Is Thanos a Deviant, an Eternal or a Celestial?

Thanos is certainly one of the most important characters in the Marvel universe, despite being a villain. His popularity was further increased via his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but even if we exclude the movies – Thanos is a seminal comic book character and one of Marvel’s greatest supervillains, alongside Galactus, Kang and others. This is why we have decided to dedicate today’s article to Thanos, as we are going to explore whether Thanos is a Deviant, an Eternal or a Celestial.
Thanos is an Eternal, but a very rare breed of Eternal – namely, he also carries the Deviant gene inside him, which makes him a very special member of his race. He is certainly not a Celestial, as Celestials are responsible for the creation of the Eternals.
Today’s article is going to be all about Thanos and his origins. You are going to find out who Thanos is and what his origins are, after which we are going to answer the main question of the article. Enjoy!
Thanos and his origins
Thanos is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Thanos was created by Jim Starlin and made his debut in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (1973) and has since become one of the best-known villains in the Marvel universe, but also comic books in general. Although Starlin himself admitted he was inspired by DC Comics’ supervillain Darkseid, Thanos has gained popularity as a stand-alone character and a cornerstone of Marvel’s Multiverse.
Thanos was born on Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. He is not a Titan, as the beings from Greek mythology, but the confusion may stem from his birthplace. Thanos is actually an Eternal, the son of A’lars and Sui-San. The Eternals are a fictional race from the Marvel universe. They are humanoid in appearance and are offspring of the evolutionary processes that created humans on Earth.
He is the son of two Eternals, but also a carrier of the Deviants gene, which explains his physical experience. Believing him to be a danger to the universe, his mother wanted to kill him, but his father stopped her. As a child, he was a pacifist and would only play with his brother and their pets. Later on, he became fascinated with nihilism and the concept of death, eventually falling in love with Mistress Death, the embodiment of Death in the Marvel universe.
Is Thanos a Deviant?
Now that we’ve given you a short introduction to Thanos’ origins, we can continue with the main topic of this article. Now, due to his appearance and his evil personality, people often think that Thanos might be a Deviant, but the fact is – he is not. Thanos is, as we’ve mentioned above and as we’re going to explain in the next section, actually an Eternal.
The Eternals and Deviants are two completely different races, although they are connected by a bitter rivalry. Now, while Thanos is an Eternal, he is also a carrier of the Deviant gene, which makes him a very special Eternal and practically an unique example within his race.
Although it wasn’t a fully deterministic element, the Deviant gene could explain – at least partially – Thanos’ proneness to darkness and evildoing, i.e., the fact that he has become a villain, just like the Deviants, while his race, the Eternals, are heroes in Marvel’s universe.
Is Thanos an Eternal?
Although we have already stated this, we can officially confirm here that Thanos is, indeed, an Eternal. We have already explained who the Eternals were and that Thanos’ parents were two Eternals who, after discovering the Deviants gene in him, wanted to kill him because they thought he would be overly dangerous for the other Eternals.
Thanos is as powerful as an Eternal, but it is the Deviants gene that shaped his personality, to a degree, and that made him even more powerful than his other kin. In fact, Thanos is second only to Kronos, the most powerful Eternal, when it comes to power and could, relatively easily, too, defeat all of the other Eternals.
But, Thanos is still quite unique as far as his Eternals counterparts are concerned, all because he carries the Deviants gene, which accounts for his appearance and additional powers. The Deviants (or Changing People) are likewise a fictional race in the Marvel universe. They are also humanoid in appearance and are relatives of the Eternals. The Deviants are far more destructive than the Eternals, which is why the two races often clash with each other. Since Thanos carries the Deviants gene, he is far more powerful than regular Eternals and can achieve much more than them.
Is Thanos a Celestial?
Although it is by now completely clear, we have to reiterate that Thanos is not a Celestial. He simply cannot be one because he is an Eternal, but there is also one other chronological reason why he could not be a Celestial. Namely, the simple reason because of which Thanos cannot be a Celestial is that the Celestials created the Eternals, and one cannot create oneself, not even in comic books. (Okay, you probably can, but give us the benefit of the doubt here.)
The creation of the Eternals has been initiated by the alien Celestials and they have been designated as the cosmic defenders of Earth. Compared to humans, they have several different superhuman abilities, which makes them humanoid in shape, but far more powerful. Thanos is, thus, an Eternal and could, simply, never be a Celestial.
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