History Characters / MCURonanTheAccuser

[[redirect:Characters/MCURonan]]

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[[center:[-[[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Villainous Organizations > [[Characters/MCUThanosForces Thanos's Forces]] ([[Characters/MCUThanos Thanos]] | ''' Ronan the Accuser''') -]]]

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!!'''All spoilers prior to the end of ''Avengers: Endgame'' are left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''
!!''Ronan the Accuser''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/466a78ed8f244fc6232b1334866b3f68.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you, either."'']]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here to see him in ''Captain Marvel'']] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8845a2f1_0bce_4035_bc16_bf455bac05b9.png [softreturn] ''"A cell of Skrulls anywhere is a threat to Kree everywhere."''[[/labelnote]]]]
!!!'''Species:''' Kree
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Kree Imperial
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Kree Empire (formerly), Accuser Corps (formerly), Thanos (formerly)
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/LeePace
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Rubén Moya (Latin-American Spanish dub), Juan Fernández Mejías (European Spanish dub), Hiroshi Shirokuma (Japanese dub)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' | ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}''

->''"They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!"''

A Kree fanatic who insists on staying true to the old ways of his people... particularly their code of vendetta. When the peace treaty between the Kree and Xandar is signed after a millennium of conflict that killed his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he goes rogue.
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[[folder:A-M]]
* AchillesHeel: Ronan is [[TheJuggernaut virtually unstoppable.]] His warhammer, on the other hand, isn't. It also happens to be where he carries the Power Stone.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the comics, the Accuser is an officially sanctioned JudgeJuryAndExecutioner and Ronan carries out his duties as a ruthless ByTheBookCop at worst -- while not exactly a heroic character, he remains loyal to the Kree Empire, only acting [[JustFollowingOrders under orders]] or [[InspectorJavert within his legal remit]], and even serving as an occasional ally to the heroes if an alliance is in their common interests. Here, he's a savagely brutal renegade and a genocidal terrorist who continues the Empire's war against Xandar despite the peace treaty between them -- although it's implied that certain Kree authorities unofficially approve. Ultimate Ronan is closer to this portrayal of the character, but even in Ultimate Marvel, Ronan was loyal to Thanos (who, in that continuity, was his father). Here, Ronan obviously loathes the Mad Titan and turns on him at the earliest opportunity.
* AggressiveCategorism:
** Ronan hates all Xandarians and wants to eradicate them because they are a disease.
** He also calls the Skrulls "infestation".
* AndThereWasMuchRejoicing: Once he's dead, Xandar celebrates his demise.
* ArchEnemy: Serves as this for Drax, since he had his family killed by the Kree warrior. After Ronan's defeat, Drax focuses on fighting Thanos.
* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: He's the unquestioned leader of his faction and also the most powerful.
* AxCrazy: He was very enthusiastic about destroying Xandar, and according to Drax, Ronan laughed as he murdered Drax's family.
* BadBoss: In ''Captain Marvel'', we see that he is ''horrid'' towards his own subordinates, the Starforce, berating and belittling them for their failure that cost them Carol. In ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', he has his Sakaaran troops become suicide bombers in his attack on Xandar and doesn't react the slightest when Korath is killed or when Nebula disappears from the battle.
* BadassBaritone: His voice is very deep and intimidating.
* BadassBoast:
** He delivers one to Drax in their first fight:
--->'''Ronan:''' [[ButForMeItWasTuesday I don't recall killing your family.]] I doubt I'll remember killing you, either.
** Delivers quite a good one to Thanos after betraying him:
--->'''Ronan:''' I will unfurl one thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar, '''AND BURN IT TO ITS CORE'''! And then, Thanos, I'm coming for ''you''.
** He delivers a rather terrifying one to the Nova Corps:
--->'''Ronan:''' Xandar! You stand accused! Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now! It is the tinder on which you ''burn''!
* BadassInCharge: Leader of his renegade faction. He's also able to beat [[OneManArmy Drax the Destroyer]] all on his own and slaughters over 80,000 members of the Nova Corps during the FinalBattle.
* BadassLongcoat: His ceremonial armor and robes resemble one.
* BaldOfEvil: A brief scene near the beginning of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' shows Ronan to be bald.
* BareFistedMonk: Prior to equipping his warhammer with the Power Stone, he only uses it to execute a restrained captive. In his fight with Drax, he shows his unarmed combat expertise by effortlessly pummelling him with only his bare hands.
* BigBad: Ronan is the main antagonist of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', with his search for the Orb and goal of destroying Xandar causing him to come into conflict with the main characters.
* BloodBath: It's implied he regularly bathes in Xandarian blood, and it's how he's introduced.
* BlowYouAway: His warhammer can project shockwaves of varying intensity and size, large enough to knock several people off their feet without otherwise harming them or small and powerful enough to cause a NeckSnap. After the warhammer has been imbedded with the Power Stone, it could produce a shockwave powerful enough to completely dismantle the Nova Corps' blockade of the ''Dark Aster'' in a single blow.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: He doesn't quite remember killing Drax's family when they first fight, though he apparently managed to recall it by the time they meet again in the finale, although he may have been lying about remembering in order to taunt Drax. The commentary for ''Infinity War'' seems to point to the latter, as it was stated Drax's family was part of the unlucky half. Averted with his encounter with Carol Danvers though. Ronan makes it clear that her shredding his fleet and costing him the battle over Earth was ''not'' going to be one of those "forgetable" incidents.
* CartoonishSupervillainy: And '''how'''. His simple genocidal motives (already done to death in many works of fiction), his unequivocal cruelty to everyone and everything and his ridiculously [[ChewingTheScenery over-the-top]] demeanor fit this trope to a tee. However, the MCU successfully plays it for drama, as there is ''nothing'' funny or amusing about Ronan and his actions.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' reveals that Ronan, while still a genocidal and racist jackass, was far more reasonable and reserved in his methods of serving his Empire and killing those he deems his enemies, a sharp contrast to the megalomaniacal monster he would become in ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}''.
