The Contest (event)

Contest of Champions
General Information
Location	Battlerealm
Time	Big Bang - present
Participants
Master(s)	Unnamed First Master of the Contest (formerly) Maestro (formerly) The Collector (formerly) The Grandmaster (formerly) Carina Tivan

This article is about the in-universe event. For the Story Act, see The Contest. For the comic book event, see The Contest (comic).

The Contest of Champions, or simply the Contest, is a multiversal tournament held in the Battlerealm, where Champions and Summoners from throughout the Multiverse are brought in to fight among themselves. The Battlerealm is made of ISO-8, forged from the remains of a dying Celestial, which can be used to empower Champions, and can be manipulated by powerful beings and relics like Carina Tivan and the ISO-Sphere.

History

Creation

Dying Celestial.

During the Big Bang, a dying Celestial escaping the death of its own universe convulsed in space, its corpse shattering the fabrics of space-time and hardening into multiple crystal formations, creating a brand new realm later known as the Battlerealm. The Eternals Ikaris and Sersi, who were escorting the Celestial, were trapped in a crystal formation from the resulting explosion, and would not be freed until Carina’s iteration of the Contest. The Celestial’s death was also observed by the Watcher and the Silver Surfer, and they would both bear witness to the many events occuring in the remains of the Celestial for centuries to come.

Discovered by the Elders

Tivan discovers the Battlerealm.

Three billion years before the current version of the Contest, a young explorer named Taneleer Tivan discovered the Battlerealm. Years later, Taneleer and his brother En Dwi Gast were joined by Taneleer's daughter Carina, as they ventured into the Battlerealm and found the Celestial's remains. However, as Carina approached the Celestial, it triggered an explosion which transmuted her into a statue of pure ISO-8. She then shattered into a billion fragments in front of Taneleer's eyes, devastating him. In his haste to collect Carina's fragments, Taneleer inadvertently left En Dwi trapped and stranded, forcing him to walk through continuously warping space-time for many years and 'solve the largest puzzle in all creation' to get home. Both Elders of the Universe found their pursuits due to this event; Taneleer became the Collector as he desired to collect Carina's fragments, and En Dwi became the Grandmaster as he was forced to play in the Battlerealm's maze in order to escape.

The First Contest

Ægon observes the Battlerealm.

The first Contest of Champions was started by another Elder of the Universe, a power-hungry master who fed off the power of ISO-8, and he enslaved a pacifist race to do his bidding. A man from this race named Ægon secretly trained as a gladiator in the hopes of freeing his race. Against all odds, Ægon fought his way to the final battle and even succeeded in killing the Master of the Contest, but at the cost of his right arm, his lover Clio’s life, and rejection by his race for violating their strict code of nonviolence. A devastated Ægon, now granted immortality and power by the ISO-Belt, chose to stay behind in the Battlerealm, observing in the distance as many more Contests came and went.

Book 1: Reign of the Elders

Origins

Collector and the Twelve.

Taneleer, now known as the Collector, returned to the Battlerealm and involved himself with the Maestro, an alternate version of Bruce Banner who conquered his timeline. He promised the power to bring Carina back to life, in return for setting up the newest Contest, in an attempt to find a new worthy opponent to challenge himself.

The Maestro and the Collector began by bringing in twelve Champions against their will: Scarlet Witch, Vision, Captain Marvel, Thor, Hyperion, King Groot, Guillotine, Sentry, Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing, who were all brainwashed with the ISO-Spell. However, Sentry proved to be too powerful for the others and killed all but three contestants in their first battle. Maestro ordered the Collector to dispose of Sentry, but he instead tasked Robert with locating his daughter’s missing fragments, due to his sharp senses and incredible speed; however Sentry then disappeared, not to be found for another thirty-five years, and the Collector eventually abandoned this scheme. The Fantastic Four managed to break free of their spell, and they attempted to build an escape device, but were discovered by Maestro who subsequently punched them into four corners of the Battlerealm.

Escalation

The Contest’s population grew over the years, as thousands of Champions were brought into the Contest and subjugated to the ISO-Spell. At some point in time the Collector came into the possession of the ISO-Sphere. As Maestro demanded more Champions for the Contest, the Collector instead started using Skrulls posing as Champions to appease him, inadvertently causing a secret Skrull Invasion. Summoners were introduced to the Contest with the ability to take control and fight with Champions; the Summoner and Kang the Conqueror were introduced initially, assigned with Captain America and Iron Man respectively. Thanos became a third contender when he refused to submit to Kang; he struck a deal with the Summoner and they combined their efforts to defeat Kang, freeing Iron Man and granting both the knowledge of Maestro's identity. Thanos then took Kang's place as the Summoner's opponent, challenging him with the Black Order and Ultron, before entering the arena himself. Thanos was then defeated and encased in a crystal, as the Maestro declared himself the Summoner's new opponent. In this period of time Champions began to break free of the ISO-Spell and question the nature of the Contest.

