Comic books as a whole are known for being wild and colorful. Part of that exuberance is due to all the little doodads and whatchamacallits that often move a story forward or serve to heighten the excitement of a battle. In fact, there are weapons from the comics like the Infinity Gauntlet that are popular thanks to appearances in movies based on the comic books they first appeared in. Even so, there’s still a plethora of items that have yet to receive the same level of notoriety.

Although all weapons are intrinsically useful, they are not all created equal -- some are more powerful than others. The super powerful tools of destruction are seldom seen, mostly because their abilities are so astonishing that they can end a story within a panel or two if used to maximum effect. That’s why their appearances, though rare and fleeting, have to be savored whenever they do appear. Because of their rarity, an extra layer of intrigue is added, but as a general rule, it’s bet to avoid such weapons altogether. Yet the question remains, which weapon, in Marvel Comics are the most powerful? Today at CBR we’re looking at and ranking 25 of the mightiest weapons to ever grace the pages of Marvel Comics.

25 CAPTAIN AMERICA'S SHIELD

Though it might not be the most powerful weapon in the Marvel Universe, it’s arguably the most iconic. Essentially the embodiment of the United States of America, Captain America’s shield is just as symbolic as the hero himself. Embodying justice and patriotism, there are certainly artifacts and weapons that could obliterate whole planets, but it’s Cap’s shield that time and again serves as a means of rallying individuals together; heck, who wouldn’t want to have an indestructible shield?

Created by the scientist Dr. Myron MacLain, the good doctor only ever thought about using Vibranium to make Cap’s shield.

One night, he fell asleep and an unknown catalyst fused the Vribranium he’d been working on, with an experiment iron alloy. It was then poured into a mold for a tank hatch and fashioned into a circle. With the America flag painted on it, President Franklin Roosevelt bestowed the shield onto Captain America. Known for being virtually unbreakable, Cap’s shield has withstood Wolverine’s claws without a scratch, proved resistant to Molecule Man’s molecular manipulation, Thor’s mightiest strikes, and even Doctor Doom possessing the Beyonder’s powers and firing off full-power energy blasts. Though the shield has been broken before, just like Captain America, it always comes back better than ever upon repair.

24 THE EBONY BLADE

Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, has been on multiple iterations of the Avengers and was leader of Ultraforce. These days, he’s king of the otherworldly realm known as Weirdworld, yet one constant is that Whitman always carries around the Ebony Blade. As the Black Knight, Dane would use his world-class sword-fighting skills to fight evil in all its many forms. The Ebony Blade itself was crafted by the wizard Merlin out of a Starstone meteorite. From there, a series of events unfolded that lead to Merlin enchanting the sword, making it virtually indestructible and capable of cutting through anything short of adamantium. Granting its users immunity to death, except from other weapons carved from Starstone, the Blade can cut through or absorb energy, and can transport its wielder across space and time, letting someone like the Black Knight time travel if he wanted to.

In spite of this the sword’s cool abilities, the Ebony Blade is cursed and would be the biggest challenge Dane and his predecessors would ever face. Yes, that’s right, the weapon is cursed. If blood is shed with the sword, then the user becomes corrupted and eventually loses all semblance of mental stability. Additionally, if the Blade is used to kill, it will compel its user to seek out more bloodshed. Because of this, Black Knight can’t cut his opponents, meaning contrived circumstances have to be written so he only fights robots or cuts his allies free if they’re captured.

23 DOCTOR DOOM'S TIME PLATFORM

The nemesis of Reed Richards and the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom is constantly trying to find ways to expand his power, even if that includes ruling the Earth. When he’s not plotting world domination, he’s trying to figure out elaborate ways to bring defeat to the Fantastic Four. Fueled by contempt and indignation towards the squandering plebes, Doom firmly believes no one should equal him in intelligence and power.

A man of many talents, Doctor Doom unlocked the secrets of time travel.

Time travel is already pretty dangerous in and of itself, especially with the ways that you can collapse time and space if you make an error, but in the hands of a madman like Doom… well, it’s astounding he’s resisted the temptation to rewrite the history of the universe. One day, Doctor Victor Von Doom was feeling especially fanciful and decided to make a time machine. Doctor Doom could use the device to travel to any point in history. He’d typically use the time platform to steal technological doodads from Iron Man. While those schemes typically wouldn’t work out, Doom would then time travel back to hang out with the sorceress Morgana La Fey, becoming both her student and lover.

