Dreaming Celestial

Dreaming Celestial
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Eternals Vol. 1, #18 (December 1977)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In-story information
Team affiliations	Celestials
Notable aliases	Tiamut, The Black Celestial, the Great Renegade, the Golden Celestial

The Dreaming Celestial is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a renegade member of the race of god-like Celestials.

Publication history

The Dreaming Celestial first appeared in Eternals Vol. 1, #18 (December 1977), and was created by Jack Kirby.

The character subsequently appears in Eternals Vol. 2 #9 (June 1986), #11-12 (August–September 1986), Silver Surfer Annual #2 (1989), Fantastic Four #340 (May 1990), Fantastic Four #25 (January 2000), Heroes Reborn: Ashema #1 (January 2000), Heroes Reborn: Doom #1 (January 2000), The Eternals #6 (January 2007), The Uncanny X-Men #496 (May 2008), and Incredible Hercules #116 (June 2008).

The Dreaming Celestial received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #2.

Fictional character biography

During the Second Celestial Host, the Dreaming Celestial committed a crime "against life itself" and was exiled by his brethren.

At the time, the Deviants were the dominant force on Earth, and the Dreaming Celestial was ready to call the Horde for harvesting of the planet. However, Arishem had that order cancelled, and had many of the Deviants culled, while not touching the other species. As this was a violation of their protocol, the Dreaming Celestial tried to assume command, and attacked Arishem. The Dreaming Celestial then found himself attacked by the other Celestials, and he was imprisoned underneath the mountains. Why they did this though, is still not truly clear, and mention must be made of the fact that this account of events was given by the Dreaming Celestial itself and has not yet been rebutted or verified.

The other Celestials ripped his spirit from his body and placed in a device known as "The Vial," with a fraction of the Dreaming Celestial's soul used to make a key that could unlock the Vial. The Celestials then sealed the Dreaming Celestial's body in a vault under the Diablo Mountains in California. For millennia, the Celestial slept. Eventually, the Deviant Priestlord Ghaur remade the key and drank the essence of the Dreaming Celestial, thus giving the Priestlord the height and power of a Celestial. Soon thereafter, the Dreaming Celestial took advantage of this and mentally controlled Ghaur to free the Dreamer from his never-ending sleep. This plan was thwarted by the Avengers and the Eternals, and the Vial was sealed once more.

After the events of Heroes Reborn the Dreaming Celestial found a loophole out of his prison, a gateway into the Heroes Reborn Universe. The Dreaming Celestial learned that one of his star-spawned kin was the guardian of the pocket universe. He concluded that the only way out of that pocket universe was through her, the Celestial known as Ashema. The Dreaming Celestial plotted her demise, and was soon opposed by Doctor Doom, Lancer, Technarx, and several other heroes. The Dreaming Celestial captured Ashema and escaped to the Marvel 616 Universe, where he was thwarted by Doom and the Fantastic Four.

In an alternate future, the Dreaming Celestial awoke and turned the world-devourer Galactus into a weapon that would consume the entire universe, leaving the Dreamer to become the nucleus and founder of a new, darker reality. The Fantastic Four, Thor, Iron Man and Gladiator of the Shi'ar thwarted his plans, resulting in Galactus consuming the Renegade.

The Deviants eventually re-awoke the Dreaming Celestial, who turned from black to gold when the rising sun's rays hit him. However, for reasons as yet unrevealed, the Dreaming Celestial decided against destroying the Earth as he had originally intended, at least for the moment. The Dreaming Celestial decided to wait and judge humanity for himself by his unknown standards. In the interim, he informed Makkari that a devastating force called The Horde ("...the locusts of the Universe.."), drawn to the planet by the Celestial's awakening, is heading for the Earth.

The Dreaming Celestial silently stands in place, towering above San Francisco, with Makkari as his prophet -in this capacity, the Eternal is an object of veneration to the Deviants, who call him the Skadraach ("avatar"). He speaks to Makkari, although to the latter's apparent detriment, and once even spoke through him; on that occasion, he referred to himself as Tiamut the Communicator.

After creating a diversion by having Magneto attack San Francisco, the High Evolutionary removed a specific item from the Dreaming Celestial's head through a process Magneto refers to as a lobotomy. The object is used in an experiment on Magneto which appears to restore his mutant gene.

After X-Club returned from their trip to 1906, they found the Dreaming Celestial standing right on top of the spot where they buried the blood samples regarding the origins of mutantkind they were meant to study.

In the final issue of Eternals (vol.4), the Dreaming Celestial goes to confront the Fulcrum, hinted at as being Marvel's supreme being, the One Above All, as the Fulcrum assumes the form of "Jack" (an homage to Jack Kirby) as was the case in The One Above All's only previous appearance (in Fantastic Four #511). The Dreaming Celestial questioned his own purpose and in the process, removes his helmet, revealing a human-like, but shining face. The Fulcrum declared that it had sought a Celestial who would rise above its purpose since before time began, and asked the Dreamer to become his companion; he accepted. The Dreaming Celestial becomes a tourist attraction in San Francisco.

During the "Dark Angel Saga" seen in Uncanny X-Force, the Dreaming Celestial is used by the corrupted Archangel to retrieve a Celestial device known as a Life Seed in order to remake the world. In Uncanny X-Men Vol 2 1, Mr. Sinister manages to gain entry into the Dreaming Celestial and use it to battle Cyclops's Extinction Team.

Powers and abilities

Tiamut possesses the power of cosmic energy control with an unknown upper limit. His armor is able to easily withstand strikes from nuclear warheads and planetary impacts. Tiamut seems to be one of the most powerful Celestials as Galactus feared it and Uatu could not see anything when it awoke.

In other media

• Tiamut appears in the Eternals motion comic, voiced by Alex Zahara.
• Tiamut appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). This version is an unborn Celestial who resides in the Earth's core and will destroy the planet after his birth. The Eternals are tasked with aiding in Tiamut's birth, but turn against the Celestials to stop him after learning the truth. After Tiamut partially emerges from the Indian Ocean, the Eternals petrify him via the Uni-Mind.
• Two different alternate universe variants of Tiamut appear in What If...? season 3 with one being drained of power by Agatha Harkness while the other successfully completes his emergence.

Reception

In 2022, CBR.com ranked Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial 5th in their "Marvel's 20 Most Powerful Celestials" list.