Dimension Lord: Difference between revisions

[[File:dormammu1.jpg|link=Marvel Universe|rightframe|He's got the whole world in his hands.]]

A step above [[Galactic Conqueror]] but below [[Guardian of the Multiverse]] and [[Multiversal Conqueror]], this villain rules ''an entire universe'' with an iron fist. Sometimes ''several'' universes. He's ready to add ours to the list, just as soon as those pesky heroes from Earth are out of the way...

[[Dimension LordsLord]]s are usually demons or cosmically powerful mages, or have access to such a high level of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] that their technology [[Clarke's Third Law|might as well be magic]]. They may be gods or [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s. Their universes may be seriously large, or may be pocket dimensions not much larger than, say, Earth. (Don't mistake someone who only rules a single planet -- say, a [[Alternate Dimension|parallel Earth]] -- for a Dimension Lord just because that planet's in another dimension; the true Dimension Lord rules his ''entire universe'', regardless of its size.) It's still fairly impressive. Despite their nigh-infinite real estate, minions, and personal power, though, Dimension Lords [[The Good Guys Always Win|seldom have any more success with their evil plans than do lesser villains]]...

Note that unlike the [[Evil Overlord]], the [[Dimension Lord]] is often the [[Royal Blood|legitimate ruler]] of his dimension.

If [[the Dimension Lord]] gets too ambitious, he often becomes the [[Multiversal Conqueror]].

[[Council of Angels|Councils Of Angels]] / [[Celestial Paragons and Archangels]] and [[Demon Lords and Archdevils]] are often dimension lords, as are [[Physical God|physical gods]] who don't [[Multiversal Conqueror|rule the entire multiverse]].

== Anime and Manga ==

* The Anti-Spiral from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|who did so to prevent the destruction of the universe.]]

* Queen Metaria (working through Queen Beryl) from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', and behind Metaria is an even higher up entity named Chaos.

* [[Marvel Comics]] has Dormammu, the immortal and unstoppable monotheistic god-tyrant of the mystical "Dark Dimension", worshipped as a deity in thousands of other universes, something worse than a demon, older and far more powerful than any elder god, possessor of sufficient might to have defeated cosmic entities such as the Phoenix Force or Eternity in personal combat, able to rewrite entire universes, and creator of kings of hell of the highest order, with the ultimate goal of slaughtering any rival higher powers, assume control of all life and afterlife, and [[Dystopia Justifies the Means|turn both into an inescapable neverending torture camp from birth to death and anything beyond]]. Arch-enemy, and most dangerous foe of [[Doctor Strange]], and the first classic [[Dimension Lord]]. Arguably the most genuinely terrifying absolutely evil recurring villain in the Marvel roster. Think Darkseid taken to a much higher scaled ultimate extreme. Some of his plots stretching billions of years before coming to fruition, but luckily he's usually extremely arrogant and not a particularly inventive schemer. Then again he doesn't need to be, as he is one of the most powerful known [[Eldritch Abomination|EldritchAbominations]]s in existence.

** His twin sister Umar also fills this role. She is the more dangerous of the two, despite being less powerful, because she is intelligent and very patient -- fortunatelypatient—fortunately, she doesn't care about destroying our world as much as her brother does.

** While Meffy is the most commonly used one, we also have other demonic overlords: Satannish, Nightmare, Belasco, etc. etc. Occasionally they claim to be the [[SatantheSatan|the same guy]].

* The Anti-Monitor, ruler of the Antimatter Universe prior to and during DC's ''[[Crisis Onon Infinite Earths]]''.

* The Time Trapper from ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (Comic Bookcomics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' was a borderline case-- thecase—the End of Time isn't exactly a separate dimension, since it's the main DC Universe during its last years. But given that time travel for the Legion functioned a lot like space travel (Superboy commuted from the 20th century to the 30th, the Time Trapper erected an Iron Curtain of Time that he could attack back through but the Legion couldn't get past) the effect was much the same: he ruled an entire universe, just one separated by time rather than vibrational barriers, and engaged in various plots to extend his rule back to the Legion's present and beyond.

** Yes, but that planet is in The [[Fourth World]], which technically in some sense, is outside our dimension. He actually reached a straight example in ''[[Final Crisis]]'' when he successfully destroyed New Genesis and killed the New Gods.

** And then {{spoiler|he makes his own universe}} in ''[[Lucifer (Comic Bookcomics)|Lucifer]]''. {{spoiler|But he's not very big on the 'ruling' part, basically telling anyone who lives there that his only commandment is that he is ''not'' [[Stop Worshipping Me!|to be worshipped]].}}

* The ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'' gives us Emperor Palpatine, once he gets better. When not enough power is enough, he wanted to become a god, so that he could [[Gods Need Prayer Badly|live off the Force of his followers]], and then he would conquer the universe! [[Face Heel Turn|With Luke as his high priest, of course.]]

* [[Older Than Steam]]: At least in the standard ''[[Paradise Lost]]''-influenced portrayal, [[Satan]] is the near-absolute ruler of the dimension called Hell.

