Thanos

Thanos is a supervillain from Marvel Comics and the main antagonist of the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in The Avengers. He is also the adoptive older brother of the superhero Starfox and the adoptive father of Gamora, Nebula, and the Black Order.
He is a powerful warlord known across the universe for his genocidal and ruthless tendencies. Thanos believes that the universe is in danger of collapsing upon itself as consequence of overpopulation. By harnessing the power of the Infinity Stones using the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos hopes to "save" the universe by wiping out 50% of its inhabitants—a goal he can accomplish by activating the gauntlet with a snap of his fingers.
Thanos' quest catches the attention of the Avengers, as well as other defenders of the universe such as the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel, who band together to defeat him in a battle that begins in Avengers: Infinity War and culminates in Avengers: Endgame.
Thanos was created by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich.
==Background==
Thanos was born over a thousand years ago on the distant planet Titan, the homeworld of the Titans, an advanced and highly evolved race of beings with incredible strength and lifespans that lasted several millennia. Thanos was born the son of A'lars, one of the leading members of the Titan's leadership. Among his race, Thanos was born with physical deformities that caused him to be considered an outcast and shunned by his fellow Titans. This included his father, A'lars, whom he had a strained relationship with. Despite this treatment, Thanos deeply cared about his people and sought to become a scientist in order to help them. Sometime during his youth, Thanos' father, A'Lars adopted the Eternal Eros after the latter had been sent to Titan by Arishem the Judge, leader of the Celestials. This made the Eternal Thanos' adoptive younger brother. Some time later, however, Eros left Titan in search of adventure through the Universe, leaving Thanos and their father behind.
Seeking to accomplish his dream of being accepted by his people, Thanos tried to save them when he discovered that Titan was facing a cataclysmic disaster due to overpopulation. He suggested culling numbers by eliminating half the population, even offering to be the first to be eliminated, so that the other half could have enough resources to survive. His idea however, was considered too drastic by both the planet's government and people, who exiled him from Titan for his suggestion. Ultimately, Thanos' warning was proven correct, as Titan was so devastated by internal conflict and resource exhaustion that it turned into an uninhabitable wasteland and the Titan race extinct (including his father A'lars). Ironically, Thanos' exile saved him from his species' destruction, making him and his brother the only survivors of their race and homeworld.
After the fall of Titan, Thanos traveled the universe for many years. During this time he traveled to many worlds (including Xandar), many of which also suffered from environmental problems caused by overpopulation and resource-abuse. Upon seeing this, Thanos became convinced that other worlds would share Titan's fate, until eventually resulting in the end of all life in the universe, if its growing population was not put in check. Thus, Thanos made it his life goal to bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all its sentient life. To do this, he became a fearsome intergalactic warlord, traveling to many planets, using his skills to form huge alien armies to invade other worlds and wipe out half of their intelligent populations. He earned such a fearful reputation that he became considered as among the most, if not the most, powerful and influential being in the universe, ruling over a distinct region of space and gaining control over the deadly armies of the Chitauri, the Outriders, and large numbers of Saakaran mercenaries. His reputation was so fearsome that most galactic communities came to call him "the Mad Titan" (a name he despises) while his most loyal minions referred to him as "the Dark Lord". Both the Kree and Nova empires, two of the galaxy's leading superpowers, were well aware of Thanos' power and never dared to cross him during his conquests, knowing full well that they could not defeat him. Thus Thanos was one of the few beings that the Kree, known for their militarism, power, and supremacism, truly feared.
He also occasionally collected and trained orphans from some of the species he balanced to become loyal lieutenants and they eventually considered him their father, although he felt no real affection for them. When balancing Zen-Whoberi, Thanos' attention was caught by a young girl named Gamora. Impressed by how she fought off one of his guards, Thanos took her aside and distracted her with a special knife while his army massacred half of the Zehobereis. He then adopted her and grew to genuinely care for her unlike his other children.
Thanos also massacred half of the Luphomoids and adopted another girl, Nebula. Thanos was known for being very cruel to her for being weaker than Gamora and always modified her with cybernetics whenever she'd fail in battle against Gamora in an attempt to strengthen her resolve. Nebula would grow to hate Thanos for this.
