Father Time

The Personification of Time (Art by Cushing, C. H., [from old catalog] ed. and comp)

### Aliases

Time, Chrono, Old Man Time, Old Father Time, Sage of Time, Toki no Okina, The Professor, Chronos, Khronos, Chronus, Papa Time, Daddy-Do Time

## Physical Description

### Spirit of

Time, Truth, Existence, Falsehood, Fraud, Envy, Eternism, Presentism, Linear Time, Non-linear Time

## Relatives

### Siblings

God, The Darkness, Death, Life, Azathoth, Therion, Barbelo, Ayin, Khaos

### Offspring

Baby New Year

**Father Time**, or simply **Time**, is the pre-existential of Time and personification of eternity responsible for the passing of the years.

## Overview

He is commonly portrayed in human artwork as an elderly bearded figure, sometimes adorned with wings, draped in a robe, and bearing a scythe alongside an hourglass or other timekeeping instrument symbolizing the ceaseless progression of time and, in a broader sense, entropy. He personifies the essence of primordial time and existence as a whole. Father Time possesses the remarkable ability to accelerate the aging process of both individuals and objects, even hastening the universe's journey towards its eventual heat death or rewinding it to its birth during the Big Bang.

Father Time's existence transcends the conventional constraints of time and space, as he dwells within a palace that operates beyond the confines of the universe's physical laws. His realm exists in intricate loops and intricate patterns, molded according to Father Time's whims. Within this domain, cause and effect may reverse or sever ties entirely.

Furthermore, Father Time can manipulate the aging process of anything and anyone, potentially fast-forwarding the universe to its Heat Death or rewinding it to the moment of the Big Bang. He is inherently younger than Darkness, as he represents time itself—an abstract concept that emerged only after the creation of all existence and its fundamental elements.

Father Time's dwelling exists beyond the conventional flow of time and space, housed in a palace untouched by the universe's physical laws, ensuring its existence throughout all epochs. This grand palace of time remains in perpetual motion, characterized by grinding gears and ever-ticking clocks that populate its intricately designed expanse. It is often referred to as the workshop of time and is regarded as the wellspring of the universe's temporal essence.

## Appearance

Father Time commonly manifests as an elderly bearded figure, occasionally adorned with wings, draped in a robe, and holding a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. Interestingly, his manifestation also includes a distinctive feature where he undergoes a perpetual cycle of aging and de-aging. At times, he may appear as a young boy, then transition into an adolescent, followed by an adult, before transforming once again into an elderly bearded man. This transformation occurs in a seemingly erratic and unpredictable manner, adding a unique and enigmatic aspect to his portrayal.

He also has a snake as his tongue.

## Personality

Father Time carries a profound sense of solitude, a state he intentionally cultivates because he wishes to avoid any interaction with his own offspring. In his perspective, the sole reason his children seek him out is to fulfill their own desires or requests.

The few beings who pique his interest and with whom he is willing to engage include the Darkness, his consort, with whom he shares a unique connection; Death, his partner in the delicate balance of existence; Life, another partner intertwined with the fabric of reality; God, whom he regards as a "brother" and a superior entity; and Chronos, his apprentice, whom he mentors in the intricacies of temporal control. This assortment of relationships forms the core of Father Time's limited social circle.

As a primordial entity, he remains perpetually isolated, finding solace in his loneliness while maintaining his essential role in the grand tapestry of existence.

Yet despite that Father Time is actually rather humble, playful, and also possesses a good (sometimes dry and sarcastic) sense of humor and wits, as he often jokes around, and making sarcastic jokes and comments on people (especially humans who he often gets along when bargaining in him) for their amusing and sometimes reckless behavior in his presence. He is also seen as an intelligent and wise elderly primordial being, skilled and a capable advisor, as he frequently giving people the knowledge they needed to do, and sometimes giving them a hint what they have to do, in making wise decisions and judgements, without also intervening or hindering their free will and decisions.

