Galactus

Galactus () is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966). Lee and Kirby wanted to introduce a character that broke from the archetype of the standard villain. In the character''''s first appearance, Galactus was depicted as a god-like figure that fed by draining living planets of their energy, and operated without regard to the morality or judgments of mortal beings. Galactus''''s initial origin was that of a Taa-an space explorer named Galan who gained cosmic abilities by passing near a star, but writer Mark Gruenwald further developed the character''''s origins, presenting Taa and Galan as existing in the universe prior to the Big Bang that began the setting of the current universe. As Galan''''s universe came to an end, he merged with the "Sentience of the Universe" to become Galactus, an entity who must consume planets to sustain his existence. Additional material written by John Byrne,