- "Before mighty Darkseid came to the throne, he searched the universe for the ultimate weapon. The Anti-Life Equation. The key to controlling all life and all wills throughout the multiverse."
- ―Steppenwolf to DeSaad[src]
The Anti-Life Equation is a transcendental mathematical formula that eradicates Free Will. Darkseid searches for it, wanting to use it as his ultimate weapon to rule the multiverse.[1]
History[]
Darkseid's invasion[]
- "As Darkseid waged war on Earth, he found a secret there. A power hidden in the infinity of space."
- ―Diana Prince[src]
Thousands of years ago, from the planet Apokolips, a powerful being called Darkseid searched for the Anti-Life Equation. Upon arriving on Earth he found what he sought, but unfortunately for him, the planet's native beings, including Humans, Atlanteans, and Amazons, formed their own army to protect their world, even receiving help from the Green Lantern Corps and the Old Gods, long before he could collect his prize. Having received a heavy blow from Ares, the infernal New God was forced to retreat with his army. A furious Darkseid was undeterred, though, and vowed to return to his search to find the primitive world that forced him back and claim Anti-Life. Meanwhile, the Equation remained on Earth, undisturbed until millennia later.[1]
Return to Earth[]
As part of Steppenwolf's penance for betraying Darkseid in the past, the latter's uncle was forced to conquer one-hundred fifty-thousand worlds in his master's name before ever returning to Apokolips. With fifty-thousand left remaining, Steppenwolf came to Earth, where Darkseid had left the Mother Boxes and his discovery of Anti-Life all those millennia before. While retrieving the Boxes, they informed him of the existence of the formula - and that Earth itself was the lost world that turned his master back. Reporting this news to Darkseid himself, Steppenwolf learned that upon uniting the three Mother Boxes and opening a Boom Tube to Apokolips, ushering in this "Great Darkness" would finally be the means by which his nephew and master would forgive Steppenwolf's past transgressions, having decided to come to Earth himself for his great prize to mark the occasion. Just before he could accomplish his task, however, Steppenwolf was defeated by the newly formed Justice League. A Boom Tube was opened, but the Unity failed, causing it to collapse before the Apokoliptians could step through, but not before Darkseid and his remaining elite gazed upon their newfound enemies on the old world.[1]
Knightmare[]
This article or section is about the Knightmare future. This is a potential future that may not necessarily follow the primary timeline. |
In a dark possible future glimpsed by Batman and Cyborg, Darkseid returned to Earth and claimed the Anti-Life Equation and began to use it to take over the world. Superman's powerful will resisted the Equation; but when his pregnant lover, Lois Lane, was killed during the invasion, the damage to Superman's psyche left him vulnerable and he became susceptible to the overlord's influence, allowing Darkseid to use a transformed Superman as his new champion to rule over the planet. With Superman, his army, and the Equation, Darkseid conquered Earth, destroyed the Justice League, and prepared to use the power of Anti-Life to take control of the entire cosmos, making Darkseid supreme overlord of the Multiverse.[2]
Capabilities[]
The Anti-Life Equation strips its victims of Free Will and individuality, forcing them to obey the will of whoever wields this dominion code. Nearly any sentient being throughout the multiverse is susceptible to its power.[1]
Those who decipher the formula can manage to directly insert its entirety into someone else's mind, and when it is solved the victim arrives at the mathematical certainty that hope, life, dreams and freedom are useless as well as meaningless, so they become blindly loyal to the controller of the Equation itself, following all orders and believing absolutely everything that is said by its handler. Darkseid craves the ALE to eliminate Free Will and turn every sentient living being in existence into servants who are utterly devout to him and his ideals.
Powerful and strong-willed beings like Superman can resist the Equation; however, if the formula is imparted in a moment of weakness, even they would not be able to resist the Equation's wearying-induced control. In a possible apocalyptic future, Darkseid manages to use the Anti-Life Equation on Superman and manipulates him to conquer Earth and become its tyrannical dictator in his name, as well as making him think that Batman was to blame for the death of his beloved when Bruce visibly was not.
Trivia[]
- The blossoming flower-like design for the Anti-Life Equation appears to be derived from the Seed of Life, a symbol found in sacred geometry, though it appears to be divided in five segments and covered in decorative strokes before the Omega symbol is placed on the center.
- The five separate segments in the Anti-Life Equation likely represents Zack Snyder's original five-movie plan: Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder's Justice League, and the remaining two movies in the Justice League trilogy.