Thanos
| Thanos | |
|---|---|
 Thanos Art by Jim Starlin. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Man vol. 1, #55 (February 1973) |
| Created by | Jim Starlin |
| In-story information | |
| Species | Eternal Mutant |
| Place of origin | Titan |
| Team affiliations | Infinity Watch Secret Defenders Annihilation Wave |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability and intellect Psionic Powers Energy Manipulation Matter Transmutation Teleportation |
Thanos is a fictional character that appears in the Marvel Universe. Thanos is a Titanian Eternal, and is often referred to as the Mad Titan. The character's name is a derivation of Thanatos, the god of death in Greek mythology. Thanos was created by Jim Starlin and first appeared in Iron Man vol. 1, #55.
Publication history
Thanos has had his own self-titled series. [1]
Fictional character biography
Thanos is born on Titan, a moon of the planet Saturn. Due to a genetic quirk Thanos is born with the Deviant gene and as such resembles the Deviants - the Eternals' cousin race - more than his own people. Although treated fairly by his race, Thanos is mindful of his appearance and becomes distant, only keeping company with his brother Eros. Thanos matures to adulthood, and via the use of bionics and mysticism augments his abilities to easily become the most powerful of the Titanian-born Eternals. [2]
Bitter at being an outsider, Thanos becomes fascinated with nihilism and then embarks on his quest to "please" death, and begins by conducting a nuclear bombardment of Titan that kills millions of his race. Thanos' mother is thought to have died during the bombardment, but years later it is discovered that he kidnaps and then dissects her. [3] Thanos later travels to Earth, and prior to landing his vessel destroys a nearby car to prevent anyone from becoming aware of his existence. Unknown to Thanos, two of the family members in the vehicle survive - the father's spirit is preserved by the Titanian cosmic entity Chronos and is given a new form as Drax the Destroyer while the daughter is found by Thanos' father Mentor and is raised to become Moondragon. [4]
The First Thanos War
Many years later, Thanos begins his plan to conquer the galaxy by building a base on Earth and constructing a space vessel in the solar system that acts as a "universal translator" for his huge army of alien mercenaries, so that they can understand each other's language. It is at this time that Mistress Death - drawn by the level of Thanos' obsession and his now considerable power - manifests itself before Thanos, being an abstract entity and the personification of the universal concept of death. Thanos becomes determined to prove his "love" to Death for this sign of affection, and embarks on a quest to find the artifact the Cosmic Cube. It is at this time that Thanos finds himself opposed by the superheroes of Earth, who initially fight Thanos' forces in a rather disjointed fashion:
- Iron Man and Drax storm Thanos' base and fight Thanos' minions, the Blood Brothers. [5]
- Captain Marvel becomes aware of Thanos courtesy of his cosmic awareness and explains the threat to Daredevil, the Black Widow and Moondragon while Thanos hunts for the Cosmic Cube. [6]
Thanos eventually locates the Cube, [8] and uses his minions the Super-Skrull and the Controller to try and destroy Captain Marvel, who rallies Eros, Mentor, Drax, Moondragon and the Avengers against Thanos. Thanos uses the Cube and wills it to allow him to part of - and therefore in control of - everything. Although Thanos is now omnipotent and easily defeats the heroes, he makes the mistake of discarding what he believes to be a now drained Cube. Captain Marvel shatters the Cube, which undoes Thanos' wish. Thanos then discovers that Death has abandoned him as result of this defeat, and retreats. [9] Iron Man later investigates Thanos' old base and together with the Thing battles the Blood Brothers again. [10]
Thanos journeys into deep space and learns of the Universal Church of Truth, led by the being the Magus, a warped and future version of the hero Adam Warlock. Deciding that the Magus is a threat to his plans, and after finding the child Gamora - whose race has been exterminated by the Church - Thanos raises and trains her to assassinate the Magus. Thanos also joins forces with Adam Warlock, who is unaware of the fact that the Magus is actually the Champion of Life and that Thanos is the Champion of Death. The two eventually battle, and Thanos feigns defeat to allow Adam Warlock time to manipulate the timeline and undo the Magus. [11] It is during this alliance Thanos secretly siphons off the energies of the Soul Gem that Warlock possesses, and after leaving Adam Warlock embarks on his next quest to appease Death.
