With the release of 2021's Eternals, the Marvel superhero known as Ajak will finally be coming
to the silver screen, as portrayed by Salma Hayek. But who exactly is Ajak,
and why is the character so important to the Eternals? This is Ajak's story explained.
Although they haven't always been at the forefront of most fans' minds,
the Eternals cast a huge shadow over the history of the Marvel universe.
Those mutations that make the X-Men so uncanny? They're tied to the Eternals' origin.
Thanos? He's involved with them too, in a roundabout way: The Eternals
once colonized a little place called Titan, which became home to Thanos centuries later.
"I am… inevitable."
The Eternals are essentially the product of experimentation, performed by an ancient,
omnipotent group of super-sized humanoids called the Celestials. The Celestials
tinkered with humanity's genetic code, creating two offshoot races: The grotesque
creatures known as the Deviants, and the immortal, super-powered beings that make up the Eternals.
Despite looking like humans, the Eternals are very nearly divine in their abilities:
They can control the aging process, cast illusions, fly, read minds,
and transform matter. Essentially, they are gods, and have often ended up becoming the
source of many of humanity's legends, religions, and fables. For example, the Eternal Sersi was
immortalized as Circe in Homer's Odyssey, while Ikaris' life inspired the ancient tale of Icarus.
Like his fellow Eternals, Ajak has a rich backstory of his own. However, to fully understand
who he is, it's important to understand what he can do. Ajak is equipped with superhuman strength,
for one. He can also fly at speed, teleport, and do almost everything that falls under the
general category of "energy manipulation." When it comes time to throw down against the bad guys,
he's capable of projecting beams of heat and concussive energy from his eyes and hands.
He is also a brilliant archaeologist — perhaps helped by the fact that he was around for much
of the history he digs up. In some of the latest Eternals stories, Ajak has also been shown to
have the power to change gender, although it's uncertain how much of this constitutes a retcon.
Uniquely, Ajak possesses an uncanny ability to communicate with the Celestials.
This is pretty much his signature ability when it comes to protecting humanity,
as few other Eternals are able to do it. And given that the Celestials have a habit
of showing up every now and again to see if they feel like destroying the Earth,
it's fair to say that Ajak's powers are pretty vital to the team.
Ajak was born in the Eternal city of Polaria, located in the Ural Mountains, to parents named
Rakar and Amaa. His branch of the species is sometimes referred to as the Polar Eternals.
Not much is known about Ajak prior to the Celestials' intervention in his life,
but it is known that Ajak and his brother Arex were active in ancient Greece around 1200 BC,
where the former was either mistaken for the mythical hero of the Trojan War, Ajax.
Unfortunately, there's very little information about what happened to Arex after the brothers'
time in Greece came to an end. He pops up only very rarely in the Marvel canon,
and the jury is out as to whether or not he's even still alive.
After Greece, Ajak wandered the Earth, making his way to places such as Babylon,
where he took on the Deviant leader, Warlord Kro.
After that, he spent some time in the Americas, where he was worshiped as a god. The Aztecs paid
tribute to him as Quetzalcoatl, one of the wisest and most powerful of their deities.
In time, the Incas also came to worship Ajak as Tecumotzin, the Lord of Flight,
and Ajak wasn't shy about using his supreme power to advance the civilizations he favored.
By 1000 AD, Ajak was an accomplished warrior, cosmic genius, and influential figure in the
progress of humanity. While that would be enough for most superheroes to hang their hats on,
however, Ajak's greatest feats yet would come with the return of the Celestials.
Unable to escape his own past, Ajak crossed paths with both the Celestials and the Deviants
once again, when the former returned to Earth on a fact-finding mission. This
is because Earth wasn't the only planet the Celestials decided to experiment on:
The home worlds of races such as the Skrulls and the Kree got the same treatment, for example.
To help judge whether or not they had been a success, the Celestials
subjected each race to four tests, or "hosts," to deem them worthy of life.
During the Third Host, Ajak was living in Peru. He acted as a liaison between the Celestials
and humanity, as well as a go-between for the Celestials and the gods humanity had given rise
to, such as Zeus of the Greek pantheon. Luckily, humanity passed the test with flying colors,
and Ajak decided to put his atoms into storage until the Celestials returned.