Thanos eventually realized there were far too many planets in the universe for him to balance through military strength alone. Thus, he realized that the Infinity Stones, objects of immense power that held considerable dominance over the various forces that occupied existence, could overcome this and balance all of the universe at once. Thus he forged several alliances in order to locate them. He successfully located at least one of the stones; the Mind Stone, which he then hid inside a Scepter that was capable of manipulating minds.
Through many years of searching, Thanos discovered a lead on the Orb's location, sending Nebula and Gamora to the Cloud Tombs of Praxius under the command of his ally, the Kree soldier Korath the Pursuer. Nebula fell victim to a trap during the mission, and Thanos, not one to tolerate failure, forbade Gamora from rescuing her. Nebula was forced to amputate her own arm in order to escape. The Orb was never recovered, but Thanos let the failure pass and resumed his search. Thanos also sent Gamora and Nebula to find the Soul Stone, but Gamora reported to him that she was unsuccessful. Thanos, being as perceptive as ever, was easily able to see through the charade but let her believe that he was fooled.
===Personality===
Although regarded by many as the most cruel, arrogant, destructive, deranged, and evil being in the entire universe, Thanos is actually a much more complicated and tortured individual due to his tragic past and his obsession with achieving what he believes to be his destiny. In his youth, Thanos was once a truly compassionate person who profoundly loved his people and homeworld. Despite their prejudice towards him because of his deformity, Thanos bared no grudge towards his fellow Titans, only desiring to one day earn his people's respect and be accepted by them. Even during this time however, Thanos had a streak of ruthlessness and a strong utilitarian mindset. This was shown he attempted to convince Titan's government to eliminate half of the planet's sentient population in order to save the other half from extinction. Thanos even showed tremendous bravery, as he was even willing to volunteer himself as the first of the decimated population to be eradicated.
After Titan's fall, Thanos was left emotionally and mentally scarred and traumatized by the loss his people and homeworld, coming to develop a pessimistic outlook on life. Due to the circumstances surrounding his people's extinction and his planet's destruction, Thanos firmly believes that overpopulation will eventually destroy other planets until the entire universe is left devoid of life. Believing his solution could have saved his people from extinction, Thanos maintains that the only way to prevent the universe's destruction is by wiping out half of all life. Despite this, he shows some semblance of honor by stating that he does not intend to personally pick the victims, instead deciding to have his victims indiscriminately picked by randomization.
After becoming a warlord, Thanos became extremely ruthless, as he has massacred half of the populations of countless planets regardless of whether the individuals were rich, poor, old, young, weak or healthy. He has also killed unarmed enemies without mercy, including children and infants. He is confident in himself to the point of near borderline arrogance, though he generally doesn't underestimate enemies he considers powerful. Thanos also has little to no regard for the majority of his servants, being perfectly willing to sacrificing as many as he needs to in order to accomplish his goals. He was completely unfazed when Ronan murdered the Other, despite his centuries of loyal servitude to him. With the exception of Ebony Maw, Thanos showed no regards to the deaths of his adopted children in Black Order after they were killed by the Avengers, showing that he sees them mostly as a means to an end.
Despite this, Thanos does have a sense of honor, as he does not go back on his end of a deal when he makes one. He also, despite having killed countless numbers of them during his conquests, has a bit of a soft spot for children, especially his "favorite" adopted daughter, Gamora. Thanos also has some care for his other adopted children as well, thought nowhere near to the extent of Gamora. Despite seeking out the Infinity Stones, the most powerful objects in existence, Thanos only seeks to use them to "correct" the universe, not rule it. He dislikes those who seek power for selfish gain, holding Loki's selfish ambitions and Ronan's personal grudge against the Xandarians in contempt. By contrast, he respects and admires those who display selfless bravery, including his enemies such Star-Lord and Iron Man. Despite often manipulating others, Thanos is shown to have a strong hatred for the concept of lying, so much so that he never does it himself, showing that he is a man of his word.
In addition to his power, Thanos is incredibly intelligent with the Russo brothers even calling him the most intelligent being in the MCU. A master tactician, Thanos has a vast knowledge of military strategy, evidenced by how he has successfully led his armies in a number of successful campaigns and conquests. He is also extremely patient, having waited years to go after the stones, until he knew all their locations and whatever protections they may have. Thanos is also a skilled scientist, having designed much of his army's technology, including his massive warship the Sanctuary II. He is also the one responsible for the creation of his Outrider hordes. Along with his high IQ, Thanos is extremely manipulative, having orchestrated a number of different events in his favor. Despite ordering Ronan to retrieve the Orb, he did not tell him of its true nature showing that while he may not lie, he will not always tell the full story if it suits him. Thanos is shown to be a fearless individual as well, never panicking when things go wrong nor expressing any form of worry when faced by opponents who may rival him.
