History Characters / MCUStarLord

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[[center: [- [[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Heroic Organizations > [[Characters/MCUGuardiansOfTheGalaxy Guardians of the Galaxy]] > '''Star-Lord''' | [[Characters/MCUGamora Gamora]] | [[Characters/MCUDraxTheDestroyer Drax the Destroyer]] | [[Characters/MCURocketRaccoon Rocket Raccoon]] | [[Characters/MCUYonduUdonta Yondu Udonta]] | [[Characters/MCUNebula Nebula]]-]]]
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!!{{Spoiler}}s for all works set prior to ''Avengers: Endgame'' are unmarked.
!!''Peter Jason Quill / ComicBook/StarLord''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/star_lord_aiw_profile.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Sometimes that thing you're searching for your whole life, it's right there by your side all along. You don't even know it."'']]
!!! '''Species:''' Human [[note]]Human-Celestial hybrid until 2014[[/note]]
!!! '''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Ravagers, Guardians of the Galaxy
!!! '''Portrayed By:''' Creator/ChrisPratt, Wyatt Oleff (young)
!!! '''Voiced By:''' Creator/CarloVazquez, Emiliano Ugarte (young Peter) (Latin-American Spanish dub), Guillermo Romero (European Spanish dub), Creator/KoichiYamadera (Japanese dub), David Kruger (French dub), Philippe Martin (Canadian French dub), Rafael Rossatto (Brazilian Portuguese dub)
!!! '''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'' | ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' | ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' | ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' | ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder'' | ''Series/TheGuardiansOfTheGalaxyHolidaySpecial'' | ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol3''

->''"I look around at you, and you know what I see? Losers. I mean, folks who've lost stuff. And we have, man, we have. Friends, family, normal lives. One might say life takes more than it gives, but today, it's giving us a chance."''

Kidnapped from Earth in 1988, Peter Quill grew up in space to become an intergalactic outlaw and scavenger.
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[[folder:#-E]]
* EleventhHourSuperpower: In the climax of the second film, just as Ego is about to kill all of the Guardians sans Peter, Yondu manages to impart some advice that allows Peter to gain control of his nascent Celestial powers and fight his biological father on equal footing.
* AbusiveParents:
** Peter's father Ego uses him as a LivingBattery to conquer the galaxy, ([[FateWorseThanDeath intending to do so for thousands of years]]), and attempts to kill Peter's friends.
** In addition to the above, Peter was raised by Yondu, who beat him up to teach him to fight and kept him in terror by threatening to eat him. Peter seems to forgive Yondu when the latter saves him from Ego and apologizes for his past actions.
* AcePilot: Can fly a ship while flying another ship.[[note]]As in, he can use a [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]] pod's manipulators to fly a damned ''SpaceFighter'' through a three-dimensional maze at top speed well enough to [[WronskiFeint smash pursuers into the landscape]] while slaughtering them with the fighter's weapons.[[/note]] He can also successfully maneuver through a quantum asteroid field (where the asteroids randomly phase in and out of existence) while being chased by an armada of angry aliens while bickering with his crew and constantly having Rocket grabbing the stick from him.
* AdaptationalJerkass: In the comics, he was a seasoned cosmic superhero long before joining the Guardians. In the movies, he starts off as a self-serving outlaw and a bit of an asshole although he eventually chooses to step up for true blue unselfish heroism -- with a side of whatever (and ''who''ever) he can get his hands on.
-->'''Star-Lord:''' What should we do next: Something good, something bad? Bit of both?\\
'''Gamora:''' We'll follow your lead, Star-Lord.\\
'''Star-Lord:''' Bit of both!
* AdaptationDyeJob: Blond in the comics, strawberry blond in MCU.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Half-Spartoi in the comics, half-Celestial in the MCU. Of course the Spartoi in the comics claimed ideological descent from the Celestial Eson the Searcher briefly glimpsed in the Collector's exposition flashback in the first film, so the sequel's choice is cutting out the middle man so to speak.
* AlternateSelf: Quill has two: one who was never kidnapped by the Ravagers and grew up to become a janitor in Dairy Queen and another who was killed alongside his fellow Guardians fighting Ultron Sentries on the Sovereign.
* AMFMCharacterization: In his first scene, he's on a dead world and enters a ruin that wouldn't seem out of place for an AdventurerArchaeologist... and then he turns on an old Walkman and starts dancing through the place to "Come and Get Your Love" without a care in the world, even kicking away some of the local vermin. Peter's Walkman and mixtape of classic pop songs are reminders of Earth, and specifically his mother, who had died from cancer the night he was abducted.
* AntiAntiChrist: He is the result of his father Ego’s attempt at siring a child with Celestial powers so that Ego could remake all life in his image. However, once Peter learns that Ego planted a tumor in his mother’s brain and is ForcedToWatch as Ego crushes his [[TragicKeepsake Walkman,]] Peter rejects Ego and ends the mad Celestial’s plans.
* AnythingThatMoves: He's seen with a Krylorian girl, and admits to having banged a Rajak, a Kree, and an A'askvarian. Umm...
##[[https://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Krylorians Krylorians]] are kind of low-hanging fruit; their civilization is advanced enough that work is optional, so they're willing to try pretty much ''anything'' for a thrill.
##[[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Rajaks Rajaks]] are pretty similar to humans -- except for the winkles on their faces that are apparently part of their noses.
##[[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Kree Kree]] are basically [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue-skinned humans]], but they're [[SuperStrength as strong as Asgardians]] and only recently stopped waging genocidal war against the rest of the universe -- he's probably quite lucky to have survived dumping one.
##[[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/A%27askvarii A'askvarii]] have tentacles, gills instead of noses and ''needle teeth.'' That makes one wonder if Quill ''has'' a sexual preference beyond "willing."
* ApocalypseMaiden: By virtue of being the only one of Ego's children to inherit the Celestial spark, he's the key for Ego's AssimilationPlot. Upon learning the truth about his mother's death, he becomes an AntiAntiChrist.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: He thinks "Star-Lord" is a fearsome codename. Few others agree. Turns out he uses it to honor and remind the ''galaxy'' of his mother; it's what she used to call him.
-->'''Dey:''' No, it's cool, I can see why you'd want a code name. [[SarcasmMode It's not that weird]].
* BackFromTheDead: Just like everyone who got [[NoBodyLeftBehind dusted]] in ''Infinity War'', he appears back in action for the final battle of ''Endgame'' after [[Characters/MCUTheHulk Bruce Banner]] uses the new Infinity Gauntlet to bring back half of all life in the universe.
* BadassLongcoat: He wears a red leather one on occasion.
* BadassNormal: Peter relies on his gadgets, cunning, and skill to get him by, and never displays himself to be any stronger or faster than a normal human (though he sure can take a beating). Subverted at the end of the first ''Guardians'' film, where it's revealed he's a HalfHumanHybrid. This aspect of his physiology kept the Infinity Stone from immediately killing him. However, after killing his father, he's just a regular human now, cementing this trope for good.
