History ComicBook / MantisMarvelComics

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[[redirect:Characters/MarvelComicsMantis]]

!!Warning: This page will contain spoilers for the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse. Read at your own risk.

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'''Mantis''' is a Creator/MarvelComics character created by Steve Englehart & Don Heck, first appearing in ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' #112 (dated June 1973).

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."

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's never explicitly identified as Mantis in those particular comics, it's 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]].

She'd remain a background player in the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe for quite a while until the ''Comicbook/{{Annihilation}}'' event series, which then segued into a regular role in the reboot of ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' in 2008. Because of her new empathic abilities, she mostly served as a support player for the team, helping mediate all the different personalities onboard their roster, but she did spend on time on the field with the rest of them throughout the run.

Perhaps because of her convoluted nature in the comics, a [[PragmaticAdaptation streamlined version]] of Mantis appears in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, portrayed there by Creator/PomKlementieff. Debuting in 2017's ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'', this iteration is an alien woman of unknown origin with empathic powers who serves as the ward (and [[IndenturedServitude servant]]) of [[GeniusLoci Ego]]. Though initially loyal to him, she soon defects to the Guardians of the Galaxy, and aids them in defeating Ego before he can colonize the entire universe. She appears again in 2018's ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', now having been a full member of the team for a number of years when the story begins, and plays an instrumental role in helping prevent ComicBook/{{Thanos}} from completing the Infinity Gauntlet.

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!! Mantis appears in:
[[AC: Notable Comics]]
* ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' (various runs)
** ''ComicBook/TheCelestialMadonnaSaga'' (1974 -- 1975)
* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' vol. 2 (2008 -- 2010)

[[AC: Film]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, portrayed by Creator/PomKlementieff:
** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2'' (2017)
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' (2018)
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' (2019)
** ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (TBA)

[[AC: Rides]]
* ''Ride/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyMissionBreakout'' (2017), portrayed by Klementieff

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Guardians of the Galaxy|2015}}'' (2016 -- present), voiced by Creator/JenniferHale

