Trigon vs. Knull: Why the God of the Symbiotes Wins This Fight

Trigon versus Knull is a clash between two ancient gods who've conquered entire worlds, slaughtered countless gods and threatened entire universes. When I weigh up the ruler of hell against the god of darkness, Knull wins: Trigon can give him a good fight, but I don't think there are many worlds where Trigon can actually take it.

Here's how each of them stacks up in strength, durability, experience and powers, and why Trigon's biggest advantage still isn't enough.

Knull, the god of darkness, decapitated a Celestial with the first symbiote

Before the universe, in the infinite void of darkness, there existed one solitary creature. This was Knull, ruler of the darkness and shadow, the King in Black. He was awakened by the light when the Celestials invaded his kingdom of darkness, and he created the first symbiote in the form of a sword. It decapitated one of them.

The Celestials banished Knull for his actions. He then used the fallen Celestial's decapitated head as a forge to refine his blade, naming it All-Black the Necrosword, and slaughtered his way across the cosmos. Knull has been a terror ever since, even creating armies of powerful symbiotes as a way to corrupt the light.

Knull has overpowered Silver Surfer and Sentry and survived the Big Bang

Knull is without a doubt one of the strongest and most powerful villains in the Marvel universe. He's been able to defeat Celestials in one shot, and they themselves are some of the most powerful beings in Marvel. He's slaughtered entire armies of gods and absolutely manhandled the Silver Surfer. He's powerful enough to overpower an Odin Force powered Thor and straight up rip the Sentry in half. He is seriously strong.

As strong as Knull is, he's just as tough. He's pretty much impossible to stop or put down in any fight. Knull has survived the Big Bang. He's taken planet level blasts from Ego, the Living Planet. Silver Surfer has even thrown an entire star at him, and he's been just fine.

Sure, Knull has been injured by the likes of Thor, Silver Surfer, or Venom with the Enigma Force, but the kicker is that he's still been able to come back from pretty much everything every single time. Even when Venom cast him into the sun and atomized him, it seems like not even that was enough to kill Knull forever.

Knull's symbiote powers and the Necrosword make him even more dangerous

Since Knull is the god of the symbiotes, he has some incredible symbiotic powers. He can instantly create symbiotes at will, even creating an entire planet of symbiotes during his battle with Silver Surfer. He can restrain powerful heroes with his tentacles, and he can use the symbiotes to take over enemies and opponents and force them to be under his control.

Then there's the most powerful symbiote of them all, the Necrosword. When other people have wielded this sword, they've been able to kill countless gods and Celestials. Gorr was able to use it to battle three Thors at once. Thor used it to defeat Galactus of all people. It's also killed Ego, the Living Planet.

None of that was the sword's max potential. In the hands of its true master, Knull, the sword is even more powerful and even more devastating than it is with anyone else. If that's what it can do with other people, just imagine what Knull can do with it. There's definitely a reason Knull has quickly become one of the most dangerous and terrifying villains in the Marvel universe.

Trigon was born from the evil a peaceful race tried to purge

Trigon is the father of sin, the devourer of worlds, and "hands down the worst dad in comic book history." While Dormammu is Marvel's living embodiment of chaos, Trigon is DC's answer: a cosmic demon so ancient and so powerful that evil itself calls him sir.

Trigon wasn't born so much as he was vomited into existence by the universe. Ages ago, there was a peaceful race of beings who were pure, spiritual and totally zen. In trying to purge all evil from themselves, they accidentally gave it a body, and that body was Trigon. From the moment he came into being, he wasn't just evil. He was the idea of evil made flesh, a demonic infant who wiped out his entire planet before he could even crawl.

By his teenage years, assuming demons even have those, he'd already destroyed countless worlds and enslaved entire civilizations. He was, in short, "the universe's worst puberty case." As he grew, Trigon claimed his own dimension, a fiery realm of eternal torment where he rules as absolute monarch. He doesn't just kill people. He collects their souls like trading cards, feeding on their corruption until he becomes stronger.