* BashSiblings: With the other Guardians of the Galaxy.
* BattleCouple: With Gamora, after they become the OfficialCouple.
* BerserkButton: Don't touch his [[TragicKeepsake Walkman]] -- it's a gift from his mother. Ego finds this out the hard way when he destroys it.
** Seemed to have developed a hidden one after he discovered [[spoiler:Ego killed his mother while saying he "had to".]] It gets pressed when they almost take the gauntlet off Thanos. Quill is barely keeping himself together when Thanos reveals he killed Gamora for the soul stone, but completely loses it the moment Thanos claims he "had to".
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Usually, Peter is pretty easy-going, but when he's provoked, he's an absolute nightmare. Ronan, Ego and Iron Man learn this the hard way.
* BigEgoHiddenDepths: He's an egotistical, greedy, womanizing prick, but he's also nigh-unstoppable in combat as long as he keeps up his momentum, ''always'' tries to talk his opponents out of fighting before he starts shooting, and is the first of the Guardians to join Gamora's crusade to stop Ronan.
* BigNo: His reaction to Yondu's death.
* BoldlyComing: Since he's for all intents and purposes the only human being for hundreds of light years, his choices are either like the [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe alien girls]] or be a CelibateHero. Peter isn't a CelibateHero. Considering he was kidnapped before he hit puberty and spent his formative years with the Ravagers, it makes sense he'd be quite the xenophile.
* BreakTheComedian: By far the most deliberately funny of the Guardians of the Galaxy, usually by making references to human pop culture that nobody around him understands, dropping smart-ass remarks at every opportunity, and generally being incredibly immature. However, ''Avengers: Infinity War'' officially pushes him beyond the limits of his humor when Thanos captures Gamora in order to learn the location of the Soul Stone. After discovering that Gamora has been sacrificed in order to obtain the Stone, Quill drops all attempts at comedy and tries to beat Thanos to death - unwittingly giving him a chance to escape his bonds and costing them the entire battle. In the aftermath, he's left completely dispirited, and can only wearily remark "Aw, man..." as Thanos disintegrates him along with half of all life in the universe.
* BringMeMyBrownPants: When Tivan is demonstrating the Orb's power, he quietly states, "There's a little pee coming out of me right now."
* BroughtDownToBadass: After killing Ego, he loses all his Celestial powers and must rely on his outlaw skills alone, just as he did long before.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Highly quirky and very efficient when he needs to be.
* ButtMonkey:
** No one knows his nickname and he gets tased. ''Repeatedly.'' Really, the ratio of him getting his ass kicked greatly outnumbers him kicking ass.
** Downplayed in the second film, where he's a treated with a lot more respect, although he still gets some humiliation.
** ''Infinity War'' manages to go between this ''and'' TraumaCongaLine. He's mocked about his weight, gets jealous about how Thor is effortlessly considered better than him by everyone, his girlfriend included, and the other Guardians repeatedly ignore his attempts to play leader.
** ''Endgame'' once again put him through an amusing and humiliating ringer: his 2014 self is mocked and knocked out by Nebula and War Machine, he got kneeled in the groin thrice by Gamora because this one comes from a timeline where she hasn't met him yet, and he is still worried about being upstaged by Thor, who is still obese and has now joined the Guardians.
** ''What If…?'' shows that he doesn't fare well in alternate Earths either. His counterpart in Star-Lord T'Challa's reality is a lowly janitor at Dairy Queen and is easily enslaved by Ego after being found while his counterpart in Infinity Ultron's world is easily killed by the android. [[spoiler:Though the end of Season 1 implies that his Star-Lord T'Challa counterpart might finally get the adventure he was denied of.]]
* CallingTheOldManOut:
** Whenever Peter does something he doesn't like, Yondu brings up how he kept the Ravagers from devouring him as a child. This has gone on for ''years''. However, once Yondu mentions it in front of the other Guardians, Peter finally blows up at him.
** When he meets Ego in ''Vol. 2'', he initially calls him out for abandoning Meredith and him, and not picking Peter up himself instead of contracting Yondu to do it. Then he finds out the real reason why Ego abandoned Meredith and Peter and learns that he killed her, and Peter immediately starts shooting him down.
* TheCaptain: Or so he likes to proclaim. Whether the other Guardians regard him as their leader is another matter.
* CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth: An examination of the concept. Hello, "Star-Lord"? His entire schtick is an attempt to spin his abduction from Earth as a child into the "origin story" of a badass space hero -- or at least a ''grade-schooler's'' idea of one.
* CharacterDevelopment: Peter gradually transforms from a lecherous, childish JerkWithAHeartOfGold to a mature, somewhat respected captain of his ship who is in a committed relationship and is more openly altruistic.
* ChickMagnet: He is a mix of this and TheCharmer. He used to have a GirlOfTheWeek and even Ayesha flirted with him. It's to the point where even Drax makes fun of him for it ([[NoSenseOfHumor inasmuch as Drax can make fun of anyone for anything]]).
-->'''Drax:''' ''You!'' Man who has lain with an Aaskvarian!\\
'''Peter:''' It was one time, man.
* CollapsibleHelmet: His helmet assembles bit by bit and disappears into a device behind his ear when he isn't using it.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: {{Defied|Trope}} to comic effect. As the only member of the team attempting to use an alias rather than his given name, Peter wants people to call him Star-Lord and is ''ecstatic'' when, in the last act of the first movie, someone actually ''does'' call him that.
* CompositeCharacter: Instead of the comic character's ComicBook/GreenLantern-inspired background, this Peter Quill has the background of Cole, a minor Marvel Cosmic character with little claim to fame besides a BackForTheDead cameo in ''ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}''.
* ConfusionFu: Employs this during the final confrontation with Ronan, challenging the all-powerful Infinity Stone wielding warlord to a dance battle. Luckily, the ruse works just long enough for Rocket to [[MacGyvering MacGyver]] up a replacement trigger for their broken BFG.
* CoolGuns: His Quad Blasters, which fire electricity or lasers depending on what he needs at the time.
* CoolMask: An armored mask with built-in life support functions. It's also collapsible, allowing him to call it up and take it off whenever he needs it.
* CoolShip: The ''Milano'', a Ravager fighter. When it's lost during the final battle, the Nova Corps rebuilds it for him, salvaging the remains to keep it as close to the original as possible. Unfortunately, it gets put out of commission early in the second movie after the Guardians narrowly escape the Sovereign. It is replaced by the ''Benatar'', which is just as awesome.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Challenging Ronan to a ''dance-off'' to distract him. And this not only works, but is instrumental in Ronan's defeat.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: When properly motivated or outright enraged, he is one of the most dangerous men in the entire galaxy:
** An InvokedTrope during the confrontation on Morag -- at first, he tries to intimidate his heavily armed and equally belligerent opponents with his "reputation" as a "legendary outlaw", and when that falls flat he switches to some embarrassing babble before pulling an amazing EscapeSequence. Despite all his goofiness, he [[HadToBeSharp learned his wits]] from the boss of the [[ArmyOfThievesAndWhores Ravagers]]. He managed to outwit Korath, hold his own against Gamora, and in the finale withstood the power of an Infinity Stone long enough for his friends to help him kill Ronan.
** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', he takes on Iron Man (and juggles Spider-Man periodically). He '''wins''' while remaining nearly untouched the entire encounter. It only gets thrown into a stalemate due to Drax getting handled by Strange's cloak.
* DanceBattler: Spoofed in the intro of ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', when he punts aside the alien space rats inhabiting the tomb he's raiding to the tune of Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love".
* DanceOff: Subverted and PlayedForLaughs in ''Vol. 1'', where he [[WeNeedADistraction challenges]] Ronan to a dance off at the film's climax. Ronan, being raised in a ProudWarriorRace, has no idea what Quill is on about, and just looks on with absolute confusion. Even Gamora is flabbergasted.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Father was out of the picture. Watched his mother die of a brain tumor. Kidnapped by the Ravagers not even five minutes after. Spends his childhood raised by pirates while their leader constantly reminds him they wanted to eat him.
* DatingCatwoman: If his EveryScarHasAStory is to be believed, one GirlOfTheWeek he dated was a ''Kree'' woman, who tried to kill him when she thought he was cheating on her. Considering the Kree has undergone a ''serious'' AdaptationalVillainy in the MCU....
* DeadpanSnarker: When people are angry with him, or especially ranting, Peter's typical reaction is to retort with dry quips and pithy come-backs.
* DiscoDan: He's a walking memorial to TheEighties. Justified, though, since it's not like he would be up to date with trends back on Earth ''since'' TheEighties thanks to being abducted in 1988. He's been... out of touch.
* DivineParentage: Shown in ''Vol. 2'' to be the biological son of a Celestial, one of the most powerful cosmic species in the MCU. Unfortunately for Peter, Ego is also revealed to be an OmnicidalManiac responsible for the death of his mother and thousands of his half-siblings.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Surviving the Power Stone aside, he doesn't display anything a normal human isn't​ possibly capable of. Then he becomes a PhysicalGod​ during the climax of the second movie... for a short while.
* EndearinglyDorky: Despite playing himself up as a LovableRogue HandsomeLech, Peter's love of '70s pop music and his propensity to break out into song and dance makes him a little more down-to-Earth and a fun character all around.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Immediately following his childhood flashback, as Star-Lord searches the crumbling remains of a destroyed civilization in a somber opening scene. Then he pops on his headphones and dances his way through the ruins to '70s pop while kicking attacking mutant alien rats. Except the one he uses as a microphone. He deftly collects a MacGuffin only for tough, nasty aliens show up to [[MacGuffinDeliveryService steal said MacGuffin]], and he tries to intimidate them with his reputation as a "legendary outlaw." ...which does ''not'' work, so he starts babbling stupidly until they start shaking their heads, followed by concentrated asskicking, a daring escape, and freaking out the [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Purple-Skinned Space Babe]] whom he had ''[[ReallyGetsAround forgotten]]'' was in his ship. Meet [[CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth Star-Lord]], CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass!
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: He's a self-styled "legendary outlaw," but his "outlaw name"? Comes from a note that his mother left him, calling him her little Star-Lord.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** He is, in his own words "an a-hole but not 100% a dick"; he's a petty criminal, can't even remember his one-night-stand's name, and has no problem with stealing a job out from under his old boss, but he won't stand for a fanatic killing billions of innocent people. Even when he was younger, he tells his mother he got into a fight with some boys because they had cruelly squashed a frog.
** In a comedic example, in the opening of the ''Vol. 2'', he actually sides with Drax's opinion that Rocket really should have better things to do than set up background music before their fight with the Abilisk. This is especially funny if you contrast his introduction in the first move.
** In ''Vol. 2'', his biological father, Ego, is explaining his AssimilationPlot to him. While reluctant to turn on his friends (and possibly destroy the universe) in exchange for immortality and god-level power, he doesn't outright refuse... until Ego admitted to killing Peter's mother. Cue FlatWhat followed by a ShutUpHannibal via rapid blaster fire.
** Another comedic example occurs in ''Film/ThorLoveAndThunder''. While Quill has previously shown to enjoy sleeping with extraterrestrial women in the first ''Guardians'' film, he thinks that Kraglin marrying every alien woman he meets whenever they land on a new planet together is utterly ridiculous.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:F-N]]
* TheFace: When the team is interacting with other people, he's usually the one who does the talking. The rest just don't have the knack.
-->'''Peter:''' See, this is ''exactly'' why ''none of you'' have any friends! Five seconds after you meet somebody, you're already trying to kill 'em.
* FatalFlaw: His SuicidalOverconfidence, ''Infinity War'' absolutely shows the consequences of this.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Of a sort.
** He's obsessed with '70s and 80's pop culture because he hasn't seen his home planet in thirty years, and has no idea how pop culture has changed while he's been away (see DiscoDan). It's implied that [[YouCantGoHomeAgain he's never returned to Earth]] because [[StrangerInAFamiliarLand it would be so unfamiliar to him that it wouldn't feel like home]] (and also because the planet carries the trauma of watching his mother die). He does, however, warm up to a Zune, a recent but now-outdated piece of technology.
** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Peter Parker, Iron Man and Drax along with him plan how to defeat Thanos by using a movie reference.
--->'''Stark:''' What dance-off?\\
'''Quill:''' It's not a -- it's nothing.\\
'''Parker:''' Like in ''Footloose'', the movie?\\
'''Quill:''' ''[giddily]'' Exactly like ''Footloose''! Is it still the greatest movie in history?\\
'''Parker:''' It never was.\\
'''Quill:''' ''[gives Parker a 'the fuck you just say to me?' look]''
* FlatWhat: Upon being told, by Ego himself, that Ego was the one who gave his mother a fatal brain tumor (on purpose no less), Peter's response is a monotone, extended "What?"
* FlippingTheBird: Does this during his mug shot in the first ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' movie. He does this to Thanos in ''Infinity War'' as well, as he jumps into one of Doctor Strange's portals to evade him.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Gamora. They were both abducted from their homes by aliens after the death of their parent(s), subsequently growing up as criminals and double-crossing their father-figures for personal gain. Unlike Gamora, who's family was murdered by Thanos, who was abusive and trained her to be an assassin, Peter was kidnapped from his surviving family and raised in a rough, but generally loving environment by Yondu, growing up to become a small-time criminal with no charges more serious than minor assault on his criminal record. As a result, Gamora has NoSocialSkills and is straightforward but has a strong moral compass while Peter is TheSocialExpert and a GuileHero who offers outside-the-box solutions but takes some time to do the right thing.
--->'''Peter:''' Trust me, [negotiation] is my specialty, where yours is more "stab, stab, those are my terms".
** To Mantis in ''Vol. 2''. Both adopted by powerful aliens, but Mantis was raised in isolation and Peter among the Ravager crew. They are both Ego's children; Peter is the biological son that he didn't raise, and Mantis is the adoptive daughter that he did raise. And where Yondu cared about Peter as a son but wasn't able to openly show it, Ego treated Mantis as a pet at best.
