Just what exactly ARE the Celestials? Does anyone know? Can we even comprehend what they are? Well, there are some interesting theories:

The Cognitorum of Velsarius Six believes the Celestials come from outside our multiverse.

According to the Philosopix Ultimus of the Uch'tul hegemony, the Celestials are stars that have reached the end of their cycles, and born from black holes.

The Overscholars of the Winding Mist think the Celestials may each be the survivors of a previous universe, and that when Galactus has served his purpose, he will become a Celestial in the next universe.

The Galaxy M31 once thought the Celestials are the physical manifestation of the evolutionary process, and are simply illusions.

But perhaps the most sound theory is the one held by Kubik & Kosmos, two former Cosmic Cubes. They believe that the Celestials are the creation of Eternity, and are sent forth by him to gather knowledge.

If you've read Fantastic Four#319, you know that the Celestials have a homeworld. It stand to reason then, that they have some sort of culture, civilization, and possibly, a good coffee shop, right? Wrong. The "homeworld" seen in that story was a trick, as the Beyonder later learnt. Trust no one.

Nonetheless, we DO know how Celestials are born. The Black Galaxy, a galaxy whose stars were all snuffed out by Ego, was transformed by the Celestials into a new Celestial, with the help of Hercules & Eric Masterson's DNA, and a big burst of energy from Stellaris (who was actually trying to kill the Celestials).

Given the above, it is interesting to note that the Black Galaxy, at the time of its transformation into a Celestial, was a dead galaxy. This suggests that dead galaxies are re-made into Celestials, or perhaps the "unworthy" ones, at least. We also know that Galactus is the Devourer of] Worlds, and that his destruction of life has a purpose. Could Galactus' constant ravagings have been making room for the creation of new Celestials? Food for thought.

Adding credance to the theory of Kubik and Kosmos, Eternity once mentioned how his desire to manipulate the events leading to the 2nd Kree-Skrull War led to the manifestation of the Celestials. But if the Celestials are born of Eternity, what of the Black Galaxy "birth" scene? The more we learn, the less we know.

Despite being massively powerful- able to melt uru with their energies and erasing themselves from humanity's memories- the Celestials rely upon technology for some of their tricks. This includes space vessels for the Hosts- though Celestials are often seeing in "schools", as seen at the top of this page. The ancient mutant Apocalypse once possessed a Celestial Ship, which he re-programmed to serve him. It is not known when or how he obtained "Ship".

During their "Host" missions, the Celestials have been observed with certain scientific equipment. This includes the staff wielded by Eson, though it's purpose is not known. Gammenon has used a "Gather-Rod", with which he collects samples from planets by re-shaping them into the red blocks on the tip of the Rod. The Rod samples are then placed within the Analyzer, a scanning tool used by Jemiah. Only the Celestials' technology can restore what has been re-shaped by the Rod- much to the dismay of a trio of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents!

Probably the most famous Celestial device is "the Weapon", a large Celestial-size gun that was used to slay the Golden Celestial after he turned against the Host. For some reason, the Celestials did not take this device with them, but let the Eternals handle its imprisonment. When the device was fired, and threatened to destroy the world, the Celestial Ziran took care of the situation. Of course, another Galactus connection suggests itself- is "the Weapon" related to the famed Ultimate Nullifier?

A Deviant expedition to the Celestial Mothership during the 4th Host discovered onboard a "crystal key", some source of great power. The readings they took were duplicated by Deviants on earth, and Ghaur used the Crystal Key to open the Vial containing the essence of the Dreaming Celestial. It is not known what purpose the original "key" may have had, beyond a power source.

Lastly, the Celestials have provided advanced technology to those who have accompanied them in travel- such as the vessels used by the Brethren and the Young Gods. Perhaps Apocalypse's "Ship", which is far too small for a Celestial, was previously used by the Celestials' allies.

The best description of the Four Celestial Hosts comes from Ajak, who knew them better than almost any other Eternal. As taken from Eternals#7:

"The Celestials visit a planet in four Hosts. The First came to earth before there were men upon it...but then did find our common ancestor, who became subject to their experiments..."

"Wrath and discipline marked the coming of the Second Host! Many civilizations spawned in the dim past vanished forcing man to climb again in new directions!"

This was the time in which the Deviants dominated most of the earth, and were at war with Atlantis until the Celestials sunk them below the waters, causing the Great Flood. Also, the Golden Celestial turned against the 2nd Host, and had his essence removed by the others, causing him to become the "Dreaming Celestial" of Deviant religion.

"Inspection and cultivation was the job of the Third Host. The Inca civilization received them as gods. The Celestials roamed the world on strange vehicles and caused consternation among the superstitious! Strangely enough, a red-bearded fellow and myself helped to organize the flight crews that serviced the Celestial vehicles and arranged their flight plans..."

