Who Is Gamora: Thanos’ Daughter Who Transformed To Protect The Galaxy

Thanks to James Gunn’s work with Guardians of the Galaxy and the Infinity Saga, we know who is Gamora, Thanos’ adopted daughter. She is a rather lethal warrior with superhuman physical abilities feared throughout the universe. Not only because of her father’s fame but because of the reputation she made for herself as time passed and she fulfilled the missions her father entrusted her with.

If you saw the movie, one thing must be made clear, the character shown in the film is somewhat different from the one portrayed in the comics. Not only because of how she met Thanos but how her story unfolds and what bonds she develops. In fact, she plays the role of both heroine and villain in the comics, facing off against the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, and other heroes.

This character will soon be seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, the saga’s latest installment. Despite being a different version of the character, considering the events that occurred in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. Now we will see her begin her relationship with the team again, and perhaps the director will rekindle her romantic relationship with Star-Lord.

Character’s Origins

Image: Marvel Comics

The character began to appear in 1975 in the comic Strange Tales # 180. In it, Gamora was shown as the daughter of Thanos, although their meeting was different from those in the movies. However, in the Avengers: Infinity Wars movies, they showed how Thanos invaded Gamora’s world and eliminated 50% of the population.

In the comic, it is different as Gamora’s species, the Zen Whoberi, were wiped out by the Badoons. They were a group belonging to the Universal Church of Truth. In this story, Thanos finds Gamora, the only survivor of the race. The villain trains her from an early age to become a warrior, promising that he will help her take revenge on the group that eliminated her family and race.

Thanos begins her training, but he plans to use her as a weapon. He wants her to eliminate Magus, an older, temporary version of Adam Warlock. The villain used her in several assassination missions, and in one of these, Gamora disobeyed him and confronted some criminals. Being outnumbered, she was defeated, raped, and left half dead on the spot.

Thanos found her in that state of gravity and helped her with his healing powers. To heal her completely, he replaced some parts of her body with biomechanical elements, which gave her superhuman strength and agility.

Gamora as an Adult

Image: Mavel Comics

As an adult, she would get her revenge by attacking the group involved in the genocide of her race. Gamora eliminated almost all the members of the Universal Church of Truth. Thus she was feared by the remaining members of this group. She later encountered Adam Warlock, who was looking for Magus to stop him.

They ally to stop Magus, and Gamora successfully infiltrates his group. Although she fails to eliminate him, she succeeds in escaping Thanos and Adam Warlock from Magus’ agents of death and the remaining dark knights of the Universal Church of Truth.

Upon his successful escape, Thanos entrusts Warlock’s safety to Gamora. However, Gamora has suspicions about her adoptive father’s intentions due to an encounter with Drax the Destroyer.

Image: Marvel Comics

After many confrontations, Gamora and Adam Warlock eliminate Magus, but Thanos reveals his true intentions. So Gamora joins forces with The Avengers, Drax, and Captain Mar-Vell to defeat Thanos. However, he leaves her badly injured, and when Warlock finds her, she warns him that Thanos wants to destroy all life in the universe.

Seeing that Gamora is about to die, Adam Warlock encapsulates her soul in the Soul Gem. Later his soul is absorbed by this object when he dies at the hands of Thanos. Thus both were united in the world of souls.

In the gem was the Soul World, where the spirits of Adam Warlock, Gamora, and an ally of these, Pip the Troll, dwelled for a time. They enjoyed the peace that this alternative world offered. He also met Silver Surfer once when he traveled to this dimension.

Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet

Image: Marvel Comics

It should be noted that this did not last because Thanos seized the gems, forming the Infinity Gauntlet. With this threat, Warlock decides it is time to stop the titan once and for all. They return to the earthly world using the bodies of people who had died then.

However, Gamora’s existence did not last long because she was erased from existence when her adoptive father used the power of the gems. However, she would return when her sister Nebula took the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos and returned everything to normal.

After this, Adam Warlock took the Infinity Gauntlet, although the immense power of this object took control of the superhuman’s mind. The Living Tribunal stopped this, and they subsequently divided the gems, and it was given to a guardian forming the Infinity Gauntlet. Gamora was left with the time gem, which allowed her to have sporadic suspicions, although she could never master its full power. 

Gamora abandoned this guardian group and went to work as a mercenary. This led him to meet again with Adam Warlock, who formalized a relationship and started a family.

Gamora Leading The Graces Group

Image: Marvel Comics

After these events, Gamora appears in the pages of Ronan’s comic book. In this installment, she has already separated from Adam Warlock and is located on Godthab Omega. Here she leads a group of female warriors with one of the most powerful weapons, the sword called Godslayers.

She dominated this group and declared herself the queen of the place. In fact, she has a throne that is surrounded by skulls. Later she joins a group called United Front, which uses her superhuman abilities to attack the Annihilation Wave. In this part, she has a sexual relationship with the first in command of the group.