===Physical appearance===
Thanos is an extremely tall, muscular, thick-bodied humanoid alien with small, blue eyes, a disproportionately huge chin, and no hair. Unlike other Titans, he has purple skin with scar-like markings on his chin, shoulders, and arms. He has been seen in golden armor as well as a tank top.
==Appearances==
===Marvel Cinematic Universe===
====The Avengers====
In this film, Thanos' intermediary, known simply as the Other, tells him that the Tesseract is on a small world, a human world. He also informs him that Loki is ready to lead the Chitauri. He also mentions him to Loki (without revealing Thanos' name) when he speaks for the Mad Titan, warning him that he will know something that would make pain look desirable, should he fail his Master.
In a post-credits scene, Thanos is revealed to have been Loki's benefactor, having provided the Chitauri army used by Loki in his attempted invasion of Earth. When advised by the Other that opposing the Avengers would be "to court death", Thanos glances back at him with a wicked grin.
====Guardians of the Galaxy====
Thanos is fully introduced in this film and plays a more active role. He has enlisted the help of Ronan, Korath, and his daughters, Gamora and Nebula, to retrieve the Orb for him. As it turns out, Gamora is not actually Thanos' daughter, since Thanos killed Gamora's family and snatched her as an infant to train her into the perfect assassin, having abused and tormented her in the process of doing so. This causes Gamora to betray Thanos, which leads to a chain of events that leads to Gamora finding her true calling as a protector of the universe and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Thanos is first seen as a distorted photo when members of the Nova Corps are analyzing Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot following their capture on their capital, Xandar. They deduce that he and Ronan may be working together, heavily implying that Thanos had already gotten on their bad side.
When Ronan and Nebula are called to discuss Gamora's betrayal, Ronan kills The Other, who was speaking for Thanos. Thanos does not react emotionally to this, but he is angry at Ronan for not obtaining the Orb (and for apparently alienating Gamora). He says he will destroy Xandar for Ronan if he brings him the Orb, but furiously promises that if Ronan fails again, he will "Bathe the starways in your blood."
Thanos promised Ronan that he will help Ronan destroy Xandar in exchange for Ronan's services. However, once Ronan gets ahold of the Orb, he feels he no longer needs Thanos help and also decides to betray him. Nebula also decides to betray Thanos out of jealousy over Thanos showing preference for Gamora over her. Ronan and Nebula take Korath with them. In the end, Ronan and Korath are killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy (including Gamora), Nebula escapes and becomes a renegade villain independent of Thanos, and the Guardians give the Orb to the Nova Corps for safekeeping.
Thanos, however, is still determined to find the six Infinity Stones and the Infinity Gauntlet so he can use them to conquer the universe.
====Avengers: Age of Ultron====
In the mid-credits scene, Thanos retrieves the Infinity Gauntlet from a vault and heads off in search of the Infinity Stones himself after the failings of Loki and Ronan the Accuser.
====Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.====
Thanos is first referenced, in "Rise and Shine", when General Hale takes Phil Coulson to meet with Qovas. He warns of an incoming alien apocalypse. Thanos is directly mentioned in "The One Who Will Save Us All", when Taryan, a member of an organization called the Confederacy, warn Coulson and Talbot that his assault on the world has already begun. It is revealed that the Confederacy was aware of Thanos' campaign to acquire the Infinity Stones, having forged an alliance with the human terrorist organization HYDRA to protect Earth from his coming invasion. The Confederacy, however, had no intention of honoring their agreement as they were fully aware that even they stood no chance against Thanos and his armies. Instead, they simply used their alliance with HYDRA as a means of acquiring Earth's valuable resources, mainly Inhumans.
====Thor: Ragnarok====
While Thanos himself does not appear in the film, in the post-credits scene, his massive warship, Sanctuary II, intercepts the Asgardian refugee vessel Statesman, carrying Thor, Loki, and the Asgardian survivors of Ragnarok.