Eventually, the Fourth Host of Celestials returned to Earth to
see how their experiments were faring — kicking off Ajak's story in the modern Marvel universe.
Ajak is awoken by Ikaris in 1976's Eternals #2. Soon after,
the Celestials once again come to South America, and settle on an Incan plateau
that Ajak has set up for them. And once again, he acts as their liaison.
This time, however, their presence sparks intervention from the likes of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
as well as Odin and the forces of Asgard.
"Because that's -"
"Because that's what heroes do."
Despite the combined efforts of all three factions, Earth ends up losing the fight
against the Celestials. However, the battle helps the Celestials realize that humanity is worthy,
and therefore, they agree to let the Earth off the hook.
Most of the important players have their memories erased of the whole incident,
and the Eternals realize they needn't worry about the Celestials' interventions anymore.
So it's good news all around, but it also means that Ajak is out of a job.
During the Fourth Host event, Ajak befriends a human archaeologist named Dr. Daniel Damian.
After Ikaris brings the brilliant doctor along to awaken Ajak,
the two become thick as thieves — Damien even watches the Fourth Host event take place from
within the Celestials' impenetrable dome. However, he is more interested in preserving
the history of the Incas than he is in making sure humanity passes its test.
Damian begins with all the makings of a classic superhero ally… but grief
does horrible things to people. His daughter, Margo, flees the Celestials' city with Ikaris,
while Damian agrees to stay behind to protect history. Ikaris and Margo are separated,
and she is later turned into a Deviant and killed in an attempt to get to Ikaris.
In the wake of this tragedy, Damian seeks revenge on Celestials, Deviants, Eternals — the lot of
them. Part of his plan includes an elaborate trick against the Eternals and Deviants:
specifically, he turns Ajak into a literal monster. Needless to say,
Damian's relationship with the Eternals sours, and his friendship with Ajak dies a miserable death.
Damian's plan involves planting false prophecies about the twin offspring of Eternals and Deviants
being the ones to eventually conquer both races. He then uses advanced Celestial technology to
transform Ajak into a monster whose sole purpose seems to be systematically hunting down and
killing twin siblings on Earth. Thus mutated, Ajak assists in the kidnapping of twins Donald
and Deborah Ritter, the offspring of the Eternal Thena and the Deviant Kro. Fortunately, the
doctor's plan to kill the twins in front of their parents fails when Ikaris gets wise to the whole
situation and, disgusted with his own actions, Ajak disintegrates both himself and Damian.
Luckily, this all happens in the world of comic books, where death is merely a distraction.
Ajak is eventually resurrected in the chambers of the Eternal city of Olympia by an Eternal
named Sprite. Sprite is later revealed to be deceiving Ajak and the other Eternals into
helping him use the power of the fabled Dreaming Celestial to overwrite reality.
Sprite's plot is thwarted, but it leads to an enduring rivalry between Ajak and another Eternal;
one that would result in his second death and resurrection.
When the Dreaming Celestial is awoken, it chooses the Eternal Makkari as its spokesperson.
Obviously, Ajak's experience in this field is extensive,
so he understandably feels a little slighted by this choice, and soon grows to hate Makkari.
He even hatches a plan to kill him — but while Makkari does die, it doesn't stick.
Now at loose ends, Ajak decides to travel the world and learn as much as he can about the
Celestials. He lives in San Francisco for a time, and even becomes a gardener. This
journey eventually leads Ajak to join Hercules in a battle with the Skrull Gods, in which he
squares off with a divine Skrull named Kly'bn. It's during this fight that Ajak dies again.
Again, this being the Marvel universe, Ajak's death doesn't last. He returns to Earth and
travels to Olympia, where he lives among his fellow Eternals. However, all this changes the
day dead Celestials rain from the sky, signaling the arrival of the Dark Celestials on Earth.
That's when the Eternals learn a terrible secret about themselves and their existence;
one that leads all of them to either turn on each other or kill themselves.
Of course, once again, they've all been revived. Ajak stars,
as a woman, alongside Makkari in the 2021 Eternals: Celestia one-shot.
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