During this time, Ajak spoke for the Celestials, and he placed himself into suspended animation at their departure, to be re-awakened by the Fourth Host. This was also when the gods of earthly religions became involved in Celestial affairs, but were forced to swear a non-violence pact for a thousand years.

The Fourth Host is the one which arrived in Eternals#1 to judge the earth. They ultimately ruled in our favour, thanks to the gift of the Young Gods. There was also a "Fifth Host", the name Ghaur gave to his army of undead Deviant warriors, who he intended to join him in battle against the Celestials. But as the Celestials have judged earth, they will never form a Fifth Host themselves.

Had the Celestials judged against Earth, it would likely have become a situation like that of Pangoria in Thor#389- Exitar the Executioner revamped that world to remove its impurities, making it into a paradise. It is not known if the Celestials may now judge Pangoria again in several thousand years. The judgement of planets may well be a never-ending project.

It is also worth noting that the leader of each Host's field party identitifies the purpose of the Host. When Arishem is the leader of the field party, it means the planet must be judged. Presumably, Arishem only leads the 4th Hosts.

There are a few priviledged beings who have assisted the Celestials in their travels:

Ajak, the Polar Eternal who was chosen to communicate with the Third and Fourth Hosts.

The Forgotten One, who saved the One Above All from a Deviant attack, and became his avatar to warn the Eternals not to interfere.

The Brethren, who accompanied Arishem in his judging of worlds, until he drove them away.

The Young Gods, 12 young men and women of earth, chosen by Gaea to represent the best of humanity.

Eternity, from whom the Celestials seem to have sprung.

Thor, the impudient young Asgardian who's bravery ultimately led Exitar to create a Replicoid of Thor to better understand him.

You'd think that people would know better than to mess with thousand-foot tall giants, but then...

Kro, the Deviant who tried to keep the Fourth Host from landing. He tried to suck up to them on their arrival, but they knew his inner nature all too well.

Ghaur, the Deviant priestlord who thought that the power of the Dreaming Celestial would allow him to depose his own gods.

The Dreaming Celestial, the 2nd Host traitor expelled from the ranks of the Celestials for an unspoken crime.

Druig, the crazy Polar Eternal who tried to obtain "the Weapon", hoping to slay Ziran with it.

Odin, the Lord of Asgard, who led the armies of Asgard and Olympia against the Celestials- and lost!

The Destroyer, the massive uru armor built by Odin to take the worst punishment the Celestials could dish out- but still wasn't tough enough!

Stellaris, the so-called "Slayer of Celestials". She's been out to kill Celestials all her life to get revenge for the destruction of her world.

How tall do Celestials get? Good question. Depends on how imposing the artists want them to be, really. The average Celestial is but a mere 2000 feet, give or take a few inches. Exitar the Executioner, however, stands tall at about 4000 feet- he be really big, mon.

And how about their skin? Well, Celestials don't have skin, but they do wear armor. Is this armor impervious to all known forms of bodily harm? Nah. Uru, such as the Odinsword and Mjolnir have pierced it- but the Celestials can fix any such wound almost instantly. Thor DID manage to get inside a Celestial, though.

So what's inside? Well, the interior of a Celestial's body seems to be very much like our own- if we had the power to ravish planets with the wave of a fingertip, that is. Thor found himself against the Celestial's own immune system- which created warrior-men for him to fight! If that isn't enough, Ashema has held an entire universe inside of her! Trust me, you're safer facing these guys man to god.

I'm not really a scholar...I don't know the reasons behind Kirby's use of the Celestials in his comics, even with those funky editorials of his to help. But it seems as though the Celestials are meant to be the gods of the 20th century- a high-tech Marvel that has come to pass judgement over us in a time when there doesn't seem to be any kind of authority. Their purpose seems to be to make men uneasy, to stop thinking of themselves as superior to other lifeforms, and recognize the unfathomable power that is responsible for them- a power that doesn't seem to care for man at all.

Not that the Celestials are some kind of robots- in Eternals#13, we saw that the One Above All, greatest of all Celestials, felt compassion for the Forgotten One, when it saved him from being cast adrift in space. Somewhere inside that armor, the Celestials could be human.

But generally speaking, when the Celestials appear, it's to offer either some indescribeable spectacle (in Thor#450, the Celestials prepare to examine Ego, en masse. We never hear of this again, although Ego has since reappeared, driven insane.) or to be humbled for the sake of some greater power (Infinity Gauntlet). Only their appearances alongside the humans, Deviants and Eternals have offered something worth pondering.

Speaking of pondering, I hope you've enjoyed this little debate. Got some theories of your own? Drop me or Brendon a line.

For further readings on the Celestials, visit their entries in the Encyclopaedia Olympianna, and try "Riddle of the Celestials", a story from Fantastic Four Annual#26 for some mind-boggling concepts.