Talismans

The **Talismans of Shendu** are a collection of twelve powerful magical artifacts named after the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Each talisman contains an aspect of Shendu's power (stolen from the original Noble Animals) in the form of a unique power, and when combined allows Shendu to assume his ultimate form.

## History

### Ancient Times

 File:TalismansSeperated.png
In the past, the Talismans originally existed as special powers owned by the twelve Noble Animals that represent the Chinese zodiac. The origin of their powers were unknown, but it may be that the Jade Emperor bestowed them to the Noble Animals as rewards after they completed the swimming race. Shendu then claimed their powers for himself. This blasphemous act was possibly one of the reason Lo Pei calls him "the ultimate evil". Combined with his demonic magic, he successfully conquered China.

Shendu's subjects rose up against him, led by Lo Pei. Using an extraction spell, he trapped Shendu in statue form, separating his powers from him in the form of twelve Talismans. Lo Pei scattered them across the four corners of the globe to make sure Shendu that would never again rise to power.

### The Talisman Hunt

It would be nine centuries before Shendu made a deal with the Dark Hand in exchange for the Lost Treasure of Ching Xi Hung. However, they only got him two Talismans (the Sheep and Dragon) while their nemesis, Jackie Chan, had the other ten. By tricking Jackie's Yin (dark) side (affected by the Tiger Talisman's magic), Shendu gained the other Talismans and returned to power.

## Twelve Talismans

On the front of each talisman is an animal of the Chinese zodiac, while on the back are inscriptions that describe their powers.

## Stones

### Rooster Talisman

* Rooster **Color**: Red
* **Current Owner**: Jade
* **Previous Owners**:
* **Description**: The user of the Rooster Talisman gains the Power of Levitation and Telekinesis. This gives the user the power to fly and telekinetically lift objects several times their own weight. The stronger the person's willpower and strength, the more weight and speed can be achieved. In terms of speed, an airborne user can fly fast enough to almost keep pace with a race horse at full gallop.

### Ox Talisman

* **Ox Color**: Blue
* **Current Owner**: Jade
* **Previous Owners**
* **Description**: The user of the Ox Talisman gains the power of super strength. The exact limits of this strength (if any) are unknown, but users are certainly well-within superhuman levels. With the talisman, the user is able to effortlessly lift objects weighing multiple tons with one arm and throw them, knock back opponents significantly larger than them and cause great destruction, like demolishing an entire building, slicing a mountain in half and creating a hole in a wall by placing one's finger on it.

### Reality Stone

File:Aether2.png
* **Stone Color**: Red
* **Original Containment Unit**: **Aether**
* **Current Location**: Knowhere, inside the Collector's Museum (since 2013)
* **Current Owner**: Taneleer Tivan (since 2013)
* **Previous Owners**:
	+ Cosmic Entities
	+ Malekith (until 2988 BC)
	+ Bor (2988 BC)
	+ Jane Foster (2013)
	+ Malekith (2013)
	+ Asgard (2013)
* **Description**: The Aether appears as a dark, red, viscous liquid, unlike the other encountered Infinity Stone containment units that appear solid. The Aether acts like a symbiotic force, capable of being absorbed into the body of a living host, giving the user the ability to warp reality at will, granting that person immense strength, power, and seemingly unlimited capabilities. Malekith planned to use the Aether's reality bending abilities to cover all Nine Realms in darkness; however, he was stopped by the combined efforts of Thor and Jane Foster. Only two people, Jane Foster and Malekith, are known to have been hosts for the Aether, but circumstances prevented the full extent of the Aether's potential from being explored. It is later shown that the Aether is actually an Infinity Stone contained in liquid form, and in Thor's vision this liquid solidifies into the red Reality Stone.

### Power Stone

File:Power Stone-Clean.png
* **Stone Color**: Purple
* **Original Containment Unit**: **Orb**
* **Current Location**: Xandar, inside Nova Corps's Vault (since 2014)
* **Current Owner**: Nova Corps (since 2014)
* **Previous Owners**:
	+ Cosmic Entities
	+ Celestials (before 20th Century)
	+ Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
	+ Ronan the Accuser (2014)
* **Description**: The Orb is the protective housing of the purple Power Stone. The stone is an incredible power source, it increase the user's physical abilities and allows it to manipulate energy, which, when used at full potential, has enough power to obliterate an entire planet. This stone was sought by Thanos, who tasked Ronan the Accuser to acquire it from the dead planet of Morag, in exchange for destroying Xandar. Star-Lord acquired the stone instead and was prepared to give it to Taneleer Tivan with Gamora until its destructive power was unleashed at Knowhere. Soon after, Ronan obtained it and harnessed its energy with the intent of destroying all life on Xandar and killing Thanos. Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy were able to take the stone from Ronan and collectively harness its power to destroy him. They then gave the stone to Nova Prime Irani Rael for safe-keeping on Xandar.

### Time Stone

 File:Eye of Agamotto.png
* **Stone Color**: Green
* **Original Containment Unit**: **Eye of Agamotto**
* **Current Location**: Earth, inside Kamar-Taj library
* **Current Owner**: Doctor Strange and Wong
* **Previous Owners**:
	+ Cosmic Entities
	+ Agamotto
	+ Ancient One
* **Description**: The Eye of Agamotto is an ancient artifact, a pendant created by Agamotto, the first Sorcerer Supreme, presumably to contain and harness the power of the green Time Stone contained inside. After being stored for an unknown amount of time on a pedestal in Kamar-Taj, it was recently wielded by Doctor Stephen Strange, first to aid him in his learning of sorcery, then in his final fight against Kaecilius and Dormammu. When wielded by someone having the necessary knowledge and skills, it appeared to be able to control the flow of time, be it on a small or massive scale, notably to turn back something to a previous state, to accelerate its time in order to apply changes that have not happened yet, or to lock it in a time loop, resetting its state until the wielder stops its effect. It appeared skilled sorcerers, or perhaps users of powers from the Dark Dimension could to an extent subtract themselves to the effects of the stone, stopping the time reversal affecting oneself or detecting one was stuck in a time loop. It was noted by Wong and Karl Mordo that the use of the Eye was contrary to the natural order of things, and extremely dangerous. With Wong's approval, it was placed back on its pedestal by Strange until he learned how to properly harness its powers.

## Trivia

* Combining this power with the Rabbit Talisman allows for supersonic flight.

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `AAoU`
2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `TTDW`
3. ↑ *Guardians of the Galaxy*
4. ↑ James Gunn on Twitter
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `DS`