| Comics | Mainstream |
|---|---|
| Movies | Marvel Cinematic Universe |
| Shows | Super Hero Squad |
| Games | Marvel vs. Capcom |
Summary
The Infinity Stones are artifacts of nebulous origins, and accounts of their creation vary. A prominent one, given by Thanos of Titan and seemingly discovered by him upon gazing into the Infinity Well, is that the Stones are the last remnants of the power of an ancient, god-like entity that once was all that existed in any and all realities, who, plagued by unendurable loneliness, committed an act of cosmic suicide, the aftermath of which gave birth to the universe at large, and with it, to the Infinity Stones, which embodied core aspects of reality and acted as the six cornerstones of all actuality: Reality, Power, Mind, Soul, Time and space.
This explanation would also fit with what happened to the second iteration of the Marvel omniverse.
Yet another account, given by the World-Eater Galactus, is that the Stones were simply birthed with the Big Bang that created the current cosmos; as the old universe died and a new one began, echoes of energy erupted from the maelstrom of creation, eventually congealing into the Stones, who scattered about the cosmos with the aeons to come.
A potential third explanation for their existence was then gleaned by Loki Laufeyson, God of Stories, who once journeyed to the Quarry of Creation and utilized the Stones to breach into the deepest stratum of the cosmos. Past that final barrier, he stumbled upon the dead remnants of the original iteration of the omniverse, inhabited by a number of Celestials and filled to the brim with Infinity Stones. Loki hypothesized that the Gems originated from that place, with the Celestials living therein casting them into the various worlds of the multiverse above with the passing of the ages.
Whatever the case, it is known that they are objects of immense power. Though their individual might is already extraordinary, the Stones in truth form a circuit, with each Gem backing and amplifying the other with its own strength in a feedback loop that grants them infinite power. Should they all be gathered and used in unison, whoever wields their power becomes the supreme ruler of their own reality, a position most notably taken up by the Mad Titan Thanos, who utilized the artifact known as the Infinity Gauntlet to take the Gems' combined power for himself.
Powers and Stats
Tier: Low 1-A
Name: The Infinity Stones / Infinity Gems, Soul Gems, Ina Abanayyartu
Origin: Marvel Comics
Age: Unknown
Classification: Pillars of Reality
Wielders: Thanos, Nebula, Adam Warlock, Reed Richards, Black Panther, Rune, The Illuminati, several others
Powers and Abilities: Reality Warping (The Reality Gem alone could create an "unreality rift" that damaged the nature of reality itself[1] and threatened to completely unravel all aspects of existence,[2] reducing the universe to pure undifferentiated chaos. Can override facts of existence and actualize any of the myriad possible actualities[3]), Space-Time Manipulation (Bestows full mastery of all time and space[3] upon its user, allowing them to rearrange history and the fabric of the universe itself to their whims), Clairvoyance and Causality Manipulation (The Reality Stone grants access to the possibilities of the multiverse, and, used in conjunction with the Time Stone, allows one to shuffle and observe them freely,[4] with Magus stating that every moment that ever was and ever will be cascades upon a wielder of the Gauntlet[5] and Adam Warlock likening the perception of reality granted by it to a repeating time-loop,[6][2] and stating that the universe does not hold any secrets from him any longer,[6] with this awareness extending even to actions performed by the Abstracts[7]), Physics Manipulation, Explosion Manipulation, Law Manipulation, Teleportation, Matter Manipulation (Magus used it to destroy and reform atoms to play around[5]), Existence Erasure (Magus planned to erase Adam Warlock from history entirely, leaving no trace or memory of his existence behind.