====Avengers: Infinity War====
Thanos serves as the main antagonist of this film where he begins his campaign to assemble the Infinity Stones. Prior to the film, Thanos succeeds in collecting the first of the Infinity Stones, the Power Stone, after decimating the Nova Corps and half the populace on Xandar to retrieve it.
To collect the Tesseract next, Thanos and the Black Order confront the Asgardian ship, the Statesman, on its course to Earth after the destruction of Asgard. Thanos slaughters most of the former Alien Gladiators of Sakaar and half of the Asgardians on board and defeated Thor and Heimdall while Proxima Midnight kept Loki at swordpoint. Confronting his former pawn, Thanos holds Thor by the head threatening to kill him unless Loki relinquishes the Tesseract. Loki initially tries to hide his possession of the cosmic cube, but when Thanos tortures Thor, he immediately reveals the Tesseract. Loki seems to pose the Tesseract to Thanos, but then reveals it to be a distraction so the Hulk can surprise Thanos. Hulk starts to violently beat the Mad Titan, however Thanos soon smashes him into the ground, defeating Hulk.
With the last of his strength, Heimdall uses his Bifrost powers to transport Hulk on Earth, however Thanos notices this and kills Heimdall with Corvus Glaive's weapon as a punishment. Thor cries in retaliation and declares revenge against Thanos, but Thanos ignores him and moves to add the Tesseract's Space Stone onto the Gauntlet. Removing his golden armor (seeing it as unnecessary due to being so close to his goals) Thanos takes the Tesseract from adoptive-son Ebony Maw and proceeds to crush it in his palm. With the Tesseract container destroyed, Thanos takes the Space Stone and inserts it into the gauntlet granting him power over space and the ability to teleport to anywhere in the universe. With the second stone acquired, Thanos orders his children to attack Earth in order to find the Time and Mind Stones while he goes after the Reality and Soul stones in space.
Before the Black Order prepares for Earth to collect the next Infinity Stone, Loki shows himself and proposes to help him on Earth, but Thanos easily sees Loki's trickery; using the Space Stone, he freezes Loki in place before Loki can stab him and takes Loki by the neck. Thanos mocks Loki for choosing the word "Undying" in his offer, but Loki retorts that he will not become a god. Unfazed by his taunt, Thanos crushes Loki's neck and shows his corpse to the eyes of a distraught Thor. Having acquired what he came for, Thanos destroys the ship and teleports himself and the Black Order onto the Sanctuary II, leaving Thor and the others for dead.
Thanos then travels to Knowhere to take the Reality Stone from the Collector. Using the Stone's power, Thanos creates an illusion of himself about to kill the Collector when the Guardians of the Galaxy arrive in a way to test Gamora's loyalty to him. Once Gamora kills the illusion, Thanos reveals himself and captures Gamora, sensing she knew where the last Infinity Stone was. Despite Gamora requesting Peter Quill to shoot her to stop Thanos, Thanos transforms Quill's gun ammunition into bubbles and leaves Knowhere with Gamora, leaving Quill devastated. Thanos takes Gamora on his ship, at first acting civil to her and tolerating Gamora's anger towards him. He reminds Gamora that he trusted in her abilities to find the Soul Stone, which Gamora sarcastically claims to not have found. Thanos recognizes she is lying (which he had never taught her to do), so he reveals to Gamora the captured Nebula, where he starts to torture her until Gamora, scared of seeing her sister tortured, reveals to him the location of the Soul Stone: Vormir.
On Vormir, the two are greeted by a wraith named the Stonekeeper, the warped identity of the Red Skull. He escorts Thanos and Gamora to Vormir's ravine and informs them the Soul Stone will only reveal itself to those who are willing to sacrifice the person they love most. Gamora mocks Thanos believing he could never love anyone, but Thanos, having truly loved Gamora as his own, sheds tears admitting he will have to kill her. Genuinely surprised over this revelation, Gamora attempts to stab herself, but Thanos turns the blade into bubbles. In tears, Thanos apologizes to her silently as he throws her down the ravine, satisfying the sacrifice. A light bursts out that engulfs Thanos, awakening with the Soul Stone in hand.