** To Thor in ''Infinity War''. Both of them lost their parents, had to destroy a world to stop a super powerful evil being from conquering the universe, lost a loved one to Thanos and that loss makes them seek RevengeBeforeReason against him and fail to stop him when they had the chance.
** To Wanda Maximoff in ''Infinity War''. Both are red-clad heroes who had lost their biological families but found allies in the Guardians/Avengers. Both had developed new powers, albeit with Peter's Celestial abilities going away once Ego was destroyed in ''Vol. 2'' and Wanda's being stronger than ever in ''Infinity War.'' Both are in a long-developed relationship with a non-human character (Gamora and Vision respectively) who asks them to kill them to keep Thanos from getting an Infinity Stone. Both are hesitant, and when they finally act on it, Thanos uses a different Infinity Stone (Reality and Time respectively) to nullify their fulfilled promises. Finally, both are left [[DespairEventHorizon to wallow in anguish]] and ultimately disintegrate with naught but the feeling of defeat lingering.
* FreakOut: Peter has one in ''Infinity War'' upon learning Gamora's death, which in turn leads to Thanos, who was being overpowered by the Guardians and the Avengers to get the Gauntlet off of him, being able to break free.
* FreudianExcuse: Peter's birth farther abandoned his mother, who died from cancer when Peter was a child. Then Peter was kidnapped and raised by Yondu, who beat him up to teach him to fight, kept him in terror by threatening to eat him and is implied to have used him for thieving since he was eight. These events have influenced his personality as an adult.
* FriendlyEnemy: With Rhoman Dey. When Peter's arrested, he's briefly seen giving friendly grin to Dey... until Dey mistakenly called him "Star-Prince" and Peter immediately dropped his smile.
* GasMaskLongcoat: In ''Vol. 1'', he is introduced in this outfit when exploring a toxic planet, and since the mask is a CollapsibleHelmet, he's seen in it a few more times throughout the film.
* GenerationXerox: ''Vol. 2'' reveals that Peter and his father Ego share many personality traits. The major difference is that Peter knows what is right and wrong while Ego does not hesitate in killing trillions to shape the galaxy into his image.
* TheGenieKnowsJackNicholson: He may be a DiscoDan, but he knows a ''lot'' about the '70s and '80s for a guy who hasn't seen Earth since he was a kid. You'd think more of his pop culture references would be to cartoons and other kid stuff and yet:
** How many 8-year-olds are familiar with ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'', like Peter is in the first movie?
** In ''Vol. 2'', he offers up "trash panda" as an alternative to "raccoon", referencing an ''Internet meme'', something he shouldn't even know exists.
** In ''Infinity War'', he says he's going to get a Bowflex. They existed before he met the Ravagers, but they only came out two years earlier, and they didn't really advertise or become a pop-culture "thing" until the 90s.
* GuileHero: His lack of any superpowers in a galaxy full of strange aliens, special powers, and high-tech technology while being a former thief forces him to be this. His most triumphant example? Challenging a megalomaniacal Kree fanatic with the power of an Infinity Stone... to a dance-off.
* GunFu: His fighting style when dealing with multiple opponents. He will shoot enemies at a distance while using his guns as clubs on those who get too close. When making his way towards the ''Dark Aster'''s bridge, he can be seen driving the muzzles of his guns into an opponent as a melee attack while simultaneously pulling the triggers to give his strikes extra oomph.
* GunsAkimbo: Wields two guns.
* TheGunslinger: He has a pretty impressive QuickDraw.
* HalfHumanHybrid: Initially, it's not entirely clear what his dad was, except "not human", but whatever alien genetics he's got, they're potent enough to let him tank an Infinity Stone's power without immediately being obliterated. Later, it turns out that he's the son of a sentient planet. A sentient planet that is actually a Celestial. Unfortunately said planet reveals his intentions and why Peter exists, which prompts Peter to destroy the planet and thus cut off his Celestial connection. So at this point he's basically just a human because his Celestial side can't function without the existence of the planet.
* HandsomeLech: The opening of the first movie has him accidentally bringing along the GirlOfTheWeek on his dangerous scavenger hunt because he had forgot she was still on board, despite just having spent the night with her, and when he finds out, he struggles to remember her name. He later shows off several scars from former paramours that tried to kill him.
* HappilyAdopted: By the end of ''Vol. 2'', Peter happily acknowledges that Yondu, who raised, loved, and died for him, is his true father.
-->'''Yondu:''' He may have been your father, boy, but he wasn't your daddy.
* HasTwoDaddies: While he was raised by Yondu, he starts bonding with his real father in ''Vol. 2''. In the end, he loses both father-figures.
* HatedHometown: Or rather, Hated Home Planet. Despite having the means to go back to Earth, Quill adamantly refuses to do so due to understanding that his lifestyle would clash with the people there, on top of associating the planet with his mother's death. The only time he ever returns to it is in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' to battle Thanos and his army, and to attend Tony Stark's funeral afterwards. After that, he gets off the planet as soon as he can, along with his fellow Guardians and Thor.
* HeadbuttingHeroes: In ''Infinity War'', he's constantly at odds with Tony Stark due to both of them used to being the leader and hating to take orders from someone else. That being said, he does pay respect to Stark along with the other Guardians by going to his funeral on Earth, despite his discomfort with being on his home planet.
* TheHeart: He's quick to mediate any conflict, trying to resolve issues with words. He also galvanizes the team into becoming, well, TheTeam.
* HellBentForLeather: He wears no fewer than four different red leather jackets throughout the film. It's a trait he picked up from adoptive father Yondu and the Ravagers.
* HeroicBastard: His mother never married his father (who turns out to have been an alien), and his grandparents' reactions when she tells him his father will come back for him strongly imply that he wasn't in the picture for long.
* HeroicBuild: Clearly keeps himself in shape.
* HeroicBSOD: Peter launches into a small one when he finally hears the first song of his mother's second mixtape: ''Ain't No Mountain High Enough''. Gamora comes along and snaps him out of it pretty quickly.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: His snarky, unpleasant attitude is only a mask to hide his overwhelming self-loathing and depression over his dead mom and not holding her hand in her final moments as she asked.
* HollywoodMagnetism: One of Quill's gadgets in ''Infinity War'' is a triggered magnet which he can stick on any surface. While it understandably sticks to Iron Man and sticks him against a metal debris, it also traps Thanos' unarmored arm somehow.
* HumanoidAbomination: Son of a human woman and a Celestial GeniusLoci in a synthetic body. Peter was unaware of his alien origins for most of his life, until the climax of the first film where he handled the Infinity Stone to defeat Ronan. The sequel has him meeting his father Ego who points out that Peter is immortal and has untapped superpowers that can conjure light-based cosmic power. However, after learning his father's true evil nature, he destroys Ego's core and his brain, which led to the loss of his Celestial abilities and immortality, making him fully human.