[8] Thanos caused half of all life in the universe to blink out of existence with a snap of fingers[9]), Portal Creation, Void Manipulation (Turned The Ultimate Nullifier back against Quasar, causing its sphere of annihilation to consume him instead[5]), Sealing (Thanos easily imprisoned all of the Abstracts with the Gauntlet in hand[10]), Biological Manipulation, Information Manipulation (The Infinity Stones are access points to the source code of reality,[11] and through them, one can reprogram the simulation that is their universe at will), Nigh-Omniscience, Cosmic Awareness, Time Travel, Vector Manipulation, Energy Manipulation (The Power Stone grants access to the energy that permeates all of reality and acts as the glue holding existence in place,[3] backing the other Gems with infinite power and amplifying their capabilities to sculpt the universe), Black Hole Creation (Hulk created a black hole to swallow Devondra using the Space Stone[12]), Mind Manipulation and Telepathy (The Mind Stone allows one to reach out and feel the minds of every sentient being in the universe,[13] as well as alter them to the user's liking,[3] with Magus stating that the thoughts of all beings mixed with his own when using the Gauntlet.[5] This control extends even to Abstracts such as Death[3]), Transmutation, Soul Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation and Morality Manipulation (The Soul Stone holds full command over the souls of living beings,[3] granting its wielder full sway over their emotional and mental dispositions, with Thanos stating that he could turn a pageant of peaceful sentients into a barbaric horde of cannibals, and "turn saints into sinners and sinners into monsters." Gamora folded the universe in half and imprisoned all its souls within the Soul Stone,[14] also merging two of each of its inhabitants together in the process), Body Puppetry, Conceptual Manipulation (Type 1. Can remake the universal personifications of reality, with the Silver Surfer having altered the manifestation of Death herself in an alternate universe[15]), Multilocation and Omnipresence (Magus described himself as being everywhere and everything[5] through the Space Stone, and Thanos stated that it allows him to be everywhere or nowhere on command.[3][16] Through the Gauntlet, Thanos could shed his body and usurp Eternity's place as the center and personification of all reality[10]), Non-Physical Interaction (The Infinity Gauntlet attacks on the metaphysical level,[13] affecting even beings who are otherwise immune to physical assault such as Mephisto), Life and Death Manipulation, BFR (Adam Warlock banished Eternity with a gesture in multiple occasions[7][2]), Resistance to Cosmic Awareness, Causality Manipulation and Fate Manipulation (Possession of even individual Infinity Stones places a being outside of the control of Eternity,[17] making them into wild variables that introduce unpredictability to the universe at large)
Attack Potency: Low Outerverse level (The six Infinity Gems are the cornerstones of all reality in Earth-616,[18] and those who wield them in conjunction become one and the same as reality itself, holding even Abstracts such as Death, Chaos and Order as nothing but threads comprising the tapestry of their being, and, in all ways, standing many stations above them.[3] With the Gauntlet in hand, Thanos easily defeated Eternity and usurped his place as the personification of the universe,[10] and the Gauntlet itself was later stated to be far more powerful than the Cosmic Egg, an artifact created by merging 30 Cosmic Cubes so that they became "far more than the sum of their parts,"[19] with only 5 of the cubes used in the Egg's creation having previously been able to defeat Eternity and render him catatonic[20][21])
Speed: Immeasurable (Wielders of the Infinity Stones are swifter than the Abstracts), users can make themselves Omnipresent at will
Lifting Strength: Immeasurable
Striking Strength: Low Outerverse level
Durability: Low Outerverse level
Range: Low Outerversal
Weaknesses: The Infinity Stones only function within their home universe and become powerless when brought to other realities
References
- ↑ Warlock Chronicles #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Warlock Chronicles #2
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Thanos Quest #2
- ↑ Infinity Wars #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Infinity War #5
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Infinity Gauntlet #6
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1
- ↑ Infinity War #6
- ↑ Infinity Gauntlet #1
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Infinity Gauntlet #5
- ↑ All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #10
- ↑ Infinity Wars #6
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #45
- ↑ Infinity Wars #3
- ↑ What If? Vol. 2 #49
- ↑ Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #44
- ↑ Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch #11
- ↑ Thanos Quest #1
- ↑ Infinity Crusade #2
- ↑ Infinity War #1
- ↑ Infinity War #4
Discussions
| Discussion threads involving The Infinity Stones |