Presence (New Earth)

From DC Database

Presence (New Earth)

[[Image:|200px|center|Presence (New Earth)]]

Real Name

Unknown

Universe

New Earth

First appearance

Unknown

History

History of character is unknown.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

None known.

Abilities

None known.

Paraphernalia

Equipment: None known.
Transportation: None known.
Weapons: None known.

Notes

The religious cosmology of the DC Universe is complex with many pantheons of Gods co-existing alongside each other, although metaphysical interpretations of these elements do not rule atheism out of the question. It involves elements from multiple religions, mythologies, and modern created concepts such as the Endless. It is not always clear how the Abrahamic God fits in to this - for example one particular Wonder Woman storyline by Eric Luke featured the Greek Titans fighting Judeo-Christian angels and Hindu Gods.

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 they have traditionally used surrogate concepts and names rather than refer 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. Significant examples of God surrogates include:

• 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 in the comic books. At one point it even answers the Spectre's prayers by resurrecting the murdered Justice Society. When The Voice uttered the first word, it created The Word, it was already being traced by Destiny in his book.

• The Hand - an image of a hand appearing out of a nebula has been referenced numerous times in different DC Comics as a metaphor for the creator or the mystery that exists at the moment of universal creation. First seen in Green Lantern Vol 2 #40.

• The Source - the universal spirit from Jack Kirby's Fourth World cosmology.

• The Presence - the unseen Abrahamic God from Grant Morrison's angel mythology.

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

Powers

The Presence is the supreme being in the DC Comics Universe as it is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

The Presence is the beyond the Source which is merely thought of as the intelligence aspect of its infinite scope.

The Presence is everywhere at all time. It chooses to appear in different forms such as the "Hand of Creation."

The Presence is the most powerful entity in the DC Universe. 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 worshipers to empower it.

Trivia

• See One Above All (Supreme Being) (Multiverse) at the Marvel Database Wikia for the Marvel Comics version.

See Also

• Discuss Presence (New Earth) on the forums

• Appearances of Presence (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Presence (New Earth)

Recommended Reading

• None.

Links and References

• None.
  

Footnotes

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