* HumansByAnyOtherName: The Nova Corps computer lists his species as Terran and his homeworld as [[PlanetTerra Terra]]. However, he calls it Earth.
* {{Hypocrite}}: At one point during the first ''Guardians'' film, Peter lashes out at Yondu for kidnapping him from his home and his family as amongst the many things his father figure has done to him over the years. That said, Peter has had plenty of opportunities to return home over the years, but actively chose not to due to preferring to live in space.
* IconicOutfit: The BadassLongcoat he wears in the intro of ''GOTG''. He wears a shorter jacket for the rest of the movie, but every piece of tie-in merchandise, video game appearance and even [[CanonImmigrant the comics published after the movie]] feature the BadassLongcoat.
* IdiotHero: When War Machine comments to Nebula in ''Endgame'' that he's an idiot it's clearly a statement rather than a question. PlayedForDrama previously in ''Infinity War'', when his impulsive actions became a catalyst in Thanos achieving his goal with himself as one of his casualties.
* ImprovisedWeapon: His most effective attack on Gamora? Clipping one of his rocket thrusters to her and sending her flying. He also uses another prisoner's prosthetic leg as a club, and pistol whips foes quite often.
* IndyPloy: This trope is not at all true. He has a plan! ...12% of a plan... Okay, he's not exactly "skilled" in most areas of his chosen profession, but he's adept at improvising on his feet. Most deftly demonstrated when he, completely out of nowhere, distracts Ronan the Accuser with a spontaneous dance-off challenge long enough to let Rocket and Drax get the rest of the plan in motion.
* InelegantBlubbering: Peter's reduced to this and a bunch of RapidFireNo when he realizes that Yondu has given him the only spacesuit and is going to die from exposure to space.
* InsaneTrollLogic: From ''Infinity War'':
--> '''Quill:''' Don't forget, I'm half-human. So that 50% of me that's stupid? That's 100% you.
--> '''Stark:''' ... Your math is blowing my mind.
* InstantExpert: Played with, as it may be the very nature of Celestials. Once his father tells him how to call forth his celestial heritage, Peter ''immediately'' generates energy from his hands, using it to [[ItMakesSenseInContext form a baseball to play catch with]]. However, he doesn't attempt anything grander than that due to the relatively short time frame he's on Ego coupled with his own father telling him that it took eons for him to learn how to manipulate matter. However, when Yondu gives him a DontThinkFeel speech on how he controls his arrow, Peter is able to shift control of Ego's light and equal him in combat.
* InterspeciesRomance: With Gamora, a Zehoberei.
* {{Irony}}: Quill was able to defeat Ego and save the universe by using "his heart": essentially acting without thinking. Up against Thanos, he acts without thinking... and cost his team both the Time Stone and the lives of half the universe.
* JerkassHasAPoint:
** Quill is right when he often points out the abusive treatment Yondu put him through was ''not'' funny.
** He may have been acting equally immature but Peter was right to be at Rocket for how his actions got their crew in more trouble than they needed in the beginning of ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2''.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's more "jerk" in his debut appearance but even then he had some notable [[EveryoneHasStandards morals]] and showed his heroic side at certain moments. His "heart of gold" become more apparent in subsequent installments.
* KillTheOnesYouLove: When they're heading for a potential confrontation with Thanos, Gamora makes him swear on his mother that, if she's captured, Peter will kill her to keep Thanos from finding out the secret she knows, the location of the Soul Stone. When things inevitably go tits-up, Peter points his gun at Gamora as Thanos restrains her, but hesitates. It's the greatest testament to his love for her that he ''does'' eventually pull the trigger. Unfortunately, Thanos was just testing him and has used the Reality Stone to [[{{Troll}} turn his weapon into a bubble blaster]].
* LadykillerInLove: Peter has a track record of bedding numerous women. And then he tried to flirt with Gamora. Come ''Vol. 2'', Mantis emphatically reveals that Peter has genuine romantic feelings for her, not just sexual.
* LargeHam: His adult self is introduced dancing wildly, and that's only the start of many moments not afraid of being exaggerated. A great case is when he meets Thor, and starts speaking in a lower register so as not to be upstaged.
* TheLeader: He assumes leadership of the Guardians. "Assumes" occasionally being the operative word, especially during ''Infinity War''.
* LetsGetDangerous: When he dons his CoolMask, much ass-kicking ensues.
* LikeASonToMe: Yondu considers Peter his son and admits he's [[SoProudOfYou proud of him]].
* LongLostRelative: Implied to be this to Mantis, by way of Ego showcasing her species as part of his romantic conquests in his quest to have children.
* LovableRogue: Definitely. He's a thief, a con man, and a womanizer, but he's so charming that it's hard to hold these things against him.
* ManChild: Well, he was abducted at age 8 and raised by outlaws (who regularly threatened to ''eat'' him ForTheEvulz), so it's not much of a surprise that he isn't very mature. His entire schtick is trying ''way'' too hard to embody a ''grade-schooler's'' idea of a badass space hero.
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: In ''Vol. 2'', Peter learns that he has ''thousands'' of half-brothers and sisters through his birth father, who's an immortal living planet. Unfortunately, they're also all dead thanks to Ego murdering them. Mantis is his only (adoptive) sibling left.
* MirrorCharacter:
** Peter and Thor are both leaders and {{Manchild}}ren with a high opinion of themselves and tragic family history. They clash a lot due to their similarities and even play some MiseryPoker together.
** Peter and Shang-Chi share a tragic childhood that began after their mothers' death, and they eventually reunite before coming into conflict with their estranged fathers during their adulthood. [[spoiler:The major difference is that Peter's father is directly responsible for his mother's death while Shang-Chi's father is not. While Peter does not make amends with his father before his demise, Shang-Chi does after his father sacrificed himself to the Dweller-in-Darkness by passing on the Ten Rings to him.]]
* MissingMom: His mom died when he was young and left him a mix-tape which he listens to on his Walkman. His BerserkButton makes more sense now.
* MommasBoy: Oh yeah. Despite his mother being long dead, he clearly loves her a lot, and taking his Walkman and mixtape, which were presents from her, is a ''very'' easy way to piss him off. And his insistence on being called "Star-Lord"? As silly as that name sounds, it was actually his mom's pet name for him. In the second film, he ''instantly'' snaps out of Ego's MindControl when the callous Celestial reveals he ''gave'' Peter's mother the brain tumor that killed her. Then in ''Infinity War'', he's hesitant to agree to the promise to kill Gamora if/when Thanos gets a hold of her until she tells Peter to swear on his mother, which forces him to shut up and comply.
* MoralityPet: It's all but stated that Peter is Yondu's adoptive son, and though their relationship is difficult, everyone in the Ravagers notes that Yondu, infamous and ruthless bandit that he is, immediately becomes "soft" when Peter is involved. Him caring about Peter is about his only redeeming aspect, and the one thing he does selflessly is to sacrifice his life to save Peter from suffocating in space.
