Who is The Anti-Monitor? DC Comics Origin and Powers Explained

The DC universe has no shortage of formidable villains, but the Anti-Monitor is in a league of his own. With the power to destroy entire universes and an origin that goes back to the dawn of time, the Anti-Monitor just might be DC’s ultimate antagonist.

The Anti-Monitor’s FIRST Comic Book Origin

The Anti-Monitor was created by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, and Jerry Ordway, and made his debut in DC’s seminal Crisis on Infinite Earths series. However, his story actually begins billions of years ago with the creation of the multiverse. When a scientist named Krona on Oa, the planet that would later be home to the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps, tries to use a device that would allow him to witness creation itself, a massive explosion occurs which actually alters the creation of the universe, giving birth to the multiverse. Among the countless alternate realities created in this incident was the antimatter universe, the birthplace of the Anti-Monitor.

The Final Crisis mini-series by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones provided more insight into the Anti-Monitor’s creation. After the Oans inadvertently created the multiverse, a cosmic entity known as the Overmonitor sought to learn more about the life forms that were populating the various universes, so he created the Monitor to study them. However, this resulted in an equivalent, opposite being called the Anti-Monitor to be born in the antimatter universe. While the Monitor embodies goodness and watches over life, the Anti-Monitor embodies evil and seeks to conquer all of existence. After taking over Qward, the antimatter version of Oa, the Anti-Monitor set his sights on the positive-matter universe, leading to a war between him and the Monitor that would last millions of years.

How The Anti-Monitor Arrived in Crisis on Infinite Earths

Even for cosmic entities, waging war for millions of years is pretty tiring. After fighting for so long, both the Monitor and the Anti-Monitor went dormant for the next few billion years. It was not until 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths that they would awaken and change the DC universe forever.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was DC’s way of streamlining their storylines and bringing all their characters into the same universe to make their content less confusing for readers. For example, up to this point, Shazam existed in a separate universe from the rest of the heroes since he was originally created by Fawcett Comics and only later acquired by DC. After Crisis on Infinite Earths, it would be much simpler for characters to interact and cross over into each others’ series because the continuity would essentially be rewritten. Within the DC universe, however, Crisis on Infinite Earths had perhaps the highest stakes the heroes had ever encountered – the fate of the entire multiverse.

When a being called Pariah conducts an experiment similar to Krona’s that created the multiverse all those years ago, both the Monitor and Anti-Monitor awaken from their slumber, and their war is reignited. The Anti-Monitor begins by releasing a shockwave of antimatter that destroys countless positive-matter universes, which gives him strength and weakens the Monitor at the same time. In an attempt to stop the Anti-Monitor from achieving total domination of the multiverse, the Monitor assembles a team of heroes from across various universes, including the Flash, Green Lantern, Firestorm, Superman, and more. After the Monitor is killed by his corrupted assistant called Harbinger, the heroes are transported to a pocket universe to plan on how to defeat the Anti-Monitor once and for all. This results in the Spectre battling the Anti-Monitor to a stalemate at the dawn of time, which Krona then sees when he uses the device to witness creation, thus causing the reformation of the multiverse into one, single universe. Pretty complicated stuff, but all you really need to know is that the conflict ends with Superman punching the Anti-Monitor into a star. A hit like that even puts One-Punch Man to shame.

The Anti-Monitor’s Powers and Abilities

The Anti-Monitor is a being of extraordinary power who feeds on the energies of destroyed universes. These energies, in turn, further increase his power, allowing him to manipulate reality and even travel through time. He can also unleash his energy as bolts or shockwaves to attack his opponents. In addition, the Anti-Monitor possesses incredible strength, stamina, and durability, and can even grow to be hundreds of meters tall. He also has an army of shadow demons from the antimatter universe at his command. However, the extent of the Anti-Monitor’s power is dependent on his energy levels, which can be drained in order to weaken him. Still, only another cosmic being like the Monitor or the Spectre is capable of opposing the Anti-Monitor at full power, and even they needed help from some of DC’s top heroes to put him down for good.

The Anti-Monitor’s NEW Origins

More recent storylines have since made some changes to the Anti-Monitor’s origins. For example, in the New 52, the Anti-Monitor is actually revealed to be Mobius, the original owner of the chair used by the New God Metron. Mobius became the Anti-Monitor after fusing with the Anti-Life Equation, which served as the foundation for the entire antimatter universe. With the equation, the Anti-Monitor can bend any sentient being to his will. However, after killing Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor is separated from the Anti-Life equation and once again becomes Mobius, leaving the equation open for Grail, Darkseid’s daughter, to steal. Grail then transfers the equation to Steve Trevor, who is under her control, and has him unleash a blast of energy that destroys Mobius, leaving nothing but his skeleton. Ouch.

DC Rebirth, which once again revamped the entire DC continuity, retold the origins of the Anti-Monitor and made him brothers with the Monitor and the World Forger. Their mother, Perpetua, is a celestial being who they later must team up to defeat alongside several DC superheroes. However, the Anti-Monitor is restored to his evil, pre-crisis self when Perpetua gives the Anti-Life equation back to him. Although he was later stopped by John Stewart, it’s clear the Anti-Monitor never stays down for good; even if it takes him a few billion years, he always returns to wreak more havoc on the DC universe.

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