Captain Universe

Creation and Publication

Captain Universe

While many fans became divided over Captain Universe's debut in The Micronauts, the majority of Fans were those who had loved the character and demanded to see more him. Though he never gained an actual on-going series Captain Universe has weaved together a 30 year legacy for himself through a combination of guest appearances, cameos, back-up stories, crossovers and various one-shots, which is more than anyone can say for most of his fellow C-Listers. To this day that legacy continues to endure and even though Captain Universe's appearances are few and far between it is safe to say that he will always be there waiting for the day when he is called upon to save the world from tyranny once more.

Origin

Prince Wayfinder learns that he will never be King of Ithaka and instead will pursue a far greater destiny.

In the midst of this chaotic war, a newer and far more powerful enemy arose to crush the other races: a species of God-like Humanoids who called themselves The Haamin. It was revealed that in the centuries before Earth's destruction a colony of Humans departed for outer space and fled into madness, upon breaching the very edges of our Galaxy where they were changed by an unknown force. With their superior technology and God-like powers, The Haamin obliterated several of the other races including the Ithakons, however what The Haamin didn't know was that at least one member of each race they destroyed slipped through their grasp including Prince Wayfinder of Ithaka whose Father told him that he would never become the ruler of Ithaka and that he would pursue a much larger destiny by seeking out the mythical Sword in the Star and using its limitless power to destroy The Haamin and save those who were left.

Time Travelers are the most powerful servants of The Enigma Force.

Wayfinder did just that and even though obtaining the Sword in the Star from its Divine Resting Place (a Yellow Sun that is believed to have once been Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds) cost Wayfinder his sight, he gained deeper vision and the ability to fully wield the sentient nigh-Omnipotent power that would one day be known as The Enigma Force as compensation for his losses. Shortly afterward it came, the chosen day, the day upon which Wayfinder summoned The Enigma Force's might and crushed The Haamin once and for all. But even though Wayfinder and his allies had succeeded in destroying their enemy their victory was a bittersweet one, it was learned that during Wayfinder's quest to find the Sword in the Star, The Haamin had rendered all the planets they sundered incapable of supporting life.

Wayfinder and his fellow Wanderers decided that instead of trying to rebuild what little they had left in a bleak future that only reminded everyone of death and destruction they would build a new society on Earth in the distant past. Using Wayfinder's ship, the Star-Seed, the Prince and his followers turned back the sands of time and constructed a grand metropolis in what would one day become Indus Valley/Bahawalpur in the country of India. But their new life on Earth would not be a peaceful one. Wayfinder had already come into conflict with a powerful but young demonic being who would one day become known as Mephisto and still there was yet another threat lurking just over the Horizon. While Mephisto was a powerful being in his own right he was little more than a pest. No, the true threat to Wayfinder's people came in the form of The Whirldemons, demonic creatures who had complete and total control over the element of Wind.

They saw Wayfinder and Mephisto as intruders upon what they rightfully believed was theirs and without any mercy they attacked both Wayfinder and his people as well as Mephisto and the lesser demons who served under him. Unable to fight them off Mephisto would flee into what would one day become the Hellish realm that he now controls and as for Wayfinder he once again called upon The Enigma Force for help. The Enigma Force answered his prayers and the prayers of those who served Wayfinder by transforming the former Prince of Ithaka into a being beyond all mortal comprehension. Wayfinder had become the first Time Traveler and was given access to certain portions of The Enigma Force that no mortal body would be able to contain without being burned alive from the inside out.

The original Captain Universe (Ray Coffin) shows Baron Karza the meaning of true power.

By acessing these new powers Wayfinder was able to banish The Whirldemons into a lifeless extradimensional void. However, with their new home completely decimated, Wayfinder's people began to despair. Wayfinder then realized what he had to do, he knew that by giving himself over to The Enigma Force completely he could create a safe haven for his people but it would be at the cost of his own life. A cost he decided to pay without hesitation. Thus did Wayfinder bring The Microverse into existence and opened an interdimensional bridge for his people to cross. Wayfinder then vanished into The Enigma Force and for the next several centuries it remained dormant. That is until a tyrannical madman named Baron Karza crossed the barriers between The Microverse and The Mainstream Marvel Universe, took over the body of a demented scientist named Prometheus and launched an all-out invasion upon Earth.

