If you were to look up the strongest villain in the Marvel Universe, Thanos would totally pop up at the top of the list.
Not only was he the most powerful villain of all time, he had his separate fanbase because people just loved how powerful he was.
With his appearance in both the comics and the movies, there were many who were taken aback by just seeing how strong he was and wondered if he was even defeated.
Discussion in the community started regarding who was capable of defeating the mighty Mad Titan. Over the years, there were many characters who were considered for such a feat.
Definitely defeating Thanos was no child play, so only the strongest and the mightiest were considered for such a task.
Among the top contenders, who could go up against the strongest villain, The Eternals were the ultimate group.
Fans believed that the group had what it takes to defeat Thanos. I mean- it is understandable, considering the extremely powerful individuals The Eternals had.
So can they really defeat Thanos? To find out we suggest you read this article as we have managed to put together everything about them and discussed who would come victorious if there were to go up against each other.
Who were the Eternals?
As we all know, the Marvel Universe is full of mysterious and unique beings. Among them, there are some called the Eternals.
The Eternals were a race of near-immortal artificial beings created by the Celestials. The Celestial was capable of restoring and destroying the world and wielding vast powers.
So, to power the Celestial seed inside the planet, the Eternals were sent to multiple worlds to protect and help evolve sentient lifeforms.
All these things about the Celestial seeds and lifeforms can get confusing. So, to put it more simply, the Eternals were more like beings with superhuman powers, who secretly lived on Earth for thousands of years and reunited to battle the evil Deviants.
Funny enough, the monstrous Deviants and apex race of near-immortal beings were also genetically engineered by the Celestials themselves.
The Eternals also fought among themselves, with the two major conflicts being the internal war led by Kronos and the conflict against Thanos.
The first civil was actually fought over whether the Eternals should conquer other races, with Kronos’ pacifistic fraction prevailing over Uranus’ side, which was in favor of war.
Was Thanos an Eternal too?
Being a mutant member of the race of superhumans known as the Titanian Eternals, Thanos had some crazy powers and strengths that made him the most powerful Eternals.
Thanos possessed abilities that were common to the Eternals. However, because of his mutant Eternals heritage, bionic amplification, and power bestowed by the entity, Death, Thanos had amplified strengths.
Eternals Vs. Thanos
Now let’s compare the powers and abilities they had and see how would each Eternal would go up against Thanos.
Let’s start off with Thanos’s powers and abilities.
Powers and Abilities
Titanian Eternal Physiology:
The Titanian Eternals were the subspecies of the Eternals. They were from the planet Titan. Thanos being a Titanian Eternal had a massive and heavy body.
He was born with the capacity to synthesize cosmic energy. His powers were increased as a result of being resurrected by Death itself.
He was even deemed as a Universal threat level and also had been a one-time reality ender. The Cosmic Level threat, Thanos, was even sent to the core cell of the Galactic Gulag.
Superhuman Strength:
With superhuman powers, Thanos possessed immense superhuman strength. The full strengths of these powers are still unknown.
Because he was resurrected by Death itself, his strength was beyond the limits and on par levels even surpassing some of the physically strongest Eternals.
With his massive strength, he was able to beat some of Marvel’s mightiest superheroes like the Hulk, Thor, and others.
Even the strongest being such as the mighty Tyrant and a Phoenix Force-empowered Thane, couldn’t hold a candle against this mighty villain.
Superhuman Agility:
It is no surprise that Thanos possessed immense physical strength. Just look at his great size and bulk body!
Despite that, Thanos had great agility, balance, and bodily coordination that were enhanced to levels that were beyond the natural physical limits of any normal being.
With such incredible agility, he was able to dodge a power-gem-enhanced Champion of the Universe.
Superhuman Reflexes:
Talking about reflexes, Thanos’s reaction time was on a whole other level. Even for a being his size, the superhuman reflexes that he possessed were beyond normal.
Just like his abilities, even his reflexes were about average for an Eternal.
Superhuman Stamina:
By now, having impressive stamina was no surprise for Thanos. Even during intense battles, Thanos showed no signs of fatigue.
