Line #37 ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet


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4	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/infinity_gauntlet_new_trade_paperback.jpg]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350: Behold, the Original Avengers Endgame!]]
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7	->''"There can be no denying it. [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos You]] are ''supreme''. Anything you wish to be, you ''are.'' Anything you wish, ''is.'' Nothing in the universe dares challenge that claim. There can only be one word to describe you...\
8	GOD."''
9	-->-- '''Mephisto'''
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11	''The Infinity Gauntlet'' is a six-issue limited series published by Creator/MarvelComics in 1991, a CrisisCrossover set in the shared Franchise/MarvelUniverse. The core series was written by Creator/JimStarlin and pencilled by George Pérez (#1–4) and Ron Lim (#4–6). Its success, both critical and financial, cemented the reputations of everyone who worked on it.
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13	Following the events of ''ComicBook/TheThanosQuest'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]], the Mad Titan, has collected the Infinity Gems--six cosmic {{MacGuffin}}s that grant their wielder great power over a different part of the universe (Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Power, and Reality). When Thanos puts them all on his glove, they create the Infinity Gauntlet, which gives him [[PhysicalGod power over basically everything]]. Thanos had long been in love with the incarnation of Death after having been resurrected; ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' is literally about Thanos trying to use his godly power to court Death. When Death refuses to even acknowledge Thanos's newfound power, the Titan steps up his game by erasing ''half the population of the entire universe'' with a mere thought. Entire worlds and civilizations are torn asunder by Thanos's power--including Earth, which faces assumed annihilation as a result of power unleashed by the Infinity Gems.
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15	Earth's remaining heroes (and a few villains) soon come together to plan an attack against Thanos, hoping to catch him off-guard and stop him before he destroys all existence. Aiding Earth's attack force is [[CrystalDragonJesus Adam Warlock]], who had been trapped inside one of the Gems and knows Thanos better than anyone save Thanos himself. (Warlock's plan is more of a distraction than an actual attempt to stop Thanos; he knows the heroes are doomed to fail.) Across the universe, other cosmic beings--including Galactus--prepare their own coordinated attack on the mad Titan.
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17	When Earth's assault begins, Thanos uses all the powers of the Gems to lay waste to his attackers. In the midst of battle, he is convinced to turn off most of the gems [[WillfullyWeak just to prove he can still do a lot of damage with just one]]. After he defeats the last of Earth's forces, the cosmic entities try to have their way with him--but Thanos outpowers them all and soon takes the place of Eternity...
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19	''Infinity Gauntlet'' spawned an ongoing series, ''Infinity Watch'', and [[ComicBook/TheInfinityWar two more miniseries]] [[ComicBook/TheInfinityCrusade that ultimately created a trilogy]], and another miniseries with the same name that tied into ''ComicBook/SecretWars2015''; A young girl named Anwen Bakian discovers one of the Infinity Gems on Battleworld. She soon ends up embroiled in a conflict involving Thanos and Star-Lord, and becomes a member of the defunct Comicbook/{{Nova}} Corps.
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21	It also received an adaptation for Marvel's all-ages line, written by Creator/BrianClevinger.
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23	''Infinity Gauntlet'' was loosely adapted into two video games by Creator/{{Capcom}}. The first, ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesWarOfTheGems'', is a BeatEmUp[=/=]PlatformGame for the SNES. The second, ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'', is an arcade FightingGame; it followed ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'' and paved the way for the VideoGame/CapcomVs series.
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25	The ''Infinity Gauntlet'' storyline -- along with others similar to it -- also serve as the underlying basis for Franchise/{{Marvel\|CinematicUniverse}}'s 2018 movie ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and its 2019 sequel ''Film/AvengersEndgame''.
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27	----
28	!!''Infinity Gauntlet'' provide examples of:
29	* AbstractApotheosis: Thanos was defeated when he [[spoiler:abandoned his body and became/replaced Eternity at the head of the Cosmic Beings... and failed to realize that the Gauntlet itself, which sustained his new existence, was still on his lifeless body's hand and within easy reach of vengeful relatives.]]
30	* AchillesHeel: ''Gauntlet'' established that Thanos's weakness is chronic self-defeatism.
