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Gotham City

Gotham City, or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Eastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero, Batman, and his allies and foes. Created by writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane, the city was first identified as Batman's place of residence in Batman #4 (December 1940) and has since been the primary setting for stories featuring the character. In most of its incarnations, Gotham is depicted as one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world.

Gotham City is traditionally depicted as being located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Gotham's look and atmosphere was primarily influenced by New York City. Architect Hugh Ferriss' designs also influenced the look and emotional feel of Gotham City, particularly in its later depictions. Bill Finger said that he chose the name "Gotham", and not New York, so that all readers in any city could identify with it.

Locations used as inspiration or filming locations for Gotham City in the live-action Batman films and television series have included St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, London, Glasgow,     Hong Kong, Detroit, and Liverpool.

Origin of name
In Jim Steranko's History of the Comics, writer Bill Finger, on the naming of the city, said, "Originally I was going to call Gotham City 'Civic City.' Then I tried 'Capital City,' then 'Coast City.' Then I flipped through the New York City phone book and spotted the name 'Gotham Jewelers' and said, 'That's it,' Gotham City. We didn't call it New York because we wanted anybody in any city to identify with it."

"Gotham" has been a nickname for New York City that first became popular in the 19th century; Washington Irving had first attached it to New York in the November 11, 1807, edition of his Salmagundi, a periodical which lampooned New York culture and politics. Irving took the name from the English village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, which was known for the Wise Men of Gotham story, a legendary incident where the village's residents feigned idiocy to prevent a royal visit from John, King of England.

Location in New Jersey
Gotham City, like other cities in the DC Universe, has varied in its portrayals over the decades, but the city's location is traditionally depicted as being in the state of New Jersey. In Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (March 1977), writer Mark Gruenwald discusses the history of the Justice League and indicates that Gotham City is located in New Jersey.

In The World's Greatest Super Heroes (August 13, 1978) comic strip, a map is shown placing Gotham City in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware. World's Finest Comics #259 (November 1979) also confirms that Gotham is in New Jersey. The New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981) and the 1990 Atlas of the DC Universe both show maps of Gotham City in New Jersey and Metropolis in the state of Delaware.

Detective Comics #503 (June 1983) includes several references suggesting Gotham City is in New Jersey. A location on the Jersey Shore is described as "20 miles north of Gotham". Within the same issue, Robin and Batgirl drive from a "secret New Jersey airfield" to Gotham City and then drive on the "Hudson County Highway", a reference to the real-life Hudson County in New Jersey.

Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #1 (June 1993) further establishes that Gotham City is in New Jersey. Sal E. Jordan's driver's license in the comic shows his address as "72 Faxcol Dr Gotham City, NJ 12345", although the ZIP Code is actually in Schenectady, New York.

The 2016 film Suicide Squad reveals Gotham City to be in the state of New Jersey within the DC Extended Universe.

In relation to Metropolis
Gotham City is the home of Batman, just as Metropolis is home to Superman, and the two heroes often work together in both cities. In comic book depictions, the exact distance between Gotham and Metropolis has varied over the years, with the cities usually being within driving distance of each other. The two cities are sometimes portrayed as twin cities on opposite sides of the Delaware Bay, with Gotham in New Jersey and Metropolis in Delaware. The Atlas of the DC Universe from the 1990s places Metropolis in Delaware and Gotham City in New Jersey.

New York has also garnered the nickname Metropolis to describe the city in the daytime in popular culture, contrasting with Gotham, sometimes used to describe New York City at night. During the Bronze Age of Comic Books, the Metro-Narrows Bridge was depicted as the main route connecting the twin cities of Metropolis and Gotham City. It has been described as being the longest suspension bridge in the world.

A map appeared in The New Adventures of Superboy #22 (October 1981), that showed Smallville within driving distance of both Metropolis and Gotham City; Smallville was relocated to Kansas in post-Crisis continuity. A map of the United States in The Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000 #1 (March 2000) depicts Metropolis and Gotham City as being somewhere in the Tri-state Area alongside Blüdhaven.

Within the DC Extended Universe, the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice depicts Gotham City as being located across a bay from Metropolis.

History

Gotham City was founded in 1635 by Captain Jon Logerquist, a Norwegian mercenary, before subsequently being taken over by the English; this parallels the history of New York City, which was founded by the Dutch as New Amsterdam before being conquered by England and renamed New York. During the American Revolutionary War, Gotham City was the site of a major battle between American and British forces (paralleling the real-life Battle of Long Island). This was detailed in Rick Veitch's Swamp Thing #85 featuring Tomahawk. Rumors held it to be the site of various occult rites.

The 2011 comic book series Batman: Gates of Gotham details a history of Gotham City in which Alan Wayne (Bruce Wayne's ancestor), Theodore Cobblepot (Oswald Cobblepot's ancestor), and Edward Elliot (Thomas Elliot's ancestor), are considered as the founding fathers of Gotham. In 1881, they constructed three bridges called the Gates of Gotham, each bearing one of their last names. Edward Elliot became increasingly jealous of the Wayne family's popularity and wealth during this period, jealousy that would spread to his great-great-grandson, Thomas Elliot or Hush.

The occult origins of Gotham are further delved into by Peter Milligan's 1990 story arc "Dark Knight, Dark City", which reveals that some of the Founding Fathers of the United States are involved in summoning a bat-demon which becomes trapped beneath old "Gotham Town", its dark influence spreading as Gotham City evolves. A similar trend is followed in 2005's Shadowpact #5 by Bill Willingham, which expands upon Gotham's occult heritage by revealing a being who has slept for 40,000 years beneath the land upon which Gotham City was built. Strega, the being's servant, says that the "dark and often cursed character" of the city was influenced by the being who now uses the name "Doctor Gotham." In Gotham Underground #2 by Frank Tieri, Tobias Whale claims that 19th century Gotham was run by five rival gangs, until the first "masks" appeared, eventually forming a gang of their own. It is not clear whether these were vigilantes or costumed criminals.

Many storylines have added more events to Gotham's history, at the same time greatly affecting the city and its people. Perhaps the greatest in effect was a long set of serial storylines, which started with Ra's al Ghul releasing a debilitating virus called the "Clench" during the "Contagion" storyline. As that arc concluded, the city was beginning to recover, only to suffer an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale in the 1998 "Cataclysm" storyline. This resulted in the federal government cutting Gotham off from the rest of the United States in the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land", the city's remaining residents forced to engage in gang warfare, either as active participants or paying for protection from groups ranging from the GCPD to the Penguin, just to stay alive. Eventually, Gotham was rebuilt and returned to the U.S. as part of a campaign mounted by Lex Luthor, who used the positive publicity of his role to make a successful bid for the position of President of the United States. Suggestions of other Gotham City histories include a founding date of 1820 seen in a city seal in Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders.

Culture
Batman writer and editor Dennis O'Neil has said that, figuratively, Batman's Gotham City is akin to "Manhattan below 14th Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November". Batman artist Neal Adams has long believed that Chicago has been the basis for Gotham, stating "one of the things about Chicago is Chicago has alleys (which are virtually nonexistent in New York). Back alleys, that's where Batman fights all the bad guys." The statement "Metropolis is New York by day; Gotham City is New York by night" has been variously attributed to comics creators Frank Miller and John Byrne.

In designing Batman: The Animated Series, creators Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski emulated the Tim Burton films' "otherworldly timelessness," incorporating period features such as black-and-white title cards, police airships (although no such thing existed, Timm has stated that he found it to fit the show's style), and a "vintage" color scheme with film noir flourishes. Police airships have since been incorporated into Batman comic books and are a recurring element in Gotham City.

Concerning the evolution of Gotham throughout the years, former Batman editor Paul Levitz has stated, "Each guy adds their own vision. That's the fun of comics, rebuilding a city each time".

Architecture
In Batman: Gothic, Gotham Cathedral plays a central role in the story since it is built by Mr. Whisper, the story's antagonist.

In a 1992 storyline, a man obsessed with Pinkney's architecture blew up several Gotham buildings in order to reveal the Pinkney structures they had hidden; the editorial purpose behind this was to transform the city depicted in the comics to resemble the designs created by Anton Furst for the 1989 Batman film.

Batman Begins features a CGI-augmented version of Chicago while The Dark Knight more directly features Chicago infrastructure and architecture such as Navy Pier. However, The Dark Knight Rises abandons Chicago, instead shooting in Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, New Jersey, London, and Glasgow.

Notable residents
Over the years, in various Batman-related titles in the chronological DC Comics continuity, the Caped Crusader enlists the help of numerous characters, the first being his trusty sidekick, Robin. Although a singular title, many have donned the mantle of the Boy Wonder over the years. The first being Nightwing, then came Red Hood, Red Robin, and finally Batman's son Damian Wayne. In addition to the Robins or former Robins, there is also Catwoman, Batgirl, and Huntress.

Other DC characters have also been depicted to be living in Gotham, such as mercenary Tommy Monaghan and renowned demonologist Jason Blood. Within modern DC Universe continuity, Batman is not the first hero in Gotham. Stories featuring Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, set before and during World War II depict Scott living in Gotham, and later depictions show him running his Gotham Broadcasting Corporation. Also, the original Golden Age Spectre and his sidekick, Percival Popp, live in Gotham City as does Black Canary, Starman, and the Grey Ghost.

DC's 2011 reboot of All Star Western takes place in an Old West-styled Gotham. Jonah Hex and Amadeus Arkham are among this version of Gotham's inhabitants.

Apart from Gotham's superhero residents, the residents of the city feature in a back-up series in Detective Comics called Tales of Gotham City and in two limited series called Gotham Nights. Additionally, the Gotham City Police Department is the focus of the series Gotham Central, as well as the mini-series Gordon's Law, Bullock's Law, and Batman: GCPD.