With such stamina and powers, Thanos was able to wipe out nearly half of the universe with just a snap of his fingers.
Skilled Unarmed Combatant:
Thanos usually avoided physical combat but he was a very skilled, highly formidable hand-to-hand combatant who had been trained in the Arts of War on Titan.
He was specifically skilled at using a combination of his physical and energy manipulation abilities during combat.
This may come as a surprise to you as he was also a very skilled swordsman, being able to overwhelm a Mjolnir-wielding Silver Surfer.
Immortality:
Just like other Eternals, Thanos was not immortal but was immortal in the sense that he was immune to almost all the known diseases and infections and also immune to the effects of aging.
Thanos was able to die. However, he was bound to return no matter the severity of his injuries, as he was banned by Death itself from entering its realm.
Regenerative Healing Factor:
This ability is possessed by almost all the Eternals. Thanos also had this ability. Despite his incredible durability, it was still possible to injure Thanos.
However, the injuries would heal in no time as he was able to regenerate damaged tissue with great speed and efficiency.
Unlike the Eternals, Thanos’ healing powers aren’t as developed as theirs. He can regenerate most of the tissues but is unable to regenerate missing organs such as the heart.
Energy Manipulation & Projection:
Among many powers, Thanos showcased great versatility in the use of his energy projection abilities.
He was able to project pure energy as a concussive force, magnetic energy, disruptor beams as well as infrared heat beams from his eyes.
Striking opponents with his optic blasts, using his mental link to his techno mystical chair to form powerful energy shields and barriers.
Although Thanos sported a sleeveless dress, he had some good tricks up his sleeves.
Telepathy:
Any villain would possess this superpower and why not, it’s cool.
Thanos had psychic powers such as telepathy. His mind was invulnerable to most forms of psychic attacks.
Thanos was able to successfully defend himself against psychic assaults from Moondragon and Mantis. He was able to shut done Maker’s mind and even made Hulk attack his fellow Avengers.
So, you won’t be able to play mind tricks on him. No hypnosis as well.
Matter Manipulation & Control:
Just like energy manipulation, Thanos was able to manipulate matters on the atomic level just like the Earthborn Eternals.
Once he was also able to turn Skrull Skragg into stone. He used his matter manipulation ability on Moondragon to purge the muscle-controlling parasites implanted by Annihilus from her body.
Super-Genius Intelligence:
The Mad Titan was certainly one of the most intelligent villains in the universe. Thanos had the most dangerous ability in his mind, as his intellect.
He was a genius in virtually all known fields of advanced science and had created technology that far exceeded contemporary Earth Science.
He was also good at adapting to new battle scenes as he was able to beat Champion of the Universe with his intellect as he even tricked Champion into destroying a whole planet.
Now let’s move on to the Eternals.
1. Ajak
Ajak was the Prime Eternal, meaning she was the leader of the group. She was the wise and spiritual leader of the Eternals, who were genetically engineered individuals.
Not only she led the group, but she also guided them in times of need and showed them the right way. Since she was the leader of the group, she was extremely powerful.
Along with the powers to directly communicate with the Celestials, Ajak was an extremely powerful combatant. An incredible thinker, Ajak had the ability to use her Cosmic Energy to heal humans and Eternals from injuries and illness.
So overall, not only was she a great leader, but she also possessed some great combat skills along with her healing abilities.
Hence, if a time came when she would have to go up against the Mad Titan, she could use her skills to fight against him. Using her great tactician skills along with her abilities, she would have had a high chance of going up against Thanos.
Now, you might be thinking that what about her healing abilities, won’t she be able to heal if any damage were done to her?
Well, it is considerable but think about it, even with her healing abilities she might heal some of her injuries, which might take her some time.
Even if the recovery took mere seconds, it would have been more than enough time for Thanos to attack and exterminate her right there.
Nevertheless, a fight between Ajak and Thanos might not really take place as Ajak is dead and won’t come back because her powers were stolen by a Deviant.
2. Sersi
After the death of the original leader, Ajak, Sersi was chosen to fulfill the duty of the leader and lead the group. She became the Prime Eternal and learned her true purpose of saving the earth from the birth of Tiamat the Communicator.