31	* AllThereInTheManual: ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' miniseries begins with Thanos already having acquired all the Infinity Gems. If you want to know how he got them, you need to read the ''Thanos Quest'' two-part comic. Also, Thanos' resurrection and the motivation for his deeds in ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' were first explored in issues of ''ComicBook/SilverSurfer'' that preceded this series. ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' Omnibus thankfully includes all of these comics, but the regular trade paperback only collects the miniseries.
32	** Notably, Thanos' motive in killing off half the universe is not to impress Death, despite that being the popular conception. He did it because she specifically ordered him to, because she felt the universe was overpopulated and headed for mass extinction. Further, she doesn't give him the cold shoulder because she's uninterested, but because he betrayed her trust in going after the gems rather than using the gifts she gave him to accomplish his task. All of this can only be found by reading Silver Surfer and Thanos Quest, with the Infinity Gauntlet limited series only covering the fallout of his betrayal.
33	* AmplifierArtifact: The Reality Gem is almost useless on its own, because it is almost impossible to control by a mortal mind. However, if someone possesses both it and another gem it greatly amplifies their power, and the Mind Gem and possibly others make it easier to use.
34	* AmuletOfConcentratedAwesome: While Thanos on his own is nothing to sneer at, the Infinity Gauntlet makes him one of the most powerful being in the entire universe (possibly on par with the Living Tribunal, but still weaker than the One Above All). He handily defeats Earth's defenders using only the Power Gem. When all manner of cosmic beings come up against him, he effortlessly wipes the floor with them using the full power of the Gauntlet.
35	* AsLongAsThereIsOneMan: Captain America defiantly tells Thanos that as long as one person stands against him, he hasn't truly won.
36	* BadFuture: Part of the Silver Surfer tie-in with ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' sees him dreaming of the possible results of Thanos winning. In this future, even the few who survived the battle with Thanos such as the Hulk, Doctor Doom, and Drax end up getting killed before Adam Warlock ends up falling in battle while the Surfer is treated as Thanos' personal lapdog.
37	* BadassBoast: Thanos, in issue 3, when he realises people are coming for him.
38	-->'''Thanos:''' Let there be cosmic warfare! Let the blood and entrails of my opponents scrub away my pain and sorrow.
39	* BadassFingerSnap: Thanos, at the very peak of his godlike powers, kills off half the Universe's population by snapping his fingers. In some of the supplement comics, snapping his fingers is the most common way that he uses the Infinity Gauntlet.
40	** He reprises doing this in ''Infinity War'', though it’s a bit different there as that was his end goal.
41	* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Dr. Strange uses a spell to allow the remaining heroes to breathe in space for sixty minutes. Unfortunately, it didn't work for mystical transformations as Thor nearly suffocates when his reversion to Eric Masterson cancels out the spell and he barely makes it back to his hammer in time to restore it.
42	* BatmanGambit: The mother of all Gambits happens in the first series, where Adam Warlock manipulates most of Earth's most powerful heroes and sacrifices nearly all of them just to get Thanos to raise his hand at a specific moment. [[spoiler:It doesn't work, forcing Warlock to employ a ''second'' gambit against the Gauntlet's new owner, Nebula.]]
43	* BeyondTheImpossible: Thanos's battle with the heroes of Earth is one of the few times ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's shield has been broken, something normally impossible. The ending sets it right again.
44	* BringIt: The cover of issue #4 of ''Gauntlet'' is simply Thanos standing amidst the cosmos saying:
45	-->'''''Come and get me!'''''
46	* CallBack:
47	** In the initial ''Comicbook/SilverSurfer'' arc that set the stage for ''The Infinity Gauntlet'', Thanos showed the Surfer a crowded subway station in Tokyo, using this as an example of how grossly overpopulated the universe had become. In ''Infinity Gauntlet'', we find out Thanos sank the entire country of Japan.
48	** Thanos kills Comicbook/SheHulk and [[Comicbook/SubMariner Namor]] by infecting them with [[FesteringFungus a fast-growing fungus]] that engulfs their bodies. The same fungus had previously appeared in the ''Thanos Quest'' mini-series, where the Grandmaster tried to use it to double cross Thanos.
