The Old Gods of the First World were an ancient race, whose destruction led the way for the Gods of Earth and other planets as well as the Fourth World of Apokolips and New Genesis.
History
Origins
Around 18 billion years ago, the Old Gods originated from GodWorld (also known as Asgard or Urgrund) during the "First World". About 3 billion years later, the "First World" slowly segued into the "Second World" as the humanoid lifeforms on GodWorld attained godhood, thus becoming the Old Gods, in which these beings reached a peak of immense power and ushered a golden age of cultural and scientific advancement.[1]
Destruction
After 10 billion years of this golden age, GodWorld fell into war. At the heart of this conflict was Lokee, god of mischief and bastard son of the chief god Wotan, who became the first god of evil.[2] The conflict between the forces of good and evil escalated until Ragnarok came that saw GodWorld being torn asunder in a great explosion where the gods perished.
Legacy
The energy unleashed by the explosion of GodWorld spread across the universe, generating what later became known as the Godwave which seeded worlds with the potential to eventually bring forth gods of their own. Such a world was Earth, which produced it's first own such gods 35,000 years ago after the Godwave made it's first pass over the planet 40,000 years ago. This was the beginning of the "Third World".[1]
About 4.8 billion years ago, the remnants of GodWorld would eventually create two separate planets: Apokolips and New Genesis. About 30,000 years ago, the denizens of the planets would eventually obtain Godhood and traits mirroring that of the Old Gods, but would be split in terms of moral alignment[1]. New Genesis became dedicated to peace and goodness. Apokolips developed into a cruel, warlike culture. The "Fourth World" began when these New Gods attained godhood and repeated the history of the Old Gods as New Genesis and Apokolips waged war against each other, causing the hostilities to remain to the present day.
Although the Old Gods are long believed to be dead and gone, recent events transpired that have shown some of them have survived their racial extinction. The largest group of surviving Old Gods are the mindless beings known as the Dreggs, who live below the surface of Apokolips. Arzaz and the Nameless One, each other's opposite number, were the only Old Gods who remained free to roam the galaxies. Following the events known as Genesis, Arzaz and the Nameless One were imprisoned in the Source Wall. Several remnants of the Old Gods have also posed significant threats. Mageddon, a sentient Old God war machine, had the ability of turning people into hostile savages by unleashing negative emotions in intelligent minds and was destroyed by the combined efforts of all of Earth's heroes and including every human being temporarily bestowed with superpowers. Gog, an Old God who escaped from the destruction of the Third World and landed in ancient Africa, threatened Earth's existence until being defeated by the Justice Society of America and what remains of him was embedded in the Source Wall.
Miscellaneous
Representatives:
Notes
- In Green Lanterns #28 the Third World is identified as Galactica and in the Prime Earth reality still existed 10 billion years ago.
See Also
Links and References
  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. |