The Anti-Life Equation is a fictional concept appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. In Jack Kirbys Fourth World setting, the Anti-Life Equation is a formula for total control over the will of all sentient and sapient races. It is called the Anti-Life Equation because "if someone possesses absolute control over you — youre not really alive". Most stories featuring the Equation use this concept. The Forever Peoples Mother Box found the Anti-Life Equation in Sonny Sumo, but Darkseid, unaware of this, stranded him in ancient Japan. Eventually, many individuals would come to possess either finite understanding or complete utilization of the Anti-Life Equation for their own personal use over time. Some eons later, Darkseid would use a fraction of its nightmarish will-sapping power in his invasion cycles of the Earth 2 parallel universe; soon it was revealed that others possessed the full Equation but lacked the incentive to use it.

The Anti-Life Equation is a mathematical formula that obliterates free will, allowing the mathematician calculating the result to completely dominate the beings hearing it. Written longhand, the Anti-Life Equation is loneliness + alienation + fear + despair + self-worth ÷ mockery ÷ condemnation ÷ misunderstanding x guilt x shame x failure x judgment n=y where y=hope and n=folly, love=lies, life=death, self=dark side. In the wrong hands, that formula is a terrible weapon with the power to brainwash and enslave entire worlds. Darkseid is obsessed with the Anti-Life Equation because he wants to use it to dominate the universe.

Unlike the Anti-Life Equation, which saps a person of their free will, the Life Equation is an all-consuming power that has the capability to restructure reality by changing its formula around rewriting the very multiverse itself, representing the attributes of life itself pertaining to change and variance.