The Marvel Universe species known as the Eternals are currently enjoying the limelight, but there's one distant member of the race that's long been incredibly controversial. Though his name might now be more synonymous with a certain video game franchise, Starfox is one of the Eternals' most notable members. Unfortunately, this tends to be for all of the wrong reasons.
The brother of Mad Titan Thanos, Starfo, or Eros,, embodies love to a dangerous degree, making the cosmic Avenger incredibly scandalous. This reputation is likely why he's not been nearly as ubiquitous as his brother Thanos, either in or outside of the comic books. Here's a look at why the alien avatar of love is a potentially toxic character.
Who Is Starfox, the Brother of Thanos?
Created by Jim Starlin, Starfox debuted in Iron Man #55. Starfox was born Eros, the second son A'lars/Mentor and Sui-San, making Thanos his older brother. A member of the Eternal race, he and his people lived on Titan, a moon of Saturn. Whereas Thanos was cynical, tyrannical and obsessed with death, Eros was much more carefree, jovial and interested in pleasure and hedonism. One of his brother's first major assaults against peace in the galaxy helped him to begin taking more of a heroic stand against things, however.
Fighting alongside the Avengers, Eros would become a firm friend of Mar-Vell, Marvel's original Captain Marvel. Mar-Vell's death would be one of the few truly tragic moments experienced by Eros, who took it upon himself to safeguard Elysius, Mar-Vell's lover and the wife of his children.
From then on, he would embark upon further adventures throughout the galaxy, although he would be entangled with Earth affairs as well, sometimes to his chagrin. A more recent story involved his death and Thanos' subsequent rebirth, with Starfox's violet-colored brother's consciousness taking over his body.
What Are Starfox's Powers?
As a member of the Eternals species, Eros has a body far beyond human faculties. This gives him superhuman strength, speed and dexterity. He can also use psionics to both make himself fly at great speeds as well as manipulate the gravity of other people and objects. Likewise, his superhuman physical capabilities make him able to travel unaided underwater or in outer space, though he still needs to breathe air. He also has an incredible healing factor, allowing him to recover when he does sustain damage.
Easily Starfox's most well-known power, however, is his ability to manipulate the pleasure center in other people's brains. This calms them down while also making them open to suggestion and manipulation, allowing Starfox to begin bending them to his will. If they're in his direct line of sight, he can further this by making the person infatuated with him, thus stimulating erotic thoughts befitting his name. Interestingly enough, these powers do not work on his brother Thanos.
Why Is Starfox a Controversial Marvel Character?
This ability to manipulate people into "falling in love" with him is why Starfox has long been one of Marvel's more controversial characters. Not only was he at one point accused of using his powers to seduce a married woman on Earth, but he supposedly also did the same thing to manipulate Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk. This forever defined his powers as basically being cosmic assault, and things were made worse when it was revealed that he was behind Thanos' obsession with death. This saw him being held responsible for his brother's many genocides throughout the years, though this wasn't nearly as scandalous as the other ways he had used his powers.
When She-Hulk found out all of the implications of Eros' actions, She-Hulk proceeded to horrifically beat the Eternal. After these revelations, Starfox was temporarily depowered. Since then, Starfox has largely stayed away from the main Avengers' roster, mainly appearing as one of the many players in Marvel's various grand cosmic sagas. When Thanos tried to use Starfox as part of a process to bring himself back to life in 2019's Guardians of the Galaxy 36, by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw, Eros was ultimately killed to disrupt Thanos' resurrection, and he has not appeared alive since.