* CoDragons: With Yon-Rogg to the Supreme Intelligence back while he was still the Kree Grand Accuser, and was effectively the JudgeJuryAndExecutioner of the Kree Empire.
* TheComicallySerious: He's just finishing up his big evil speech and preparing to fulfill his dream of Xandar's destruction when Star-Lord challenges him to a dance-off. This was an... unanticipated event which elicited a genuinely puzzled reaction from Ronan.
* CompositeCharacter: Closer to the prime universe Ronan in appearance, but his villainy and connection to Thanos come from the Ultimate version.
* CoolStarship: Ronan commands the ''Dark Aster'', a massive starship. He uses it as some sort of personal temple to execute the Xandarian at the beginning and, at the climax, he uses it to attack Xandar itself. The ship's similar design to Thanos's flagship, the ''Sanctuary II'', suggests that Ronan's ship was provided by the Mad Titan. [[DownplayedTrope It's not very cool though]]: ''Dark Aster'' is totally unarmed and appears to be unarmored (at one point the ''Milano'' blasts a hole through it with just its small rotary cannon). It seems to act as a mobile base and transport more than a warship, similar to the Chitauri mothership, just ''much'' bigger (three miles wide).
* CopKiller: Ronan's first scene has him using his warhammer to brutally execute a captive Nova officer.
* CreepyBlueEyes: They seem to be a common trait for the Kree.
* CurbStompBattle: Ronan easily defeats Drax in their "fight" on Knowhere.
* DarkIsEvil: He wears black clothing and black make-up, his soldiers wear black uniforms, Ronan commands the massive, intimidating black warship ''Dark Aster'', and when in possession of the Infinity Stone, his warhammer glows [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack purple]]. Ronan fulfills this trope like no villain since [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]].
* DealWithTheDevil: He made a pact with Thanos, offering to find the Orb in exchange for Thanos wiping out Xandar. As soon as he finds out that the Orb contains an Infinity Stone with the power to do just that, he turns on Thanos the first chance he gets.
* DeathFromAbove: ''Captain Marvel'' shows that Ronan's favored method of attack is launching ''Kree Ballistic Missiles'' to snuff out and annihilate enemies. Although he didn't have access to those weapons anymore by the time of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', he instead has Immolation Protocol, wherein ''kamikaze squadrons'' dive onto the surface of planets, which are not as powerful as the Kree Ballistic Missiles, but accomplish the same effect.
* DefectorFromDecadence: Falls somewhere between here and MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch. He, along with several other members of his race, are ''not'' pleased their government is just rolling over after years of lost lives to war with the Xandarians with a mere peace treaty. Rather than just riot like the rest of his disgruntled folk, he takes matters into his own hands and begins violently crusading on his own terms to get his own brand of justice against Xandar.
* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: Ronan declaring he will [[KillTheGod kill Thanos]] is practically ''daring'' Thanos to try and stop him. This insolence did ''not'' sit well for Thanos in the long run.
* DirtyCoward: Ronan's enormous arrogance and cruelty vanish whenever he's faced with an actual threat as his turning tail and running when Carol plowed through his forces, not caring in the slightest about his men, shows.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Ronan kills the Other just for annoying him. He also hates the Xandarians because his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather died in the Kree Empire's war with them. Ronan's response? ''Try to commit genocide against the Xandarians and wipe their culture from the face of the galaxy''. Ronan does ''not'' handle grief well.
* TheDragon: To Thanos, as Ronan is tasked in finding the Infinity Stones for him, though he betrays Thanos and uses the Power Stone to become powerful enough to destroy Xandar.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Even before betraying Thanos, he makes it damn clear he only works for the Mad Titan because of his promise to destroy Xandar. He's Thanos's prime agent in hunting the Infinity Stone but he doesn't even speak to him respectfully.
* TheDreaded: ''No one'' wants to be on Ronan's bad side. Upon hearing the Accuser's name, the Broker freaks out and refuses to have anything to do with the Orb. It's also part of the reason why the Kree Empire does not want to deal with him -- because he's ''that'' dangerous. Only Drax, Thanos, and Carol ever directly encounter Ronan without expressing any fear of him.
* DropTheHammer: Much like in the comics, he wields a warhammer known as the "Universal Weapon". However, the [[AllThereInTheManual ''Official Guidebook To The Marvel Cinematic Universe - Guardians of the Galaxy'']] reveals its MCU name as the [[AdaptationNameChange "Cosmi-Rod"]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Bathing in Xandarian blood, speaking at length about his adherence to the ancient ways of the Kree and his hatred for the entire Xandarian culture, making it clear that the peace treaty between the Kree Empire and the Nova Corps means nothing to him, before [[YourHeadAsplode brutally]] executing a captive Nova Corps officer.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Played with. He mentions having lost his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to the war with the Nova Empire. But unlike most examples, this does not humanize him or make him sympathetic in the slightest, and it's implied he's just using it as an excuse for his own sadism.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Not that he wasn't evil beforehand, but in ''Captain Marvel'', he wears his traditional green uniform back when he was still the Kree Grand Accuser. By the time of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', after leaving the Kree Empire, he switches to a black uniform with red marks and adds black warpaint.
* EvilGloating: Loves doing this. It backfires since it gives Rocket the time to build a weapon to take him out.
* EvilIsHammy: Ye ''Celestials'' is he ever. Every time Lee Pace gets a chance to really let loose with Ronan's evil monologues, particularly after he becomes drunk with power from the Infinity Stone, Ronan eats and chews the scenery with aplomb with unrelentingly bombastic speeches over how he shall destroy Xandar and every living thing on it. Ironically, the one time Ronan is off-guard, he lets the hamminess slip entirely and speaks like [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness a normal, confused guy.]] To quote Lee Pace's description of his own performance:
-->'''Lee Pace:''' I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "More, more!"
* EvilIsPetty: Ronan killed the Other just for being annoying, and, when betraying Thanos, he recalls the Mad Titan's previous insult (namely, referring to Ronan as "boy"), indicating that he took the relatively minor remark ''very'' personally.
* EvilPlan: Destroy Xandar and wipe out its culture because a long war that was supposed to do that has been halted by a peace treaty.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Lee Pace's naturally deep, imposing voice only sounds more intimidating when combined with his booming, hammy dialogue.
* EvilWearsBlack: Ronan, as well as his soldiers, wears black armor.
* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Ronan's NewEraSpeech is abruptly interrupted by Star-Lord challenging him to a dance-off.
* FantasticRacism:
** Ronan despises the Xandarians and their culture to the point of regarding both as a disease. When a captive Nova officer defiantly proclaims that Ronan will never rule Xandar, Ronan has a rather brutal response:
--->'''Ronan:''' No… '''[[SuddenlyShouting I WILL]] ''[[SuddenlyShouting CURE IT]]!''''' [''[[YourHeadAsplode smashes the Nova officer's skull with the Cosmi-Rod]]'']
** While reporting to Thanos, Ronan dismissively refers to Quill as "some primitive", implying that Ronan doesn't think especially highly of humans, either.
** And finally, he despises the Skrulls just like the rest of his people.
* FelonyMisdemeanor: He went rogue because his people and the people of Xandar were going to sign a peace treaty after a millennium of conflict.
* FlatWhat: Ronan's reaction to Quill's dance-off challenge. He doesn't say it like an evil alien overlord, as you'd expect him to sound, but like a normal human who's been genuinely caught off guard.
-->'''Ronan:''' What are you doing?\\
'''Star-Lord:''' Dance-off, bro! Me and you!
* {{Foil}}: To Drax. Both of them are proud and fearsome warriors who seek revenge on those who are responsible for the deaths of their family (Ronan wants to eradicate the Xandarians for killing his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, while Drax wants to kill Ronan for slaughtering his wife and daughter), along with a shared hatred for Thanos. However, Drax relies mainly on his physical strength in combat, while Ronan is a trained military veteran who knows how to fight, and he beats the crap out of Drax without breaking a sweat. When it comes to personality, Drax is open to the opinions of others and can be concerned about the safety of those around him, while Ronan does not even care about what others think of him or if anyone who supports him is in danger. Drax is also able to exact his vengeance by killing Ronan, which in turn prevents Ronan from completing his mission.
* FormerRegimePersonnel: While the Kree Empire doesn't collapse, Ronan broke away from its official command structure to become a rogue agent and terrorist and strike at the Nova Empire on his own.
* FreudianExcuse: His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all killed in the Kree/Xandarian war. He brings it up twice as a reason for his hatred towards the Xandarians.
* TheFundamentalist: Ronan adheres to "the ancient laws" of the Kree with incredible fervor. He even refers to the impending destruction of Xandar as his victims' "salvation".
* GeneralRipper: Even in his days with the Kree Empire, his favorite approach was to [[OrbitalBombardment blow them all up]] and let the Kree gods sort them out.
* GenreBlind: In the end, Ronan is defeated because ''he doesn't realize he's in a comedy.'' He takes himself and his RoaringRampageOfRevenge ''way'' too seriously, which allows him to easily be distracted by Peter doing something ridiculous and silly, long enough for the rest of the team to counterattack.
* GreenAndMean: Back when he was the Grand Accuser, he and the rest of the Accuser Corps had green uniforms.
* HatedByAll: Even by the standards of the Kree Empire, it's rather apparent that ''nobody'' likes Ronan. Lesser powers such as Xandar are justifiably terrified of him due to his horrific acts of terrorism against their people, while those more powerful such as Thanos consider Ronan to be little more than an ineffectual PsychopathicManchild with no redeeming characteristics. Not even the Kree themselves are willing to show Ronan any respect (Korath the Pursuer notwithstanding), with Yon-Rogg expressing disgust at his willingness to carpet-bomb Earth's surface despite their being several Kree agents still on it.
* HateSink: It's very clear that this version of Ronan is meant to be as contemptible to the audience as much as possible; his casual sadism, flagrant disregard of his people's peace treaty, genocidal hatred of Xandarians, proclivity for torture, and monstrously cruel nature are all his most outwardly visible character traits, and there really isn't much else lurking beneath the surface. While the bulk of the characters in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' are morally grey, Ronan is pure, unrepentant, unrelenting evil. In light of his master Thanos's tragic backstory, Ronan ends up making the ''Mad Titan himself'' look like a saint by comparison. It's ''really'' saying something if Thanos and his followers ''detest'' him. In ''Captain Marvel'', where the Kree are given focus, he doesn't even care about his own people; he does nothing but show disrespect, threatening and berating the Kree Starforce for their failures, and even Yon-Rogg despises Ronan for nuking planets indiscriminately. That being said, Ronan was even willing to lay waste to a planet where billions of human lives and loyal Kree are present to eradicate innocent Skrulls.
* HealingFactor: While never directly touched upon in the films, the Kree in the MCU are confirmed to have regenerative capabilities. This goes a long way to help explain why he's just so damn resilient.
* TheHeavy: Ronan is the most prominent villain and main mover of the plot in the first ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' film, although [[GreaterScopeVillain Thanos]] is a more powerful force of evil.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: He attempts to harness and use the energy of the Power Stone to obliterate Xandar, only for the Guardians to harness and use the energy of the Power Stone to obliterate him.
* {{Hypocrite}}:
** In ''Captain Marvel'', Ronan claims to believe in the Empire's credo of "for the good of all Kree". In practice, he's fine with carpet bombing a planet that has several Kree officers on it, and abandons his fellow Kree without turning an eye when the going gets rough.
** For all Ronan's insistence that he's acting for "Kree justice" and that he follows the ancient laws of his people, in practice, he doesn't give a damn about loyalty to anything but himself, deserting from the Kree Empire the instant they make a decision that he doesn't agree with.
* ICanRuleAlone: Ronan's deal with Thanos falls through when Ronan decides that, rather than give the Infinity Stone to Thanos in return for the destruction of Xandar, he can keep the stone, destroy Xandar on his own, and then take down Thanos for good measure.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He personally hates Xandarians so he sees himself as justified in annihilating the entire race. Further considerations don't really enter into his reasoning. In fact, he's willing to kill off his own people as collateral.
