Infinity. A never ending, never diminished, unlimited supply. To have so much power in the palm of one man's hand is to wish chaos over this universe and every other. Today we'll talk about the most powerful object in The Marvel Universe: The Infinity Gems.
As told in "Thanos Quest" and "Avengers/Ultraforce", The Gems (or Stones) were originally part of a god-like being known as Nemesis. Nemesis was so powerful, so omnipresent, she could not stand the loneliness of being almighty and used her own powers to kill himself. Though her consciousness died, the remains of her body turned into six gemstones that carried a portion of her powers. When Thanos The Mad Titan discovered the origin and powers of these stones, he constructed a special glove that would allow it's wearer to use all six of the gems without going insane or becoming overwhelmed by their power, this glove was called The Infinity Gauntlet. The Infinity Gems have been sought by Thanos, feared by the cosmos, guarded by The Elders of The Universe, and hidden by The Illuminati, but no matter what they are used for or wherever they go, The Infinity Gems will always exist.
The Soul Gem (Green in The Comics)
Said to be the most powerful of the Gems, The Soul Gem gives it's user the ability to absorb, take over, and manipulate souls. By stealing the souls of their victims, the user also gains the abilities of them. Unlike the other Gems, The Soul Gem is sentient and has an unlimited hunger for the souls of others. Most notably, this Gem corrupted Adam Warlock of The Guardians of The Galaxy and caused the event known as "The Infinity War". When The Illuminati took one of each gems, Doctor Strange took The Soul Gem, most likely due to his mastery of spiritualism. This gem has yet to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Time Gem (Orange in The Comics)
This gem is pretty self explanatory. The user can not only travel to the past or the future, they can also send objects or people to those times as well. The user can see into any point in time, manipulate the events of history, alter time around a certain space, or alter the effects of time around themselves. The most dangerous use of this gem is too rewrite time to one's desires or trap victims in an endless time loop. Namor (Kind of Atlantis) guarded this gem. This gem has yet to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Space Gem (Purple in The Comics, Blue in The Films)
This gem gives it's user control over space itself and as such can manipulate the placement of objects, places, people or anything else. By using this gem, one could appear on the other end of the galaxy in a second. This gem can allow it's user to even appear at multiple places at once, this ability would grant the user Omnipresence as well. You could stick an Egyptian pyramid into the side of Jupiter with this spacial power. Black Bolt (King of The Inhumans) hid this gem. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe this gem has been identified as The Cosmic Cube in "Captain America: The First Avenger", The Tesseract in "The Avengers" before it was finally identified as The Space Gem. Originally used as an energy source by The Red Skull and HYDRA, this gem seemingly warped Red Skull to another place and currently resides in Asgard.
The Mind Gem (Blue in The Comics, Yellow in The Films)
Manifesting the subconscious of the universe itself, The Mind Gem gives it's user unlimited amounts of knowledge in fields they are both familiar and unfamiliar with. Any language, any piece of history, any science, it is all accessible to The Mind Gem. This gem also allows it's user to read minds and delve into dreams, and when combined with The Power Gem it can use this ability on more than once mind. The gem also grants psychic offensive and defensive abilities. Naturally, Professor X of The X-Men held on to this gem. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this gem was hidden inside a staff Loki used to turn his enemies into his slaves. The staff reappeared in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" where HYDRA's Baron Von Strucker used the staff to endow superpowers onto Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. My personal logic is that The Mind Gem unlocked Scarlet Witch's full mental abilities and unlocked Quicksilver's full physical abilities, traits mankind could unlock generations after our bodies have evolved. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are not Inhumans in either universe. The Gem was then placed onto the head of Ultron's creation "The Vision" and gave this new hero an enhanced perception of life.
The Reality Gem (Yellow in The Comics, Red in The Films)
On par with The Soul Gem, the Reality Gem allows the user to grant wishes in the literal sense. By altering the laws of physics, science and life itself, this gem can alter reality and make the impossible happen. History dictates Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed, but this gem can make it so your car is made out of the bullet that killed him. Because this gem is so powerful, it is the quickest to make it's user lose control. Tony Stark/Iron Man (founding Avenger) watched over this gem. This gem appears as a liquid-like weapon called The Aether in "Thor: The Dark World" and unwillingly opens pockets into another dimension. This gem was given to a being called The Collector by The Asgardians in an attempt to separate the gems.
The Power Gem (Red in The Comics, Purple in The Films)
The Power Gem has most often been used to absorb all the energy in the universe and throughout time itself, giving it's user access to the most amount of power ever. Most of the time it's users have applied this power physically to make them stronger and more durable than any other being in the universe, however this power can also be used to boost the effectiveness of the other Infinity Gems, duplicate any superpower, manipulate any form of energy, drain vigor and energy from others, and grant Omnipotence. Mr. Fantastic (leader of The Fantastic Four) protected this gem. The Power Gem appeared in "Guardians of The Galaxy" as a simple orb that could destroy planets. Ronan The Accuser planned on using this orb to enforce control over the galaxy, but a ragtag group of heroes defeated him by using the gem and turned it over to The Nova Corps for safekeeping.
The future for these gems, both in comics and films, is a mystery worth waiting for. Every time these gems are used they bring interesting stories promised to flex your mind with questions of morality and possibility. Personally, I love the angle of Marvel's smartest characters holding on to each one and I'd love to see more ideas like that! Hope you've learned why guys like me are jumping in our seats when these little trinkets appear on screen!
Thanks for reading!
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