[[AC: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/LEGOMarvelsAvengers'' (2016), voiced by Creator/AliHillis
* ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'' (added in 2016)
* ''VideoGame/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyTheTelltaleSeries'' (2017), voiced by Creator/SumaleeMontano
* ''VideoGame/MarvelFutureFight'' (added in 2017)
* ''VideoGame/AvengersAcademy'' (added in 2017)
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!! Mantis provides examples of:
* ActionGirl: She's a woman who can kick ass.
* ActionMom: She has a son out there... [[ChuckCunninghamSyndrome somewhere]].
* AmicableExes: She and Kang have a "history". [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble Or did, or will]]. Well, Mantis is amicable, at least. Kang is just indifferent to her presence.
* AsianHookerStereotype: It's no coincidence that when the (German-)Vietnamese woman had to go into the world to gain experience in a 1970s series she winds up... becoming a prostitute.
* AstralProjection: To travel in space, Mantis projects her astral form from her body, allowing her to travel interplanetary distances. She'd then recreate a body for herself out of the destination planet’s local vegetation.
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: Becoming the Celestial Madonna.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Normally, Mantis is one of the calmest, sweetest and friendliest people around. In combat, however, she's utterly ruthless. And she's not above BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood.
* BlessedWithSuck: She can see the future, but she can't do anything to change what happens, meaning if someone is going to go mad and turn the team, she can't warn anyone.
* BrainyBrunette: She is highly intelligent, with intuition and deductive skills rivaling those of Vision's (in his own words, she has a "remarkable mind").
* ButNotTooForeign: Half-Asian (Vietnamese, specifically), half-white (German).
* CatchPhrase: "Strength is as nothing against skill".
* TheChosenOne: This one is the Celestial Madonna.
* 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.
* DragonLady: She is initially introduced like this, as an enigmatic Eastern seductress with a shady agenda. Subverted, in that she turns out to be a good character.
* TheEmpath: This enables her to sense the emotions of others, which she feels as psychic "vibrations" which she also uses to communicate with the plant-like Cotati.
* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Not at first, and something of an inversion. She was originally a normal human who, through alien foster care, was chosen as the Celestial Madonna, developing psychic powers and a new body with green skin.
* GreenThumb: She's very fond of her plants. Both the sentient and the non-sentient ones.
%%* HealingFactor
%%* IKnowKungFu
* InterspeciesRomance: With a member of the Cotati race (read: a living tree).
* KickChick: in battle scenes, usually shown kicking, showing off her long legs since she fights in something resembling a grass skirt.
* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Her father was the original Libra of the Zodiac (although as of ''Avengers Forever'', he's not quite a villain anymore).
* MagicalAsian: Is half-Vietnamese, and was raised in an Oriental Temple of the Priests of Pama where she became an adept of Eastern mysticism and also a martial arts master. She is that rare case when ethnic stereotypes do not spoil the character: she is seductive, she goes barefoot (bearing association with Asian martial arts), and almost always [[ThirdPersonPerson refers to herself in the third person]] (which is also a common practice in Eastern religions), but nonetheless, she is a very smart, independent and strong-willed character whose depiction is not in the least patronizing.
* MissionControl: In as much as the Guardians have anyone who can keep them in line and tell them what to do, Mantis is this.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: During the ''Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord'' mini-series, she suddenly gains an immunity to being detected by Phalanx tech, out of nowhere.
* PlantPerson: She can control the growth of plants, which is used to bring down the Phalanx Babel Spire.
* PlayingWithFire: On rare occasions, she has shown the ability of pyrokinesis. It's implied she doesn't like using it, which given her empathic abilities wouldn't be surprising.
* ProverbialWisdom: When she's first introduced, she tends to speak in a very flowery fashion, sprouting {{koan}}-like [[HurricaneOfAphorisms aphorisms]] like "He who fears the bee's sting will never taste the honey". This probably has to do with her upbringing in a mystic temple and her "Mysterious Asian Lady" image in general.
* PsychicPowers: Mantis has repeatedly demonstrated {{Telepathy}} as well as a variety of other mental powers.
* PutOnABus: Isn't a member of the team come vol 3, with only one appearance so far. As of Volume 4, it's revealed that she and some of the other former Guardians are part of a new team called the Knowhere Corps.
* [[RaisedByWolves Raised By Aliens]]: Plant aliens, at that.
* SecondLove: For Silver Surfer, after Alicia Masters and before Nova (Frankie Raye)
* ShipTease: Between her and Peter. Nothing ever comes of it, though.
* SuperpowerLottery: Mantis possesses telepathy, empathy, pyrokinesis, plant control, astral projection and can sense and attack weak points.
* TastesLikePurple: According to Cosmo, her thoughts smell of flowers.
* ThirdPersonPerson: Always refers to herself in the third person as "this one"; this probably has to do with her upbringing by the Priests of Pama, an Oriental pacifistic sect of alien origin whose teachings bear a considerable similarity to real-life Eastern philosophy (which has referring to oneself in the third person as a common practice of "distancing oneself from the ego"). Her husband (the Cotati in Swordsman's body), who spent a significant part of his life at the Temple, also speaks like this, implying that this speech pattern is a custom of the Priests.
** 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.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Half-Vietnamese, half-German.
* VerbalTic: "This one".
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* ThirdPersonPerson: Always refers to herself in the third person as "this one"; this probably has to do with her upbringing by the Priests of Pama, an Oriental pacifistic sect of alien origin whose teachings bear a considerable similarity to real-life Eastern philosophy (which has referring to oneself in the third person as a common practice of "distancing oneself from the ego").

** Taken UpToEleven, since she even ''thinks'' about herself in the third person. Interestingly, this is apparently a conscious choice: in issue #135b, she 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.

And then she winds up in the DCUniverse as a character named "Willow," following co-creator Steve Englehart's move to the [[Creator/DCComics Distinguished Competition]] in 1977. While she's never explicitly identified as Mantis in those particular comics, it's 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]].

* 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.

* 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 (and the latter were not even written by Englehart, [[CanonDiscontinuity which means that the canonicity of Mantis from Guardians is debatable]]).

* LadyDragon: She is initially introduced like this, as an enigmatic Eastern seductress with a shady agenda. Subverted, in that she turns out to be a good character.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Averted when she joins the team, played straight before that.

** ''Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'' (2020)

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse (2017 -- present), portrayed by Creator/PomKlementieff:

* ''Ride/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyMissionBreakout'' (2017 -- present), portrayed by Klementieff

** [[Film/{{Avengers 4}} Untitled Avengers film]] (2019)

* * [[RaisedByWolves Raised By Aliens]]: Plant aliens, at that.

She'd remain a background player in the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe for quite a while until the ''Comicbook/{{Annihilation}}'' event series, which then segued into a regular role in the reboot of ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' in 2008. Because of her new emphatic abilities, she mostly served as a support player for the team, helping mediate all the different personalities onboard their roster, but she did spend on time on the field with the rest of them throughout the run.