Tenebrous (Marvel Comics)
Tenebrous is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics cosmic entity appearing as an enemy of Galactus.
Fictional character biography
Origin and War
Shortly after the Big Bang of the Marvel universe, the Proemial Gods arose from the very universe itself, collectively existing to maintain the cosmic consonance between order and chaos in the universe and to prepare "what exists for what is to come."[1] Individually, each Proemial God became a caretaker of a specific universal mechanism, with Tenebrous of the Darkness Between being tasked with "the Black, the living matter that binds the universe and makes it whole."[2] Over time the universe evolves, and life-forms begin to populate the cosmos. As each unique life-form enacts decisions and choices, cosmic consonance as a whole is served. This ultimately renders the Proemial Gods unnecessary. One of the Proemial Gods, Diableri of Chaos, convinces many of his brethren – including Aegis and Tenebrous – to prevent their obsolescence by a plan to remake the universe in his image. Civil war ensues among the Proemial Gods, and eventually Diableri and his allies bring the battle to Galactus. Seeking to preserve cosmic consonance, Galactus judges the Proemial Gods to be corrupted by ambition, and slays Diableri while imprisoning Tenebrous – along with Aegis and Antiphon – in the Kyln.[2]
Annihilation
The events of the Annihilation Wave find the Kyln prison facility compromised, allowing Aegis and Tenebrous to escape. Meanwhile, Thanos of Titan is tasked by Annihilus, the orchestrator of the Annihilation Wave, to discover the secret of the Power Cosmic. Thanos approaches Tenebrous and Aegis and forms an alliance with them against their common enemy, Galactus. Aegis, Tenebrous, and Thanos engage and defeat Galactus and the Silver Surfer in battle, delivering them to Annihilus for experimentation.[3]
Death
After the events of the Annihilation Wave, Aegis and Tenebrous return to the Kyln, discovering the carcass of Antiphon. Galactus, having escaped from containment, seeks to bring a final close to the ambitions of Aegis and Tenebrous. Galactus sends the Silver Surfer ahead to detain them until he arrives. The Silver Surfer engages both Aegis and Tenebrous in battle, and manages to channel the energies of the nearby Crunch, the barrier that separates the universe from the Negative Zone. Overwhelmed by the Crunch energies, both Aegis and Tenebrous seemingly met their deaths.[2]
The Thanos Imperative
Despite their apparent deaths during the aftermath of the Annihilation War, Aegis and Tenebrous reappear alongside Galactus and the Celestials, fighting against the forces of the Fault.[4] The return of Aegis and Tenebrous has yet to be explained.