Coming only second to Ajak as her successor, she was among the most powerful Eternals. Not only was she a skilled warrior, but she was also equally very intelligent.
Being an Eternal, she already had the power of Cosmic energy, which she used to convert any matters the way she wanted. She wielded the power of matter transmutation.
With the Uni Mind energy Manipulation, she was able to amplify her powers making her a great force to be reckoned with.
The Matter Transmutation allowed her to change the makeup or structure of any non-sentient martial with just a simple touch.
Fighting the Deviants for years and years, she was an experienced fighter. Yet, she only found out about her manipulation powers later on and used them to freeze the rising Celestial Tiamut in the final battles.
Using her newfound powers, she was able to turn the God-like entity into stones. So, if she were to use the same method on Thanos, she could easily defeat him as it would take just a mere touch from her to freeze Thanos and attack him.
However, even if direct contact with Thanos is not possible, she can very much use her powers to manipulate the space around her to hold him off even for just some time.
3. Ikaris
If Sersi and Ajak were the Prime leaders of the Eternals, then Ikaris was the tactical leader. He was also one of the most powerful eternal.
Along with the Eternals’ powers, he had a massive amount of power in himself and was believed to be undefeatable even if all the Eternals were put together.
Using his cosmic energy, he was able to project powerful cosmic beams from his eyes. The beams with such energy were considered to be a deadly weapon to use against opponents.
As an Eternal, he had exceptional durability and strength, which gave him a massive upper hand in the battle against the Deviants.
Since he was considered to be the most powerful Eternal, he might have a good chance of defeating Thanos. Ikaris had greater powers than all the Eternals combined, so it wouldn’t be much difficult to defeat Thanos.
Furthermore, because Ikaris also had the ability to fly that meant if he were to take the fight between him and Thanos to the sky, Thanos would have to use his Space stone or Power stone.
Hence, among the Eternals, he had a greater chance of going on a par level with the Mad Titan and defeating him in a battle.
However, Ikaris and Thanos might not really get to battle it out as Ikaris died. Just like Ajak, Ikaris won’t be making a return because he killed himself by flying directly into the sun as he felt guilt over betraying his comrades.
4. Druig
Druig was also one of the Eternals and had the power to manipulate minds of the human beings.
During their time as a team, Druig grew disillusioned with their mission and decided to leave the Eternals. After he left his team, he created his own society of mind-controlled humans to keep them safe from the horrors of the outside world.
Although he was rarely seen fighting the Deviants, he was still a very capable and skilled fighter on his own.
He was extremely intelligent and even used his abilities to control minds by using his cosmic energy to hold the emergence of Tiamut the Communicator.
So, the question arises would he be able to defeat Thanos? Probably, Yes!
He had the power to manipulate the minds of humans. Even though it was not clear whether he could control other creatures or not, for now, let’s consider that he was able to do so.
So, considering this, he could have easily controlled Thanos. Druig could have easily defeated Thanos by simply knocking him off his senses and stealing the Infinity Gauntlet from him.
Similarly, he could have defeated Thanos in a number of ways, such as manipulating him to annihilate himself or enslaving him in some dark dungeons.
5. Phastos
Known as the Inventor of the Eternals, Phastos was the most intelligent eternal, who used his tech to help humankind. In simple terms, he was the tech genius of Eternals.
Just like any other Eternals, he too possessed cosmic energy. While many used their cosmic energy to transform materials and shoot laser beams, Phastos manipulated his cosmic energy to design and create almost any type of weapon and machinery.
He was also able to use his cosmic energy to make holographic projections and also conjure weapons that launched blasts of cosmic energy.
The technology-minded Eternal would have certainly stood up a chance against Thanos with his high-tech weapons and machinery.
Just like in his fights with the Deviants, Phastos has the potential to go all out on Thanos. Being the chief inventor of the Eternals, he is very much capable of creating powerful weapons to take the Mad Titan down.
Now, here we must consider the fact that Thanos himself is a tech guy. So, if Phastos would go against him and were to defeat him, he has to come up with weapons far more advanced than Thanos wields.