* MrFanservice: In the ''Guardians'' films. He gets shirtless scenes in both of them and the one in the ''Vol. 2'' in particular was clearly only there for the audience to look at his great physique.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the end of ''Infinity War'', he seemed to regret [[NiceJobBreakingItHero botching up the team’s plan in defeating Thanos right before he vanishes]].
-->'''Peter:''' Aw, man.
* MyGreatestFailure: Immensely regrets not holding his mother's hand as she passed away.
* NeuralImplanting: Has a translator implant, which allows him to understand other languages. Does not seem to work on the ''Flora Colossus'' species.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: When Peter finds out Gamora is dead, he lets his emotions get the better of him which causes the plan to defeat Thanos to end in failure.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Is disintegrated along with half the universe after Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet.
* NoodleIncident: His affair with the Gramosian Duchess. Whatever happened, it apparently necessitated a criminal charge being specifically created for it.
* NoSuchThingAsAlienPopCulture: Peter has seemingly gone out of his way to avoid absorbing any type of alien culture or media since, despite living most of his life in space, all of his references are exclusively from Earth. Likewise, there's no evidence that he owns or listens to any type of music besides his mother's mixtapes or the Zune given to him by Kraglin.
* NoYou: After Teenage Groot calls him "boring", Peter retorts with "I'm not boring! ''You're'' boring!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:O-Y]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Frequently gets others to underestimate him this way. Usually before handing out a sucker punch or three.
* OnlySaneMan: In his viewpoint, at least, as he feels that threatening to kill people that he's only just met is counterproductive. He also considers Groot this, believing that he has the same thinking as him.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: The main joke of his interactions with Thor in ''Infinity War''; the other Guardians are quick to gush over how handsome and muscular Thor is, while noting that Quill has been putting on weight lately. Not to mention Thor's family history is even more epic and messed-up than Quill's. He starts outright mimicking Thor's BadassBaritone just to stay relevant.
* PapaWolf: Peter and Groot II has developed a father-son-like relationship.
* {{Patricide}}: Well, Groot is the one who detonated the bomb into Ego's core, but Peter definitely ordered and condoned it. Since his father is an OmnicidalManiac who killed his mother and would have consumed the universe, and his [[ParentalSubstitute real daddy]] is Yondu, Peter has little remorse about this, and no one would really blame him for it either.
* PermaStubble: It adds to his roguish demeanor.
* PhysicalGod: He's half Celestial, and the son of Ego, the Living Planet. As such, when he gains control of his powers over the planet, he's the only one who can match daddy dearest in a straight fight. However, he loses his powers once his father dies.
* PingPongNaivete: Rather savvy in a few areas and completely oblivious in many more, including Current Events, and in one case, manages to forget Missouri is on Earth.
* PopCulturedBadass: He is obsessed with Earth's pop-culture from the 80s, particularly its music which he is constantly shown listening to on his Walkman and later his Zune.
* ThePromise: In ''Infinity War,'' Gamora makes him swear on his mother's memory that should Thanos get her he'll kill her. Acting upon it is a major breaking point for him.
* PromotedToParent: Essentially becomes Groot's father-figure after he's reborn as Baby Groot. Becomes more apparent when arguing with Teenage Groot in one of {{The Stinger}}s in ''Vol. 2''.
-->'''Peter:''' And now I know how Yondu felt.
* PunyEarthlings: Despite being part-Celestial, he's easily the weakest and most physically frail of the Guardians -- even Rocket pulls off greater feats of strength despite being half his size, to say nothing of [[PintsizedPowerhouse Baby Groot]]. He gets by through skill, cunning, and, occasionally, space magic.
* RaisedByDudes: After his mother's death, Peter was kidnapped and raised by Yondu and his all-male Ravager crew.
* ReallyGetsAround: Claims that if you used a black light in his ship, you'd see a lot of evidence to support this trope. More evidence exists in the form of numerous scars he bears from various [[WomanScorned Scorned Women]] who have attacked him. It's apparently InTheBlood as Ego has been with ''thousands, or even millions, of different women''. He has mellowed out of this habit since meeting Gamora, and even tells Kraglin to stop hitting up and marrying a woman from every planet they land on.
* RedBaron: Insists on calling himself "Star-Lord", though most people refuse to indulge his ego. Korath and later Gamora referring to him as "Star-Lord" in the first movie's finale is something of a ThrowTheDogABone moment for Quill. The name "Star-Lord" was actually his mother's AffectionateNickname for him.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: His CoolMask has a pair of bright red lenses covering his eyes. Incidentally, the scenes where he's wearing it are also when he's at his most dangerous in a fight.
* RedIsHeroic: He wears red jackets throughout the entire first movie, except when he's incarcerated. Defied in that they're actually Ravager colors, and they're only as heroic as they can be paid to be.
* RefugeInAudacity: Part of the reason he's alive, in fact! Peter often does some straight up weird stuff and it often works because it's so odd, nobody has any idea how to feel. He uses this in the finale of ''GOTG'' to confuse Ronan long enough to knock the Infinity Stone from his hand.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: His biological father Ego is the adoptive father of Mantis, which makes Mantis his adoptive sister. His relationship to Ego here doesn't exist in the comics, either.
* RelationshipUpgrade: In ''Infinity War'', after dancing around their attraction for the first two ''Guardians'' films, he and Gamora openly tell each other that they love one another and share a kiss. Sadly, she gets sacrificed by Thanos soon after.
* RevengeBeforeReason: After finding out Gamora is dead, Peter loses all sense of his better judgement which ends up helping Thanos secure his victory.
* RocketBoots: He has detachable thrusters on the ankles of his boots that he uses for short boosts, to maneuver in zero-g, and for bursts of speed during combat.
* SadClown: [[DisappearedDad Peter never got to meet his birth father]], was taken away from home just minutes after watching his mother die, and spent the better part of his adolescence being raised by a violent criminal who (he thought) seriously considered ''eating him'' when he first met him. In spite of all that, he's a shockingly laid-back guy, and he makes jokes about ''everything''.
* SelfMadeOrphan: Star-Lord's mother is already dead, but he ends up killing his father to save the universe.
* SelfServingMemory: Has shades of it, particularly in the second movie. He didn't want to have anything to do with Ego and was talked into it by Gamora on the chance he could finally have a father-figure like he always wanted, but later on he spins it as her being jealous about his newfound powers when she has suspicions about both Ego and his planet. He even accuses her of being a hypocrite for convincing him to do so and then expressing those concerns, conveniently forgetting that Gamora told him outright that if Ego was a bad guy they'd kill him to help ease Quill's own uncertainty.
* ShutUpHannibal: Delivers one to Ego when the latter begs not to be destroyed.
-->'''Ego:''' Listen to me, LISTEN TO ME! You are a god. If you kill me, you'll be just like everybody else!\\
'''Peter:''' ... What's so wrong with that?
* SiblingYinYang: Because of being raised in two very different environments, [[GuileHero Peter]] and [[NoSocialSkills Mantis]] are complete opposites in personality, temperament, and appearance. The latter is a given since they're adoptive siblings, but the rest can be explained by Peter being raised among the rough and boisterous Ravagers while Mantis was reared in total isolation by [[AbusiveParent Ego himself]].
