Living Tribunal (Multiverse)

Living Tribunal
Name	Living Tribunal
Aliases	Living Trinity, We Who Are
Affiliation and Relationships
Relatives	One Above All (creator)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Agender
Height	Variable
Weight	Variable
Eyes	Irises: Blue (Glowing)
Hair	No Hair At All
Skin	Gold
Unusual Features	Floating head with three faces and glowing object in chest. Shiny gold skin.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Abstract Entity created by the One Above All to watch over the Multiverse
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Multiverse
Cause of Death	Killed by the Beyonders
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Occupation	Caretaker of the Multiverse
Education	Omniscient
Base of Operations	Star Chamber
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, Marie Severin
First	Strange Tales #157 (March, 1967) (Cameo) Strange Tales #158 (April, 1967) (Full)
First	Strange Tales #157 (March, 1967) (Cameo) Strange Tales #158 (April, 1967) (Full)
Death	New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30 (February, 2015)
Death	New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30 (February, 2015)

In the name of the One Above All...let the trial...begin.

—Living Tribunal[source]

The Living Tribunal was the personification of multiversal law. As the representative for the One Above All, the Living Tribunal had the highest authority in the Multiverse. The Living Tribunal was slain when the Beyonders (beings from outside the Multiverse) attacked. Following this, the One Above All replaced it with a new Living Tribunal.

History

The Living Tribunal was a vastly powerful humanoid cosmic entity who has existed as long as the universe itself. Its function is to safeguard the Multiverse from an imbalance of mystical forces. It may act to prevent one universe from amassing more power than any of the others, or from upsetting the cosmic balance in some way. The Tribunal may also act to prevent an overwhelming imbalance of good or evil within a universe. When a matter involves only one universe, the Tribunal may leave the final judgment to the Abstract Entities there. The Living Tribunal does not possess alternate counterparts, as there is only one Living Tribunal in the Multiverse. However, he does or can exist simultaneously in multiple planes of reality, giving the appearance of multiple variations to the human perception.

The Living Tribunal's faces: Equity, vengeance, necessity

The Tribunal manifests itself as a being with three faces, which represent the three sides of the Tribunal's personality. Its front face, through which it usually speaks, represents equity, the fully hooded face on its right side represents necessity, and the partially hooded face on its left represents vengeance. All three voices must agree in a case before the Tribunal can intervene.

The Living Tribunal's first known encounter with a being of Earth-616 was with Earth's Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange. He later met Rom and the Beyonder. The Tribunal sealed off an alternate Earth devastated by Korvac, and he encountered the Phoenix of an alternate Earth devastated by S'ym and the Goblin Queen.

In a future timeline, the Tribunal encountered the Hawk God and the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Living Tribunal and the Cosmic Congress were responsible for banishing the Hawk God from their midst, which inadvertently led to the origins of Starhawk and Aleta.

When Adam Warlock came into possession of the Infinity Gauntlet, the Tribunal told Warlock he couldn't wield that much power, leading to the creation of the Infinity Watch. Although the Tribunal refused to allow Warlock to wield the Gauntlet, he also ruled against Eternity, who wished the Gems to be placed under his direct supervision.

When the Stranger teleported the Earth of the New Universe to the mainstream Marvel Universe, the Tribunal sealed it off and imprisoned Quasar's girlfriend in there due to the threat the Star Brand had on the balance of power.

He also allied himself with his closest counterpart of the DC Universe, the Spectre, to save their respective universes from being destroyed by two cosmic "brothers".

Although his own duties are purely cosmic in scope, the Living Tribunal maintains a lesser conclave of judicial officers known as the Magistrati to rule on less dire matters.

When the Unmaker of Earth-80763 became corrupted and began to destroy its universe, the Living Tribunal defeated it. Containing too much power to be simply eliminated, the Living Tribunal deactivated the Unmaker and sealed it into the core of the newly developed Earth.

