When it comes to the Marvel universe, there are few other characters who can best the celestial behemoth known as Galactus. Galactus is the sole survivor of the universe that existed before ours and he is appropriately nicknamed the “World-Eater”. He sends out his heralds to scout for worlds for him to feast on and he travels to them and devours their life energy leaving the planet a barren rock.

As one of the celestials, Galactus’ power is immense and near limitless to the heroes of Earth, but that doesn’t change the fact that there exist a few characters within the universe who possess the power, skill, or intellect to best the giant and defeat him. Some characters are able to defeat him on pure power alone while others are cunning and clever enough to outsmart him and even come to a compromise with him as crazy as that may sound. While some of these badasses have already defeated the cosmic glutton, others have the potential to go toe-to-toe with the World-Eater and stand triumphant.

As he is a being of cosmic energy and the host of the Power Cosmic, he is more than a hefty challenge for many of the powerhouses of the universe but there remains a small bastion of hope that there Galactus can be dealt with single-handedly by one of a few heroes, villains and cosmic entities within the greater Marvel Universe. Here are just a few of the characters that possess the ability to topple the force of nature himself.

15 Any Character Wielding The Infinity Gauntlet

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What many people don’t seem to understand is that Thanos himself is not very powerful. The true owner of the power that he wields in his most famous encounters with the heroes of the Marvel universe, is the powerful artifact known as the Infinity Gauntlet.

This seemingly useless gauntlet was created to hold the power of the 6 Infinity Stones and channel their power into the user and grant them the power of a God. This gauntlet has been used by numerous other characters and all of them are capable of besting Galactus while they are wearing this glove. Since it isn’t technically a character but allows characters the ability to best him, it only kind of counts, but it still gets the job done.

14 Mr. Fantastic

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This is the perfect example of a character who can defeat Galactus with sheer intellect. Few other heroes square up against the “World-Eater” as much as Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four do. That being said, only one member of the Fantastic Four could defeat Galactus alone and it’s thanks to his unbelievably high intellect.

Mr. Fantastic has the perfect brain for taking down the purple spaceman. After their numerous meetings while defending earth as well as other worlds from him, Reed has to have some sort of backup plan ready to go should he appear again and it should be something that provides quick and immediate safety from Galactus. He has one of the smartest brains in the universe, and he sure as hell knows how to use it.

13 The Phoenix Force

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What is able to defeat a cosmic entity that eats planets for sustenance? Another cosmic entity that destroys worlds because it can. The Phoenix Force is immortal and indestructible and I don’t know what else I need to say to convince you that it can kill Galactus. It is the physical embodiment of psionic energy and is most famously associated with the X-Men’s Jean Grey.

It represents life that has not yet been born and even overtook several members of the X-Men. It’s an ancient entity that has been around much longer than Galactus and will continue to live long after he has died. And again, it's immortal.

12 The Marvel Zombies

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If you have read the Marvel Zombies stories then you know that the zombies of Earth-2149 are every bit as much a force of nature as Galactus is, and when they came face-to-face with the “World-Eater” they made quick work of him. The supremely powerful being was not able to repel about 15 zombified superheroes from devouring him and with that came the absorption of his powers. This allowed for interplanetary flight and access to other planets full of people to eat.

They became one of the most feared group of “heroes” in the universe as they attempted to spread outward into other universes after they depleted their food source in their own universe. Yeah so, in conclusion, Galactus has got nothing on these guys!

11 Silver Surfer

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Norrin Radd, also known as the Silver Surfer, is the most prevalent herald of Galactus and as a herald, he was imbued with the Power Cosmic, which is what powers Galactus and gives him the strength that he possesses. With this being said, the Silver Surfer has access to all the strengths and power of Galactus, albeit on a much smaller scale, but it still allows him the ability to destroy Galactus.

However, Galactus could take the Surfer’s power away, and Silver Surfer has defeated Galactus in the past. But only after refusing to find him planets to consume, leaving him starving and weakened. No living entity knows the man better than Silver Surfer as he has served him for years procuring him planets, and this gives him a great advantage against him.

10 Squirrel Girl

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I still am amazed that people are sleeping on one of the biggest badasses in the Marvel universe and big part of it is her lack of cinematic appearances. But once she shows up on the screen she will absolutely be a hit! She has single handedly defeated Thanos and she has “defeated” Galactus in the past. This win came from her striking a deal with the giant and finding him a suitable replacement for Earth when he was hungry.

He even found it cool that she beat the crap out of Thanos. They don’t call her unbeatable for nothing. The squirrel themed hero struck deal with a man who eats planets. Marvel Comics, people!