* ItsPersonal: While he shares his people's hate and distrust for the Skrulls, his hatred for Xandar is ''deeply'' personal.
* {{Jerkass}}: In addition to being a genocidal murderer, Ronan is also just an asshole as seen by his taunting of Drax and his blunt, abrasive demeanor with everyone else. [[EveryoneHasStandards It's clear that Thanos doesn't like him on a personal level and wouldn't work with him if he could avoid it]]. ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' shows this isn't a new trend; Ronan has no qualms about laying waste to an entire planet that, as far as he knows has several loyal Kree still on it, and he departs without a hint of concern for the fates of his erstwhile comrades.
* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: Ronan is an extremely ruthless, tyrannical ex-accuser of the Kree Empire, willing to kill Xandarians because they are a disease to his people.
* TheJuggernaut: He stood up to a beating from Drax with barely a twitch and withstood a missile launch, being rammed with the ''Milano'', and the crash of the ''Dark Aster'' without any more than his armor getting burnt. In the end, it takes an ''Infinity Stone'' (a weapon that, keep in mind, Ronan was going to use to wipe out a ''planet'') to kill Ronan.
* KarmicDeath: Ronan sought to ''burn'' Xandar with the Power Stone. Moments later, he's killed with the ''exact'' amount of overwhelming power he wanted to bring in Xandar.
* KickTheDog: Ronan is a rather cruel being, to say the least.
** He orders that the Kyln be "cleansed" so that the Nova Corps would be unable to discover his search for the Orb.
** His comment towards Drax after defeating him on Knowhere.
--->'''Ronan:''' I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you, either.
** While choking Drax on the bridge of the ''Dark Aster'', he has another one.
--->'''Ronan:''' I was mistaken; I ''do'' remember your family. Their screams were ''pitiful''.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: He kills the Other after getting sick of listening to his annoying yelling.
* KnightTemplar: Ronan views himself as being in judgment of the Xandarians and all who oppose him. To Ronan, destroying Xandar, murdering everyone on the planet, and obliterating the Xandarian culture isn't genocide, it's curing a disease.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm:
** In ''Captain Marvel'', after Carol Danvers tears one of his ships to pieces, Ronan wisely orders his remaining ships to return to Kree space, although he's clearly taken an interest in Carol.
** In ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', Ronan heeds Nebula's advice of not continuing to anger Thanos after killing the Other and his initial failure of retrieving the Orb.
* LackOfEmpathy: Even by [[AliensAreBastards Kree]] standards, he's brutal towards others, Kree included.
* LargeAndInCharge: He's played by 6'4" Lee Pace and is the main villain of the first ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' film.
* LargeHam: An ''enormous'' one, to Asgardian levels. To quote Lee Pace's description of his own performance:
-->'''Lee Pace:''' I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "More, more!"
* LightningBruiser: As a Kree, Ronan is fast enough to dodge Drax's attacks and tank the latter's hits before turning the table on the Kylosian warrior.
* MarqueeAlterEgo: Unlike the comic, this Ronan wears traditional warpaint in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' instead of a mask. Even when he was the Grand Accuser, his uniform lacks a mask.
* MirrorCharacter: To Loki. Both of them are members of a blue-skinned race who end up becoming TheDragon to Thanos, use a weapon embedded with an Infinity Stone in their respective campaigns, as well as having a RagtagBunchOfMisfits as their primary oppositions. Despite their mutual fear of Thanos, Loki showed no signs of attempting to betray Thanos and he ended up surviving his fight against the Avengers. Ronan, however, chooses to turn his back on his overlord and ended up getting killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Loki does eventually end up meeting his demise in the literal hands of Thanos.
* MoralMyopia: Ronan wants to destroy Xandar to avenge the deaths of his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and further ancestors who were killed fighting the Xandarians. When he pays any thought to the countless innocents he slaughtered including Drax's family, Ronan's proud of his good work.
* MoralSociopathy: Ronan sincerely believes half of the things he does genuinely are what Kree law dictates.
* MotiveRant: He delivers one to a captive Nova officer, during his EstablishingCharacterMoment.
-->'''Ronan:''' They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!\\
'''Nova officer:''' You can't do this! Our governments signed a peace treaty!\\
'''Ronan:''' My government knows no shame. You Xandarians and your culture are a ''disease''.\\
'''Nova officer:''' [[DefiantToTheEnd You will never rule Xandar]].\\
'''Ronan:''' No… '''[[SuddenlyShouting I WILL]]''' '''''[[LargeHam CURE IT]]!'''''
* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: Super ''Villain'' in this case but the fact remains that his outfit in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' is black as opposed to the traditional green from the comics. Even his previous green uniform in ''Captain Marvel'' is pretty muted in color.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:N-Y]]
* NakedOnArrival: Ronan is first introduced this way because he was bathing in the blood of Xandarians.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: He is Ronan ''[[HangingJudge the Accuser]]'', and the mention of his name brings fear to Xandarians.
* NearVillainVictory: The mission to stop him is actually a failure. Thousands of Nova Corps men and ships are lost, the ''Dark Aster'' makes planetfall (albeit on a one-way trip) and causes catastrophic damage both by itself and the ships that plowed into the city before it landed, and Ronan stands with his weapon at the ready to stab it to the ground and eliminate all organic life on the entire planet. The only thing that impedes him is his own EvilGloating and Quill coming up with a last-ditch distraction that gives Rocket enough time to jury-rig a weapon to destroy his warhammer.
* NeckLift: Easily lifts Drax (who's ''massive'') by the throat with one hand.
* NewEraSpeech: Ronan starts a pretty hammy one in front of a fearful Xandarian crowd during the climax of the first ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' film. He [[FailedAttemptAtDrama gets interrupted]] by Quill challenging him to a dance-off.
