Damocles Foundation - Powers and Abilities

Powers and Abilities

Due to the cosmic energy that suffuses an Eternal's body and the nigh-unbreakable mental hold they have over their physiological processes, the Eternals of Earth are effectively immortal. They live for millennia, do not fatigue from physical exertion, are immune to disease and poison, and are unaffected by environmental extremes of cold and heat. Most cannot be injured by conventional weaponry, and even if they somehow are, an Eternal can rapidly regenerate any damage as long as they are able to retain their mental hold over their bodies; this mental bond can be broken however. In the 2006 series it was also stated that Eternals are able to absorb oxygen directly from water, and therefore cannot drown. In the same series, Ikaris was plunged into molten metal and experienced great pain, but no physical injury, which the Deviants attributed to a forcefield which protects Ikaris even when unconscious. It is unclear if all Eternals share this degree of protection.

At one time, the official limit to the Eternals' durability was such that they could be permanently destroyed by dispersing their bodies' molecules over a wide area. However, this degree of extreme durability was recently revealed to have increased to a much greater degree; as demonstrated in the 2006 Eternals limited series, it is shown that even total molecular dispersal is insufficient to destroy an Eternal. As long as "The Machine" (a restoration device of Celestial origin; possibly the Earth itself) keeps running, any destroyed Eternal will eventually return, as was the case with Ikaris after he was completely vaporized by a particle accelerator as part of a series of "experiments" performed upon him by the Deviants.

This same cosmic energy can be channeled for a number of superhuman abilities. All Eternals are potentially capable of:

• Superhuman strength. The limits of their strength can be increased as a result of years of focusing some of their energy towards that purpose.
• Projecting concussive blasts, heat, and/or blinding flashes of energy from their eyes and hands
• Flight (and levitating others)
• Reading/controlling minds
• Generating illusions
• Teleporting vast distances, though most Eternals prefer not to use this ability as many find it uncomfortable (and according to the most recent series, it also greatly depletes their store of cosmic energy)
• Transmuting objects, altering both their shape and composition. (The extent of this ability can vary from one Eternal to another.)
• Forcefield generation providing invulnerability to harm.

• In addition, groups of Eternals, as few as three at a time, can initiate a transformation into a gestalt being called the Uni-Mind, a vastly powerful psionic entity that contains the totality of the powers and abilities of all the beings that comprise it.

Some Eternals choose to focus on a particular power in order to increase their effectiveness with it. Sersi, for example, has developed the power of transmutation farther than any other Eternal. Additionally, some Eternals choose to focus their cosmic energies into other, non-standard abilities. Ikaris, for example, channels cosmic energy to greatly enhance his senses, while the Interloper uses his to generate fear in others, and Makkari uses his cosmic energies for superspeed.