22 THANOS' SPACE THRONE

If you’re going to be flying about the universe in a mad attempt to destroy half of sentient life and rule over the rest, then it’s nice to have a chair you can sit back on and rest after your hard work is done. Besides, even despotic aliens need a mode of transportation, and Thanos, the Mad Titan, is no exception. The early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe featured an enigmatic Thanos sitting upon his Space Thrones and dolling out orders to his underlings. As it turns out, Thanos didn’t pick that specific throne for its curb appeal. Actually, the throne is part of comic book lore and shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s also worth pointing out that Thanos has a very self-inflated opinion of himself, so of course it’s highly probable that he chose his primary means of transport to resemble a throne.

By all appearances, the Throne is exceptionally unintimidating. Upon further inspection is when you realize it’s not just a fancy chair. To the shock of many, the Space Throne can travel at the speed of light, teleport, hop through dimensions, project intense defensive force fields, and fire deadly energy blasts from the top of its frame.

21 THE DARKHOLD

They say that knowledge is power and in the case with the Darkhold spell book, they couldn’t be more right -- but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Marvel houses plenty of devil-like characters such as Mephisto, but the closest analogue to Satan as we know him is the Elder God and Archdemon, Chthon. The brother to the cosmic entities Set, Gaea, and Oshtur, Chthon spent his days learning dark magic. As a result, he was the first Master of the Dark Arts. Currently living in a nether dimension that is located right next to the earthly plane of existence, right before Chthon retreated to said dimension, he left behind the Darkhold, the Book of Sins, and it's responsible for much of the evil throughout history.

The Darkhold is an ancient book of evil full of malevolent spells.

The Darkhold can be used by nearly anyone and instruct the learner by filling their minds with dark knowledge. The teachings within the book were actually used to create the first vampires -- it also played a part in the initial sinking of Atlantis. If Doctor Strange has the Book of the Vishanti, created by the Elder Goddess Oshtur and how he gets lots of his power, the Darkhold is the polar opposite. It is the dark to the light. Its power corrupts anyone who is foolish enough to read it. It doesn’t matter if some of the spells aren’t evil, the user become tainted by the book’s power.

20 THE M'KRAAN CRYSTAL

With all the trinkets and magical doodads in the Marvel Universe, it’s easy to overlook the artifacts that aren’t known for offensive capabilities. Even so, most objects of power are not to be taken lightly and generally should be avoided at all cost. Such is the case with the M’Kraan Crystal. According to its creators, the giant pink M’Kraan Crystal is “the end of all that is”, which is really just a very roundabout way of saying the crystal ought not to be tampered with. Incredibly massive (like the size of a city), nobody is quite sure about the origins to the oversized Crystal.

The Crystal itself doesn’t seem to abide by any conventional laws of physics, as it houses more area in its body than should be possible (think “bigger on the inside” if you’re a Doctor Who fan). A physicist’s nightmare, within the Crystal itself there is an entire crystal city protected by the Crystal’s force field. Also located in the center of this gem is a neutron galaxy that serves as the nexus point for all matter across every reality there has been or ever will be. Lastly, there are rumors that a shard of the Phoenix Force might be in the heart of the Crystal. If the M’Krann Crystal’s stasis field were to be destroyed, then it will create a universal black hole that will destroy everything… and we do mean everything.

19 THE WATCHER'S EYE

We all know that a weapon doesn’t need to be capable of wiping out civilizations in order for it to deadly. Which brings us to the Watcher’s eye. Though they aren’t going to be destroying a moon anytime soon, their knowledge of the history of the Earth and all of the Marvel superheroes makes them incredibly useful and dangerous in the wrong hands. Over on the moon was the ancient being known as Uatu the Watcher. From a species of Watchers, his duty was to observe the planet Earth and maintain his oath of non-interference.

Whenever an incredibly notable event would occur, the Watcher would typically manifest to the site of the happening so he could observe directly.

Because of everything he’d seen, the Watcher had accumulated knowledge about entire history of the planet. This included the secrets of everyone and everything, including the superheroes of the Marvel Universe. Those secrets held plenty of power, and were secrets that many would kill for. In fact, the Watcher was killed for them and his eyes removed. The Watcher’s knowledge and memories were stored within his eyes. The powers of the Watcher’s eyes were then unlocked, showing the Marvel heroes many terrible surprises that had been kept hidden from them for years.

18 THE MURAMASA BLADE

Wolverine of the X-Men is one of the deadliest mutants on the face of the planet. With an incredible healing factor that allows him to come back from almost any wound, his retractable claws, which are coated in the indestructible metal adamantium (along with every other bone in his body), Wolverine is practically unstoppable by any and all conventional means. In his own words, Wolverine is “the best there is at what he does,” which translates into fighting and killing. Thankfully, Wolverine uses his abilities for the greater good. However, because of his infamous lethality, he’s attracted a lot of villains and evil organization that want Wolverine for their own personal assassin.