Mayors
The first Gotham mayor depicted in comics was in Detective Comics #68 (October 1942). Theodore Cobblepot, great grandfather of the Penguin, was mayor in the late 19th century. An unnamed mayor ran afoul of the Court of Owls in 1914 and was killed by them. Archibald Brewster was mayor during the Great Depression. Mayor Thorndike was killed by the Made of Wood killer in 1948. Mayor Aubrey James was a contemporary of Thomas Wayne who was stabbed to death. Mayor Jessop was in office shortly after the Wayne murders. A man named Falcone was purportedly mayor during the earliest days of Batman's career. Shortly after, Mayor Wilson Klass directed the GCPD to turn a blind eye to Batman's activities after Batman saved his daughter. Mayor Hill was in office when the Joker debuted, and a man named Gill was mayor early in Batman's career, as was former police commissioner Grogan. An unnamed bald mayor was killed by a villain known as Midnight. Men named Carfax, Bradley Stokes, Sheppard, Taylor, and Hayes all served as mayor. Mayor Charles Chesterfield was killed by a sentient fat-eating blob of grease.

Hamilton Hill became mayor through the backing of crime boss Rupert Thorne but was ultimately ousted from office and replaced by George P. Skowcroft. An unnamed mayor is killed by Deacon Blackfire's followers and replaced by Donald Webster. Mayor Julius Lieberman is killed by a Predator. Mayor Goode served briefly before being replaced by an African American man. Armand Krol became mayor and died of the Clench virus after leaving office. A woman, Marion Grange, became mayor with the backing of Bruce Wayne but was assassinated in Washington, D.C., while trying to secure federal aid for Gotham after an earthquake. In the wake of No Man's Land, Daniel Danforth Dickerson III served as mayor only to be killed by a sniper, after which he was replaced by David Hull. Seamus McGreevy served as mayor in the midst of a criminal conspiracy known as "The Body". An unnamed woman was mayor when Batman returned to Gotham a year after the Infinite Crisis. Sebastian Hady was a corrupt mayor who was eventually killed by the League of Shadows. Councilwoman Muir served as interim mayor when the city was in the grip of a virus that only affected men. Michael Akins, former commissioner of police, was appointed mayor, and later replaced by a man named Atkins. In the wake of Bane's takeover of the city, a man named Dunch served as mayor, and in the aftermath of the Joker War, anti-vigilante mayoral candidate Christopher Nakano wins election in a landslide.

Television
In multiple episodes of the 1960s live-action Batman television series, Batman is seen consulting a transparent lucite map of Gotham, which was actually an inverted map of St. Louis.

The live-action TV series Gotham was filmed in New York City and was an important requirement of the show's creative team. According to executive producer Danny Cannon, its atmosphere was inspired by the look of the city itself in the 1970s films of Sidney Lumet and William Friedkin. Clues to this include and signs showing phone numbers bearing the area code 212. Donal Logue, who portrayed Harvey Bullock in the series Gotham, described different aspects of that series' design of Gotham City as exhibiting different sensibilities, explaining, "for me, you can step into things that almost feel like the roaring 20s, and then there's this other really kind of heavy Blade Runner vibe floating around. There are elements of it that are completely contemporary and there are pieces of it that are very old-fashioned...There were a couple of examples of modern technology, but maybe an antiquated version of it, that gave me a little bit of sense that it's certainly not the 50s and the 60s...But it's not high tech and it's not futuristic, by any means."

In the TV series Smallville, Gotham City is mentioned by the character Linda Lake in the episode "Hydro", who jokes she can see Gotham from her view. In "Reunion", one of Oliver Queen's friends mentions having to get back to Gotham.

The fifth episode of Young Justice, entitled "Schooled", indicates that Gotham is located in Connecticut, near Bridgeport.

The 2019 series Batwoman, which is set in Gotham City, was filmed in Chicago.

DC Animated Universe
Gotham City is featured heavily in Batman: The Animated Series. When describing Gotham City Paul Dini, a writer and director of the show, stated "In my mind, it was sort of like what if the 1939 World's Fair had gone on another 60 years or so". ' In the episode "Joker's Favor", a driver's license lists a Gotham area resident's hometown as "Gotham Estates, NY". In the episode "Avatar", when Bruce Wayne leaves for England, a map shows Gotham City, at the joining of Long Island and the Hudson River. The episode "Fire from Olympus" shows a character's address in a police file indicating that Gotham City is located in New York state. The episode "The Mechanic", however, implies that Gotham resides in a state of the same name; a prison workshop is shown stamping license plates that read "Gotham: The Dark Deco State" (as a reference to the artistic style of the series). The episode "Harlequinade" states that Gotham City has a population of approximately 10 million people. This figure was also given in the 1960s Batman TV series episode Egg Grows in Gotham, the thirteenth episode of the second season.

Batman Beyond (1999–2001) envisions a Gotham City in 2039, referred to as "Neo-Gotham".

Arrowverse
Gotham City was first shown in the Arrowverse as part of "Elseworlds", a 2018 crossover storyline among the shows, which introduced Batwoman, although it had been referred to several times previously.

In The Flash episode "Marathon", a map shows Gotham City in place of Chicago, Illinois.

Theme parks
Themed lands meant to represent Gotham City have been physically constructed in several different theme parks around the world. WB Movie World in Germany featured a Gotham City section that housed Batman Adventure – The Ride, and Six Flags Magic Mountain opened a section called the "Gotham City Backlot" that featured Batman: The Ride. The section featured at Magic Mountain was designed by park designer Kevin Barbee, and alongside the opening of Batman: The Ride coincided with the largest expansion the park had ever undergone in 23 years, with the theming elements primarily having been inspired by the Batman films directed by Tim Burton. Both the ride and the Gotham City Backlot opened on March 26, 1994.

The Magic Mountain section closed at the end of the park's 2010 season and was later rethemed and rebranded as the "DC Universe," featuring characters and attractions outside of just Batman. It reopened in 2011.

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi features a section themed after Gotham City, including rides based on Batman, the Riddler and the Scarecrow as well as a walk-through attraction called "The Joker's Funhouse." The park and its Gotham City section were designed by Thinkwell Group. DC characters as they appear in both the attractions themselves as well as through live performers feature costumes based on The New 52 comic book relaunch from 2011. The Gotham City section neighbors another section themed after Metropolis, home of Superman.

1989 Batman series
Batman (1989) director Tim Burton wanted a timeless alternative to New York and described it as "hell burst through the pavement and grew". The look of Gotham was overseen by production designer Anton Furst, who won an Oscar for supervising the art department. Furst stated Batman was "definitely based in many ways on the worst aspects of New York City" and was inspired by Andreas Feininger's photographs of 1940s New York. Furst's draftsman Nigel Phelps created numerous charcoal drawings of the buildings and interior sets for the production.

Following the death of Furst, Burton tapped Bo Welch to oversee production design for Batman Returns (1992). Burton wanted Welch to re-imagine Gotham, stating "Batman didn't feel big to me – it didn't have the power an old American city has". Welch wanted to expand on the same basic concept for the sequel but moved away from European influences to show more American Art Deco/world's fair elements. When asked what inspired his interpretation of Gotham, Welch stated "[H]ow can I create a visual expression of corruption and greed? That got me thinking about the fascistic architecture employed at world's fairs... That feels corrupt because it's evocative of oppressive bureaucracies and dictatorships... So I looked at a lot of [Third Reich] art and images from world's fairs". To physically make the city seem darker, he designed tall "oppressively overbuilt" cityscape that physically blocked out light.

When Joel Schumacher took over directing the Batman film series from Tim Burton, Barbara Ling handled the production design for both of Schumacher's films, Batman Forever (1995) and 1997's Batman & Robin.  Ling's vision of Gotham City was a luminous and outlandish evocation of modern Expressionism and Constructivism. Its futuristic design, which Washington Post critic Desson Howe felt evoked the 1982 film Blade Runner, were described by Ling in her book, Bigger, Bolder, Brighter: The Production Design of Batman & Robin as a cross between 1930s Manhattan and the "Neo-Tokyo" of Akira. Ling cited "neon-ridden Tokyo and the Machine Age as her influences, describing her Gotham as "like a World's Fair on ecstasy." When Batman is pursuing Two-Face in Batman Forever, the chase ends at Lady Gotham, the fictional equivalent of the Statue of Liberty. During Mr. Freeze's attempt to freeze Gotham in the film Batman & Robin, the targeting screen for his giant laser locates it somewhere on the New England shoreline, possibly as far north as Maine. The soundtrack for Batman & Robin features a song named after the city and sung by R. Kelly, later included on international editions of his 1998 double album R.

The Dark Knight trilogy
Director Christopher Nolan has stated that Chicago inspired his portrayal of Gotham, and the majority of both Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008) were filmed there. However, Christopher Nolan's Gotham City was deliberately set in New Jersey to honor Gotham's location in the comic books.

For Batman Begins, Nolan desired that Gotham appear as a large, modern city that nonetheless reflects a variety of architectural styles and periods, as well as different socioeconomic strata. The production's approach depicted Gotham as an exaggeration of New York City, with elements taken from Chicago, the elevated freeways and monorails of Tokyo, and the "walled city of Kalhoon" [sic] in Hong Kong, which was the basis for the slum in the film known as The Narrows.

In The Dark Knight, more Chicago and New York influences were observed. On filming in Chicago, James McAllister, key location manager stated, "visually it's that look like you would see in the comic books." Nolan also stated "there's all these different boroughs, with rivers to interconnect. I think it's hard to get away from that, because Gotham is based on New York."

For The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the production utilized Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, New Jersey, London and Glasgow, Toronto for shots of Gotham City.

DC Extended Universe
Within the DC Extended Universe, Gotham City is located in Gotham County, New Jersey. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, paperwork mentions that the city is in "Gotham County," and Amanda Waller's files on Deadshot and Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad reveal Gotham City to be located in the state of New Jersey. Zack Snyder confirmed that Metropolis and Gotham City are in close geographical proximity to each other. The Boston Globe compared the close proximity of Gotham City and Metropolis to Jersey City and Manhattan. A television ad for Turkish Airlines that premiered during the 2016 Super Bowl featured Bruce Wayne (played by Ben Affleck) promoting Gotham as a tourist destination.

