Maybe...The story never follows up on wether Ultrons energies were nourishing or not...
However given Reeds speculation on Galactus and what he was going to do to the Sun in preparation to battle the Beyonder, I think you can draw the conclusion that (as far as the writer of Secret Wars was concerned) Galactus can feed upon Fusion based energy...
Re: Re: galactus and stars
Originally posted by riv6672Exactly, that would be the simplest explanation. He no doubt has energy absorption abilities at least that of the Surfer, but probably the energy is of no use sustaining him.
Maybe...its a matter of him being able to consume things he cant get sustenance from?
I think he also absorbed the Prime Director of Galador who was an energy being, but that probably counts as living energy.
Originally posted by leonidasDon't planets only start forming during the early stages of solar evolution? So if he comes across mature stars with no planets he may as well eat the star anyway since it would be unlikely to get planets later on. Leave the other systems to ripen for the more juicy planets.
nah, stars go on to ALLOW planets to thrive and hence, stars allow life to flourish. why would he want to go around destroying stars when it isn't necessary? many stars also have planets around them, so killing the star kills the planets as well.
Also, if he takes the planets why not absorb the system's sun every single time for the extra energy? Again, not likely that the sun will ever develop a new set of planets.
Originally posted by MagnonI'd tend to agree here. One or two writers come along and make a simple but important plot mistake that contradicts previous continuity and messes with the established internal logic in an annoying way. That's Marvel though.
No, having Galactus eat solar energy is poor writing, showing lack of research about the character and his established canon, and the logic behind that canon. Such a change would change the entire character and the very POINT of the character. I'd rather stick to the logical, consistent, and well-established canon and ignore this one inconsistency.
Of course, there was also that incident where he gave up on Wraithworld and tried to absorb the entire Black Sun. But maybe he was just doing it to attempt to neutralize the Wraithworld defenses at the source of their power, or he sensed the Black Sun was not a normal star and also harbored living energy (it was producing Deathwings and the whole system seemed to have a kind of malevolent sentience).
@basilisk
Thats why they should base Galactus's eatting habits around Carbon; most stars and star systems are Carbon poor and wouldnt do much for him...
That would neatly explain the need for Heralds (there are ALOT of star systems to weed out) and add some logic in the process to why he does what he does...
And it would answer why he has consumed some stars for sustenance; those stars just happened to be Carbon rich...
Originally posted by TheLordofMurderCould make sense. But it might leave him a big loophole with his promises to Reed not to eat the earth! Never said anything about that sun...
@basiliskThats why they should base Galactus's eatting habits around Carbon; most stars and star systems are Carbon poor and wouldnt do much for him...
That would neatly explain the need for Heralds (there are ALOT of star systems to weed out) and add some logic in the process to why he does what he does...
And it would answer why he has consumed some stars for sustenance; those stars just happened to be Carbon rich...
Originally posted by TheLordofMurder
Maybe Oxygen?The Earth is rich in Oxygen, but the sun is Oxygen poor (as pertains to elemental abundance)...
Of course to play Devils Advocate against myself, Oxygen is not a requirement for life as there are anerobic bacteria that do just fine sans Oxygen...
And I think oxygen comes from bigger stars which are probably less likely to have planets with life. But as you said, his eating habits might be explained by the different compositions of different types of stars.
...So there might be some sort of explanation at least. But it is still an annoying thing for the writers to suddenly add in after all this time.
Originally posted by basilisk
And I think oxygen comes from bigger stars which are probably less likely to have planets with life. But as you said, his eating habits might be explained by the different compositions of different types of stars....So there might be some sort of explanation at least. But it is still an annoying thing for the writers to suddenly add in after all this time.
Agreed...
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Well, I don't have anything against Galactus expanding his diet from potentially life-bearing planets to other types of astronomical objects, in principle... as long as Marvel provided good explanations to all the questions it would rise, such as:
How and why did the nature of his cosmic hunger change? And why is he still after living planets, if there are other types of energy sources in abundance in the universe? Is it now a particular chemical element he requires for nutrition instead of the earlier, admittedly abstract, "life energy"? Earlier he HAD to eat life (or potential for life) in order to survive, even though he had occasional moral problems in doing so. He could NOT gain energy from anything else, in particular he could not utilize stars. Does he now kill life just because he enjoys it? Is he now pure evil as opposed to a neutral cosmic force of nature just doing what he has to? What does this mean to his role as a balance between life and death, keeping life in check in the universe? Him having to devour potentially life-bearing planets is what made him fulfill this role. Why would his powers change in a way that is inconsistent with his cosmic role?
