The Tuatha de Danaan or Celtic Gods are a race of superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who were once worshipped by the ancient Celts and Britons from about 1500 BC to 600 AD when they were replaced by Christianity. The Danaans dwell on Avalon, a small planetary body existing in a cosmology of worlds known collectively as Otherworld which is also home to a number of other beings such as elves, leprechauns, faeries, trolls and the Fomore, the ancestral spirits and gods of Eire from whom the Danaans might be descended. Unlike most of the realms of the gods of Earth, Otherworld doesn't seem to be fixed to any such point on Earth, such as Olympus, the home of the Olympian Gods, to Mount Olympus on Earth. When the Celtic gods departed Earth, they retreated to Otherworld through several "sidhs" or faerie mounds located through Ireland. (In later years, "sidh" was also used as a word to describe the faerie spirits who protected these mounds.) Because these portals rested underground, later myths claimed the Celtic gods retreated beneath the Earth. In actuality, Avalon seems to be an actual planetary body existing in other-dimensional space with regular seasonal intervals of night and day. The Danaan's human worshippers in Ancient Eire called these gods by different names than those by which the gods were known in ancient Gaul: for example, the Celts called the king of the gods the Dagda, whereas the Gaels knew him as Sucellos. The invading Romans knew him as Taranis in order to merge his worship rites with their god, Zeus. The Celtic gods, however, no longer have or actively seek worshippers on Earth. 

The precise origin of the Celtic gods, like that of all of Earth's pantheons of gods, is shrouded in legend. According to one legend, the Celtic gods are the descendants of the Dagda and another goddess later known as Morrigan. However, the Dagda was the son of Bile (Belenus), also known as Elathan, one of the chieftains of the race known as the Fomore. The Fomore identified their maternal ancestor as the goddess, Domnu, later know as Danu. It is believed that Danu was actually Gaea, the primordial earth-mother who had survived the destruction of the Elder Gods of Earth by infusing her life into the life-giving essence of the Earth. Many of the Elder Gods had degenerated into demonic status and were destroyed by Atum or had fled Earth for other planes of existence. Atum had been born from Gaea by mating with the sentient biosphere of the Earth known as the Demiurge. Atum later departed the earth after shedding the excess demonic energies of the Elder Gods he had slain.

According to myths, Danu had sired a race of beings known as the Fomore by Neit (or Net), later confused with Nuadhu, a mortal chieftain of the Tuatha de Danaan and ancestor of CuChulainn, one of the greatest heroes of Ancient Eire. Neit was supposedly a Danaan ruler overthrown by the Fomore. The Fomore were later claimed by Early Christian writers documenting the stories of the Celts as descendants of Ham, one of the sons of the Biblical Noah, who had survived a flood in Ancient Mesopotamia around 2490 BC. The Fomore had claimed Ancient Eire at the center of the ley lines of Earth for themselves. They repelled a consecutive series of invasions by Fintan and Cessair, descendants of Japeth, another of Noah's sons around 2340 BC. Partholon, the grandson of Fintan, lead another invasion about thirty-three years later. A third invasion by the Nemedians was more successive, forcing the Fomore as far as the Isle of Man, but eventually the Fomore returned and subjugated the Nemedians, their survivors departing for Greece, the land of their ancestors. The Fir Bholg tribes, descendants of the Nemedians, returned and laid siege to Ireland, taking it away from the Fomore.

According to Celtic myth, the Tuatha de Danaan were another tribe descended from Partholon, having departed from Eire to settle near Scythia near the Black Sea and along the Danube River. Meanwhile, Elathan, a Fomore chieftain, known as Beli or Belenus to the Welsh, took Danu as his wife and she conceived him a number of children. Also known as Donn to the Welsh, Danu concealed the births of her children in the land of Gaul along the Danube River from which she had derived her name. Among these children were the gods, Eochaid (later known as the Dagda), Llyr, Gwydion, Amaethon, Arianrhod, Penardun and others. Danu departed Eire with her children to raise them as antagonists to the Fomore. The Dagda, Leir and Gwydion learned their magicks from Earthly wizards, mystics and mages. Gwydion stayed behind to become a tutelary deity of the Gaels, while the Dagda lead a majority of the Danaans back to Eire. When Eochaid Mac Erc, the last of the Fir Bholg died without a worthy heir, the Danaans and the Fomore clashed at the battlefield of Magh Tureidh to lay claim to Eire. Nuadhu, son of the Dagda and the greatest champion of the Danaans, faced off against Sreng, the greatest champion of the Fir Bholg. The Danaans were victorious, but Nuadhu was unable to rule because he lost an hand in battle and the Danaans could not honor a ruler with an obvious wound. The Dagda allowed his half-brother, Bres, to rule in place of his son, but Bres turned Eire over to the Fomore, forcing the Danaans into subservient roles. The hero, Lugh, hidden away since birth, however, eventually joined the Tuatha de Danaan, and lead them to a second victory on the plains of Magh Tureidh by slaying Balor, forcibly exiling the Fomore into another dimension.