49	* CallToAgriculture: The ending does this for [[spoiler:of all people, Thanos]], who is left content on a farm. It eventually comes to an end, but not before several instances where he was called back into action briefly, then followed by a Return To Agriculture.
50	* ChromaticArrangement: Power is Red, Time is Orange, Reality is Yellow, Soul is Green, Mind is Blue, and Space is Purple.
51	* CombatCommentator: Eros, Thanos's brother, narrates the onset and the development of the Mad Titan's battle with the assembled Earth heroes. When the Cosmic Entities take their turn, Uatu the Watcher takes over this role, but with brief commentary from Eros every so often.
52	* ContinuitySnarl: Wolverine is shown operating on Earth while Cyclops is still a member of ComicBook/XFactor during the brief period of time that X-Factor was wearing blue and gold uniforms. However, they didn't have this outfit switch until after the X-Men, Wolverine included, were whisked off into outer space to rescue Professor Xavier, and by the time they returned to Earth they were immediately swept up in an event that saw the X-Factor members rejoining the X-Men by the story's end. As a result, the two's appearances here completely contradict one another.
53	* CrisisCrossover: While ''The Infinity Gauntlet'' had few crossovers, ''ComicBook/TheInfinityWar'' and ''ComicBook/TheInfinityCrusade'' have many more.
54	* CurbStompBattle: The entire series can be summed up as Thanos indulging his ego and newfound godhood as he effortlessly streamrolls everyone who dares to oppose him, including the entire cosmic pantheon of the universe.
55	* CurbStompCushion: In the climactic battle in issue #4, Hulk, Drax, Thor and Spider-Man get a few good hits on Thanos despite the fight going decidedly in the Mad Titan's favor.
56	* DefiantToTheEnd: Captain America, one of the last heroes left standing, squares off against Thanos and tells him he's still going to fight.
57	-->'''Captain America:''' As long as one man stands against you, Thanos, you'll never be able to claim victory.\
58	'''Thanos:''' Noble sentiments from one who is about to die.\
59	'''Captain America:''' I've lived my life by those sentiments. They're well worth dying for.
60	* DeusExMachina: In order to defeat Nebula's control of the Gauntlet, [[spoiler:Warlock pulls himself (and the Surfer) BACK inside Soul World, and claims the previously unheard of ability to "reach out to the six" from within the Soul Gem, which somehow produces an energy backlash that rips the Gauntlet from Nebula's hand and leads to a free for all for possession of it.]] Once [[spoiler:Warlock]] finally has the Gauntlet, his sole argument for keeping it is explained as "[his] right of possession", which no one bothers to challenge.
61	* DistaffCounterpart: Believe it or not, Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet to create an AmazonianBeauty female version of himself in the form of Terraxia the Terrible in an attempt [[OperationJealousy to goad Death into jealousy]]. She apparently has all of his (non–Infinity Gauntlet) powers as well, in that she is easily able to [[spoiler:slay Iron Man and Spider-Man.]] Of course, [[spoiler:Thanos forgot the RequiredSecondaryPower of ''breathing in space'' and she's killed when Nebula sends the two into exile in deep space just a few issues after he created her.]]
62	* DismantledMacGuffin: The Gauntlet. Complicating matters is the fact that the Gems ''want'' to be together, and possessing two or three makes the others much easier to find.
63	* DrunkOnPower: A downside to the Infinity Gauntlet is that omniscience can overwhelm the user, making them, to the very least, prone to errors in judgement. [[spoiler:This made Thanos easier to manipulate, and fight the Avengers while voluntarily underpowered, allowing Adam Warlock to simply wait for him to raise his hand to buzz by with the Silver Surfer and simply grab the gauntlet off of him. Mephisto was doing essentially the same thing, but biding his time for an opportunity. Neither worked, but after the fight, Thanos recreated his mind as a cosmic entity, but leaving his body where he sat ''with the gauntlet still on''. This allowed Nebula to simply take it off of him and become the new bearer. Omniscience was even harder on her, [[IdiotBall making her even more prone to lapses in judgment]], but more than compensated by being all-powerful. When she first had it, Warlock was fearful that the power would be so overwhelming that she might be DrivenToSuicide, possibly ending the universe with herself, but it turns out his fears were unfounded.]]
