| “ | I howl through many mouths. I break with many hands. They are themselves, but they are also me. I have all the power you give me and my weapon is hate. | „ |
| ~ The One Below All |
The One Below All is the overarching antagonist of Marvel Comics, appearing in the entire Immortal Hulk series. It is a mysterious and powerful demonic entity, though by the nature of the work, the One Below All is being set up as a crisis-level threat who will somehow endanger the entire Marvel multiverse. For now, the entity is very enigmatic, and only mentioned briefly and encountered by a few select characters in the arc—which is still ongoing.
The One Below All is the direct and opposite counterpart of the One Above All. This has radically altered Marvel's cosmology since this makes the One Below All Marvel's first true "Anti-God", and as such, it is the unequaled embodiment of destruction, wrath, and ruin.
The One Below All is also the true power behind the mutagenic factor of gamma radiation in Marvel, creating the gamma-mutates (of which Hulk is obviously the most famous and powerful). It was this very revelation that drove Brian Banner insane as he believed his son carried a "monster gene", having caught a glimpse of the One Below All during his own experiments into gamma radiation.
History
The events of this arc are still ongoing. For sake of both simplicity and as a safeguard against unnecessary spoilers, the history section of this page will be updated as the arc gains more solid evidence to the entity's purpose and origins.
Appearance
So far, the One Below All has no set "true form", but has very brief appearances where it can take seemingly any form it desires, though it favors the use of extremely abstract and terrifying visages. There's no doubt it could further play on its dreaded reputation as the possible "true" Satan of the Marvel omniverse.
Despite its Satanic nature, the One Below All's apparent "true form" is actually a gigantic mass of green smoke and resembles a living gamma-bomb explosion in many ways, which is very likely symbolism of the One Below All's nature as both an embodiment of destruction and the hidden, malevolent intellect behind the mutagenic nature of gamma radiation in Marvel.
Powers And Abilities
So far, the One Below All is considered an all-powerful demonic entity of unparalleled might. Even Mephisto (often considered the closest Marvel has to a Devil figure) stated that the One Below All is far beyond his power, and that even if he wished to act against the entity, he would fail. This easily ranks the One Below All as one of the most powerful entities in Marvel's history.
It is also revealed that despite the entity's immense power, it can only manifest via the Green Door or gamma-mutated beings such as the Hulk. Indeed, it was the Hulk who was necessary to unleash the One Below All from its dark domain in the first place.
Gallery
Trivia
- The One Below All is one of the most mysterious and powerful demons to ever arrive in the Marvel omniverse due to its immense power - the only entity that is theorized to possibly be as powerful as it is Oblivion, though even this is hotly debated and if the One Below All is truly the dark counter of the One Above All it would be the third most powerful entity ever seen in current Marvel cosmology.
- Because of its name, many suspected this entity to be the evil-half of the One Above All—or an equally powerful (but evil) deity, which has since been confirmed as a reality.
- The One Below All shares much in common with DC's own demonic super-entity known as the Great Evil Beast. It also seems to share a lot in common with Barbatos from the Dark Multiverse.
- There are numerous incidents within the series that suggest Hulk himself is either the host for the One Below All or may even be the entity itself. This is only half-true, as Hulk is actually the one who manages to defeat the entity, by seemingly killing its host—Brian Banner.