Rebellion

After Thanos’ defeat Maestro briefly left the Contest, leaving the Collector in charge. Ant-Man secretly witnessed Yellowjacket delivering condensed ISO-8 to Maestro who planned to make a powerful artifact from it, and the tiny hero passed a vague warning to the Collector and the Summoner before he succumbed to the ISO-Spell. The Collector began organizing a rebellion against the Maestro, enlisting Guillotine to free more Champions from their crystals to join the impending fight; Maestro eventually returned to the Contest and revealed his knowledge of the Collector's rebellion, waging war against the faction, and the Summoner was forced to fight Maestro head on, stalling enough time for Guillotine to free Thanos from his crystal in a desperate bid. Thanos took out the weakened Maestro and claimed the powerful artifact, revealed to be the newly-born Genesis Stone, for himself, securing his first Infinity Stone.

Cosmic Civil War

Cosmic Civil War.

The peace brought on by Maestro’s defeat did not last, as an ideological difference between Captain America and Iron Man on whether to focus on winning the Contest or escaping it, split the Champions of the Contest into two factions. Although both Champions were imprisoned by the Collector, variants of them would emerge to take their place, each becoming more and more deranged and vengeful. The lieutenants of the two factions, Falcon and Black Panther, eventually lost faith in their leaders, and they joined forces with Doctor Strange and others to locate and convince the reclusive Civil Warrior to help; the alternate version of Steve Rogers succeeded in defeating both leaders, ending the Cosmic Civil War for good, before everyone was subsequently imprisoned in crystals by the Collector.

The Collector's defeat.

Elder's War

As the Collector attempted to begin 'Phase 2' of his contest, he was surprised by the return of the Grandmaster who had enlisted Loki's aid, claiming the Battlerealm for himself and instigating the Elder's War. The Grandmaster swayed more Champions to his side with false promises of freedom, and as the Collector desperately allied himself with criminals and mind controlled anyone who defied him, the Summoner also turned against him and defeated him in the Galactorum, ending the Collector's reign. The Grandmaster took the ISO-Sphere and assumed control, trapping his brother in a crystal and revealed his deceits to the Champions, forcing the Contest to continue.

Cornerstone

Seeking to organize his brother's collection, the Grandmaster sequestered Champions according to their class categorizations; a rebel group consisting of the Summoner, Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo, Civil Warrior and Black Panther discovered the existence of the Cornerstone, and tasked themselves with reassembling it, recruiting more Champions including Kang the Conqueror to this cause. Their plan was discovered by the Grandmaster, who pitted them against Ultron, but the Summoner was ultimately victorious and the Grandmaster relented. Doctor Strange then reassembled the Cornerstone, revealing it to be Carina's shattered body, sans the heart which was missing. The Collector eventually freed himself and, enlisting the help of the Summoner and Moon Knight, retrieved Carina's heart from the returned Sentry. He then used his ISO-powers to restore Carina's body, but did not have the energy to fully restore her life spark.

Black Panther vs. Thanos.

Infinity War

Concurrently, Thanos had set his sights on gathering the six Infinity Stones of the Battlerealm. He claimed the newly-born Evolution Stone from the Dark Phoenix's Terrigenesis, incapacitating Karnak and fighting off the heroes before escaping. He also kidnapped Guillotine and tried to take the War Stone from Dormammu, however this was thwarted by Doctor Strange. He successfully obtained the Nightmare Stone from M.O.D.O.K., and attempted to kill Spider-Man who possessed the Chaos Stone, but was again thwarted by other heroes as Spider-Man gave the stone to Doctor Strange. Black Panther retrieved the Infinity Claw, an alternate version of the Infinity Gauntlet, from Killmonger and fought Thanos outside the plane of existence, stalling time for the heroes. Thanos eventually made an alliance with Hela, who gifted Thanos with the Death Stone, allowing him to trap the Avengers in a pocket dimension while his Nameless minions retrieved the War and Chaos Stones. Having successfully gathered all six Infinity Stones, Thanos began his conquest over the Battlerealm, seizing power from the Grandmaster and his ISO-Sphere. As the Avengers made a final bout to stop Thanos, Mephisto and M.O.D.O.K. joined their side, and Doctor Strange disconnected his astral form from his body to shut down half of Thanos’ stones, giving an opportunity for the Summoner and the Avengers to strike down the Mad Titan once and for all.

Rebirth

In an attempt to regain the power stolen by Thanos during the Infinity War, the Grandmaster allied himself with the Champion, a fellow Elder of the Universe, and they schemed to defeat many of the Battlerealm's Champions and drain their ISO-8. As this directly threatens Carina's existence, the Collector was then forced to summon Ægon from retirement, who defeated the Champion and provided the energy required to resurrect Carina. A benevolent Elder compared to her father and her uncle, Carina soon began exploring the Battlerealm and tapping into her powers of ISO-8 manipulation. The Grandmaster considered her a threat to his position, and made a Sentinel, Mordo and a Power Stone-infused Champion attack her group. Realizing that her uncle did not mean well, Carina focused her attention on gaining support across the Battlerealm, coming into conflict with the Inhumans, the Mutants, and the Avengers.