This kind of change would in my opinion be too dramatic and illogical, and I think it would be easier to just ignore it as a writer error. Granted, I haven't read the issues where he has consumed stellar energy, so I don't know if there were some unusual factors involved in it.
Re: Re: Re: galactus and stars
Originally posted by Magnon
Galactus devouring stars IS a writer error.. it is in direct contradiction with what has been EXPLICITLY shown earliear and confirmed by Galactus himself. Him devouring stars also makes no sense with his earlier history and the point of the character.Time and time again in the comic history we have seen a starving "Galactus Hungers!" -Galactus and he has been anxiously waiting for his Heralds to return and guide him to a nearest life-bearing planet. This while he has been surrounded by stars and rocky planetary systems without life on them. He cannot use those as energy source, otherwise he would have done so in critical moments when he is nearly dying to hunger.
No, Galactus eating stars is one thing I won't just accept as a retcon, because the retcon would lead to too many logical contradictions. It is a recent writer error showing cluelessness about the character, and should be treated as such and ignored. At least until Marvel comes up with a good explanation for it, and can somehow rationalize this completely new, character-changing situtation for the character (cosmic, neutral force of nature --> cosmic, evil mass-murderer).
well......i guess you'll just have to continue not liking it then because like i said, you've seen it. and no, i won't say it was writer error. it was common knowledge that galactus ate planets since his inception. logically speaking, there is no way around it. apparently some writer thinks it's dumb that he can't feed on stars so has him feed on stars. but we've seen plenty of evidence that he can absorb all manner of energy so.....yeah. it's not a big deal to me and i guess you'll just have to go on not liking it or denying the evidence but we've seen on panel proof that yes, he can gain energy from stars. [shrug]
Originally posted by basilisk
Don't planets only start forming during the early stages of solar evolution? So if he comes across mature stars with no planets he may as well eat the star anyway since it would be unlikely to get planets later on. Leave the other systems to ripen for the more juicy planets.Also, if he takes the planets why not absorb the system's sun every single time for the extra energy? Again, not likely that the sun will ever develop a new set of planets.
i wasn't referring to planetary formation. stars are abundant in carbon. supernovae are responsible for expelling and seeding the universe with nearly every heavy element in existence including those elements intrinsic in creating life. i mean cosmic dust has been proven to possess traces of organic compounds/matter. you've probably heard that we're all 'star stuff'. well, many scientists believe that is exactly 100% correct. maybe the writer who had g devour stars wasn't ignorant, maybe he simply KNEW his science and decided since stars contain all the material necessary for life to take root, (already broken down into their individual elements) why NOT just have him devour stars? imo, it only makes sense and should have been incorporated long ago into his history.
as for why he doesn't do it all the time? who knows? we can speculate as i did earlier and say he doesn't get as much of a high, i guess, or maybe by killing a star it keeps that star from casting out elements that will lead to more planets being created later. who knows? i mean, why does yellow sunlight give superman power and red sunlight not? there are a million questions in comics that when looked at through a microscope fail in the sense department. one thing that hasn't changed--galactus still devours planets as his main source of sustenance. for whatever reason, and, though it's clear to me he can (and has) absorbed nearly every type of energy there is, i don't see that changing any time soon.
Originally posted by Surtur
I thought he could feed on anything that has the potential to support life. Doesn't necessarily have to have life..merely the potential for it.
Planets that have the potential to sustain life will nourish him, regardless of whether or not any creatures actually live there.
I think Galactus just need something special, wich was never well explained, and it are only in SOME planets. We never know for sure what planets are good for Galactus. They are not choose by size, or by number of living beings in that...some are just good for him, and others dont.
I hope someday someone explain that. And even his role in universe was never well explained.
Originally posted by eaebiakuya
I think Galactus just need something special, wich was never well explained, and it are only in SOME planets. We never know for sure what planets are good for Galactus. They are not choose by size, or by number of living beings in that...some are just good for him, and others dont.I hope someday someone explain that. And even his role in universe was never well explained.
They could do what they did in an alternate reality and put a big juicy Celestial Egg in the center of every planet with the potential to host life...
Radiation emitted from the egg stimulate organic compounds to cause life to emerge (assumming that the planet formed with sufficient quanities of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and the appropiate Trace Elements)...
Galactus's role would then be to consume the Celestial Egg (thereby destroying the host planet as a consequence) as a means of controlling Celestial population...
In this senario, Galactus could consume all forms of energy but concentrates on the Celestial Eggs to keep the universe in balance...
It could be written like that; it would make perfect sense, and nothing would need to be retconned...