The ascendant Danaans claimed Eire and became the divine rulers of the land. In departing Earth for the last time, the Dagda divided Eire into provinces between his sons, Oenghus, Bodb, Ogmios and Mider, with Badb possessing sovereign power over all after Lugh. The Dagda departed Eire for the realm of Otherworld to become ruler of the gods. In the Tenth Century BC, the last wave of invaders invaded Eire. Arriving from Gaul, the Milesians lead by Milesius claimed Eire by divine right as descendants of Partholon, the rightful ruler of Eire. The Danaans were forced to comply and departed Eire through hidden underground portals concealed by various sidhs or "faerie mounds" located through the countryside. (In later myths, it would be claimed the Tuatha de Danaan were driven underground. Later generations of Eire would also call the faerie spirits and former gods of Eire collectively as the Sidh.) The Milesians would become ancestors of the British monarchy. Trojan refugees lead by Brutus, a grandson of Aeneas, a hero of Troy, later claimed Britain around 1150 BC. Their ancestors included King Arthur who converted England over to Christianity from their native worship of the Celtic Gods. Arthur's Britain would be seized by the Saxons bringing worship of their native Asgardian gods, their chieftains later becoming ancestors of the later British Kings.

At their zenith, worship of the Celtic Gods covered much of the British Isles and much of modern-day Spain, France and parts of Germany. Because of the invasions of the Romans and the Saxons, the Danaans beheld the Olympian and Asgardian gods with a certain amount of enmity and distrust. The Dagda, however, had been approached by Odin, Chieftain of the Asgardian gods, to meet with the rulers of the other gods once worshipped on Earth to discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials. The Celestials had threatened to seal off the portals of each of their godly realms unless they promised to stop interfering in mortal affairs. The Dagda swore to this pledge and even made a vow to Odin to donate the necessary life energies to the Asgardians slain during the Fourth Host of the Celestials. When Thor came to Avalon to petition a portion of the required life energies as part of this vow, the Dagda saw that a debt had been paid to his realm and offered Thor the necessary energies to restore the slain Asgardian gods to life. 

Despite this pledge, many of the Celtic Gods continued to hold the Asgardian gods with uncertainty and dissent. When Thor pursued a beast that had slain an Asgardian family, he pursued it to Avalon and was attacked by Llyr, the god of sea and storm. Llyr accused Thor of having slain a Danaan family killed by the beast and attacked Thor, but when Thor revealed the existence of the beast, Llyr joined him in slaying it. Seeing as he owed Thor and the Asgardians a debt, Leir lead an army of the best warriors of the Tuatha de Danaan to defend  Asgard when it was attacked by Seth, the Egyptian god of death. The Asgardians and the Danaans were victorious and a truce was made between the two rival pantheons.

In later years, the Fomore have returned to lay claim to Avalon. Meeting Llyr and the Celtic gods in battle, they were finally defeated by a horde of insects sent by the Dagda to rob them of their intent for war. It is unrevealed if they are going to confront each other again. The Tuatha de Danaan are represented by a few mortal champions on Earth, such as Kyllian, chosen by Cernunnos on behalf of the Dagda and Morrigan, and Jack O'Lantern, who was granted an enchanted lantern by Queen Maev, Ruler of the Faeries of Tir na Bhog in Momur. 

==Characteristics== 

Body Type: Humanoid
Avg. Height: 6' 0"
Eyes: Two
Hair: Normal
Skin: Normal
Limbs: Two
Fingers: Five with opposable thumb
Toes: Five
Special Adaptations: The Tuatha de Danaan or Celtic Gods are exceptionally long-lived, but they are not immortal like the Olympian gods; they age very slowly upon reaching adulthood, but they are not invulnerable to death. They are physically more durable than human beings; their skin, bone and tissue being three times more durable and dense than similar tissue in human beings.

==Powers== 

Avg. Strength Level: All of  the Tuatha de Danaan are superhumanly strong with the average male being able to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average female being able to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Powers: The Tuatha de Danaan possess superhuman strength, stamina , longevity and resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for altering their appearance, communicating over long distances, teleporting through dimension barriers and casting spells. The scope of their powers mostly limited to one object, idea or field, usually tied into their personality. For example, Llyr as the Celtic god of sea and storm can generate and command all the forces of weather and can summon lightning on par with Thor. The Dagda as ruler of the Celtic Gods has extra-ordinary powers over magic and can cast spells and teleport across time and space. 
Known Abilities: The Tuatha de Danaan are adept in all forms of magic, particularly the Dagda and Morrigan, as well in the art of war. They are trained in swordplay, archery and the practice of knighthood.