Thanos
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Thanos (aka: The Mad Titan) |
| Occupation: | conqueror |
| Relationships: | Gamora (adopted daughter), Nebula (adopted daughter) |
| Fandom: | Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe |
| Other: | Played by Josh Brolin imdb page |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
This article or section needs expansion. |
Thanos is a character in Marvel Comics. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe he is the main villain of Avengers: Infinity War and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.
History
Comics
Films
Thanos's first appearence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was in The Avengers (2012). He makes a cameo appearance in the middle of the end credits as Loki's mysterious benefactor, listed in the credits as Man #1.[1][2]
Josh Brolin's first (uncredited) appearance Thanos was in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), where he is introduced as the adoptive father of Gamora and Nebula who trained them to be his personal assassins. Ronan the Accuser, the film's main villain, is tracking down an Infinity Stone for Thanos.
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thanos makes a cameo appearance in the middle of the end credits. Brolin reprises his uncredited role.
Avengers films
He is the main villain of Avengers: Infinity War. His plan to kill half of all life in the universe by amassing the all-powerful Infinity Stones to complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos kidnaps Gamora, his adopted daughter, who reveals the location of the Soul Stone to save her captive adopted sister Nebula from torture. The stone can only be retrieved by sacrificing someone he loves, so he kills Gamora. The Avengers team up against him, but Thanos activates the completed Infinity Gauntlet. When he snaps, half of all life across the universe disintegrates.
Characters who were killed include: T'Challa, Groot, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Mantis, Drax, Peter Quill, Doctor Strange, and Peter Parker, as well as Maria Hill and Nick Fury.
Common Pairings
(the popular pairings for the character and a brief discussion of popularity can go here.)
Fanon and Common Tropes in Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Disintegration Meme
The sad end scene of Avengers: Infinity War, in which Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet to disintegrate half of all life in the universe, has been widely memed.
- The end scene from Infinity War, but it's set to Mad World.
- "Mr. Stark I Don't feel so good"
All that for a drop of Blood
This is a line pulled from the movie. The source material used it to show the durability and strength of Thanos. In fanfic a line similar to this is used frequently to show a similar idea.
You should have gone for the head
Thanos himself articulates what the fans are feeling during the final scenes before the snap. Telling Thor he should have killed him. This line has been used to express frustration of fans with why one of the Avengers did not remove his arm or his head. In short drabbles this is a common way Avengers: Infinity War is fixed.
Thanos beats the Avengers
This is one of the most acknowledged tropes from the comics, to the MCU, fanfic. While shorter pieces of fanfic look at ways to stop the snap, many pieces start with the fact that Thanos beats the Avengers and how they are handling it. These usually longer works of fanfic are fans’ ways of expressing their emotions toward Infinity War and their predictions and hopes for Avengers: Endgame. Those written after Infinity War start with Thanos winning and the Avengers dealing with the snap.
Thanos Rests after Beating the Avengers
Many fanfics introduce Thanos postsnap. In the movies, he becomes a farmer following the conflict, which is an appropriation of the appointed Roman Dictator Lucius Quinctius Cinicinnatus, who relinquished the dictatorship to return to his farm. Fanfics follow this same pattern and start their stories between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in the source material where Thanos is retired from conflict.
Thanos is defeated
Even though he defeats the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos is almost always defeated in some way or another in the end of fanfics.
Thanus Theory
The Thanus Theory is a half crack, half serious fannish theory how Scott Lang (Ant-Man) might have killed Thanos.
Example Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
Fanfic
- The Damage Done [1] by semaphore27
Tony Stark is prepared to admit defeat. Too many friends are dead. His ship is nearly dead. There hasn't been food or water for days, the oxygen's nearly gone, and he used the last power he had available to record a message to Pepper. Maybe, he's starting to think, it would have been better if Thanos had killed him outright.
- Family is What You Make It [2] by GoringWriting
When Tony is left in that Siberian bunker it's not Pepper or Rhodey, or even Vision that find him. It's a Hydra team. Tony resigns himself to being their science experiment when he's rescued by an unlikely team and he finds out that family is what you make it and along the way he manages to gain some allies, friends, and maybe something more.
- A Favor [3] by EmilliaGryphon
AU in which Gamora asks Rocket, not Peter, to kill her if Thanos should ever get to her.
- This is how we rise up, it’s our resistance [4] by kaaterinapetrova
There is no universe out there where Tony Stark ever accepts the death of Peter Parker.
Fanart
Vids
Other Fanworks
Archives & Communities
- Thanos (Marvel) tag on the Ao3
Links and Resources
- Thanos at Wikipedia
- Thanos (Earth-616) at Marvel Database
- Thanos at Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki
References
- ^ Kevin Feige Avengers Spoiler Podcast, Empire Magazine, accessed 2012-05-08.
- ^ The Avengers has two post-credit scenes, mystery actor revealed, IFC, 2012-05-02. Accessed 2012-05-02.