Thanos is one of Marvel‘s greatest villains. The Mad Titan first appeared in the Bronze Age in Iron Man #55. He was soon moved into the cosmic portion of the Marvel Universe and excelled. He battled heroes like Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock, and Silver Surfer, all while falling in love with Mistress Death, the ultimate show of the character’s nihilism. He’s a villain who has since developed an MO — trying to find a weapon of ultimate power so he can kill half the universe for Death — but there is so much more to the character than that. Over the years, he’s starred in event stories as the main villain and in his own series as a star, and thanks to the MCU crossed over into the greater pop culture in a way he never had before.
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Thanos is known for how deadly he is, slaughtering entire planets in his mission to kill as many as possible. To underline how deadly the Mad Titan can be, Marvel has had him kill many recognizable heroes, just to show how dangerous he is. These are the seven most powerful Marvel characters Thanos has killed over the years, proving that he’s one of the deadliest beings in creation.
7) Quasar
Quasar has never been a popular hero, despite being a former Avenger, but he is powerful. His main weapons are the Quantum Bands, which are basically a Green Lantern ring. They allow him to fly through space at superluminal speeds, create energy constructs of all kinds, and communicate with the cosmic beings Eon or Epoch (Eon died, and Epoch took its place as Quasar’s boss). He was a rather formidable cosmic hero, and was one of many characters Thanos killed in Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos blew up the Quantum Bands, and then fried him with eye blasts.
6) Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch is about to become Sorcerer Supreme, and is one of the most formidable heroes in the Marvel Universe. Her reality-altering powers and magical abilities make her a tough nut to crack, although she is a glass cannon in a lot of ways. Thanos has killed her several times over the years, but the most memorable time was in Infinity Gauntlet. She was firing hex blasts at him and he turned the power back on her, eventually using her own energies to disintergrate her. Now this was way back in 1991; Wanda wasn’t the reality-altering being that she is now. However, she was still plenty powerful back then, so it’s still pretty impressive.
5) Sersi
The Avengers have boasted many powerful heroes over the years, but few of them are as potent as the Eternal Sersi. The immortal woman has the standard Eternals powers like super strength, speed, and agility, cosmic energy manipulation, indestructibility, and flight, as well as low-level telepathy, all of which make her very powerful. On top of all that, she also has matter manipulating powers which allow to change anything into anything she wishes. She’s a cauldron of cosmic power that can control all of the matter around her, and there are few out there as powerful as she is. That said, she also has one of the least interesting deaths of any character Thanos killed. She was killed in the Snap, disappearing right in front of Captain America’s eyes. The Mad Titan never even knew he killed her, but she was dead all the same.
4) Namor
Namor is Marvel’s OG antihero, and one of the most formidable mutants of all time. The king of Atlantis has high-level super strength, speed, invulnerability, and flight, and is strong enough to challenge even the most powerful Avengers’ teams. He’s a titan, one who slips and slides between heroism and villainy whenever he feels the urge to. He’s respected and feared by the heroes and villains of the Earth, but Thanos made short work of him in Infinity Gauntlet. Namor got two attacks in, but on the second one, the Mad Titan tapped his chest, causing an uncontrollable fungus to grow over his body, which eventually suffocated him.
3) She-Hulk
She-Hulk doesn’t get the credit she deserves for just how powerful she is. The Hulk’s cousin gained the same gamma powers as he has from a blood transfusion. She ended up with vast super strength and invulnerability, as well as the healing factor and the infinite strength potential. She’s even an immortal now because of the Green Door. She’s mostly been able to control her emotions better than the Jade Giant, though, so she usually doesn’t get as powerful. Thanos is scared of the Hulk, but he’s not nearly as scared of her, and he proved it in Infinity Gauntlet. She attacked alongside Namor, and died the same way, the Mad Titan’s touch causing the suffocating fungus to grow uncontrollably over her body.
2) Thor
Thor is one of Marvel’s most formidable heroes, the God of Thunder’s vast powers enhanced by his hammer Mjolnir. However, as powerful as he is, Thanos has always been able to defeat him. He’s beat the Odinson numerous times (most impressively when he Warrior Madness, which tripled his powers, and the Power Gem in “Blood and Thunder”, which you should check out; it’s one of the better ’90s Thor stories). He has killed him in stories like Infinity Gauntlet, where he changed him to glass and then smashed him, and in “Thanos Wins”, which showed an alternate future where Thanos killed everyone on Earth, including Thor. Thor can put up a good fight against the Mad Titan, but the villain usually has his number.
1) Iron Man
Iron Man’s power level may be lower than lots of beings in the Marvel Universe, but he’s still one of the most powerful around. Iron Man’s armors are extremely formidable, and his genius allows him to come up with all kinds of new weapons and strategies on the fly. He’s an amazing hero, and was the first Marvel hero Thanos faced. However, he’s died at the Mad Titan’s hands many times over the years. In Infinity Gauntlet, he had his head torn off by Terraxia, a being Thanos created with the Infinity Gauntlet to love him (I personally count this as being killed by Thanos, since Terraxia wasn’t really a person). However, his most gory death at the villain’s hands came in “Thanos Wins”, when Iron Man was torn in half by the rampaging Eternal of Titan.
What powerful Marvel characters did I miss? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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