He is not as prideful and arrogant, when mentioning his position as the primordial god of time, yet he claims that no one in the cosmos must disturb or change the natural cosmic balance, that will greatly affects the universe. He is rather easy going, yet patient, serious, and responsible of protecting the natural flow of time (past, present, and future) and space (cosmos). He is also annoyed to anyone who deliberately tries to disrupt or distort the natural cycle of life and death, as he calls it foolishness. In the beginning, he seems to be get along with his siblings and his wife the Darkness. Specially God, Death, Life, as they were the only ones (other than the Darkness) who often talks to him frequently.

## Powers and Abilities

Being the Pre-existential Deity of time, Father Time is an extremely powerful entity that rivals Death and Life, however, he is still inferior towards God, Khaos, and Azathoth. He holds absolute control and is considered as "time" itself, far more powerful than any time deities like Chronos, Moirai, Norns, Ananke, and the Hindu Trimurti. He is even powerful enough to rival Ayin and the Darkness, despite being far younger than both.

As the living primordial concept of time itself, Father Time is among the most powerful entities in existence. He is able to accelerate the aging of anyone and anything and could even speed up the aging of the universe until it reaches its Heat Death or reverse it to when it was birthed as a result of the Big Bang.

Father Time is known to occasionally intervene in the life of particular individuals, containing them within a time loop in hopes of breaking them out of a cycle of repetition. To escape these time loops, the trapped individuals must learn from each successive loop and alter the course of their life in some specific way. To the person stuck in the time loop, it may seem as though they have spent months repeating the same day over and over again, when in reality the time lapsed may be mere seconds. The temporal displacement felt by those who exit a time loop can be extremely disorienting, and even fatal, to those who refuse to learn or change their ways as a result of the experience.

