Lord of Apokalips. New God of the Fourth World. Bringing of death, destruction, and horrors beyond imagination. Darkseid! The craggy-faced behemoth who rules a planet and wages war with any who stand for good. How does such a deadly god of evil come to be? Let’s find out!
In the Fourth World, on the planet Apokalips, Prince Uxas was born as the second in line to the throne of King Yuga Khan and Queen Heggra. Cutthroat and ambitious from a young age, Prince Uxas would seek to eliminate his brother, Prince Drax, so he would become the heir to the throne of Apokalips. His father was lost to the dangerous Source Wall, where reality ends, so now it was just his brother and his mother in they way. Drax was a pacifist so Uxas’ mother was pleased to see her second born take charge. Uxas waited for Drax to find the powerful Omega Force before making his move.
Having a skill to corrupt others, Uxas would meet a young man on New Genesis, Apokalips eternal rival, and make a once kind-hearted boy into Uxas’ right hand man, Desaad. Uxas would finally steal the Omega Force from his brother, killing him in the process, and be transformed into a stone-like behemoth that is familiar and feared by many. Uxas would take the name Darkseid and did not take it in vain. Traveling to New Genesis with his uncle Steppenwolf, the two would start to hunt the New God residents for sport. Killing Queen Avia, King Izaya would seek vengeance by killing Steppenwolf and war began between Apokalips and New Genesis.
Love found Darkseid, sorceress and scientist named Suli, the two would have a son named Kaliback. Unfortunately, Heggra had betrothed Darkseid to Tygra and went to Desaad for assistance. Suli was dead from poisoning and Darkseid knew who to blame. Demanding Desaad give Heggra a taste of her own medicine. Darkseid would wed Tygra and have another son, Orion, he’d also realized that the war with New Genesis was beginning to take its toll on his resources. Having learned of the Anti-Life Equation, a formula that could control the wills of all life forms, Darkseid struck a bargain with King Izaya, the Highfather, each trade one of their newborn children to the other to broker peace.
Darkseid would find that his bargain did not benefit him, Highfather’s son, Scott Free, would escape his prison and Big Barda, his best honor guard, would leave with him back to New Genesis. His own son would take to the ideals of New Genesis to heart and become its greatest champion. Not only that, but a prophecy would arise that Orion would one day kill Darkseid. None of this bothered Darkseid for the Anti-Life Equation was all that mattered now. He’d find that the planet Earth seemed to be the likeliest candidate to house it. He’d soon learn that it had many beings called superheroes and that the one called Superman was the most frustrating of them all. Able to go toe to toe with Darkseid but just as on the side of good as New Genesis and its wretched New Gods.
Finding other gods outside the Fourth World, Darkseid decided he must find and attack them. The Olympian gods seemed like a good start and new he could find them through Themyscira, home of the Amazons, their most devout worshippers. Going to war, the Amazons would suffer heavy losses until Wonder Woman would transfer some of her soul to Darkseid and weaken his ruthlessness ever so slightly.
Supergirl would prove to be a potent ally once Darkseid could kidnap and mindcontrol her with black Kryptonite. Using her to lead his Female Furies honor guard, he’d attack Earth and almost succeed until the heroes could return Supergirl to her normal state. Finally feeling the wrath of an unleashed Superman who would imprison Darkseid into the Source Wall. Trapped until he would be set free to help deal with the end of all reality during a Crisis.
Seeing that the death of the Fourth World and its New Gods were at hand, Darkseid began a complex plan to make sure it was all but he would die. Deciding to take the unlikely hero of Jimmy Olsen and make him his champion while attempting to corrupt Mary Mavel to be his right hand. Both reject him and by this time other heroes have learned of his machinations and Orion arrives. The two fight and Darkseid’s heart ends in the grasp of his son’s hand.
The dead New Gods learn they may survive their end by possessing humans, though their time is limited as they kill their hosts over time. Darkseid is able to kill his son with a specially prepared bullet as vengeance for ruining his plans. Darkseid begins to accumulate power on Earth and in his state of death, learns the Anti-Life Equation. Using the Equation to mind control Earth’s next generation, children, and bringing them to Granny Goodness, the trainer of his Female Furies, to build his army. He’d cast his net wider by throwing the Anti-Life Equation on the internet and create the most dangerous meme.
This all took time and when he was ready to take control, the heroes of Earth were prepared. Batman, having found how Darkseid had killed Orion gains a bullet of his own to poison Darkseid but die in the process. Still alive, Darkseid would be distracted by Superman as the Flash would bring death itself, the Black Racer. Taken but still not quite gone, Darkseid would find he lingered on a vibrational wave to finish activating his plans for total domination until Superman realizes what is happening and sings at a vibration to unmake what remains of Darkseid, once and for all.
In the New 52, Uxas and Izaya are brothers, sons of the Old Gods. Their father is infuriated when Uxas kills several of the Old Gods, his father uses the Source to resurrect them but is interrupted by Uxas who kills them all and takes most of their power to become Darkseid. Izaya is also granted half the power of the Old Gods to become the Highfather. The two separate ties and create the world’s of Apokalips and New Genesis to establish their own kingdoms. Their battles play out similarly as they did once before with some changes but similar to other realms.
There you have it! Darkseid has been one of the most dangerous threats to all of the DC (and at one time Marvel) Universe. He’s made appearances in animation many times over and has even been hinted at on the big screen but has yet to make his full presence known. He does seem to be arriving soon but we’ll have to wait and see how that turns out. See you next time.
Suggested Reading
Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #134
Forever People #1
Final Crisis
Wonder Woman Vol. 2, #102-104, #173, #188
Legion of Superheroes Vol. 2, #290
Death of the New Gods
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
