Apokolips

"The other is Apokolips, a ravaged wasteland ruled by the demonic and omnipotent Darkseid."
— Mother Box^[1]

Apokolips was the homeworld of Darkseid. From there, Darkseid plotted the conquest of the universe and was considered to be not only the ruler of his people but a god. He was perpetually opposed by the warriors of New Genesis. Despite this he had conquered a certain number of planets, creating an empire with Apokolips as the throne world.

History

Apokolips was created shortly after the beginning of time. From the same basic matter, a sister planet emerged called New Genesis. New Genesis was a world of life and serenity ― the complete opposite of Apokolips. For this reason above all others, Darkseid had sought to conquer and rule New Genesis since history began.

Darkseid's palace on the surface of Apokolips.

Apokolips was a barren world of rocks and desert and planet-wide urban sprawl, punctuated by fire pits which spewed heat and flame from the very molten core of the planet. The subjects of Darkseid were a human-like slave population so terrified and oppressed by their tyrannic overlord that freedom was a completely alien concept. Superman discovered this truth after defeating Darkseid in personal combat. Instead of celebrating their cruel master's defeat, the slaves of Darkseid collected his injured body and reverentially carried him back to his palace.

Darkseid's shock troopers, the Parademons, enforce his will over the citizens of Apokolips. His immediate lieutenants ― Desaad, Granny Goodness, Virman Vundabar, the Female Furies, Steppenwolf, Kanto, and Kalibak ― largely concern themselves with Darkseid's conquests outside of Apokolips, such as the war against New Genesis and the later invasion of Earth.

Truce and Alliance

Eventually, Darkseid negotiated a peace with Highfather, ruler of New Genesis. To seal their pact, the two rulers exchanged sons and raised them as their own: Highfather received Orion, while Darkseid received Scott Free. Scott would reject Darkseid's influence and escape with his lover Big Barda, while Orion would take to the ideals of New Genesis and forever oppose Darkseid's ambitions. Despite the pact failing him, Darkseid would uphold the pact, and Apokolips and New Genesis would maintain a long, if tenuous, peace.

A few years after the first invasion, Apokolips came under attack by Brainiac. Darkseid and Brainiac negotiated a deal: if Darkseid could deliver Superman to Brainiac, he would spare Apokolips. Darkseid went to Earth and deceived the Justice League into coming to his aid. After Brainiac lured them to his asteroid, Darkseid subdued Superman, then reprogrammed Brainiac to serve him. Batman damaged the control console controlling Brainiac, and Darkseid was killed when the asteroid exploded.

Civil War

Unclear on what had happened to Darkseid, and with Desaad and General Steppenwolf recently deceased and Kalibak deemed unfit to rule, Darkseid's inner circle took up arms against each other. During this civil war, the major contenders for control were Granny Goodness and Virman Vundabar.

Vundabar soon captured Kalibak to support and legitimize his claim to the throne. Granny called upon Scott Free (now the superhero Mr. Miracle) and Big Barda to rescue him, thereby giving her control of Apokolips. To provide some motivation, Granny took Scott's manager and father figure Oberon hostage and threatened to kill him unless her former charges did as she asked. Reluctantly, Scott and Barda agreed.

The heroic couple went to the Justice League to ask for Superman's help, but the latter was elsewhere and J'onn J'onzz refused to aid them - he advocated letting the villains distract themselves with the war to prevent any of them from targeting Earth, the solar system (Earth's solar system), the milky way galaxy (Earth's galaxy), or the universe at large. However, the Flash came with them to save Kalibak from the X-Pit. Vundabar self-destructed the Pit to kill them, but they boomed to Earth to imprison Kalibak and had J'onn take his place to retrieve Oberon.

Darkseid Returns

With Kalibak out of the equation, the civil war continued until Darkseid was resurrected by Lex Luthor in his attempt to recreate Brainiac. Enhanced by the android's technology, he came back to Apokolips to reassert his rule, ending the civil war within seconds of arriving on his home world. Darkseid's first orders sent his entire army in a massive attack on Earth, violating his pact with Highfather (although he was now confident enough in his new power to plan an assault against New Genesis after he destroyed Superman's adopted home).

The League and the Legion of Doom worked together to stand against the invasion force. The Apokoliptans retreated after Darkseid disappeared when Luthor presented him the Anti-Life Equation. The planet's political situation after that is unknown, but it is likely to have fallen back into a state of civil war.