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Infinity Stones

The Infinity Stones

Infinity Stones are a set of 6 immensely powerful stones that represents and governs over the fabrics of reality. The currently known stones include the Space Stone, the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, the Time Stone, the Power Stone and the Soul Stone, all which have been inserted into the Infinity Gauntlet by Thanos when he won the Infinity War.

Details[]

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The Collector explaining the origin of the Stones to the Guardians

The Infinity Stones were created out of the concentrated residuum of the 6 singularities which existed before the Universe came into existence. Due to their immeasurable power, the Stones were only wielded by Celestial beings who used them to eradicate planets altogether. A group of such beings tried to share and control the energy amongst themselves for a while, but were soon consumed by the Stones' power.[1]

Not much is known about their later history. At different points in time, each of them ended up at different places with one of them still missing. The Tesseract came into Odin's possession from where it was once lost and was returned again.[2] The Aether currently rests in the Collector's Museum.[3] The Chitauri Scepter was owned by Thanos at some point but it is currently with Baron von Strucker.[4] The Guardians of the Galaxy handed the Orb over to Nova Corps after defeating Ronan the Accuser of the Kree.[1]

It is believed that bringing all the Stones together would give one omnipotent power. As such, individuals like Taneleer Tevan and Thanos are on the pursuit of finding all the Infinity Stones.[1]


Infinity Stones[]

Space Stone[]

TheTesseract

The Tesseract

The Space Stone, often referred to as simply the "Tesseract", is an extremely powerful infinity gem that is a source of unlimited energy. Although its origin is ambiguous, the Tesseract is known to have been kept in Odin's Vault in Asgard, from where it was lost after the Asgardians' war with the Frost Giants.[5]

The Tesseract was discovered by Johan Schmidt, a German officer and then-leader of HYDRA, during the 1940s from a church in Norway. Schimdt then took it back to his base and conducted experiments using the cube with the help of Arnim Zola. Zola and Schmidt were able to create superior weaponry by harnessing the power of the Tesseract to use in their mission of world domination. However, Schmidt's plans were foiled by Steve Rogers who fought and defeated Red Skull aboard a plane. The brawl ended with the cube getting activated. When Schmidt attempted to hold it with his hand, he got incinerated and teleported to a different dimension. It was lost in the sea before the plane crashed with Captain America still in it. The Tesseract was later found and retrieved by Howard Stark while he was searching for Steve's body.[5]

In the 1990s, Carol Danvers & her friends found the Tesseract & they placed in S.H.I.E.L.D. security so the Kree won't get to it.

In the modern day, Tony Stark identified the Tesseract from the files brought to him by Agent Phil Coulson before Loki's attack on New York City as the cube whose drawing he stumbled across while going through his father's notes, hinting that Howard conducted his own studies about the Tesseract.[6][2]

At some point, Howard transferred the Tesseract's possession from himself to S.H.I.E.L.D.. Nick Fury, who was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director before the organization's fall, recruited Doctor Erik Selvig to study the cube's powers. During one of his experiments, Selvig accidentally opened an inter-dimensional portal through which Loki, who was tasked by Thanos to retrieve the Tesseract, arrived on Earth. Loki's arrival and the succeeding events ultimately led to the Battle of New York City between the Avengers and Loki's Chitauri army. After the battle, Thor took the Tesseract back to Asgard along with Loki as his prisoner.[2]

The Tesseract looks like a translucent glass cube which emits a blue glow.

Mind Stone[]

Loki's staff JPEG

The Chitauri Scepter

The Scepter was given to Loki by Thanos for him to use during the Chitauri invasion on Earth. It had the Mind Stone attached to one of its end which made it more powerful than any ordinary battle staffs and also enabled Loki to imbue anyone by merely nudging the Scepter against the area where their heart is. On arriving at the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, Loki used the Scepter's power to brainwash Hawkeye and Doctor Erik Selvig who then assisted in Loki's escape.[2]

The Scepter was taken from Loki after he was captured in Stuttgart and taken to the Helicarrier by Tony Stark, Captain America, and Thor where Bruce Banner tried to study its powers. The Stone, without any stimulation, exhibited its mind-control powers by making the Avengers argue amongst themselves while an indoctrinated Hawkeye prepared to attack the Helicarrier with his men. Loki took advantage of the strife that followed to escape with the Scepter after killing Agent Coulson.[2]

Before the Battle of New York City, Tony Stark confronted Loki at Stark Tower where Loki tried to control him but Tony's arc reactor prevented the Stone's power from influencing him. Meanwhile, the Chitauri army arrived on Earth commencing the battle. After stopping the invasion, Loki surrendered to the Avengers and Thor took him back to Asgard as a prisoner.[2] The Scepter was taken to a facility known as S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N. to be studied.[7]