Dead on the Moon

Uatu and Iron Man found the Living Tribunal on the Moon, having been killed by the Beyonders, and landing on every reality, one sliver of itself for each universe. Its body was used to create the Life Rafts that enabled a few to survive the incursions. The Artificial Super-Intelligences of Earth-23203 found a part of the Tribunal's body in their own reality and studied it to harness its power.

Later, Adam Warlock of Earth-19141 was given the title and duties of the Living Tribunal, becoming its replacement.

Court

The Celestial rep here is Ziran the Tester
The Watcher rep here is Uatu the Watcher

The Living Tribunal served as the final judge for matters involving cosmic entities. Often, he would gather the upper echelon of the cosmic hierarchy. Cosmic entities do not like it when mortals interrupt the proceedings.

Members of the Living Tribunal's court:

• Eternity
• Infinity
• Death
• Oblivion
• Master Order
• Lord Chaos
• The In-Betweener
• Mistress Love
• Sire Hate
• Eon, later Epoch
• Galactus
• The Celestials (Usually a representative)
• The Watchers (Usually a representative)
• The Stranger
• Kronos
• The Hawk God
• Possibly Mephisto

Notes

• Mephisto's appearance in the court was in Marvel Universe: The End #4, which is considered non-canonical by Marvel editor Tom Brevoort.
  • That issue also listed Zeus and Thor as members of the court. However, Zeus and Thor were only there because they went to the cosmic entities for help after escaping Akhenaten, who had wiped out the Council of Godheads. The gods of Earth do not normally participate in cosmic matters of this scale; they have their own council to discuss things locally. For example, when Thanos obtained the Infinity Gauntlet, the cosmic entities and the gods held separate meetings.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

The Living Tribunal was the nigh-omnipotent judge of all realities, existing across the Multiverse simultaneously. He could nullify the Infinity Gems in unison, a feat worth noting because the Infinity Gauntlet could overpower almost every other cosmic entity simultaneously. The Tribunal was generally considered to be the greatest power in the Multiverse, second only to the One Above All. The Tribunal's authority came from the One Above All, and as its servant and representative, the Living Tribunal had the unique ability to contact the One Above All directly.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Staff of Polar Power

Notes

• The Living Tribunal once asserted that if he had a fourth face opposed to the one of equity, it would be the Stranger's, or that the fourth face had become the Stranger.
  • The Stranger was angered by those claims since he refused to be related to anyone.
• The Living Tribunal may or may not have been defeated when Thanos claimed the power of Heart of the Universe for himself, and seemingly absorbed the Living Tribunal, along with Eternity, and Infinity. However, given that Thanos only absorbed and recreated a single universe, whereas the rest of the multiverse suffered no effects from his actions, it was likely just a Manifestation Body/weak avatar of the Tribunal.
  • This interpretation was validated by Marvel's executive editor Tom Brevoort, who stated that like all, "The End" series, the story was intended to have no effect whatsoever on continuity, and if it had, Death would have been made absolute again, which it was not. So the entire event may also have taken place as an "imaginary story" completely outside of Marvel's multiversal continuity.
• Tom Brevoort had stated that the current Living Tribunal is not Adam Warlock and that Jim Starlin's "Thanos: Infinity" Saga is not in continuity with Earth-616. How this works with the Living Tribunal being a singular entity across the Multiverse is yet to be revealed.
• On Earth-9047 (the Humorverse), the Living Tribunal was seen on a queue to seek a job as guest star and driver for the Quasi-Humans, but he failed to get the contract.

See Also

• 76 appearance(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 11 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 18 minor appearance(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 22 mention(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 7 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 66 image(s) of Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 6 quotation(s) by or about Living Tribunal (Multiverse)
• 4 item(s) used/owned by Living Tribunal (Multiverse)

Links and References

• Living Tribunal on Marvel.com
• Living Tribunal (Multiverse) at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Living Tribunal (Multiverse) on the