Sensing the Time Stone on Titan, Thanos teleports to the planet to find Doctor Strange with the Time Stone waiting for him. Realizing Ebony Maw perished while retrieving Strange, Thanos comments that at least he brought the Time Stone to him. Thanos explains his past to Strange and how the planet, his home, was destroyed because of overpopulation and it is his intention to administer unbiased, painless death to the universe to save it from the same fate Titan suffered. After they finish their talk, Strange reveals that he isn't alone and that it was a trap; Iron Man arrives and throws a piece of debris on top of Thanos. An angered Thanos survives, however, and attacks Iron Man joined by Mantis, Quill, Drax, Spider-Man, Strange, and Nebula. Strange, Drax, and Spider-Man restrain Thanos while Mantis uses her powers to make Thanos drowsy and enable Spider-Man and Iron Man to begin pulling off the Infinity Gauntlet.
However, when Quill demands to know what he did with Gamora, Mantis finds remorse inside Thanos' mind, prompting Nebula to inform Quill that he killed Gamora for the Soul Stone. Enraged (despite Iron Man telling him to keep calm), Quill punches Thanos, inadvertently permeating him to react and free himself. Using the power of the stones, Thanos incapacitates the other heroes and briefly engages Iron Man in a duel. In fury, Thanos uses the Power Stone to level Titan's moon with a shockwave, before using the Space Stone to bring down huge fragments as a hail of meteorite-projectiles upon the heroes. One of the meteorites strikes Iron Man, leaving him incapacitated and temporarily buried alive.
As Spider-Man struggles to rescue his allies from the incoming meteors, Thanos engages in a duel with Strange. When surrounded by replicas of Strange, Thanos uses the stones to identify the real one and comes close enough to take the Eye of Agamotto from Strange, only to find Strange removed the Time Stone from it prior, prompting him to angrily crush the Eye. Thanos throws Strange to the ground and prepares to kill him, but he is then stopped by Iron Man. Thanos recognizes the hero as the one who impeded his plans in the past, and the two begin their brawl, both using the full extent of their arsenal, until Thanos stabs Stark with his own nanite blade. Thanos gives his foe respect as he prepares to finish him off, but Strange intervenes to give Thanos the Time Stone if he spares Stark. Thanos accepts the deal and receives the Time Stone from Strange, and he leaves for Earth for the final stone, the Mind Stone, ignoring Quill shooting at him as he leaves.
On Earth, Thanos fights with several other members of the Avengers, but he defeats them all. As he approaches Vision guarded by Scarlet Witch, Steve Rogers makes one last stand to hold Thanos at bay, which shocks Thanos over the Avengers' willpower, but the effort proves futile once Thanos punches him away. With no other choice, Scarlet destroys Vision to destroy the Mind Stone, leaving her grief-stricken over killing her lover. Thanos momentarily sympathizes with her plight over losing a loved one before he uses the Time Stone to resurrect Vision, then rips the Mind Stone from his head, killing Vision in the process. Now with all six stones in the Gauntlet, Thanos prepares to use his cosmic power, but Thor, having survived the destruction of his ship, throws Stormbreaker to Thanos and stabs him in the chest.
Thor starts to push the Stormbreaker into his chest in an attempt to kill him, but Thanos, despite his injury, simply states he should have aimed for the head and he then snaps his fingers, creating a bright flash of light as Thor screams in horror, realizing what is about to happen. Thanos reawakens in a realm inside the Soul Stone where a child version of Gamora is nearby. The child asks him what getting the Stones cost him, to which Thanos solemnly answers "Everything". Thanos regains the senses and finds his Gauntlet damaged with Thor horrifyingly asking him what he has done; Thanos merely smiles and teleports himself away. After his departure, half of all life in the universe starts disintegrating from Thanos' finger snap. Somewhere else, on an alien planet, Thanos has set up a small hut to overlook the planet's countryside. Having completed his mission at last, Thanos gazes serenely at the sunset.
====Ant-Man and the Wasp====
Though Thanos doesn't appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp, his actions from Infinity War have an impact on the post-credits scene, as his fingersnap causes Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, and Hope Van Dyne to be erased from existence, and Scott Lang to be stranded in the Quantum Realm, thus setting up Scott's appearance in Endgame.
Later, an establishing shot of a deserted San Francisco implies that a large chunk of the city's population was erased from existence by the fingersnap.
====Avengers: Endgame====
Thanos reappears in this movie as the main antagonist.