* NighInvulnerable: Getting punched repeatedly by Drax? Psssht. Getting shot with an improvised {{BFG}}? An annoyance. Getting hit by a small starship? A minor inconvenience. Going down with his own ship? A slightly bigger inconvenience. It takes the power of the Infinity Stone, which can destroy a planet, to put him down for good. Even ''then'', it took a few seconds for the stone's power to destroy Ronan, which is a further testament to how tough the guy is; every other victim of the stone, except Quill, was disintegrated almost instantly.
* NoTrueScotsman: Ronan is sickened that his government would sign a peace treaty with Xandar, proudly proclaiming that unlike them, he follows the ancient laws of the Kree and punishes those who don't.
-->'''Ronan:''' My government knows no shame. You Xandarians and your culture are a ''disease''.
* NoSell: Exactly ''one'' of Drax's blows makes Ronan react. Everything else just doesn't faze him. He then goes on to take a missile to the chest and walks away with dented armor, is rammed by a starship and knocked out for only a minute, and survives his own starship crash-landing with no protection. It takes a concerted discharge from the Infinity Stone to finally destroy him.
* NotSoSimilar: Most of the galaxy sees Thanos and Ronan as interchangeable with the exception of Thanos being more powerful. However, while Ronan conquers for revenge, glory, and out of hatred, Thanos sees his actions as NecessarilyEvil to ensure stability in the galaxy. However, ''Endgame'' reveals that despite Thanos explicitly stating that Ronan's obsession clouds his judgment, both of them might not be too different after all.
* NotSoStoic: Ronan is genuinely baffled when Quill challenges him to a dance-off. His reaction is the only four words in the entire ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' that he delivers non-[[LargeHam hammily]], though he quickly recovers.
-->'''Ronan:''' [[FlatWhat What are you doing]]? ...''What'' are you ''doing''?
* ObliviouslyEvil: Unlike most MCU villains, he believes himself to be the most righteous person in this story, but really, he's a genocidal tyrant, an oppressor who can't look at himself in the mirror.
* ObviouslyEvil: The black armor, intimidating presence, [[EvilIsHammy theatrical]] brutality, and references to "[[DeadlyEuphemism cleansing]]" his enemies? Yeah, Ronan's pretty bad.
* OhCrap: This is the reaction Ronan has upon witnessing that the Guardians are able to harness the volatile energy of the Power Stone together.
* OmnicidalManiac: Ronan's pact with Thanos centers around the Mad Titan destroying Xandar for the Kree renegade. Once he gets his hands on the Power Stone, Ronan's more than happy to do the deed himself. ''Avengers: Infinity War'' implicitly confirms that Ronan took part in at least one Thanos's planetary cullings during his service to the Mad Titan; it's explicitly mentioned that Drax's homeworld was decimated by Thanos's forces, and it had already been established that Ronan personally murdered Drax's wife and daughter.
* PsychopathicManchild: According to Thanos, Ronan has the demeanor of a "pouty child", and he even takes offense to it in a rather childish way. ("YOU CALL ME BOY!") Too bad he has also a hellish lust for revenge against an entire planet and kills people wherever he goes.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: His black armor features red markings.
* ReligionOfEvil: It's not fleshed out very much, but Ronan's comments imply that he adheres to a pretty brutal belief system (at the climax, he demands that the Xandarians renounce their "paltry gods" and that his impending genocide is their "salvation").
* TheRemnant: He's a remnant of the the Kree regime headed by the Supreme Intelligence, who is no longer in power. Without the backing of the Empire, Ronan has to rely on Sakaaran mercenaries and Thanos's resources to carry out his crusade.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Ronan hates Xandar and its people after what they did to his people, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. When the Kree Empire decides to make peace with the Nova Empire, he becomes a renegade and stars to kill every Xandarian he can find along with those who stand in his way.
* RogueAgent: Ronan deserted after the Kree Empire signed the peace treaty with the Nova Corps, and they consider him a terrorist. But given that much of the Kree population also opposes the peace treaty, they're at least hesitant to openly condemn his galaxy-wide rampage. It's implied that some of the Kree government actually agrees with him. Then again, ''Captain Marvel'' shows most Kree actually don’t like him, especially because he indiscriminately carpet bombs planets. He becomes one to Thanos as well.
* {{Sadist}}: He has no problem with committing genocidal destruction. Drax also comments that Ronan laughed as he murdered Drax's family, and Ronan's frequent EvilGloating thoroughly demonstrates the pleasure he takes in his genocidal campaign.
* SanitySlippage: While still a genocidal sociopath, ''Captain Marvel'' depicts him as being calmer and more collected than the deranged psychopath in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', but still a complete, callous jerkass to his Kree subordinates.
* SavedByCanon: His appearance in ''Captain Marvel'' takes place about two decades before his original appearance in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', so he obviously has to survive the former.
* SlasherSmile: He sports a wide one when he sees Quill being overwhelmed by the Infinity Stone's power. It disappears quickly when the other Guardians join Quill and they use its power to destroy Ronan.
* TheSociopath: While he's hinted to have cared for his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, his actions clearly show his status as a low-functioning sociopath. Killing families is [[ButForMeItWasTuesday forgettable for him]], he bathes in Xandarian blood regularly, and will KickTheDog just because. [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Back in the day]], he was more calm and rational about it, but he still had no qualms about bombing the hell out of innocent people in the name of Kree imperialism, even if Kree soldiers are caught in the crossfire.
* SociopathicSoldier: Ronan was just as much of a monster in service to the Kree as he is while working for Thanos, leading his fellow Accusers in bombing planets back to the Stone Age. The only difference is that in those days, he had the backing of his government. Once he forsook his loyalty to the Empire, he set off on a galaxy-wide rampage.
* SocketedEquipment: As he obtains the Infinity Stone inside the Orb, he is able to insert it into his warhammer, allowing it to amplify his powers.
* TheStarscream: Betrays Thanos after he finds out what the Orb actually is.
* TheStoic: Ronan is generally completely serious and straight-faced. Doesn't stop him from being an incredibly LargeHam, though.
* StrongAndSkilled: Not only is he incredibly strong, but he has the fighting skills to make good use of his incredible strength. His fight with Drax pretty much consists of Ronan effortlessly countering and dodging his attacks and ending the fight with a one-handed body slam.
* SuddenlyShouting: Not as much as Rocket, but he has his moments.