The Second Thanos War
Thanos combines the energies from the Soul Gem with the energies of the other Infinity Gems to power a weapon that is capable of destroying a star. Thanos then plans to painstakingly snuff out every star in the universe as a gift to Death. Gamora discovers Thanos' intentions and attempts to kill him, but is mortally wounded herself. Adam Warlock's unsuspecting ally Pip the Troll is also killed. Gamora lives long enough to warn a returning Adam Warlock, who travels to Earth and enlists the aid of the Avengers, Captain Marvel and Moondragon. After attacking and dealing with Thanos' mercenary fleet, most of the Avengers and Moondragon storm Sanctuary I, Thanos' vessel. Thor and Iron Man follow Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel, who confront Thanos directly. Captain Marvel destroys the weapon's launcher, but Thanos then kills an attacking Warlock. Thor holds off Thanos while Iron Man destroys the weapon itself, and an enraged Thanos then defeats the remaining heroes. The cosmic entities Lord Order and Master Chaos intervene, and via a subconscious message draw Spider-Man and the Thing into the battle. Spider-Man frees the heroes, and then makes contact with the Soul Gem, releasing the spirit of Adam Warlock, who then turns Thanos to stone. [12]
Infinity
Years later, the Silver Surfer witnesses the resurrection of Thanos by Mistress Death, who feels that Death needs a champion once again. A revived Thanos decides to collect the Infinity Gems, which he takes from the In-Betweener and the Elders of the Universe. Thanos then combines the gems on his left glove to create the Infinity Gauntlet, which allows him to exceed the power he once possessed with the Cosmic Cube. [13] Thanos honours Death by erasing half the population of the universe, and then goes on to defeat the entire cosmic hierarchy (eg. Galactus, the Celestials, Eternity) as Death watches. A group of Earth's superheroes almost defeat an overconfident Thanos, who then loses the Gauntlet to the space pirate Nebula, who claims to be his granddaughter. Latecomer Adam Warlock takes the Gauntlet from Nebula, and manages to restore everything altered by the Gauntlet.
Thanos realizes that it was his own self-doubt that allowed for his defeat, and when confronted by the superheroes activates a nuclear device in his costume, telling them he prefers death to imprisonment. With no time to deactivate the device, Thor throws his hammer Mjolnir into Thanos, hurling him miles away. Thanos, however, creates a ruse and teleports away just as the device detonates. Only Adam Warlock - in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet - is aware of the deception, and notes that Thanos now has chance to reform. [14]
Thanos does reform for a time, and impresses Adam Warlock, who eventually gives Thanos the Reality Gem to safeguard. [15] At one point Thanos uses the gem to resurrect the hero Captain Mar-Vell, who dies during the time that Thanos himself was dead. Thanos seeks forgiveness for his past actions and claims he wished to test the power of the gem. Captain Marvel, however, knowing of Thanos' self-doubts, guesses the truth and suspects that he has been resurrected to try and dissaude Thanos from his real goal:using the gem make Mistress Death love him. Thanos confesses and at Captain Marvel's request allows him to return to the afterlife. Thanos then assists Adam Warlock and Earth's superheroes against first the Magus and later the Goddess - the evil and good personas of Warlock, who expunged them to become omnipotent when possessing the Infinity Gauntlet. [16] Soon after helping to defeat the Goddess, Thanos battles the Thunder God Thor, who was driven insane during the war. After taking a beating from Thor - now empowered with the Reality Gem - Thanos manages to imprison him and take Thor to Asgard, home of the Norse Gods. Once in Asgard Thanos battles Thor's father Odin, who eventually overpowers him. It is at this point, however, that Odin discover he is indirectly responsible for Thor's insanity, and aids Thor in curing himself. [17]
Art by George Perez.
New Trials
Thanos later discovers via an oracle a new extraterrestrial threat - Tyrant, a failed creation of Galactus. Thanos allies himself with Galactus' former Herald Terrax, the hero Jack of Hearts, a second generation Captain Marvel and Ganymede, a warrior-priestess dedicated to destroying Tyrant. Together they attack Tyrant's base, at which point Thanos abandons the battle and taps into Tyrant's computers to learn of his origin. Stealing an orb containing power drained from Galactus' Herald Morg by Tyrant, Thanos confronts the entity and dares Tyrant to stop him. The battle allows Thanos' allies to escape and destroys much of Tyrant's base, at which point Thanos teleports away to safety. Tyrant is then confronted by Galactus, who negotiates the terms of a truce (including the release of other prisoners the Silver Surfer, Gladiator and Beta Ray Bill) and later orchestrates Tyrant's destruction. [18]
Soon after this Thanos recovers his vessel Sanctuary II from the android Quasimodo, and saves the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man in the process. [19] Some years later Thanos is revealed to be trapped in an alternate dimension. He employs the aid of the brother of Ka-Zar, Parnival Plunder, to try and escape, but finds that nearly unlimited power is in the dimension itself. [20] A year later Thanos is still trapped, and attempts to use the Hulk as a physical link back to the Earth 616 universe, but is stopped by the Hulk and the mutant X-Man. [21]
Thanos reappears two years later, having apparently escaped the alternate dimension. He now seeks the Chalice of Ruins, Map of All-Ending and Illumination Stone, which when united will enable to user to destroy the universe. Thanos enlists the aid of the Asgardian monster Mangog and the traitor Tarakis, and storms Asgard and ravages entire worlds hunting for the artifacts. After several pursuits and bloody battles, the Thunder God Thor defeats Mangog while his ally Firelord defeats Tarakis. Just as Thanos unites the items and realises his goal, Thor dons specially-made Asgardian armour which allows him to match Thanos' new power levels and beats the Titan senseless, who appears to have been humbled for good. [22]
