- "She just told everyone your deepest, darkest secret!"
- ―Drax the Destroyer[src]
Mantis is a young empathic woman raised by Ego and recruited as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Since she was a kid, Mantis helped Ego with her powers until the Guardians of the Galaxy came on Ego's planet. She allied with them and helped to prevent Ego from conquering the Galaxy, joining the Guardians.
Biography[]
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Early Years[]
Mantis was taken by Ego from an orphanage and brought to his planet. There she lived alone with Ego since she was a larvae, and as such is naive, and does not know much about social interaction.[2]
Meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy[]
Mantis and Ego meeting the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Mantis first met the Guardians on the planet Berhert. There, she was introduced to the Guardians as a friend and ally to Ego. During this brief interaction on Berhert, Peter Quill was quickly swayed to travel with Mantis and Ego to visit their planet. Even though she was shy and insecure, she managed to bond with the Guardians during this time. And at one point, even betrayed her "master", Ego, by telling Drax what the Ego did to his own children.[2]
Drax, Peter Quill and Gamora then boarded Ego's Ship, soon to reach Ego's planet. Mantis briefly tended to Ego separate to the others, using her empathic powers to induce a state of sleep upon Ego. With Ego unconscious, Mantis soon returned to Drax, Quill and Gamora. Unaware of social convention, Mantis used her empathic powers to reveal Quill's love for Gamora, without realising the value of his privacy.
Battle on Ego's Planet[]
Mantis putting Ego "to sleep".
After being encouraged by Drax, Mantis was able to use her powers to make Ego sleep, keeping him from fighting for a few minutes, almost until Baby Groot managed to put a bomb on Ego's core. She was knocked unconscious by Ego's power, and Drax carried her to the surface so they could be rescued. She remained with the Guardians after this.[2]
Personality[]
Mantis is somewhat naïve, showing no offence when Drax refers to her as Ego's pet and not understanding what a practical joke is or that she embarrassed Quill by revealing his attraction to Gamora. This is probably due to her being isolated with Ego for most of her life. She holds a passive demeanour, always bowing her head in Ego's presence and being hesitant to attack anyone.
Powers and Abilities[]
- "When I touch someone, I can feel their feelings."
- ―Mantis to Guardians of the Galaxy[src]
Mantis uses her abilities to experience laughter with Drax.
- Empathy: Mantis can sense a person's emotions and feelings through mere touch making her antennas light-up. She was able to feel that Star-Lord was attracted to Gamora just by touching his hand. In addition, she can also experience a person's feeling's rather than simply sensing them, allowing her to feel the grief and sadness of Drax the Destroyer, which caused her to weep, even while he remained emotionless on the outside.
- Pathokinesis: Mantis is also able to manipulate emotions to some degree using her touch. For example, she can make a sad person happy, or calm down an angry one. She has even shown herself to be able to make people more docile, to the point of unconsciousness.
- Sleep Inducement: Mantis can, also through touch, cause a person to fall asleep almost instantly, using her powers to manipulate a person into becoming docile. This technique can even incapacitate an enraged Celestial, but doing so requires a lot of willpower.
- Enhanced Durability: Though outwardly she appears weak and does not demonstrate having great physical strength, Mantis can has shown herself to have an extreme resilient to injury, further than that of humans and similar to that of Gamora or Drax the Destroyer. She was therefore able to effortlessly land on her feet, completely unharmed after falling from several stories with Drax and Gamora and was merely knocked unconscious when a piece of debris struck her at full force.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Guardians of the Galaxy - Teammates
- Nebula - Former Teammate
- Ravagers
Enemies[]
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Mantis was a human of Vietnamese and German descent whose father left her in the care of a sect of the Kree Empire called the Priests of Pama, who raised her with the intent of eventually mating her with the Cotati to produce a Celestial Messiah, as part of their religious prophecies. Later, she had her memory wiped and was sent to live alongside mankind to gain life experience, and has been a member of the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Fantastic Four, and the Inhumans on various occasions.
Behind the Scenes[]
- In an interview, executive producer Jonathan Schwartz said “She has never really experienced social interaction, everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from.”[3]
References[]
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