To create Gotham in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the creative team "decided to recreate and combine large sections of existing selected city sections and adapt the architecture and layout to fit Gotham's. Thousands of photographs were put through MPC's photogrammetry pipeline to create geometry and textures for each city section. "

In Birds of Prey, which takes place in Gotham, the entire shoot took place in Los Angeles. It was originally expected to be filmed in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, but the production received a tax credit from California, incentivizing the location change.

The Batman
The 2022 Matt Reeves film The Batman delves into the criminal underbelly of Gotham City through noir-style storytelling and highlights themes of corruption rampant within the city's government and police department. The movie used London, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Chicago as filming locations for Gotham City, although it was modeled on New York City. A towering skyscraper similar to the Empire State Building looms over Gotham City with an emblazoned sign that reads "Gotham Empire". A busy, commercial intersection called "Gotham Square" is seen in several shots and resembles Times Square with its bright signs and giant digital screens. The film's concluding sequence, while filmed at London's O2 Arena, is called "Gotham Square Garden", taking its naming convention from New York's Madison Square Garden.

Joker (2019)
Joker director and producer Todd Phillips imagined Gotham as a "version of Gotham was the pre-'80s boom New York, or urban northeastern center, but not the iconic New York." When asked how he re-imagined the city, production designer Mark Friedberg stated "our version of Gotham was what groomed him. It was both an appreciation for how severe things got in the city, but also for the world of possibility that lived in the version of that city."

Animated films

During the events of the direct-to-video film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998), a computer screen displaying Barbara Gordon's personal information refers to her location as "Gotham City, NY", and also displays her area code as being 212 – a Manhattan area code.

The 2008 direct-to-DVD film Batman: Gotham Knight shows Gotham as a large city with many skyscrapers and a bustling population.

Video games
Gotham City appears in several video games, including Batman Begins, DC Universe Online, Gotham Knights and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. The city makes another appearance in a video game with Injustice: Gods Among Us, where the player can fight outside or inside of Wayne Manor, on top of a building and in an alley. Other games that feature the city include Lego Dimensions and Rocksteady's Arkham franchise.

Gotham City appears as a location in the 2017 video game Fortnite Battle Royale as part of a crossover in commemoration of Batman's 80th anniversary. It is the fourth incarnation of the game's iconic Tilted Towers area. Players are able to use the Batglider after falling from a great height, as long as they remain in the confines of Gotham City. The location was removed on October 13, 2019, during the game's "The End" live event, in which it was sucked into a Black Hole along with the rest of the Fortnite Chapter 1 Island.

Batman: Arkham
Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009) opens with Batman driving Joker from Gotham City to Arkham Asylum. Joker also threatens to detonate bombs across Gotham. In Batman: Arkham City (2011), the slums of Old Gotham City (the northern island) were converted into Arkham City. Inside the prison walls, this part of Gotham contains various landmarks throughout the story, like Penguin's Iceberg Lounge, the Ace Chemical Plant, the Sionis Steel Mill, the Old Gotham City Police Department building, and the Monarch Theatre with the Wayne murder scene in Crime Alley. Most of these locations have major events in the story. In Batman: Arkham Origins (2013), an earlier, younger version of the city can be seen than that of other games in the Batman: Arkham series. In addition to the northern island, this installment in the series lets players explore a new southern island, connected to the former by the Pioneer's Bridge. The setting of Batman: Arkham Knight (2015), Central Gotham City, is five times larger than Old Gotham. In the novelization for Batman: Arkham Knight, it is revealed that Crime Alley was later renamed Wayne Way months after the 'death' of Batman.

General references

 * Brady, Matthew and Williams, Dwight. Daily Planet Guide to Gotham City. Honesdale, Pennsylvania: West End Games under license from DC Comics, 2000.
 * Brown, Eliot. "Gotham City Skyline". Secret Files & Origins Guide to the DC Universe 2000. New York: DC Comics, 2000.
 * Grant, Alan. "The Last Arkham". Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1. New York: DC Comics, 1992.
 * Loeb, Jeph. Batman: The Long Halloween. New York: DC Comics, 1997.
 * Miller, Frank. Batman: Year One. New York: DC Comics, 1988.
 * Morrison, Grant. Arkham Asylum. New York: DC Comics, 1990.
 * O'Neil, Dennis. "Destroyer". Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #27. New York: DC Comics, 1992.

title: Gotham City


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User:Georg Muntingh

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Charles Goren

Charles Henry Goren (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991) was an American bridge player and writer who significantly developed and popularized the game. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s and widely known as "Mr. Bridge".

Early years
Goren was born in what is now Khotyn, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. His parents were Jacob and Rebecca Goron. His father emigrated in 1903 with the family possibly coming later. He earned a law degree at McGill University in Montreal in 1923. While he was attending McGill, a girlfriend (or "a young hostess") laughed at his ineptness at the game of bridge, thus motivating him to immerse himself in a study of existing bridge materials.

After graduation, he practiced law for 13 years in Philadelphia. The growing fame of contract bridge player Ely Culbertson, however, prompted Goren to abandon his original career choice to pursue bridge competitions, where he attracted the attention of Milton Work, an American authority on many card games including contract bridge. Work was impressed by Goren's knowledge of the game and hired Goren to help him write his bridge articles and columns.

Work was one of many strong bridge players based in Philadelphia around the 1920s. By 1928 he had popularized the 4–3–2–1 point count system for evaluating balanced hands (now sometimes called the Work count). His chief assistant Olive Peterson and young Goren established a partnership as players.

As a player Goren's "breakthrough" was the 1937 Board-a-Match Teams championship (now called The Reisinger National Bridge Championship) which he won with three other Philadelphia players: John Crawford, Charles Solomon, and Sally Young.

Goren dominated the competitive bridge circuit ultimately becoming world champion at the Bermuda Bowl in 1950 and remained a competitive player until about 1962 after which he focused on writing and teaching bridge.

Bridge contributions
After Milton Work died in 1934, Goren began his own bridge writing career and published the first of his many books on playing bridge, Winning Bridge Made Easy, in 1936. Drawing on his experience with Work's system, Goren quickly became popular as an instructor and lecturer.

Goren's books have sold millions of copies (especially Winning Bridge Made Easy and Contract Bridge Complete); by 1958 his daily bridge column was appearing in 194 American newspapers. He also had a monthly column in McCall's and a weekly column in Sports Illustrated.

His television program, Championship Bridge with Charles Goren, was broadcast from 1959 to 1964 on the ABC network. It featured numerous appearances by top players and segments with celebrity guests such as Chico Marx, Alfred Drake, and Forest Evashevski, among others.

Goren's longest partnership was with Helen Sobel, but he also famously partnered actor Omar Sharif. Sharif also wrote introductions to or co-authored several of Goren's bridge books, and was also co-author of Goren's newspaper column, eventually taking it over in collaboration with Tannah Hirsch.

Point count system
As he continued writing, Goren began to develop his point count system, based on the Milton Work point count, as an improvement over the existing system of counting "honor tricks". Goren, with assistance, formulated a method of combining the Work count, which was based entirely on high cards, and various distributional features. This may well have improved the bidding of intermediate players and beginners almost immediately.

Four-card suits
Goren also worked to continue the practice of opening four-card suits, with an occasional three-card club suit when the only four-card suit was a weak. In this, he was following the practice established by Ely Culbertson in the early 1930s. Later on, he continued this practice, resisting the well-known five-card majors approach that has become a major feature of modern Standard American bidding.

Opening a four-card suit can improve the chances of the partnership identifying a four-four trump fit, and the four-card approach is still used by experts today, notably by most Acol players. It is claimed that the drawback of the four-card approach is that the Law of Total Tricks is more difficult to apply in cases where it is used. However, the five-card majors approach became popular before the Law of Total Tricks was propounded.

Other contributions
In addition to his pioneering work in bringing simple and effective bridge to everyday players, Goren also worked to popularize the Precision bidding method, which is one of many so-called big club or strong club systems (which use an opening bid of one club to indicate a strong hand).

Tribune Content Agency distributes the daily column Goren Bridge, written by Bob Jones, using the Goren method.

Legacy
Goren died on April 3, 1991, in Encino, California, at the age of 90. He had lived with his nephew Marvin Goren for 19 years. While few players "play Goren" exactly today, the point-count approach he popularized remains the foundation for most bidding systems.

During the month of Goren's death, Truscott followed his obituary with a bridge column entitled, "Goren leaves behind many fans and a column with an international flavor". His business interests had been "managed by others" since his retirement "a quarter of a century ago", according to Truscott. "The Goren syndicated column now has an international flavor: It carries the bylines of the movie star Omar Sharif, an Egyptian who lives in Paris, and an entrepreneur, Tannah Hirsch, a South African who came to the United States via Israel."

Goren appeared on the Groucho Marx radio and television game show You Bet Your Life in March 1958.

Goren appeared on the television game show What’s My Line in December 1961.