Ironically, Thanos later requires the aid of Thor and Genis (Captain Marvel's son) against the death god Walker, who attempts to woo Mistress Death and then destroy the entity after being rejected. Thanos and the heroes are successful, and it is revealed at this time that Thanos' retaking of his vessel and previous encounters with Ka-Zar and Thor were planned and served as useful preparation for the battle against Walker. [23] Thanos then devises a plan to become the All-Father of a new race of Gods created by himself. Thanos, however, finds himself opposed by the Avengers, former member Mantis and her son Quoi, apparently destined to be the Celestial Messiah. Thanos abandons this plan after having to unite with Mistress Death destroy the Rot, an aberration in deep space that is apparently their offspring. [24]
Soon afterwards it is revealed that many years ago Thanos conducted extensive research on genetics, and after studying many of the universe's heroes and villains cloned them and gene-spliced his own DNA into the subjects. Thanos later abandons the project, unaware that five clones survive, being versions of Professor X, Iron Man, Gladiator, Dr. Strange and Galactus respectively. A sixth and unnamed version of Thanos also appears, and it is revealed that many of Thanos' recent encounters with Earth's superheroes (eg. Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Ka-Zar and Thor) were simply clones impersonating him. The true Thanos, however, returns and with the aid of Adam Warlock, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange destroys them all. [25]
The End
Sometime later Thanos finds and uses the artifact the Heart of the Universe to stop an alien pharoah called Akhenaten who conquers Earth. The artifact makes Thanos a part of everything, and able to absorb the entire universe - even the cosmic entities Eternity, Infinity and the Living Tribunal. After literally ending the universe, Adam Warlock (who exists outside the space-time continuum) explains to Thanos that the constant resurrection of beings has caused an impurity in the old universe that only he can fix. Thanos then restarts the universe and sacrifices himself to fix the flaw. [26] It is also revealed that this apparently happens in an alternate reality, although there is no conclusive proof as to whether these events can be considered canon. [27]
Recent Challenges
A repentent Thanos apparently survives and is accompanied by Adam Warlock to New Rigel-3, where Thanos uses his power to atone for previous acts committed against the Rigelians. The grateful Rigelians ask Thanos to assist with a problem on Rigel-18, which is revealed to be Galactus. Galactus is attempting to unite and use the Infinity Gems to stop his need to devour planets. Galactus, however, is being manipulated by an inter-dimensional parasite called Hunger, who tricks Galactus into creating a machine - requiring the power of Infinity Gems - that allows Hunger access into the Earth 616 universe. With assistance from Moondragon and Pip the Troll, Thanos discovers the truth and attempts to stop Galactus but is outmatched. Hunger emerges just as Thanos closes the portal the machine has created, and as Galactus battles the entity, Thanos forces Rigel-18 to collide with another planet and also detonates a large nuclear arsenal at the point of impact. Galactus survives the explosion and Hunger is believed destroyed, although a tiny remnant of Hunger apparently survives by attaching itself to Galactus and then fleeing. Galactus is not grateful - and warns Thanos about the consequences of meddling in his affairs. [28]
Thanos then visits the Kyln, an inter-galactic prison on the edge of the universe. It is here that Thanos meets the chaos mite Skreet, who chooses to accompany him, and the Fallen One, the very first Herald of Galactus. The Fallen One attempts to find and destroy Galactus, but Galactus simply teleports him back to Thanos. Thanos defeats the Fallen One, and after mind wiping him employs the cosmic entity as his own personal Herald. [29]
Annihilation
Thanos recently aligned himself with the villain Annihilus, who is employing the Annihilation Wave to decimate the universe. Thanos does so as he is "curious to see how a radical tilt in the universal balance would play out." Thanos also convinces Tenebrous and Aegis - two of Galactus' recently freed brethren and equal to him in power - to defeat the World Devourer. Annihilus desires the secret of the Power Cosmic and asks Thanos to study Galactus, but once Thanos learns of Annihilus' true goal (to use the Power Cosmic to destroy all life and remain the sole survivor) he decides to free Galactus. Drax the Destroyer, however, appears and kills Thanos before he can do so. [30] During a climatic battle with Annihilus, the hero Nova is near death and sees Thanos - now standing with Mistress Death as her apparent consort - observing him.[31]
Powers and abilities
Thanos possesses a large number of abilities, some of which are common to the Titanian Eternals, and others that have been acquired through bionic amplification, mysticism and augmentation by Death itself. In addition to high levels of superhuman strength, stamina, and durability, Thanos is capable of matter manipulation, energy projection, and telepathy. Aside from his great physical and energy manipulating capabilities, Thanos possesses a superhuman intellect that is almost obsessively dedicated to the annihilation of life and the mastery of any technology or mysticism that will enable him to achieve this goal. Thanos is also a superb tactician and is well-versed in many areas of arcane lore. He possesses technology that allows him to time-travel and travel through alternate dimensions, and teleport over vast distances. Thanos also trained his adopted daughter Gamora to become one of the universe's most adept and feared female assassins.
