WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Eternals, now playing in theaters.
The mid-credits and post-credits scenes of Marvel films have brought some of Marvel's more bizarre heroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the mid-credits scene of 2021's Eternals continues this tradition with the debut of Pip the Troll. Introduced alongside Thanos' brother Starfox, Pip's introduction paints him as little more than a drunken sidekick to the prince of Titan, although he has proven to be much more in the comic book universe.
Pip is easily one of the oddest characters in the Marvel Universe, but he's played a critical role in many of Marvel's biggest intergalactic events, earning a well-deserved reputation as one of the galaxy's greatest heroes. As a central member of the cosmic superhero team the Infinity Watch, Pip played a vital role in protecting the all-powerful Infinity Stones from those who would use their powers for evil, personally guarding the Space Stone by hiding it in a location that proved to be as unusual as it was effective.
First introduced in Strange Tales #179, by Jim Starlin, Glynis Oliver-Wein, and Tom Orzechowski, the raunchy Pip was originally the well-mannered prince of the planet Laxidazian's royal family, and he spent his days painting portraits of the night sky. One night, while seeking out a good spot to make his next painting, Pip encountered a group of trolls, a mutated sub-species of his race infamous for their crude and vulgar ways. Despite their poor reputation amongst his people, Pip enjoyed the troll's company and spent the rest of the night drinking with them. Upon waking up the next day, however, Pip discovered that he'd been transformed into a troll himself thanks to the mutagenic properties of the troll's hallucinogenic ale.
Shunned by his family after his transformation, Pip left his homeworld and embraced a life of shallow hedonism, traveling the galaxy in search of thrills. During one of his many misadventures, Pip encountered the cosmic hero Adam Warlock and struck up a friendship with him, accompanying Warlock as he battled against his evil alter-ego, the Magus. Alongside heroes like Gamora and Drax the Destroyer, Pip became a long-time ally of Warlock, making up for his lack of superpowers by bringing some much-needed levity and merriment to Warlock's otherwise dreary existence. During 1991's The Infinity Gauntlet, by Jim Starlin, George Perez and Ron Lim, Pip helped Warlock and Gamora assemble a team of heroes to stop Thanos, and later Nebula, from using the fully-assembled Infinity Gauntlet to destroy the universe, playing a major role in the salvation of the universe.
After reclaiming the Infinity Stones from Thanos, Adam Warlock decided it would be best to separate the stones to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands again. To do so, Warlock forms the Infinity Watch, a team whose members are capable of individually safeguarding each of the Stones. Having proven himself, Pip is entrusted with the Space Stone, which grants him the ability to teleport anywhere in the known universe with a simple thought. Not wanting to keep the Space Stone in an obvious location on his body, Pip hides it between the cloves of his hooved feet for safekeeping. Pip would remain a member of the team until they eventually disbanded in Warlock and the Infinity Watch #42 (by John Arcudi, Mike Gustovich, Keith Williams, Ian Laughlin, and Jack Morelli), using the power of the Space Stone to both protect the universe and pursue his hedonistic lifestyle. Although Pip would ultimately lose the Space Stone shortly before the Watch disbanded, his unconventional means of hiding it proved to be surprisingly effective on more than one occasion.
While the Infinity Watch would ultimately fade into obscurity as the Infinity Stones began playing a bigger role in the Marvel Universe, Pip's time on the team proved that the lecherous troll was much more heroic than his unkempt appearance and boisterous personality let on. With Adam Warlock slated to debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Pip and the Infinity Watch may very well have a big role to play in the fourth phase of the MCU.