If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, chances are you’ve been introduced to the concept of Infinity Stones. To date, five of the six Stones have made an appearance in one Marvel film or another.
There’s the Space Stone (the Tesseract from Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, and The Avengers), the Reality Stone (the Aether from Thor: The Dark World), the Power Stone (the Orb from Guardians of the Galaxy), the Mind Stone (Loki’s scepter from The Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron), and the Time Stone (the Eye of Agamotto from Doctor Strange).
However, these Stones (referred to as Gems in the comics), have an incredibly rich history in the comic book side of the Marvel Universe. So sit back, relax, and prepare yourselves for a lesson on the ins and outs of the Infinity Gems:
There Are Six Of Them
Alone, an Infinity Gem can be used as a powerful weapon, capable of giving its user incredible, Earth-shattering abilities. However, just like the aforementioned Infinity Stones, there isn’t just one Infinity Gem – there are six.
Time Gem: Total control over all aspects of time including time travel, stopping time, slowing down or speeding up the flow of time, and accelerating or decelerating aging.
Space Gem: Limitless manipulation of space, allowing for teleportation, dimensional manipulation, the creation of wormholes, etc.
Soul Gem: Limitless manipulation of souls both alive and dead; also has been shown to be able to evolve or devolve beings physical selves, as well as their mental capacities.
Reality Gem: Locally or universally alters the natural laws of the universe to the wielder's will.
Power Gem: Controls all of the power in the universe. It can be used to augment or inhibit any force.
Mind Gem: Taps the user into the universal consciousness, allowing for unlimited manipulation of psionic powers, including telepathy and telekinesis.
They Were Originally Called Soul Gems
Upon their inception in 1972, the Infinity Gems were actually referred to as Soul Gems. In fact, they wouldn’t be referred to as Infinity Gems until 1990, when they appeared in the limited series The Thanos Quest. While it isn’t entirely clear as to why Marvel decided to change the name of these immensely powerful Gems, one can assume it’s because the idea of a Soul Soul Gem was a bit ridiculous, even by comic book standards.
They Helped Create The Marvel Multiverse
During the aforementioned Thanos Quest story, while gazing into Death’s Infinity Well, the true nature of the Infinity Gems’ origins began to come to light. Interestingly enough, it was revealed that the Gems were actually the remnants of one of the earliest beings, who was present at the time of the universe’s creation. As the sole being in all of existence, loneliness set in, so the being shattered itself into six fragments, which – for reasons unknown – would become associated with a particular facet (power, space, time, mind, soul, and reality). In addition to the Infinity Gems, though, this act also resulted in the formation of most of the Multiverse as we know it today.
They Power The Infinity Gauntlet
When most of us think about the Infinity Gems, the other item that immediately comes to mind is the Infinity Gauntlet. And the fact is, the gauntlet itself would be nothing but a fancy accessory if not for the all-powerful Infinity Gems, as it’s merely a device to contain the power of said gems in one location. Once combined, the Infinity Gauntlet has the power to turn the user into a God, capable of doing anything they can possibly imagine. Most notably, the Mad Titan Thanos has used the gauntlet to kill half of the universe with a mere snap of his fingers.
They Led To The Formation Of The Infinity Watch
After Thanos assembled the six Infinity Gems into the Infinity Gauntlet, a massive battle ensued between the Mad Titan, the heroes of Earth, and Adam Warlock, who gained possession of the gauntlet after Thanos was defeated. However, despite his insistence that he would not become a threat like Thanos, the Living Tribunal declared that Warlock was unworthy of wielding the power of the Gems due to his mental instability. Therefore, the Gems were distributed amongst Warlock (Soul Gem), Gamora (Time Gem), Pip the Troll (Space Gem), Drax the Destroyer (Power Gem), Moondragon (Mind Gem), and an unknown member, later revealed to be Thanos (Reality Gem). Warlock would dub this group the Infinity Watch, and they would go on to defend the Gems from those who sought their awesome power during the early 1990s in the Marvel Universe.
Thanos Was The First To Use All Six Gems In Unison
The list of those who have wielded all six Infinity Gems by way of the Infinity Gauntlet includes the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther, Nebula, Adam Warlock, Magus, Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic, Professor X, Doctor Doom, and even DC’s Darkseid. However, the first being to use all six in unison was – you guessed it: Thanos. In The Thanos Quest, the Mad Titan was resurrected by Death and tasked with correcting a so-called “cosmic imbalance.” With more sentient beings alive than had ever died, Death believed the only way to correct the imbalance would be to eliminate half of said beings (think population control on a galactic scale). Thanos, who had fallen in love with Death, sought out the six Infinity Gems to aid him in his quest. Upon apprehending all six gems, he mounted them on his left glove, which he dubbed the Infinity Gauntlet, and fulfilled his mission as a twisted “gift of love” for Death.
There Was Once a Seventh Gem
As mentioned in an earlier entry, the Infinity Gems were created when the original sole being in all of existence fractured itself into six parts. This would be expanded upon in 1995, when the Gems, along with several heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe, were transported to the Ultraverse. They were pursued by Adam Warlock, who would go on to discover a seventh Gem, called the Ego Gem. Claiming that it was the original being now ready to reclaim itself, the Gem would possess the Avenger Sersi and merge with the remaining Gems to form Nemesis. However, the Avengers and Ultraforce would eventually triumph over Nemesis, which seemingly destroyed the Ego Gem in the process.
The Illuminati Divided The Gems Amongst Themselves For Safe Keeping
When She-Hulk came into possession of the Power Gem, she would turn it over to Reed Richards, who decided he and the Illuminati should gather the remaining Gems and divide them amongst themselves to prevent them from being used to attack Earth. Iron Man received the Reality Gem, Professor Xavier the Mind Gem, Namor the Time Gem, Black Bolt the Space Gem, Dr. Strange the Soul Gem, and Reed Richards the Power Gem. Later, after he and his fellow Avengers defeated The Hood, who had stolen three of the Infinity Gems, Iron Man used the Infinity Gauntlet to transport him to prison, and then subsequently willed the Gauntlet out of existence. At least that’s what he told the other Avengers. In reality, Iron Man transported the Gauntlet, once again, to the gathering place of the Illuminati, where he would secretly divide the six Gems amongst his teammates for safe keeping (this time, Namor received the Power; Mister Fantastic, the Reality; Professor Xavier, the Mind; Captain America, the Time; Iron Man, the Space; and Dr. Strange, the Soul gems).
They Haven’t Been Prominently Featured Since ‘Secret Wars’
Prior to Secret Wars, the heroes of the main Marvel Universe (Earth-616) were desperately seeking a way to put an end to Universal Incursions – an event in which two worlds literally collide, causing the destruction of both. The Illuminati decided to try and use the Infinity Gauntlet to “push” the other Earth away from their own, but wanted to ensure whoever stepped up to the task wouldn’t be corrupted by the Gauntlet’s tantalizing power. Naturally, the team turned to the incorruptible, iron-willed Captain America. Although Cap was able to use the Gauntlet to push the other Earth away, thus saving both universes from an untimely demise, this act resulted in the destruction of the Gauntlet itself, as well as five of the six Infinity Gems. The only gem to survive was the Time Gem, but it immediately disappeared before the Illuminati could retrieve it. Eventually, during Secret Wars, Doctor Strange would gather the Infinity Gems from various realms and combine them into a new Infinity Gauntlet, which would remain hidden until being claimed by Black Panther, who used it to keep the near omnipotent Doctor Doom occupied long enough for Reed Richards to disrupt his power source.