ENTRADAS Y SALIDAS DE LOS PROCESOS

The Sirians (originally thought to be Martians) are the first alien species to attack Earth. In 1938, using Mars as a staging area, they invaded Humanity’s homeworld. Their attack, involving several gigantic tripods armed with heat-rays and poisonous gas, was thwarted on October 30 by the collection of heroes who wound up forming the Defenders of Justice. In 1967 the Fabulous Five encountered these aliens again and discovered they were actually from a planet orbiting the star Sirius, not from Mars.

Based on snippets of information he learned during his career as a super-gladiator, Ironclad has stated the Sirians went to war with the Malvan Empire in what Earth would call the Seventies and were defeated and largely obliterated. He believes they’re now a minor species in what was once Malvan territory.

otherS

Herculan says he comes from a species called the Fassai, one of several belonging to a political unit called the Velarian Confederation. Located on the other side of the galactic core, about 55,000 light-years from Earth, the Velarian Confederation is apparently plagued by numerous civil wars and much political infighting. It has FTL capability.

Between them, Firewing, Herculan, and Iron- clad have mentioned, and in some cases briefly described, several other alien species: the reptilian Mon’dabi; the insectoid Se’ecra; the enigmatic Thorgons; and others. Humanity knows very little about them but remains on the lookout for any potential visitors... or invaders.

Humanity also knows that at least one other galaxy also has sentient life. Two superhumans on Earth — the supervillain Vibron, and the heroine Nebula — both come from planets in the Andromeda Galaxy, the one nearest the Milky Way.

uter space doesn’t define the limits of the Champions Universe — or perhaps one should say Champions Multiverse. Although the average inhabitant of Earth remains completely unaware of the fact, many superhumans know that Earth’s plane of existence is by no means the only reality. In fact, Earth’s home dimension is but one of uncounted trillions of dimensions, ranging from ones virtu- ally indistinguishable from Earth’s to planes so bizarre and strange that they share not a single physical or mystical law with Earth.

The arrangement and geometries of the multiverse are so convoluted — so simultane- ously logical and illogical, contradictory and complementary, probable and impossible — that no attempt to map or diagram them (at least by

humans) is ever likely to succeed. However, a few human scholars of the subject, almost all of them powerful mystics, have developed a framework for describing the multiverse that seems to resonate with the human mind. Using the language and concepts of kabbalism, these scholars arrange the dimensions of the multiverse into four categories — the Four Worlds — each “higher” than the last.

At the lowest level is Assiah, the Mate- rial World. Assiatic planes include Earth, the uncounted number of alternate Earths superhu- mans have learned about (see below), and other such planes. In these realms, natural laws control reality; though magic may exist, it does not run Assiatic dimensions or act as one of their true fundamental forces.

Above Assiah is Yetzirah, the Formative or Astral World. Yetziratic dimensions do run by magic; here, symbol, will, and thought can exert as much power as the laws of physics (if not

more). A special plane, the Astral Plane, links all the Yetziratic realms, which include: Faerie (or “the Land Of Legends”), wherein faeries, spirits, monsters, and the gods of myth dwell; the Netherworld, home of demons, devils, and eternal torment; Elysium, or “Heaven”; and Babylon, the City Of Man, a neverending metropolis of wonder and Art.

Above Yetzirah is Briah, the Creative or Mental World. A barrier called the Veil of the Temple divides the highest Astral realms from Briah; only the most wise and powerful mystics can pass through it to the dimensions beyond. Brialic realms are totally spiritual — they embody concepts, states of mind, and the like; they’re not made of matter as humans understand the term. Powerful cosmic entities, including the four Prime Avatars of Order, Chaos, Art, and Nature, live in many of these planes.

The highest of the Four Worlds is Atziluth, the Archetypal World. It lies across the Abyss, a barrier even stronger and deadlier than the Veil. Its planes contain infinite power, the archetypes of all forms and concepts, and much more that most sentients have difficulty fully conceiving of.

ALtErnAtE EArtHS

One of the most common types of dimensions visited by non-mystic superheroes are alternate

Earths — dimensions just like Earth’s but where

some thing or things are very different. Alternate Earths tend to be “close” to Earth’s dimension, multiversally speaking, making them relatively “easy” to reach. Known examples include: n several alternate Earths where major historical

events did not occur, or occurred differently. Some of them include: “Britworld” (in which the American Revolution didn’t happen and a vibrant British Empire rules nearly half the world in 2010); the alternate Earth that the supervillain the Cahokian comes from (where the United States doesn’t exist and North America’s a patchwork of small nations); “Walkingworld” (in which almost no large, tameable draft animals evolved, depriving humans of riding animals and beasts of burden and thus limiting the size and scope of many societies); the Earth the supervillainess Lancer comes from (where there’s a tyrannical world government that persecutes and hunts people with psionic powers); Laurentia (where French Canada rules the world); and “Popeworld” (in which the Catholic Church rules Earth); and n a few dimensions in which everything is

exactly the same except for one significant detail (such as “Scaleworld,” where humanity is reptilian rather than mammalian).