* **Primordial Time Deity Physiology**: Father Time is "time" itself, and he is the true time deity. He can manipulate time on a transcendent level that far exceed normal users of chronokinesis. He can manipulate time at planetary, galactic, universal or even at the megaversal level. He can manipulate even the entire space-time continuum as he nearly unstoppable deity, and only below God on a large margin.
* **Nigh-Omnipotence**: As the pre-existential embodiment of time, Father Time is an extremely powerful being, and has absolute authority over time and even space itself. His omnipotence extends towards space-time continuum on a beyond universal level, that are beyond comprehension, even for the gods. He can do, create or destroy literaly everything and anything he want.
* **Nigh-Omniscience**: Father Time, though not as omniscient as God, is an extremely nigh omniscient being. He knows anything that exists in and out of creation itself, as he is the deity and spirit that watch over the flow of space and time continuum, and he is one of the few entities that knows things that few beings know. His mind, intelligence, wits, and wisdom far exceeds the Deities, being the embodiment of time, he can perceive, view, and observe worlds using his time devices like the paradox machine, golden-hour glass (that contains the sand time), and he is also the creator of the time rings. He is even aware of the existence of the Old Ones and the disturbances their been causing.
	+ **Omnichronal Perception**: He can see every event across all of the infinite timelines simultaneously. He know instantly when and how something happened or will happen regardless of what timeline an event occurred. This the ability he frequently use to watch over the flow time of all infinite timelines that exists.
		- **Chronoscience**: Being the supreme lord and guardian of time, he knows everything about time and everything related to it. As such, he know everything within time, and what lies within, and around it. Father Time knows everything when it comes to time because all its secrets are revealed, knowing all the ways and reasons of how time is supposed to be work. Usually, he teach to the mortals how time runs and flows like the rivers, how to change it without violating the laws of time, etc.
	+ **Hyper-Cosmic Awareness**: He has vast knowledge, understanding, and awareness across the cosmos and even beyond dimensions, as he watch over the flow of time on every existing universes and dimensions. He is aware of their is disturbances that affects the universe, distortion over the space-time continuum, and even the life of all sentient beings.
	+ **Omni-Perception**: He has an extremely powerful perception ability that allows him to observe multiple universes, dimensions, timelines, and even things outside creation. He also possess a vast awareness of supernatural things and phenomena, that few beings could notice (with the exception of the Angels).
		- **Retrocognition**: He can view the past just by traveling a specific location or just by projecting a ball of light to have a clear glimpse on events that happened in the past.
	+ **Absolute Wisdom**: Being born since before the dawn and the first spark of creation, he has vast and immeasurable wisdom since time immemorial. He has the wisdom that is beyond the league of the gods and even primordial deities. He can give a very efficient, wise, and understanding advices that can help people do things without compromising. Usually, he guides the mortals, just by giving them a glimpse on what they or must do, in order for them to grow and mature. His wisdom far exceeds the likes of many deities of wisdom like Athena.
* **Chronokinesis**: Being the primordial deity of time, he possess complete and absolute powers over time. He can manipulate, shape, generate, and even warp time, with just a snap of his fingers. His mere presence are more than enough to make the clocks, time devices, and even the very temporal force of the world stop in an instant.
	+ **Time Travel**: Father Time can travel through different time and age across various timelines, universes, and dimensions without violating the universal law and the cosmic balance. It also helps him know things are hidden from him, or just by observing the other timelines and time agencies that he manage across multiple dimensions and timelines if their is no problem or distortions.
		- **Teleportation**: By manipulating the space-time energy, he can teleport anywhere and even everywhere he wishes to, he can also occupy the space between the two dimensions, something that very few beings could do.
			* **Portal Creation**: He can generate and create portals on various locations that allows him to travel through multiple places and even timelines in different universes, dimensions, eras, etc.
			* **Inter-Dimensional Travel**: Father Time can also through multiple timelines, universes, places, dimensions, and even through many afterlives that exists. He even go as far as to travel to interstellar stars, just by the snap of his fingers, and taking people along him
	+ **Parachronal Cognition**: Father Time can easily view and have a glimpse on infinite future possibilities with no serious restrictions, because he is time itself and the very manifestation of it. However, according to him, he cannot determine what possible future or outcome will definitely happen, only the possibilities. Being the primordial deity of time, he has the one who will determine what is the possible outcome of ones' actions.
		- **Flawless Precognition**: Father Time can have complete glimpse every possible futures and outcomes that will or is about to happen. Using the golden hour glass or any time devices he personally invented, he can have a whole glimpse over an individual's future with no flaws.
	+ **Time Acceleration**: He can accelerate the flow of time, just by the snap of his fingers, using this, he can have complete and clear predictions that are hard to know and determine, even for the gods. He can accelerate everything in the process, and can a perfect view on how things will happen if he accelerate's time.
	+ **Time Reduction & Stopping**: He can stop or slow time just by willing it. Usually he uses this to observe things on a clear and accurate way, while making sure that time and space will not be affected. By slowing or stopping time, he can have an accurate, efficient, and effective way on how to deal things in matter of seconds, just by seeing it done.
* **Time Embodiment**: Being the Primordial Deity of Time itself, Father time is the true embodiment of time and space. He holds complete domain and authority over all aspects of time and temporal powers. He has the power to control the timeline of all things whether to fast forward things or rewind them. Father time can also cause anything to rot, corrode, decay and turn to dust, or reverse things to the past to the point in which they have never existed. He can read, manipulate and remember past, present and future timelines/events. He is also the one that dictates the universal law of the universe, only below to God.
	+ **Temporal Lordship & Guardianship**: Father Time has authority and control over time, the continuous progress of existence and events. He can control time itself and all things linked to it to a limitless degree. He is also the protector and keeper of the fabric of time (along with Chronos and his other students). Also he is a temporal being of a higher existence, and a protector that oversees time and is in charge of keeping its flow in check. He also, acquire special abilities that allow him to control all aspects of time in order to make sure all events within it are in their proper place.
	+ **Meta/Omni-Chronokinesis**: Father Time holds absolute dominion and authority over time and space itself. It is an absolute and beyond godly form of time manipulation, where he can manipulate time of any/all realities, dimensions and universes, whether they are physical locations, such as higher dimensions, heaven or hell, or metaphysical locations such as the dream world. He can create temporal effects that can even affect incorporeal and metaphysical life forms who are normally at an alternate plane of existence, such as dream sprites, ghosts, and deities.
	+ **Cosmo-Spatiokinesis**: Father Time can create, shape and manipulate the elemental force of space, allowing him to control everything that space embodies; from aspects of celestial objects such as nebulas to natural cosmic energies, etc. Due to being the overseer of the flow of time and space, he knows everything that are related to the cosmos and space, even if it was supernatural phenomena, powers, space-time distortion, etc.
* **Quinte-Necrokinesis**: He has also close associates with the forces of life and death (second only to Life & Death), he can sense, create, shape and manipulate the essences of life and death, giving and taking both, using the time. He can manipulate the beginning and end of the life cycles of any/all living organisms, allowing them to adapt and manipulate the forces of vitality and necrotic influences. He is capable of rendering local to planetary landscapes lush with life (from microorganisms to complex life — plant/animal) or barren at their leisure.
* **Omnilock**: He exist outside of the material universe before the dawn of creation and after the spark of the first seconds of time. He cannot be killed by beings that are bellow his level and class.
* **Master Magic Caster**: Father Time is highly adept, proficient, and skilled magics and forbidden spells that very few beings know, mainly towards time magic, spatial magic, space-time magic, cosmic space magic, and even those with close associates with life and death, as time itself also dictates the flow of the cosmic balance of the universe. He can cause universal changes, and can warp reality with a snap of his fingers, he is also highly adept in lost and legendary magics, and knows how to change the magic system of every non-Abrahamic pantheon, with a simple gesture and silent incantation, he is the one that teach this towards Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, and Azazel, specially on how to break the laws of magic, without causing disturbances.
	+ **Meta Magic**: He nigh limitless meta magic that are beyond comprehension even from the gods' perspectives. Hee can manipulate, shape, or warp reality using it. His skills over meta magic classes are so great, that it can affect things on a universal level.
		- **Reality Warping**: Despite his passive and neutral disposition, according to his student Chronos, Father Time can manipulate and warp reality on a beyond universal level that it can create distortion across dimensions and timelines, and can easily repair the damage, just by manipulating the molecular properties of said damage.
	+ **Spatial Magic**: He is highly adept in using spatial spells, that can bend and manipulate the distances and spaces between dimensions. Usually he use this, to divide or seperate dimensional distortions from the material world, so that the cosmic balance will not affect the universe.
* **Master Advisor**: Father Time is a very wise and intelligent person, he can give advice to others in the most efficient, effective, and wisest way of handling things. Most of the time, he acts mainly as an elderly advisor with a humorous and witty response to others, but will give the mortals the things they want to do, so long as it does not affects the flow of time itself, as it is forbidden for him to intervene with the affairs of the mortals, unless he has too.