9 The Living Tribunal

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One of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, The Living Tribunal is a celestial who is charged with maintaining the natural law and order of the universe. It is an omniscient being whose sole purpose is to make sure that no one universe amasses more power than any other and disrupts the natural order and harmony of the multiverse’s existence.

It possesses the ability to eliminate an entire planet with barely any work. It can send a sun into supernova. With this large amount of power and being one of the higher ranked celestials, he can pretty much eliminate any opposition to the natural order, and if that means taking Galactus out to pasture and sending him the way of Old Yeller, then so be it.

8 The Scarlet Witch

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She's a powerful mutant who is responsible for the popular “House of M” storyline, in which she pushed her powers to their limits and literally rewrote reality to put Mutants in charge of the Earth and make Humans the minority of the population. She is capable of things she isn’t even aware of. It’s not that far of a stretch to believe that she could rewrite reality again and erase Galactus from existence.

Her abilities are so powerful it eventually led the X-Men and Avengers to have a meeting and discuss whether it would be safer if they killed her. She has some crappy friends, but it definitely says something about her abilities.

7 Mad Jim Jaspers

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For a universe that is filled with super people, it is amazing to me that the world hasn’t been destroyed or rewritten into something dark and horrible with how many mutants and super-villains possess the ability to rewrite reality as they saw fit. Another one of those people is Mad Jim Jaspers.

Aside from his reality warping powers, he is a successful politician who rose to power following his anti-superhero platform. His generic persona is nothing compared to his overwhelming power to literally wipe someone from existence. That someone could easily be Galactus, if he found himself on the wrong side of the “World-Eater”.

6 Doctor Strange

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Doctor Stephen Strange is an accomplished and brilliant surgeon but the master of sorcery is kind of his ace in the hole. The Sorcerer Supreme has saved Earth and this plane of existence on more than a few occasions. The vast amount of occult and mystical spells and magical abilities are enough to stop inter-dimensional demon warlords, I think he can handle Galactus.

I’m sure within his arsenal of spells he has something that could imprison Galactus or keep him away from Earth for good. Doctor Strange is a very distinguished spell caster and there is almost nothing he can’t accomplish with his mystical might.

5 Iron Man

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One of the most famous faces in the Marvel universe, Tony Stark has a suit of armor for almost every occasion. He is more than prepared for the Hulk to rage out, Thor to turn on Midgard, and for Galactus to come around to Earth with his Galactus-Buster Armor. It is specifically designed to combat the cosmic threat.

Tony is one of the most brilliant technological minds of the Marvel universe and almost every time he builds something for a purpose, that purpose is fulfilled. Tony is a genius and with his brain and suits of armor, he is able to combat pretty much every threat that the universe throws his way.

4 Franklin Richards

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Perhaps THE most powerful mutant in all of existence, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm is so powerful that at one point, he not only possessed the Power Cosmic, he resurrected the dead Galactus to become his own herald. Talk about irony as well as badassery.

Franklin has the power to essentially rewrite reality as he sees fit and needed to be limited and controlled a child to prevent catastrophe. If he is able to enslave Galactus, how hard is it for him to defeat and even kill him. The power this kid has makes Galactus look like a punk having a temper tantrum.

3 Molecule Man

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He's a relatively unknown villain with the ridiculously powerful ability to control his matter on an atomic level, as well as other peoples. First appearing in 1963 in Fantastic Four #20, he can literally strip a person apart, molecule by molecule. What about that doesn’t sound like someone who can beat Galactus.

I know it seems kind of insane to say that just one guy can defeat and interplanetary cosmic planet eater, but he can control a person’s molecules. That’s ridiculous! As long as Galactus doesn’t have the chance to kill him first, Molecule Man could tear Galactus apart.

2 The Beyonder

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He's a being that is a member of an otherworldly race of beings that have incredible powers that make them almost appear to be gods to lesser civilizations. The Beyonder has held numerous competitions out of pure interest to see what the heroes and villains of Earth are like. He transported many heroes and villains to Battleworld, a world of his own creation to see which side would come out on top.

He possesses abilities far beyond what is capable of most beings and it very plausible to say that The Beyonder could take care of Galactus if he came looking for a fight. He can easily deal with Galactus in a number of ways, so for him it would be just another day at the office for him.

1 The One Above All

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The One Above All is essentially the god of gods. He has only appeared physically in the comics only a handful of times and he is the greatest and most powerful being in all the Marvel universe. He possesses unlimited abilities and power and can do whatever he pleases. He is the all-powerful being and is the supposed creator of the Marvel multiverse. I think after the brief description of his abilities and capabilities that it goes without saying that if any single being is able to defeat Galactus in mere moments, it would be The One Above All.

Although he probably wouldn’t since he probably isn’t even worth his time. You could even draw the comparison that The One Above All is the comic incarnation of Stan Lee himself.