Ronan the Accuser (Marvel Cinematic Universe)


 *  NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Ronan the Accuser from the Marvel Cinematic film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Ronan the Accuser (Marvel). 

"They call me terrorist, radical, zealot because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree.... and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!"

- Ronan speaking his motto.

Ronan the Accuser is a recurring antagonist of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, serving as the main antagonist of the 2014 Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy, and as a minor antagonist of the 2019 Marvel film Captain Marvel.

He is a powerful Kree Warrior and the commander of The Dark Aster who was formerly affiliated with Thanos. He is also the boss of Nebula and Korath, as well as becoming the first arch-nemesis of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

He was portrayed by Lee Pace, who also played King Thranduil from The Hobbit trilogy.

Beginnings
A Kree radical, Ronan continues to fight an ancient war between his people and the Xandarians. Ronan has struck a bargain with the Machiavellian Thanos — retrieve the Orb, and in exchange, Xandar will finally be eradicated. Ronan leads his army of Sakaaran mercenaries to hunt down the Guardians of the Galaxy when they come between him and his genocidal goal.

Captain Marvel
Ronan briefly appeared leading a fleet of warships after being contacted by Yon-Rogg about the Skrulls' current location on Earth. Under the Supreme Intelligence's orders, Ronan gets his ships to fire ballistic missiles in order to destroy Earth and eradicate all of its life. However, former Starforce member Carol Danvers utilized her powers to attack the fleet and destroy the missiles in order to save the Earth, forcing a horrified Ronan to have his remaining forces to retreat.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Determined not to miss the opportunity to take revenge on the Xandarians, Ronan sent Gamora to retrieve the Orb without knowing that she planned to betray him and Thanos. Later, Ronan is called by the Other because Thanos wants to talk to him. During the meeting the Other passes belittling Ronan, eventually yelling at him for raising his voice in Thanos's presence. Ronan, tired of the Other's insults, kills him with his Universal Weapon, prompting Thanos to turn around and speak to him directly, saying their deal is still in place but he will kill him if he does not bring him the Orb.

Ronan finally tracks Gamora thanks to a message from Drax, Ronan pursues Gamora but is stopped by Drax that only seeks revenge against him for murdering his family. Ronan easily defeats Drax, Nebula called to inform him that she has recovered the Orb. Having recovered the Orb, Thanos contact him that he hand over the Orb, then Ronan decides to stay with the Infinity Stone and informs him that after destroying Xandar, he will be the next.

Ronan arrives at Xandar in his Dark Aster, when he is about to destroy Xandar the Nova Corps stop him obstructing his vision, while the Ravagers and Rocket protect the civilians and the others decide to confront Ronan, but they are no problem for Ronan who easily wins. When Ronan is prepared to kill, Rocket collides his ship with the Dark Aster causing the destruction of this. When it seemed that they had defeated the Accuser, Ronan appears from the rubble, and starts making fun of them by calling them "Guardians of the Galaxy", but only stops when Star-Lord distracts him with a dance duel, in that Drax destroys the Universal Weapon.

Quill immediately grabs the Orb that almost killed him for his power, but his teammates hold his hands to help him against Ronan, who didn't understand how simple mortals could withstand the power of an Infinity Stone and demanded to know how they could do that; with Quill proclaiming that they truly are the "Guardians of the Galaxy". Enraged, Ronan tries to attack again with his hammer, only to find out that it has already been destroyed moments before Quill and his teammates use the power of the Orb to disintegrate Ronan. In his last painful moments, Ronan screams out of in raging pain before his body explodes, killing him and ending his tyranny for good. With Ronan finally defeated, the Orb is handed over to the Nova Corps for safekeeping.

Despite his death, Ronan's actions had serious consequences for the entire universe: his death outraged many Kree citizens, who declare the Guardians as heretics and enemies of the Kree Empire. Even worse, his betrayal of Thanos led the latter to personally embark on a ruthless quest for the Infinity Stones. After acquiring the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos completed Ronan's work by personally invading Xandar and stealing the Orb before using it to kill all of Xandar's populace (including the Nova Corps). Even after acquiring the Infinity Stones, Thanos sends out a death wave that wipes out half of the universe's populace; even the Guardians (except for Rocket) suffer Ronan's fate as they disintegrate to their deaths by Thanos' death wave.

In Lego
Ronan also appears as a collectable character in the 2013 video game, LEGO Marvel Superheroes and has been released as an official Lego minifigure in the set 76021.

Disney Infinity
Ronan appears in Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition, trying to prevent the Guardians from stealing his Infinity Stone. He follows them to Knowhere but eventually gets defeated by them. He is also available as a playable character for the Guardians of the Galaxy Play Set and Toy Box 2.0.

Personality
Ronan was extremely passionate and energetic about his crusade; however, he delusionally believed that his cause, which was the genocide of Xandar and all its living creatures, was righteous. He did not see himself as a fanatic or a terrorist (both of which he was) instead he simply considered himself a follower of ancient Kree laws, and in his mind, anyone who refused to follow them was an enemy who deserved execution.

