The Source

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Summary

The Source is a metaphysical concept created by writer/artist Jack Kirby for his Fourth World series of comic books. It first appeared in New Gods #1 (February 1971).

It is the source of all that exists. Mostly associated with the New Gods, the Source was the supposed origin of the Godwave that is believed to have been responsible for creating and empowering the "Gods" of the DC Universe with their divine abilities. It also seems to be partially responsible for the ability of DC residents to develop super-powers, especially those which defy physics. Lying at the edge of the known universe in the Promethean Galaxy is the Source Wall, which protects the Source, and traps all those who attempt to pass beyond it.

Powers and Stats

Tier: High 1-A | 0

Key: The Light of Creation | God/The Unknowable

Name: The Source, The Prime Mover, Ain Soph Aur

Origin: DC Comics

Gender: Inapplicable

Age: Older than the DC Multiverse / Time

Classification: God, Abstract Being, Supreme New God

Powers and Abilities: Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Abstract Existence (Type 1; The Source and the Presence are the same entity), Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1; Gave rise to all the concepts and conceptual entities in the DC Universe), Paraconsistent Physiology (Type 1; Described as an "ultimate concept" that contains within it multiple dualities such as "life and anti-life, good and evil, up and down, in and out, black and white, all at once"), Reality Warping, Nigh-Omniscience, Omnipresence, Incorporeality, Beyond-Dimensional Existence (Type 3)

Attack Potency: High Outerverse level (Sits beyond the Multiverse and the Source Wall, in an extradimensional place beyond space and time, existing nowhere and everywhere at once, being at, and as, the center of the Greater Omniverse, encompassing and transcending all. As the Light of Creation, it is the pure informational totality, the very first knowable expression of existence, untainted and incomprehensible, containing all the many meanings of everything at once. All of existence enamates from it as a dream, extending to the very root of Time, conceptually tied to the Deep Change, a mathematical principle underlying all things. A fragment of the Source, known as the Philosopher’s Stone, can affect all of time and space) | Boundless (Exists as the pre-creational, immutable, and non-dual white emptiness beyond all space, time, opposites, and contradictions, remaining entirely beyond the Light and Darkness, functionally equivalent to The Overvoid and The Divine Presence, representing the absolute ground of being and blank page upon which the entirety of the DC Universe is drawn)

Speed: Omnipresent | Omnipresent

Lifting Strength: Immeasurable | Inapplicable

Striking Strength: High Outerverse level | Boundless

Durability: High Outerverse level | Boundless

Stamina: Infinite | Boundless

Range: High Outerversal | Boundless

Standard Equipment: None notable | None notable

Intelligence: Nigh-Omniscient | Nigh-Omniscient

Weaknesses: Unknown | None

Notes:

• The canonicity of the "Death of the New Gods" series is extremely uncertain, as it strongly contradicted by the more prominent "Final Crisis" event, along with all other writer portrayals of the entity. As such, the events of that series should not be used to alter this profile.
• Before making any changes to this page, please read and follow the Power-scaling Rules for Marvel and DC Comics.
• For information about the cosmological scaling that informs the tiering, please refer to the DC Comics Cosmology page.

Gallery

Explanations

The Source and the Presence have often been portrayed as the Light of Creation since Dark Crisis (2020), a depiction that appeared to contradict the understanding that the Source, the Presence, and the Overvoid are identical. This was clarified in New Gods (2025) #12, which established that the Source possesses a pure, pre-creational form: a white emptiness brimming with unrealized potential, existing prior to the Great Darkness. The Light of Creation and the Great Darkness are conceptual opposites, with the Light representing the first knowable expression of existence, while the Darkness stands as the antithesis of creation and the absence of light. Grant Morrison described the Great Darkness as the first contradiction, emerging spontaneously as an evolving property of the Overvoid itself; yet even its awakening, as depicted in Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, unfolds according to God’s plan established since the beginning of time, rather than standing outside it.

The Overvoid is the ultimate, pre-creational ground of reality: the beginningless expanse of pure nothingness and the true form of both the Source and the Presence, beyond all dualities. Many stories associate the Void with the full extent of God, from which all things are drawn. The Source and the Presence, as encountered after emanation, are the Overvoid expressed in manifest form as the Light of Creation, their knowable expression, untainted and incomprehensible, through which all reality flows.

Stories such as the Monkey King, told by the Presence (Yahweh) to Lucifer Morningstar, illustrate that no matter how one attempts to escape, even by reaching the Void, the Presence remains an inescapable part of existence. Similarly, the Monks of Klaa describe the universe as a thought within God’s mind during meditation. In this way, the Source and the Presence in the form of the Light act as a relational emanation, allowing interaction with creation without departing from the infinite, immutable Overvoid.

Notable Matchups

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Inconclusive:

Discussions

Discussion threads involving The Source