The most prominent Marvel supervillain sure has some tricks up his sleeves to challenge Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The character known as Thanos has been one of the toughest villains for heroes to defeat in the Marvel Universe. Pining for approval from Mistress Death, his one true love, the Titan has been responsible for uncountable deaths across the universe.
The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock, Captain Marvel, and Squirrel Girl are a few of the superheroes who have managed to defeat the Mad Titan. But the supervillain has hidden powers, which he rarely uses, to help him subdue those heroes. While some are known to fans, some of his powers are so rarely seen that they are almost forgotten.
10 Mystical Knowledge- Which He Used To Create Clones Of Himself And His Enemies To Plot Out Possible Attacks
Thanos was born with super-intelligence, due to the combination of Eternal and Deviant genes, but he is also well-versed in the mystical arts. Obsession with his one true love, Mistress Death, made Thanos follow the path to the black arts that had been forbidden on the planet Titan. Using this knowledge, along with bionic amplification, Thanos also increased his strength.
With his mystical knowledge, Thanos created doppelgangers of himself, as well as his enemies, in the form of Thanosi to detect and plot strategies that potential threats would use against him. These beings represented aspects of Thanos’ personality but were also clones of him.
9 Matter Control- He Has The Ability To Control Matter At The Atomic Level
Thanos has the ability to manipulate and control matter at the atomic level. He displayed this particular power in Captain Marvel Volume 1 #26 Written by Jim Starlin when Rick Jones was tricked into fighting The Thing by two Skrulls working for Thanos. Skragg and the Super Skrull baited Jones and The Thing, respectively.
The Skrulls ensured that the two heroes reached an abandoned building and started a fight, where they were observed by Thanos and his minions. When Skragg’s plan for destroying Jones and The Thing failed, Thanos turned him into stone, an act that surprised even the two heroes on discovery.
8 Telepathy- He Can Manipulate The People Around Him
Gifted with the power of telepathy, Thanos has the ability to manipulate and control others around him. In Avengers Assemble Volume 2 #4 Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Thanos used his psychic abilities to set the Hulk against the other Avengers. The Hulk was able to fight the mind control off only when Maria Hill detonated the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
Thanos even tried to drive Drax the Destroyer into insanity when he opposed the Titan from gaining access to the Cosmic Cube. He tried to trap Drax’s mind in a Time-Mind Sync-Warp. Drax finally broke free from it but lost his consciousness in the process.
7 Transference Of Consciousness- Thanos Can Put His Consciousness Back Into Its Body After Being Removed
The Titan warlord has also displayed his ability to transfer his consciousness from one body to another. After Gamora killed and beheaded him in Thanos Legacy #1 Written by Gerry Duggan and Donny Cates, his brother Eros/Starfox obtained Thanos' headless body, along with the last will and testament that Thanos had concealed within his own body. In Guardians of Galaxy Volume 5 #1 Written by Donny Cates, the Mad Titan's testament stated that he would be uploading and implanting his consciousness into the body of another being.
While Starfox and the Dark Guardians thought it was Gamora whose body Thanos would be using, it turned out to be Starfox himself. But the Goddess of Death, Hela, sought to resurrect Thanos fully and stole his corpse from Eros. She eventually found his head and was able to make his body whole. Thanos then went ahead to transfer his consciousness back into his own body.
6 Commanding Death's Army- He Has The Power To Control The Living Dead
Thanos' relationship with Mistress Death has also given him the power to command the Legions of the Dead. In the storyline leading to Thanos: The Infinity Finale Written by Jim Starlin, Annihilus decided to break a treaty and attacked the Posiverse in an attempt to destroy the universe. Thanos took it upon himself to ensure that did not happen, in order to maintain the balance that Mistress Death always sought.
The ruler of the Negative Zone trapped a recently resurrected Adam Warlock and harnessed his god-like powers to fuel his evil ambitions. But, when Warlock accidentally destroyed all reality, Thanos went back in time to stop Annihilus. He called upon the Legions of the Dead, made of every soul that has lived and died, to do as he commanded and defeated Annihilus' army.
5 Curse Casting- Thanos Can Inflict Curses On His Enemies
One of the rare powers that Thanos has displayed is his ability to cast a curse. In Deadpool's Funeral for a Freak storyline, after a near-death experience, while avenging Vanessa's death Mistress Death and the merc-with-a-mouth found an affinity for each other.
Seeing his eternal love taking interest in Deadpool was unacceptable to Thanos, and he sent T-Ray to resurrect Deadpool using the Gemini Star. Thanos further tried to get T-Ray to extinguish Deadpool’s personality so that he was unappealing to Death. But when the plan failed, Thanos cursed Deadpool with eternal life, thus ensuring that he never reached the realm of Death again.
4 Immortality- His Love For The Mistress Of Death Made Him Undying
Born an Eternal, Thanos is immortal like them. However, it is their immunity to diseases and aging due to which the Eternals have immortality. But in Thanos' case, it was his eternal love for Mistress Death that truly made him truly undying.
When Death wished to make Silver Surfer its consort, he turned to the Titan for help. But Thanos killed him out of jealousy and took his body as a gift for Mistress Death. However, Death ignored him, which led Thanos to bring back the Silver Surfer from the dead. This infuriated Death and resulted in Thanos getting banned from its realm, which eventually got lifted. Thus, despite being killed off, Thanos was almost always resurrected.
3 Energy Projection- Thanos Can Absorb Cosmic Energies And Unleash Them At Will
The Mad Titan has the power to absorb cosmic energies and project them. He is able to sustain himself purely on cosmic energy as well as synthesize cosmic energy within himself. This was revealed in Legendary Star-Lord #4 Written by Sam Humphries and Freddie Williams when Peter Quill was about to destroy Thanos with the help of the Mandalay Gem. Thanos told Quill that on his death, his body would release so much energy it would end up destroying the Moon.
Thanos can also shoot infrared beams from his eyes and project magnetic energy as well. Enhanced by mysticism, his energy projection is so powerful he used it to knock out Galactus.
2 Possessing Bodies- He Can Channel His Powers Through Bodies
The Mad Titan has the ability to possess bodies. Although, he did so just to channel his powers through them. Since the Mad Titan's powers are so hard to contain, the host bodies eventually died out after being subjected to the Titan's complete control.
Apart from channeling his powers through other bodies, Thanos also has the power to transfer his followers' souls from one body to another. He does this to control the physical form that his followers will be resurrected in after their death.
1 Regenerative Healing- He Can Heal Himself Mid-Fight If Needed
Being an Eternal, the Titan can quickly regenerate tissue that has been damaged, letting him recuperate from battles at a great speed, unlike most of his foes.
But there are certain limitations to this power. Unlike some Eternals, he cannot regenerate some damaged tissue. In the Annihilation storyline, Drax the Destroyer pulled out Thanos' heart and killed him, right when the latter was about to stop Annihilus' plan of complete destruction. While Thanos did resurrect, he was unable to regenerate his heart.