History Characters / GuardiansOfTheGalaxyModern

To describe Mantis as having one of the weirdest, most complicated histories in all of superhero comics would be an understatement. Originally introduced as the title character of the ''[[ComicBook/TheCelestialMadonnaSaga Celestial Madonna]]'' storyline in ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'', Mantis is a Vietnamese martial artist raised by Kree monks to become [[TheChosenOne the savior]] of a plant-like alien race called the Cotati. After becoming an Avenger and joining them on some of their adventures, she eventually departs the team to realize her destiny as the so-called "Celestial Madonna."

Introduced as an ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' villain, Nebula was a {{space pirate}} later revealed to be the granddaughter of ComicBook/{{Thanos}}, the Mad Titan. That was generally the extent of her characterization for a while, occasionally popping up as a minor antagonist in the cosmic side of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse.

With the ComicBook/MarvelNOW initiative in 2013, Star-Lord (and his fellow Guardians) were further implemented into the greater MarvelUniverse, showing up in the pages of ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] Assemble'', as well as starring in a new volume of ''Guardians'' that initially teamed them up with ComicBook/IronMan. In 2014, Star-Lord headlined his first ongoing title, ''[[TheAdjectivalSuperhero Legendary]] Star-Lord''.

With the ComicBook/MarvelNOW initiative, Gamora (and her fellow Guardians) were further implemented into the greater MarvelUniverse, receiving a new volume of their book while also featuring in titles like ''[[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] Assemble'', and a {{crossover}} called ''The Trial of ComicBook/JeanGrey'' had them meet the ComicBook/XMen. She also became acquainted with ComicBook/{{Angela|AsgardsAssassin}} during this time, and enjoyed a brief sexual relationship with [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] when he joined the Guardians for a spell. An issue of ''Guardians Team-Up'' saw Gamora team-up Marvel's ''other'' preeminent green woman, ComicBook/SheHulk.

And then she winds up in ''Franchise/TheDCU'' as a character named "Willow," following co-creator Steve Englehart's move to the [[Creator/DCComics Distinguished Competition]] in 1977. While she is never explicitly identified as Mantis in those particular comics, it is very much [[SerialNumbersFiledOff implied]] to be the case. She then appears as "Lorelei" in the Eclipse Comics ''Scorpio Rose'', before finally returning to the MarvelUniverse under Englehart's pen in 1987, now with [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe green skin]] and an [[NextTierPowerUp upgraded power set]] that includes [[NighInvulnerability invulnerability]], [[TheEmpath empathy]], [[GreenThumb chlorokinesis]], [[HealThyself self-healing]], and [[{{Seers}} precognition]].

Introduced as an ''ComicBook/{{Avengers}}'' villain, Nebula was a {{space pirate}} later revealed to be the granddaughter of ComicBook/{{Thanos}}, the Mad Titan. That was generally the extent of her characterization for a while, occasionally popping up as a minor antagonist in the cosmic side of the MarvelUniverse.

* TheMole
** ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}} was on what was supposed to be a low risk mission to Sanctuary II when Nebula's Crew got in and warped it out of the galaxy. Captain Marvel opted to join Nebula's crew until she could find out how to get back home, but ended up sabotaging them when she saw havoc Nebula was wreaking on the Skrull Empire. Nebula was planning on killing Captain Marvel anyway, and in fact shot in the chest when they met to see if Captain Marvel could really prove useful. Nebula made no effort to have a loyal, if temporary crew mate.
** Nebula had Dr. Druid act as a mole within The Avengers for the purpose of discrediting ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel|MarvelComics}}. When ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and The Wasp ceded leadership of The Avengers to Captain Marvel, it resulted in Druid destroying the team's confidence in her to the point [[BreakingTheFellowship it dissolved]], but they caught on and reassembled later.

* BoobsOfSteel: During the 2000s she was drawn as quite buxom.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: She is barefoot 90% of the time. She only wears shoes in a short ''Justice League of America'' story when she's using her "Willow" alias, and in the ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' comics. Given her connection to nature and her upbringing in the temple, she qualifies as something in-between BarefootSage, MagicalBarefooter, and EarthyBarefootCharacter.

* ''WesternAnimation/SilverSurfer'' (1999), voiced by Jennifer Dale

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: She went after Maxam with a BladeOnAStick when he traveled to the past to kill the "[[ComicBook/Warlock1967 larval form]]" of The Magus. Additionally, while she may have been aloof to Peter Quill during their relationship, she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge when she discovered he was dead. She even personally tries to kill Nova (her friend and ex) because he sent Peter on the mission that got him killed.