Fully aware that one day he might either lose control or fall under the sway of a group like Hydra, Wolverine asked the swordsmith Muramasa to make him a sword. Though the weapon was originally intended to help Wolverine exact revenge on the men who murdered his wife, it would later serve as an instrument to put Logan down if ever the situation called for it. Made from a piece of Wolverine’s soul, the blade is capable of cutting at the molecular level and is known for negating healing factors. Any cut by the blade won’t heal, meaning it’s the perfect weapon against anyone with a healing factor.

17 THE EYE OF AGAMOTTO

Before there was the Eye of Agamotto, there was Oshtur the Elder Goddess. The most powerful of all Earth gods, one day she observed a blind child and this brought a tear to her eye. The tear fell to Earth and spawned the sorcerer Agamotto. From there, Oshtur, along with Agamotto, and her son Hoggoth, formed the eternal Vishanti. She would then go on to create the Book of Vishanti.

Known as Doctor Strange’s trademark instrument of power and magic, the Eye of Agamotto, is a tiny trinket that hosts legendary power.

While it remains unclear about whether the eye is literally one of Agamotto’s eyes or if the sorcerer discovered it somewhere, what is clear is that he created two other magical talismans to go along with the Eye. It was then passed on to each successor of the Sorcerer Supreme title. An item of incredible power, the Eye is more a weapon of wisdom than of aggression. Still, it’s not to be taken lightly. Unwilling to respond to an evil user, the Eye can play back recent events, open portals to earlier moments in time, freeze people or objects in suspended animation, and can see through any disguise, be it mystical or technological in origin. Doctor Strange has used the Eye it to probe the minds of others, project powerful mystical barriers, create portals to other dimensions, and even teleport to the end of the universe.

16 MANDARIN'S TEN RINGS

Don’t let their appearance full you, the Mandarin’s Rings aren’t actually rings, but alien artifacts of power that happen to be shaped like rings. Believe us, there’s a difference. Still, for any baddie hoping to look fashionable while fighting superheroes, the Ten Rings aren’t a bad way to go. The alien artifact Rings ended up on Earth after a Makluan spaceship crash landed on our planet. Initially, each ring took a human host before the Mandarin collected all of them.

Like the One Ring With Sauron in Lord of The Rings, they call out to their brethren as it were, and try and fashion events so that they are together. Each ring has its own supernatural power, including, shooting intense cold rays, mental control over another, lightning blasts, fire blasts, laser blasts, and a bunch of other lovely abilities like rearranging matter. In recent years, it’s been hinted at that the rings house the essence of alien warriors who have been dead for ages; Mandarin just happen to be serving them. If that’s the case, then it’s not so much whoever wields the Rings gets to do whatever he or she wants, but whatever the spirits contained in the artifacts instruct.

15 EXCALIBUR

Even if you’ve never read a single comic book, nearly everyone is familiar with the sword Excalibur and the legend of King Arthur. Excalibur has appeared in nearly every form of media and practically every comic book company have featured some version of the legendary sword. The thing is, the story behind Excalibur is so iconic, that many writers feel little need to alter its history.

We all know Merlin and the Lady of the Lake made Excalibur and that Arthur Pendragon pulled the sword out of the stone, earning him the place as the rightful ruler to his nation.

In Marvel Comics, this same storyline played out similarly, except in this case, the original Black Knight battled alongside Arthur when Kang the Conqueror time-traveled to the past in an effort to seize control of Arthurian Britain. What followed was a bunch of time travel craziness, resulting in Excalibur getting flung to the future, and then returning back to the past. Then history played out normally, with Arthur falling at the hands of his son Mordred. Excalibur was then thrown back into the mystic lake from whence it came. Incredibly mighty, Excalibur is powerful enough to kill anything, including gods, immortals, and even spirits.

14 THE TACTIGON

Considered an Omega-Level threat -- a designation handed out for individuals or items capable of destroying whole worlds -- the Tactigon is unquestionably one of the deadliest weapons to ever land on Earth. Extraterrestrial in origin, the Tactigon is unique in that it bonds to the arm of whoever is wearing it. Additionally, the Tactigon has displayed a level of sentience and can feel fear. By all accounts the Tactigon wants to be used and it spurs its host to use it, to oftentimes-deadly effect. This may explain why it feels so strongly about attaching itself to people who are also afraid or are in need of a weapon. The Tactigon houses virtually limitless power and can create any weapon the wielder can imagine or needs, no matter how complicated.