-->'''Nova officer:''' You will never rule Xandar.\\
'''Ronan:''' No… I WILL ''CURE IT!'' ''[smashes the Nova officer's skull with the Cosmi-Rod]''
* SuperStrength: Even before getting the Power Stone, he tosses [[TheWorfEffect Drax]] about like a ragdoll.
* SuperToughness: Aforementioned [[NighInvulnerable nigh-invulnerability]] aside, Ronan managed the impressive feat of keeping hold of the Power Stone long enough to imbed it in his warhammer without killing himself in the process.
* TautologicalTemplar: As far as he's concerned, he's acting "For the Good of the Kree" and so anything he does, no matter how horrible it is, is justified by default. Even if it means disregarding the Kree's peace treaty, and directly assaulting Xandar.
* TeamKiller: Ronan kills the Other for annoying him during their argument.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: He and Thanos don't get along at all. In the two conversations they have on screen, both feature Thanos making violent death threats and Ronan openly expressing his distaste for the Mad Titan. The only reason they're working together at all is because Ronan depends on Thanos's backing for his army and [[OrcusOnHisThrone Thanos]] relies on Ronan finding the Orb for him. In the end, Ronan betrays and announces his intention to kill Thanos as soon as he has the Power Stone.
* ThisCannotBe: Ronan is in shock when he sees the Guardians harnessing the Infinity Stone's power.
-->'''Ronan:''' ''[horrified]'' You're ''mortal! '''HOW?!'''''
* ThisMeansWarpaint: He applies this in his very first scene in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' just before starting his private war against the Xandarians.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Ronan was brutal, heartless, and had no qualms with wiping out innocent lives while he served the Kree Empire, but in those days, he was much calmer and more reasonable, as well as loyal to the Empire. By the time he's started working for Thanos, he's a rabid fanatic with no loyalty to his own government or his new employer.
* TouchOfDeath: After he obtains the Orb, he can disintegrate objects by touching them with his warhammer.
* TheUnfettered: Ronan will go to any lengths to see Xandar destroyed, and he's very single-minded in his pursuit. He's willing to abandon his own government, throw in with Thanos, kill scores of people to keep his mission a secret, betray the most powerful being in the universe, and order his troops to make kamikaze runs, all for the sake of wiping out the Xandarian people.
* TheUnfought: In ''Captain Marvel'', the closest Ronan comes to confronting the title character is staring her down from the observation deck of his warship, before choosing to flee.
* UnknownRival: His attitude to Drax. Drax calls him out and makes a big dramatic YouKilledMyFather declaration to him... and Ronan turns and walks away, completely uninterested in fighting him. One CurbStompBattle later that Ronan puts the minimum of effort into, he flatly makes it clear to Drax that he has no idea who the hell he is, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday doesn't remember killing his family]] and still won't remember any of them after he's done with him too.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: By threatening and betraying Thanos, he forced the Mad Titan's hand; Thanos no longer sees it fit to trust his own thralls, causing him to go on a bloodthirsty campaign for the Infinity Stones as shown in the post-credits ending of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''. While the confrontation with Thanos is inevitable, Ronan's actions only sped up the impending threat the Avengers would face in ''Infinity War''.
* VileVillainSaccharineShow: ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' is light-hearted and fun even by the standards of Marvel films, but whenever Ronan takes the screen the tone shifts dramatically to that of dread and foreboding. His EstablishingCharacterMoment when he literally bathes in the blood of a Xandarian soldier whose skull he crushed shows how great Ronan stands out in an otherwise light-hearted and optimistic film. ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' even manages to invoke this against him; when Quill distracts Ronan with an out-of-nowhere "dance-off", Ronan is [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness totally lost and unable to comprehend]] the goofy antics the Guardians have thrived off up to now, a vulnerability that ultimately lets them destroy him.
* VillainBall: He never uses the TouchOfDeath ability, preferring instead to non-lethally blast his opponents several feet away for purposes of gloating.
* VillainHasAPoint: During his audience with Thanos, Ronan correctly points out that it was Gamora, not him, who caused the Orb to fall into the hands of the Nova Empire, and their intel has confirmed she meant to betray them the whole time. Yet the Mad Titan summons him and is trying to scapegoat the Accuser.
* VillainTakesAnInterest: At the end of ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' after Ronan witnesses the full power at Carol Danvers' fingertips he orders his men to retreat but notes that he will be back for the weapon. When one of his men asks if he is referring to the power source they came to Earth for, itself an Infinity Stone, Ronan clarifies that he meant Carol Danvers herself.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being a genocidal terrorist, Ronan was popular amongst his people (at least the "purist" Kree). Unsurprising, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil considering who the Kree are]]. After Ronan's death, the Guardians are declared criminals by the Kree Empire for killing him.
* VillainExitStageLeft: During the climax of ''Film/CaptainMarvel'', Ronan sees Carol destroy all of his missiles, the fighters deployed to kill her, and one of the big ships. Then as she's prepared to attack Ronan's ship too, he orders a retreat but hopes to come back for her someday.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The 2014 versions of Ronan and Korath notably don't appear among the rest of Thanos's forces at the end of ''Endgame'', making it unclear what happened to them. However, Ronan does get a mention by Thanos.
* WouldHurtAChild: He personally murdered Drax's daughter and laughed about it, and it's unlikely that the children of Xandar were going to be spared from his intended genocide. Nova Prime explicitly states that Ronan has been murdering children during his galaxy-wide rampage against the Nova Empire.
* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: When he finally remembers Drax's family, he starts to gloat to Drax about his family's death. He doesn't finish due to Rocket's ship crashing into him.
* YouKilledMyFather: His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were killed during the Kree/Xandarian Wars, which motivates him to try and ''[[DisproportionateRetribution kill every living being on Xandar]]''.
[[/folder]]
----
->''"People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice and renounce your paltry gods! Your salvation is at hand!"''