Honors

 * ACBL Hall of Fame, 1964

 * ACBL Honorary Member of the Year, 1959

Awards

 * McKenney Trophy 1937, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951
 * Precision Award (Best Article or Series on a System or Convention) 1974

Wins

 * Bermuda Bowl (1) 1950
 * North American Bridge Championships (32)
 * Vanderbilt (2) 1944, 1945
 * Asbury Park Trophy (now Spingold) (1) 1937
 * Spingold (5) 1943, 1947, 1951, 1956, 1960
 * Chicago (now Reisinger) (8) 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1950, 1957, 1963
 * Men's Board-a-Match Teams (1) 1952
 * Master Mixed Teams (6) 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1954
 * Life Master Pairs (2) 1942, 1958
 * Fall National Open Pairs (1) 1940
 * Men's Pairs (3) 1938, 1943, 1949
 * Rockwell Mixed Pairs (1) 1947
 * Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1943
 * Master Individual (1) 1945

Runners-up

 * Bermuda Bowl (2) 1956, 1957
 * North American Bridge Championships (21)
 * Vanderbilt (8) 1934, 1936, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1962
 * Spingold (2) 1939, 1950
 * Chicago (now Reisinger) (2) 1944, 1951
 * Men's Board-a-Match Teams (2) 1946, 1955
 * Master Mixed Teams (4) 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951
 * Life Master Pairs (1) 1953
 * Men's Pairs (1) 1935
 * Hilliard Mixed Pairs (1) 1934

Publications

 * Winning Bridge Made Easy: a simplified self-teaching method of contract bidding combining all the principles of the new Culbertson system with the principal features of the four aces system (Harrisburg, PA: The Telegraph Press, 1936), 92 pp.,
 * Better Bridge for Better Players: the play of the cards, introduction by Ely Culbertson, foreword by George S. Kaufman (Doubleday, Doran, 1942), 538 pp. ; also known as The Standard Book of Play: better bridge for better players,
 * The earliest British edition in WorldCat records is Better Bridge for Better Players: the standard book of play, intro. Culbertson, fwd. Kauffman (London: Walter Edwards, 1947),

 * The Standard Book of Bidding (Doubleday, 1944), 299 pp. ; (Doubleday, 1947), 310 pp.
 * Contract Bridge in a Nutshell (Doubleday, 1946), 128 pp. ; at least seven editions to 1986 under the titles Contract Bridge in a Nutshell [CBN], New CBN, Goren's New CBN, or Charles Goren's New CBN
 * Contract Bridge Made Easy, a self-teacher (Doubleday, 1948), 95 pp. – "Replaces the author's Winning bridge made easy, first pub. in 1936 and now out of print."
 * First London edition published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1951. Title has been revised and reprinted numerous times to 1984.
 * . First London edition published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1959. Title has been reprinted numerous times to 1972.
 * with Jack Olsen: . Paperback editions published by Cornerstone Library, NY in 1967 and 1970, pp. 190.

 * 100 Challenging Bridge Hands
 * An Entirely New Bridge Summary
 * The A.B.C.'s of Contract Bridge
 * Championship Bridge with Charles Goren
 * Charles H. Goren's Bridge Quiz Book
 * Contract Bridge Complete
 * Easy Steps: Eight Steps to Winning Bridge
 * The Elements of Bridge
 * The Fundamental of contract Bridge
 * Goren on Play and Defense: All of Play: The Technique, the Logic, and the Challenge of Master Bridge
 * Goren Presents the Italian Bridge System
 * Goren Settles the Bridge Arguments
 * Goren's Bridge Complete
 * Goren's Bridge Quizzes
 * Goren's Hoyle Encyclopedia of Bridge
 * Goren's New Contract Bridge Complete
 * Goren's Point Count Bidding Made Easy
 * Goren's Winning Partnership Bridge
 * Introduction to Bridge
 * Introduction to Competitive Bidding
 * Modern Backgammon Complete
 * Official Charles Goren Quick Reference to Winning Bridge
 * Play and Defense
 * Play As You Learn Bridge
 * Play Bridge With Goren
 * Play Winning Bridge With Any Partner: Even a Stranger
 * Precision Bridge for Everyone
 * The Precision System of Bidding
 * Precision System of Contract Bridge Bidding: Charles H. Goren Presents
 * Sports Illustrated Book of Bridge

title: Charles Goren


text:
Talk:Geoffrey Chaucer

Original manuscripts
"Even the earliest surviving manuscripts are not Chaucer's originals": Do we even know if there were any "originals"? Chaucer was an oral performer and may have never written them down. His recitals may have differed from one to another, explaining why the written versions differ so much. Additionally, many or all (save apparent copies) may have been written by an audience member from memory rather than a scribe as it was being spoken. This could also explain the "fragments" as he likely did not tell all the tales at a single performance. Are there "original" manuscripts for his other works? Obviously I am not an expert ;-) but I hope this entry is helpful and if appropriate an expert could amend the text to be more clear. Ealtram (talk) 11:40, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Vandalism-s archived
Two cases of vandalism got archived. Is it OK to un-do these vd-s in the archive ("... although occasionally some exceptions may apply.") ?

The original valuable contrib: diff: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AGeoffrey_Chaucer&diff=451471050&oldid=450659324

There were several cases of vandalism between: 2013-07-01T12:55:58 and 2013-08-26T17:02:41 done by user:Binladensfish and several IPs.

Many of these vd-s were reverted, but two got overlooked:

Vandalism performed: on:
 * 2012-11-01T15:21:59 (after "£10" added: "bvbrgbnnghb rtbntrhnn") diff: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Geoffrey_Chaucer&diff=prev&oldid=520908372

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Geoffrey_Chaucer&diff=next&oldid=562388768.
 * 2013-08-26T17:02:41 : added a curse directly under the header "Raptus".

2013-10-28T07:12:39 user:Legobot archived this section "Raptus" (containing vd-s). https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Geoffrey_Chaucer&diff=next&oldid=578370911

Ping welcome, Steue (talk) 11:45, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Potential typo?
At the end of the eight paragraph under the section Career, there is this line: "This is a request for temporary leave from work presented to King Richard II, hitherto believed to be the work of one of his subordinates due to the low level of language". Should this be, "There is a request..."? Stephanos100 (talk) 15:37, 1 September 2023 (UTC)
 * This looks ok to me. It follows on from "Chaucer's "only surviving handwriting" dates from this period", so the "this" explains what the document in his handwriting is. "The document" might be slightly clearer than just "This", I suppose - what do you think? Tacyarg (talk) 17:50, 1 September 2023 (UTC)
 * You're right, guess I skipped the sentence preceding it. I do agree though that it could probably be clearer. What about something like,
 * "Chaucer's 'only surviving handwriting' dates from this period: a request for temporary leave from work presented to King Richard II, hitherto believed to be the work of one of his subordinates due to the low level of language."
 * I like your suggestion as well. Stephanos100 (talk) 04:45, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Looks good to me, though I'd probably go with "previously" rather than "hitherto", on the grounds of simplicity. Tacyarg (talk) 10:03, 2 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Agreed. Stephanos100 (talk) 08:05, 5 September 2023 (UTC)

Categories
Why is the Chaucer article categorized as "Low-importance Literature"? Not even "Mid-importance"? Who is of higher importance in Middle English poetry than Chaucer? It's also a "Mid-importance Astrology" article, so, I guess he was a more important astrologer than he was a literary figure. How are these "High-importance", "Low-importance" categories determined? Pascalulu88 (talk) 01:07, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Yes, silly. I've bumped him up to high. Maybe it was because he was high for poetry, & the low was for his prose. Anybody can change the ratings, & frankly they matter very little. Johnbod (talk) 03:40, 9 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks! I'm a new editor and some things aren't obvious to me... Pascalulu88 (talk) 19:32, 9 October 2023 (UTC)

satirized character in Canterbury Tales
monk, pardoner , friar and cook 72.255.59.139 (talk) 18:08, 16 April 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Geoffrey Chaucer


text:
Galactus

Galactus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966).

Lee and Kirby wanted to introduce a character that broke away from the archetype of the standard villain. In the character's first appearance, Galactus was depicted as a god-like figure that fed by draining living planets of their energy, and operated without regard to the morality or judgments of mortal beings.

Galactus's initial origin was that of a Taa-an space explorer named Galan who gained cosmic abilities by passing near a star, but writer Mark Gruenwald further developed the character's origins, presenting Taa and Galan as existing in the universe prior to the Big Bang that began the setting of the current primary universe. As Galan's universe came to an end, he merged with the "Sentience of the Universe" to become Galactus, an entity that wielded such cosmic power as to require devouring entire planets to sustain his existence. Additional material written by John Byrne, Jim Starlin, and Louise Simonson explored Galactus's role and purpose in the Marvel Universe, and examined the character's actions through themes of genocide, manifest destiny, ethics, and natural/necessary existence. Frequently accompanied by a herald (such as the Silver Surfer), the character has appeared as both antagonist and protagonist in central and supporting roles. Since debuting in the Silver Age of Comic Books, Galactus has played a role in over five decades of Marvel continuity. In 2009, Galactus ranked fifth on IGN's list of "Top 100 Comic Book Villains", which cited the character's "larger-than-life presence" as making him one of the more important villains ever created. IGN also noted "Galactus is one of the few villains on our list to really defy the definition of an evil-doer" as the character is compelled to destroy worlds because of his hunger, rather than out of malicious ends.

The character has been featured in other Marvel media, such as arcade games, video games, animated television series, and the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. He will appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four (2025), portrayed by Ralph Ineson.

Publication history
Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist-coplotter Jack Kirby, the character debuted in The Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966, the first of a three-issue story later known as "The Galactus Trilogy").

Origin
In 1966, nearly five years after launching Marvel Comics' flagship superhero title, Fantastic Four, creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby collaborated on an antagonist designed to break the supervillain mold of the tyrant with god-like stature and power. As Lee recalled in 1993,

"Galactus was simply another in a long line of super-villains whom we loved creating. ...[W]e felt the only way to top ourselves was to come up with an evil-doer who had almost godlike powers. Therefore, the natural choice was sort of a demi-god, but now what would we do with him? We didn't want to use the tired old cliche about him wanting to conquer the world. There were enough would-be world conquerors in the Marvel Universe and in all the other comic book galaxies. That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god should be beyond mere good and evil. He'd just be (don't laugh!) hungry. And the nourishment he'd require is the life force and energy from living planets!"

Kirby described his biblical inspirations for Galactus and an accompanying character, an angelic herald Lee called the Silver Surfer:

"My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. For some reason, I went to the Bible and I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well because I've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in the same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods."