Throughout the course of a battle, the Tactigon will scan its opponent and match its power to perfectly counter them. Its counterattacks typically take the form of high intensity energy blasts. Furthermore, depending on what’s required of it, the Tactigon will transform its appearance; it can hide in plain sight so as not to be detected. In terms of pure might, it’s said to at least be on the same level of the Kree Nega-Bands and Thor’s hammer Mjolnir.

13 NEGA BANDS

Though the Nega Bands certainly made Captain Marvel’s uniform look super cool, they were for more than just a simple decoration. The Nega Bands are actually a Kree weapon worn not only by Marv-Vell, but all his successors and even folks like Quasar. Created by the Supreme Intelligence, the Bands are effectively symbols of high distinction, as the Nega Bands are bestowed to the greatest Kree warrior. In this case, Captain Marvel earned the bands. Yet rather than obey the whim of his totalitarian people and attack the Earth, Captain Marvel opted to serve as Earth’s protector. As a result, Mar-Vell was exiled to the Negative Zone, but he found freedom when Rick Jones, the friend of the Hulk and Captain America, put on an old pair of Nega Bands and struck them above his head.

By striking the bands together, Captain Marvel and Rick Jones would exchange places.

When Mar-Vell passed away due to cancer, his Nega Bands were buried too. Other pairs would later surface and they were all equally powerful. The Nega Bands grant fight, super strength, Cosmic Awareness, teleportation, cybernetic interfacing with technology, invulnerability, and feature the ability to manipulate and absorb various types of energy. Since the Nega Bands work for anyone, regardless as to whether they’re good or evil, they are highly sought after; many will kill to acquire a pair.

12 MJOLNIR

Back in the day, Odin had to battle the Mother Storm, a sentient storm the size of a galaxy that threatened Asgard. Odin managed to trap it in a piece of uru and then ordered three dwarf blacksmiths to forge a weapon around the metal. They succeeded, but to forge the mighty weapon, the three dwarves used a magical forge located in the heart of a dying star. The process was so intense that the star itself exploded, nearly taking the Earth along with it. Though the planet survived, the dinosaurs were wiped out.

Imbued with a portion of the Odin Force, Mjolnir’s might is awe-inspiring. Odin used it himself on a number of adventures before Thor was born, and years later, the All-Father would use it as a way to test his son’s worthiness and shape him into a defender of his people. Yet after a time, Thor became prideful, so the All-Father banished him to live on Earth as a mortal, who could only turn back into Thor by finding the hammer.

11 THE BLACK VORTEX

If something comes from space and happens to be super shiny, while it lures you in with its siren song, it’s best to stay clear of it. Though the Black Vortex won’t be gaining sentience and destroying all life as we know it, nor is it a weapon capable of annihilating creation if someone brushes up against it the wrong way, it’s dangerous because of the promise of power it offers. The Black Vortex’s cosmic abilities make it a target for literally anyone with a thirst for supremacy, as the Vortex’s primary ability is to grants its user cosmic powers, unlocking their full potential in the process. It amplifies any preexisting abilities to a greater degree, making the user godlike. Even if the individual who looks into the Vortex doesn’t have powers, the Vortex will supply them with powers and super-charge them anyways.

In a worst-case scenario, imagine what would happen if someone like Thanos got ahold of it?

However, like with all things that seem to freely offer delight, the Black Vortex comes with a price. In this case, few mortals can handle the power bestowed on them. When this occurs, their hearts are corrupted and they essentially lose their minds. The X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy temporarily used the power, but relinquished it at the first opportunity. Except for Angel, he was a jerk and kept his new strength. For some reason, he’s totally okay too.

10 THE CASKET OF ANCIENT WINTERS

If you’re not partial to encasing the universe in an icy tundra, then you shouldn’t go opening the Casket of Ancient Winters. Unlike a few items mentioned, the Casket of Ancient Winters appeared in a Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thor. It actually proved pretty central to the movie’s plot, as its ice powers lead Loki to discover his true heritage as a Frost Giant. The Casket of Ancient Winters is an elemental artifact. Though nobody knows its creator, the Casket is Asgardian in nature. It contains the Fimbuwinter of the Ymir and will create massive snowstorms if opened. That might not sound super impressive, especially if you’re partial to snow-days, but the Casket can bury whole planets in an endless, snowy ice age.

