DC Comics Cosmology

This page is dedicated to outlining the distinctions between DC Comics's different cosmologies. To summarize, the DC Universe has three dominant cosmologies characterized primarily (but not exclusively) by their authors: Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson; J.M. DeMatteis; and Neil Gaiman and Mike Carey.

Introduction

The above image is the "Multiversity Map" created by Grant Morrison to establish a cohesive representation of the various realms and layers of DC's complex cosmology. It brought a much-needed sense of cohesion and visualization to what was previously a very messy conglomerate of seemingly unrelated realms and cosmic beings.

Despite this valiant effort, the reality is much more complicated. DC Comics has been authored by hundreds of writers over its 80-year history, and several of the authors that have taken the helm regarding the cosmology have canonized very distinct and incompatible iterations of how these many realms and beings are described. However, the standard "composite DC" approach, fueled in part by DC Publishers asserting that all stories were canon, allowed character profiles to benefit from an amalgamation of these various cosmologies, resulting in tiers that were far-removed from their portrayals in any given storyline.

The following sections will define the main cosmologies of DC Comics, characterized primarily (but not exclusively) by their authorship. It is primarily intended to cover the most important realms and should not be taken as a completely exhaustive list of every minor realm that has ever appeared.

The division of DC's cosmology into these three categories is not exhaustive nor unbending, they are representative of "lines in the sand" based on approximations of the most prominent characterizations of the cosmology. For the purposes of tiering, these categories are the "rule of thumb," but cross-scaling into other material can occur when there is a clear evidentiary basis or narrative relevance.

Caveat #1: Dimensions

Within DC, the word Dimension has been used in a variety of ways to describe different things. It has been used to describe alternate universes, geometric and temporal dimensions (space and time), minor realms, and higher layers of reality. It is critical to consider the context and evidence available for each specific instance of the word, ideally within the same storyline.

Scott Snyder's "Sixth Dimension" is the highest plane of reality, not a geometric dimension

The Sixth Dimension is the final realm, a "place" beyond Imagination (the Fifth Dimension)

The Fifth Dimension is described as Imagination

Also, please note that even in the real world and in DC's cosmology, geometric spatial dimensions do not include time. The concept of 4D is depends entirely on context, often a shorthand method for writing "3 spatial + 1 time". Temporal dimensions will be discussed separately in this article.

Caveat #2: "Multiverse", "Universe", "World", and "Creation"

The terms above often have a variety of meanings. Context is key here. The term "multiverse" doesn't necessarily refer to the entire Multiversity Map, and "universe" doesn't necessarily refer to a single physics-based spacetime continuum.

This section will describe universes with a lowercase "u" when talking about individual universes within the Orrery, such as Earth-1 or Earth-2. DC's official stance is that each numbered "Earth" includes the universe itself + alternate timelines of that universe + alternate dimensions. The phrase "DC Universe" will be used to refer to the entire franchise's setting.

Structure of a Single Universe

This section will describe the physical size and number of geometric spatial dimensions of a single universe. This information logically applies to each cosmology described below.

Size of a Single Universe

Universes in DC are far larger than the observable universe of our real world. While some stories from the different continuities treat a universe as infinite, this is contradicted by multiple stories about entities and items traveling "from the edge of the universe" or "across the entire universe" or "from every corner of the universe" not to mention the Source Wall which is the limit of the universe and as such, a universe is finite in size. The scans below are from 1991's Superman: The Man of Steel #115, which describes a more accurate universe size and can be used for every cosmology.

Adam Strange teleports Superman from Earth to Maxima's consumed galaxy, 100 trillion light years away.

When Superman is brought back to Earth instantly, he calls this distance "half the universe".

The universe expanded 60 trillion light years in a half second.

• It should be noted that the statements of an infinite-sized universe are, as quoted above, contradicted by the mere fact that it has an edge and probably mean a single universe in DC Comics is immeasurably large rather than being truly infinite as suggested in the three scans above.

Geometric Dimensions

As for geometric spatial dimensions, refer to the scans below regarding the upper limit of individual universes. Remember, there are higher levels of spatial dimensions in DC's cosmology, but only this one specifically refers to the upper limit of spatial dimensions for an individual universe.

Morrison's Action Comics implies that the universe has 3 geometric dimensions, i.e. length, width, depth.

Even interpreted differently, Scott Snyder's Justice League implies that the universe has 3 geometric dimensions, i.e. point, line, depth.

Temporal Dimensions

Finally, a single universe has one temporal dimension, giving it a linear timeline.

Space and time of a single universe are intertwined.

Tiering: Universal feats are between 3-A, unless the feat specifies an entire space-time continuum, the total destruction of a universe or something else (Low 2-C)

Crisis Cosmology

Throughout the 21st century, the DC Cosmology was established primarily by four authors: Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson. Collectively, these individuals were responsible for the development of concepts such as the Overvoid, the Monitors, Perpetua, the Dark Multiverse, the Collective Unconscious, etc. Their iteration of the cosmology draws heavily from principles preordained by previous authors; notably, the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Monitor/Anti-Monitor, and the Endless.

It is worth mentioning that, while there were major differences between Williamson's work and that of Snyder/Tynion IV a year prior, most of these contradictions can be explained through Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths and Dark Crisis: The Deadly Green. Essentially, despite some discrepancies between these authors’ interpretations, in the grand scheme of things, their portrayal of DC’s setting is consistent enough to be considered a single cosmological continuity. It is worth noted that certain authors like Geoff Johns have also contributed to the expansion of the DC Universe, notably with the “Metaverse” as a means of illuminating the various changes taking place in the DC Universe.

Reality-Fiction Transcendence

Many of Morrison's works examine the relationship between reality and fiction, sometimes metaphorically and other times literally. Grant Morrison's idea is that all universes are interconnected together by comic books that compile data from each reality of the local multiverse and are intimately linked to a simulation of the real world with regard to Earth-Prime aka Earth-33, which dictates the reality of the other worlds of the Multiverse. Earth-33 distincts from the other universes due to the "Fictive Membrane." Unlike the other universes, Earth-33 lacks superheroes, except for a single 'superhero' who is a comic book itself, Ultra Comics. When the Monitor race died following Final Crisis, beings called the Gentry came to invade the multiverse in the vacuum left behind, and the Gentry turned out to be from Earth-33, suggesting that Earth-33 is within the standard DC Multiverse.

In Final Crisis: Superman Beyond #2, Cosmic Armor Superman felt the breath of an overreaching presence beyond his comprehension, likely referring to the actual readers. The comic in question was in 3D, and one particular scene from those panels was Cosmic Armor Superman's hand reaching out towards us, which supports Morrison's claim when he said the Monitor Sphere is at the edge of the "art" and the mind of God. Such feats however are merely Breaking the Fourth Wall and do not necessarily demonstrate a transcendence of fiction.

Creation Origins

Before Creation, it was said that there was only a Great Darkness; a single black infinitude where nothing and everything were the same thing. From the darkness came a burning light. As the light grew, everything was no longer nothing and the darkness screamed, causing an imperceptible flaw in what was once the immaculate perfection of the light. With the birth of the Source from the dark, forces danced with each other like threads on destiny's loom, giving birth to the Lords of Chaos and the Lords of Order.

Before Creation and Light, there was the Great Darkness.

From the dark came the Source and the forces danced with each other like threads on destiny's loom, giving birth to the Lords of Chaos and the Lords of Order.

From the Source came the raw materials of a multiverse which the Source entrusted to Perpetua to shape into a functioning multiverse in the Overvoid. Perpetua created her children -- the Monitor, the Anti-Monitor, and the World Forger -- to manage the different aspects of her new reality. At this point, Perpetua had fulfilled her duty and was meant to die and allow her essence to return to the Source but she refused and defied her function. She began experimenting on the mortals at the center of her multiverse, transforming them into the Apex Predators, planning to create an army of immortal beings to repel anything the Source would send to force her to give up her life and control over reality. Her plans were thwarted by her children who alerted the Judges of the Source. Their response was to send the Cosmic Raptor who sealed Perpetua in a wall that would later become known as the Source Wall, also restarting her multiverse from the beginning of time.

The Source sent Perpetua to take the raw materials from the Unseen Hand to create her multiverse.

Perpetua explain she created her multiverse in a classic tripartite form -- Positive matter, firm and constant. Dark matter, rich with potential. Antimatter, corrosive and all-destroying.

Instead of fulfilling her purpose and allowing her energies to return to the Source, Perpetua rebelled against her masters but her plans were thwarted and she was imprisoned in the Source Wall and her multiverse was restarted.

Billions of years after Perpetua's defeat, Maltusian scientist Krona makes a breakthrough and attempts to discover the origins of creation. His tampering unintentionally unleashed an infinite multiverse of infinite universes.

From the tampering of Krona were born an infinite multiverse of infinite universes.

The Material Realms

Size of a Single Universe

Universes are much larger than the observable universe of our real world and, although some stories describe them as being infinitely expanding, this is contradicted by the presence of the Source Wall as "the edge of the universe" or "limit of the universe". As such, a universe is immeasurably large and is constantly expanding, but its size is finite.

Narration states that the universe is infinite and expanding.

Spatial Dimensions and Temporal Dimensions

As for the spatial and temporal dimensions, a universe is 4-D (3 spatial dimensions and 1 temporal dimension), although it should be noted that there are higher levels of spatial and temporal dimensions in this cosmology, but only this one specifically refers to the upper limit of spatial dimensions for an individual universe.

Space and time of a single universe are intertwined.

Individual universes have space-time.

The Metaverse and Number of Universes

Metaverse

The Metaverse is what is known as Prime Earth, home to DC's main continuity. Normally, the universes of the multiverse do not influence each other, with the Metaverse being a single universe that the Multiverse reacts to and which forms around Superman's story. Since it's only one universe, manipulating or destroying the Metaverse does not in itself justify anything above 3-A or Low 2-C.

The Metaverse is a universe distinct from the multiverse, each change that occurs there changes the multiverse.

The Metaverse forms around Superman's story.

Number of Universes

There are a number of fifty-two universes. These universes are vibrating in the same space at different frequencies. Here are Kendra Saunders' own words after studying the map of the multiverse: "We know of fifty-two, we believe it to be the set number." She talks about the known universes of the "local" multiverse, although the exact number of universes is infinite, but this one specifically refers to the universes of the "local" multiverse.

What had been infinite in the Pre-Crisis Multiverse was contained to 52 universes.

However, there are other universes that are not part of those known like the 53rd universe.

The 53rd universe is one of the infinite universes.

Antimatter Universe

The Antimatter Universe is a singular realm located on the outskirts of creation. Its creation and nature are bound to the Anti-Life Equation and beings made of positive matter cannot normally exist in this reality. Although its physical size is much larger than any positive matter universe, meaning that destroying all of the matter in it would be a much higher degree of 3-A, destroying it entirely would still only be a Low 2-C feat.

The Antimatter Universe is the outskirts of creation according to Mar Novu.

In Perpetua's original version of the DC Multiverse, the Antimatter Universe functioned as the Source Wall does, surrounding the Multiverse and separating it from the Void.

Anti-Life was inherent to the creation and nature of the Antimatter Universe, just as the White Light (embodiment of Life and Free Will) was inherent to the positive matter universes.

World Forge

The World Forge is a singular realm of dark matter located beneath the Orrery of Worlds. It is deeply connected to the hopes and fears of the people of the Orrery and has ties to Element X from which new universes are forged there. It is initiated by Alpheus, the World Forger, and his dragon, Barbatos.

The World Forge is beneath the Orrery.

Element X is the very substance of the World Forge.

Bleed Space and the Nature of the Fifth Dimension

First, note that the Fifth Dimension is not actually a physical realm and should not be considered a place that can be "mapped" because the Fifth Dimension exists and flows all around and between the realms of the multiverse, with the exception of the Sixth Dimension. It is placed here for ease of explanation.

Bleed Space

The Bleed, also called Bleedspace, is a dimension that can only be conventionally accessed by moving up through higher dimensions. It is the dimension that contains all brane universes, serving as the membrane keeping them apart and the "Bulk" encompassing them. The Bleed itself, despite being a dimensional space to lower-dimensional beings, is composed of Ultramenstruum, the essence of life according to Monitor Zillo Valla.

The Bleed is the membrane between universes.

Universes grow within the Bleed like crystals in solution.

Bleed is the Bulk encompassing brane universes.

The Bleed can be only conventionally accessed by leaving the conventional space-time.

Then, now, and tomorrow occur together in the Bleed.

Fifth Dimension

The Fifth Dimension, as far back as the 90s, has been defined as imagination and as a plane superseding the three geometric spatial dimensions, as well as superseding time. Scott Snyder carried forward this concept into comics and applied it to the cosmology as the blood of the multiverse, inhabited by Imaginary thought-constructs.

Batman's epiphany on whether Bat-Mite is a higher-dimensional beings or a figment of his imagination is that the Fifth Dimension is imagination.

Mr. Mxyzptlk says imagination is the blood of the multiverse that flows between realms.

Due to its existence outside of the Third and Fourth Dimension, the Fifth Dimension exists everywhere at once and beings from this level of reality perceive time on an atemporal way.

The Fifth Dimension is everywhere at once.

Beings from this level of reality are outside of time and can thus perceive events that have not yet occurred.

It is a very reasonable interpretation that the Bleed itself is in fact, or at least has a direct relationship with, the Fifth Dimension. The House of Heroes, rotating through the Bleed, was stated to rotate through the Fifth Dimension, and Mr. Mxyzptlk refers to imagination as the blood of the multiverse, a term which was later used by Rex Stegman to describe the Bleed. The Fifth Dimension itself is revealed to be made of a substance depicted like blood. In addition to the above points, the Monitors refer to Bleed as the substance of life itself, draining it out of creation and draining the life out of stories. Given that Mxyz uses "unimagination" and reduces the story back to sketches, everything seems to line up.

The House of Heroes rotates through 5-D.

Rex Stegman describes the Bleed as the lifeblood of the multiverse, as Mr. Mxyzptlk did with the Fifth Dimension.

The Fifth Dimension and its beings, stated prior to be composed of Imagination, are depicted as being made of a blood-like material.

Ultramenstruum/Bleed is the substance of Life itself.

When Mr. Mxyzptlk removes Imagination, the comic art is reduced back to sketches.

Finally, it is important to note that the Bleed clearly exists differently on different levels of reality. To the mortals living within normal universes, it is a higher-dimensional Bulk space. To the Fifth-Dimensional beings and presumably to the Sphere of the Gods, it exists as an energy flowing through creation. And to the Monitors, it exists as a tangible substance that can be handled and consumed like a drink, draining life out of the story of creation.

Orrery of Worlds and Local Multiverses

Orrery of Worlds

The Orrery of Worlds is the construct encompassing the local multiverse, originally created during the first contact of Monitor-Mind the Overvoid with the new creation within it. It also contains the Rock of Eternity and the House of Heroes which exist outside the universes. When Monitor-Mind The Overvoid found the new creation, it created a concept to contain creation, scabbing it over in divine metal.

The Orrery is the structure of divine metal that scabbed over the Flaw.

The Orrery, the divine metal surrounding the Flaw, seen in the Monitor Sphere.

The House of Heroes is outside of normal time space, between universes, and has a pan-dimensional room.

The Rock of Eternity is an extra-dimensional place located in an ultradimensional space.

Local Multiverses

Infinite Frontier was the first confirmation for this cosmology that the Pre-Crisis Multiverse had been saved after its reboot, but the Metaverse expanded on this concept further. Each reboot that changes the Metaverse and results in a new multiverse does not remove the previous iteration from existence. They all exist separately until the merging of both multiverses. As such, destroying or threatening a "multiverse" is heavily dependent on the context and era of the story.

Every multiverse is preserved in the wider DC Multiverse.

The New 52 Multiverse, for example, is a "local multiverse" of 52 universes.

The Pre-Crisis Multiverse still exists somewhere outside of the local multiverse.

However, they are separated by barriers, as seen with the New 52 Multiverse and the Pre-Crisis Multiverse.

Speed Force Wall

An energy field otherwise known to the inhabitants of the Orrery as the Speed of Light. It is described as the limit to matter on the main map of the multiverse by Grant Morrison. Thus, beyond this superluminal barrier, matter is converted into pure information. This is important because outside this barrier starts a pattern of increasing levels of existence corresponding to less and less "realness" with archetypal realms inhabited by living ideas and thoughts.

It is important to note that the Speed Force Wall and the Speed Force are not necessarily the same thing, as the Speed Force Wall was revealed in Joshua Williamson's Flash series to be the barrier in which the Sage Force and the Strength Force were trapped and dormant.

The Speed Force Wall is otherwise known as the speed of light and is the limit to matter.

The Force Barrier is where the Sage Force and the Strength Force were trapped and dormant until Zoom manipulated Barry Allen and Wally West into running fast enough to break the barrier.

Wonderworld

An enormous primal world orbiting the perimeter of the Orrery of Worlds at incredible velocities. Despite having no appearance in Morrison's works of the 2000s and those of Scott Snyder, it was deemed important enough by Morrison to devote an entire entry to the left side of the map of the multiverse.

Wonderworld is positioned on the outermost boundary of the Orrery of Worlds.

The Metaphysical Realms

Due to their existence outside of the material realms, these realms are beyond our physics-based conception of the spatiotemporal multiverse. Many DC writers like to treat them collectively as "Platonic Realms" or as "Fictions".

Elemental Realms

The Green, the Red, the Grey, the Rot, the Clear, the Melt, the White, etc.

These realms are a bit more complicated to analyze because they have multiple layers to them. Often they simply refer to the realm relative to Earth, to a single planet, while other cases refer to the collective whole that encompasses the entire multiverse, but James Tynion's Justice League Dark run established that they are not places or realms, nor simply imagination, but lie between idea and reality where memory and consciousness of the Elemental concept exists outside of time and space.

The Green is not just a place or a realm, nor simply an imagination, but lies between idea and reality where memory and consciousness of vegetation exist outside of time and space.

Sphere of the Gods

The Sphere of the Gods is the overarching realm containing the godly and magical realms of the multiverse, and possesses an immaterial, metaphysical nature. It is home to the Archetypal Powers and Intelligences of the multiverse. The realm is stated to be made of literal possibility, and formed as an encompassing sphere around creation before creation had even finished forming. It is deeply tied to, and possibly indistinguishable from, the ideas and beliefs of mortals.

The very first thing to note comes from the map of the multiverse itself. Refers to Wonderworld, stated to orbit creation, which contextually refers to the Orrery. From that, it is quite clear that the Sphere of the Gods is not part of the material world and exists outside normal time and space. It is said to contain platonic, archetypal worlds inhabited by living ideas and to be fiction.

The Sphere of the Gods is not part of the "material world" (i.e. the Orrery of Worlds).

The Sphere of the Gods is located outside of the corporeal reality.

The Sphere of the Gods holds platonic, archetypal realms and is inhabited by living ideas.

The Sphere of the Gods is made entirely out of the light of possibility, and manifested around the still-forming Multiverse.

Realms of the Sphere of the Gods are called fictions, which Tynion explained was a reference to their connection to Collective Unconscious, which manifests divinity through belief.

Alpheus stating "a fiction from the Sphere of the Gods"

The Sphere of the Gods is the source of magic, the fundamental power of creation and belief, and the destruction of this energy would result in the destruction of the material world as a necessary consequence.

The Sphere of the Gods is the home to all spiritual and godly energy in the Multiverse.

The Sphere is the source of magic's true power.

Destroying magic would destroy Creation along with it.

Continuing with the principle that the realms of the Godsphere are fictions, they are not real in the same way as the material world, they are ideas shaped by the beliefs of mortals. Therefore, events in the Sphere of the Gods operate on the basis of fiction and not normal causalities.

Myrra is not "real" - it is a magic idea that was shaped by the beliefs of people.

Myrra is a metaphorical realm.

Nature of the Inhabitants of the Sphere of the Gods

Assuming Morrison's seemingly throwaway claim about platonic forms is taken seriously, there should be significant evidence that the inhabitants of the Sphere of the Gods adhere to platonic forms, although not all should adhere to such nature.

First, the very basics: they manifest in the material world as emanations of their true forms, called Godheads.

These manifestations are called emanations, with the true beings called godheads.

Next, existing as forms:

Gods and New Gods are self-aware ideas, and their weapons are concept and metaphor.

The bullet Darkseid used to kill Orion is the blueprint for every bullet that there had ever been.

Darkseid's Godhead is like all the evil of the multiverse consolidated into one point of focus.

Myrra's life is not physical, it is idea.

Grant Morrison defined Metron as the Platonic Form behind all the electric-based heroes to ever exist.

Earth-23 Wonder Woman talks of the Gods as Universals, who gave a gift in the time before time.

Finally, existing outside the material realm's spatiotemporal physics:

The inhabitants of the Sphere of the Gods transcend time, for them events are an atemporal state of being compared to mortals who experience events as a sequential series of events.

The living presence of New Gods deforms time and distorts human minds.

Now, it is very important to note that even though the gods and deities were living ideas or platonic forms, they were all given forms by the beliefs of mortals worshiping them through the Collective Unconscious as mentioned below.

Collective Unconscious

The Collective Unconscious is the ideal "collective" form of mortal souls above the Sphere of the Gods from which all telepaths and greatest minds draw their abilities. It houses Hecate's personal realm, the Witch's Moon, a metaphor for the first mystery gazed upon by man. All gods and divine realms were born from the collective beliefs and imaginations of humanity. In this way, all the realms of the Sphere of the Gods are “fictions”.

The crest of the Collective Unconscious lies above the Sphere of the Gods.

The Collective Unconscious houses Hecate's personal realm, the Witch's Moon, a metaphor for the first mystery gazed upon by man.

In the relaunch of Justice League Dark, James Tynion IV and Ram V introduced a very old concept, that of beliefs defining creation from Mike Carey's Lucifer series, and applied it to cosmology. The idea is that the collective beliefs change reality and form gods and deities that are worshiped or feared by said believers through the Collective Unconscious. Metron explains this further in a tie-in to Death Metal, explaining that the multiverse is built on beliefs and that as mortals believe in gods they exist, who in turn believes in the Source it exists, although the Source exists beyond the Collective Unconscious.

Metron explains that beliefs are the key to this multiverse and that little mortals believe in the gods, and therefore they exist, just like him, and the gods believe in the Source, therefore the Source exists.

As humanity grew, their beliefs grew in tandem, hardening into stricter forms which divided the realms above into the divine and magical realms housing pantheons of gods and deities, each believing their own myths of creation.

When Hecate looked into her dark reflection, her beliefs formed the Upside-Down Man and the Otherkinds.

Mortals and the Sphere of the Gods

Without special methods such as boom tubes or magical portals, the Sphere of the Gods can only be reached normally by mortals by transcending physicality, using the power of widespread belief to ascend into the Sphere of the Gods as true residents, seen with the Lord of Order (And presumably Chaos) below:

The Lords of Order transcended into denizens of the Sphere of the Gods through the power of story and belief.

Mortals can enter the realms of the Sphere via magic portals, but once there they can only interact with a "shell" of the realm due to its extradimensional nature.

Comic Book Limbo

Comic Book Limbo is the last outpost of existence proper before reaching the archetypal Monitor World and the Overvoid, where the forgotten characters of the DCU end up. It is not a permanent consignment - characters that were forgotten but are later reintroduced in stories leave Limbo and return to lower levels of reality. There are no stories in Limbo except for the Book of Infinite Pages, which contains every story of creation. There is no time in Limbo. "Time" in this context does not refer to the concept of time since the Monitor Sphere, above Limbo, has time. It goes one step further into nothingness, as Limbo is where matter and memory break down. Limbo exists separately from the Orrery, floating between it and the Thought Robot. It was stated that, when crashing out of the Orrery to end up in Limbo, the Ultima Thule was drifting into the void.

When crashing out of the Orrery to end up in Limbo, Zillo Valla says the Ultima Thule was drifting into the Void.

Limbo exists disconnected from the Orrery.

Limbo is literally nowhere.

Limbo has no such thing as time to waste; there is no time in the normal sense.

Limbo has no stories.

The statement "Music is over: We've run out of the Multiverse" doesn't mean that Limbo is outside of the whole creation, it only refers to Orrery of Worlds, because they used the Ultima Thule for traveling between universes which is a trans-dimensional yacht powered by sound vibrations, by altering its pitch and wavelength it is possible to travel to other universes (because each universe has a different frequency), i.e. music being over means that Limbo is outside of all parallel universes and the Orrery.

Monitor Sphere

The Monitor Sphere is an archetypal world and home to Nil, the world of the Monitor race. While the mystery of the Orrery and the Thought Robot caused Monitor-Mind to invent stories to accompany it, the Monitor Sphere took shape outside of the Sphere of the Gods. Remember from the previous section how going from the multiverse to Comic Book Limbo required crossing the void. This is reflected in statements that Nil is part of the void and that Monitor nanotechnology is coming from the void to attack Limbo. As a quick aside, Monitor tech operates in concept space and can be used to construct realities. Monitor ships that can adjust their scale to be gigantic within the Multiverse and to the size of cities within Limbo, were regarded as infinitesimal to the Monitors World.

The beings of this world are notable for being the only ones capable of bottling and consuming Bleed as a tangible substance. This is extremely significant: we know that, from the perspective of lower mortal "germs", Bleed is the Bulk Space enclosing the worlds of the Orrery. We know also that Bleed is the substance of Life, from Zillo Valla. In metafictional terms, it is what gives life to the stories of the Orrery. The Monitors are capable of extracting it as a tangible substance, draining creation dry. This interpretation is confirmed by Morrison himself: what Mandrakk is doing by extracting Bleed as a consumable is sucking the life out of the story. See the scans below:

Mandrakk, by sucking all of the Bleed extracted toward his sepulchre, sucked the life out of the story.

Draining the Bleed out drained the meaning and story from the Orrery.

You may have noticed a pattern by now of elevating levels of existence corresponding to less and less "real-ness" as we would think of it in real life. Beings in the Orrery are made of matter and operate within physical space and time. Beings in the Sphere of the Gods are pure idea and operate within metaphysical story. Beings in Limbo lack even story. And Nil takes this pattern to the next level, as far as reasonably possible before achieving the pure absolute Nothingness/Oneness of the Overvoid. The world of the Monitors is the Blank, the Nil, the Gone, the edge of everything where form and meaning surrender to the nothingness of the Overvoid. Its inhabitants have 5555 terms for "nothing", and presumably a similar number of types of nothing.

The Monitor World is the Blank, the Nil, the Gone, and the Monitors have 5555 terms for "nothing".

Concepts like space, time and scale are more meaningful, profound, with "time" in the Monitor Sphere referring to the clockwork pattern in the sky. Time in Nil seems to function as a temporal dimension, because when it entered the Monitor Sphere, it form "beginnings" and "ends".

Nil is an archetypal world.

The Monitor Sphere is a higher dimension.

Nil is a fundamental world inhabited by primal forms.

Comic Book Limbo is only an infinitesimal disc ompared to the Monitor Sphere.

"Time" in Nil refers to the clockwork pattern in the sky.

When time entered the Monitor Sphere, it formed "beginnings" and "endings".

Finally, although the writing quality is subjective, the Unexpected series did not make Nil just a normal place people can travel to. It was accessed because a unique Nth Metal isotope resonated with Ultramenstruum to create a hole in reality, sending the team outside the multiverse.

The Dark Multiverse and the Other Place

Dark Multiverse

A vast subconscious realm of dark matter upon which floats the Multiverse. It's the unintended side effect of the process of creating new worlds, coupled with the treachery of Barbatos. It consists of infinite worlds of nightmare, similar to the infinite timelines of the main Multiverse has. It is directly stated that Perpetua's original Creation had nothing to do with the formation of the Dark Multiverse. Some realms such as the Dreaming and the Phantom Zone have strong connections to the Dark Multiverse.

The Dark Multiverse contains infinite worlds of nightmare.

The nightmare worlds are dark timelines, not just planets.

The Dark Multiverse consists of timelines where things went "bad".

The Dark Multiverse is not in the main DCU.

The Dark Multiverse is not part of Perpetua's design for Creation.

The Other Place

An empty void of space inhabited by the Otherkind. Long since Hecate imprisonned the Upside-Down Man here since the dawn of the multiverse, he infected this place with his reality. It is the source of all dark magic that Hecate took a piece of and gave to humanity to "curse" them. Although in the 2018 relaunch of Justice League Dark, James Tynion IV presented the Great Darkness as the dark opposite to the Sphere of the Gods, connected to the Dark Multiverse, this notion was later retconned by Joshua Williamson.

When Hecate formed in the Sphere of the Gods, she detected a darker opposite beneath the Sphere, tied to the Dark Multiverse.

The Great Darkness/The Other Place/The Abyss all reference the same thing, although the Great Darkness was retconned.

The Great Darkness was awakening in the Dark Sphere of the Gods that surrounds the Dark Multiverse, which could mean that the Dark Sphere of the Gods could be where the Great Darkness had been sleeping since the truce with the Light of Creation.

Source Wall and the Totality of Creation

The Divine Continuum and Hypertime

Divine Continuum

Although certain aspects of cosmology such as the location of Hypertime or the nature of a "wider" DC Multiverse have been difficult to evaluate, Geoff Johns partly answered this question in Flashpoint Beyond with an entirely new concept, that of the Divine Continuum as defined by Dr. Bonnie Baxter, it represents Existence itself, formed by two aspects of reality. The first half is Space, which is physically represented by the "wider" DC Multiverse; the second half is Time which is represented by the abstraction known as Hypertime.

To fully avoid confusion about this concept, it is necessary to discard the idea of the Omniverse, or the idea of the multiverse becoming its own web of multiverses from the end of Death Metal, as this was proven to be false according to Lex Luthor who, during his time with the Totality, discovered the truths and lies of the multiverse. Refers to the Local Multiverses section, as the concept of a wider DC Multiverse has always existed, all iterations of the multiverse still exist but separately from each other, which now refers to the space aspect of the Divine Continuum.

The Space aspect has always been represented by the various iterations of the multiverse and is split into the Multiverse, the Metaverse, the Sphere of the Gods, and the Dark Multiverse. Although neither Comic Book Limbo nor Monitor Sphere have been mentioned as being part of the space aspect, it is not a stretch to assume that they do since the Dark Multiverse, which encompasses them, is part of the space aspect. Due to the many Crises that the multiverse has faced as a consequence of various attacks, the Space aspect has always been changing, being shaping around a single universe referred to as the "Metaverse", until the combined efforts of the Flash Family and Dr. Light merged the multiverses.

The Space aspect of the Divine Continuum is the "Omniverse" and incorporates multiverses, most likely iterations of the multiverse as part of the "wider" DC Multiverse.

The Time aspect of the Divine Continuum is Hypertime and while the "Omniverse" is more conceptual, Hypertime is more emotional at its core as it perpetually changes due to a natural reaction to the events as well as to direct manipulations of the Timestream.

The Divine Continuum is the abstract representation of existence.

Hypertime

Now we come to Hypertime. It can be said that there are two lenses to view this concept through: a basic, functional level, and a complete, metafictional level. That is not to say that there are two Hypertimes or that one is more correct than the other, but that most stories referencing it will simply depict the first for ease of explanation.

The basis: Hypertime, as defined by the Fuginauts, is an abstraction, a temporal nexus allowing access to all timelines formed across existence. It is distinct from the Timestream in that, while the timelines all exist in the Timestream, they they burrow through Hypertime. The Hypertime abstraction has a manifestation called the Branefold Interior, where the Fuginauts exist not only to maintain boundaries between timelines but also between the Multiverse and Dark Multiverse.

Flash defined Hypertime as a web of timestreams outside the Multiverse.

Hypertime is described to be outside of time.

The Branefold Interior is the home realm of the Fuginauts, and the physical manifestation of the Hypertime abstraction.

Starman's abilities allow him to peer into the heart of Hypertime to see the future and he described Hypertime as the cosmic flow of timelimes and histories that govern reality.

The creation of the New-52 Multiverse was merely the creation of new Hypertime branches.

Hypertime contains infinite timelines.

Basically, Hypertime is a three-dimensional, time-based concept created by Grant Morrison and Mark Waid to allow all parts of DC's published stories to interact with each other. Morrison sometimes uses geometry as a metaphor to discuss Hypertime, using concepts such as "plane time" and "cube time". This is shown in The Return of Bruce Wayne and expanded upon in an interview, treating it as a three-dimensional concept, its basis being the "time point" containing all possibilities.

By simple geometry, the time point extent to create the "line time" or "line space a" representing the linear timeline from beginning to end. Time also extends laterally, so there is the "plane time" or "space b", an immense cosmic loom of converging and separating line times. The perpendicular of plane time is "cube time" which views the inhabitants of the Orrery from a higher-dimensional perspective.

Sixth Dimension

The Sixth Dimension is a plane of existence where the prior version of the multiverse was designed and set in motion by Perpetua. It is distinct from the Monitor Sphere in that although the Monitor Sphere exists at the edge of things, the Sixth Dimension is the highest plane of existence. It is stated to be beyond time and imagination and is at the top of everything on the map of the multiverse. The Sixth Dimension can only be reached by non-Monitors after the Source Wall has been breached, and is completely beyond Mxyzptlk's perception despite existing outside of time.

Despite this, the Sixth Dimension does not appear to completely transcend time since the Sixth Dimension is spoken of in a timeline of 20 billion years and when Superman fights in the Sixth Dimension, his speed is spoken of in physical terms, saying that it will take hours for the light to catch up, months for the sound.

The Sixth Dimension is the highest plane of existence.

The Sixth Dimension is depicted as far, far "larger" than Creation.

The Sixth Dimension is again shown to completely dwarf Creation.

The Sixth Dimension is where the multiverse was designed and set to motion.

Scott Snyder clarified in an interview that the Sixth Dimension is not outside the Source Wall and that the Sixth Dimension is a spherical layer that envelops the entire multiverse, a "control room" where quintessential beings oversee the development and progression of the multiverse. For this reason, their stature is naturally higher than all other entities inhabiting the multiverse.

Promethean Galaxy and the Source Wall

While not a literal galaxy, the Promethean Galaxy is a realm as old as creation and farthest finite frontier of reality where the Source Wall is located. The Source Wall is the limit to thought and the protective shell around the Multiverse, closing it off from the Greater Omniverse. In all directions from any universe within the Multiverse, the wall is the final point, separating all of creation from the Overvoid. In Countdown, which contradicted Final Crisis in many ways it was said that the Source Wall separates universes. However, this does not fit with the rest of Morrison's works.

The Promethean Galaxy is not truly a galaxy, but the finite border of reality, as old as Creation itself.

The Source Wall is the protective shell around the Multiverse.

The Source Wall is the boundary of the Multiverse, closing it off from the Greater Omniverse. In all directions from any universe within the Multiverse, the wall is the final point.

Nil did not have the Source Wall around it during Final Crisis, this is because the Source Wall was destroyed in Death of the New Gods, which was a lead-in comic to Final Crisis. Grant Morrison affirmed that elements of Final Crisis were intentionally written to match the events of DotNG in this interview:

Darkseid is falling through the universe after the event we experienced as Death of the New Gods.

Jim Starlin created Orion's death scene in Death of the New Gods #6 to lead into war god's appearance in Final Crisis #1, so Jim's scene was referred back in Final Crisis #3.

Tier:

Characters existing in, or affecting, the Source Wall shouldn't be 1-C or Tier 1 as the wall exists on every level of reality. A Tier 4 being that portals themselves to the outer edge of their reality to the Promethean Galaxy is still a Tier 4 being, and they are only experiencing the Promethean Galaxy on a lower-dimensional level.

Greater Omniverse

First of all, it should be noted that the word "Omniverse" has been used a lot in recent years and that while the multiverse has been referred to as the Omniverse in some stories, it has nothing to do with the Greater Omniverse mentioned in Scott Snyder's Justice League run.

There are an infinite number of multiverses that rise and fall across the Overvoid, made by various creators such as the Hands using the energy entrusted to them by the Source. Although the idea of a multitude of rising and falling creations primarily came from Mike Carey's Lucifer series, Scott Snyder expanded on this concept.

There are infinite Creations other than the main DCU that together make up the Greater Omniverse.

Part of the idea made by Snyder is that, as described by Alpheus, when a multiverse breaks apart before its final evolution, it is sent back to the banks of creation where it was created by super-celestial beings like Perpetua. This is echoed by Alpheus who stated that main multiverse was flying through the void to an unknown destination, awaiting the final judgement, and by Perpetua who stated that she would come to the end of the void to eliminate her kind, the Hands, meaning that they would exist at the end of the void.

According to Alpheus when a Multiverse breaks apart before its final evolution, it's sent back to the banks of creation which it was created by super celestial beings like Perpetua.

According to Perpetua, the void has an end and it is where her siblings resides.

Chronicler, a functionary of the Greater Omniverse, comes from the Overvoid.

Unseen Council

The name used by Scott Snyder to describes a hierarchy that eventually reaches the Source. According to Merton, beings of the Greater Omniverse are several rungs above those of the main DC Multiverse in what he referred to as the cosmic ladder, and are qualitatively superior to the Divine Continuum. Notable individuals in this hierarchy are the Hands who appear to rule the multiverses of the Greater Omniverse or Chronicler who records the history of any dying multiverses.

Beings of the Greater Omniverse are several rungs above those of the main DCU in the cosmic ladder.

The most dangerous threats of the main DC Multiverse were from the outside.

The Hands are the rulers of the Greater Omniverse and enact "cosmic judgment" on any multiverses they create that fail to ascend and achieve greater truths.

The Great Darkness and the Light of Creation

Source/Overvoid/Presence = Light of Creation

Although commonly associated with different parts of the DC cosmology, these various entities were often been used interchangeably over the years. A few years earlier, Morrison had directly stated that the Overvoid and the Source were the same, as Snyder did with the Presence and the Source and more recently the Overvoid and the Presence, all associated with the Godhead that Joshua Williamson referred to as the Light of Creation.

One God, all three being viewpoints or potentially emanations of the same whole, existing as superior to the Greater Omniverse and the Unseen Council, just referred to in different ways, sometimes referred to as a non-dual omni-awareness or an "ultimate concept" that contains within it life and anti-life, good and evil, in and out, and black and white. It has also been described as an "ocean" from which each universe is a "river" flowing from it, sometimes the river splits into a multiverse and there are smaller divisions that branch off from the river but quickly return without creating new universes. Although we cannot say with certainty what the Light of Creation actually is at present, it appeared in various aspects, lesser beings and it is from its light that the multiverse was created.

Here the Light is represented in a way very similar to yhe Overvoid, as the white void from which the multiverse emerged.

Here the Light is represented as the hand that made a truce with the Great Darkness, as The Presence in Allen Moore's "Swamp Thing."

There is a comma between "The Presence" and "of the Source" which suggests that they are the same thing.

The Presence is directly stated to be in charge of the Hands of the Source.

The Presence is considered the supreme being, but possibly not in the Greater Omniverse, perhaps referring to someone even more powerful like the Great Darkness.

Great Darkness/Primordial Darkness

In the prelude to Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, Joshua Williamson incorporated the Great Darkness seen in Alan Moore's celebrated Swamp Thing run and associated it with the Overvoid created by Grant Morrison. Williamson specifically references the original Great Darkness storyline from Moore's Swamp Thing, when Zatara died, and adjusted it to what Grant Morrison and Scott Snyder have architected over the years for DC continuity.

Those who have read issues 49 and 50 of Swamp Thing Vol 2 will remember that the Great Darkness was the opposite of God who existed before the first light came into existence. Translating this into modern cosmology, the Great Darkness would have existed before the Presence, which is exactly what Williamson did when he brought the Great Darkness back as the Primordial Darkness where the First Star, translating to the Light of Creation, was born in defiance of what it it.

The Great Darkness also contains the Shadowlands which individuals like Alan Scott and Obsidian have ties to, and has various avatars and aspects like Darkseid or Empty Hand, but is not a force of good or evil, with no wants or needs, any more than the night sky or our own shadows. It just sits in the black for eternity, watching everything as a flicker of light waiting to be extinguished by itself.

The Great Darkness is the Primordial Darkness which precedes the Light of Creation.

The Great Darkness was there before the birth of the first star. An invisible flicker in defiance of the Great Darkness and yet it has dwindled out of its memory.

The Great Darkness's eternal existence is the canvas against which people wage their struggles.

The flicker of creation is the only light the Great Darkness receives, for it remains in the black for all eternity.

The tier:

• Universal feats range from 3-A to Low 2-C whether the feat involves an entire space-time continuum or simply involves all matter in the universe.
• Multiversal feats really depend on the context given in the comics and range from 2-C to 2-A, whether the feat involves all fifty-two universes of the Orrery or infinite universes or timelines.
• Feats of creation or destruction of the level of the Antimatter Universe are higher degree of Low 2-C than regular positive matter universes.
• Feats of creation or destruction of the level of the Orrery and the Bleed are Low 1-C given the fifth-dimensional level contained within.
• Feats of creation or destruction of the level of the Sphere of the Gods and the Collective Unconscious are Low 1-C given their qualitative superiority over the Orrery of Worlds, adhering to two infinities above Low 2-C.
• Comic Book Limbo is Low 1-C, it hasn't showed any signs of qualitative superiority over the Sphere of the Gods despite being positioned higher on the map of the multiverse.
• The Monitor Sphere is straight 1-C due to its qualitative superiority over Comic Book Limbo, adhering to three infinities above Low 2-C.
• The Dark Multiverse and the Other Place are 1-C due to its all-encompassing nature which includes the Monitor Sphere.
• The Totality of Creation/Divine Continuum is High 1-C for having the Dark Multiverse and Hypertime which is a three-dimensional time dimension, adhering to six infinities above Low 2-C.
• Hypertime is High 1-C for scaling to the Divine Continuum, but no one has been shown to actually scale to its true nature, thus feats of creation or destruction involving Hypertime timelines should be considered 2-A depending on the context.
• The Fifth Dimension is High 1-C for existing and flowing all around and between the realms of the Divine Continuum, adhering to a higher degree of said tier, but it has not been proven to be qualitatively superior to Hypertime.
• The Sixth Dimension is High 1-C for existing at the top of Divine Continuum and being the highest plane of existence, adhering to seven infinities above Low 2-C.
• Beings from the Unseen Council are High 1-C for being qualitatively superior to any realms of main DC Universe, equal to Perpetua at her full might individually.
• The Light of Creation is 1-B for transcending and encompassing absolutely everything in the cosmology, including the Greater Omniverse and the Unseen Council, adhering to nine or ten infinities above Low 2-C.
• The Great Darkness is 1-B for having preceded and been the rival force of the Light of Creation

J.M. DeMatteis' Cosmology

DeMatteis' approach on the DC cosmology was heavily influenced by his spiritual beliefs and world view based on Hinduism and other religious concepts. He has stated that this belief influences almost all of his work.

Creation Origins

The Divine Presence dreamed all of Creation, and was formed in nothingness and will eventually return to it again. In the act of creation, duality was born, then Chaos and Order created an explosion not of power but of love that created a sea of love from which emerged whole worlds and universes.

The Divine Presence dreamed all of Creation.

In the act of creation, duality was born then Chaos and Order exploded in an explosion not of power but of love that created a sea of love from which emerged whole worlds and universes.

God, Soul, Creation as Dream

DeMatteis' cosmology incorporates ideas from the philosophy of an Indian spiritualist named Meher Baba, who proposed the idea that God dreamed our Universe, He described the observable world as illusory, and presented the idea that the Universe is imagination. He taught that God alone exists, and each soul is God passing through imagination in order to realize its own divinity. He likens these individual souls to bubbles in an ocean of infinite size.

In DeMatteis' works, he uses the same concept for his cosmology, God dreamed the entire Universe and all stars, planets and souls are part of its imagination. The Universe exists on many different levels with the Material level being the most obvious. There are limitless planes of existence deeper and truer levels of the Universe. "Planes" or "Levels" of the Universe is referring to the fact that in DeMatteis's cosmology, reality is just a dream/illusion. Everything is just an illusion that separates souls to the oneness of God. For example, it was stated that Heaven is a deeper and truer realm than the normal universe.

Everything, planets, stars is part of the Divine Presence imagination.

The defunct souls begins a journey of discovery from lifetime to lifetime, dream to dream, in the limited selves they imagines to be, to the infinity selves that they had always been.

The Universe exists on many different levels, with the Material Universe being the most obvious and the stars being the connective tissue between the Material Universe and the deeper spiritual universes.

There are limitless planes of the existence.

Cycle of Creation and the World Ages

DeMatteis consistently depicts Creation with cycles based on the Hindu concept of Yugas representing in Hinduism four ages of the life of the world. These cycles are the Satya Yuga, the Golden Age from which everything existed in perfect harmony in spiritual purity, it's the purest state of the dream before it was layered over with nightmares. Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga came after the Golden Age and were the ages of the Atlanteans and the Lemurians. Kali Yuga is the last and the worst of the four ages representing the modern era. It's sometimes called a delusion. If the Golden Age is the dream in its purest form, then the world during Kali Yuga strays further away from God and is buried under layers of nightmares.

The idea of the fall of Creation back into nothingness at the end of a Yuga cycle is often referred to as the Mahapralaya or the Sea of Brahma. Like the concept of the Yugas, there are four types of Mahapralaya/Pralaya. The Void from which all things emerged was revealed to be Pralaya who predates all things in existence, even the Creator himself, an aspect of God, and is referred as God's Unconscious.

Creation began in the beginningless beginning.

All Creation returns to the nothingness.

In the timeless time, Creation will begin again.

The Material Realms

Number of Universes

There are an infinite number of universes, each decision forms new universes all the time. There is a Crown of Chakra, the energy doorway that links individuals to everything and beyond it, there's the Quantum Web, the universe's true form that connects everyone.

There are infinite universes.

There are infinite parallel dimensions.

Every decision creates a new universe.

Tiering: There are infinite universes and parallel dimensions, each decision forms new universes all the time. All multiversal feats are 2-A.

The Metaphysical Realms

The higher planes of existence are truer and deeper levels of God's dream than the Material Universe. Each plane are closer to God's oneness. Heaven, for instance, exists far beyond the level of the Material Universe, but there are more realms beyond it and each deep realm is more close to the Divine Presence.

Collective Unconscious

In DeMatteis' storylines, the Collective Unconscious is the universal consciousness, basically the collective form of mortal souls, split into individual souls upon emanating down to the Material Universe. It's a cosmic sea of symbols and archetypes, dreams and ideas, made manifest. It's a realm of energy and imagination where emotions are colors and thoughts have textures.

The Trans, beings of pure thought, exist within the Collective Unconscious on a level beyond space and time.

There is no time or space, only that which the mind imagines for itself.

Thoughts in the Collective Unconscious can create entire universes that are more "real" than the real universe.

Heaven

In DeMatteis' storylines, Heaven is a higher plane of existence. It's more deep, more true and closer to the Presence than the Material Universe. For example, Indra's Fourth Heaven is a place that is not a place, but transcends place, referring to a higher dimensional realm. Heaven contains an infinite number of universes tailored to the beliefs of its inhabitants. These various heavens are said to be a state of mind rather than true places, with different planes beyond the conventional Heavens meant to give comfort to the souls of the defuncts.

Indra's Fourth Heaven is a place that a not place, that transcend place.

Indra's Fourth Heaven have days that are not days, that transcend day.

There are as many realms in Heaven as there are souls in Creation.

There are different planes of Heaven.

Tiering: The higher planes of existence have "days" which transcend day and "places" which transcend place, each of them being truer and deeper than the Material World, giving 1 degree of infinity above Low 2-C, making Heaven and the Collective Unconscious Low 1-C.

Mahapralaya/Pralaya/Sea of Brahma

See: Cycle of Creation and the World Ages

Mahapralaya or the Sea of Brahma is the great dissolution of Creation at the end of a Yuga cycle. The Void from which everything emerged was Pralaya who predates all things in existence, even the Creator whom DeMatteis regards as an aspect of God. Pralaya is referred as God's unconscious and the sleep into which everything, even God, must inevitably fall. Age after age, all of Creation is born from Pralaya and age after age it returns to nothingness.

"Before Creation, before the Creator, was the infinite ocean of nothing... It is the source from which all things emerged and which all things will, Must, return."

Pralaya is the sleep into which all beings and things, even God, must inevitably fall.

Tiering: Mahapralaya/Pralaya is the Void of infinite nothingness that predate Creation and is the source from which all things emerged and will return, giving her 2 degrees of infinity above Low 2-C, making her Low 1-C.

The Divine Presence/The Smile/God

To understand the true nature of the Divine Presence or the Smile, we need to examine the concept of Brahman. In Hinduism, Brahman refers to the ultimate reality underlying all phenomena. Brahman is formless but is the birthplace of all forms in visible reality. In DeMatteis' storylines such a concept was referenced multiple times.

The Divine Presence shares a similar nature with the concept of Brahman. Its the Smile behind Creation and beyond Mahapralaya featured in the 1988's Doctor Fate #6 story which, from its oneness, birthed duality and Chaos and Order exploded in an explosion of love that created a sea of love from which emerged whole worlds and universes. When the defunct souls' journey of discovery ends, they return to the Smile where they originate.

The Divine Presence is the oneness beyond Mahapralaya.

Everything returns to the Divine Presence.

Like the concept of Brahman, the Divine Presence is the ultimate reality beyond everything from which all of existence originates. In DeMatteis' work, it's the Void Beyond All Voids, an infinite nothingness, the cosmic emptiness beyond space and time, form and thought and beyond the threshold of conscious limitations. It contains and surpasses everything and everyone in Creation. All gods are thoughts that exist in the mind of God.

The Void beyond all Voids is an infinite nothingness, the cosmic emptiness that exists beyond space and time, form and thought.

By becoming one with the Void, Spectre transcended his limited view of himself and broke the constraints of individual identity. By doing that he realized that he's a spirit that connected to the Logoz, to the Oversoul and to the Divine Presence itself that contains and suprasses everything and everyone in the Creation.

Tiering: The Divine Presence is 1-C, as it transcends all of Creation and Pralaya infinitely, holding them as mere parts of its dream.

Vertigo's Cosmology

Neil Gaiman and Mike Carey focus on folklore and the mystical aspects of the cosmology. Although Vertigo tends to be more consistent than DC, there are still some inconsistencies across storylines, such as the events of Lucifer's Rebellion. The cosmology of Vertigo is primarily based on the dreams and beliefs of humanity. Even the Presence was shaped by dreams, but Dream of the Endless remains inferior to the Presence and the Archangels, whose creation was only possible through other Night and Father Time, as they predate all versions of Creation that have been changed by dreams, and are the source of the reality-altering powers of dreams and beliefs.

Creation Origins

The Presence created the world. Then he created Michael and Lucifer. Michael's Demiurgic power gave birth to the first matter and Lucifer's will shaped it into the cosmos. Prior to the beginning was the night, without boundaries or end. Then came the beginning of time, which made the the Universe possible.

Lucifer stated that he's co-author of the universe.

According to Meleos, when the Presence created the universe the first thing he created was the Host of Heaven (beginning with Michael and Lucifer). Michael's Demiurgic power gave birth to the first matter and Lucifer's will shaped it into suns.

According to Death of the Endless Lucifer and Michael were the Presence's first big ideas and they created the universe.

The Presence created Archangels (Michael, Lucifer and Gabriel) and gave them roles: Michael will release the power from within his heart, Lucifer will weave it into suns and Gabriel will impose form and pattern on the worlds as they cool.

Dreams, Beliefs, and Stories Defining Creation

“

Because it is the nature of Dreams, and ONLY of Dreams, to define Reality. Destiny is bound to existence. Death is limited by what she will or will not accept.

„

Now, the above sentence illustrates the nature of Vertigo's cosmology. Creation is malleable, and humankind's dreams, beliefs, and stories can change reality from beginning to end and create the deities they worship.

This concept was first introduced in The Sandman: A Dream of a Thousand Cats, where it is said that cats were originally the dominant species on Earth, giant beasts that hunted humans. However, mankind's collective dream of a world where humans ruled over cats altered reality from its very beginning, making it so that humans were always larger than cats. This explains the statement made by the Presence that he was shaped by external forces, apparently intended to be the beliefs and imaginations of humanity, rather than a 4th Wall reference to the writers or real-world humans.

These beliefs and dreams altered the world atemporally -- all of time history forwards and back was altered. From that perspective, the Presence has always been God, superior to the Endless.

"He is not a god; he is older than all the gods, and is their cause. He is the human capacity to imagine meaning, to tell stories: an anthropomorphic projection of our thirst for mythology. And as such, he is both greater and less than the humans whose dreams he shapes, but whose thirst, after all, shapes him".

"I mean all of it. Humans make up bullshit stories about where they came from and where they're going. And then they live in them. They turn the whole of eternity into a fucking soap opera. Reality is messy and scary. Stories give a kind of shape of it".

The Presence's Creation

The Presence's creation is often referred to as a universe. However, In this context, Universe refers to "the totality of Creation." This is shown by Desire's statement and the location of the City of the Stars. In reality, when we see Mister E take Tim Hunter through time to a possible future, we are told that there are infinite timelines. Moreover, the Endless are described as mere consequences of the Presence's creation existing.

Tiering

As the Presence's creation contains the domains of the Endless, as separate but encompassed extensions to the infinite timelines, all feats involving the entire structure are Low 1-C.

Heaven, Silver City and Hell

The Silver City predates and transcends Creation and looks down upon it, holding the Tower of Unendingly High which contains the Logos, and is the birthplace of Will and Contemplation. It has been explicitly said that the Silver City is not part of the created order of things.

Most of Gaiman's works use Heaven and the Silver City interchangeably. However, it has been said that the Silver City is not paradise or Heaven which may have been figurative.

Hell is the opposite of Heaven, and is its reflection.

The Silver City existed before the First Dawn, in the darkness before time.

The Silver City is separated from Creation by Void.

It is meaningless to ask the size of the Silver City.

At the edge of Heaven is an abyss of nothingness.

Hell is Heaven's dark reflection, and asking its size is meaningless.

Tiering

The Silver City/Heaven and Hell are Low 1-C. The Silver City predates and transcends Creation, which has infinite timelines, and Hell is its dark reflection.

The Endless

The Endless are the anthropomorphic embodiments of powerful natural forces. They see each other as family, referring to each other as siblings, and they are the children of Mother Night and Father Time. The Endless are humanoid manifestations of the primal truths that constitute every aspect of the Presence's creation.

From oldest to youngest they are: Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium (previously known as Delight).

"The Endless are merely patterns. The Endless are ideas. The Endless are wave functions. The Endless are repeating motifs"

The Endless are ideas encompassing everything within their sphere - what we see are simple points of view.

The Endless are humanoid manifestations of the primal truths of the universe, oversee every aspect of the reality created by the Presence.

“Because it is the nature of Dreams, and ONLY of Dreams, to define Reality. Destiny is bound to existence. Death is limited by what she will or will not accept”.

The Ancient Rules

The Endless are limited by certain rules for their lives, which they must follow for the good order of the universe. One such rule is that if you spill family blood harm will happen to you as well, seen after Morpheus kills his son (Orpheus) which ultimately leads to Morpheus' own death, which is also why Dream said he wouldn't hurt Desire even if he really wanted to. Another rule is not to fall in love with mortals, because nothing good can come out of such a union, the most famous case being that of Kai'ckul and Nada. Morpheus has fallen in love with mortals on several occasions, but all ended in misfortune.

Dream of the Endless and the Dreaming

Dream is the third oldest of the Endless and is the anthropomorphic embodiment of the concept of dreams, stories and all that is not reality. He is both the lord and the incarnation of the Dreaming, the place where all dreams reside and where all dreamers go when they are asleep. Dream has multiple incarnations of himself with the first being Dream of the Lovecraftian Horrors.

The Dreaming is composed of tales and nightmares.

Faerie is referred to as a "timeless realm".

Scale and distance is completely meaningless in Faerie.

A ship which is a fragment of the Dreaming exists outside of the Destiny's book.

The Dreaming is infinite.

There are places in the Dreaming where the most important stories are stored: Creation stories, changing these stories not only change the Dreaming, but all of Creation.

When Tempto changed the story of the "Garden of the Eden" all of the reality was changed.

It was stated that changing the oldest stories like Gilgamesh, The Lotus of Vishnu, Coyote and the Old Man and the Garden of Eden will change everything.

Dream himself is the primal manifestation of this concept, but he has never demonstrated an ability to willfully alter the beliefs of mankind, thus he does not scale to the full power of belief and dreams.

Death of the Endless

Death is the second oldest of the Endless, and embodies the concept of death. Since life and death are counterparts, Death also has powers over life. She visits everyone twice, first when they are born and then when they die. Death does not only claim the life of living beings, she's also the death of ideas and concepts. Unlike other Endless, Death isn't bounded by rules and she doesn't need permission to travel to realms of other Endless. She is regarded as the most powerful of the Endless.

Only Death will outlast this version of the Creation.

At the end of the universe Death will claim Destiny of the Endless (the last living being) and will survive the end of the universe.

When Death refused to do her job even ideas stopped dying.

Death of the Endless is literally the death of all things.

Destiny of the Endless

Destiny is the oldest of the Endless. He was born even before creation began. In fact, he was tracking the Word in his book before it was spoken aloud. His book does not have a separate existence, it is tied to Destiny and can never be stolen. Even Michael Demiurgos couldn't take the Book of Destiny from him. The Book of Destiny was given to him by Father Time. Destiny's realm is the Garden of Forking Ways, the maze-like paths of which he walks continually.

Destiny is the oldest Endless and it was stated that he was tracking the Word in his book before it was spoken aloud.

Destiny's realm is the loom on which the fabric of existence is woven.

Destiny is the side effect of the Presence's deterministic approach to the act of Creation.

The Script/Book of Destiny

Destiny carries the Book of Destiny which contains a record of all that was, all that is, and all that will be.

The Book of Destiny is based on the script of reality. Destiny is the side-effect of the Presence predetermining Creation. He's not a side-effect of Creation itself, but a side effect of the act of the Presence creating a plan for Creation to follow. The Book of Destiny only contains the Presence's creation. Lucifer's Creation, which is a totally separate cosmos, is beyond Destiny's influence. This was shown when the Basanos, who draw their power from the Book of Destiny said that they're losing their power in Lucifer's creation.

There is nothing that exists that is not in Destiny's book.

Destiny's book has no separate existence from him and not even Michael can forcefully take it away from him.

Tiering

• All Endless: Delirium, Despair, Desire, Destruction, Dream are Low 1-C, possibly 1-C. The Endless are the primal truths of the Presence's creation and oversees every aspect of it. Dream's oldest incarnation exists outside of space and time and is a part of the eldritch abominations that exists in space beneath space and space beyond space.

• For the stronger ones: Death and Destiny, see Mother Night, Father Time, and the True Extent of the Endless.

The Basanos

The Basanos was a living deck of tarot cards created by the angel Meleos after Destiny allowed him to examine his book. The Basanos was meant to mimic Destiny's book. They are the lenses through which all infinite possibilities of Creation are focused. They are considered potential threats even for Archangels. They foresaw their encounter with Lucifer and with the help of Izanami, weaved a great magic that caused Lucifer's own flames to consume him.

The Basanos was meant to mimic Destiny's Book.

The Basanos has the same workmanship and affinities as the Book of Destiny.

They are the lenses through which all infinite possibilities of Creation are focused.

Tiering

The Basanos are Low 1-C, possibly 1-C. As seen above, the Basanos are meant to mimic Destiny's book and the lenses through which all infinite possibilities of Creation are focused. They are a considerable threat to the likes of the Archangels and can harm Lucifer.

Council of the First Circle

When all was void, when no Creation had yet been made, the Council of the First Circle set down the rules for what would be allowed. One of the members of the Council, Glory, is referred to as Shekinah, which is the "Glory of the Divine Presence". This makes it extremely likely that the Council of the First Circle are aspects of God.

When all was void, the Council of the First Circle set the rules.

Glory is called Shekinah by Dream.

Glory was unaffected when reality, The Endless and Destiny's Book was rewritten by the dreams and imaginations of a thousand dreamers.

Tiering

The Council of the First Circle are Low 1-C, possibly 1-C. They predate the Presence's creation and made the its laws and the rules which the Endless follow and Glory and was unaffected when reality, The Endless and Destiny's Book was rewritten by the dreams and imaginations of a thousand dreamers.

Mother Night, Father Time, and the True Extent of the Endless

Mother Night and Father Time

Night and Time are the parents of Endless, and it is their interplay that made all versions of the Universe possible. Remember that in Vertigo, Universe means all of Creation. Therefore, "all versions of the Universe" did not refer to alternate realities, but to other versions of Creation that were changed by dreams as they predate this concept.

Before the beginning there was endless and boundless Night. In the beginning there was Time. When they came together all versions of the universe were possible.

Event horizon of a dark star doesn't have dreaming minds, life, thoughts, pictures, emotions etc. and it was stated that time dissolves here. Mother Night is the true Darkness which is beyond that dark star.

Father Time gave the "Book of Destiny" to Destiny of the Endless.

Mother Night exists in the vast stretches of unspace and untime beyond every event horizon.

The True Extent of the Endless

“

Given that there is after all, only one of us, and our multiplicity of identity is merely a function of space, and thus illusory.

„

It was displayed more than once that the Endless are explicitly not bound to one Creation. When we see Dream, or Destiny, or Death, we are only looking at one point of view. So, any Creations we have seen in the Void share a similar nature to the Endless, which is basically seen when all of Dream aspects were brought together. The Endless likely exists in all of these versions of Creation. Death was the only Endless supposed to last longer than the current version of Creation.

Lucifer stated that Death is the inevitable and escaping to the Void or other Creations is only postponing the inevitable.

Death exists even in Lucifer's new Creation because she has a job to do in all places which have concepts of life and death.

To Destiny, all stories are simply illusions.

Dream was there when the Council of the First Circle met.

The Endless are the primal truths of the universe, so the universe and the Endless having basically the same nature is not really that farfetched. What we were shown in the Void when there were many Lucifer is basically this.

Now, if the Council of the First Circle set down the rules for everything when all was still Void, and Dream (presumably his siblings as well) was present, that means that the true extent of the Endless goes far beyond one single Creation, it is inherent to all versions of Creation. And that is supported by Death appearing in Lucifer's completely separate Creation.

Tiering

• Night and Time are Low 1-C, possibly 1-C. They predate all versions of Creation that were changed by dreams, their interplay is what made all version of Creation possible, and they are the source of the reality changing power of dreams which can retroactively change Creation and creates gods, including Presence.

• Death and Destiny are Low 1-C, possibly 1-C. Death scales to Destiny who scales to the Basanos.

Mansions of Silence

Little is known about the realm called the Mansions of Silence other than that it is supposedly beyond Death's reach, houses all the rejected Creations, is not "real", is far beyond Heaven, and is where Lucifer consigned Tsuki-yomi after killing him, preventing him from passing into non-existence like other dead Gods. The Mansions and the rejected Creations within were destroyed by Lucifer.

The mirrors are thought to contain rejected Creations.

The mirrors in the Mansions of Silence are confirmed to be other Creations due to the other version of Cal, an angel made by Sandalphon.

The Mansions of Silence are not real.

The Mansions of Silence are far beyond Heaven.

Tiering

The Mansions of Silence are Low 1-C. It's far beyond Heaven which transcends the Presence's creation, although there are fragile structures.

The Presence and the Archangels

The Presence

The Presence, sometimes referred as Yahweh, is the God of the Covenant and father to all Angels, with the main two beings Michael and Lucifer. He's vastly superior to the Archangels and can unmake them as easily he created them. He has defined every variable, every physical law. Everything happens because he made them happen.

The Presence created the Universe then he created Michael and Lucifer who represents an aspect of their father. Michael inherited God's power from which he created the first matter and Lucifer, inheriting God's will, shaped it into everything. Destiny has been implied to be the personification and the side-effect of Yahweh's deterministic approach on Creation with his book being based on the script written by the Presence. The Presence has aspects like The Word, created when the Presence first spoke, whose existence was traced by Destiny in his book even before it was spoken aloud.

At first glance, the Presence appears as the supreme being of Vertigo. The reality is more nuanced.

It was strongly implied that The Presence only created one version of Creation and he isn't the only maker, there will be other makers, like Silk Man who wasn't created by Yahweh and comes from a much earlier Creation than the current one. Furthermore, The Presence isn't a constant of Creation like the Endless are because the Jin En Moks, beings who were stated to exist even before the Presence himself, said that there were other Creators before and after the Presence.

Yahwed stated that he was shaped by external forces.

Yahweh admitted that having Omnipotence eternally is a great burden.

Yahweh's creation is only one version of Creation and he is not the only maker, there will be other creations and other makers.

Archangels

There are six Archangels: Uriel, who rules the worlds. Raphael, who oversees humanity. Michael, who is set over chaos. Saraquael, who is set over spirits. Gabriel, who is lord of the Cherubim and Seraphim. And Raguel, to whom has been entrusted the vengeance of the Lord.

Each Archangel represents an aspect of their father.

The Angels are again stated to have existed in the time before time.

According to Uriel, The Presence chose Michael as his second and because of this Michael can write The Presence/Yahweh's name on every atom of the Creation.

Time and Space are extensions of the mind and will, which Lucifer embodies.

Tiering

• The Presence/Yahweh is 1-C. He is the creator of Creation and all higher realms such as Heaven and Hell. He created all the Archangels and can easily destroy them and he defined every variable, the physical rules with his own will. Everything happens because he makes it happen.

• The Archangels such as Michael and Lucifer are 1-C. They scale to Heaven which transcends the 2-A Creation. Lucifer is far more powerful than Dream of the Endless. Space-time is an extension of the mind of Will which Lucifer embodies, and he destroyed Logos with a touch which is the first word which sung all of existence into being. It was stated that Elaine should push the "absence of space" of the Void in order create a new cosmos which should mean that she can affect the Void. Elaine with Demiurgic powers scales to Michael and Michael scales to Lucifer.

The Void

The Void is the endless, beginningless expanse of nothingness from which Creations rise and fall. Only the demiurgic powers bestowed by God could create new cosmos in the Void and in order to create her own cosmos, Elaine first have to push the "absence of space" of the Void in order to fill it.

"It is a matter of perception. There is no time here. And no space. So all things are layered on themselves endlessly and perception twists around its own axis until its blinded by fullness, crippled by infinite repetition,"

"One and one are not two, if one and one cannot meet." The Void is infinite and eternal and no matter how large Creations you fill it with, they will never take up any room.

Creations rise and fall in the Void.

The Void is outside of the Presence's plan.

It's important to note that are three Creations in the Void, those of the Presence, Lucifer and Elaine Belloc, which were later combined by Elaine when she replaced the Presence. There is only one Creation present and after it ends, a new "version" will rise therefore any other Creations seen in the Void are basically just versions of the same Creation as time has no real meaning in the Void, they all exist simultaneously, as seen when Lucifer flew into the Void with different versions of himself. This is why Lucifer said that in the Void it does not matter whether the Silk Man comes from a Creation before or after that of the Presence.

There are beings from past versions of reality who survived the destruction of their universe such as the Jin En Moks who come from a reality older than the current Creation. One of them was Cestis who is much older than the Presence.

Tiering

The Void is 1-C as it's beyond space-time and the hierarchy of dimensions and transcends it completely.

Why Divide the Different Cosmologies?

Over the years, there has been a great deal of controversy regarding the statistics and power scaling of DC's cosmic entities. This is due to the various changes, continuity errors, and different interpretations of them that have been written by various authors over the years. This problem was compounded by statements from Jim Lee and Dan Didio that everything is canon. The problem we have been running into is that different writers often write independently of each other, adding new concepts to the older ones while ignoring or only somewhat acknowledging the works of the other writers. This is not always the case, as some writers pay considerable attention to the works of certain other authors, but even then there are some degrees of independence.

Regardless, the above circumstances cause the following problems:

• Chain-scaling causing incongruent ratings: If characters are allowed to derive their statistics from complicated chains of powerscaling based on various distinct iterations of the cosmology never written to work with each other, they inevitably amass ratings conflicting with many of their storylines by scaling to disconnected scans. Through scaling across different versions of the cosmology, they end up with tiers incongruent with their true power level as written. For example, under a composite cosmology, many of DC's cosmic entities would be rated extremely high into Tier 1 despite never demonstrating a power level that high in any of their stories.

• Incompatibilities: Different authors have written incompatible versions of the cosmology regarding different dimensions and higher realms, in terms of how they are defined and fundamentally function. For example, in Grant Morrison's earlier works, the Fifth Dimension is a geometrically 5D realm, while in his later works with Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson, the Fifth Dimension is a governing plane of existence described as "Imagination" unrelated to geometric dimensions. Moreover, some characters and concepts with crucial roles in the DC Universe's cosmology such as Pralaya (DeMatteis), Mother Night, Father Time (Gaiman/Carey), Plane Time, and Cube Time (Morrison) are seemingly non-existent outside of their own continuity, and certain characters and the origin story of creation are handled differently from one continuity to another.
  • J.M. DeMatteis and Grant Morrison's cosmologies are incompatible because...
    • In DeMatteis' stories the entirety of existence is part of a dream made by the Divine Presence while in Morrison's stories someone has drawn existence onto Monitor-Mind against its will.
    • Despite the similarities between the Overvoid and the Void Beyond All Voids, DeMatteis had no idea what the Overvoid was when he was writing his Spectre stories.
  • Scott Snyder/James Tynion IV and Neil Gaiman/Mike Carey's cosmologies are incompatible because...
    • In Gaiman/Carey's stories, the Presence created the DC Universe and Michael Demiurgos' demiurgic power made the first matter and Lucifer Morningstar's will shaped it into all suns while in Snyder's stories, Perpetua made the DC Multiverse from the energies provided by the Source and Alpheus created every universe within it.
    • In the Gaiman/Carey stories all gods were created from Dream of the Endless through the power of dreams and beliefs, while in the Snyder stories they were created from Hecate's Collective Unconscious.
    • Although quite similar, God's demiurgic power used to create the Cosmos in Gaiman/Carey stories seems to be replaced by Anti-Crisis Energy and Crisis Energy in Scott Snyder stories as the creative forces of the Cosmos and relates to memory and history.
    • In Scott Snyder stories, there are infinite Multiverses in the Void beyond the main one, while in Gaiman/Carey's stories there were three Creations, those of the Presence, Lucifer and Elaine Belloc, which were later combined into one when Elaine replaced the Presence.

Discussions

Discussion threads involving DC Comics Cosmology