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Quote1 Though we are older than time itself, we are still New Gods, and you are our future. This class, as with all graduating classes, has a responsibility to aid in the advancement of worlds so they can join us in the light. And together, bring order to all people, forever. Quote2
Highfather src

Highfather is the ruler of New Genesis, a powerful New God who seeks to bring peace to the Multiverse and destroy his eternal enemy and brother Darkseid.

Rise of the New Gods

New 52 Origin

Izaya is the firstborn of the Old God Yuga Khan, living as a mud-grubber alongside his wife Avia and his brother Uxas, constantly suffering the abuse of the all-mighty deities who paid little attention to their devout worshippers. He saw his brother's blaspheming as a way to bring divine wrath upon his family and the world, but Uxas believed this would be a good thing, deciding to start a war among the Old Gods.[1]

Dragged into his brother's war, Izaya fought alongside Uxas against the Gods and their allies, among them being their own father. Using the Anti-Life to revive the Gods Uxas killed, Yuga Khan clashed against his sons and was ultimately murdered by Uxas, ending the life of the Old Gods.[2]

Trying to run for Avia's life, he stopped at the wounded body of the lord of the sky. Izaya put his faith in the sky God and begged him to save her, but both she and the God were too far gone. But even as the sky deity died, taking Avia with him, he bestowed upon Izaya the last vestiges of his power, transforming him into a New God.

Izaya faced Uxas, who reacted with disdain at the idea that Izaya would steal power from the Old Gods as well, but Izaya responded that their powers were gifts, that they were both New Gods and pleaded with him to join forces in the light, but this only filled Darkseid's heart with more contempt, so he destroyed the entire planet, leaving the two of them as the only known survivors.[1]

Though Izaya was initially presented as originating in the world of the Old Gods, a later storyline presented a different origin.

Second New 52 Origin

Izaya (Prime Earth) 004

Izaya

The brothers Izaya and Uxas arose in Galactica, the Third World[3], which was born from the Living Atoms of the fallen Old Gods[4]. They lived in peace until Uxas murdered Avia, Izaya's wife. This action sparked a civil war that set god against god and turned Galactica to ruin. After seven days of horrific war, Uxas and his followers were cast out. In time, his brother would claim Apokolips as his domain.

Eons later, Izaya built the utopia of New Genesis over the ruins of their previous world and took the name Highfather, taking upon himself to destroy his brother and free all creation from his menace, igniting an everlasting war between both.[4]

As subsequent continuity changes have seemingly restored much of Uxas' pre-Flashpoint backstory, complete with him being born on Apokolips, it seems likely that Izaya is no longer Darkseid's brother in current continuity, but this remains unconfirmed.

A Bargain is Made

At some point Highfather conceived a son with an unknown spouse who was also killed by by Darkseid in a failed unification attempt.[4] In the end he was forced to trade his only progeny for Darkseid's own in a new found peace treaty between New Genesis and Apokolips.[5] While initially against such a treaty with his hated brother, a desperate Izaya ventured into what remains of the Source Wall. Seeking out the fabled Source Shard, part of the original wall before the Old Gods died for answers.[6]

Instead he was sundered between his moral center and a new heartless self, his humanity being divested among the now cold and calculating Highfather persona and an abstract extension of himself called Infinity Man. Who would forever bare his love, loss and all their shared regrets.[6]

Later Adventures

After a conflict with the Anti-Life Entity resulted in the ostensible death of Forager, Izaya ordered Orion to carry Forager's body into the Bug Colony. This was meant to be a lesson in tolerance; Orion often disrespected Forager because of his status as a member of the Bugs, and it was also meant to show Orion something else: that Forager was no Bug, but in fact a New God himself. Once Forager's true nature was revealed to Orion, Izaya had Forager's body treated with the full respects of an honored warrior of New Genesis, returning him to the Source.[7]

New 52

Early Meetings With Superheroes

Highfather sent his son Orion to Earth in quest of a great menace he foresaw through The Source Wall,[8] a threat he revealed was posed by the last Kryptonian due to his tremendous power being a danger to that universe.[9]

Some time later, Orion brought an Amazon, a Goddess queen, a mortal and her baby child to Highfather's presence after escaping a dangerous being from Earth.[10] He placed Diana into a coma for three days so her sustained wounds could heal, while reprimanding Orion for bringing foreigners to New Genesis. He then ordered Orion to take the infant, a command he reluctantly followed at first, but his rebellious nature took the best of him and once again disobeyed his father, teleporting everyone back to Earth away from New Genesis, an outcome Highfather knew would unfold.[11]

Godhead

Highfather visited the Source Wall alongside Metron in search for a weapon capable of ending the war against his brother once and for all, the Life Equation. They interrogated the imprisoned Relic, discovering that someone has crossed the wall and tampered with the Life Equation through the power of the Lantern Rings. To the end of gathering the Equation for himself, he had the Council of Eight seek out and recover the seven rings that consist of the Emotional Spectrum.

He commanded Hyalt to modify his scepter in order to channel the energy of the rings, but they proved insufficient to harness the power of the Equation, so he decided to search for the one who caused the wall breach, the White Lantern, while also deeming the Lantern Rings too powerful for mortals to use and commanded his Council to retrieve them all.[4] [12]

After discovering the White Lantern's location,[13] Highfather followed him to win his trust by giving him a means of "saving" him from his uncontrollable power which was tampered by the Templar Guardians, offering him a means of saving his life on New Genesis, an offer he agreed to while also taking Carol Ferris with him.[14]

Highfather then convinced Kyle to willingly give him full control of the Life Equation, opening a mental backdoor to the Equation by cutting off Kyle from utilizing it,[15] [16] and stranded both him and Carol in the ruins of Old Genesis. The Equation finally his, he and Bekka traveled to the planet of Muz and successfully transformed the entire inhabitants into a mighty New God army.[15]

Once the Council of Eight completed the capture of the ring wielders, he proceeded to inform his subjects of his plot for them, planning to convert both the Lanterns and the humans alongside their defenders on Earth into loyal soldiers for their war against Apokolips.[17]

The numerous Corps locked at the Singularity Stockade, Highfather offered the Lantern Indigo-1 an opportunity to ally with them, surrender the Corps and the Indigo Tribe will be spared, one she gladly accepted. However, when he was about to convert the Green Lanterns, his Council member Malhedron turned against him, proclaiming he won't serve a tyrant while saving the Lanterns from his leader by teleporting them away. Frustrated, he left Uggha to deal with the insurrection against his authority.[18] Kyle and Carol managed to return to New Genesis and take the White Ring back, but it would not channel the Life Equation as Highfather remained fully in control of it, proclaiming he is one with the Equation before getting rid of them with his power.[19]

Highfather was preparing for the invasion when Lantern Sinestro arrived to offer him a truce, surrender against him and the New Gods will live, but Highfather only mocked him, considering him an inferior being. Overpowered, Sinestro escaped through a Boom-Tube, but Highfather decided to ignore him to focus in his invasion of Earth.[20]

Unknown to him, Sinestro tampered the Boom-Tube's coordinates in order to summon reinforcements which came in the form of the Source Titans, ancient beings from the Source Wall revived by the Black Hand who forced Highfather to defend New Genesis from the titanic threat. He desperately tried to transform them to their ranks with the Life Equation, but the beings were beyond his scope and he was powerless against them. That plus the Lantern Jordan's claim that he was becoming the very Darkseid he despises, made Highfather realize the atrocity of his actions.