----

* HatedByAll: Not just by Xandarians, but also by his fellow Kree even while he was still in service to the Kree Empire.

-->'''Lee Pace:''' I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "[[UpToEleven More, more!]]"

-->'''Lee Pace:''' I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "[[UpToEleven More, more!]]"

%% Grammar Note: For the sake of uniformity, the possessive for Thanos is "Thanos's". Please add an apostrophe followed by an s for all singular terms, including proper nouns.

* TheDreaded: ''No one'' wants to be on Ronan's bad side. Upon hearing the Accuser's name, the Broker freaks out and refuses to have anything to do with the Orb. It's also part of the reason why the Kree Empire does not want to deal with him -- because he's ''that'' dangerous. Only Drax, Thanos, and Carol ever directly encounter Ronan without expressing any fear of him. In Drax's case, his rage and sheer hatred for Ronan overpower any fear of the Accuser, Thanos's attitude towards the Kree zealot is downright dismissive, and Carol destroys one of his Accuser battle cruisers and all of its fighters within minutes and doesn't even attempt to fight Ronan as he retreats.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: After ''years'' of exterminating innocent populations such as the Skrulls, enslaving other races, and threatening Xandarians, Ronan ''finally'' gets what was coming to him at the end of ''Guardians of the Galaxy''.

