Peter Quill, the Legendary Star-Lord, is one of Marvel’s most popular intergalactic heroes, thanks in no small part to Chris Pratt’s portrayal of the space adventurer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy hit the big screen, Peter Quill was a little-known character, despite first appearing on the comics page in 1976.
With his rough-and-ready approach to adventuring and often arrogant attitude, Star-Lord has steadily grown into a worthy hero over the decades, acting with valor on some occasions and learning difficult lessons through brash actions in others. Here are 5 of his most heroic acts and 5 of his most foolish.
10 Heroic: He Ended His Father’s Tyrannical Reign
Having discovered his son was living in space, intergalactic Spartoi Emperor, J’son, repeatedly tried to coax Peter into assuming his rightful position as Prince of Spartax. Star-Lord tends to shun responsibility, so it’s no surprise he didn’t take up the offer. Instead, he repeatedly undermines his father’s attempts to win him over.
After escaping capture (twice!), Star-Lord exposed his father’s tyrannical rule and corruption to his Empire, prompting a riot which resulted in J’son being overthrown. While he freed people from oppressive rule, he accidentally assumed more responsibility after the people of Spartax elected Star-Lord as their new president!
9 Foolish: He Betrayed Earth
Origin stories are rarely smooth in comics, especially for characters who have been around for decades, so it’s no surprise that Quill’s history has been retconned a couple of times. In his most recent origin, his mother was killed by aliens, encouraging the young boy set his sights on working for NASA to enter space and seek vengeance.
Capable of sniffing out trouble, Quill was discharged from NASA, leading him to steal a Kree ship and flee to space where he met Yondu. Joining the space pirate’s crew, Quill agreed to help the alien steal NASA’s first ship to venture outside of the Earth’s solar system, Asterion One, turning against his old friends all for a gem. Seconds before the Ravagers had the chance to murder Asterion One’s crew, Peter had a change of heart and helped his human friends escape.
8 Heroic: He Knows When to Recruit Help
Star-Lord might be gifted with one of Marvel’s largest egos, but that doesn’t mean he can’t work as part of a team. In fact, Peter rarely takes on the galaxy’s biggest threats single-handedly, knowing his real strength lies in his fellow heroes.
On page and screen, he’s repeatedly – and successfully – reformed the Guardians of the Galaxy to protect Earth and the wider universe from intergalactic threats. While he brandishes the title of Legendary Star-Lord proudly, we find it quite heroic that Peter is in fact fully aware that he’s not the strongest hero in the Marvel Universe.
7 Foolish: He Saved Thanos
When a hole ripped between the realities of Earth-616 and Earth-10011, a horrifying alternate reality also known as the Cancerverse, Thanos teamed up with the Guardians to save his one true love, Death. But when the Mad Titan flew into a vengeful rage which he vowed to take out on the universe, Star-Lord and Nova heroically sacrificed themselves to stop Thanos, trapping the three of them in the collapsing Cancerverse.
The trio survived the ordeal, however, prompting Star-Lord to find a way out, which he did. But to escape, he needed to save Thanos – and leave Nova behind, which he did. It hardly seems like a fair trade, and certainly not one that benefitted the universe!
6 Heroic: He Harnessed the Mandalay Gem’s Power
Created by the Celestials, the Mandalay Gem is made up of the galaxy’s most powerful minerals capable of protecting its user from cosmic energy and converting that energy into blasts strong enough to combat the Eternals.
When Star-Lord was finally ready to end things with Thanos, he tracked the Mad Titan to Earth’s moon and used the Mandalay Gem to take him on. Gaining the upper hand in the battle, Star-Lord could have ended Thanos with the Gem’s mighty power. However, the blast would have destroyed Earth too, forcing Peter to let his nemesis go. Had the battle been in a more barren part of space, the adventurer may well have been able to stop Thanos at last.
5 Foolish: He Encouraged His Allies to use the Black Vortex
During 2015’s Guardians/X-Men crossover event, Peter worked with Kitty Pryde to steal the powerful Black Vortex from J’son. Able to give those who looked into it a huge power boost, it was an incredible weapon with a dark side – those who used it risked succumbing to their evil side.
Despite knowing the risks, Peter encouraged his teammates to use the Vortex for a power enhancement, resulting in Gamora, Beast, and Angel siding with the bad guys. While Peter can work as part of a team, this decision only highlighted his questionable leadership skills, pushing his teammates to do something dangerous for a quick, short-term solution.
4 Heroic: He Sacrificed His Best Friend to Save the Universe
Star-Lord might be selfish, but he’s able to make difficult decisions. During the ‘War of Kings’ event, Kang the Conqueror himself approached Peter and warned him of the future which could destroy the universe itself. Adam Warlock was destined to transform into Magus, his evil self, and cause devastation across the galaxy.
Gifting Star-Lord the Cosmic Cube, Kang sent him back to the moment before Warlock changed, only to find it was too late. With Peter being the sole surviving Guardian, he used the cube to change Magus back to Warlock, then shot and killed him. Peter may have lost everyone close to him, but he saved the entire universe.
3 Foolish: He Could Have Prevented the Snap
Few things frustrated viewers more than Star-Lord’s lack of impulse control in Avengers: Infinity War. With Thanos close to seizing all of the infinity stones, our heroes had few chances left to stop him from wiping out half of the galaxy’s existence. Working with Mantis, Drax, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man, Star-Lord came so close to being part of the team that stopped the Mad Titan in his tracks.
Unfortunately, an emotional revelation caused Peter to lash out, punching Thanos, knocking him out of his trance, ultimately leading to the villain’s escape – with another stone! It’s a huge turning point in the film, and without it, the snap may well have never happened.
2 Heroic: He Helped Save Marvel’s Heroes from Battleworld
Few heroes remained when the Incursions struck Earth-616. The only surviving Guardian, Peter was picked up by Reed Richards. The pair eventually found their way to Doctor Doom’s bizarre Battleworld, where they worked to try and restore their old world.
Disguised as Steve Rogers and using a job singing Disney songs in a popular club in Manhattan as cover, Peter reunited with Drax and Kitty Pryde, and gradually became one of the few remaining figures of hope in Doom’s bleak world. He eventually piloted Reed Richards to Castle Doom and used Groot’s last remaining twig to help defeat Black Swan, ultimately putting an end to God Doom’s Battleworld.
1 Foolish: He Caused Annihilation Conquest
When Ronan the Accuser tasked Peter with rebuilding the Kree defense network after Annihilation Wave, a group of Space Knights offered to help the adventurer by updating the Kree security systems. Fascinated with the cool-sounding title of Space Knights, Peter didn’t think to check the credentials of these mysterious cybernetic aliens, who just so happened to be members of the Phalanx seizing an opportunity to weaken their enemies.
Using a techno-organic virus, the Kree were quickly infected and enslaved alongside many of the heroes who dashed to Hala to help. An entire deadly war broke out across the galaxy, all because of Peter’s negligence.