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The Presence

Gallery

Real Name

Unknown

Current Alias

The Presence

Status

Alignment

Good

Identity

Secret Identity

Occupation

Supreme Being of DC Multiverse

Characteristics

Unusual Features

The Presence can appear in many different forms.

Origin

Universe

Multiverse

Created by

Jerry Siegel, Grant Morrison, Jack Kirby, Gardner Fox, Gil Kane

First appearance

More Fun Comics #52
(February, 1940)

HistoryEdit

The religious cosmology of the multiverse is complex, with many pantheons of Gods co-existing alongside each other. It includes elements from multiple religions, mythologies, and modern concepts such as the Endless. It is not always clear how the Abrahamic God fits in to this scheme - for example Wonder Woman was once involved in a battle wherein Greek Titans fought Judeo-Christian angels and Hindu Gods.

The Presence has taken numerous forms throughout history, including:

• The Voice - the disembodied Voice of God that spoke to and empowered Jim Corrigan as the Spectre. This is the most "active" version of God seen, to the point that it even answers the Spectre's prayers by resurrecting the murdered Justice Society. When The Voice uttered the first word, it created The Word, and it was already being traced by Destiny in his book.

• The Hand - the appearance of a hand coming out of a nebula was sighted at the moment of universal creation. This is the presence that the rogue Guardian Krona saw when he went back to the beginning of time. The hand was seen again by Swamp Thing, Deadman, and the Phantom Stranger when Heaven was threatened by a Great Darkness.

• The Source - the universal spirit venerated by the New Gods, which resides beyond the Source Wall. It is thought of as the intelligence aspect of the Presence's infinite scope.

• The Presence - the unseen entity who commands the allegiance of the host of angels, including Zauriel.
  

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

• Omnipotence
• Omniscience
• Omnipresence
• Omniversal
• Infinity of all cosmic powers and abstract entities

Abilities

• Unlimited

Strength level

• Incalculable

Weaknesses

• None
  

NotesEdit

• DC's superhero comics have always drawn upon The Bible for plot elements - the first appearance of "The Voice" was in the 1940 origin of the Spectre - but it has traditionally been known through surrogate concepts and names rather than by referring to God directly. The superhero comics are published under the Comics Code - a set of ethical guidelines drawn up in the 1950s in reaction to anti-comic book hysteria. The Code does not explicitly refer to God, but does say that "Ridicule or attack on any religious or racial group is never permissible." Later revisions of the code are phrased in terms of respecting religious beliefs and religious institutions. That may account for the superhero comics hesitancy when dealing with God. The lack of a central doctrine means that multiple "aspects" of God have been introduced by different writers.

• Many references to similar beings appear to be obvious references to God, but they are sometimes revealed to be other entities in the DC Universe. For example, the voice that gave powers to the heroes Hawk and Dove, was retconned into belonging to a Lord of Order and a Lord of Chaos.

• Some Biblical events are assumed to be fact in the DC Universe, but they often involve significant artistic license. For example: It was Eclipso (the original agent of God's Wrath) who caused the Great Flood and it was his replacement, the Spectre, who unleashed the ten plagues on Egypt and later parted the Red Sea for Moses. The DC Universe is repeatedly shown to have been created via a variation of the Big Bang and humans evolved from apes, yet paradoxically, it also has a Garden of Eden and a version of Lilith, Adam's first wife. Also, this is supported with Cain and Abel's presence.

• The Presence is the most powerful entity in the DC Multiverse. Different stories portray it as being the "creator of the DC universe" and thus transcending all things with the Presence itself being its representation within creation. Other stories have it as another god who inherited a large portion of the godwave, the force that created the gods of the DC universe, and relies on the faith of its worshippers to empower it.

Related

• 15 Appearances of Presence (New Earth)
• 2 Images featuring Presence (New Earth)
• 1 Quotations by or about Presence (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Presence (New Earth)

LinksEdit

Discover and Discuss

• Search this site for: The Presence · Unknown · Presence (New Earth)
• Search the Forums for: The Presence · Unknown · Presence (New Earth)
• Discuss this and other characters on the forums

Footnotes