Having fulfilled his quest to balance the universe, Thanos retreats to Titan II to rest from his strenuous mission. Two weeks following the Snap, Thanos uses the Infinity Stones to destroy themselves, to prevent anybody from reversing his actions. This greatly injures him, burning his face and arm, with the empty Infinity Gauntlet becoming permanently bound to his swollen hand. However, two days later, Thanos is ambushed by the Avengers, who came to bring back the victims of the Snap. With War Machine, Hulk, and Captain Marvel restraining him, Thor slices off his Gauntlet arm before attempting to retrieve the stones. When the Avengers discover the stones are missing, Thanos explains that he "used the stones to destroy the stones", which nearly killed him. Thanos tells them that no matter what they do, the work is done and it always will be and says that he is inevitable.
The Avengers reluctantly refuse to believe his claim and accuses him of lying, but Nebula defends him by telling the group that while her father is many things, a liar isn't one of those things. Thanos thanks his daughter and regrets treating her too harshly. Once the Avengers realize they came for nothing, Thor hurls Stormbreaker into Thanos' neck, killing him once and for all. But with no way to undo the Snap, the Avengers are forced to live on as survivors of the universe. As they depart in defeat and mourn in despair, Nebula tends to her adoptive father's remains. She closes his eyes and silently praying for him to have peace in the afterlife, before proceeding to bury him.
Five years later, the Avengers, with the help of Scott Lang/Ant-Man (who manages to escape from the Quantum Realm on his own), finally come up with a way to undo Thanos' actions, and so, using the Quantum Realm, they time travel to various points in the past to steal the Infinity Stones, bring them back to the present, and use them to undo Thanos' actions. When James Rhodes and Nebula travel to the year 2014 to retrieve the Power Stone on Morag, Nebula suddenly ends up malfunctioning and her memories end up being transferred to her past self, at the exact moment when Thanos was ordering her and Gamora to acquire the Power Stone. Through this connection, Thanos learns of his future victory and his ultimate fate at the hands of the Avengers (to which Thanos describes as "destiny fulfilled"), and learns that the Avengers are trying to undo it. With this sudden new insight, Thanos captures the present Nebula and sends the past Nebula back to the present day in her place as he activates a new plan.
Later, after the Avengers obtain the Infinity Stones and forge the Nano Gauntlet, Hulk/Bruce Banner snaps his fingers, thus undoing Thanos' action and bringing back everybody they had lost, but at that exact moment, the 2014 Nebula uses the time machine to transport Thanos and his entire army to the present, where they attack the Avengers' compound by blowing up the building. Personally confronting Tony Stark/Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America, and Thor, Thanos fully unleashes his darker side as he declares that he will destroy the universe and replace it with a new one, because he now understands that even if he did succeed in his goal of wiping out half of the universe, the surviving half could never move on from their losses from the Snap and will resist.
After overpowering the heroes, he summons his army from his warship to destroy Earth, but a revived Stephen Strange arrives with other sorcerers, the restored Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the Ravagers, and the armies of Wakanda and Asgard to fight Thanos and his army in one final battle, while Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel soon arrives and destroys Thanos' warship, but Thanos overpowers her and the other heroes and seizes the gauntlet again, preparing to destroy the universe. At the last second, however, Stark steals the Stones and uses them to disintegrate Thanos and his army, at the cost of his own life. A shocked and defeated Thanos is the last one to disintegrate into ashes, finally ending the Mad Titan's wrath forever.
====Spider-Man: Far From Home====
He is referenced at the beginning of the film during the school's news report. It is also shown as Peter browses In-Flight Entertainment, a documentary about him and the Snap has been made by Paul Greengrass.
====WandaVision====
Thanos is first mentioned in the fifth episode, when Monica Rambeau argues that Wanda Maximoff could have taken him out alone, had he not initiated a blitz. He is referenced in the seventh episode, when Darcy tries to summarize Vision's past to him, as he doesn't remember his life, before entering Westview, and she mentions that after Wanda killed him, the bad guy rewound time and killed him again.
====Loki====
In the first episode, Thanos is seen in a Time Theater screening of the Time Variance Authority, showing the events of the Statesman's attack, revealing to Loki his predestined death at the hands of the Mad Titan if he hadn't deviated from his timeline and become a Variant. This revelation continues to trouble Loki throughout the series.