* In [[Jack Vance (Creator)|Jack Vance]]'s "Guyal of Sfere", the demon Blikdak is evidently foundational for the very existence of his home dimension, Jeldred - when Blikdak is destroyed, Jeldred ceases to exist. He is refered to as its "Ruler-Divinity".

* [[The Bible (Literature)|Yahweh]], who enforces the role with [[Our Angels Are Different|angels]] and [[The Omnipotent|omnipotence.]] Satan is probably a wannabe version of this.

* Omega, from ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', is the absolute, [[A God Am I|godlike]] ruler of an entire universe made of anti-matter. Subverted by the fact that he's the ''only guy there''. And he wants [[Sealed Evil in Aa Can|out]].

* In ''[[Sliders]]'', the Kromaggs rule multiple dimensions.

* [[Eldritch Abomination|The Prophets]] in ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' are the masters of [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|their own dimension]], though it is unclear how large the inside of the wormhole actually is. However, they seem to display almost absolute power inside it and in the past occasionally helped the natives of the nearby planet Bajor, who in return worship them as gods.

* A splatbook for the Palladium Game ''[[Nightbane]]'' included detailed rules on how to create your own Astral Realm (on the Astral Plane, natch) as a player character, and thus begin play as a (small-scale) Dimension Lord.

** Speaking of ''Nightbane'', the Nightlords could also count, ruling over a [[Dark World]] and seek to conquer its counterpart: Earth.

* In the original editions of Mage: The Ascension, some of those who ascend actually BECAME''became'' their own extradimensional realms, where they were absolute, being both Dimension Lord and Dimension at the same time.

* In ''[[Magic: theThe Gathering]]'', this is you. And Yawgmoth was this to Phyrexia.

* Lord Dominion in ''[[Freedom Force]]'', a loose pastiche of Galactus and Darkseid. A tad unusual in that the dimension he's lord over is the "normal" universe -- Earthuniverse—Earth is the ''only'' planet he hasn't conquered yet (he peppered the world with the superpower-causing agent to watch the humans destroy themselves for his amusement).

** DJ Zero, also from ''[[City of Heroes]]'', is a rare non-evil [[Dimension Lord]] who has turned his own private pocket dimension (possibly a sealed-off section of the Shadow Shard) into a dance club for superhumans.

*** Tyrant's arguably more of a classic [[Evil Overlord]]. If Tyrant qualifies, then [[Steampunk|Nemesis]] does as well. Strictly speaking, "Emperor" Cole, AKA "Tyrant", ruled nothing more than a small city wherein lived the last surviving humans in a world completely overrun by the Devouring Earth. He certainly didn't rule his ''entire universe''. (If anything, he's nothing more than the leader of a refugee camp.)

** By the same token, Lord of War [[Meaning FullMeaningful Name|Hro'Dohtz]] of the Rikti a good chunk of the plot in the RWZ is trying to destabilize his control of the Rikti Homeworld.

* The main villain of ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'' is a literal [[Dimension Lord]] as well.

* Tabuu in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]: Brawl'', {{spoiler|he rules over subspace}}

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', Zant rules the Twilight Realm (though he usurped the position from {{spoiler|Midna}}); he then sets his sights on the World of Light. Unsurprisingly, [[Hijacked Byby Ganon|Ganondorf is behind it]].

** Ganondorf is, of course, ruler of the Dark World/Sacred Land in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: aA Link Toto T Hethe Past (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda a Link To T He Past]]''.

* {{spoiler|Dimentio}} in ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'' tries to take this position by destroying all the dimensions and rebuilding them in his own image.

** Also in ''[[Super Paper Mario (Video Game)|Super Paper Mario]]'', Count Bleck rules from a castle floating in its own empty void-like dimension, possibly earning him the title. Even if there isn't much there.

** Also Smithy in ''[[Super Mario RPG (Video Game)|Super Mario RPG]]''.

* Chzo, from the games of the ''[[Chzo Mythos]]'', is a pain elemental that rules the World of Magick as it'sits King.

* As of Episode 6 of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'', we have the new Territory Lord of Beatrice's Fragment, the Endless {{spoiler|Sorcerer BATTLER.}}

* This was {{spoiler|Illua's}} goal in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics a 2A2]]'' -- {{spoiler|she made a pact with the Neukhia in order to gain more power, and planned to harness the Zellea Rift to achieve total domination over time and space.}}

* In ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'', [[Dark Is Not Evil|Diabolos]] is the overlord of the [[Dark World|Dynamis Dimension]].

* ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' brings us Lord Tedd. Or, rather, did; with the [[New First Comics]], he appears to have [[Brother Chuck|vanished from the series entirely]].

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance (Webcomic)|Sluggy Freelance]]'', the Dimension of Pain is ruled by an entity known only as the Demon King. The Demon King gets relatively little face time, however, and the more visible ruler of the [[Do P]] is his immediate subordinate, Lord Horribus. {{spoiler|Or, after the "That Which Redeems" arc, Lord Psykosis.}}

[[Category:TropePower]]