So, if they were to go up against each other, it would be an epic battle of divine beings along with a war of machines.
6. Makkari
In the whole Marvel Universe, Makkari was known to be the fastest woman. Her incredible speed was what put her at a major advantage on the battlefield.
She used her Cosmic energy to cosmically power her super speed to go through the planets for the Eternals. One prominent feature of her cosmic run was that it was accompanied by a sonic boom but it didn’t affect her as she was deaf.
However, she was forced to be reckoned with because not only her running speed was powered up but her other abilities were heightened as well.
She was able to think, act, move and perceive things in just some mere seconds or less, which was way faster than any normal human could ever think of.
Thanos was a big guy which might make you think that he was slow but hold on, he was not slow at all. Not only was Thanos strong, but he was very quick on his feet as well.
However, going up against the fastest being in the whole universe, I am sure it would be hard for even the mightiest villain to keep up with her. This could be very advantageous to Makkari as she could easily get close to Thanos using her ultra-high speed and land attacks on him.
No matter how sharp-eyed Thanos might be, he probably won’t even be able to see her moving at such super speed, all he will be able to see is the vibrating blur motion.
So, with her impressive skills and abilities, Makkari could be very close to being invincible and even might defeat the Mad Titan. However, if Thanos could somehow keep up with her, he could also very easily capture her and kill her instantly.
7. Kingo
The Eternals were powerful beings, and Kingo was no exception. He was a very essential part and a great warrior of the group.
Just like other Eternals, he was bestowed with cosmic energy, which he used to emit cosmic energy explosions, projectiles, and blasts from his hands.
With such great abilities, he was able to fire energy spheres from his hands and even from his fingertips, which resembled the shots fired from a firearm.
Not only he was able to shoot such projectiles, but by putting in some extra effort was also able to manipulate their size.
The sizes of these cosmic energy billets varied from small to larger and stronger spheres that were strong enough to kill a Deviant in a single shot.
However because the larger shots took much more time and effort than the smaller ones, he retreated to using the smaller ones instead but they were only capable of stunning the Devils and not really did any significant harm to them.
So, if we consider this, if Kingo were to ever go up against Thanos, we highly doubt that his shots are going to do any harm to the Mighty Thanos.
Even his larger and stronger shots took time to charge, and surely Thanos wouldn’t be waiting for them to get charged and hit him, right? So, in a fight between them, Kingo really doesn’t have that high probability to beat Thanos.
However, even if he won’t able to defeat Thanos by himself, his chances might increase with the help of his fellow members of the Eternals.
8. Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh was also one of the most powerful Eternals. With just a punch he was able to knock down many Deviants and he was also able to stop Thena, the Goddess of War herself when she forgot everything and attacked him.
This alone showed just how strong he was. Furthermore, along with the common superhuman powers that the Eternals got, Gilgamesh had a very unique way to use his cosmic energy.
He used his cosmic energy to project a powerful cosmic energy-infused exoskeleton around his arms and fists, which not only enhanced his strength but his durability was also heightened in combats.
So, with such powerful abilities, he would have certainly given Thanos a run for his money. The two powerful entities going one-on-one against each other would have been a great battle to witness as Gilgamesh would have shown his full strength against Thanos.
Thanos is not a weakling as well, so although Gilgamesh could have beat Thanos, he couldn’t have done so without getting a few hits from Thanos as well.
So, being one of the strongest Eternals, Golagamesh certainly stood the chance to go up against Thanos and probably even defeat him.
However, Gilgamesh was killed by the Deviant, Kro while he was trying to protect Thena.
9. Thena
Another Eternal who had a greater chance of standing against the Mad Titan was Thena, the Goddess of War.
Sent to the earth to protect it from the Deviants, the Goddess was a master in every weapon and was an extremely powerful being.
She used the cosmic energy bestowed upon her to form cosmic energy-imbued weapons, which were extremely powerful.
Not only she went up against Ikaris, who betrayed them but she also got revenge for the death of her partner, Gilgamesh, by killing the deviant Kro.
She was a strong warrior, who wielded the power to manifest any handheld weapons that she could imagine with the help of her pure cosmic energy.
Considering that Thena went against Thanos, she could easily put up a good fight as she was could have attacked him using the various weapons that she was able to manifest, like spears, swords, shields, axes, and staffs.
Moreover, she was so able to shift the weapons, so, if a sword didn’t work on Thanos she could have easily switched it to something more effective.
Also, she was capable of wielding a shield in one hand and a polearm in the other, which could have given her the upper hand in the battle against Thanos.
Thanos could easily dodge the weapons and even if were hit by them he could have effortlessly healed himself.
Regardless, because Thena’s weapons were strong enough to power through the skins of the Eternals as well as deviants, she could have easily pierced through Thanos’ impermeable skin.
Along with her powerful weapons, The Goddess of war was undoubtedly a great warrior because of her strength and powers, which would give Thanos a hard time during the battle.
10. Sprite:
Now we know that the Eternals were extremely powerful but Sprite was not really considered to be the strongest among them.
Despite her having all the powers of the Eternals, which made her far more superior to the ordinary humans, she was still a bit far behind her Eternals friends.
she betrayed the group by joining Ikaris in his attempt to stop the emergence but they failed to do so. After the battle, she was turned into a human by Sersi.
Now, you might be wondering if she was an Eternal why couldn’t she go up against Thanos? Well, the answer is very simple, she just can not.
Before you come at us, let us give you some reasons. Okay, first things first, we do know that Sprite was the illusionist of the group; meaning she was able to cast life-like illusions and even create duplicates of herself and anybody around her, which surely would confuse the enemy but not really defeat them.
Surely it could buy her some time to plan the next move; create another illusion, but think about it, would the mightiest villain of the universe fall for such tricks? We highly doubt that.
It would have been understandable for any normal foe to fall for her traps, but Thanos is no ordinary foe and mind games certainly don’t work on him.
Hence, Sprite with her abilities can definitely buy some time for her teammates to launch an attack on the enemy, but if she were to go up against Thanos alone, she won’t last very long.
Who would win, the Eternals or Thanos?
So now that we have discussed both their powers, we can get back to the main topic: who would win?
Well, Thanos was an Eternal himself he too had the powers and abilities like the rest of the Eternals. With superhuman abilities like enhanced strength, power, and extraordinary fighting skills, they both were on a par level with each other.
The Eternals were a group but Thanos was a one-man army and although he was like them, he was a bit different due to the Celestial’s gene.
So, if we were to draw a conclusion among them we must first consider some situations since they had almost the same abilities being the Eternals.
First, let us consider the part when he is with his Infinity Gauntlet. Considered to be his strongest weapon, with Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos could definitely take down all the Eternals in a single snap except Kronos, who is believed to be the only Eternal stronger than Thanos.
The Infinity Gauntlet was not his strongest weapon for nothing as it highly amplified Thanos’s powers to the next level. If the Eternals were to go up against this state, they would barely stand a chance against him, even their combined effort wouldn’t be able to hold a candle against him.
Now let us take a look at how things could be different if Thanos left his Infinity Gauntlet at home. Well, it would not really make any noticeable difference.
Thanos is already very strong and being just second to the strongest Eternal, he has massive power and strength. Probably without the Infinity Gauntlet, The Eternals could very much land a scratch on him but defeating him won’t be a walk in the park.
Even without the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos is a strong and experienced warrior and his powers are far superior to the Eternals.
So, even if the Eternal were to go at him all at once, they wouldn’t really stand much longer in front of the Mad Titan.
Hence, it is clear that although the Eternals were the strongest entities created directly by the God-like Celestials themselves, Thanos would still be able to defeat them as he was much stronger and more powerful than them; with or without his Infinity Gauntlet.
Due to the Celestial gene, Thanos is more powerful than practically every other Eternal, save for Kronos. And while they might do some damage in larger numbers, Thanos could deal with each of them individually, and with all of them if he were to have the Infinity Gauntlet on him
However, fans believe that Kronos would be able to defeat him if he didn’t have the Infinity Gauntlet and with the Gauntlet even it would be hard for Kronos to defeat Thanos, which meant the ETeranls stood no chance at all.