Trigon has fought the Justice League and fathered Raven as a bridge to Earth

When he's at full power, every breath Trigon takes burns galaxies, and every step can warp the fabric of reality. His power operates on a scale that makes even the gods nervous. He's fought the entire Justice League, Superman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, the whole crew, and turned them to stone just because he felt like it. He's destroyed entire galaxies for fun, torn universes apart and devoured entire realities one soul at a time. At one point, he even absorbed the souls of an entire universe's population just to prove he could.

When the Justice League couldn't handle him, they didn't beat him. They banished him, because in DC that's what you do when killing something isn't an option. Trigon isn't a being of matter or flesh. He's metaphysical corruption given form, existing beyond space, time and comprehension. Darkseid may represent tyranny and order, but Trigon represents chaos unbound. If Darkseid is lawful evil, Trigon is pure chaotic evil. He doesn't want to rule the universe. He wants to watch it rot.

Perhaps the most fascinating and horrifying thing about him is his connection to humanity, because Trigon has a daughter, Raven. Wanting a foothold in the mortal world, a vessel to bridge hell and Earth, he seduced a human woman, fathered Raven, and created a living conduit between his demonic dimension and our reality. Raven became the only being who could both destroy him and save him, the one tether keeping his influence at bay.

It's poetic in a deeply messed up kind of way. Raven's entire life is a fight to stop her father from breaking through to Earth, while Trigon constantly tries to corrupt her mentally, spiritually and sometimes literally. "It's less bring your daughter to work day and more bring your daughter to the apocalypse."

Trigon can be banished and sealed, but he can't be erased

Power wise, Trigon has the whole supernatural playbook unlocked. He's immortal, omniscient and functionally omnipresent across realities. He manipulates matter, bends time, teleports across dimensions and commands an army of demonic children, each powerful enough to level cities. He can summon black holes of magic, erase souls from existence, or warp reality until up feels like down and life feels like death.

He's fought beings like the Spectre, God's literal vengeance, and survived. The Monitor once compared his energy levels to the Spectre's own and even stated that a battle between them would annihilate all existence. In the rare instances Trigon has been defeated, it's almost never through raw power. It's through divine intervention, soul magic, or Raven's own willpower turning his corruption against him.

Even when he's killed, he doesn't really die. His essence simply retreats to his dimension and reforms over time. You can banish him, seal him, or split his soul into pieces, but you can't erase him. He doesn't conquer to rule or destroy out of hatred. He does it because it's his nature. Yet, like all devils, his ego might be his undoing. His arrogance keeps him underestimating mortals and dismissing love and compassion as weakness, which is exactly how his daughter beats him. For all his power, the one thing he can't understand is humanity.

I'm giving strength to Knull for his feats against cosmic gods

Both of these guys are some of the strongest demonic beings in their universes. Trigon has conquered entire dimensions, stolen millions of souls and possesses enough power to threaten entire realities. Knull is the god of the symbiotes, a primordial cosmic being who's killed Celestials and nearly conquered the Marvel universe.

On strength, I'm giving this one to Knull. Trigon is obviously ridiculously strong. He's easily overwhelmed the Teen Titans, and according to his origin, he destroyed his home planet when he was just six years old. His trophy room also has objects like Superman's suit, Green Lantern's power battery and Wonder Woman's tiara, implying that he killed all of them.

But I think Knull just has a better track record when it comes to physically overpowering beings. In becoming Knull, he created All-Black the Necrosword and used it to decapitate a Celestial, and Celestials are beings who've easily overpowered Odin. He's also battled Silver Surfer, fought an Odin Force powered Thor and, probably his most famous feat, grabbed Sentry and ripped him in half. That's the same Sentry who's overpowered Hulk and Thor and battled Galactus to a standstill. That would be the same as Trigon doing this to Superman.