## History

During the battle for the beginning of Creation, he didn't participate in the battle between the others, he merely watched the fight along with Life and Death.

Every year, Father Time would birth Baby New Year, representing that year, this baby would grow older and older throughout the year, eventually dying at the end of that year, being replaced by another Baby New Year.

## Myths and Legends

The origins of the Father Time image are indeed captivating and intricately linked to diverse cultural influences. This concept has undergone a gradual evolution, shaped by various civilizations and their symbolic representations of time.

In ancient Greece, a connection was forged between "chronos," their term for time, and the agricultural deity Cronus, renowned for his sickle used in harvesting. The Romans later identified Cronus with Saturn, who also carried a sickle and was often portrayed as an elderly figure, occasionally relying on a crutch. These early associations laid the groundwork for the emergence of the Father Time concept.

During the Renaissance era, wings and hourglasses were incorporated into the depiction of Father Time, blending elements from both classical and medieval traditions. As time passed, Father Time began to be depicted alongside the Grim Reaper, the embodiment of Death, often sharing a scythe with a similar appearance. Additionally, the inclusion of a snake tongue in Father Time's imagery can be traced back to ancient Egyptian symbolism, where it symbolized eternity.

In his allegorical form, Father Time is frequently represented as a figure who unveils or reveals the allegorical Truth, sometimes at the expense of personifications like Falsehood, Fraud, or Envy. This theme aligns with the concept of "veritas filia temporis," which translates to "Time is the father of Truth." This symbolism underscores the notion that over time, the truth becomes evident and prevails, ultimately transcending falsehood and deception.

## Gallery

Baby New Year with Father Time (Art by Frances Brundaoe)