Former high school bully of Peter Parker, later war hero. After losing his legs in Iraq, Flash Thompson would become a super soldier for the U.S. Government, using the Venom symbiote for covert operations. Eventually going rogue, Flash would join the Avengers, and would later be appointed Earth's representative on the Guardians of the Galaxy. See Characters/VenomFlashThompson for more info.

Phyla-Vell's time as Quasar is short lived, coming to an end after losing the Quantum Bands to the resurrected Maelstrom. Forced to make a deal to save Moondragon, her lover, Phyla agrees to become the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification new avatar of Oblivion]], afterwords adopting the name Martyr; meanwhile, Wendell came back from the dead and reclaimed the Bands from Maelstrom, by cutting them off ''his'' hands in a very familiar manner. Phyla was later killed during the resurrection of ComicBook/{{Thanos}}.

* GreenLanternRing: Her Quantum Bands, which she eventually loses, and declines to take back when given the chance.

* InterspeciesRomance: Phyla, a half-kree half-eternal starts a relationship with Moondragon, a human.

** Heathers' most notable psychic actions were the complete mental enslavement of an entire warring planet of people, psionically stalemating the sorcerer supreme Doctor Strange for an extended period of time, and mentally killing a clone of Thanos endowed with psionic powers greater than Professor X, as well as being able to pierce the mental barriers of Galactus and even enabling Thanos to almost overwhelm the devourer's mind when channeling her powers. All feats beyond that of Xavier and most other noted human and human mutant psychics.

* {[Doppelmerger}}: [[spoiler:Merges with her Earth-616 counterpart in an attempt to rescue her from the Dragon of the Moon]].

* TheRedBaron: "The Deadliest Woman In the Galaxy / Universe", [[spoiler:"Requiem"]]

* TheRedBaron: "The Destroyer".

* FusionDance: [[spoiler:During ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2020'' she merges with her Earth-18897 counterpart, becoming a single Moondragon]].

* DoppelgangerGetsSameSentiment: She's treated exactly like 616-Heather, despite their vast differences. Actual Heather is very annoyed by this.

* FusionDance: [[spoiler:Merges with her Earth-616 counterpart in an attempt to rescue her from the Dragon of the Moon]].

* DiscardAndDraw: Phyla is a natural FlyingBrick whose other abilities have varied over the years. Initially she possessed the Nega-Bands, which allowed her to absorb energy a limited form of [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling cosmic awareness]]. Both of these vanished after she acquired the Quantum Bands. Then the Quantum Bands were drained in ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}: Conquest'', leaving her with only her strength, flight and her Quantum Sword. After her deal with Oblivion she got powers that were never truly defined before she was killed again by Thanos.

* LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards: Phyla's approach to using the Quantum Bands was very different from Wendell's. While Wendell tended to be versatile and creative with his constructs, Phyla's use was mostly limited to energy blasts and [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation forming swords]]. This was a reflection of their backgrounds and personalities; Wendell was [[ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} S.H.I.E.L.D.]] Academy graduate who was deemed unfit for field work due to [[ThouShaltNotKill his refusal to use lethal force]] and he followed a standard operating procedure of "contain, drain and attack". Phyla by contrast was a trained Kree soldier who had no problems with lethal force but lacked Wendell's versatility.

* TheMentor: Briefly served as one for Richard Rider in ''Annihilation'', helping him keep a lid on all the Nova Force he had inside him, with the additional caveat that if Rich started going nuts, Drax would destroy him.

* AnAxeToGrind: She had the dwarves forge her an ax with the ability to teleport her to things she wants to steal.

** ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2023)

** ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2023)

* IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow: Why, yes, she does have "operational knowledge" of Richard Rider.

* AbsoluteCleavage: It took her awhile to get used to the concept of underwear, one of many results being this trope when she wasn't suited up for battle.

* MsFanservice: A GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe whose original outfits sported [[AbsoluteCleavage a massive open cleavage]] and was prone to [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/8d/b3/0c/8db30c60b24aa3684420f1091cb9c649.jpg tons]] of MaleGaze, specially during ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}''.

* AbsoluteCleavage: Her costumes before joining the Guardians went all the way to her navel.