Even though Thanos typically prefers to avoid physical confrontation, preferring to outwit his enemies, he is a formidable combatant. He is particularly adapt in using a combination of his physical and energy manipulating abilities in combat situations.
Alternate Versions
Ultimate Thanos
The Ultimate version of Thanos is the head of the equivalent of the Kree empire, and has two sons, one of whom is Ronan, a principal figure in the Kree Empire in the Earth-616 universe. Writer Mike Carey states that the storyline introducing Ultimate Thanos "harks back to some very different Kirby concepts and situations, so the way it all fits together I think will genuinely surprise people. To name one thing, Ronan is Thanos's son - and the empire he serves is Thanos's empire, not the Kree. And to name another, Thanos has powers that the 616 Thanos doesn't have, including the very scary one of being able, in some circumstances, to transpose one person's soul into another's body." Carey also said Thanos still had a weird creepy flirtation with Death even though Death has yet to appear in this universe [1]
Thanos in other media
Television
Thanos appears in various episodes of the Silver Surfer animated series on the FOX Network." In this version, Thanos worships the female personification of Chaos, due to FOX's refusal to allow any use of the word "death" in their children's programming. Mentor appears in a two-part episode "Learning Curve." Due to a typing error, he is Thanos' brother instead of his father.[2]
- In the unproduced, but scripted Season Two, The Silver Surfer would restore the universe which was destroyed in the first part of "The End Of Eternity." As a result, some people, places and things would have been altered, including a peace-seeking Thanos. Though his evil persona briefly re-emerges, the good Thanos regains control, and he is left as the master of Zenn-La.[3][4][5]
Video games
Thanos appears as the final boss in the Capcom games War of the Gems for SNES and Marvel Super Heroes, both stories adapted from the Infinity Gauntlet mini-series. He re-appears in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.
Thanos makes a small cameo apperance in the game Marvel Ultimate Alliance.
Toys
- In 1994, Toy Biz released a Thanos action figure in their line of toys for the Fantasic Four Animated Series.
- Another Thanos action figure was released in 1998 for the toy line of Silver Surfer animated series. A repainted version of this figure was later rereleased in a two-pack with Adam Warlock.
- Diamond Select Toys released a Thanos action figure in 2005 for their Marvel Select toyline.
References
- ^ The series ran for 12 issues from 2003 - 2004.
- ^ Avengers vol. 1, Annual #7
- ^ Silver Surfer vol. 3, #67
- ^ Iron Man vol. 1, #55
- ^ Iron Man vol. 1, #55
- ^ Daredevil vol. 1, #107
- ^ Avengers vol. 1, #125
- ^ Thanos is seen hunting for the Cube in Daredevil vol. 1, #107 and locates it in Captain Marvel vol. 1, #28
- ^ Captain Marvel vol. 1, #25 - 33
- ^ Marvel Feature #12
- ^ Strange Tales vol. 1, #178 - 181 + Warlock #9 -11
- ^ Avengers Annual #7 + Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2
- ^ The Thanos Quest #1 - 2 (1990)
- ^ The Infinity Gauntlet #1 - 6 (1990)
- ^ The Infinity Watch #2 (1991)
- ^ The Infinity War #1 - 6 (1992) + The Infinity Crusade #1 - 6
- ^ Thor vol. 1, #470; Silver Surfer vol. 3, #88; Warlock Chronicles #8; Warlock and the Infinity Watch vol. 1, #25 and Thor vol. 1, #471
- ^ Cosmic Powers #1 - 6 (1994)
- ^ Spider-man Team-Up #2 (1996)
- ^ Ka-Zar vol. 2, #4 - 10 + Annual 1997
- ^ Hulk Annual 1998
- ^ Thor vol. 2, #21 - 25 + Thor Annual 2000
- ^ Captain Marvel vol. 2, #17 - 19
- ^ Avengers:Celestial Quest #1 - 8 (2001 - 2002)
- ^ The Infinity Abyss # 1 - 6 (2002)
- ^ Thanos: The End #1 - 6 (2004)
- ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes (2005)
- ^ Thanos #1 - 6 (2003 - 2004)
- ^ Thanos #7 - 12 (2004)
- ^ Annihilation #4 (2006)
- ^ Annihilation #6 (2007)
