly ridiculous issue also had Wolverine slashing open the Silver Surfer, which has got to be the single most inane thing I've ever seen in comics (and I've seen plenty of inane things in comics, believe you me). It has been well established that Galactus is a fundamental component of the Marvel Universe, and that the Marvel Universe ceases when Galactus ceases, so one assumes that the AOA Universe simply stopped one panel after the end of that forgettable story.
What's His Problem? The sole survivor of a previous universe, the mortal Galen combined with the Cosmic Egg at the death of his universe. This transformed him during the birth of the nacsent reality into Galactus, a new entity of incredible cosmic powers whose melding with the Cosmic Egg made him an essential part of the infant universe's very existence. The Power Cosmic Galactus wields, however, must be fed by the energy of planets capable of supporting life, without which the Eater of Planets cannot survive. (Although, really; that's not his problem as much as it's the problem of the planet he decides to consume!) Whether there is just one Galactus that spans the dimensions between all universes or whether the accidental confluence of events that served to create "our" Galactus also occurred in numberous other universes is one of those tricky philosophical questions that have been muddied beyond figuring out by too many writers not paying attention to what other writers wrote before them. In any universe, Galactus is one of the high mucky-mucks on the flow chart of power. He converses with Eternity as an equal, and submits to the judgement of none save the Living Tribunal.
Favorite Quote: "No matter how many worlds I devour... how many civilizations I destroy ... it is my destiny to one day give back to the universe -- infinitely more than I have ever taken from it. So speaks Galactus!" (Galactus: The Origin 1. And this is completely typical of the way he always talks!)
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: The only planet that has survived an attempt by Galactus to feed is the planet Earth, a fact that once made a Shi'ar war ship turn tail and run rather than face a world that could repulse the un-repulsable. (Rom the Space-Knight once tricked The Devourer of Worlds into trying to consume a planet that didn't have the appropriate life energies to sustain Galactus, but "repulsed" and "tricked" are two different things!) When Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four obtained the Ultimate Nullifier through the intervention of a Watcher, Galactus retreated from Earth. He has had several encounters with the Fantastic Four since then, fortunately none that have resulted in the consumption of our planet ... yet. Galactus has squared off against beings with considerably more raw power than the FF, including the likes of the High Evolutionary, Odin, the Sphinx and ... ulp! ... the Impossible Man.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: It matters not to Galactus what other beings think of him. Galactus is beyond good and evil! Galactus is utterly amoral! Galactus simply ... is! That being said, his herald Nova was probably most fond of the big guy.
Most Despicable Act: Being a fundamental force of the Universe and all, Galactus isn't really capable of despicable acts. Not that that matters to the beings who have to pick up after him when he's just consumed their planet!
Galactus Sound Bytes!
From the Fantastic Four animated series. All files in .wav format.
Silver Surfer: "If I must chose between you and Earth, then the Surfer stands with Earth!" Galactus: "Then the Surfer must fall."
Silver Surfer: "We meet again, Galactus." Galactus: "Yes, herald; but we meet beyond the barrier I have forbidden you to cross."
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