Two years later, some time before S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall, the Scepter was stolen by Baron von Strucker - a HYDRA commander, from S.T.A.T.I.O.N. with the help of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent called Mark Smith who was loyal to him. It was taken to a HYDRA facility in Sokovia where Strucker hoped to study and harness the Scepter's powers with the help of Doctor List. After using it to create weapons Strucker wanted to move on to human-experiments.[7]

Sokovia was in a state of political turmoil and its citizens were leading protests against their government. Strucker promised the protesters powers similar to the Avengers if they volunteered for his experiments.[7] Only two of the volunteers survived the experiments - Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Pietro gained the power of super-speed and Wanda got the abilities of neuro-electric sensitivity and micro-cellular manipulation.[4]

In addition to mind-control, the Scepter allowed Loki to fire blue energy beams from the Stone and was also used as a weapon in close-combat. It also help Loki in opening an inter-dimensional portal to communicate with the Other before infiltrating the palace in Stuttgart.[2] At S.T.A.T.I.O.N., one of the lead scientists - Nicholas Cooper, noticed that the Tesseract exhibited some kind of response when the Scepter was brought near it.[7]

Reality Stone[]

Screen-Shot-2013-12-05-at-20.16

The Aether

During the war between the Dark Elves and Asgardians that took place many millennia ago, Malekith - leader of the elves - created the Aether out of darkness and sought to unleash it as a weapon to their advantage when the Nine Realms converged. However, his plans were thwarted after being defeated by King Bor and his army. Malekith sacrificed his own army and fled the battleground with his lieutenant, Algrim. Since it could not be destroyed, King Bor hid the Aether inside an isolated stone column in Svartalfheim.[3]

In 2013, Jane Foster passed through an inter-dimensional portal in London, generated as an effect of the imminent convergence, while investigating the strange physical phenomena in an abandoned warehouse. The portal led her to the stone column in Svartalfheim where she unknowingly released the Aether, which she absorbed into her body.[3]

After being informed by Heimdall about Jane's disappearance, Thor came to Earth and took her back to Asgard where she was examined by Odin himself who confirmed that the Aether was inside her body. Awakened by the Aether's presence, Malekith started another attack on Asgard to retrieve it. After the attack, Thor took Jane to Svartalfheim with Loki's help to lure out Malekith and defeat him.[3]

There, Loki tricked Malekith into drawing the Aether out of Jane's body which then merged with Malekith. Jane and Thor returned to London through a portal where Thor engaged in another fight with Malekith. The conflict ended with Thor defeating Malekith and foiling his plan. The Aether was taken by Volstagg and Lady Sif to the Collector as it was considered too dangerous to keep two Infinity Stones at close proximity in Asgard.[3]

Unlike the other stones, the Aether appears in a fluid state. The Aether has the power to convert matter into dark matter and draw energy from host-bodies.[3]

Power Stone[]

Orb unlocked

The Orb

Not much is known about the early history of the Orb. It was stolen from a vault in the abandoned planet of Morag by Peter Quill, who escaped with it to the planet Xandar, where he tried to sell to someone known as The Broker. At Xandar, Peter was intercepted by Gamora, who was sent by Ronan the Accuser to retrieve the Orb, and two bounty hunters - Rocket Raccoon and Groot - who wanted to capture Quill to get the bounty declared on him by Yondu Udonta.[1]

The four of them were imprisoned by the Nova Corps in The Kyln. While in the prison, Gamora revealed that Ronan wanted to use the Orb to destroy several planets starting with Xandar, but she did not plan on giving it to him. The four companions then broke out of the prison along with Drax the Destroyer and traveled to Knowhere to meet Gamora's buyer - the Collector.[1]

The Collector unlocked the Infinity Stone inside the Orb and, as he was explaining its significance to his clients, his assistant Carina tried to grab the Stone with her hand which triggered an explosion. Meanwhile, Ronan arrived at Knowhere with his forces. After the fight that followed, Ronan escaped with the Orb and decided to proceed with his plan of destruction after attaching the Stone to his hammer.[1]

With the help of the Nova Corps, Peter Quill and his companions fought Ronan's army. Towards the end of the fight, Groot sacrificed himself and Ronan's ship crashed on Xandar's ground. Quill, Gamora, Rocket, and Drax then harnessed the power of the Stone to obliterate Ronan. Afterwards, Peter Quill tricked Yondu by giving him a fake Orb and gave the real one, along with the Stone, to the Nova Corps for safe custody.[1]

Time Stone[]

Originally kept at Kamar-Taj and protected by the Ancient One. The Time Stone is later worn by Dr. Strange to defeat Dormammu.

During the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos seeked to collect all the infinity stones and dispatched Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian to go after Dr. Strange, who at the time was with Tony Stark, Bruce Banner and Peter Parker. After many attempts by Ebony Maw and torturing Strange to get the stone, Maw was eventually defeated, keeping the stone safe at the time.