Trigon is definitely strong enough to hurt Knull, but I think Knull just has the better strength feats. Trigon's best feats usually involve more magic and supernatural power, while Knull is actually fighting and killing cosmic gods.

Knull also takes durability, even with how his King in Black defeat went down

Durability goes to Knull too. Trigon is very, very hard to kill. By nature of being a demon, even destroying his physical body doesn't actually destroy Trigon himself. He can still come back.

But Knull's durability is insane. He survived the Big Bang and the birth of the Marvel cosmos. He's taken attacks from Ego, the Living Planet, Silver Surfer, and a full on attack from Odin Force Thor that completely broke his jaw, and yet he instantly regenerated. Even his final defeat during King in Black wasn't exactly straightforward. The Valkyries had severed his connection to the Headless Celestial, cutting off an additional source of his power, all before Eddie Brock finally defeated him using the Enigma Force, which is basically Knull's version of kryptonite. So I want to give the edge to Knull again here.

Trigon's powers are his biggest advantage over Knull

As for skill and experience, it's safe to say both of them have a lot of both. Trigon has conquered worlds, galaxies, even entire universes and dimensions. Knull has spent his entire existence going out single handed and killing gods with All-Black by his side, fighting Thor, Sentry and Silver Surfer and killing countless Celestials.

Powers and abilities are where Trigon starts getting some huge advantages, because he has basically any power you can imagine. He can manipulate reality, transform matter, control minds, steal souls, teleport across dimensions and unleash massive magical blasts of energy. At one point, he scattered an opponent's atoms while deliberately keeping him alive. During The Terror of Trigon, he took control of almost everyone on Earth, transforming the planet into a nightmare reflection of his own dimension.

So Trigon doesn't necessarily have to beat Knull physically. He could try to attack his soul, manipulate his body or banish him into another dimension. That's a pretty big problem for Knull, because surviving a hit from Thor doesn't really translate to having your soul attacked or your body manipulated on the atomic level.

Of course, Knull isn't a stranger to supernatural powers. Jean Grey, one of Marvel's most powerful telepaths, tried to enter his mind and was easily overwhelmed by what's inside. When Knull ripped Sentry in half, he went a step further and absorbed the Void into himself. That doesn't necessarily mean Trigon can't hurt him, but I don't think it's as simple as Trigon snapping his fingers and manipulating Knull with ease. You could even argue that Knull being the primordial void predating creation and existing on that higher plane might just leave him immune to soul or magical attacks.

Knull's own darkness and a god killing sword decide it

I think the kicker is that Knull has some pretty terrifying powers of his own. He can manipulate living darkness, creating weapons, armor and entire creatures, and control symbiotes from across the galaxy. He's covered entire planets in darkness, can corrupt almost anyone he touches, even Celestials, and has commanded entire armies of symbiotes.

Then there's All-Black the Necrosword, a sword specifically created to kill gods. Knull used it to decapitate Celestials, and Gorr the God Butcher later used it to slaughter gods throughout the universe and threaten multiple versions of Thor, including King Thor. The sword doesn't just target the body but the soul as well, so it might be able to cut Trigon on a deeper level than a normal blade would.

Trigon has a lot of powers, but I'd say Knull is stronger, tougher, has more experience fighting gods and is carrying a weapon specifically designed to kill them. Trigon at his best has battled beings from the fifth dimension like Mr. Mxyzptlk, but Knull straight up dogwalked Celestials. In fact, Knull is more powerful right now than he's ever been. Typically he's the shadow of all creation formed into one being, and you could argue he's a cosmic abstract, but now he's not just the King in Black but the King in All, the king of both dark and light, transcending his old limits. There's an argument that Knull isn't just multiversal but might be outerversal.

Trigon can give him a good fight, but I don't think there are many worlds where Trigon can actually take it, not when Knull is this powerful. Knull wins.

Who do you think comes out on top in a fight between Trigon and Knull?