Anti-Life Equation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Anti-Life Equation is the fictional equation that the DC Comics villain Darkseid is searching for in the Jack Kirby's Fourth World setting. It is for this reason that he sends his forces to Earth, as he believes part of the equation exists in the human subconscious. Various comics have defined the equation in different ways, but a common interpretation seems to be that the equation is a mathematical proof of the futility of living.

Contents

[edit] Fictional history

Darkseid first became aware of the equation approximately 300 years ago when he made contact with the people of Mars. Upon learning of the Martian philosophy that free will could be defined by a "Life Equation," Darkseid postulated that there must exist a negative equivalent[1].

Jack Kirby's original comics established the Anti-Life Equation as giving the being who learns it power to dominate the will of all sentient and sapient races. It is called the Anti-Life Equation because "if someone possesses absolute control over you - you're not really alive."[2] Most stories featuring the Equation use this concept. A full version of the Equation supposedly existed in the mind of the millionaire "Billion Dollar" Bates, but he took it to his death. The Forever People's Mother Box found the Anti-Life Equation in Sonny Sumo, but Darkseid, unaware of this, stranded him in ancient Japan.

In Walt Simonson's Orion (2001), it is revealed that Darkseid and Desaad have gained the Equation from clones of Billion Dollar Bates. In stopping them Orion learned the Equation, and tried to use it to make people happy and good, but realized that the suppression of free will is always a bad thing. It was later revealed that Mister Miracle knows the formula, but is one of the few with the willpower not to use it. Countdown to Final Crisis #10 reveals that the Pied Piper is the human that holds the equation in his mind.

[edit] Defining the equation

Most recently in Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle (2005), by Grant Morrison, Darkseid (or Dark Side, as he now calls himself) has gained full control of the Anti-Life Equation. By speaking, he can insert the full formula into people's minds, giving them the mathematical certainty that life, hope and freedom are all pointless. Shilo Norman (the current Mister Miracle) is able to break free from this with the help of Metron. However, it was implied that these events did not happen in the 'real world', but in a tangent universe inside a black hole. The Anti-Life Equation here is revealed to be:

loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side

During the Emperor Joker storyline, the Joker gains control of the power of Mister Mxyzptlk. Darkseid himself states about this that the Joker has stumbled onto the Anti-Life Equation.

In his introductory storyline Preludes and Nocturnes, Dream of the Endless engages in a shape shifting duel with a Demon of hell in order to win back a portion of his power. When the Demon turns into a Nova, Dream counters by taking the form of the entire Universe, to which the demon responds with what he thought was his trump card, and turns into Anti-Life, described as "The beast of judgment" and "The dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds... of everything" which Dream promptly defeats by turning into hope.

In Jim Starlin's miniseries Cosmic Odyssey, the Anti-Life Equation is revealed as a living entity, which even Darkseid cannot control, and is subsequently destroyed. Much later on, Darkseid would reveal that this was a mistake, and that they had mislabeled the entity. This was later reversed in "The Death of the New Gods" mini-series, where it was revealed that the Anti-Life Equation is indeed a living entity, one-half of a cosmic being that was split into two by the war of the old gods (the other half of the cosmic entity being the Source).

[edit] Alternate realities

  • The JLA story Rock of Ages (1997), by Grant Morrison, includes a future in which Darkseid has learned the Anti-Life Equation, and taken control of both New Genesis and Earth. Earth's population is kept submissive by a constant broadcast of the Equation.
  • In the Elseworlds graphic novel Superman: The Dark Side (1998) Darkseid raises Kal-El as his own (evil) son and later finds that Krypton had been in possession of the Anti-Life Equation before it was destroyed and Jor-El had sent it with his son so that he could use it to subjugate Earth and create a new Krypton. Naturally Darkseid finds it and builds a series of towers which broadcast "...the ANTI-LIFE EQUATION which obliterates free will and individual identity".
  • In the World's Funnest Elseworlds one-shot (2001), created by Evan Dorkin and a variety of artists, a conflict between Bat-Mite and Mister Mxyzptlk inadvertently destroys the DCU (including many pre-crisis worlds). When they destroy Apokolips the sole survivor is Darkseid who is left floating in space with a piece of paper with the equation drawn on it; The paper has a diagram to the effect of "Mister Mxyzptlk + Bat-Mite = Anti-life". This causes Darkseid to laugh uncontrollably.
  • In the animated series Justice League Unlimited episode "Destroyer", during an assault on Earth by Darkseid and the armies of Apokolips, Lex Luthor is taken into The Source by Metron. Just as Darkseid is on the verge of killing Superman, Lex Luthor returns from The Source and reveals the Anti-Life Equation, shown as a glowing, swirling light in the palm of his hand, to Darkseid. Darkseid places a hand over the glow, Lex places a hand on Darkseid's hand, both agreeing that the equation "is beautiful", and they both disappear. It is not known what happened to either Lex Luthor or Darkseid. Superman believes that they both died, but both Batman and Flash doubt it, believing instead that they will both be back.

[edit] Other uses of the term

[edit] References

  1. ^ Martian Manhunter vol.2 #33
  2. ^ Forever People #5
v • d • e
New Gods
Creators
New Genesis
Apokolips
Other Characters
Concepts and Items
The Source · Source Wall · Anti-Life Equation · Mother Box · Boom Tube
Major Storylines