The MCU has finally given the Eternals more spotlight, but they've always been a special part of Marvel Comics. One of Jack Kirby's greatest creations, the Eternals are very different from the other heroes of the Marvel Universe, even beyond their immortality and great power.
The Eternals have accomplished a lot throughout history thanks to their intelligence. The Eternals comics are home to some of the smartest characters in Marvel's roster, putting Earth's many geniuses to shame.
10 Sersi Is Smarter Than She Seems
Sersi has a reputation as the Eternals' party girl, but that discounts just how intelligent she is. Sersi has traveled the Earth for a very long time, using her powers to defend humanity. While she is by no means a genius by Eternal standards, Sersi's smarter than all but the smartest humans.
Her matter transmutation powers work so well because of how smart she is. She knows better than to rush into battle and she's learned to use her powers wisely. Sersi knows a lot about humanity and she's more than proven just how smart she is when she needs to be.
9 Makkari Was Chosen By The Dreaming Celestials To Be Its Herald For A Time
The Eternals have changed a lot over the years and Makkari is no different. For years, the superfast Eternal was one of the group's most powerful members, always on the frontline of every battle with Ikaris and Thena. Makkari was always more of a thoughtful sort, though, and was chosen by the Dreaming Celestial to be its voice.
This would fall apart and Makkari would go into hibernation with the rest of the Eternals. Upon awakening, Makkari would choose to become a deaf woman and join with Ajax in trying to discover why the Celestials stopped talking to their people, as the two know the most about them.
8 Sprite Has Had To Use Her Brains To Get By
Sprite's life as an Eternal hasn't been easy. For years, Sprite was an Eternal prepubescent child, never growing up. Sprite didn't have great powers like the other Eternals, instead having to get by using their wits. Eventually, her years as a child got to her and she enacted a scheme that almost destroyed the Celestials in a bid to become human.
Zuras excluded her and when she woke up to help Ikaris investigate Zuras's death, she was now a girl. A millennia old child, Sprite is smarter than any human she comes across and her cunning almost destroyed the Eternals completely.
7 Ajax Was The Voice Of The Celestials For Eons
Appointed by the Celestials to be in charge of the Eternal city of Celestia, it was Ajax's job to interpret the desires of their creators and pass that knowledge onto the rest of the Eternals. She held the Celestials in a religious awe and ministered to like minded Eternals about them.
Once a man, Ajax woke up from the latest Eternal hibernation a woman, but made a terrible discovery: the Celestials stopped speaking to her. This revelation has shattered Ajax, but doesn't change her breadth of knowledge, setting her on a path to learn why they've stopped communicating.
6 Druig's Lived And Died By His Intelligence
While most of the Eternals have worked with the Celestials to battle the Deviants and help the Earth, one has stood apart. Druig is the most powerful Eternal telepath and has always worked to manipulate others, both using his telepathy and intelligence. Druig knows secrets about his people that others don't, using that knowledge to exploit his fellows and anyone else he can.
5 Phastos Is The Master Of The Machine
Each Eternal has their place and Phastos' is with the Machine. The Machine is one of the most important parts of Eternal society. The Machine rebuilds the Eternals when they die, holds their memories, and makes their cities work. Destroying the Machine would have grave consequences for the Earth and it's Phastos' responsibility to keep it in working order.
The inspiration behind the god Hephaestus, Phastos has worked tirelessly to keep the Machine in running smoothly. He did almost destroy it recently when he learned the Eternals' darkest secret, but the fact that he could do that proves just how smart he is.
4 Thanos Knows More Than Most Can Imagine
Thanos is one of the greatest villains in Marvel Comics. Thanos knows more about the universe than any of his fellows, as he's traveled its length and breadth. He's learned secrets about the cosmos that have made his rampages possible, and Thanos keenly understands that power is knowledge. Thanos is a cunning and brutal tactician. He's more than proven to be one of the most intelligent Eternals, taking every opportunity to gain more knowledge. Every bit of knowledge helps and Thanos collects it like he does power.
3 Mentor Figured Out How To Let Eternals Breed
When the Celestials created the Eternals, they made them amazingly powerful but infertile. This caused a schism when A'Lars wanted to modify them so they could have children. Zuras refused A'Lars' research, resulting in an Eternal civil war that ended with A'Lars exiled to Titan.
A'Lars and fellow exile Sui-San figured out how to change their people and had children, one of which was Thanos. A'Lars would become known as Mentor and his achievement proved that he was one of the most intelligent Eternals.
2 Zuras Knows More About The Eternals Than Anyone Else
Zuras was the first Eternal created by the Celestials. For millennia, he was the Prime Eternal, leading his people as their wisest member. He was gifted with knowledge by the Celestials and only gained more as a leader. Zuras knows things that no other Eternal does. While this knowledge isn't always pleasant, it's necessary. He has an understanding of his people and a perspective that no one else does.
1 The Celestials' Intelligence Is As Vast As Their Power
The Celestials are some of the most intelligent beings in Marvel. They've traveled back and forth across the universe, experimenting on every race they've come across. The Celestials have an unprecedented understanding of life's building blocks, taking beings from across the cosmos and transforming them into something new. No one knows the goals of the Celestials – they are as inscrutable as their armor is impenetrable. Even those who claim to understand them only know what the Celestials want them to know.