Deviant

Deviants are genetically very close to Earth's mutants. There is a Deviant equivalent of the X-Factor chromosome, and some say the mutant X-Gene is derived from Deviants.

The Eternal Thanos possesses a mutation of his kind: he is Deviant-gened and is affected by "Deviant Syndrome." He is consequently part Deviant.

Deviants can mate with other species to produce hybrids. For example, Leonid is a Deviant-human hybrid, Maelstrom was born from a Deviant and an Inhuman, and the Ritter Twins are the children of a Deviant, Kro, and an Eternal, Thena. Traces of Deviant genes can be found in life worldwide due to crossbreeding.

Origins: The First Host

About one million years ago, the "evolutionary borderline between apes and humans" emerged: Homo erectus.

The Celestials, intrigued by the versatility of human genes, sent their First Host to Earth to perform genetic experiments on this species.

When the First Host got to the planet Earth, the Celestial Gammenon the Gatherer collected a few specimens, which Ziran the Tester mutated to create one hundred grotesque Deviants (Homo descendus). After Ziran was done with its brood, Nezarr the Calculator performed his own tests and created 100 superior Eternals (Homo immortalis). Finally, Oneg the Prober created a latent gene for the expansion of human potential.

After these creations were released back on Earth, the Eternals secluded themselves, while the Deviants established an underground empire in the kingdom of Lemuria.

World Rulers and Second Host

As millennia passed, the Deviants "bred like rabbits" and achieved great numbers. They created unimaginable scientific wonders and conquered almost the whole world, enslaving captured humans. Then came the final showdown against the last safe haven of humanity: the empire of Atlantis. The Deviants launched a massive attack on their human rivals, but one Atlantean city-state, Netheria, had created an impervious dome that protected them from all the attacks.

Meanwhile, the Eternals also fought against them, but, when they realized their numbers couldn't compare to the millions of Deviants, they had no alternative but to call the Celestials.

When the Second Host of Celestials arrived on Earth, they were attacked by the Deviants. Seeing a world fallen into chaos, the Celestials soon delivered their judgment and wiped out most of the Deviants. In the process, they caused both Lemuria and Atlantis to sink all the way to the bottom of the ocean floor, but Netheria, shielded by its dome, survived.

The Celestial known as Tiamut disagreed with the actions taken by the other Celestials against the Deviants and came into conflict with fellow Celestial Arishem. The conflict ended with the defeat and burial of Tiamut under what would later become northern California, near San Francisco, but the Deviants would forever worship him as the Dreaming Celestial.

Living Underground

The surviving Deviants retreated underground, to Subterranea, and experimented on their remaining human slaves in the hopes of creating a new race to act as their servants and workforce. Their first attempt created the Gortokians, beings stronger than humans and capable of seeing in the dark, but they revolted and fled into the underground caverns. Their second attempt created the Moloids, designed to be more inhuman, docile and weaker, thus less likely to rebel. Confident in the loyalty of their new creation, they sent them to attack the Gortokians, but they were massacred, ultimately leading to the Deviants' retreat and the abandonment of both their creations.

The Deviants then retrofitted some of Lemuria's remain into a new kingdom for themselves, eventually reaching incredible numbers once more.

Third Host / Truce with the Eternals

The Third Host of the Celestials visited circa 1000 A.D.. The Deviants and the Eternals called a truce between themselves and pledged to stop interfering with humans until the Fourth Host would arrive.

Ashomia

Some Deviants created a great, thriving city on the surface called Ashomia in Japan. For millennia, these Deviants safeguarded their sacred, devout scripture contained inside a holy book. It had never been copied or shared, until the notorious, power-hungry Sir Isaac Newton of the Brotherhood of the Shield arrived at Ashomia, seeking their knowledge. He was captured outside the city walls in 1625; Ashomia's Deviant ruler was interested in Newton's DNA sequence and paired him with a Deviant woman named Morda to mate with, eventually getting her pregnant. For five years, Newton endured living with them until he got the chance to steal the Deviants' secrets by transferring the words from their holy book to his own skin. He then set the city on fire and fled. The Deviants were enraged and took their anger on Morda. She was dragged to the center of the city and was cooked in a pot, but before her death, she managed to save her baby, Leonid.

Common Era

In the mid-20th century, a group of idealistic Deviants, Eternals, and humans put aside their differences and created the Damocles Foundation. The invention of the atomic bomb convinced them that all three species needed to find a way to coexist, which would only happen when they recombined into a single species. The Foundation believed that that single species would be mutants, and they intended to control the future by creating and controlling those mutants. Their leader was Odysseus Indigo; their members included a group called Sword (made up of Argos the Hunter, Pyre, Stranglehold, and Zona), Marcelus, and Veeg.

When the Fourth Host arrived to judge Earth, the truce with the Eternals was over, so the Deviants attacked New York City to trick the humans into attacking the Celestials. As usual, though, they spent as much, if not more, effort on disputes with each other. They did manage to invade Olympia, the home of the Eternals. Led by the high priest, Brother Tode, the Deviants posed such a threat that the Eternals formed their Uni-Mind, trapped the invaders in a stone block, and took it into space.

But even after multiple truces were formed there were still Deviant factions who were set on war against the Eternals. A specific faction lead by Kro was hunting for the Matrix Stone that was created by the Celestials to control power.

Judgment Day

Having discovered that Deviants and mutants are closely related, the Prime Eternal Druig launched an attack on the mutant nation of Krakoa. The Deviants aided the mutants in battle. When the Progenitor declared that it would judge all life on Earth, it appeared to the Deviants as Arishem the Judge, the leader of the Second Host that exterminated most of the Deviants long ago. As the Deviants mostly came to the mutants' aid out of empathy, the Progenitor passed all of them. Having experienced "love" for the first time, many of the Deviants took on prayer following this.