* GoodBadGirl

* AbsoluteCleavage: In formal situations, tends to favor a business suit with a plunging neckline.

%%* IHaveTheHighGround

* TheBerserker: Especially after his resurrection, he is prone to going into berserk furies in battle, which heightens his resemblance to ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk.

* {{Expy}}: For most of the 1990s and early 2000s, he was the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk but IN SPACE. Later on, in his new body he's moved away from this.

* AbusiveParent: Her mother was very harsh and demanding towards her, often unfavourably comparing her to her brother Genis.

* [[ArrogantKungFuGuy Arrogant Kung Fu Girl]]: She is a superb alien hand-to-hand combatant, trained by the Titanian monks of Shao-Lom who were veteran practitioners in martial arts. Douglas is well versed in pressure points.

* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Nebula was created to serve as the arch nemesis of the second [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Captain Marvel]], but as that Captain Marvel faded into obscurity Nebula defaulted to Firelord, since she destroyed his home world with Sanctuary II. Thanos's brother Starfox convinced Firelord to let go of his grudge after Nebula went to prison. She was broken out of prison, sent back three times by The Silver Surfer, then she faded into obscurity herself before resurfacing to clash with [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Loki]], who was attempting to reform where she rejected the chance. The ''Guardians Of The Galaxy'' got their own movie, making her their villain in general, and the nemesis of 'Aunt' Gamora specifically.

** [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Captain Marvel]] was on what was supposed to be a low risk mission to Sanctuary II when Nebula's Crew got in and warped it out of the galaxy. Captain Marvel opted to join Nebula's crew until she could find out how to get back home, but ended up sabotaging them when she saw havoc Nebula was wreaking on the Skrull Empire. Nebula was planning on killing Captain Marvel anyway, and in fact shot in the chest when they met to see if Captain Marvel could really prove useful. Nebula made no effort to have a loyal, if temporary crew mate.
** Nebula had Dr. Druid act as a mole within The Avengers for the purpose of discrediting [[ComicBook/MonicaRambeau Captain Marvel]]. When ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and The Wasp ceded leadership of The Avengers to Captain Marvel, it resulted in Druid destroying the team's confidence in her to the point [[BreakingTheFellowship it dissolved]], but they caught on and reassembled later.

** Taken UpToEleven, since she even ''thinks'' about herself in the third person. Interestingly, this is apparently a conscious choice: in issue #135b, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/giant_size_avengers_4_mantis_marry_tree.png she refers to herself in the first person and then corrects herself: "You're playing some monstrous game with m... with this one"]]. When [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/scans16/SS6_v3_Romance.jpg Silver Surfer asks her to stop doing this]], [[http://www.supermegamonkey.net/chronocomic/entries/scans16/SS6_v3_Romance2.jpg she retorts very cleverly by making him admit he's romantically interested in her]], and continues to speak like this.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Although she definitely had been involved with men like [[ComicBook/{{Nova}} Richard Rider]], [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]], and [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony]] [[ReallyGetsAround Stark]]; she also has quite a few of moments with ComicBook/{{Angela|AsgardsAssassin}}:

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: She went after Maxam with a BladeOnAStick when he traveled to the past to kill the "[[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} larval form]]" of The Magus. Additionally, while she may have been aloof to Peter Quill during their relationship, she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge when she discovered he was dead. She even personally tries to kill Nova (her friend and ex) because he sent Peter on the mission that got him killed.

!![[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]]

->See: Characters/{{Warlock}}.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guardians_of_the_galaxy_vol_2_1_textless_9.jpg]] [[caption-width-right:350: ''"I'm suggesting an ass-kicking force. Tough, elite, ready to deploy the instant anything flies towards the fan."''[[note]]Clockwise from the top: ComicBook/StarLord, ComicBook/{{Gamora}}, ComicBook/DraxTheDestroyer, ComicBook/RocketRaccoon, [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]], ComicBook/{{Quasar}}[[/note]]]]

The last of the Zen-Whoberis race, Gamora is the adoptive child of ComicBook/{{Thanos}}, raised to defeat [[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} The Magus]]. It was during this time in her life that Gamora became known as "[[TheDreaded the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy]]", and exacted revenge on The Church of Universal Truth, who'd been responsible for the genocide of her people.

* ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend: She went after Maxam with a BladeOnAStick when he traveled to the past to kill the "[[[[ComicBook/{{Warlock}} Adam Warlock]] larval form]]" of The Magus.