Having seen that not even Wayfinder's descendant, Arcturus Rann, would be able to stop Baron Karza in his current form several Time Travelers came up with a scheme to drive Karza back into The Microverse. A scheme that would involve transforming a retired U.S. Astronaut named Ray Coffin (who had become trapped in The Microverse after falling into a dimensional gateway called The Promethus Pit) into a being capable of overwhelming Karza. The transformation took time of course and during that time all hope seemed lost. By merely swatting the two heroes like flies, Karza had left Arcturus Rann helpless and Princess Marionette, the woman whom Arcturus had fallen deeply in love with, hurt and unconscious. Then, just as Karza reached down to crush them, a superhuman surrounded by a blinding light emerged from The Prometheus Pit and engaged Karza in battle. Captain Universe, the Avenging Angel and Avatar of The Enigma Force, had arrived to save us all!

It was not long before Captain Universe overwhelmed Karza and forced the tyrant to separate himself from Professor Prometheus and return to The Microverse defeated. With Karza gone and the threat to Earth now ended, The Enigma Force took back the powers it had given to Ray Coffin and decided to form a new sentient being called The Uni-Power which would now travel across the Cosmos and would empower pure-hearted individuals during times of crisis so that they, as Captain Universe, could help avert the crisis at hand. In the time since then there have been many different Captain Universes, each of which have their own purpose to fulfill.

The Captain Universes

Who Will He Choose Next? It Could Be You!

• Ray Coffin
  

• Steve Coffin

• Ann Stafford-Dodgson

• Claire Dodgson

• Monty Walsh

• The Hulk (Bruce Banner)

• Arcturus Rann

• Doctor Strange

• Delayne Masters
• Evan Swann
• Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
• Quasar (Wendell Elvis Vaughn) of Earth-915
• Casey the Dog
• Eddie Price
• L'Matto of Earth-691
  
• Elijah Jackson
• Roland Taylor
• Captain Mar-Vell of Earth-9997
• Princess Marionette of Earth-9997
• Reed Richards of Earth-9997
• Ted Simmons
• Dr. Gilbert Wiles (Revealed to have been Captain Universe in 1983)
  
• Daredevil (Matt Murdock)
• X-23 (Laura Kinney)
• The Invisible Woman (Susan Richards)
• Gladiator (Kallark)
• Krosakis
  
• The Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd)
• Gabriel Vargas
  

Captain Universe Event

The Uni-Power began to experience memory and power loss and traveled to Earth in search of a willing human host. This is where it found Gabriel Vargas, who agreed to bond with the entity. But first, the Uni-Power needed to process, replicate and download the powers of several super-humans. After bonding with the Hulk, Daredevil and X-23, it went to the Fantastic Four.
 
The Uni-Power was helped by Mr. Fantastic and studied before they were attacked by Gladiator of the Shi'ar Empire, who had orders to take him back to his superiors for study. The Uni-Power bonded with the Invisible Woman and a battle ensued. During this time, Gladiator realized that the Uni-Power needed help and offered the help of the Shi'ar. 
 
Traveling to the Shi'ar Empire, Gladiator was captured by Krosakis. Krosakis used is siphoning abilities to force the Uni-Power to bond with him. This gained the attention of the Silver Surfer, who fought Krosakis and freed the Uni-Power for him. The Uni-Power then bonded with the Silver Surfer. This bond with the Surfer's Power Cosmic restored the Uni-Power so that it could not be tampered with again.

Powers and Abilities

Behold the power of...CAPTAIN UNIVERSE!

Alternate Realities

There are many different incarnations of Captain Universe spread out across The Multiverse, while he is not a major character like Captain America or Spider-Man, he has played major roles in a couple different realities.