THANOS

 

THANOS

Real Name: Thanos

First Appearance: Iron Man (Vol. 1) #55, February 1973

Powers: Thanos is a Titanian Eternal. Born with greyish-purple skin and red eyes with no pupils, he was considered a mutant by Titanian Eternal standards in that he is markedly different from his parents. By far the most powerful of the Titanian Eternals, his genetic mutation gave him a massive, heavy-bided body with the capacity to synthesize cosmic energy for certain personal uses (This is a trait that Thanos shared with his father, A’Lars, and all Earth-born Eternals, but not with his fellow Titan-born Eternals).

By augmenting his natural powers through cybernetics, mysticism, and even through additional power granted him by Mistress Death herself, Thanos increased his physical strength and resilience to levels surpassing even the strongest of the Earth Eternals, at approximately Class 100. His power was also augmented in other ways, enabling him to tap, transform, and direct vast quantities of cosmic energy for destructive force. His skin is nearly invulnerable, particularly against heat, cold, electricity, radiation, toxins, aging, and disease, and he can survive indefinitely without food or water even before his "curse" from Death left him immortal, unable to die. He is capable of surviving unaided in the vacuum of space. Though not an acrobat by any means, Thanos' speed, agility, and reflexes are much greater than his massive size would indicate.

Besides destructive force, he can also manipulate vast amounts of cosmic energy to produce various levels of heat, light, explosive energy, and disintegration from his hands or eyes, as well as the power to shape fields of protective force. Thanos has also been shown generating a nimbus of energy around his hands which apparently increases the force of his blows even further. He has some limited access to telepathic and molecular rearrangement powers, but has always employed these feats sparingly, if at all. He had occasionally killed a victim by turning them into lifeless stone. His indomitable will gives him great advantage in mental conflicts, even against opponents who possess fully-developed telepathic powers. He usually employed a hovering chair with additional offensive weapons and the ability to teleport fantastic distances.