64	* EarthShatteringKaboom: In the second half of the conflagration, the Celestials manipulate a whole parade of planets, inhabited and not, to try to smash Thanos with them. He easily blasts them into nothingness, sending the Celestials flying.
65	* EnemyMine: Doctor Doom helps the heroes against Thanos.
66	** On a lesser scale, this is when Wolverine and the Hulk pretty much bury the hatchet after a number of messy run-ins.
67	** [[spoiler:Earth's heroes with Thanos at the end of ''Gauntlet'', ''War'', and ''Crusade.'']]
68	* EtTuBrute: When [[spoiler:Lady Death]] attacks Thanos in defiance of his will, his spirit is broken to the point he vacillates just long enough for all the Cosmic Entities to unleash their full potential on him at once. But he's still omnipotent, and they're all instantly imprisoned -- even [[spoiler:Death herself]].
69	* EvenMoreOmnipotent:
70	** The eponymous artifact grants the wielder omnipotence when worn. More omnipotence than even, say, the Anthropomorphic Personification of the universe itself or all of the other Cosmic Beings of the setting combined. This becomes a plot point, because Thanos, the wielder of the gauntlet, is tricked into thinking that the only way to effectively dominate the universe is turn himself into the universe. But the second he does, someone else takes the gauntlet from his now-abandoned body and becomes the new big kahuna.
71	* EvilIsPetty: Thanos starts using the Gauntlet to reshape reality to his will, including getting rid of not only threats to him, but mild irritants.
72	* FateWorseThanDeath: Thanos turns Nebula into a shambling piece of corpse-meat, with ''just enough'' sentience to know what's been done to her. [[spoiler:And just enough to steal the Gauntlet while Thanos is distracted.]]
73	* FirstEpisodeResurrection: Having died in ''Avengers Annual'' Vol. 1, #7, their souls taken into the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock, Gamora, and Pip the Troll leave Soul World and possess the recently deceased victims of a car crash just in time to join the story. Gamora and Pip's new bodies slowly revert to the characters' original appearance, while Warlock, as usual, cocoons himself to regenerate. Unfortunately for Gamora, she's almost immediately killed ''again'' when she falls to Thanos's universe-halving genocide, and she skips the whole saga until the final pages.
74	* GenderBender: Adam Warlock goes through a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind VisionQuest in which he is turned female, culminating with her giving birth.
75	* AGodAmI: The series begins with Mephisto explaining to Thanos just how this trope applies to him.
76	* GodzillaThreshold: Adam Warlock's recruiting drive includes ComicBook/{{Galactus}}... and he's at the ''low end'' of the recruits, which grow to include Lord Chaos and Master Order, the embodiments of Love and Hate, a couple Celestials, the Watcher, and Eternity. The latter is the personification of ''the universe itself''.
77	** The Cosmic Entities themselves go to tremendous, never-before-seen lengths to engage Thanos, such as trying to smash him with populated worlds, or discarding their physical form to attack him as beings of PureEnergy.
78	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:Thanos, when he realized that the Gauntlet would not give him what he wanted, sides with the heroes and works to defeat Nebula.]]
79	** When the battle Cosmic Entities is well underway, reality itself fracturing at ground zero, [[spoiler:Death herself goes out of her way to save Eros and Nebula's lives]]. The former muses that "[the entity's] hatred for Thanos must reach unfathomable depths" to act so out of character.
80	* HellIsComingWithMe: The heroes of Earth are alerted to the threat of Thanos when the Silver Surfer crashes into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, half-dead and delirious, and utterly terrified at the thought of Thanos and his newfound omnipotence.
81	* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Thanos and Terraxia, they killed most of the Marvel heroes that attacked them, including but not limited to: Terraxia ripping ComicBook/{{Iron Man}}'s head off as well as beating ComicBook/SpiderMan to death with a rock, while Thanos blows up Cloak, suffocates ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} to death, used his eye beams to vaporize Comicbook/{{Quasar}} and snapped ComicBook/{{Captain America}}'s neck with a single strike. Though they all came back to life at the end thanks to Nebula hitting the {{Reset Button}}]].
82	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Thanos gets so much power with the Gauntlet that he takes Eternity's place as the incarnation of the universe, but that also means his physical body becomes an empty husk that can be easily separated from the Gauntlet.