After the plan of Tony, Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Peter Parker had failed, Strange chose to hand over the stone to Thanos as long as he spared Stark. After that, Thanos got the infinity stone and eventually Strange vanished after the snap.

Soul Stone[]

It lies in Vormir.

Capabilities[]

Whoever holds all 6 Infinity Stones & uses them in concert gains omnipotence & omniscience. The 6 primary stones are the Mind Stone (Blue/Yellow), Soul Stone (Green/Orange), Space Stone (Purple/Blue), Power Stone (Red/Purple), Time Stone (Orange/Green) & Reality Stone (Yellow/Red). They even each contain the powers of:

As the Infinity Stones are the representation of all the necessary aspects of existence, they have absolute control over the fabric of reality they represent and from it, they derive extremely powerful capabilities to be wielded and are the most powerful artifacts in the known universe. Thor describes the Infinity Stones as the greatest power in the universe, and "unparalleled" in their destructive capabilities. The power of the Time Stone was able to render even a tremendously powerful cosmic being of Dormammu's caliber powerless to do anything to break it. The Reality Stone's power can affect the whole universe, with Malekith intending to use its capabilities to cover the whole universe in darkness. The Space Stone was thought to be capable of channeling energy sufficient to destroy a planet with the Power Stone being able to destroy worlds simply via its energy making contact with their surface. Even Asgard deems it unwise to house 2 stones in one place, despite the fact that their vault is extremely well guarded.

Augmented by the Power Stone, the Dark Aster was able to easily breach the considerable defenses that surrounded Xandar with Irani Rael declaring a state of emergency once she learned that Ronan wielded it. One of the greatest feats of power ever to be seen from the use of the Infinity Stones was their power to force living beings to die out. Such power alone was the true motivation for Thanos to seek out the Infinity Stones in the first place. When all 6 Stones are brought together and properly channeled, they make their wielder virtually omnipotent, being able to affect the universe in almost any way they choose, which Thanos demonstrated when he killed half of all life in the universe via a simple finger snap. However, the same Infinity Stones were even used to resurrect all those who were decimated by Thanos. The combined power of all the Infinity Stones could not resurrect Natasha Romanoff, however, who had sacrificed herself so that the Avengers could have the Soul Stone.

The Soul Stone was located in Vormir and had held a special place within the ranks of the Infinity Stones. According to Wong's ancient texts, the Soul Stone could be the most powerful Infinity Stone there is. In order to wield the Soul Stone, the Soul Stone demanded those who seek to wield it must first sacrifice someone they genuinely care for, so as to ensure that he who seeks the Soul Stone does indeed understand its power. The Soul Stone can manipulate the spiritual essence of living or deceased beings, making it the most powerful of all the Infinity Stones. The Soul Stone even has a pocket dimension within it called Soulworld. Soulworld consists entirely of shallow water underneath a dim orange sky, where the souls of the dead can be communicated with. The Soul Stone was located in Vormir and had held a special place within the ranks of the Infinity Stones. According to Wong's ancient texts, the Soul Stone could be the most powerful Infinity Stone there is. In order to wield the Soul Stone, the Soul Stone demanded those who seek to wield it must first sacrifice someone they genuinely care for, so as to ensure that he who seeks the Soul Stone does indeed understand its power. The Soul Stone can manipulate the spiritual essence of living or deceased beings, making it the most powerful of all the Infinity Stones. The Soul Stone even has a pocket dimension within it called Soulworld. Soulworld consists entirely of shallow water underneath a dim orange sky, where the souls of the dead can be communicated with.

However, due to their sheer power, only a single being of exceptional power, or collections of lesser beings who are unified and focused in their intent, is able to wield the stones. As a result, the Stones were often placed in mediums that would allow for a limited, but more stable, access to their power such as the Eye of Agamotto or the Scepter. Metals appear to serve as useful inhibitors for the Stones. Ultron, then formed out of a titanium alloy, was able to hold the Mind Stone in his bare hands and Gamora was instantly able to contain the Power Stone, which had been radiating massively destructive energies, with a simple, mass produced, metallic container. The power of all 6 Stones can be harnessed collectively, but prior to Thanos completing the Infinity Gauntlet, this had never been accomplished, all who attempted being overwhelmed by the powers of the individual Stones. However, even the Gauntlet itself was left heavily burnt from channeling and focusing the power of all 6 Stones being seemingly rendered useless after it had done this a second time.