Kirby elaborated, "Galactus in actuality is a sort of god. He is beyond reproach, beyond anyone's opinion. In a way he is kind of a Zeus, who fathered Hercules. He is his own legend, and of course, he and the Silver Surfer are sort of modern legends, and they are designed that way."

Writer Mike Conroy expanded on Lee and Kirby's explanation: "In five short years from the launch of the Fantastic Four, the Lee/Kirby duo ... had introduced a whole host of alien races or their representatives ... there were the Skrulls, the Watcher and the Stranger, all of whom Lee and Kirby used in the foundations of the universe they were constructing, one where all things were possible but only if they did not flout the 'natural laws' of this cosmology. In the nascent Marvel Universe, characters acted consistently, whatever comic they were appearing in. Their actions reverberated through every title. It was pure soap opera but on a cosmic scale, and Galactus epitomized its epic sweep."

This led to the introduction of Galactus in Fantastic Four #48–50 (March–May 1966), which fans began calling "The Galactus Trilogy". Kirby did not intend Galactus to reappear, to preserve the character's awe-inspiring presence. Fan popularity, however, prompted Lee to ask Kirby for Galactus' reappearance, and the character became a mainstay of the Marvel Universe.

1960s
To preserve the character's mystique, his next two appearances were nonspeaking cameos in Thor #134 (November 1966), and Daredevil #37 (February 1968), respectively. Numerous requests from fans prompted the character to be featured heavily in Fantastic Four #72–77 (March–August 1968). After a flashback appearance in Silver Surfer #1 (August 1968), the character returned to Earth in Thor #160–162 (January–March 1969). Galactus' origin was eventually revealed in Thor #168–169 (September–October 1969).

1970s and 1980s
The character made appearances in Fantastic Four #120–123 (March–June 1972) and Thor #225–228 (July–October 1974). These two storylines introduced two new heralds for Galactus. Galactus also featured in Fantastic Four #172–175 (July–October 1976) and 208–213 (July–December 1979).

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reunited for the origin of the Silver Surfer and Galactus in the one-shot graphic novel The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience! in 1978. This Marvel Fireside Book, published by Simon & Schuster, was an out-of-continuity retelling of the origin story without the Fantastic Four.

The full Lee-and-Kirby origin story was reprinted in the one-shot Super-Villain Classics #1: Galactus – The Origin (May 1983), inked by Vince Colletta and George Klein, lettered by John Morelli and colored by Andy Yanchus. While nearly identical to the previous origin, this story featured supplemental material, edits, and deletions by writer Mark Gruenwald, pencillers John Byrne and Ron Wilson and inker Jack Abel. Rather than traveling into a dying star, the character enters the core of the collapsing universe before the Big Bang; the story was later reprinted as Origin of Galactus #1 (February 1996).

The character guest-starred in Rom #26–27 (January–February 1982). Galactus featured in two related storylines in Fantastic Four #242–244 (May–July 1982) and later #257 (August 1983), in which writer-artist John Byrne introduced the conceit of Galactus feeling remorse for his actions, and the weight of his genocides. In the issue, Death assures Galactus of his role and purpose as one of shepherd and weeder in guiding the universe to its proper purpose, and Galactus remains resolute. Byrne further elaborated on this concept in Fantastic Four #262 (January 1984), which sparked controversy. At the end of the story, Eternity, an abstract entity in the Marvel Universe, appears to validate the existence of Galactus as necessary for the natural order and essential to prevent an even more catastrophic fate; Howard University professor of literature Marc Singer criticized this, accusing the writer-artist of using the character to "justify planetary-scale genocide." Byrne and Stan Lee also collaborated on a one-shot Silver Surfer story (June 1982) in which Galactus returned to Zenn-La after the Surfer's rebellion and drained it of energy after allowing the populace to flee.

Writer-penciller John Byrne and inker Terry Austin produced "The Last Galactus Story" as a serial in the anthology comic-magazine Epic Illustrated #26–34 (October 1984 – February 1986). Nine of a scheduled 10 installments appeared. Each was six pages with the exception of the eighth installment (12 pages). The magazine was cancelled with issue #34, leaving the last chapter unpublished and the story unfinished; however, Byrne later published the conclusion on his website. Galactus played a pivotal role in the limited series Secret Wars #1–12 (May 1984 – April 1985), and became a recurring character in Silver Surfer (vol. 3) (beginning with issue #1 (July 1987)).

Stan Lee and artist John Buscema also produced the 64-page hardcover graphic novel Silver Surfer: Judgment Day (October 1988), in which Galactus clashes with the demonic entity Mephisto.

1990s
Galactus was featured in the miniseries The Infinity Gauntlet #1–6 (July –December 1991), The Infinity War #1–6 (June –November 1992) and Cosmic Powers #1–6 (March –August 1994). The character starred in the six-issue miniseries Galactus the Devourer (September 1999 –March 2000), written by Louise Simonson and illustrated by John Buscema, which climaxed with Galactus' death. Simonson originally conceived that the story arc would occur in Silver Surfer (vol. 3), but the title was cancelled due to dwindling sales. She proposed a separate limited series, and at the time was initially doubtful that Marvel would approve what she considered a "radical" idea concerning "why the very existence of the universe depends on the health and well-being of Galactus."

2000s
The consequences of Galactus' death are explored in the issues Fantastic Four Annual 2001 and Fantastic Four (vol. 3) #46–49 (October 2001 – January 2002) written by Jeph Loeb and culminate in Galactus' revival, bringing resolution to Simonson's cliffhanger from the Devourer story arc. The character features in the first six issues of the limited series Thanos (December 2003 – May 2004), written by Jim Starlin. Issues #7–12 (June–November 2004), written by Keith Giffen, introduce the Fallen One, who is retroactively presented as Galactus' first herald.

Galactus' origin is re-examined in Fantastic Four #520–523 (October 2004 – April 2005), in which the character is temporarily reverted to his mortal form. After appearing in the limited series Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1–6 (March–August 2005) Galactus was a central character in the "Annihilation" storyline, appearing in the limited series Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1–4 (June–September 2006), Annihilation #1–6 (October 2006 – March 2007) and the epilogue, Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1–2 (February–April 2007).

Galactus was an antagonist in Fantastic Four #545–546 (June–July 2007), where he tried to devour fellow cosmic function Epoch. In Nova (vol. 4) #13–15 (May–July 2008), the character had no dialogue. Author Andy Lanning said that he and co-writer Dan Abnett were "treating Galactus like a force of nature; an inevitable, planetary catastrophe that there is no reasoning with, no bargaining with and no escaping." Galactus also appeared in the limited series Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter #1–3 (June–August 2009), a sequel to Stormbreaker: The Saga of Beta Ray Bill #1–6.

2010s
Galactus appears as a supporting character in the one-shot Galacta, Daughter of Galactus (May 2010). Galactus and the Silver Surfer appeared as antagonists in both Skaar: Son of Hulk #7–12 (March 1, 2009 – August 1, 2009) and Son of Hulk #13–17 (September 1, 2009 – January 2010), and as protagonists in the miniseries The Thanos Imperative #1–6 (June–November 2010). Galactus was a member of the God Squad in the miniseries Chaos War #2–5 (December 2010 – March 2011). After an appearance in Fantastic Four #583–587 (November 2010 – March 2011), the character returned to Earth in Silver Surfer (vol. 6) #1–5 (January–May 2011) and was the antagonist in The Mighty Thor #1–6 (April–September 2011). Galactus played a supporting role in the storyline "Forever" featured in Fantastic Four #600–604 (November 2011 – March 2012) and FF #16 (March 2012) by Johnathan Hickman, where Hickman introduced the concept of a shared destiny between Galactus and Franklin Richards. Writer Mark Waid would subsequently develop this concept further (see below).

The character played a central role as antagonist in Hunger #1–4 (2013), in which the mainstream Galactus of the primary Marvel continuity merges with his counterpart from the Ultimate Marvel publication imprint, Gah Lak Tus. Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov commented that his intent was to use Galactus as a means to place the characters from the Ultimate Marvel imprint into a completely unexpected crisis: "What I hope comes across is the sense of wonder that's being brought into the Ultimate Universe...with the smart, modern tone Brian has established."

Following his appearance in Hunger, Galactus was a major supporting character in The Ultimates (vol. 3) #1–6 (January–June 2016), where writer Al Ewing fundamentally changed the nature of Galactus' character. During the events of the story, Galactus is transformed into "the Lifebringer", a being who is compelled to infuse dead planets with life-sustaining energies, thus altering the character's primary motive for the first time since Galactus' debut in 1966. Elaborating on what inspired the change, Ewing explained "What inspired it—a mixture of wanting someone big on or allied with the team—originally, we thought about Odin, but he's a bit busy—and my usual preoccupations with atonement, redemption, growth and change. So what can [Galactus] do now? Well, whereas before he was taking in vast amounts of energy, now he's putting out vast amounts of energy—pure life energy. He always said he was going to give back more than he took out of the universe—now he's making good on that, one dead world at a time." The themes of redemption and change were received well by columnist Mark Peters, who described Ewing's work on Ultimates as "one of the best Galactus stories ever."

Galactus featured prominently in a direct sequel series to The Ultimates (vol. 3) #1–6 titled The Ultimates 2 (vol. 2) #1–10 (November 2016 – August 2017) which focused on the Lifebringer Galactus as the de facto leader of the Ultimates. Galactus in his Lifebringer persona made his final appearance in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #26–30 (December 2017 – April 2018) before being reverted back to his "Devourer of Worlds" persona by writer Gerry Dugan in Infinity Countdown #4 (June 2018).

Set at the end of the primary Marvel continuity, the miniseries History of the Marvel Universe #1–6 (July 2019 – December 2019) by Mark Waid depicted Galactus as the in-story narrator. The story features Galactus recounting all the major events that have occurred in Marvel continuity to Franklin Richards as the universe experiences its final moments. Confirming the series as occurring within the primary Marvel continuity, Waid elaborated that "[t]here is a framing device, yes. We wanted it to be a story, not just a long Wikipedia entry. As established in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four run, there comes a point when Galactus and Franklin Richards stand together at the end of time, and now we get to see exactly what they were doing there."