83	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: When the freshly-resurrected Warlock introduces himself to Doctor Strange, the latter is rather hesitant to take him for his word upon first greetings, so Warlock invites him to take a trip into his (Warlock's) soul. By the end, Strange knows everything that Warlock is and trusts him unreservedly.
84	* KillOnSight: Adam Warlock insists that Thanos is too dangerous to be kept alive, so he instructs Wolverine and Hulk to kill Thanos rather than capture him.
85	* LiterallyShatteredLives: Thor and Nova meet this fate while fighting Thanos.
86	* LiveActionAdaptation: ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' are a loose two-part adaptation of the story, with elements of other Thanos and Gauntlet-related stories worked in as well.
87	* LoveMakesYouEvil: The lengths Thanos is willing to go to win Death's favor are truly mind-boggling. And every time she turns her back on him, it only gets ''worse''.
88	* MassResurrection: Approximately half of the universe is killed, and most of the remaining heroes die in the subsequent battle, but they're resurrected by the end of the series.
89	* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: When Death continues to reject Thanos, the latter gets very angry and subconsciously releases an omnidirectional blast that destroys most of the Milky Way and literally shakes the Earth to its core. Given that his assigned task was to cull half of all life in the universe and not to cause wanton destruction to it, this was obviously unintentional.
90	* NoManShouldHaveThisPower: Defied, [[spoiler:Adam Warlock ends up the bearer of the gauntlet at the end, and he intends to use it well. In the epilogue, he set his animosity aside and briefly visits Thanos (who, at the end of it all, ended up surviving the events) and asks for advice. When Adam leaves, Thanos, for his part, is relieved to be rid of the gauntlet]].
91	* NotSoOmniscientCouncilOfBickering: The Cosmic Higher-Ups all gather to talk about what's to be done with Thanos and the Gauntlet, alternating between "we should do something" and "we shouldn't do something". Eventually, they decide to do something... and promptly get defeated by Thanos using the Gauntlet.
92	** The Skyfathers, similarly, all gather in Asgard to plan their response to Thanos's new omnipotence, but his very first assault cuts them off from the universe and they're left powerless to intervene.
93	* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Iron Man]] gets his head ''ripped off'' by Terraxia during the heroes' ill-fated battle with Thanos.
94	* OhCrap: Doctor Strange has this moment when he sees Galactus and his group attack Thanos all at once.
95	** Likewise, this is Eros's reaction when Thanos turns Thor into glass when the latter was a fraction of a second from smashing the villain's head and ending the battle.
96	* RedHerringShirt: [[spoiler:Nebula, who is a half-zombie for most of the story, grabs the Gauntlet for herself, shifting Thanos from being the BigBad to herself.]]
97	* RedShirtArmy: Pretty much every hero outside of Adam Warlock, Silver Surfer and Doctor Strange gets easily defeated by Thanos in gruesome and creative ways thanks to the titular Infinity Gauntlet. Adam Warlock himself said that the Avengers lost the battle before it even started. Hell, Adam's plan relies on sacrificing the heroes so Thanos is distracted.
98	* RefusalOfTheCall: Subverted -- Adam Warlock calls in the Hulk to help out, but he refuses as the Avengers are there and he's still quite sore with them. As this was the point where Green Hulk, Grey Hulk and Banner had become Professor Hulk, Captain America realizes it's time to put aside their differences and decides to clear the air once everything is over. Hulk is fine with this and finally joins.
99	* RegionalRedecoration: Japan ends up sinking into the ocean.
100	* ResetButton: Worked into the plot as the result of [[spoiler:Nebula taking the Gauntlet for herself]]. The resurrection of all those killed was just a side bonus.
101	* {{Retcon}}: While Jim Starlin had already introduced the Infinity Gems in the 1970s during his run on ''ComicBook/Warlock1967'', they were called Soul Gems back then, and they all looked the same and had similar powers, instead of each Gem controlling a different aspect of existence. This was still the case when they were used in Steve Engelhart's ''Silver Surfer'' run, as well as during Starlin's own run on the title that lead to ''The Infinity Gauntlet''. It was only in ''Thanos Quest'' that Starlin established the Gems as having different, unique powers and colors.
