Nebula is one of the most complex characters in the MCU and has evolved a lot over the course of the franchise. Though she was introduced as a villain for the Guardians of the Galaxy, she has since proven herself to be a true hero. But like every hero, she makes the occasional mistake.
Whether it's because of her desire for vengeance or her inner bad guy, Nebula hasn't always made the best decisions. But while she can be a troublemaker, that doesn't take away from the times where she has really stepped up and saved the day. Here are the most heroic and most foolish things Nebula has done in the MCU.
10 Heroic: Joining The Guardians
In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Nebula was a fearsome enemy of the team. She relentlessly hunted them down and almost successfully killed Gamora. However, none of the Guardians are perfect so it's not too much a surprise that Nebula ended up joining with them.
Though she has presented herself as someone who is a lone wolf, she secretly just wanted acceptance. When Ego is preparing to destroy the universe, Nebula puts aside petty feelings, joins the team and risks her life to save the day.
9 Foolish: Siding With Ronan
Though joining the Guardians was a good move, Nebula hasn't always been the best at choosing her allies. One good example of this is when Nebula willingly decided to join forces with Ronan in his path of fanatic destruction.
After Ronan gets the Power Stone, he promises to use it to kill Thanos. Nebula likes the sound of that and decides to join his team. Not only is it a pretty bad idea to partner yourself with someone as unhinged as Ronan, but Nebula was pretty foolish to think that Ronan would ever stand a chance against Thanos.
8 Heroic: Going To Titan
Though Nebula's mission of revenge against Thanos is sometimes misguided, it seems to have helped her realize how to be a hero. In Avengers: Infinity War, we see Nebula as a prisoner of Thanos, being subjected to horrible torture.
Of course, Nebula manages to escape and she is still willing to put her life on the line to stop the Mad Titan. She immediately contacts the other Guardians and heads to Titan to fight her father. Even after all the things Thanos has done to her, Nebula will not back down.
7 Foolish: Siding With The Ravagers
Nebula does eventually come around to siding with the Guardians, but she is pretty stubborn for a while. After being captured by the Guardians at the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it's understandable that Nebula is not happy with them, however, her bitterness once again leads her to chose the wrong allies.
After taking out Yondu and Rocket, Nebula joins up with the Ravagers, now led by Taserface. Nebula had to have known this group of space pirates was pretty dumb, yet she willingly joins them and even allows their murderous mutiny.
6 Heroic: The Time Heist
When "The Snap" takes half the universe, Rocket and Gamora are left as the only Guardians. Despite the massive loss, Nebula continues on her new heroic path and even joins the Avengers. However, it is her participation in the time heist that shows just how selfless Nebula has become.
The old Nebula probably wouldn't have cared too much if half the universe was wiped out as long as she survived. However, now Nebula is willing to once again risk her life and risk facing her father again in order to bring everyone back.
5 Foolish: Attacking Gamora
Before she discovered her inner hero, Nebula was pretty single-minded in her actions. She wanted to best her sister Gamora and she wanted to kill her father Thanos. Clearly, she was dealing with a lot of family issues.
After finishing her deal with the Ravagers, Nebula flies across the galaxy just to fight Gamora. If that isn't petty enough, she even continues attacking Gamora after Gamora saved her life. While her traumatic childhood explains a lot of his behavior, it is still pretty unhinged
4 Heroic: Teaming With Gamora
As one might have predicted, when Nebula goes back in time for the time heist, she runs into Thanos, as well as her past self and past Gamora. This makes for an interesting dynamic between the two sisters. While Gamora is usually the voice of reason, it is now future Nebula who takes that role.
Nebula has to be the one to convince Gamora how dangerous Thanos is and how he must be stopped. We see Nebula has truly put aside all of her petty feelings against her sister and is only concerned with doing what is right.
3 Foolish: Going To Kill Thanos
Nebula is certainly one of the most fearsome fighters in the galaxy, and a lot of that comes from her determination in battle. However, sometimes that is a quality that can get her into more trouble. After briefly joining the Guardians to defeat Thanos, Nebula decides to go find Thanos and kill him.
Given that the entire Avengers squad has a hard time taking on Thanos, Gamora's thought that she could kill him herself was pretty dumb. Not surprisingly, we see that her plan didn't succeed and she was captured by her father.
2 Heroic: Killing Past Nebula
After teaming with Gamora from the past, the two sisters join forces to stop Thanos as well as the past version of Nebula who has yet to abandon her father. As past Nebula infiltrates the Guardians and brings Thanos into the present, she comes face-to-face with herself and Gamora.
As the two sisters try to convince past Nebula that she can escape Thanos and join them, it's clear past Nebula is too far gone. As past Nebula tries to kill Gamora, Nebula kills her past self. Such an act could not have been easy since she would understand her own pain at that time, but it was necessary to save the day.
1 Foolish: Choosing Thanos
Sadly, past Gamora never had the time to learn the error of her ways as the heroic Nebula did. But when confronted with your future self telling you that you are wrong, maybe that is some advice you should listen to.
It's true that Thanos' mistreatment virtually destroyed Nebula's psyche, we know that at this time she was already willing to betray Thanos. This would seem like the ideal time to go through with that plan and discover her inner hero. Instead, she stays on the bad side and dies.