The Children of Thanos (formerly known as Thanos-Thralls) were an army and fleet of the followers of Thanos from his Cosmic Cube campaign to his Infinity Gauntlet campaign.[2][3] It was made up of outcasts, malcontents, pirates, mercenaries, nihilists, psychotics, and religious zealots from across known space.[4][5][3] They possessed hundreds of warships, each of which was heavily armed and had the firepower to ravage Earth. The fleet could overwhelm any planetary defenses and was able to take on almost any intergalactic force.[4][5][3]
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Sanctuary escorted by the Children of Thanos fleet
They followed him because he lead them on a quest for glory. They fought and died on his side, his dreams becoming theirs. Thanos promised them a new life and that he would not let down all who honored the name of Thanos.[1] After Thanos's first death, his followers began to worship Thanos and came to believe in a prophecy regarding his eventual resurrection, at which point he would bring back the days of blood and glory.[1][6]
History
After Thanos slaughtered the inhabitants of Titan, he populated it with his army.[7] He used it as his base of operations in his goal of galactic domination via the Cosmic Cube.[8] Despite being in possession of the Cosmic Cube and thereby a nearly omnipotent cosmic being, he ordered his fleet to attack the Earth.[4]
The Avengers headed out to space to intercept the approaching fleet and did battle. They discovered a black force field within which was a colossal spacecraft which they boarded. After defeating its defenders, they learned that the spacecraft's systems made it so that anyone within range would understand the words of any language, as they would perceive it in their own tongue. They destroyed the ship, resulting in confusion in the fleet as the multi-species crews no longer understood each other. Which lead to fear and then violence as they turned on each other, devastating the fleet. None of his thralls were aware of the fact that Thanos had deliberately sacrificed the entire fleet[9] simply to make sure that the Avengers were off Earth when he used his new power to shift the entire planet into a space/time continuum one heartbeat ahead of normal, something that caused the non-shifted Avengers to disappear soon after returning to the shifted Earth.[7]
Later, when Thanos planned to commit total stellar genocide with a Star-Gem into which he had combined elements from the six Soul Gems, he used Sanctuary II and an army of Thanos-thralls aboard it as a decoy to keep the Avengers and their allies occupied while he was on the opposite side of the Sun, on Sanctuary III, preparing to use his ion-laser projector (the Star-Burster) to cause the Sun to go nova. However, Adam Warlock learned of his deception and led Captain Marvel, Iron Man and Thor to the other space ark. After Mar-Vell knocked himself out while smashing the projector, Thanos was kept busy battling and quickly killing Warlock, thereby giving the other two heroes time to arrive. While Thor engaged Thanos, Iron Man destroyed the Star-Gem, preventing Thanos from destroying every star in the universe.[5] Seeking revenge for being thwarted, Thanos returned to Sanctuary III, took personal command of the thralls, and the Avengers were swiftly defeated and imprisoned. Thanos planned to used Warlock's Soul Gem to power the Ion Cannon to destroy the Sun. Although Spider-Man and the Thing arrived and freed the other heroes, Thanos and his army of thralls would have killed them all if Adam Warlock had not been released from the Soul Gem as the Ultimate Avenger who killed Thanos by transforming his body into solid granite. With their leader gone, the thralls quickly surrendered and, after being disarmed, were released by the Avengers.[10]
Later, it turned out that Titan's computer I.S.A.A.C. had been corrupted by Thanos, and it executed a backup plan after his death, one which was to destroy life on Earth and eventually the rest of the universe. It used the Children of Thanos and its own creations (super powered artificial lifeforms) in its plan. They were almost successful in destroying the Earth, using a death ray with the energy of three suns that barely missed the planet by a quarter-mile.[11]
Later, some Thanos-thralls who fervently believed the promises that Thanos had made about giving them a new life began to worship Thanos as a god. They renamed themselves the Children of Thanos and returned to Sanctuary II where they awaited his resurrection. When Mentor, Eros and Mar-Vell came to the ark to retrieve Thanos's stone body, a small group of these Thanos-worshippers attacked them as infidels but were swiftly defeated. After one of them revealed who they were, Mentor called them blind fools who worshipped an evil lunatic who had used them and would have sacrificed them without a second thought or remorse. Mentor then ordered them to leave that place of evil and find a new life for themselves.[1]
Later, after Death actually did resurrect him, Thanos returned to Sanctuary III and reclaimed it from Nebula.[6] While Thanos was away, Captain Styx assembled a massive fleet around this Sanctuary to serve Thanos which pleased him greatly. Thanos decreed that they were to serve as his personal guard and provided them a bountiful booty of treasure.[3]Paraphernalia
Weapons
Transportation
Trivia
- In Earth-829, a timeline in which Thanos was not resurrected after being turned to stone, an alien named Dhielus Shreck who lived in the late 24th century was the last surviving disciple of Thanos.[12]
See Also
- 19 appearance(s) of Children of Thanos (Earth-616)
- 2 minor appearance(s) of Children of Thanos (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Children of Thanos (Earth-616)
- 6 image(s) of Children of Thanos (Earth-616)
- 7 member(s) of Children of Thanos (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Death of Captain Marvel #1
- ↑ Captain Marvel #27
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #45
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Captain Marvel #31
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Avengers Annual #7
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #38
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Captain Marvel #33
- ↑ Captain Marvel #30–33
- ↑ Avengers #125
- ↑ Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2
- ↑ Captain Marvel #58–62
- ↑ Hercules (Vol. 2) #3