In the fifth episode, an elder Loki Variant says that he managed to survive the Statesman's attack because he didn't try to stab Thanos with a dagger, instead he casted an illusion of himself so convincing that fooled Mad Titan and allowed him to fake him own death.
In the final episode of the first season, Miss Minutes offers a deal from the creator of the TVA to put Loki back on the timeline and says he can have whatever he wants, including killing Thanos.
====What If...?====
=====Season 1=====
In the episode "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?", Thanos is shown to have abandoned his plans for genocide and joined the Ravagers with Nebula after T'Challa/Star-Lord convinced him with a reasonable argument that there were better ways to reallocate the universe's resources for planets in need. He jokes heartily about how his idea was not without merit, much to everyone's exasperation, but has put the motivation for it behind him. As a result of going straight, the Collector took his place as the intergalactic kingpin. Thanos later joins the Ravagers led by T'Challa in stealing the Embers of Genesis from the Collector, with the Titan and Korath creating a diversion before being captured and taken into custody along with the rest of the team. They escape through Nebula but are confronted by Cull Obsidian and Proxima Midnight whom Thanos briefly manages until the pair fail to knock him down due to his rusty fighting abilities. Again, Nebula comes to the aid of her adoptive father, throwing Embers causing massive vegetation on Knowhere, which allows Thanos and Nebula to rejoin their ship. The Ravagers later go to Earth after T'Challa decides to reunite with his family in Wakanda. Thanos then shares with Okoye his old decimation ideology.
He also appears as a zombie in the conclusion of "What If... Zombies!?", where he got all of the Infinity Stones except one.
Thanos appears in "What If... Ultron Won?", arriving on Earth through a portal after retrieving the other Infinity Stones. He is quickly bisected by Ultron and the stones taken by the android.
=====Season 2=====
In "What if... Iron Man Crashed Into the Grandmaster?", following the destruction of the Chitauri fleet by Iron Man, Thanos sends Gamora to bring back the Avengers which have just failed on the planet Sakaar. In the end, Stark convinces Gamora to abandon Thanos and the two team up to trick the Mad Titan, with Gamora pretending to bring Stark before Thanos to better end his life by melting him with the Melt Stick.
In "What if... Hela Found The Ten Rings?", while Thanos completes his conquest of Zen-Whoberi and almost adopts a child Gamora, he sees the army of Hela and Xu Wenwu arriving to oppose him.
In "What if... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?", Thanos is seen in a flashback, confronting Captain America until the human strikes his Vibranium gauntlet into the Time Stone, causing an oak reaction altering the time of 1602. The same Thanos returns in "What if... Strange Supreme Intervened?" as he battles Captain Carter, but is reduced to dust by Killmonger.
=====Season 3=====
In "What If...Howard the Duck Got Hitched?", Thanos appears in the middle of a chase in Jotunheim, believing that the Black Order has already found the Infinity Stones, only to be disappointed when they only called him for an egg that Howard the Duck and Darcy wanted to protect, in the middle of the chase, when the egg begins to glow, Thanos stares at the glow of the egg and launches an attack to get it, however the egg hatches and kills all of his pursuers including Thanos, who dies along with them.
====Hawkeye====
In the first episode of the series, Clint Barton is using the restroom when he notices that someone has written "Thanos was right" on the urinal next to him.
In the fifth episode, while Thanos does not appear, the Blip is shown from Yelena Belova's perspective. She enters a bathroom when she is suddenly snapped out of existence, only to rematerialize immediately after. The bathroom has changed drastically, as five years have passed instantaneously for her.
====Spider-Man: No Way Home====
Thanos is mentioned by Spider-Man. Spider-Man refers to Thanos as a purple alien to his other counterparts and mentions when he fought Thanos in space and on earth.
====Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness====
In an alternate universe, Professor X from earth-838, shows 616 Doctor Strange a flashback where he and the rest of the Illuminati (that world's version of the Avengers) were able to defeat an alternate Thanos in their own infinity war, three years ago. Thanos is shown to be impaled by his own blade on Titan and that 838 Stephen Strange demanded that he faced Thanos alone, which the rest of the Illuminati had declined and were forced to kill their teammate and friend as he had been corrupted by the Darkhold of that universe, on Titan, while Thanos' body lies lifeless.
====Ms. Marvel====
Whilst Thanos doesn't appear in the series, an animated version of him can be seen, battling against the other heroes, in the first episode, as Kamala narrates the final chapter, in her 10-part series, about the final battle of Earth.
====Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3====
Thanos is referenced by Star-Lord, when Quill mentions to the High Evolutionary that he does not need another lecture about a being wanting to conquer the universe, which Thanos was able to do by snapping 50% of the universe out of existence. The High Evolutionary states that he is not trying to conquer the universe, but rather perfect it instead.
====Secret Invasion====
In the fight between Gravik and G'iah, Thanos' powers and shape are replicated.
===Marvel Animated Universe===
====Avengers Assemble====
At the end of Season 1 finale "The Final Showdown", Thanos is revealed to be Red Skull's master as Red Skull gives him the Tesseract. In the final moments of the episode "The Arsenal", Thanos comes to Earth in search of the Power Stone.
In Season 2, Thanos is the overarching primary antagonist, sharing the role with Ultron and the Squadron Supreme.
In "Thanos Rising", after attacking the headquarters of Uatu, Thanos shoots down an Avengers Quinjet. After falling into a trap of the Avengers, Thanos confronts the Avengers, Thanos wins easily, but Arsenal hits him with the power of the Power Stone. However, Thanos reveals that is in possession of the Infinity Gauntlet and takes the stone from Arsenal.
The Avengers manage to belay Thanos, who is defeated when Arsenal unleashes the power absorbed by the stone, blasting Thanos halfway across the galaxy.
At the end of "Widow's Run", after a debacle with Dormammu and Black Widow with the Infinity Stones, Thanos finally returns to Earth at the last minute, and claims the Stones, assembling them into the Infinity Gauntlet. Retreating into space, the Avengers pursue him. In "Thanos Triumphant", Thanos begins to use the Stones to construct a shrine for himself above the Earth, and with a wave of his hand, wipes out dozens of stars. However, the Avengers, using Titan technology, charge towards him. While using Titan battle suits, the Avengers are no match for the Infinity Gauntlet's power. Thanos effortlessly trashes the mechs, and the Avengers take him head-on.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*Although being the main antagonist of Avengers: Infinity War, Kevin Feige described him as essentially being the main character as he has a major role and it explains his motivations for his actions.
*Actor Damion Poitier portrayed Thanos only in The Avengers. Josh Brolin portrays Thanos in subsequent films via motion-capture and vocal performances.
*Thanos' name is derived from , the Greek personification of death.
*Thanos made an appearance in the video game Fortnite as a playable character for a limited time, part of the movie promotions of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
*Thanos smiling when advised by the Other that opposing the Avengers would be "to court death" is a reference to the comics where he was in love with a character named Lady Death and wanted to wipe out all life in the universe to woo her.
**Originally, this was meant to be Infinity War's plot. However, the writers decided against it; feeling it wouldn't be right to bring in one of the Eternals without backstory for a movie. So they rewrote it to have Thanos have an extreme environmentalist mindset.
*Thanos is mentioned by Deadpool in the character's second film. Deadpool calls Cable Thanos, referencing Josh Brolin portraying both characters.
==External links==
*
*
*
*
*
<tabber>
|-|Guardians of the Galaxy=
|-|Avengers=
|-|What If...?=
</tabber>
<tabber>
|-|Avengers Assemble=
|-|Guardians of the Galaxy (TV series)=
|-|Disney Tsum Tsum=
</tabber>
es:Thanos
pt-br:Thanos
ru:Танос
zh:灭霸
Category:Characters who narrate the story
Category:The Avengers characters
Category:Marvel characters
Category:Villains
Category:Aliens
Category:Monsters
Category:Guardians of the Galaxy characters
Category:Live-action characters
Category:Marvel Cinematic Universe characters
Category:Live-action villains
Category:Avengers Assemble characters
Category:Parents
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:Characters
Category:Animated characters
Category:Males
Category:Adults
Category:Disney Infinity characters
Category:Main antagonists
Category:Characters in video games
Category:Magic Users
Category:Deceased characters
Category:Time travelers
Category:Immortal
Category:What If...? characters
Category:Acquired characters
Category:Giants
Category:Siblings
Category:Swordsmen
Category:Disney XD characters
Category:Alternate Timeline Versions
Category:Those brought back through time travel
Category:Doctor Strange characters
Category:Supervillains
Category:The Simpsons cameos