102	* SetBonus:
103	** The Gauntlet works better when all its gems are present. Justified, as it's mentioned that the Power Gem especially takes the abilities of the others and backs them with its infinite power.
104	** This is revealed to be inverted by ''Infinity War'', as a result of the Living Tribunal's declaration in the first issue of ''Warlock and the Infinity Watch'' right after the first miniseries: possession of all six gems by a single individual renders all of them inert. Reversing this judgement is what drives the villains' plot in the sequel series, ''Infinity War.''
105	* ShoutOut:
106	** In the issue #2, there's an officer of the Kree Starfleet who wonders what happened to half of the Kree population. Said officer is the [[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Dea-Sea_(Earth-616) Captain Dea Sea]], whose name [[{{Pun}} sounds like]] [[Creator/DCComics DC]]. It's likely a reference to the fact that DC has its own [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]].
107	** While Pip waits for Warlock emerge from his coccoon, he watches ''Series/{{Alf}}'' on television.
108	* SittingOnTheRoof: After their long and violent history, Hulk and Wolverine share this touching moment on the roof of Avengers Mansion, while the other heroes work up a battle plan:
109	-->'''Hulk:''' You fight someone, you get to know them pretty well.\
110	'''Wolverine:''' And?\
111	'''Hulk:''' And I've come to the conclusion I like you, shorty.\
112	'''Wolverine:''' Why's that?\
113	'''Hulk:''' Because in our own ways, we're both monsters, pal.
114	* TheSocialDarwinist: The Living Tribunal claims to be this during the meeting between the cosmic entities so he can disappear from the plot and not end the series in one panel. In his view, survival of the fittest is the way of things so Thanos is doing nothing wrong by overthrowing Eternity despite the carnage and chaos he is spreading in the process.
115	* SpotlightStealingSquad: On paper, ''Infinity Gauntlet'', ''Infinity War'' and ''Infinity Crusade'' are {{Crisis Crossover}}s, starring the most important heroes of Marvel Comics. Actually, they are stories of Thanos, Adam Warlock (and his good and evil sides), and the Infinity Watch; the other heroes are just either CannonFodder in someone else's big plan, or incompetent bufoons that get in the way and can't do any harm or take part in the bad guy's defeat.
116	* TheStarscream: Mephisto, to Thanos. Like Warlock, he [[BatmanGambit manipulated Thanos's reactions]] to make him vulnerable to the theft of the Gauntlet; he was even instrumental in getting Thanos to "power down" from the Gauntlet's omnipotence and give the Earth heroes a fighting chance, much to Eros's astonishment. Unfortunately, he played his hand too early and telegraphed his assault, and was almost destroyed for his betrayal.
117	* StatusQuoIsGod: At the end, all damage is undone. Even the living beings who were wiped out return. Also done with similar {{Hand Wave}}s in the other two parts.
118	* TheStoryThatNeverWas: [[spoiler:Thanos manages to get the Infinity Gauntlet, a powerful AppliedPhlebotinum that can modify everything, so he erases the half of sentient life of the universe to please Death, among other things, like defeating the Cosmic Entities of the ComicBook/MarvelUniverse. After the battle against the Mad God, Adam Warlock finally gets the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and uses it to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong by restoring all the lives lost in the event (not just the ones erased by Thanos but the deaths of heroes battling Thanos, too) and also makes everyone in the universe think it was AllJustADream.]]
119	* TokenEvilTeammate:
120	** When Nebula wields the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos becomes this to the heroes (and Warlock) in their attempt to wrest it from her control.
121	** [[spoiler:Adam Warlock is forced to disperse the six Infinity Gems amongst a team to safeguard each one. He chooses one for himself, four for his friends... and he hands the Reality Gem to Thanos, although this isn't revealed until ''Crusade''.]]
122	* ThrowAwayCountry:
123	** During the events of ''Infinity Gauntlet'', the entirety of Japan sinks to the ocean. Of course, like most of the disasters during the story, it gets a ResetButton at the end. It also seems that the US was supposed to follow in its path, as parts of the West Coast started sinking as well.
