Infinity Gems
The Infinity Gems are a number of artifacts that feature in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
They were extremely powerful gems containing the ability to control Time (orange), Space (purple), Reality (yellow), Mind (blue), Power (red), and the Soul (green). They were apparently once part of a being of infinite power, known as Nemesis, that lived before existence- but lived alone. It supposedly destroyed itself from loneliness, leaving the Gems- and all realities- as its remains. Its sentience remained as the Ego Gem- which was separated from the others for a time. The other Gems were originally scattered across the universe. The mad Titanian Thanos gathered the Infinity Gems together once into a weapon, with which he planned to destroy the universe- he was stopped by Adam Warlock, at the cost of Warlock's- and Thanos'- lives.
The Gems were given to five of the Elders of the Universe- the Time Gem to the Gardener, the Space Gem to the Runner, the Reality Gem to the Collector, and the Mind Gem to the Grandmaster. The Soul Gem was an exception, granted to the In-Betweener. Thanos, resurrected from the dead by Mistress Death, confronted these guardians and gathered the Infinity Gems once more, forming them into the Infinity Gauntlet.
With absolute power over all existence, Thanos slew half of the universe's population to please his mistress. A force of superheroes attacked Thanos, but he defeated them all- this was followed by a force of cosmic beings, including Eternity himself. Thanos barely defeated them, becoming one with the universe- but leaving his physical body vulnerable, allowing Nebula to take the Gauntlet for herself. Less experienced in its power, Nebula was attacked by the remaining heroes and cosmic beings, while the resurrected Adam Warlock used his connection to the Soul Gem to disrupt the Gauntlet from within, taking it for himself.
Eventually, Eternity petitioned the Living Tribunal to prevent the Gems from being used in unison again, and Warlock eventually agreed to this decision. He formed the Infinity Watch, giving the Gems to Gamora (Time), Pip the Troll (Space), Moondragon (Mind), and Drax the Destroyer (Power). He kept the Soul Gem for himself, and entrusted the Reality Gem (secretly) to none other than Thanos. The Gems were reunited briefly by the Magus, when the Tribunal's edict was temporarily lifted, but the Reality Gem was not part of the equation and the Magus was defeated through that deficiency. The Infinity Gems were given back to their owners again.
Sometime later, the entity known as Rune, who hailed from another reality, took the Gems from the Watch and attempted to use them together himself. The Living Tribunal detected this, and sent the Silver Surfer to battle Rune. The creature, unused to the infinite, was defeated, but the Gems were scattered across Rune's home universe. Warlock disbanded the Infinity Watch and went into Rune's reality to retrieve the Infinity Gems.
The Gems temporarily merged with the Ego Gem to reform Nemesis, which temporarily created the Sketch World (a pocket dimension combining elements of Rune's "Ultraverse" with Earth-616). Nemesis was destroyed by the combined forces of Ultraforce and the Avengers, shattering the link between the gems. They split into individual beings, and the Reality and Time Gems worked together to stabilize- if not undo- the warping effects Nemesis' power had on the Ultraverse.
Overview
The Infinity Stones were described as being a kind of computer code for universe with them being the source code that allowed the user to rewrite reality around them or even transverse different realities. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #10)
Notes
- The Infinity Gems was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane where they made their first appearance in Marvel Premiere v1 #1 (April, 1972).
In other media
Television
- In Avengers Assemble, the Infinity Stones appeared in the setting of the animated television series where they featured in the second season. Within the continuity of the show, there were only five stones with the Soul Stone not present in this setting.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Infinity Stones made multiple appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Avengers: Infinity War, the Infinity Stones featured heavily in the setting of the live-action film as Thanos began to claim their power with him constructing the Infinity Gauntlet to wield them all.
Video games
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, the Infinity Stones appeared in the setting of the mobile video game. They were gathered by Thanos only for them to be shattered from his gauntlet causing them to be scattered across the Battlerealm. Two new stones were created in the setting of the game with these being the black gem Death Stone which was a copy of reality but dead and soulless with the other being the Chaos Stone.
- In Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, the Infinity Stones feature in the story of the fighting video game and featured as a gameplay mechanic where they could be equipped to enhance a characters particular abilities. During the story mode, it was revealed that Death and Jedah Dohma created a pact between themselves to balance the scales between life and death in their respective universes with them requiring the Infinity Stones. The stones were given to select individuals to achieve this goal. However, Ultron and Sigma decided to turn on their allies and formed their own pact where they merged to become Ultron Sigma who unleashed the Sigma Virus to eliminate all organic life as the two universes began to merge with one another.
Appearances
- Marvel Premiere:
- New Avengers:
- All-New Guardians of the Galaxy:
- Guardians of the Galaxy:
- Infinity Countdown:
