The Phoenix Force is one of the most powerful entities in Marvel Comics. Most fans are familiar with the Phoenix from its link to the Jean Grey in the classic X-Men story The Dark Phoenix Saga, but its influence can be seen in numerous other characters and stories.

It is the literal embodiment of life, death, and rebirth, but also of the fiery destruction of transformation. The Phoenix has a will of its own and does not care about conventional morality as understood by mortals, though after bonding with a host, it may help that person achieve their goals. Here are five times the Phoenix Force helped and five it ruined everything in Marvel Comics.

10 HELPED OUT: Defeating Bete Noir

One of the most evil cosmic beings in Marvel is Bete Noir, the Black Beast. This parasitic malevolent entity has been known by other names too, such as Mephistopheles and Beezlebub. Whether it is a demon or something far darker is unknown, as is it's real name (if it even has one).

RELATED: X-Men: 10 Alternate Timelines That Were Terrible For Humans

Early at the beginning of the universe, Bete Noir and the Phoenix Force encountered each other in the black of space. They did battle and after a prolonged fight, the Phoenix triumphed, trapping Bete Noir deep within the cooling rock of the newly formed planet Earth.

9 RUINED EVERYTHING: Destroying a Star & Its Planets

During the events of The Dark Phoenix Saga, the Phoenix (in the form of Jean Grey) flew off into space, looped about Earth's sun, and shot off into another distant part of Shi'ar-controlled space. She plummeted into a local star--which was expected to have a multi-billion year lifespan--and made the star explode in a massive supernova.

This fiery blast consumed the nearby planets orbiting the star, one of which had a population of intelligent life. Delighted in the thrill of the blast, the Phoenix continued to fly through space, heedless of the lives she'd extinguished.

8 HELPED OUT: Saving Jean Grey

During a mission in space, Jean Grey gives her life piloting a spacecraft and using her telepathy to operate all of its controls as the ship was destroyed. In doing so, she saves her whole team, ensuring the other X-Men make it back home to Earth. The Phoenix Force takes note and saves Jean. She returns to Earth, calling herself the Phoenix and claiming to be the host of the cosmic force.

It is later revealed that this return is actually the result of the Phoenix taking on Jean's form and her memories, effectively impersonating her. However, it still does save her, preserving her body in a chrysalis underwater. In future stories, the Phoenix would continue to resurrect Jean when she died.

7 RUINED EVERYTHING: Destroying Even More Planets

The most famous incident involving the Dark Phoenix is the destruction of the planet during the events of The Dark Phoenix Saga, but this was hardly the first time that Phoenix destroyed a planet.

In the distant past, the Shiar Empire had a member named Rook'shir who bonded with the Phoenix. Like Jean Grey, he also manifested as the Dark Phoenix, destroying an entire planet. The Shi'ar Royal Guard were formed to put a stop to him. Afterward, his entire bloodline was killed off to prevent his descendants ever manifesting the Phoenix.

6 HELPED OUT: Saving The Mutant Race Through Hope Summers

The crossover event Avengers vs. X-Men pitted Marvel's top two superhero teams against one another. The reason for their fight is that the Phoenix is about to return to Earth and while the Avengers see this as a threat, the mutants see it as their last hope for survival.

RELATED: 10 Most Successful New Mutants To Ever Join The X-Men

At the start of the story, there are only two hundred mutants left in the world after Scarlet Witch wiped most of them out. The last hope for a mutant recovery seems to be the Phoenix bonding with Hope Summers and using its power of resurrection to bring them back. By the story's end, this is exactly what happens. Hope and the Scarlet Witch join together to use their powers to control the Phoenix, creating a new generation of mutants.

5 RUINED EVERYTHING: Driving The Phoenix Five Mad

While the end of Avengers vs. X-Men is filled with hope, the main part of the story is much darker. When the Phoenix finally arrives, Hope rejects it. Instead, the cosmic entity takes control of five other mutants: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik.

These X-Men (known as the Phoenix Five) try to use their new powers to help improve the Earth. Unfortunately, they are driven mad by the cosmic entity. Cases in point: Namor destroys Wakanda with a flood, Colossus tries to improve upon whales by giving them new appendages, and Cyclops kills his father figure and mentor, Charles Xavier.

4 HELPED OUT: Aiding The Ancient Avengers

Writer Jason Aaron took a bold new tact in distinguishing the history of the main Marvel Universe from other timelines in his run on Avengers by introducing the Avengers team of the year 1,000,000 BC.  This showed how ancient forces manifested in Earth's prehistory, including numerous cosmic entities.

When a Celestial came to the planet a million years ago, the team defeated the cosmic space entity. One reason for their success was that there was a woman among their ranks who had bonded with the Phoenix, giving her the power needed to beat a Celestial.

3 RUINED EVERYTHING: Impersonating Jean Grey In Endsong

The story Phoenix: Endsong takes place just after Jean Grey died at the end of Grant Morrison's run of X-Men, in which Jean died in the climax. After having had an affair with Emma Frost, Cyclops ended up in a relationship with the former White Queen of the Hellfire Club. In the aftermath, Phoenix returns, reanimating Jean's corpse but not actually resurrecting her.

The story deals with a series of personal heartaches as different characters come face to face with Jean's body and memories, despite the fact that she is not the one inside. The Phoenix, it turns out, remembers sharing Jean's feelings of love for Scott and so takes over her corpse as a way of recapturing this feeling. While the characters are taken on an emotional roller coaster, the story ends by legitimizing the love shared between Emma and Cyclops.

2 HELPED OUT: Bonding With (Future) Quentin Quire

This is another weird example. During the events of the crossover event Battle of the Atom, a future X-Men team makes contact with the various present-day mutant teams. There are numerous oddities about the members of the team, but the one that stands out as particularly noteworthy is that Quentin Quire has bonded with the Phoenix and has taken on a leadership role in the X-Men.

The effects of this are felt throughout the comics. Based on Phoenix Quentin's advice, a time-displaced younger group of the X-Men do not return to their own time. Also, stories involving the regular Quentin Quire begin to change as he and the other X-Men prepare for him to bear the responsibility that comes from bonding with that cosmic entity.

1 RUINED EVERYTHING: Possessing Celeste To Commit Mass Sororicide

Phoenix: Warsong is the sequel to the story Phoenix: Endsong. The Stepford Cuckoos, who had been introduced earlier in Grant Morrison's New X-Men, are front and center in this book, where it is revealed that they are actually clones of Emma Frost. While the surviving three Cuckoos are the remainders of five who were originally introduced, it turns out that there are actually more than a thousand Cuckoo clones.

The Phoenix possesses one of the Cuckoos, Celeste, who then burns all of her clones to cinder. This act of mass sororicide results in there only being three living Cuckoos. The comic ends with Emma Frost, traumatized, grieving as she stares out at the night, having been hurt once more by the Phoenix and losing the daughters she didn't even know she had.

NEXT: 10 Best Marvel Comics To Read If You're Stuck In Quarantine