History Characters / MCUGuardiansOfTheGalaxy

* MomentKiller: In the middle of their big slow-mo PowerWalk; Gamora can't stop a yawn, Peter rubs his nose, and Rocket takes a moment to adjust his junk.

* ChildrenAreInnocent: He was taking out of his cocoon way too early, and thus has the mind of a gentle, enthusiastic young boy who quickly shows he's the WhiteSheep of the Sovereign as a whole.

* IneffectualSympatheticVillain: Despite how powerful he is, he spends much of the movie being more of a joke than a real threat, including being knocked unconscious several times.

* CloudCuckoolander: The titular team is pretty much this to [[OnlySaneMan Gamora's exasperation]]. Tony Stark seem to share the sentiment when he met them, to the point that he take a half-minute-long beat to process their shenanigans while looking as if he was trying to figure out how he ended in that situation.

* CloudCuckoolander: Even by the main characters' standards, though it's justified as she is an alien with no social skills to interact with people.

* HollywoodHomely: InUniverse, Drax repeatedly describes her as being "hideous" and "repulsive", but to humans, she looks like a pretty human woman with jet-black eyes and cute little antennae on her forehead. Played with in that the only one of the Guardians who thinks she's ugly is ''Drax'', who is the group's CloudCuckoolander (and Gamorra matter-of-factly tells Mantis that she isn't ugly), so it might just be his own strange sense of aesthetics that is in play. The overly large eyes are a little unsettling, for sure.

* VitriolicBestBuds: With Drax. Thanks to Drax being...[[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} well]] [[InnocentlyInsensitive Drax]], they snipe at each other a lot. That doesn't stop them from hanging around each other often.

* DeadpanSnarker: Is generally unfazed or plain sarcastic in the most serious or dangerous of situations:

* AdaptationalNonsapience: Subverted. In the comics, Cosmo is a highly intelligent dog who can communicate with humans telepathically in the comics. In the MCU, she first appears mostly behaving like a perfectly normal dog, though her return in ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' reveals that she is telepathic, just like in the comics.

* AscendedExtra: She appears in the first Guardians-movie as part of the Collector's collection, with basically no involvement to the main plot of the movie or interaction with the main characters despite barking at Rocket with her inclusion in the movie only serving as an EasterEgg for the comic fans. In the ''Holiday Special'', she now has a speaking role, reveals her telekinetic powers, interacts directly with Rocket and is mentioned by the other Guardians as a familiar. ''Vol. 3'' gives her slightly more prominence by having her involved in several scenes on Knowhere, including the big finish of the film. [[spoiler:She's also part of the new Guardians of the Galaxy team at the very end.]]

* TheBusCameBack: Cosmo first appears in two non-speaking [[TheCameo cameos]] in the first movie, including a small scene in TheStinger. She isn't shown or mentioned during the plot of ''Vol. 2'' and only appears at a picture in the end-credits. In ''The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special'' she returns, this time even in a speaking role and is set up for a larger role in ''Vol. 3''.

* HateAtFirstSight: As a nod to their rivalry from the comics, Cosmo seems to take a dislike to Rocket as soon as she sees him walk by and angrily growls at him. Downplayed, as their interaction in the Holiday Special is portrayed as far more friendly.

* TruerToTheText: Despite being based on real-life female space dog Laika, comic Cosmo was male. Gunn decided to make Cosmo female and speaking with a heavy Russian accent in the MCU to take the homage closer to the real-life dog.

* OneManArmy: [[spoiler:While it takes him a while, once he finally masters the Yaka Arrow (with a little prompting from vision of Yondu) he's able to use it to almost the same lethal effect as its previous owner did, wiping out almost all of the High Evolutionary's army of Hellspawn single-handedly.]]

* ShipTease: He gets a scene in ''Vol. 2'' that hints at this with ''[[CuteAndPsycho Nebula]]'' of all people. When she decides to leave the Ravagers to go find Gamora, Kraglin inquires what she plans to do afterward, and wishes her "happy trails" as he rejoins his fellow Ravagers. By ''Thor: Love and Thunder'', however, Kraglin is shown getting married to a woman every time he goes to a new planet, throwing cold water on whatever ShipTease there was.

* AlienArtsAreAppreciated: Adam cites himself as a fan of Music/KingCrimson when asked what his favorite Earth band is.

* AdaptationalWimp: Downplayed. In the comics, Cosmo is a powerful telepath and telekinetic. In the MCU, she initially doesn't show her displaying any of those powers until ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'', and even then, her control over her telekinesis isn't as good as in the comics. Subverted by ''Vol. 3'' as she can even hold an entire ship.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Hanging out with the Guardians has given the soft-spoken Mantis an abrasive edge. She's still an overall nice girl, but the Christmas Special and Vol. 3 has her engaging in insult matches and ball busting she probably wouldn't have jumped into earlier on.

!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' | t''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' | ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3''

* MirrorCharacter: To Vision. Both of them are artificially created beings who were intended to be used by a villain to take down a heroic organization that they ultimately would become part of instead. They also both wear capes, speak with distinct English accents and have appreciation for human culture and life itself. The main difference is that Vision was born with serene intelligence and wisdom, while Adam is somewhat stunted emotionally and intellectually due to being let out of his cocoon too early.

%%* AMFMCharacterization: In TheStinger for ''Vol. 3'' when the Guardians are discussing their favourite bands, Phyla says her two favourites are Music/BritneySpears and Music/{{Korn}}.
%%This is a Zero-context example as written, but it feels significant enough to list. It needs a little explanation about what that says about her characterization.

!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/MariaBakalova
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' | ''Film/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' | ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3''

* BadassPacifist: Fighting isn't her thing -- but that doesn't mean she should be underestimated. Her [[TheEmpath Empathic]] abilities can subdue the likes of Ego and Thanos, making her very valuable all the same. ''Thor: Love and Thunder'' subverts this since it shows Mantis wielding a {{BFG}}, and later, a sword while fighting alongside the other Guardians. Though in the Guardians Holiday Special, she is horrified at the amount of violence Drax uses against the police.

For '''Groot''', see [[Characters/MCUGroot his]] page.\\
For '''Rocket Raccoon''', see [[Characters/MCURocketRaccoon his]] page.\\

[[center: [- [[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Heroic Organizations > '''Guardians of the Galaxy''' > [[Characters/MCUPeterQuill Peter Quill]] | [[Characters/MCUGamora Gamora]] | [[Characters/MCUDrax Drax]] | [[Characters/MCUGroot Groot]] | [[Characters/MCURocketRaccoon Rocket Raccoon]] | [[Characters/MCUYonduUdonta Yondu Udonta]] | [[Characters/MCUNebula Nebula]]-]]]

** Since Gunn had to introduce and establish the Guardians to start with, he anchored the group around Peter Quill and his role as the leader and overall human-origin AudienceSurrogate in a group of out-there aliens. In the case of the Avengers crossovers, the role of Audience Surrogate passes to the more familiar and established Avengers characters and as such Quill's original role and function are downplayed in favor of Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, and Nebula. The latter two are more tied to the overall plot about Thanos and his quest for the Infinity Stones, and Rocket Raccoon as a tech-genius comic relief and overall series mascot, ends up being the representative figure of the Guardians brand in interactions with the other Avengers. This can be justified for Rocket and Nebula, [[WatsonianVersusDoylist to an extent]], considering they are [[EverybodysDeadDave the only ones of the Guardians team who survive the Snap]].