Eternity (comics)
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Eternity is one of the fictional cosmic entities in Marvel Comics' universe. He was mentioned in Strange Tales #134 and first appeared in issue #138 (1965), where his existence was determined by Doctor Strange.
Eternity came into existence when the universe was formed and spontaneously assumed the collective consciousness of all things living in the universe. He is the incarnation of time as his sister Infinity represents space. They have two other siblings: Death and Oblivion. His children are Empathy, Eulogy, Expediency, Entropy, Epiphany and Enmity. Collectively they are known as the seven Friendless (Commonly believed to be a reference to the Endless, a set of characters created by Neil Gaiman in the DC Universe and used throughout his works). It has been speculated that the Celestials are also the children of Eternity, as was the former entity Eon. Through Eon, Eternity has one grandchild, Epoch. Another child named Era appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, but since this series was set in the future and Era has not appeared in present times Marvel Comics nor any mention of Epoch having other siblings, Era doesn't yet exist in the current Marvel Universe. As one of the forces of reality, Eternity remains one of the most powerful and nigh-omnipotent characters in the Marvel Universe.
Image:DitkoEternity.jpg Although the complete activities of Eternity are unknown, it is known to appear when threatened, such as for example when Thanos assembled the Infinity Gauntlet.
He is, along with Death and Galactus, one of three fundamental entities in the Marvel Comics Universe (the Living Tribunal is further above them all and maintains the cosmic balance of power). The absence of Galactus would allow the emergence of the antithesis of Eternity, Abraxas.
Also, he and each of his counterparts across the Multiverse are guarded by the Captain Universe of their respective realities.