* KnowNothingKnowItAll: He declares in ''Captain Marvel'' that Earth has no weapons capable of shooting down his ships' missiles. He seemingly bases this on absolutely nothing. In RealLife, Earth very much DOES have the ability to shoot down [=ICBMs=], ones much faster and smaller than the ones his ships launched (which are ''massive'' but extremely slow, subsonic in fact). It wouldn't have been totally effective, mainly because at that point they were still working with 1990s technology and had no warning, but it's far from "nothing."

* LeanAndMean: Ronan is played by [[http://lee-pace.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/lee-pace-photoshoot.jpg Lee Pace]] who did not bulk up for the role and has completely ordinary-looking musculature. Drax is played by a perpetually shirtless [[http://actionmoviefanatix.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/dave-bautista.jpg Dave Bautista]]. Even before Ronan gets the Infinity Stone, he utterly [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor]] with Drax and doesn't even use his warhammer to do it.

* NighInvulnerable: Getting punched repeatedly by Drax? Psssht. Getting shot with an improvised {{BFG}}? An annoyance. Getting hit by a small starship? A minor inconvenience. Going down with his own ship? A slightly bigger inconvenience. It takes the power of the Infinity Stone, which can destroy a planet, to put him down for good. Even ''then'', it took a few seconds for the stone's power to destroy Ronan, which is a further testament to how tough the guy is; every other victim of the stone, except Quill, was disintegrated almost instantly. ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' demonstrates that the Kree are at least reasonably close to Asgardians in terms of physical prowess and possess a potent HealingFactor, which would explain at least some of Ronan's ridiculous toughness. The fact that he's being empowered by the Power Stone for more than half of these examples would explain the rest.

* TheRemnant: He's a rogue officer from the main Kree government, which both doesn't approve or disapprove of his actions, or rather he's a remnant of the Supreme Intelligence's regime, who is no longer in power. However, without the backing of the Kree Empire, Ronan has to rely on Sakaaran mercenaries for minions and is reliant on Thanos's resources to carry out his crusade, making him little more than a glorified henchman to the Mad Titan, at least until he gets his hands on the Power Stone.

!!'''All spoilers prior to the events of ''Avengers: Endgame'' are left unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!'''

* NotSoSimilar: Most of the galaxy sees Thanos and Ronan as interchangeable with the exception of Thanos being more powerful. However, while Ronan conquers for revenge, glory, and out of hatred, Thanos sees his actions as NecessarilyEvil to ensure stability in the galaxy. [[spoiler:However, ''Endgame'' reveals that despite Thanos explicitly stating that Ronan's obsession clouds his judgment, both of them might not be too different after all.]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: [[spoiler:The 2014 versions of Ronan and Korath notably don't appear among the rest of Thanos's forces at the end of ''Endgame'', making it unclear what happened to them. However, Ronan does get a mention by Thanos.]]

* CartoonishSupervillainy: And '''how'''. His simple genocidal motives (already done to death in many works of fiction), his unequivocal cruelty to everyone and everything and his ridiculously [[ChewingTheScenery over-the-top]] demeanor fit this trope to a tee. However, the MCU successfuly plays it for drama, as there is ''nothing'' funny or amusing about Ronan and his actions.

-->'''Ronan:''' "What are you doing?"\\
'''Star-Lord:''' "Dance-off, bro! Me and you!"

* TookALevelInJerkass: Ronan was brutal, heartless, and had no qualms with wiping out innocent lives while he served the Kree Empire, but in those days, he was much more calm and reasonable, as well as loyal to the Empire. By the time he's started working for Thanos, he's a rabid fanatic with no loyalty to his own government or his new employer.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being a genocidal terrorist, Ronan was popular amongst his people (at least the "purist" Kree). Unsurprising, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil considering who the Kree are]]. After Ronan's death, the Guardians are declared as criminals to the Kree Empire for killing him.

!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Kree Empire, Accuser Corps, Thanos

!!!'''Citizenship:''' Kree

* {{Foil}}: To Drax. Both of them are proud and fearsome warriors who seek revenge on those who are responsible for the deaths of their family (Ronan wants to eradicate the Xandarians for killing his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, while Drax wants to kill Ronan for slaughtering his wife and daughter), along with a shared hatred for Thanos. However, Drax is open to the opinions of others and can be concerned about the safety of those around him, while Ronan does not even care about what others think of him or if anyone who supports him is in danger. Drax is also able to exact his vengeance by killing Ronan, which in turn prevents Ronan from completing his mission.

* SanitySlippage: While still a genocidal sociopath, ''Captain Marvel'' depicts him as being more calm and collected than the deranged psychopath in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', but still a complete, callous jerkass to his Kree subordinates.

* MirrorCharacter: To Loki. Both of them are members of a blue-skinned race who end up becoming TheDragon to Thanos, use a weapon imbedded with an Infinity Stone in their respective campaigns, as well as having a RagtagBunchOfMisfits as their primary oppositions. Despite their mutual fear of Thanos, Loki showed no signs of attempting to betray Thanos and he ended up surviving his fight against the Avengers. Ronan, however, chooses to turn his back on his overlord and ended up getting killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy.