Thanos (2018)

***NOTE: This page is only about his 2018 version as his past/2014 incarnation was not voted as a Magnificent Baddie, and thus only the 2018 version of Thanos' info and crimes should be put here.***

## Magnificent Baddie

### Alias

Dark Lord
Mad Titan
Great Titan
Dad
Daddy
Almighty Thanos
Son of A'Lars

### Allies

The Other
Loki Laufeyson
Ronan the Accuser
Gamora
Nebula (all formerly)
Black Order

### Powers/Skills

Near-immortality
Genius-level intelligence
Incalculable strength
Superhuman reflexes
Nigh-invulnerability
Regenerative healing
Combat prowess
Swordsmanship
Mastery of manipulation
Intimidation
Tactical experitse
Incredible charisma
Leadership
**With the Infinity Gauntlet:**
Nigh-omnipotence
Reality warping
Edaphokinesis
Energy absorption
Death inducement
Ergokinesis
Pain inducement
Energy detonation
Energy projection
Energy conversion
Portal creation
Vortex creation
Spatial pressure generation
Intangibility
Force-field generation
Dimensional negation
Illusion creation
Biokinesis
Teleportation
Summoning portals
Telekinesis
Pyrokinesis
Fire absorption
Invisibility
Matter transmutation
Soul reading
Soul containment
Event recreation
Essokinesis
Chorokinesis
Animakinesis
Chronokinesis
Cerebrokinesis

### Goals

Eradicate 50% of all life in the universe in order to prevent an overpopulation crisis (temporarily succeeded, until the Avengers brought them back).
Kill Loki Laufeyson for his betrayal.
Obtain all of the Infinity Stones and create the Infinity Gauntlet to fasten his genocide process (both succeeded).

### Crimes

Half-omnicide
Mass genocide
Mass murder
Torture
Mutilation
Terrorism
War crimes
Physical and psychological abuse
Abuse of power
Arson
Brainwashing
Theft

### Type of MB

One-Man Extremist

**Thanos** is the main antagonist of the Infinity Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

He was a genocidal warlord from Titan, whose own main objective was to bring stability to the universe by wiping out half of all life at every level, as he believed its massive population would inevitably use up the universe's entire supply of resources and perish. To complete this goal, Thanos set about hunting down all the Infinity Stones, being confident that the combined force of the Stones would grant him sufficient power.

He was portrayed by Josh Brolin.

## What Makes Him Magnificent?

* While he's easily heinous enough by the standards of the MCU due to only having Infinity Stones in the last month of his life, his tragic backstory, love for Gamora, his "Evil is Cool" vibe, and his pure intentions of heroically saving the universe with his gauntlet's power keep him from being too vile. Even him killing Eitri's friends was to prevent them from forging a countermeasure against the Infinity Gauntlet and he wasn't explicitly confirmed to have promised to do otherwise, that merely being Eitri's assumption.
* He has a solid Freudian excuse, as he was the sole survivor of his race from the planet Titan, which fell due to an overpopulation crisis that could've been avoided if they had listened to his suggestion of killing off half the planet.
* Even if his methods are indeed very harsh, he's still a genuine extremist who truly believes he's doing the right thing by trying to prevent the exact same disaster that happened to Titan and hopes the survivors will be grateful. Nothing he does is personal and for all his power, holds himself back from being further corrupted that he would destroy the stones after his ultimate victory as they were nothing but temptation to corrupt him and simply retires.
* Despite being fairly abusive, he deeply cares for his adopted daughter Gamora. He spared her while massacring her homeworld and shielded her from watching her people die, gives her a bowl of soup after kidnapping her, and shows great remorse for killing her since she was his "everything". The feeling is also mutual, since she expresses sadness upon stabbing his illusion on Knowhere, which he even calls her out on.
* Basically, majority of his lines are some of the most iconic in the entire MCU. Josh Brolin's cool and nuanced performance certainly helps.
* He's affable and has a ton of honor, respecting several of his foes (i.e. Star-Lord, Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Captain America and Scarlet Witch) while also abhorring dishonesty in general. He also dislikes Ronan for being a racist manchild and the Collector for being nastily greedy, and destroyed the Infinity Stones partly so that he wouldn't be tempted to abuse their power after doing the Snap.
	+ In fact, this is exactly how he gets the Space, Soul and Time Stones. He agrees with Loki, Gamora and Dr. Strange to spare Thor, Nebula and Iron Man in exchange for giving him the jewels, and by the end of the movie all three of the latter trio survive even the Snap as he never tries to double-cross the deals.
* He's a living juggernaut who fearlessly goes toe-to-toe with or simply pushes past several powerful superheroes, shrugging off any and all wounds. Even the Hulk is scared of him after receiving that beatdown at the beginning of the movie.
* As for thinking on his feet, he:
	+ Manages to get the Power Stone from Xandar even after Ronan betrayed him in *Guardians of the Galaxy*.
	+ Anticipates Loki's attempt to backstab him after getting the Space Stone.
	+ Uses the Reality Stone to create an illusion, which deceives the Guardians of the Galaxy so he can kidnap Gamora when they come to Knowhere.
	+ Uses the Time Stone to undo the Mind Stone's destruction.
* He's one of the few MCU villains to actually succeed in his goal, obtaining all six Stones and then doing the Snap in only one week (the last five of which happened in just under a day), and he doesn't face any justice until three weeks later in *Endgame*.
	+ Even when his Snap was inevitably undone, it happened 5 years later and the Avengers using alternate timelines to get the Stones, which Thanos couldn't predict.
* He even remains dignified in his final moments, gloating to the Avengers about how he'd basically won after destroying all the Stones rather than begging for mercy when they attack him in his home while he was horribly weakened and helpless. His last words before Thor kills him is thanking his daughter Nebula for knowing he's not a liar and then apologizing for treating her too harshly, after which she tearfully closes his eyes while sad music plays in the background.

## What Makes Him a Baddie?

* He had Loki lead the Chitauri assault on Earth in *The Avengers* that threatened millions.
* He abducted both Gamora and Nebula from their home worlds, and is highly abusive to Nebula, forcing her and Gamora to fight each other and replacing parts of Nebula's body with cybernetic implants after each failure. He also calls Gamora his "favorite daughter" in front of Nebula, and said he only didn't kill her because it would be a waste of parts.
* He's committed numerous half-genocides against other home worlds in his quest for power including Kylos, Zen-Whoberi, Xandar, and the Asgardians aboard the *Statesman*. He also killed the dwarves at Nidavellir and crippled Eitri's hands, even after they made the Gauntlet for him.
* He tortures both Thor and Nebula so that Loki and Gamora would give up the Space and Soul Stones.
* He brutally murders Heimdall and Loki while forcing Thor to watch, taking particular pleasure in slowly strangling Loki to death, then dumps his body right at Thor's feet, telling him that his death is irreversible. He had nothing to gain from this and no reason to make Thor watch his brother die other than sadism.
* He tries to provoke Quill into shooting Gamora when he's holding her hostage.
* He sacrifices Gamora (his own adopted daughter) to get the Soul Stone.
* To gain the Soul Stone, he murders Vision by ripping it off his head and deactivating him as a result.
* He uses the fully-powered Infinity Gauntlet to commit half-omnicide, turning 50% of all life throughout the universe into dust. This also affects the species that he has already decimated, such as the Asgardians. When confronted by the heroes for having murdered trillions, he is unrepentant and gloats over his actions, telling them they should be grateful for his work.
	+ Even worse, onscreen casualties include Winter Soldier, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, every Guardian of the Galaxy save for Rocket Raccoon and Nebula, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Hank Pym, both Wasps, Hawkeye's wife and kids, Monica Rambeau, Yelena Belova etc., whereas offscreen casualties include Jane Foster, Erik Selvig, Shuri, Lady Sif, Ned Leeds, Michelle Jones, Flash Thompson, Betty Brant, May Parker, and so on.

## Trivia

* While the 2014 version of Thanos still retains some magnificence (fighting the Avengers, retro-engineering the Pym particles to transport his entire armada to the main universe while flawlessly disguising Nebula to distract the Avengers, caring for Gamora and Nebula, and accepting his own death when Iron Man snaps him away), he's also much pettier as he planned to destroy the *entire* universe in an extremely sadistic way just to make it look like he was right, abandoning most of his principles to be a raving egomaniac with a god complex. Also, his *What If...?* versions don't count because of low screen time and lack of feats, characterization, or both. Therefore, only the 2018 version counts.

## External Links

* Thanos at the Villains wiki
* Thanos at the MCU wiki

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