Concurrently, Mister Fantastic's escape device was found by Night Thrasher, who used it to summon Silver Surfer. With assistance from Iron Man and Ant-Man, the Surfer managed to locate and rescue the Fantastic Four from their four corners of the Battlerealm. However, Mister Fantastic, who was stuck in a time loop, had sent out a signal to Galactus, calculating that his consumption of the Battlerealm would create an opening for the Champions to escape; this plan was rebutted by Carina revealing the development of civilizations on Battleworld, whose inhabitants would be killed if Galactus were to arrive. Mister Fantastic and Silver Surfer were then tasked with stopping the Heralds of Galactus and eventually Galactus himself, from destroying the Battlerealm and Battleworld.

Carina, with the aid of the Summoner, the Collector, Ægon, Captain Marvel, the Avengers and other Champions, then organized a revolt, challenging the Grandmaster's reign. The group's combined efforts were eventually enough to overthrow the tyrant. Carina then assumed control of the Contest, imprisoned both the Collector and the Grandmaster, and organized a new Council to discuss the matters of the Battlerealm. After their first meeting she contacted the Chronoserpent, and used her powers to keep him imprisoned.

Book 2: Carina's Contest

Kangdom Come

Sometime later Carina discovered that the ISO-Sphere had been stolen, and recruited the Summoner, Guillotine and Ægon to track down the relic. They eventually found the thief: Gwenpool, who was abusing its power and bringing back M.O.D.O.K.'s anomalies to the Contest, then causing further chaos in the Battlerealm as Gwenmaster. The ISO-Sphere was reclaimed by Carina when the Summoner successfully defeated Gwenmaster. However, Kang, still seeking revenge against the Summoner for his initial defeat, took advantage of the rifts caused by Gwenpool, and used the power of the Paradox Engine to bring anomalies from multiple timelines into the Contest. Kang lured the Summoner to the the Galactorum for a showdown and was defeated, and as a backup plan, he summoned Superior Kang to the Battlerealm. Unimpressed by Kang’s efforts, Superior Kang vaporized him, took over the Ghost Orchid, and waged all-out war on the Battlerealm. An unlikely alliance between Carina, a revived Kang, Ægon, Guillotine, Gwenpool and the Summoner was formed to stop the threat, and Superior Kang was eventually defeated by the Summoner on the Ghost Orchid.

Galactus' Arrival

The Battlerealm was soon met with the arrival of multiple variants of Galactus, laying waste to many notable locations such as Hell’s Kitchen, Asgard, and Wakanda. A benevolent variant of Galactus, Galan, resided in the Quantum Realm and enlisted Quicksilver's help to steal the World Seed from Asgard's Vault, however he eventually accepted the help of Carina and Mister Fantastic. After misadventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the New Mutants, Mister Fantastic and Galan retrieve the World Seed and plant it on Battleworld, in hopes that a new World Tree could satiate the world-devourers' hunger.

The Disciples of Ouroboros

In the aftermath of Superior Kang's invasion, Carina gathered members of the Avengers in hopes of reconciliation, however she soon caught on to the schemes of a group named Ouroboros, who had infiltrated the ranks of the Avengers. Working alongside Civil Warrior and the Summoner, they eventually exposed Scytalis as the saboteur and foiled her plans. After Scytalis' self-detonation, Carina and her allies continue to track down Ouroboros and its leader Glykhan, defeating two of their generals Bahamet and Cerastes. Carina also revealed the true nature of the Battlerealm to her allies - that the ISO-8 energy created from fights kept the Battlerealm stable, and that too little or too much fighting could cause its complete destruction.

Locations

This section is about the list of locations in-universe. For the list of locations in-game, see List of Locations.

• Abyss
• Ægon's Home
• Alchemax
• Asgard
• Asteroid M
• Astral Plane
• Atlantis
• Avengers Tower
• Baxter Building
• Blue Area
• Conclave of Sorcerers
• Damocles
• Danger Room
• Doomstadt Station
• Early Contest Ruins
• Event Horizon
• Galactorum
• Ghost Orchid
• Grendel's Lair
• Groot Grove
• Haasenstadt
• Hala
• Hell's Kitchen
• Howard & Hyperion's crib
• Killiseum
• Knowhere
• Labyrinth
• Madripoor
• Muspelheim
• Mutopia
• Necropolis
• New Attilan
• New Skrullos
• Olympia
• Omega Academy
• Oscorp Labs
• Perfection
• Perpetuum Mobile
• Pleasant Hill
• Sanctuary II
• Sanctum Sanctorum
• Silent Council
• Sinister Labs
• Thanos' Throne
• The Kyln
• The Silent Cave
• Trading Post
• Xandar

Gallery

Trivia

• In the original dialogue for The Prize, Iron Fist implies that the game does not take place during the first Contest of Champions.
  • This is a reference to the fact that the game is an adaptation of a comic book series from 1982 with a similar name, of which Iron Fist was a participant.
  • This is confirmed with the revelation of Ægon's origins.