The Stones, due to their immense power, are near-completely indestructible with King Bor viewing even the full might of Asgard as insufficient to destroy the Aether with the same stone later being unharmed by Thor unleashing his lightning on it. The only known way to destroy an Infinity Stone is via something that possess the same unique energy signature as the Stones themselves. This was first seen when the Scepter, the housing unit for the Mind Stone, was able to pierce an energy barrier generated by the Space Stone during the Battle of New York. In the Infinity War, Vision correctly theorized and that if Scarlet Witch were to focus all of her energy back into the Mind Stone, the stone's molecular integrity would fail and it would be destroyed. Though she was able to do so, it still took considerable time and effort. The Stone's destruction unleashed all the energies contained within, though the resulting wave was harmless. Her powers likewise allowed her to commune with, and to a limited extent, control the Stone, having it increase Vision's density against his will. Three weeks after the Snap, Thanos used the Infinity Stones to destroy themselves by turning their energy inward, "[reducing them] to atoms." The only known way to recreate a destroyed Infinity Stone is to use the Time Stone to rewind time to before its destruction. Following the Destruction of Asgard however, Thor believed that the fully empowered Surtur had destroyed the Tesseract, suggesting that a sufficiently powerful being could destroy a Stone.

Using the combined power of all the Infinity Stones simultaneously through the Infinity Gauntlet puts incredibly high amounts of strain on the wearer of the Gauntlet, even risking death. Should the user survive channeling the Stones' energy, they risk burning the side of their body the Stones were on. Thanos barely survived a second snapping, which he used to destroy the stones, being left severely injured and weakened, so much so that he was unable to defend himself against the Avengers when he was ambushed. A past version of Thanos even had his arm burnt by simply wearing the Nano Gauntlet, which itself was not completely efficient in containing the Stones' energy. Hulk was likewise able to survive a snap due to the energy released by the Infinity Stones being mostly gamma radiation, but this came at the cost of his right arm. Hulk even theorized that not even Thor, an exceptionally powerful Asgardian, would be unable to survive a snap, though it should be noted that Thor was not in good physical condition at the time.

The energy derived from the Stones has shown the ability to grant superhuman powers. When exposed to the Space Stone derived energies of the Light-Speed Engine, Carol Danvers was gifted with powers based on those of the Space Stone, particularly her enhanced speed and energy channeling. Likewise, the energy of the Mind Stone allowed Wanda Maximoff to develop telekinetic and telepathic abilities and also granted her brother Pietro the power of superhuman speed. These powers even persisted when the Stones had been destroyed.

Other Infinity Stones[]

  • Ego Stone (White): The Ego Gem contains the consciousness of the cosmic entity Nemesis and recreates her when united with the other six Gems. The Ego Gem is found in the Ultraverse when the Asgardian god Loki attempts to steal the other six Gems. In the Marvel Super Hero Squad universe and other related media, the gem was re-imagined as the Infinity Sword. It contains the powers of Ego Embodiment (Evil Power/Powers & the powers of Hell, the 7 Deadly Sins & the Satan Pantheon / 7 rulers of Hell). Ego is the opposite of Modestness (Good Powers & the powers of Heaven, the 7 Heavenly Virtues & the Divine / Holy Trinity [God, Jesus Christ & the Holy Spirit).
  • Rhythm Stone (Pink): In the Marvel Super Hero Squad universe and related media, a seventh Rhythm Gem exists. The acquisition of the Infinity Gems is the main focus of The Super Hero Squad Shows second season as well as the Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet video game. The Rhythm Gem is revealed to be a fake Gem created by Loki as part of a scheme. It contains the powers of Rhythm Intuition / Rhythm Manipulation. Rhythm is the opposite if jerkiness.
  • Build Stone (Red): In the Lego Marvel Super Heroes - Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat animated film, a seventh Build Stone exists. Thanos seeks to possess the Build Stone in order to build a weapon.
  • Death Stone (Yellow): In The Infinity Gauntlet 2015 limited series, released as part of the Secret Wars crossover event, Anwen Bakian uses the Reality Stone to create the Death Stone. Anwen gives it to Thanos, and it corrupts him with black matter and turns him to dust. It contains the powers of Dark Matter Manipulation.
  • Continuity Stone (Black): The Continuity Stone is an Infinity Stone that could only be found in the Deadpool story arcs. In a certain issue, Deadpool gets his hands on the Continuity Stone, which gives the characters the powers to talk to the comic book writers themselves. It contains the powers of Continuity ManipulationSpace-Time LordshipMeta ObjectPlot Control.

In The Marvel Contest of Champions[]

In Battlerealm, Infinity Stones are created by channeling the energies released by the great battles of the Contest of Champions. The convoluted nature of Battlerealm, however, make them unstable and hard to control.

Trivia[]

  • A glimpse of the Infinity Gauntlet, a magical glove used in the comics to combine the six stones, kept inside Odin's vault is shown in Thor.
  • The Tesseract is based upon an Infinity Gem called the Cosmic Cube which appears in Marvel Comics though it is never addressed by that name in any of the movies.

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