With the conclusion of The Avengers: Infinity War, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has ended Phase Three. There’s no doubt that Phase Four should be pretty entertaining, as we’re all dying to see how the Avengers will rebound from their devastating loss at the hands of Thanos, with half the galaxy extinct. We still have Captain Marvel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the Netflix Marvel shows, and an untitled fourth Avengers movie coming up, so the wait will be short. In a universe like the MCU, not only is it hard to keep track of all the movies, and which order to watch them, but it’s also difficult just to keep track of the characters. Who belongs to the Kree Empire, again? Who are the Celestials? The Watchers? The Black Order? Well, we’re here to simplify some of that, by pointing out some of the most powerful cosmic characters we’ve seen from the MCU thus far. They’re a mixed bag of different races and species, both villains and heroes.

What entails a “cosmic” being, you may ask? Well, for one, they clearly shouldn’t be from Earth (you’ll find plenty of characters from the Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor films on this list, for instance). Cosmic characters are intergalactic by definition -- they come from different planets, have a multitude of powers of their own, and their own ambitions. Many of these cosmic characters’ chief ambition is to destroy Earth, which isn’t very original in the big scheme of things. Some of them have vowed to protect Earth. Others have no beef at all with Earth. Whatever the stakes, here are the 25 most powerful cosmic characters from the MCU, ranked from weakest to strongest.

25 MARTINEX

Martinex is a Pluvian, a crystalline race whose entire body structure is composed of silicon crystal, rather than carbon matter. The first officer of Stakar Ravager’s Clan, he was introduced to the MCU in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, played by actor Michael Rosenbaum of Smallville fame.

He has a unique set of powers, where he’s more durable than standard humans, and he can use his thermokinetic abilities to manipulate temperatures to extreme heats or colds in an instant. He’s also known to project thermal beams and heat or cold at enemies.

24 THE OTHER

The Other was, at one point in time, Thanos’ evil henchman. A member of the Chitauri race, he at one time provided Loki with an army to conquer Earth and claim the Tesseract. The Chitauri Invasion failed, thanks to Thor and friends, and the Other continues to serve Thanos, while frequently arguing with his new warrior, Ronan the Accuser.

Prone to fits of rage, and unable to keep his calm like Ronan, he one day blamed all his faults on the Accuser, and Ronan promptly snapped his neck and ended him with his Cosmi-Rod.

23 YONDU UDONTA

Yondu Udonta was a Centaurian, a member of the Ravagers group, and a foster father to Peter Quill. He betrayed the Ravagers and stole the Power Stone Orb for himself, becoming an outlaw of sorts. He eventually caught up with Peter Quill and reluctantly joined up with him to take on Ronan the Accuser, with the promise that Yondu would get the Infinity Stone for his help.

Of course, Quill couldn’t let this happen, but Yondu decided not to take revenge. In fact, he helped Star-Lord battle against Ego the Living Planet, ultimately sacrificing himself to save Quill.

22 DRAX THE DESTROYER

Drax the Destroyer was once an intergalactic criminal, before becoming a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Part of an ancient, primitive race that has remained unnamed as of yet, he sought revenge against Ronan the Accuser for ending his wife and daughter. He went on a rampage across the galaxy, finding himself imprisoned by the Nova Corps.

Drax became uneasy allies with Peter Quill and the Guardians, and after Ronan finally perished, he declared his next target was Thanos. He helped defeat Ego, and he was one of the Guardians who disappeared from Thanos’ infamous “finger snap.”

21 MANTIS

Mantis is a young empathic insectoid woman who was raised by the Celestial Ego, then recruited as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. She debuted in GotG Vol. 2, where she helped ease Ego’s neurotic behavior with her empathic manipulation powers. She bonded with Drax the Destroyer, and allied with the Guardians against Ego, to prevent him from conquering the galaxy.

Mantis accompanied a group to Knowhere to stop Thanos from collecting Dr. Strange’s Infinity Stone, and it almost worked, thanks to her, but ultimately it failed, and she disappeared with most of the rest of the Guardians at the end of Infinity War.

20 LADY SIF

Lady Sif is a renowned and feared Asgardian warrior, and Thor’s good friend and the Warrior Three. When Thor ended up powerless and on Earth after provoking a war with the Frost Giants, she disobeyed the orders of her new king, Loki, and went to save Thor.

Thanks to her and the Warriors Three, Thor returned to Asgard to dethrone Loki. Later, Sif and company fought against the Dark Elves, then was sent to Earth to capture a few renegades. Unfortunately, she was one of many who dusted when Thanos wiped out half the universe.

19 CORVUS GLAIVE

Corvus Glaive was one of Thanos’ children and a member of the Black Order. He joined his father in his search for the six Infinity Stones, first attacking the Statesman spaceship and helping take out the Asgardians aboard.

He later attacked Vision and Scarlet Witch and almost ended them, until Captain America and Black Widow saved the day. He was wounded by Black Widow, and he and his sister were forced to flee. He later hunted down Vision to finish him off, but met Captain America too, and was decimated by his own weapon at the hands of Vision.

18 PROXIMA MIDNIGHT

Proxima Midnight was another of Thanos’ children and member of the Black Order. She has superhuman strength, speed, and durability, and is an expert hand-to-hand combatant. She basically had Corvus Glaive following her around to help steal Infinity Stones, and was quite a nuisance to anyone she faced.

She had a vendetta against Scarlet Witch, and during the Battle of Wakanda, went to face her and end her. She ended up fighting against Okoye and Black Widow, though, and was able to gain the upper hand against both women, until Scarlet Witch telekinetically threw her into the path of a Thresher, which shredder her.

17 HEIMDALL

Heimdall was the all-seeing, all-hearing Asgardian who protected the Bifrost Bridge from invaders. He could see almost anything that happened in the Nine Realms. He disobeyed the orders of Odin on a couple occasions (such as allowing Thor to return from Midgard to defeat Loki, and committing treason to help Thor fight Malekith and the Dark Elves).

Under Loki’s regime, he was banished from his position. He used the time to hide Asgardian citizens from the reign of Hela, evacuating them before Ragnarok. When the Statesman spacecraft was attacked by the Black Order, he was unfortunately ended by Thanos, but not before teleporting the Hulk to Earth.

16 MALEKITH

Malekith was the cruel, malevolent leader of the Dark Elves, the oldest known species in the universe (supposedly older than the universe itself). Born from complete darkness, he led a war against the Asgardians, using the long-lost Aether to transform the universe by plunging it back into eternal darkness.

He almost succeeded, too, but his army was finally defeated by the Asgardian King Bor’s grandson, Thor, in the Battle of Greenwich, which ended in Malekith’s demise. With his regenerative healing, superhuman strength, and ridiculously long lifespan, Malekith remains a tough cookie on this list of cosmic characters.

15 BRUNNHILDE

Brunnhilde, more commonly called Valkyrie, was a part of an elite group of Asgardian fighting women known as the Valkyries, before she became a bounty hunter on Sakaar after her defeat at the hands of Hela.

After years of self-imposed exile, she found the Asgardian prince, Thor, and sold him to the Grandmaster, only to grow close to him when he told her of Hela’s new invasion of Asgard. Able to trip the Hulk nonchalantly, and defeat Loki in a hand-to-hand knife fight with ease, Brunnhilde was one of the most powerful Asgardians outside of the royal family.

14 AYESHA

Ayesha is powerful more for what she represents and brings to the table, rather than her specific fighting prowess. The Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign, Ayesha was brought into conflict with the Guardians of the Galaxy after Rocket Raccoon stole from her people.

She failed to destroy the Guardians, so she hired Yondu to do it, only to be betrayed. She again tried to end them during their battle against Ego, but failed one again. As a final measure, she was forced to create Adam Warlock -- her greatest weapon -- in the hopes that he’ll get her revenge against the Guardians.

13 NEBULA

Nebula is a Luphomoid assassin and an adopted daughter to Thanos, and adopted sister to Gamora. She was the right-hand woman of Ronan the Accuser during his quest to retrieve the Orb for Thanos, and helped him fight against the Guardians of the Galaxy. After fighting to a standstill against her sister, she disappeared, was captured by the Sovereign.

She was used by Thanos as a bargaining tool to convince Gamora where the location of the Soul Stone was, which resulted in Gamora’s demise, and she joined the side of the Guardians. She and Rocket Raccoon were the only two Guardians to survive Thanos’ “finger snap.”

12 GAMORA

Both Gamora and her sister Nebula are expert combatants, but Gamora was slightly more powerful. She became the adopted daughter of Thanos after he offed half her race. She served him for years before betraying him and becoming a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Thanos captured Gamora on Knowhere, while her friends attempted to procure the Aether, and then he brought her to Vormir and sacrificed her -- albeit emotionally -- in order to obtain the Soul Stone. The process trapped Gamora’s soul inside the Soulworld, so perhaps we haven’t seen the last of her…

11 CULL OBSIDIAN

Cull Obsidian was the strongest of Thanos’ children and a member of the Black Order. He helped Thanos during his quest to obtain the Infinity Stones, and consistently proved to be a thorn in the Avengers’ backsides. He was tricked during a fight with Iron Man and the Hulk and teleported to a snowy region of the planet, and as he tried to return through the portal, he had his arm cut off.

Still, during the Battle of Wakanda, he fought Bruce Banner to a standstill -- managing to rip off the Hulkbuster’s arm during their fight. He was then launched by Banner at the Wakanda forcefield and exploded, but took down most of the forecefield with him.

10 EBONY MAW

While Cull Obsidian might have been the strongest of the Black Order, Ebony Maw was the leader and the most powerful. He had immensely powerful telekinetic powers, and was the most loyal servant Thanos had during his search for the Infinity Stones.

He helped wipe out half the Asgardians, and was then instructed to seize the Time Stone. He captured Dr. Strange and was about to torture him to obtain the stone, but Iron Man and Spider-Man came to Strange’s rescue, and ejected Maw from his ship into outer space, where he froze to his end.

9 RONAN THE ACCUSER

Ronan the Accuser was a radical member of the Kree race, and the most powerful of his species. He was disgusted by a peace treaty between the Kree Empire and Xandar, and sought to eradicate the Xandarians by forging an alliance with Thanos. He offered Thanos the Orb (Power Stone) in exchange for the destruction of Xandar.

He found the Orb, but then realized its potential and took it for himself, rather than giving it to Thanos. Using his newfound power, he laid siege to Xadar, but was eventually defeated and ended by the combined strength of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

8 EGO THE LIVING PLANET

Ego was a Celestial, an extremely powerful, primordial being born from nothing. He was also Star-Lord’s biological father. He had an unforgiving nature, possessed a god complex, and his only desire was to find meaning (hence his name). His plan was to conquer the universe via an extinction-level event known as the Expansion, where he would terraform all life-sustaining planets to extend to himself.

This process required two Celestials, and that’s why he brought his son onboard, who possessed the Celestial gene. Ultimately, Peter Quill uncovered his ruse and he was ended by the combined might of the Guardians, saving the universe.

7 SURTUR

Surtur was a fire demon and the ruler of Muspelheim, prophesied to be the one to initiate Ragnarok, the Asgardian doomsday. Odin successfully defeated the fire demon, stealing from his source of power, the Eternal Flame, before banishing him. But Surtur made a comeback, before being ended by Thor.

He was resurrected by Loki and Thor (via the Eternal Flame) to help them defeat Hela, and he ended up destroying Asgard itself, along with Hela and himself. Anyone who can take out that amount of powerful people deserves to be pretty high on this list, even if he did get his butt kicked on multiple occasions.

6 LOKI

Okay, if it came down to pure, physical strength or prowess, Loki would probably be at the bottom of this list. But he’s also an illusion and mind manipulator, a sorcerer, and the trickster god. Because of his multitude of powers, combined with how he instigated so much of the events surrounding the MCU, Thor’s on-again-off-again evil brother deserves a high spot on this list.

He’s made deals with The Other, Thanos, the Chitauri, the Grandmaster, Hela, Surtur, and more, all for his own pride, and because he wanted to be King of Asgard. But sometimes he’s immensely helpful, and ironically, his demise in Infinity War was one of the most heartbreaking of the entire MCU series.