Additionally, not only does it contain world-destroying snowstorms, but it also houses the fury of a thousand killing winters. The temperature unleashed by the casket is so severe that even Frost Giants, who typically relish icy weather and have “frost” in their name, are capable of being frozen by the Casket’s fury. If a world does find itself on the receiving end of the Casket, there is only one known way with which to reverse the effects: Odin’s secret Gem of Infinite Suns. The opposite to the Casket, the Gem contains the essence of hundreds of stars.

9 THE STAFF OF ONE

Out of all the magical artifacts wielded by young sorcerers in the Marvel Universe, one of the more powerful ones is unquestionably the epic-looking Staff of One. Originally wielded by Tina Minoru, the mother of the Runaway Nico Minoru, the staff is a weapon with almost unlimited power. There are only two prerequisites to using the Staff of One: firstly, it can only be summoned when its user spills their own blood, and secondly, it is incapable of casting the same spell twice (hence its name). Nico acquired the Staff when her mother was unkind enough to stab her with it. Rather than kill the teenager, her body absorbed the power of the Staff. From there, the Staff became hers.

Even though the Staff of One is capable of doing things like altering the fabric of the universe, there is a drawback.

Activated by a voice command, the Staff of One can’t use the same spell more than once in any one language. This means that Nico has spent her time learning multiple languages so she can use particular spells multiple times. Still, despite the Staff’s limits, the Staff of One is so powerful that Doctor Strange’s adversary Dormammu is afraid of it.

8 THE CRIMSON GEM OF CYTTORAK

The Crimson Gem of Cyttorak is a mystical jewel of power. Many millennia ago, the Octessence, eight mighty beings of magical power, found themselves arguing about who was the strongest of them all. In an attempt to end the debate, they made a wager. In what would be the Wager of Octessence, they each put a fraction of their impressive power into a totem and established that the first mortal to come into contact with each being's respective item would turn into an Exemplar and become the living embodiment of that power. Cytorrak created his Gem, but he cheated in the wager. He opted to make Avatars before the wager went underway and his avatar was none other than Cain Marko.

Transforming into the Juggernaut, Cain Marko became one of the strongest villains on Earth. However, the Gem works for anyone who touches it, turning an individual into an unstoppable force. Yet for all the power someone acquires when they become the Juggernaut, it’s still only a fraction of Cyttorak’s might. That might sound like a letdown, but it’s been stated that, if used differently, the “tiny” bit of power the Gem bequeaths is enough to control the fabric of the Universe.

7 THE ODINSWORD

Out of all the weapons that stem from Asgard, Mjolnir is clearly the most famous. While that might be the case, it’s not the most powerful. The greatest weapon in the Asgardian arsenal is the Odinsword, First introduced in Journey Into Mystery #117 and created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta, it was revealed that if the giant blade were ever removed from if its massive sheath, then the universe would to a rather violent and explosive end. The Sword would appear again, though only be used only a couple more times. In one instance, Odin threatened to brandish it unless a villain backed off, and then again Thor and his friends came this close to unsheathing it in order to defeat Mangog.

The sword, much as it was intended, was finally used during a battle with the Celestials.

Odin was forced to don the Destroyer Armor and increase his size to the point where he could effortlessly wield the weapon. Throughout the battle Odin was successful in running through numerous Celestials, breaking apart their armor, but the Celestials regenerated and beat (temporarily) the All-Father. The Odinsword has shown up a few times since then, most recently in “Fear Itself,” only this time it was shrunken down so that anyone could wield it. Odin entrusted the weapon to Thor so that the thunder god could battle the Serpent, the God of Fear.

6 ALL BLACK THE NECROSWORD

Thor has plenty of godlike villains, but few actually inspire fear in the God of Thunder like Gorr, The God Butcher does. Many millennia ago, before he took a turn for villainy, Gorr lived a harsh life on an unnamed planet. Praying endlessly for the gods to give him and his family respite, his prayers remained unanswered. Wandering the dessert, Gorr came across two gods on the ground, barely alive. One died and its weapon bound to Gorr, and then Gorr proceeded to kill the other. From there, Gorr went off to slaughter all the gods he could. The weapon that bonded itself with him became known as All Black the Necrosword. A fearsome blade, it proved more than sufficient to kill hundreds of gods.

Said to have been the tool that carved creation’s first dawn from eternal night, the more gods that blade killed, the stronger it and its wielder would become. With the ability to kill most anything it comes across, the Necrosword defies the effects of mortality, and can slay an individual, regardless of their level of immortality or resistance to harm. Old King Thor even used the blade to defeat Galactus. The only weakness of the Necrosword is that it needs to keep slaying gods to retain its power, otherwise it’ll run dry. Additionally, it’s liable to corrupt its user, warping their minds completely as a side effect to the power it bestows.