Ronan proudly hated Xandarians, considering their culture and very existence were a disease and he was simply "curing" the universe by eradicating them. He took immense pride in his religion of a Kree, however, his species and superiors actually signed a peace treaty with the Xandarians, indicating that he had no respect for anybody who disagreed with his own beliefs. Ronan had no respect towards his allies; he callously sacrificed his own soldiers during the attack on Xandar and showed no concern over Korath's death nor Nebula's abandonment. He even betrayed and threatened Thanos (whom many considered the most powerful being in the universe) after coming into the possession of an Infinity Stone.

Powers and Abilities

 * Superhuman Strength: Like all Kree, he has superhuman strength, enough to go against normal Asgardians.
 * Superhuman Reflexes: His reflexes are also superior to humans.
 * Regeneration: A Kree's blood has regenerative properties. It is what makes them very long lived.
 * Super-Longevity: The Kree identify themselves as an immortal species. It Should be noted that Ronan declared that his ancestors were killed, not aged to death.

Equipment

 * The Universal Weapon: He has a special technologically advanced war hammer which can fire vibrational waves that can turn someone's head 180 degrees and kill them.
 * Kree Armor: His advanced armour protected him from a blast which can obliterate lunar bodies.
 * The Power Stone: With the Power Stone he has the power to disperse an immense amount of cosmic or mystical energies and even obliterate an entire planet.

Quotes
"Xandar, you stand accused. Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now. 'Tis the tinder on which you burn!"

- Ronan to Xandarians

"(Prisoner: You will never rule Xandar.) No. I WILL CURE IT!"

- Ronan plotting to eradicate Xandar.

"Yes. That was our agreement. Bring you the orb and you will destroy Xandar for me. However, now that I know it contains an Infinity Stone, I wonder what use I have for you..."

- Ronan to Thanos.

"(wields the Infinity Stone) You call ME boy? I will unfurl one thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar and burn it to its core! Then, Thanos, I'm coming for you!"

- Ronan betrays Thanos.

"I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you either."

- Ronan during his fight with Drax on Knowhere.

"I was mistaken... I do remember your family. Their screams were pitiful-"

- Ronan recounting killing Drax's family.

"Behold! Your Guardians of the Galaxy! What fruit have they wrought? Only that my father and his father shall finally know vengeance! Xandarians, it is time to renounce your paltry gods! YOUR SALVATION IS AT HAND!"

- Ronan about to destroy Xandar.

"What are you doing?"

- Ronan, confused by dancing Peter.

"Ronan:You're mortal! How? (Peter: You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy.)"

- Ronan's final words before the Guardians kill him.

Family

 * Great Grandfather †
 * Grandfather †
 * Father †

Allies

 * Kree Empire
 * Supreme Intelligence
 * Yon-Rogg
 * Korath The Pursuer †
 * Nebula
 * Sakaaran Mercenaries

Enemies

 * Thanos - Former Master-turned Enemy
 * The Other † - Former Ally-turned Victim
 * Hovat - † Victim
 * Kamaria - † Victim
 * Monsterous Inmate † - Victim
 * Moloka Dar † - Victim
 * Guardians of the Galaxy - Killers
 * Star-Lord
 * Gamora - Former Ally
 * Groot
 * Rocket Racoon
 * Drax the Destroyer
 * The Collector
 * Xandarians
 * Nova Corps
 * Sacrifice Nova Corpsman † - Victim
 * Garthan Saal † - Victim
 * Head Riot Guard †
 * Yondu Ravager Clan
 * Yondu Udonta †
 * Kraglin Obfonteri
 * Horuz †

Trivia

 * Due to the Skrulls being owned by Fox during the time of production, the Xandarians may be their substitutes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Skrull will debut in the 2019 film, Captain Marvel.
 * Lee Pace tried out for the role of Peter Quill / Star-Lord, but it went to Chris Pratt instead, who also played Emmet from The LEGO Movie (which also came out in 2014).
 * Within the comics, Ronan was portrayed as more of an Anti-Villain as the Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire; while in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's a renegade who's collecting the Infinity Stones for Thanos and is more than willing to commit genocide on the Xandarians. In the 616 universe, Ronan started out as somewhat of a straight villain who revolted against the Supreme Intelligence. Since the events of Annihilation, the character is portrayed as a harsh but honorable anti-hero in a similar vein of Judge Dredd. He even became a member of a group of space heroes called the Annihilators.
 * Describing Ronan, Gunn said, "He is the primary villain, and he is a really twisted guy, he has a really religious bent in this film. He has a very sick and twisted view of what morality is; strength is virtue and weakness is sin and that is what he lives by, and I think he is very scary because of his beliefs, which are real to him." Pace, who originally auditioned for Peter Quill, described Ronan as a "psycho" and a "monster".
 * This incarnation wears face paint rather than a mask.
 * He is also one of the few villains in the franchise to be DIRECTLY killed by a hero, others being Ultron and Kilgrave.
 * Ronan is often mispronounced as Ronin.
 * Ronan is considered one of the most reviled villains in the MCU, due to his cruel treatment towards Xandarians.