Thanos (Marvel Cinematic Universe)


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

"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless. It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly. I ask you to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am."

- Thanos' most famous quote.

Thanos is the main antagonist of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; serving as the overarching antagonist of The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers: Age of Ultron before appearing as the main antagonist and villain protagonist of Avengers: Infinity War. He will reprise that role in its impending yet untitled sequel.

He is an extremely powerful extraterrestrial warlord who commands a massive army known as the Chitauri. He formed an alliance with Loki to invade Earth, and later forged a partnership with Ronan the Accuser to destroy Xandar - both in exchange for the deliverance of two powerful Infinity gems, only for the pair to end up failing with their tasks before betraying Thanos afterwards.

He was portrayed by Damion Poitier in The Avengers, and by Josh Brolin (known for his role of Dr. William Block in Grindhouse 's Planet Terror) in Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Avengers: Infinity War. Brolin will reprise his role in the untitled sequel to Infinity War.

Personality
"You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain."

- The Other describing Thanos.

His hunger for power, despite already being among the most (if not the most) powerful beings in the universe, is evident by his searching for the Infinity Stones with the apparent goal of controlling all of existence. He desired to use the Tesseract to look beyond the known worlds to find greater ones that it would unveil. He is also extremely dangerous, bloodthirsty, sadistic, and cruel, finding children that he can raise to be assassins and forcing them to watch as he murders their families. He is also exceptionally intimidating, easily striking fear into those who are his allies even if they hold considerable abilities and powers, with Ronan the Accuser showing visible signs of fear in his presence and Loki doing so at the mere mention of him, as well as being able to command the Chitauri army unchallenged.

Thanos has an unforgiving and loathsome nature; The Other warned Loki that he would know a new kind of pain if he did not give them the Tesseract, something which visibly scared the God of Mischief and made him more determined than ever out of fear of Thanos's power. Even though Thor had not yet known about Thanos, he could still sense Thanos's easy control over Loki as being absurd due to Loki's arrogance. This side of his was shown further when Thanos furiously threatened to bathe the stairways in Ronan's blood if he failed to deliver the Orb, something which scared one of the strongest Kree into submission, and forbade Gamora from rescuing Nebula when the latter fell into a trap whilst on a mission in the Cloud Tombs of Praxius. He has little to no regard for his followers, showing absolutely no empathy when Ronan killed The Other and referring to Gamora as his "favorite daughter", even with Nebula present. He inspires no love, as he is despised by his own "daughters", Gamora and Nebula. He is also manipulative and hesitant, sending Ronan to retrieve the Orb for him and not telling him that it contained an Infinity Stone. He keeps a low profile, lurking in the shadows and making others do his work for him. However, after both of his alliances backfired, he shows that he is fully capable of taking action himself, as he decided to hunt for the Infinity Stones himself.

Thanos is also highly confident to the point of borderline arrogance. He merely smiled when The Other told him challenging the Avengers is like courting Death. He even was unfazed when Ronan threatened to kill him with The Orb, despite knowing well that the Kree was already very powerful even without the Stone, displaying only anger over his betrayal. Thanos also confidently smiled when he decided to collect the Infinity Stones personally.

It has been revealed that Thanos once had a kinder and more benevolent side to himself, as he cared deeply for his planet and people even though he was shunned for being deformed, as he tried everything he could to convince the governments of his planet to do what he suggests. The fact that they were unable to understand his resolve to save his planet and called him insane permanently made him who he was in the present. However, despite his dark and malicious nature, Thanos believes that he is destined to save the Universe from itself and while completely willing to kill innocents, he is willing to spare some even if they are not useful to him.