2020s
Galactus was killed by Thor during the "Herald of Thunder" story arc in Thor (vol. 6) #1–6 (March–August 2020), and reappeared after a two-year hiatus in Fantastic Four (vol. 6) #45 (July 2022)—the final issue of the event "Reckoning War"—where Galactus is resurrected by his former heralds.

Fictional character biography

Galactus was originally the Taa-an explorer Galan of the planet Taa, which existed in the sixth incarnation of the prime pre-Big Bang universe. When an unknown cosmic cataclysm gradually kills all other life in his universe, Galan and other survivors leave Taa on a spacecraft and are engulfed in the Big Crunch. Galan, however, does not die: after bonding with the Sentience of the Universe, he changes and gestates for billions of years in an egg made of the debris of his ship that the current universe formed after the Big Bang. He emerges as Galactus, and though an unnamed Watcher observed Galactus's birth and recognizes his destructive nature, the Watcher chooses not to kill Galactus. Starving for sustenance, Galactus consumes the nearby planet of Archeopia—the first of many planets he would destroy to maintain his existence. Subsequently, in memory of his dead homeworld of Taa and the first planet (Archeopia) to fall prey to his hunger, Galactus constructs a new "homeworld": the Möbius strip-shaped space station called Taa II.

Galactus becomes involved in a civil war among the "Proemial Gods", who had come into being during the universe's infancy. When a faction of the gods led by Diableri of Chaos attempts to remake the universe in their own image, Galactus kills Diableri and imprisons three others (Antiphon, Tenebrous, and Aegis) in the prison called the Kyln.

Galactus then creates the being Tyrant out of a desire for companionship, but the two ultimately engage in a major conflict. Galactus decides to empower his first herald—the Fallen One—who ultimately rebels against his master. When approaching the planet of Zenn-La, Galactus accepts the offer of Norrin Radd to become his herald, the Silver Surfer, in exchange for sparing his world. Eventually locating Earth, Galactus is driven off by the Fantastic Four, Uatu the Watcher, and the rebellious Silver Surfer after the Human Torch—with the Watcher's assistance—retrieves the Ultimate Nullifier from Taa II. Although Galactus leaves Earth, vowing that he will never try to consume it again, he banishes the Surfer to Earth for betraying him. Galactus later returns for his former herald, but the Surfer is unrepentant and chooses to remain on Earth. Thor learns of Galactus' origin when the entity comes into conflict with Ego the Living Planet.

Returning to Earth, Galactus unsuccessfully tries to re-enlist the Silver Surfer. After the Fantastic Four and the Surfer defeat Galactus's new herald, the Air-Walker, Mr. Fantastic reprograms Galactus's ship to travel to the Negative Zone, which contains many uninhabited worlds that could potentially be consumed. Thor and Olympian ally Hercules encounter Galactus when his next herald, Firelord, travels to Earth to be free of his master. Galactus frees Firelord when Thor presents Galactus with the magical Asgardian suit of armor named the Destroyer to animate and use as a herald.

Galactus comes into conflict with the High Evolutionary when attempting to devour Counter-Earth, but he is temporarily transformed into harmless energy after attempting to devour the planet Poppup, the homeworld of the Impossible Man. After returning to normal form, Galactus is sought by the Fantastic Four to help stop a new cosmic threat, the Sphinx. Mr. Fantastic offers to release Galactus from his vow to not devour Earth if he helps defeat the Sphinx. Galactus agrees, if the Fantastic Four first recruit a being called Tyros as a new herald. The quartet succeed, and the newly empowered and renamed Terrax the Tamer leads his master to Earth. Galactus locates and defeats the Sphinx in Egypt, but is confronted by Mr. Fantastic, who, unbeknownst to Galactus, wields a fake Ultimate Nullifier. Unable to read Richards' mind (which is protected by the Watcher), Galactus retreats.

Galactus empowers and uses the superheroine Dazzler to locate a missing Terrax, who is in fact hiding from his master inside a black hole. The Dazzler defeats and retrieves Terrax, and forces Galactus to return her to Earth. Galactus is fooled by the Galadorian Spaceknight Rom into trying to devour the Black Nebula, the homeworld of the Dire Wraiths, but he is repelled by the Wraiths' Dark Sun. A weakened Galactus pursues the rebellious Terrax to Earth and strips him of his power. Near death, Galactus is saved by the Fantastic Four and the Avengers while also acquiring another herald: Nova II, who offers herself as Galactus' herald in exchange for him sparing Earth again. Galactus devours the Skrulls' throneworld of Tarnax IV, and discusses his role in the universe with fellow cosmic entity Death. Mr. Fantastic is captured by the Shi'ar for saving Galactus' life, and is tried by all of the aliens who survived the annihilation of their homeworlds by Galactus. During the trial, the cosmic entity Eternity — the sentient embodiment of space and reality of the Marvel Universe — intervenes, allowing all beings present to momentarily become one with the universe, allowing them to understand that Galactus is a necessary part of the cosmic order.

During the Secret Wars, Galactus attempts to consume Battleworld to force the Beyonder to remove his hunger, but his plan is foiled by Doctor Doom. Galactus grants clemency to the Silver Surfer, who aids his former master against the Elders of the Universe and the In-Betweener. Galactus also rescues the Surfer and Nova II from Mephisto's realm, and aids the cosmic hierarchy in a war against the mad Eternal Thanos, who wields the Infinity Gauntlet.

When Nova II is conscience-stricken at causing the death of billions of aliens, Galactus takes on a new herald, the bloodthirsty Morg the Executioner. Tyrant eventually returns and Morg sacrifices himself to stop the former creation of Galactus by using the Ultimate Nullifier. Galactus then decides, with help from his new herald Red Shift, to only devour the energy of living beings, which brings him into conflict with alien races and Earth's superheroes. During a final confrontation near Chandilar, the throneworld of the Shi'ar, the Silver Surfer turns Galactus' siphoning machines against him. A starving Galactus dies and assumes the form of a star. The death of Galactus allows the entity Abraxas (a metaphysical embodiment of destruction and the antithesis of Eternity) to emerge from imprisonment. The entity wreaks havoc across thousands of alternate universes, killing various incarnations of Galactus before the children of Mr. Fantastic — Franklin Richards and Valeria von Doom — exhaust their powers to restore the original Galactus. Galactus then provides Mr. Fantastic with the Ultimate Nullifier, which he uses to reset reality and prevent Abraxas' initial escape and destruction.

Conscience-stricken, Galactus tries to rid himself of his cosmic hunger by feeding on the power from the Infinity Gems, but is tricked into releasing the Hunger, a being which feeds on entire galaxies. The Hunger is destroyed when Thanos orchestrates a final battle with Galactus. When an alien race develops a technology to make planets invisible to Galactus, he empowers the Human Torch (who has traded powers with his sister the Invisible Woman and becomes the Invisible Boy as a result of this) and utilizes the hero as an unwilling herald to locate the planets. The Fantastic Four and Quasar free the Torch by changing Galactus back into the humanoid Galan, who chooses to exile himself to an energy-rich alternate dimension before he can transform back into Galactus so that he can feed on that reality without endangering planets.

Galactus consumes Beta Ray Bill's Korbinite homeworld with the help of his new herald, Stardust. After Annihilus declares war on the universe, the entity attacks and destroys the Kyln, freeing former Galactus foes Tenebrous and Aegis. Sensing their release, Galactus temporarily releases Stardust from his service and re-employs the Silver Surfer as his herald due to his familiarity with their old foes. Tenebrous and Aegis, however, find and defeat the Surfer and Galactus and deliver them to Annihilus. Annihilus intends to use Galactus as a weapon to destroy all life in the universe, but is thwarted when the entity is freed by Drax the Destroyer. Galactus retaliates and destroys most of Annihilus' forces. Seeking a final confrontation with Tenebrous and Aegis, Galactus sends the Silver Surfer to locate them. The Surfer eventually draws the pair into the barrier between the universe and the Negative Zone, which destroys both of them.

After an encounter with Epoch, Galactus consumes the planet Orbucen. When a distraught Beta Ray Bill seeks vengeance for the destruction of the Korbinites' homeworld, Galactus relents and creates a female Korbinite as a companion for Bill. Galactus also consumes the planet Sakaar, earning the enmity of the Hulk's alien-born twin sons, Skaar and Hiro-Kala.

A "celestial parasite" within Galactus is revealed to have spawned a daughter, "Gali" a.k.a. Galacta, who secretly lives on Earth working as a doctor and superhero while seeking to suppress her own hunger. After attempting to use the Ultimate Nullifier to prevent herself from being driven to consume the planet, Galactus replenishes his daughter with cosmic energy and explains her origins to her, leading Gali to realize that she is pregnant.

The Silver Surfer finds the body of a future Galactus underneath New York City, and he summons the present Galactus to Earth. Mr. Fantastic explains that, in the distant future, the heroes on a dying Earth had killed Galactus and then escaped to the present via time travel. When Galactus discovers these heroes now live on a planet called Nu-Earth, he destroys it and its inhabitants in retribution.

A tear in the fabric of space caused by the Annihilation Wave and other interstellar conflicts allows the extra-universal forces of the Cancerverse (an alternate universe without death) to invade. Galactus, the Celestials and the resurrected Tenebrous and Aegis combat the powerful Cancerverse weapon: the Galactus Engine (constructed from the corpse of the Cancerverse's counterpart to Galactus). During the events of the Chaos War, Galactus is teleported to Earth by the Olympian demigod Hercules to help fight the Chaos King, a metaphysical embodiment of Oblivion and another antithesis of Eternity. While the Hulk and his allies the God Squad, Alpha Flight, and several members of the Avengers fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces, Amadeus Cho and Galactus develop a machine which will move Earth to a safe location in a sealed-off continuum, only to adapt the plan by trapping Amatsu-Mikaboshi in that dimension instead.

