Adamantium: An artificially created alloy of iron
that is the most impervious substance known on Earth, with
the exception of the unknown Adamantium-Vibranium alloy
of which Captain America's shield is composed.
Alien: (1.) A being who originates elsewhere than
Earth. (2.) Of or having to do with a place other than Earth.
alternate Earth: A world resembling Earth in physical
characteristics, natural phenomena, life forms, and, to
some extent, history, which exists in the equivalent space
to Earth's in another dimension. An alternate Earth may
either be a divergent Earth or a parallel Earth.
alternate future: One of the possible future realities
deriving from the present reality through a specific sequence
of events. One cannot tell which alternate future will become
one's present reality until the point of divergence has
been passed. At that point, one's reality diverges into
more than one, and versions of one's self will exist in
each resulting alternate future. Hence, one's divergent
self will experience one of the alternate futures as his
present reality, while another of his divergent selves will
experience a different alternate future as his.
alternate world: A world in another dimension which
exists in the equivalent space to a world in this dimension.
Some alternate worlds which are not alternate Earths may
exist in the equivalent space to Earth's in other dimensions.
amphibious: Capable of breathing and existing in
air or in water.
android: An artificial being designed to resemble
a human being in as many ways as possible, and whose physiology
and life functions replicate and mimic those of human beings
as closely as possible. An android has all the same organs,
tissue, bone, flesh, and blood as a human being, except
they are synthetic. Compare with clone, cyborg, robot, and
synthozoid.
anti-graviton: A theoretical particle carrying
a force that repels gravity.
anti-matter universe: A universe composed of anti-matter
rather than matter (as in our universe) existing in another
dimension. The only one known to date is the Negative Zone.
anti-matter: Matter composed of particles that
are the counterparts of the particles composing positive
matter (the matter of which this universe is composed),
but have opposite charges; e.g., anti-protons instead of
protons, and positrons instead of electrons. Should positive
matter come in contact with an equal amount of antimatter,
both will be annihilated and converted to energy.
astral body: The sheath or form that contains a
living being's life essence, consciousness, spirit or soul.
The astral body is a manifestation of the life essence composed
of ectoplasm, an invisible, intangible substance whose source
and properties remain unknown. While all living beings have
astral bodies, certain adepts using psychic, psionic, or
magical means, can separate their astral bodies from their
physical bodies without harm. The astral body is also sometimes
called astral form, astral self, and spirit form.
astral plane: An alternate universe in an equivalent
space to our own where all matter is composed of ectoplasm.
On the astral plane, the life energies and consciousnesses
of other beings are discernible to adepts. Adepts can reach
the astral plane by psychic, psionic, or magical means.
The astral plane is also sometimes called astral dimension,
astral realm, or spirit world.
astral projection: The ability to project one's
astral body from one's physical body by psychic, psionic,
or magical means.
-B-
Big Bang: The explosion of a primal mass at the
beginning of this universe, which created this universe.
bio-: Pertaining to life or its functions.
bioelectricity: Electricity generated naturally
by a living being.
biokinetics: Energy generated by a living being
through motion.
bionic: Of or having to do with an artificial simulation
of a living thing or, more usually, of part of a living
thing. A cyborg possesses certain bionic limbs or organs.
An android's body is entirely bionic.
biosphere: The part of the world in which living
beings can exist, or, as used in this text, all of the living
beings of a world.
-C-
clairvoyance: The ability to perceive things beyond
the reach of the senses. The term is often used in a narrower
sense as a synonym for precognition.
clone: A living being created from the DNA (deoxyribonucleic
acid) of another living being. Since the DNA molecules within
any cell of a living organism contains the cellular template
for the entire organism, another whole organism can be grown
from a single cell. A clone is always identical to its parent
organism, except with regard to differences either might
accumulate in the course of living, like scars. Normally,
a clone is also younger than the parent organism. The science
of cloning is practiced by exceedingly few genetics engineers
on Earth today.
cosmic awareness: Enhanced consciousness enabling
a sentient being the sensation of oneness with the universe.
This enhanced consciousness enables a mind to perceive information
that is closed to the five physical senses.