124	** When the battle escalates to Cosmic Entity proportions, the shockwaves from the assault reach so far out into the Universe that Earth is simultaneously thrown out of orbit and rubbed against dimensional distortions, opening portals into the Negative Zone. With Warlock and the Surfer fighting just to survive, the Cosmics embroiled in much bigger issues, and the Watcher narrating the disaster as a sidenote, it was only Nebula unwittingly undoing this with her universal ResetButton that prevented a dead Earth's conquest by Annihilus from becoming a small footnote in cosmic history.
125	* UnexplainedRecovery: Despite being turned to glass and shattered to pieces, [[spoiler:Thor is among the surviving heroes Dr Strange calls back, summoned "from parts unknown".]] A tie–in issue of ''Doctor Strange'' [[AllThereInTheManual shows how the good doctor finds him.]]
126	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
127	** Just before seeking out the Infinity Gems, Thanos gives orders to the captain of the Sanctuary to spread word of his return to every criminal, cultist, and space pirate in the galaxy. After acquiring the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos returns and is pleased to find that the captain has recruited and assembled a huge space armada that could take on most powers in the galaxy. Thanos states that the fleet will make a good royal guard now that he is a god. After this issue, neither the fleet nor the Sanctuary are mentioned again. Thanos didn't make use of them during his reign as supreme being, and didn't use them for any other purpose in any issue after the Infinity Gauntlet.
128	** In ''Infinity Gauntlet'', Thanos [[spoiler:sends Firelord and Drax through time, shrinks and presumably squashes the Hulk, and turns Thor into glass, then shatters him.]] All of these characters pop up toward the end, summoned by Dr. Strange as the characters wrestle for the gauntlet. One would have to read some of the crossover issues to learn how Strange located those heroes.
129	*** Even more egregious is the fifth member of the people found by Strange, Dr. Doom. Doom attempts to steal the Gauntlet and is violently repulsed, but still combat capable. He takes another shot at Thanos a few pages later, proclaiming only death will stop him. Thanos promises him that death, then we cut to Adam and the Surfer, and when we cut back Thanos is battling Cyclops and the Scarlet Witch with no sign of Doom. Doom then appears in the background of one panel several pages later (without lines and with his cloak [[OffModel having somehow grown back from being destroyed]]), and then he vanishes completely until he turns up with Strange, with no idea of what his actual fate was, considering the last man standing is Captain America. Doom's fate is only revealed in tie-in issue Dr Strange #34 and is explained that Thanos fused Doom's armor together and rendered him comatose, requiring Strange to seek out the monks that helped Doom construct his armor so that they can free him.
130	* VisualPun: When Thanos accidentally triggers many natural disasters including a tsunami on Earth, The Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City is consumed by the massive waves. [[labelnote:Explanation]]\
131	"Under water" is an idiom for something underperforming financially. [[TakeThat Donald Trump would file bankruptcy for many of his properties, including the aforementioned hotel.[[/labelnote]]]]
132	* WhatIf: An issue of ''ComicBook/WhatIf'' is devoted to exploring what would have happened if the Silver Surfer had successfully snatched the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos's hand at that pivotal moment. Instead of surrendering it to Warlock, as Adam had planned all along, the Surfer keeps it, and very quickly [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] in trying to become a "benevolent God". It ends when Shalla-Bal, his long-lost love, convinces him of the error of his ways, and, together, they destroy the Gauntlet and the Infinity Gems, seemingly killing themselves in the process, but actually disappearing to live simple, mortal lives on an unknown world.
133	* WillfullyWeak: When the mortal heroes come to take down Thanos or die trying, Thanos is one second away from just smiting them instantly with his full might before Mephisto convinces him that all girls including Mistress Death are attracted to the sight of an underdog overcoming perilous odds with nothing but raw determination. Thanos agrees and cuts off his access to all sensory input from the gems, removing his omniscience but retaining his omnipotence... which gives the heroes a .05% chance of winning.
134	* TheWorfEffect: The ComicBook/SilverSurfer is an incredibly powerful cosmic being, one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel universe. Roughly as strong as the Hulk, and also fast and with energy manipulation powers. The series opens with him collapsed in a heap on Dr. Strange's floor after falling through the window, panicked at the thought of Thanos's newfound power.

Context ComicBook / TheInfinityGauntlet