Galactus is considered a remnant of the Old Universe. When the Big Bang happened, almost all the energy was used in shaping the stars and planets. But there was still a massive amount of energy left unused after the Big Bang; energy that was then absorbed by Galactus and helped turned him into a cosmic God. Even Stan “The Man” Lee, the godfather of the Marvel Universe, has named Galactus as the strongest being in existence. The guy is best known for eating entire planets to satiate his unquenchable hunger, wiping out Civilization after Civilization to sooth his favorite past time. A being this powerful would be extremely hard to take down. But it is not impossible. In the comics, there are people who have actually managed to beat the Destroyer of Worlds in one on one combat. Presenting – 10 Marvel Characters who have actually defeated the Mighty Galactus in combat!!
1. The Beyonder
For the extra-universal being called the Beyonder, the universe, as a matter of fact, the entire multiverse, is a petri dish. He can do whatever he wishes and no being in existence can stop him from having his way. When the Beyonder got bored, he merged all realities and universes into one big pile of twisted timelines in a storyline aptly called the Secret Wars event. Clearly, two beings were not happy with how they were trapped in a place they had no choice to opt out of.
Doctor Doom and Galactus decided to join hands and revolt against the Beyonder. They believed that since the Beyonder is a God of reality, the only way to defeat him would be joining Doom’s magic and Galactus’ Power Cosmic. The plan backfired when they realized that they had grossly underestimated the Beyonder’s powers. The Beyonder defeated them both like they were nothing, knocking out Galactus with one punch and sending him crashing down onto a planet below. The fight ended then and there.
2. The Avengers
In one storyline, Galactus is too weak to move around in the vacuum of space so he decides to take a vacation on Earth. His herald Terrax takes Manhattan hostage and tries to fight Galactus. Galactus absorbs all the Power Cosmic he gave Terrax from him and uses the energy to build a machine that would help him literally eat the Earth and harvest all its energies, thus ensuring his survival at the expense of the big blue planet. The Avengers along with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four manage to drive him away. Granted he was in a highly weakened state, but a win is still a win.
3. Thanos
The Mad Titan and Galactus have traded fists so many times in the comic books that we are forced to believe that both these guys have some personal grudge against each other that panels fail to mention. In the Infinity Gauntlet Storyline, Thanos uses the Gauntlet to destroy a planet that was supposed to be Galactus’ lunch. When Galactus tries to take revenge for his hurt ego, Thanos defeats him pretty easily. That is why Galactus does the unthinkable and teams up with Adam Warlock and the rest of the ‘mortal’ heroes to defeat Thanos. With huge losses, they manage to take down the purple megalomaniac.
4. The Fantastic Four
When Galactus made his first appearance as a Cosmic Villain and a Destroyer of Worlds that feasts on planets, the first superhero team he encountered was the Fantastic Four. In the 1960s, a storyline reveals Galactus sent his herald, the Silver Surfer, to scout for planets, who found his way to Earth and sent a signal that he has his master’s next meal in sight. The Surfer then has a change of heart and aids the Fantastic Four in defeating the Cosmic Harvester, by using a legendary weapon called the Ultimate Nullifier – a weapon that could wipe out any being out of existence if willed so by its wielder.
5. Rick Jones
The Age of Ultron storyline ended with Galactus left behind in the parallel universe of Earth 1610. This was the Ultimates Universe where the Marvel characters we know and revere are starkly different than their classic, mainstream counterparts. In Earth-1610 universe, the Devourer of Worlds is a swarm planet eating drones called the Gah Lak Tus swarm. The mainstream Galactus managed to enslave the Gah Lak Tus swarm and used him as his servant. The Ultimates Universe Rick Jones, the captain Marvel of that Universe, used all his powers to its maximum potential to defeat Galactus, who was almost ripped in half. The fight ended badly for the World Eater.
6. Aegis and Tenebrous
Galactus has been there since before the beginning of time. He is sure to have made a lot of enemies given his favorite hobby of eating entire worlds and ending whole civilizations. But Aegis and Tenebrous have a special relationship with Galactus. They are Proemial Gods, cosmic entities from the universe that preceded the current one and were imprisoned in an escapable void of space called the Kyln by Galactus. The Annihilation Wave destroys the Kyln and frees Aegis and Tenebrous, whose very first achievement after getting out was wiping Galactus and Silver Surfer’s face.
7. Impossible Man
The planet called Popup is just as weird as it sounds. Beings hailing from this planet share a collective hive mind and shared consciousness. The superhero called the Impossible Man hails from this planet. Popup residents have the ability to take the form of whomever and whatever he wishes. When Galactus was trying to devour the Invisible Woman, Impossible Man took on the form of the superhero himself and jumped into his mouth. Turns out, a shared hive mind coupled with impossible material is really bad for your stomach. Galactus literally exploded due to a bad case of acute food poisoning.
8. Marvel Zombies
In the Zombie-verse, a mutagenic virus that turns infected into flesh-eating maniacs has turned the entire Earth upside down. Galactus sees a chance for an easy free meal and comes to Earth to devour whatever energies are left of it. His plan backfires when the Zombies, having no more food left on Earth, decide to turn on Galactus. Little by little, they chew him alive and in the process, absorb his power cosmic. They use their newfound cosmic abilities to spread to the rest of the universe and devour the entire cosmos.
9. Kitty Pryde
When the Devourer of Worlds tried to destroy the Earth from the Ultimates universe, Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat of the X-Men swooped in to save the day. Using a dash of Pym particles given by Giant Man, Kitty grew to cosmic sizes and fought Galactus one on one. Her phasing powers gave her the ultimate defence and offense. She kept the World Eater busy enough for Thor and Mister Fantastic to trap the guy in the Negative Zone.
10. Squirrel Girl
This particular superhero is going places. Squirrel Girl has defeated heavyweights like Doctor Doom and Thanos. As of that was not enough, she has done the same with Galactus as well!! But she did not fight him per se. When Galactus came knocking at Earth’s doorsteps, Squirrel Girl stole one of Tony Stark’s space suits, went to space and invited Galactus for a friendly chat. She managed to negotiate a better deal with the Destroyer of Worlds. Galactus will be now satiating his hunger with a planet of nuts! When Squirrel Girl mentioned that she has even defeated Thanos, Galactus had utmost respect for her. He even grew to like the mutant hero. Before he left, Galactus even left a card for her should she ever get bored and decided to venture out into space as his cosmic herald. Talk about a sweet deal!!!