Cosmic Cube: An object created by the subversive
scientific organization AIM to contain a powerful reality-changing
energy-being. Earth's Cosmic Cube no longer exists and the
being within has hatched.
cosmic power: Energy derived from non-Earthly sources
that the technologies of most sentient races cannot tap,
and that is on a scale far beyond what most Earthly technology
can tap or generate. Cosmic power is possessed by such entities
as Galactus, the Silver Surfer and other Heralds of Galactus,
and the Elders of the Universe.
cosmic radiation: Streams of atomic nuclei bombarding
Earth and other planets from outer space.
cosmic: Of a scale beyond that which is normal
on Earth.
cybernetics: The comparative study of automatic
control and communications systems, whether biological (e.g.,
the human nervous system) or artificial (e.g., computers).
cyborg: Cybernetic organism. A living being who
contains cybernetic or bionic parts to replace and / or
enhance physical parts.
-D-
Darkforce: An unknown form of extradimensional
energy that manifests itself in our universe as a non-reflective,
highly opaque, black substance. Certain adepts use psychic,
psionic, or magical means to draw this energy into our dimension
and use it in various ways.
death gods: Superhuman beings who generally dwell
on extradimensional worlds and who have at least temporary
control of certain ghosts. These beings are sometimes physical
and sometimes ectoplasmic.
death: The cessation of all life functions in a
living being, causing its life essence (also known as consciousness,
spirit, or soul) to depart the physical body. Certain life
essences have temporarily continued to exist in known realities
after death clad in the astral body. An astral body whose
physical form has died is called a ghost. The final fate
of the life essence or soul after death is not known to
science.
Death: The quasi-physical ectoplasmic being who
embodies death.
demon: A godlike being whose form and functions
have degenerated so it preys upon the living in some way.
Deviant: A member of an evolutionary offshoot of
humanity created through experiments performed by the alien
Celestials. Deviants tend to look monstrous and have no
set phenotype (physical characteristics common to all members).
dimension travel: The process of leaving the space
of our universe and entering that of another one, accomplished
by physical, psychic, psionic, or magical means. The mechanics
of dimension travel are un known to all but a few.
dimension: A universe or realm containing space,
matter, and energy which is separated from our own universe
by some physical difference in the space, matter, and energy
itself.
divergence: The process by which a single reality
becomes more than one upon reaching a certain point in time.
At this point of divergence, an event occurs differently
in each diverging reality, leading to a radically different
chain of events in each one.
divergent Earth: A world resembling Earth in every
way up until a single juncture in time where events occurred
a different way than they did on our Earth. There is an
infinite number of possible divergent Earths, but no one
knows how many actual divergent Earths there are. Divergent
Earths exist in the equivalent space to our Earth's in other
dimensions. A divergent Earth is an alternate Earth but
not a parallel Earth.
-E-
ectoplasm: An ethereal substance whose source and
properties remain unknown from which astral bodies and other
astral phenomena are formed. All of the matter of the astral
plane is composed of ectoplasm, but it has not been proven
that astral bodies draw their substance from them.
Elder of the Universe: A sentient being who originated
in one of the galaxies that was the first to form after
the creation of the universe, and who survived the death
of that galaxy.
Elf: A certain humanoid being native to the Asgardian
realm of Alfheim and Svartalfheim, and possibly other extradimensional
worlds as well.
empathic: Having the capability to share the emotions
of another through psychic means.
entropy: The universal tendency for energy in a
closed system to wear down. On a universe-wide scale, entropy
is the ultimate degradation of matter and energy to an inert
uniform state incapable of sustaining life.
ESP (Extrasensory Perception): The psychic powers
of telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance. A person who possesses
ESP is called an esper. The spy organization SHIELD has
employed an Esper Division.
Eternal: A member of an evolutionary offshoot of
humanity created through experiments by the alien Celestials.
Eternals have extraordinarily long life spans, are virtually
indestructible, and possess superhuman physical and energy-manipulative
powers.
extradimensional: (1.) A being from a dimension
other than that of the Earth. (2.) Of or having to do with
a dimension other than that of the Earth.
extraterrestrial: (1.) A being from a world in
this dimension other than Earth. (2.) Of or having to do
with a world In this dimension other than Earth.