After an encounter with the High Evolutionary, Galactus invades Asgard, home of the Norse Gods, seeking an Asgardian artifact to sate his hunger and spare future civilizations. Odin, ruler of the Norse Gods, contends that Galactus wishes to ensure that he is not replaced in the next universe. To avoid a protracted battle, the Silver Surfer offers to remain on Earth to guard the artifact on the condition that Galactus may have it once Asgard eventually passes. Galactus recruits a human preacher from Earth named Pastor Mike (full name unknown) that he names Praeter to be his new herald. Later, when the Mad Celestials from Earth-4280 invade, Galactus destroys one before being struck down by the others. Revived by Franklin Richards, he and Franklin succeed in vanquishing the remaining Celestials, and prevent the destruction of Earth. In the aftermath, Galactus learns that he will no longer face the eventual end of the universe alone; he and Franklin will witness it together.

Galactus is then pulled through a hole in space-time to an alternate universe and meets another version of himself: a space-faring mechanical hive mind called Gah Lak Tus. After the two merge with one another, Galactus makes his way towards this universe's Earth in an attempt to consume it. The heroes of the alternate Earth travel to Earth-616 to acquire information on Galactus and eventually manage to send Galactus to the Negative Zone, reasoning that he will eventually starve to death, as the region is composed of anti-matter. A comatose Galactus is found by the Eternals and Aarkus, who hope to use him in their war against the Kree.

Galactus returns to the universe, and after an encounter with Squirrel Girl, is forced into his own incubator by the Ultimates, who are determined to end his threat. Galactus re-emerges as a Lifebringer instead of a Devourer of Worlds, his first act as such being to re-create Archeopia, the first planet that he ever consumed. Galactus later rescues the team at the behest of Eternity, and learns that the latter has been imprisoned by an unknown force. Galactus also comes into conflict with fellow cosmic entities Master Order and Lord Chaos, who, along with the Molecule Man, wish for Galactus to return to his former role as a Devourer of Worlds and thereby restore the cosmic order. Galactus locates the hero Anti-Man outside the Multiverse and, after transforming him into a Herald of Life, sends him to recruit the recently disbanded Ultimates to help discover the identity of Eternity's captor, who is later revealed to be the First Firmament, the first iteration of the cosmos. Master Order and Lord Chaos bring Galactus to trial before the Living Tribunal, still seeking to restore Galactus to his former state for the sake of the cosmic order. Although Galactus successfully argues that the balance of the new Multiverse is different and that his old role is obsolete, the Tribunal is destroyed by a Firmament-influenced Master Order and Lord Chaos. After a brief battle, Master Order decides to create a new cosmic order, which it and Lord Chaos would control. Their former servant, the In-Betweener, is forcibly merged with them into a new cosmic being called Logos. After destroying several Celestials, Logos forcibly transforms Galactus back into the Devourer of Worlds. The process is reversed when Anti-Man sacrifices his life to restore Galactus as the Lifebringer. Galactus then swears to free the imprisoned Eternity.

During the "Infinity Countdown" storyline, the Silver Surfer requests Galactus' aid in defeating Ultron/Hank Pym by consuming the planet Saiph, which is overrun by Ultron drones. Galactus reluctantly agrees. After consuming Saiph, Galactus' hunger returns and the Silver Surfer becomes his herald again as he takes Galactus to find an uninhabited planet.

Returning to Earth, Galactus has a confrontation with Doctor Doom and the Fantastic Four, with Doom revealing his plans to harness Galactus' power as an energy source. Banished to the mystical realms by an alien sorcerer, Galactus becomes entangled in the schemes of Dormammu and Mephisto. Galactus begins to consume mystical energy, eventually absorbing Dormammu and other mystical entities, and in doing so goes insane and destabilizes reality. Doctor Strange intervenes and – with the aid of Eternity and the Living Tribunal – is able to undo the damage wrought by Galactus.

An injured Galactus crashlands on Asgard, apparently seeking asylum from the cause of his universe's destruction: the Black Winter (Fimbulwinter), a cosmic entity that fulfills a similar purpose to Galactus on a far larger scale — rather than simply devouring planets, it consumes entire universes. Galactus reveals to All-Father Thor that he had a vision of Thor being responsible for his death. In a bid to destroy the Black Winter, Galactus turns Thor into his Herald of Thunder. Thor later learns that the Black Winter considers Galactus to be his herald. This causes an angered Thor to drain Galactus of his energies enough to turn him into a desiccated husk. When the Black Winter moves in to claim Galactus' body, Thor uses it as a bomb to decimate the Black Winter.

Powers and abilities
The first (and oldest) living entity in the universe, Galactus was created during the union of the Sentience of the (previous) Universe and Galan of Taa, and is described as "the physical, metamorphosed embodiment of a cosmos." Although not an abstract, non-corporeal entity, his true form cannot be perceived by most beings; each species sees Galactus in a form they can comprehend, similar to their race or a deity of their religion. Galactus can also appear as a humanoid star when addressing fellow members of the cosmic hierarchy. Through his actions of consuming planets, Galactus embodies a living force of nature whose existence is necessary to correct the imbalances between the conceptual entities: Eternity and Death, as well as to serve as a cosmic test of survival for civilizations. Additionally, the continued existence of Galactus ensures the confinement of the cosmic entity Abraxas. As Galactus requires planets with the potential to support life, his existence also causes the extinction of entire extraterrestrial civilizations.

The consumption of planets is what maintains Galactus' life and power. He usually employs the Elemental Converter, which converts matter into energy more efficiently, even though he is capable of feeding without it. Alternatively, Galactus can absorb energy directly from cosmic beings and even mystical entities—though with unpredictable results. Processing this cosmic energy allows Galactus to utilize a force known as the Power Cosmic to perform great feats, which have included universal cosmic awareness, telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection; size alteration; transmutation of matter; teleportation of objects across space, the creation of force fields and interdimensional portals; the creation of life, the resurrection of the dead, manipulating souls, memories and emotions, and mass-scale events such as recreating dead worlds in every detail (including illusions of their entire populations) and destroying multiple solar systems simultaneously.

To aid in his search for suitable planets, Galactus frequently appoints an individual as his herald, granting each one in turn a small fraction of the Power Cosmic. This power replaces the auras (or souls) of the recipient, with each wielder's physical form adapting to store the energy and in turn allow manipulation for feats such as energy projection. Galactus is also capable of removing the Power Cosmic from the herald. Galactus has on occasion been severely weakened due to a lack of sustenance, and on one occasion was defeated while in this state by the combined efforts of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. In this weakened condition, Galactus has also shown susceptibility to Ikonn's spell, which forces him to remember all of the beings that he has killed due to his feeding.

Galactus also possesses scientific knowledge that is beyond comprehension as the oldest living entity in the universe. He is capable of building massive starships of his own design, humanoid robots called Punishers used to battle foes beneath his attention, the Ultimate Nullifier (a superweapon capable of destroying and remaking the Multiverse), and the solar system-sized and Möbius strip-shaped space station named Taa II. Mr. Fantastic has speculated that Taa II may be the greatest source of energy in the universe.

Heralds
The Silver Surfer is a recurring ally and herald of Galactus, and was the first herald to be introduced into the Marvel Universe. Other characters have also filled the role of a herald intermittently.

Characters who debuted as heralds or creations of Galactus:

 * Tyrant (deceased)
 * the Fallen One (deceased)
 * the Air-Walker (deceased)
 * Firelord (released from Galactus' service)
 * Terrax the Tamer (released from Galactus' service)
 * Nova II (released from Galactus' service)
 * Morg the Executioner (released from Galactus' service)
 * Red Shift (deceased)
 * Stardust (banished to the far side of the universe)
 * Praeter (missing, fate unknown)

The following characters have fulfilled the role of a herald for only one storyline:

 * the Destroyer
 * Rom the Space Knight
 * the Dazzler
 * May Parker (as Golden Oldie)
 * the Human Torch (as the Invisible Boy)
 * the Ultimates
 * * Anti-Man
 * Doctor Strange
 * Thor Odinson
 * Ka-Zar

Other versions
Numerous versions of Galactus exist in alternate universes:

The Adventures of the X-Men
The final issue of The Adventures of the X-Men reveals that the previous universe from which Galan originates was Earth-92131, which was being destroyed when the Dweller-in-Darkness used the M'Kraan Crystal to feed of the energies of the dying universe. Galan's rebirth as Galactus is depicted as being observed by the Living Tribunal and the Brothers from DC vs. Marvel.

Amalgam Comics
In the Amalgam Comics universe that combines Marvel and DC characters, Galactus is combined with DC's Brainiac to create Galactiac, a being that consumes planetary energy but also leaves some of the world intact for his own personal study.

Bullet Points
In the five-issue miniseries Bullet Points (January – May 2007), Galactus arrives on Earth with the Silver Surfer and kills most of Earth's heroes. Their sacrifice inspires the Surfer to turn on Galactus, who subsequently flees Earth.

Cancerverse
The limited series The Thanos Imperative features the huge Galactus Engine.

Cosmic Ghost Rider
Galactus of Earth-TR666 created a new herald—the Cosmic Ghost Rider—in a failed attempt to stop Thanos.

Earth X
In the limited series Earth X, Galactus is one of the three entities in the universe responsible for keeping cosmic entities the Celestials in check. By destroying planets (the "eggs" of the Celestials), Galactus prevents the beings from overpopulating the universe. Franklin Richards eventually adopts Galactus' identity.

Exiles
The series Exiles features a version of Galactus that restores rather than destroys worlds, and empowers the being Sabretooth to defeat a renegade Silver Surfer.

Galactus: Dawn of the Heralds
In an alternate universe, to resurrect Galactus, the Silver Surfer used the remnants of Ultron, creating a fusion of Ultron and Galactus.

