Arishem the Judge

Arishem the Judge
Arishem on the left, with fellow Celestials, Hargen the Measurer and Eson the Searcher. Art by Giorgio Comolo.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Eternals #2 (August 1976)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In-story information
Species	Celestial
Team affiliations	Celestials

Arishem the Judge is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Arishem is one of two Celestials who have the right and ability to judge which planet's civilization will live and which will die. Arishem's function is to act as the leader of Celestial landing parties and has led all Four Celestial Hosts on Earth.

Arishem debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals (2021), voiced by David Kaye.

Publication history[]

Arishem the Judge first appeared in The Eternals #2 (August 1976), and was created by Jack Kirby.^[1]

Fictional character biography[]

Arishem arrived on Earth with the Fourth Celestial Host.^[2] During this time, he was first sighted by human beings, as he began his 50-year judgment of Earth.^[3] It was later revealed that during the Third Celestial Host, he had accepted the Earth Gods' vow of non-interference in Celestial affairs. With the other members of the Fourth Host in Peru, Arishem judged Earth worthy, and left Earth.^[4]

Arishem led the Fourth Host on the planet called , which he judged unworthy of life. With fellow Celestial , he began the purification process and transformed Pangoria into a virtual paradise.^[5]

Arishem arrived to judge a distant planet on which X-Factor had been lost for some time. Arishem was attacked by the combined power of the Chosen, Rejects, and Beginagins factions; in response to this attack, he allowed the planet to live and the Celestials departed.^[6]

Arishem appeared before Kubik and Kosmos on their tour of the planes of existence.^[7] Arishem later destroyed an unnamed planet, and encountered Maelstrom.^[8] Alongside the Watchers, Galactus, Rigellians, and the Elan, Arishem witnessed the final battle between Quasar and Maelstrom.^[9]

It was revealed that eons ago, Arishem created the from bacteria, and employed them to destroy unworthy worlds, but later released them from his service.^[10]

Arishem led the Fifth Host on an unnamed planet in a distant galaxy.^{[citation needed]}

He was also the leader among the delegation of Celestials who waged war on the Watchers in an unknown galaxy.^{[citation needed]}

Powers and abilities[]

Like other Celestials, Arishem is a total enigma, the level of whose physical powers is unknown, probably immeasurable.

In other media[]

Arishem appears in Eternals,^[11] voiced by David Kaye.^[12] He is the Prime Celestial, who is credited for creating the first Sun and bringing light to the universe. His purpose is to expand the universe, which requires having to sacrifice lesser life forms to do so. Millions of years ago, Arishem created the Deviants in order to aid in Celestial births. But when his creations went rogue, the Judge created the race of Eternals using the World Forge in order to combat the Deviants who were interfering in his work. One such world Arishem sent his Eternals to was Earth in order to ensure the birth of Tiamut. Arishem communicated directly with Ajak on Earth. After her death at the hands of the Deviants, he instead made contact with Sersi, informing her of the Eternals' true purpose, the fact that the Eternals being from the planet Olympia was untrue, and to ensure the emergence takes place. However, the group grew attached to Earth and worked to stop the emergence and prevent the death of humanity. After they prevented the emergence, Arishem pulled Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos into space in order to study their memories and to judge if humanity was worth preserving, agreeing to spare the people of Earth if they are.

References[]

External links[]

• Arishem the Judge at Marvel Wiki