* SmallNameBigEgo: Is annoyed when people don't recognize his nickname (that he made up himself), "Star-Lord". As it turns out, it's less because of his own ego and more because Star-Lord was his mother's pet name for him.
* SmarterThanYouLook: Peter ''is'' a goofy, childish man but is craftier than what people give him credit for.
* SoleSurvivor: He's the only member of his immediate family known to still be alive. Meredith died of cancer inflicted by his birth father and all of his siblings were purged by Ego, who himself is killed by Peter. Some of his extended family is still alive on Earth, but Peter has had no contact with them since his abduction 28 years ago.
* StaticStunGun: His guns have a dual-barrel design, the top firing lethal rounds and the bottom-firing taser rounds.
* StepfordSmiler: {{Downplayed}}, but true: while his cheerful joking is a genuine part of his personality, it obfuscates some very real distress and emotional issues, to the point of coming across as a defense mechanism.
* StickyBomb: One of the gadgets he deploys in ''Infinity War''. Quill puts one on Thanos' back, which staggers the Titan enough to let his allies prepare other attacks.
* SuicidalOverconfidence: One of the reasons he is considered an IdiotHero in general, but turns out to be his FatalFlaw when he and half of the universe pays for it in ''Infinity War''.
* SuperheroPackingHeat: His trademark weapon is a gun.
* SuperpowerfulGenetics: Invoked and downplayed. He doesn't have any obvious and flashy superpowers, but after they find out that his father is some kind of ancient being, Gamora theorises that this could have been the reason why Peter was able to withstand the power of the Infinity Stone for as long as he did without dying. ''Vol. 2'' reveals that his father is a Celestial, more or less a living god.
* SuperPowersForADay: He temporarily gets god-like powers on the level of Ego on their planet, once they connect towards the end of ''Vol. 2''. Ego warns him that his destruction will also destroy Quill's abilities, but Quill pushes through anyway and kills his father off (and his powers) for good.
* SweetTooth: According to WordOfGod he loves candy and he wears a t-shirt with the name of a brand of candy he particularly likes on it. We can also see a lot of candy in the Milano. It's a bit of an InformedAttribute, though, since we never see him actually eating sweets.
* TeamDad: Although he isn't as serious as [[StraightMan Gamora]], he is generally forced to act like a tough father to the less focused Drax and Rocket. PlayedForLaughs in the ''Vol. 2'' Stinger with Teenage Groot where Peter acts just like an annoyed father dealing with his moody teenage son. He then realizes how Yondu felt.
* ThrowTheDogABone: Korath '''finally''' calls him "Star-Lord" once they meet again. Gamora later does this in the first film's last scene.
* TimeshiftedActor: Wyatt Oliff plays young Peter Quill in ''Film/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2014}}'', as well as a promotional photograph for an upcoming [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks ''Guardians'' themed ride at EPCOT]], while Creator/ChrisPratt plays the older Star-lord.
* TokenHuman: The only human on the team, and possibly even the entire galaxy outside of Earth (though there is a multitude of HumanAliens around the known universe). {{Subverted}} because it turns out he's only ''half'' human. Well, at least until he kills his Celestial birth father in ''Vol. 2''. After that, he's fully human, [[WhoWantsToLiveForever and perfectly okay with it, too]].
* TooDumbToLive: PlayedForDrama in ''Infinity War'', when Quill loses it at the ''absolute'' wrong time after learning Gamora's death and then striking Thanos free from the heroes' grasp which in turns leads to Thanos' BadassFingersnap that wipes out half the universe, Quill himself included.
* TragicKeepsake: Enough to form an additional TraumaCongaLine -- Peter starts out with the Walkman and Awesome Mix Vol. 1 left to him by Meredith, and at the end of the movie finally decides to open the last thing she gave him, revealing Awesome Mix Vol. 2, as well as revealing that his own self-ascribed RedBaron was his mother's AffectionateNickname for him. At the end of the second movie, he gets an additional one from Yondu -- a Zune with more tracks than the first two combined. This is after Yondu saved him via HeroicSacrifice.
* TranquilFury: In ''Vol. 2'', when Ego admits that he killed Peter's mother, Peter's expression barely changes as he pulls his guns and starts riddling Ego with holes.
* TrapMaster: His fighting style is putting his enormous array of gadgets to use to distract, incapacitate, and generally inconvenience his enemies.
* TraumaCongaLine:
** He was raised without a father, saw his mother die a painful death from a brain tumor, ran away because he couldn't stand being there at her final moments, and then got abducted by alien pirates who would regularly torment him with, among other things, threats of eating him. When he eventually left the group, he never went back to Earth because he knew he didn't fit in there anymore, so he's got no home.
** In ''Vol. 2'', he finally meets his long lost dad who reveals that he's an OmnicidalManiac out to [[AssimilationPlot absorb the universe into himself]], that Peter's actually had ''thousands'' of half-siblings that his father killed to the last because none of them were useful to his plot, and that his father ''gave'' his mother the brain tumor that killed her so he wouldn't be tempted to give up on his crazy quest. Then, Peter has to kill his father to stop him and to watch Yondu, who he finally accepts as his adoptive father, die ''in his arms'' while making a HeroicSacrifice to save him.
** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar,'' Quill is asked to kill his loved one, Gamora in order to save the universe. Despite her ''begging'' him, he initially can't, and when he does find the will to shoot her, Thanos easily prevents it and reveals he was just testing him before taking Gamora anyway. When Quill discovers Thanos has murdered Gamora to obtain the Soul Stone, Peter loses it, resulting in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown despite his friends' pleas to instead remove the Infinity Gauntlet. Finally, he witnesses Mantis and Drax disintegrate in front of him and then dies himself with the thought that [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone deaths of half the universe are his fault]].
* {{Troll}}: He manages to get the drop on most of his foes by dicking around with them. He ''literally'' trolls Yondu at the end, by giving him the capsule with a ''Troll'' figurine in it instead of the Infinity Stone. Considering the equally trollish Yondu raised Peter after his mother's death, it's not too difficult to figure out where he likely picked up on this behavior from.
* TykeBomb: Ego conceives Peter with Meredith to become his LivingBattery for his galactic conquest.
* UpbringingMakesTheHero: Two-fold. His mother imbued in him his morals, personality, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking taste in music]], while [[ParentalSubstitute Yondu]] taught him how to fend for himself. [[spoiler:The combination of both allows him to defy and overpower Ego towards the end of ''Volume II''.]]
* WeakButSkilled: When not tapping into his Celestial power, Peter himself only has limited fire power, no super strength or magic and his wit to rely on. He can still take down Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man combined with just those.
* WhiteMaleLead: TheLeader of the group, and the only white male of the bunch (heck, he's the only ''terran'' in the bunch). (Although Rocket's voice actor is also a white male).
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: He's revealed to be immortal and part-Celestial in the second film by Ego, who warns him in their final fight that should Ego's core destroy itself, Peter would lose his powers and his immortality and be "just like everyone else". Peter's response to his evil murderous father is, "What’s so wrong with that?".