Powers
Thanos is frighteningly powerful, able to strike fear into beings as powerful as Loki, who is almost on par with Thor, and Ronan The Accuser, who was among the strongest Kree, and command the Chitauri army unchallenged. Korath has fearfully said he is the most powerful being in the universe, although Ronan was confident that he could kill Thanos with the power of the Orb. Nevertheless, Thanos displayed no sign of concern after Ronan threatened him. Gamora also blatantly told Nebula she doesn't know if killing Thanos is possible. Thanos was also shown to be fully confident that he is capable of collectively harnessing the full power of all the six Infinity Stones with the use of an Infinity Gauntlet, a feat that no other being have ever survived, which was proven when he was able to handle the use of all six after finally completing the Infinity Gauntlet.
 * Superhuman Strength: Thanos holds immensely vast, godly levels of superhuman strength, to the point of being able to easily crush the Tesseract with one hand and touch the Space Stone, one of the Infinity Stones, without showing any strain and insert it into his gauntlet. He was also shown to be able to use both the Space Stone and Power Stone at once with the Infinity Gauntlet, also without any difficulty. These feats were extremely remarkable considering that Ronan evidently struggled to keep the Power Stone in control while Thanos was not fazed at all by using 2 of the Infinity Stones's power. Initially submerged by Hulk, Thanos quickly took over and defeated him with a combination of strength and fighting style. Thanos was also shown capable of effortlessly pummeling Iron Man and Spider Man and overpowering Thor at his full potential without much effort. With just a single hand, Thanos was able to easily almost overwhelm Captain America and leave him extremely exhausted after barely countering the blow.
 * Infinity Gauntlet: Thanos has inserted the Infinity Gauntlet into his left hand and gains the means needed to channel the power of all six Infinity Stones. With each stone Thanos inserts into the Gauntlet, the more powerful he becomes and he also gains the Stones's dominion over their attributes. With all the Six Infinity Stones gathered, Thanos's power would certainly be almost omnipotent, to the point that Gamora said Thanos can effortlessly wipe out half of the Universe, which was proven to be true when even when grievously wounded, he did so with just a snap of his fingers.
 * Energy Blasts: Thanos gains the energy manipulating powers of the Power Stone after inserting it into his gauntlet. Thanos can emit an energy wave so vastly powerful and wide as of destroying Xandar with a single hit. He also was able to emit blasts of purple energy.
 * Portal Opening: With the Space Stone inserted into his Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos gains the Stone's power to open gateways to anywhere in the Multiverse, allowing him to be able to open portals to basically everywhere, thus granting him the means to effortlessly travel to anywhere, even able to perform interdimensional travel at whim, by simply opening a portal. He uses this to warp into the remnants of his old home using a portal where he battles Spider Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Doctor Strange and Iron Man.
 * Time Manipulation: After inserting the Time Stone into his Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos gains the ability to manipulate time itself. He was able to use the stone's dominion over time to resurrect Vision after Wanda killed him to destroy the Mind Stone so he can still acquire the Mind Stone and insert into his gauntlet.

Abillities

 * Genius-Level Intellect: Thanos is known to be extremely intelligent, possessing the level of intellect of a genius. His intellect surpasses even the likes of Loki and the members of the Avengers, even the extremely brilliant Tony Stark, and most beings in the universe, with Thanos thus easily remaining hidden from forces seeking to track him and being able to cause tremendous trouble to the Avengers by just applying his intellect, easily fooling Loki and using him as a tool for his plans.
 * Master Manipulation: Thanos is an exceptionally skillful master of manipulation, quite possibly the best, as without leaving his throne, with superb manipulations alone, Thanos was able to cause the Battle of Xandar and Chitauri Invasion, which were among the most devastating battles ever known. He even managed to manipulate someone as intelligent as Loki, who was famous for his manipulation skills, with ease by using his distaste for Thor and Odin. Thor has said that Thanos has been playing a very intricate game for years with such efficiency that he has effectively manipulated the Avengers as pawns for his plans.
 * Master Leader: Thanos is an extremely skilled leader, with a large amount of charisma despite his intimidating persona, inspiring absolute loyalty to the violent and powerful armies of Chitauri and Outriders and members of the Black Order. He is known for having easily decimated dozens of species with his powerful army, killing the Zenohebrei and Luphomoid species.
 * Master Martial Artist: Thanos displayed exceptional prowess in hand-to-hand combat, as he is able to easily defeat the likes of Thor with his full powers and Spider Man and effortlessly overwhelm Captain America with but a single hand.

Agents

 * The Other
 * Chitauri
 * Leviathans
 * Loki Laufeyson
 * Ronan The Accuser
 * Korath the Pursuer
 * Sakaaran Mercenaries
 * Black Order
 * Nebula
 * Gamora
 * Corvus Glaive
 * Proxima Midnight
 * Ebony Maw
 * Cull Obsidian
 * Outriders

Position

 * Second-in-Command
 * Alien Army
 * Monster Army
 * Agent
 * Agent
 * Agent
 * Alien Army
 * Team
 * Assassin
 * Assassin
 * Assassin
 * Assassin
 * Assassin
 * Assassin
 * Alien Army

Status

 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Defected/Deceased
 * Defected/Deceased
 * Defected/Deceased
 * Defected/Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Defected/Alive
 * Defected/Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased
 * Deceased

Victims

 * Zehoberei (slaughtered by the Black Order and Chituari)
 * Gamora's family (slaughtered by the Black Order and Chituari)
 * Luphomoids (slaughtered by the Black Order and Chituari)
 * Nebula's family (slaughtered by the Black Order and Chituari)
 * Dwarves (slaughtered by Thanos)
 * Xandarians (slaughtered by Thanos and the Black Order)
 * Nova Corps (slaughtered by Thanos and the Black Order)
 * Irani Rael (presumably killed by Thanos)
 * Rhomann Dey (presumably killed by Thanos)
 * Asgardians (slaughtered by Thanos and the Black Order)
 * Loki (killed by Thanos)
 * Hemidall (killed by Thanos)
 * Collector (presumably killed by Thanos)
 * Avengers
 * Vision (killed by Thanos)
 * Scarlet Witch (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Winter Soldier (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Spider-Man (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Falcon (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Doctor Strange (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Nick Fury (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Maria Hill (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Guardians of the Galaxy
 * Star-Lord (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Gamora (thrown over a cliff by Thanos)
 * Drax (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Groot (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Mantis (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Wakanda
 * Black Panther (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Border Tribe (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)
 * Half of the universe's populace (disintegrated to dust by Thanos' death wave)

