The Internet Reacts to Thanos' Birth Name

One of the biggest, baddest, most villainous threats in the Marvel Universe may sometimes be called The Dark Lord or The Mad Titan, but he's always had just one real, fear-inspiring name -- Thanos.

Always, that is, until last week's issue of Thanos. In that issue the big purple bad guy encountered an elderly future version of himself. Now, Thanos as we know him is understandably skeptical of this older guy, but the older Titan reveals a piece of information that confirms he is who he says he is. That information? The name Thanos' mother had chosen for him before she went mad -- Dione.

Like the name Thanos, which is related to the name of the Greek god of death Thanatos, Dione also has a mythological history. In mythology, Dione is a female titan or goddess and is mentioned in The Iliad as the mother of Aphrodite, though other writers note her as the mother of Dionysus.

Of course, series writer Donny Cates was quick to clarify that the Mad Titan's real name is, in fact, Thanos.

"Yeah. Not really," Cates tweeted. "It's the name his mother was GOING to name him before she looked at him and went insane and named him Thanos. Not really his "True name" but rather, what he would have been called had his mother not lost her mind. His name is THANOS. And he wins. Quite a lot."

Even with the clarification, though, fans have had a field day responding to the unusual potential "real" name for the Mad Titan, with some even suggesting that this is how the heroes could defeat him in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. Who knows, it might be worth a shot.

Read on for the internet's reaction to Thanos' "real" name.