* WorldsStrongestMan: Very briefly, during his battle with Ego in the climax of ''Vol. 2'', Peter was unarguably the most powerful superhero in all of the MCU. Nothing and no one short of Thanos or Dormmamu could come even close to the feats he accomplished during that short span of time. Unfortunately, he lost all that power after Ego died, though he doesn't seem to mind all that much.
* WouldHitAGirl: He doesn't hold back while scuffling with Gamora during her attempt to steal the Orb.
* WouldHurtAChild: He didn't appear to have a problem holding and threatening to shoot the 16-year-old Peter Parker if Iron Man didn't tell him where Gamora was. Not that he knew at the moment that the creepy alien in a red suit is a human teenager, though.
* YouAreInCommandNow: After Yondu's death, Kraglin refers to Peter as 'captain', signifying he is the leader of what is left of Yondu's Ravager crew, i.e. Kraglin himself.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Quill knows where Earth is, and has the means to get back there, he just doesn't. In ''Vol. 2'', he tries justifying it on the grounds that the last time he was there, he saw his mother die. Gamora disagrees, thinking he just doesn't go back to Earth because he'd rather play Space Cowboy. After being brought back from the Decimation, he does find himself returning to Earth to fight for it against Thanos.
** Creator/JamesGunn states Quill actually despised being back on Earth and got off that planet as fast as he freaking could. He associates it completely with his mother dying.
* YouKilledMyMother: The reason he eventually decides to give up on his biological father is that brain tumor Ego planted in Meredith's head.
[[/folder]]

!!Variants
[[folder:Ravager T'Challa's Peter Quill]]
!!''Peter Quill''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starlord___what_if_t27challa.png]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human-Celestial hybrid
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Dairy Queen, Ravagers
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/BrianTDelaney
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''

On Earth-21818, Peter Quill was never abducted by the Ravagers and instead became a janitor for Dairy Queen.
----
* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Zigzagged. Because he was never abducted by the Ravagers, he wound up living a normal life on Earth, presumably raised by his grandfather who was definitely a much better father than Yondu. However, his father Ego decides to recruit him ealier, and doesn't waste much time before turning him into a living battery [[spoiler:before T'Challa and his Ravagers rescue him and he's implied to join the team afterwards]].
* AdaptationalCurves: Inverted, he has a more average build than his Sacred Timeline counterpart's more muscular build likely because he lived a more boring and average life than him.
* AdaptationalJobChange: Because he was never kidnapped by the Ravagers, he's a janitor at Dairy Queen instead of a space outlaw.
* AdaptationalWimp: Due to how he was never abducted by Yondu, Peter was never trained to be a thief or how to defend himself. Unfortunately, this made it way easier for [[spoiler:Ego to forcefully use him as a battery.]]
* FutureLoser: In this reality, Peter Quill was never kidnapped by Yondu when he was a kid in 1988. In this reality, Peter Quill lived a normal life on Earth, he never became Star-Lord, instead in this alternate reality, He ended up working as a lowly janitor at Dairy Queen fast-food joint, he may not have a good wage in his lowly job, but he still has fun at work listening to music on his Walkman. [[spoiler:Though it's implied by the final episode of Season 1 that he might've joined T'Challa's Ravagers after being saved by him from Ego, which could reverse this status.]]
* HappinessInMinimumWage: Granted, he may be a lowly-ranked worker in a fast-food joint, but he does seem to be enjoying himself.
* RaisedByGrandparents: Implied. His maternal grandfather was going to take care of him after his mother died before he was abducted by the Ravagers in the Sacred Timeline, so that's his most likely background here.
* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: In this universe where he was never kidnapped by the Ravagers the night his mother died, he's just a simple janitor.
* ThrowTheDogABone: After being shown to work at a low-paid job [[spoiler:and being subjected as a battery thanks to his abusive father Ego, Quill gets saved by T'Challa just in time and is implied to join the Ravagers for a chance of adventure he was initially denied as he is seen fighting alongside them in the last scenes of the show.]]
* UncertainDoom: We don't see what happens after Ego meets him, but, as Uatu implies, Ego presumably intends to use him as a tool to assimilate the world just as he attempted in the Sacred Timeline. [[spoiler:The final episode of season 1 shows this to be the case with T'Challa and the Ravagers saving him prior to Uatu recruiting T'Challa. When T'Challa returns, Peter is using one of T'Challa's guns which suggests he might end up joining the Ravagers.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Infinity Ultron's Peter Quill]]
!!''Peter Quill / Star-Lord''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ffda62ab_61ef_4832_bacf_7df480d04c07.jpeg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:300:some caption text]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Guardians of the Galaxy
!!!'''Voiced By:''' N/A
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''

The Peter Quill of Earth-29929, who is killed during Ultron's genocidal quest for peace.
----
* DeadAlternateCounterpart: To his Sacred Timeline and Ravager T'Challa counterpart.
* DoNotGoGentle: He continues gunning down Ultron Sentries despite being utterly outnumbered and completely overwhelmed.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: It's probable that he was completely immolated by the Sovereign's explosion.
* TheVoiceless: He doesn't say any lines in his only appearance.
[[/folder]]
----

* AdaptationalAngstDowngrade: Zigzagged. Because he was never abducted by the Ravagers, he wound up living a normal life on Earth, presumably raised by his grandfather who was definitely a much better father than Yondu. However, his father Ego decides to recruit him ealier, and doesn't waste much time before turning him into a living battery [[spoiler:before T'challa and his Ravagers rescue him and he's implied to join the team afterwards]].

* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: In this universe where he was never kidnapped by the Ravager the night his mother died, he's just a simple janitor.

* AlternateSelf: Has one in the timeline where the Ravagers abducted T'Challa instead of him. He appears as a cameo, where it was shown that he grew up to be a janitor instead of an adventurer. [[spoiler: The episode ends with him being greeted by Ego, with the Watcher acknowledging this could mean doom for the whole world.]]

* AlternateSelf: To the Peter Quill of the original timeline, coming from a universe where he never was kidnapped by Yondu, thus leaving him to work a lowly job as a janitor at Dairy Queen in 2008.

* AlternateSelf: To the Peter Quill of the Sacred Timeline, coming from a universe where he's killed by Ultron on the Sovereign's home planet while trying to defend it.

* ReallyGetsAround: Claims that if you used a black light in his ship, you'd see a lot of evidence to support this trope. More evidence exists in the form of numerous scars he bears from various [[WomanScorned Scorned Women]] who have attacked him. It's apparently InTheBlood as Ego has been with ''thousands, or even millions, of different women''.

* AdaptationalAngstyDowngrade: Zigzagged. Because he was never abducted by the Ravagers, he wound up living a normal life on Earth, presumably raised by his grandfather who was definitely a much better father than Yondu. However, his father Ego decides to recruit him ealier, and doesn't waste much time before turning him into a living battery [[spoiler:before T'challa and his Ravagers rescue him and he's implied to join the team afterwards]].