Guardians of the Galaxy
In the alternate future of Earth-691, the original Guardians of the Galaxy witness the formation of a symbiotic relationship between Galactus and the former Silver Surfer, now known as the Keeper. Having been named a Protector of the Universe by Eon and further empowered with the Quantum Bands, the Keeper possesses sufficient power to constantly supply Galactus with energy, ending his need to consume worlds.

Heroes Reborn
Fantastic Four (vol. 2) features a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards after the events of the Onslaught saga, and includes a version of Galactus with five heralds, all of whom are worshiped by the Inhumans.

King Thor
In the timeline of an aged and future King Thor, Galactus comes to a deserted Earth to finally consume it. The entity eventually bonds with All-Black the Necrosword and becomes "Galactus the World Butcher", devouring multiple planets. Galactus is finally consumed by an All-Black-empowered Ego the Living Planet.

Mangaverse
Galactus appears as a gigantic, planet-sized life form—complete with a single massive eye and tentacles—covered with a number of life forms (Galactus spores), which aid its digestion.

Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four
Marvel Adventures—aimed at a younger audience—concluded its Fantastic Four imprint with issue #48. Set at the end of time, Galactus summons the present-day Fantastic Four to his side to battle the last surviving villains in the universe. The Fantastic Four eventually retreat to Galactus' ship, unable to defeat the villains, only to witness Galactus dismiss them with a gesture. The comic ends with the Fantastic Four returning to their present-day, realizing that Galactus had summoned them to the end of time out of loneliness, before he continued on as the only living being towards the next iteration of the universe.

Marvel Zombies
The limited series Marvel Zombies features the Earth-2149 universe, which is infected by a virus changing sentient beings into flesh-eating zombies. Galactus' power is absorbed when consumed by the infected Avengers.

MC2
The MC2 title Last Planet Standing features a future version of Galactus that eventually merges with the Silver Surfer and vows to repair rather than destroy worlds.

Ultimate Marvel
The trilogy introduced the threatening entity Gah Lak Tus. First mentioned by the robot Ultimate Vision and subsequently by the Kree, Gah Lak Tus is a group mind of city-sized robotic drones. To prepare for the arrival, the drones send telepathic broadcasts of "fear", then use envoys (similar to the Silver Surfer), who introduce a flesh-eating virus into planets. Gah Lak Tus is also involved in the "Chitauri-Kree" War, and temporarily merged with Galactus after a temporal rift sends the latter to the Ultimate Marvel universe.

Mahr Vehl stated the Gah Lak Tus swarm was originally built by the ancient Kree eons ago to eliminate all foes and "purify" the universe, but subsequently escaped their control and evolved into its current form.

"What If Uatu The Watcher Had Never Interfered?"
During "Reckoning War", as punishment for his interference Uatu is forced by his father Ikor to watch the unnamed alternate world where he never interfered to warn the Fantastic Four about Galactus' original attack. Without Uatu's aid, Galactus' attack leaves the Fantastic Four with various injuries, including Sue being blinded and Johnny's body burning while Reed is damaged by the radiation in Galactus' ship, but Reed is able to analyze the energy Galactus feeds on and create a weapon that assaults Galactus with energy on a frequency opposite to the type of energy that sustains him, killing Galactus and providing that alternate Earth with a new form of energy.

Television

 * Galactus appeared in a self-titled episode of Fantastic Four (1967), voiced by Ted Cassidy. This version sports green skin and armor.
 * Galactus appears in Fantastic Four (1994), voiced by Tony Jay.
 * Galactus appears in Silver Surfer, voiced by James Blendick. Unlike the rest of the characters, he is animated with CGI.
 * Galactus appears in The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by George Takei.
 * Galactus makes non-speaking appearances in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episodes "Prisoner of War" and "Avengers Assemble". This version feeds on antimatter in addition to planetary energy, which he achieves by using life-siphoning machines to convert normal matter into antimatter. Additionally, he was responsible for the destruction of the Skrull's home planet of Skrullos. After attacking Earth, Galactus is ultimately defeated by the Avengers and their allies and sent to the Negative Zone, where he can infinitely consume its energy and no longer be a threat.
 * Imaginary versions of Galactus make non-speaking cameo appearances in Ultimate Spider-Man.
 * Galactus appears in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "Galactus Goes Green", voiced by John DiMaggio.
 * Galactus appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Guardians and Space Knights", voiced again by John DiMaggio.

Film

 * A version of Galactus—called "Gah-Lak-Tus" in the novelization—appears in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, as a cosmic hurricane-like cloud. Fox apparently wished for the character to remain "discreet"—hence the altered appearance. Visual effects studio Weta Digital convinced Fox to add hints of the character's comic-book appearance, including a shadow and a fiery mass inside the cosmic cloud resembling Galactus' signature helmet. Director Tim Story said he created Galactus as a cosmic cloud so a future Silver Surfer spin-off film would be unique as the character had yet to appear in comic-book form. Film writer J. Michael Straczynski stated "You don't want to sort of blow out something that big and massive for one quick shot in the first movie."
 * Ralph Ineson will portray Galactus in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film The Fantastic Four.

Video games

 * Galactus appears in Silver Surfer.
 * Galactus appears in Fantastic 4—Flame On.
 * Galactus appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Gregg Berger.
 * Galactus appears in the Marvel-level pack for LittleBigPlanet.
 * Galactus appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
 * Galactus appears in Marvel Super Hero Squad.
 * Galactus appears in Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet, voiced by George Takei.
 * Galactus appears in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and its remake Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, voiced by Jonathan Adams.
 * Galactus appears in the Fantastic Four pinball table in Pinball FX 2.
 * Galactus appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by John DiMaggio.
 * Galactus appears in Marvel Puzzle Quest.
 * Galactus appears in Season 4 of Chapter 2 of Fortnite Battle Royale.

title: Galactus


text:
Talk:Galactus

Personality of Galactus
In the lede, it implies that Galactus feeds only on living worlds since he was introduced in the comics in the 60s. In his original appearance, the Watcher explicitly points out that Galactus could feed on non-living worlds too, but Galactus simply doesn't give a shit. This made Galactus a pure villain. It was in later comics that writers turned him into a predator that acts out of necessity, and who somehow serves an overall beneficial role in the Universe (perhaps tapping into our Judeo-Christian intuition that a god ultimately does what is best for all even if he seems cruel to some). BaronBifford (talk) 11:25, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * This is a valid point. Could you try to find the scan with the Watcher's quote? David A (talk) 13:58, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * From Fantastic Four #49 BaronBifford (talk) 21:16, 14 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Hmm. This seems like a reasonable interpretation to me. David A (talk) 12:53, 15 July 2016 (UTC)

I rewrote the lead, removing that inaccurate line. I also removed the analysis of the character, which belongs somewhere in the article body and is kind OR anyway. BaronBifford (talk) 09:53, 16 July 2016 (UTC)
 * Well, I am uncertain if rewriting the entire lead is a good idea. It would probably be best if you simply inserted an issue reference to Fantastic Four #49 regarding that he was originally described as capable of feeding on any type of planet. David A (talk) 10:15, 16 July 2016 (UTC)
 * That should go somewhere in the main body of the article, not the lede. BaronBifford (talk) 12:19, 16 July 2016 (UTC)
 * No, the lead as I wrote it agrees completely with the Manual of Style/Lead section. The lead that you provided is both inaccurate ("colossal humanoid alien"...Galactus is NOT an alien, nor is he humanoid) and summarizes none of the key content from the rest of the article. The controversies/topics of genocide and manifest destiny, etc. are terms that the writers themselves (verbatim) and 3rd party analysis have used for the character. Thus it is not OR.Mobb One (talk) 15:08, 19 August 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Info Box Image
I'm adding this section as it provides the rationale for the image change. There are 3 clear reasons for a change:

 * Per Guidelines, the image must where possible be only of the subject of the article.
 * This leads into the second point: having a second character in the image confuses the issue. There are casual readers who know nothing about the character and might assume it is the smaller figure, and ask themselves why the character is cowering in front of this giant, how are we supposed to get a good look at him etc. It needs to be clear.
 * The De Vito image is ideal as it is not only free of obstructions, but also illustrates why the character is called the "Devourer of Worlds", conveying a certain gravitas the other image lacks.

There was also a preference for this image in past Talk :.

Thank you. Asgardian (talk) 10:43, 1 June 2017 (UTC)
 * Kinda shadowy, isn't it? Argento Surfer (talk) 14:16, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

 * I personally do not mind replacing the inage with one featuring Galactus alone, but am uncertain if this one in particular is ideal. It is likely better than the old one though. David A (talk) 15:28, 1 June 2017 (UTC)

 * I take your point. I chose this one as it conveys a certain sense of awe and dread that goes with the character's arrival. Although there is some shadow, it goes to my point and was obviously the artist's intention. There are also two other images in the article where the character's face can be clearly seen.

Regards Asgardian (talk) 02:21, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

Image deletion nomination(s)
One or more images currently used in this article have been nominated for deletion as violations of the non-free content criteria (NFCC).

You can read more about what this means and why these files are being nominated for deletion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Comics.

You can participate at the deletion discussion(s) at Files for discussion/2020 April 28. If you are not familiar with NFCC-related deletion discussions, I recommend reading the post linked above first.

Sincerely, The Squirrel Conspiracy (talk) 21:52, 28 April 2020 (UTC)

Re-Assessment to B-Class
I had made (in 2019) a request for the article to be re-assessed against the C grade. The only failing criteria mentioned in the previous "C" assessment was lack of references and citation, which had long before (i.e., before 2019, when I made the original request) been corrected. As none seem to have the time or desire, I have graded the article myself to B class, as, based off the required criteria, I believe the article more than satisfies. I've even made a quick benchmark against the Hank Pym B-Class article, and our Galactus entry has even more references and citations than the Pym article, which leads me to re-affirm our B-Class rating. Mobb One (talk) 15:20, 5 October 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Galactus