He regretfully returned the Life Equation to Kyle's possession, who immediately managed to free New Genesis from the Titans, but was too late to save the flying city which was too damaged to remain sustainable on orbit. Fortunately, Lantern Jordan and Saint Walker combined their power to prevent the city's impending disaster and save all the surviving New Gods. Highfather sincerely apologized for the pain he caused, and promised he will never again become the very thing he abhors, while also declaring he must not only restore New Genesis' structures, but his own people's trust as well.[16]

Quintessence

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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Powers

  • New God Physiology: The beings of New Genesis call themselves Gods and live outside of normal time and space, even outside of the normal 52 universes. These New Gods have evolved due to taking up the powers of other gods and through the use of the Source, believed to be one of the ultimate foundations of the Universal Expression of Energy, along with their superior technology, into beings of genetic stability and evolutionary perfection. The denizens of New Genesis are immortal, stronger, faster, and smarter than homo sapiens, despite their resemblance.
    • Flight
    • Immortality: Highfather Izaya is functionally immortal, having ceased aging physically when he received his power.
    • Invulnerability: Highfather Izaya survived the annihilation of an entire planet.[1] His New God physiology also gives him total immunity towards any kind of disease.[20]
    • Superhuman Strength: Highfather Izaya's strength as a New God rivals Darkseid's, having clashed toe-to-toe against him countless times in the past,[4] and has enough strength to effortlessly shatter the fear entity Parallax.[20]
    • Superhuman Stamina: Highfather Izaya fought a never-ending war against Darkseid for seven days straight with little to no signs of fatigue.[4]
  • Cosmic Awareness: Highfather Izaya can feel disturbances in the fabric of the universes, specially those caused by the evil Darkseid.[12]
  • Mental Link: Highfather Izaya possesses the psionic ability to create psychic links with the minds of others, capable of placing mental inhibitors on their powers and even harm them to the point of physical damage.[16]

Abilities

  • Leadership: Highfather is worshipped as a God among Gods, inspiring undying loyalty among his New God subjects.[21] [22] [23] Under his shadow, New Genesis has grown into a figure of might that even the Guardians of the Universe have learn to fear[24] and Darkseid himself considers a threat.[5] However, his firm and somewhat ruthless command also inspires intimidation, bearing a striking resemblance to his hated enemy.[25] Thus once he realized his actions, he finally relinquished his tyrannic methods and returned to his original, peaceful way of rule.[16]
  • Intimidation [26] [5]

Equipment

  • Life Equation: The ultimate power in the Multiverse, Highfather gained control over the manifestation of life which gave him the ability to reshape all of reality at will.[15] Even so, since Highfather wasn't the one to cross the Source Wall and neither the one who was imbued with the Life Equation, his control over it was partial and limited, with only the original wielder being capable of fully harness it.[16] (Formerly)
    • Reality Alteration: With this newfound power, he could easily transform any sentient beings into mighty New Gods loyal to him with a thought[15] and even shatter entire planets on a single glance.[14] (Formerly)
  • Mother Box

Transportation

Weapons

  • Genesisian Scepter: A weapon he uses since his earliest battles,[1] it was upgraded with the seven Power Rings of the Emotional Spectrum with the hopes of tapping into the Life Equation. A purpose it originally failed to achieve.[4] But after Highfather's siege of the White Ring, the scepter successfully managed to channel the white light of life, giving Highfather access to the power of the Life Equation.[15] This scepter was broken by Highfather himself on a fit of guilt.[16]


Izaya (Prime Earth) 003

First depiction of Highfather.

Related

Footnotes


New Gods 02
Jack Kirby's Fourth World
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This character or group of characters are related to Jack Kirby's Fourth World, either the original concept and group of titles by Jack Kirby, or any of their subsequent adaptations by other creators. This template will categorize articles that include it into the Fourth World Characters category.

Green Lantern 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular Vol 1 1 Textless 1960s Variant
Green Lantern Villain(s)
DC Rebirth Logo

This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Green Lantern of Earth, or the Green Lantern Corps as a whole. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Green Lantern Villains."

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