Quotes
"The only matter I do not take seriously, boy, is you. Your politics bore me, your demeanor is that of a pouty child. And apparently, you have alienated my favorite daughter, Gamora. I shall honor our agreement, Kree, if you bring me the Orb. But return to me again empty-handed, and I will bathe the stairways in your blood."

- Thanos to Ronan the Accuser.

"Fine. I'll do it myself."

- Thanos takes action himself as he vows to personally retrieve the Infinity Stones and exterminate both The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.

"In time, you will know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail all the same. Dread it. Run from it. Destiny still arrives."

- Thanos to the Avengers.

"I hope they remember you."

- Thanos to Iron Man.

"You should… you… you should have gone for the head!!"

- Thanos taunting Thor after the latter fatally wounded him in the chest with Stormbreaker, moments before he unleashes his full power of Infinity Gauntlet.

Trivia

 * According to producer Kevin Feige, Infinity War will explore Thanos' plans and motives, even saying "you could go as far as to say he's the main character".
 * In the comics, Thanos was the master of the Infinity Gauntlet, which he used in the eponymous series in an attempt to court Death. He has no relationships with Loki nor the Chitauri, but he is nevertheless one of the Avengers' most historical foes. When he took a break from being a conqueror, Thanos was entrusted with the Reality Gem of the Infinity Gems.
 * In the Amalgam Comics imprint, Loki's counterpart, L'ok D'saad served Thanos' counterpart, Thanoseid.
 * The name "Thanos" is based on the name of the mythological Greek figure Thanatos, meaning "death", a reference to his obsession with Death.
 * Thanos is clearly the Big Bad of the Avengers film series, as he is the one responsible for providing Loki with the Mind Stone and an army to invade Earth in the first film, and that the Mind Stone is what gave Ultron free will to rebel against the Avengers in the second film.
 * Thanos is the only villain who has interacted with every major hero in the franchise; as he was responsible for the events depicted in The Avengers (which featured all the major heroes of Phase One) and is the mastermind behind Guardians of the Galaxy before going on to proceed in meeting them all in Infinity War.
 * In Thor, which was released a year before The Avengers, the Infinity Gauntlet makes a cameo in Odin's vault. This one was for the right-hand, but the one seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron was for the left-hand. Producer Kevin Feige confirmed after the movie's release that there were two, and the one Thanos has is not the one from Thor.
 * However, in Thor: Ragnarok, it is revealed that the Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's vault is a fake, meaning that there truly is only one Infinity Gauntlet.
 * The involvement of Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy was largely-influenced by The Avengers director Joss Whedon; the early script by Nicole Perlman had Thanos appear as the Guardians' primary foe, but Whedon was convinced that he should be downsized. In addition, Whedon says that it was his idea to include him in The Avengers, but found him the most-difficult character to write, ironically. He also helped Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director James Gunn cast Josh Brolin as the character.
 * Josh Brolin based his portrayal of Thanos on the performance of Colonel Kurtz from Apocalypse Now.
 * Thanos is one of the three main villains of the MCU to actually succeed in his plans, as he finally collected all of the Infinity Stones and wiped out half of the universe's populace. The other ones are Loki (who took control of Asgard in Thor: The Dark World) and Helmut Zemo (who has managed to split the Avengers apart in revenge for his family's demise in Captain America: Civil War). However, unlike Loki (who loses control of Asgard and ends up being killed by Thanos) and Zemo (who ends up being arrested for his crimes), Thanos is the only one ever to get away with his actions as he is last seen watching a sunrise from another planet, though it is likely that in the sequel he will be defeated.
 * Thanos appeared in a drawing by Thor in the non-canon web series Team Thor, which serves as a cross-promotion for Thor: Ragnarok, on a wall of pictures and information in an attempt to deduce who "the man in the purple chair" is, noting that he's "big", he's purple, and "he doesn't like standing up".
 * Thanos is easily the most powerful and dangerous villain in the MCU, and possibly of all Marvel movies (including the X-Men series and the Spider-Man series), due to his extremely high body count and ability to wipe out all life in the universe thanks to the Infinity Gauntlet. This is expected as the entire universe has been building up to him and even Kevin Feige called him "the most frightening villain the Avengers have ever faced".

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