Later, the Phalanx invade the Kree world, and Gamora is assimilated with Drax by this group’s hive mind. The team would use them to search for and capture Nova, who had fled the planet. However, they were freed by Nova herself and Technarch Tyro, but it left them in rather complicated situations.

This makes Gamora want to look for another group where she feels the same camaraderie she felt in the hive. This leads her to look for other groups, having contact with the New Guardians of the Galaxy. In this, she is kidnapped by Magus, who has faked her death. She is rescued by Quill or Star-Lord, officially joining this team.

Gamora and the Avengers

Image: Marvel Comics

However, she would temporarily leave the group to go to Earth to help the Avengers. They were fighting with their former stepfather, Thanos. After defeating the titan, she would be haunted by an older version of her in dreams.

She would tell him that a part of her soul had remained in the soul world when it was her spirit absorbed by the soul gem. Because of this, she asks Quill to allow her the power gem, so she can take the soul gem to make her spirit whole again, but he refuses. She would leave the team, saying goodbye to Star-Lord with a kiss.

Subsequently, she disappears. However, Doctor Strange senses that Thanos wants to return for the gems and calls his guardians. The sorcerer was right because the titan was again preparing the Infinity Gauntlet to attack Earth and retrieve the gems. However, a masked character who calls himself Requiem kills him.

Image: Marvel Studios

While that happens, the guardians discuss taking the gems out of the Earth. At that, Requiem attacks, and Star-Lord realizes that the power gem he possesses is missing and that the real one is in Requiem’s sword hilt. Upon verifying this, Rocket shoots him and hits him in the mask, revealing that it is Gamora.

There happens a Flashback, where they show the now villain stealing the power gem and leaving a fake one. It also shows how she captured and subsequently killed some dwarves who made her sword and armor.

She attacks with everything, but Quill manages to calm her down, and she desists from the attack. However, it was all a ruse, as she steals them at the end of how the gems and uses them to gain invincibility, immortality, and various superpowers.

Gamora’s Powers and Abilities

Image: Marvel Comics

She developed incredible strength, combat skills, and weapons handling during Thanos’ training. Due to the characteristics of her race, she can heal her wounds quickly. In addition, when Thanos installs her biomechanical parts, Gamora increases her strength and body abilities.

Her abilities were further enhanced when she returned from the world of souls with Adam Warlock. There she acquires new knowledge in martial arts, becoming the strongest warrior in the world. Later, when she obtains the time gems, she acquires the ability to see the future, but she does not control it.

Gamora’s Appearances

Gamora is a character that appeared on several platforms, such as on television, in animated series, in video games, and on the movie screen.

On Television

Gamora has appeared in several animated series related to Marvel, among which we have:

• Gamora’s first appearance we have it in the Silver Surfer animated series. She appeared in 3 episodes titled Radical Justice, Learning Curve: Part Two, and Antibody.
• In the Ultimate Spider-Man series Gamora appears in several seasons. In the second, she is part of this team in the Guardians of the Galaxy episode. In the third season, she also appears in the episode The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In this, the ship of this group crashes on Earth.
• She also has her appearance in the animation Avengers Assemble. Gamora has a presence in the first season, in the episodes Guardians and Space Knights. She also shows up in the second season in a couple of episodes. One is titled Widow Escapes, and the other is Thanos Victorious.  
• Gamora also appears in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series and is played by actress Vanessa Marshall.

Video Games

Among the most important titles that we see Gamora in action on consoles or other smart devices we have:

• Gamora appears as a character to select in Facebook Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
• She is also an eligible character in Marvel Strike Force.
• The daughter of Thanos can also be chosen in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes and Disney Infinity 3.0.

Gamora in the Movies

Image: Marvel Studios

Gamora is best known for her film appearances, most notably in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. She appeared in the following movies:

• Guardians of the Galaxy: in this saga, she belongs to Thanos’ army and is given to Ronan to help her obtain the power gem. She fights with Quill for this object, although they are arrested, and later forms the group that fights with Ronan, thus forming the Guardians of the Galaxy.
• She also appears in the second part, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and the group must fight against two enemies. The first are the Sovereigns who want revenge because Rocket stole a battery from them. The other enemy is Quill’s father, who wants to assimilate everyone in the universe.
• She appears in The Avengers: Infinity War, where she dies at the hands of Thanos so that he can obtain the soul gem.
• Finally, she appears alongside Thanos in the latest movie of Avengers: End Game, albeit a younger time-traveling version.

 

Marvel Studios introduced this character to the general public thanks to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. However, Gamora has a long history in the comics. Her mythology is pervasive, and she has facets of hero and anti-hero, interacting with many characters in the Marvel universe.

We just saw Gamora in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer. It will be interesting to see how this alternate version of the character evolves. The movie will be released on May 5, 2023. 

Featured Image Via Marvel Comics/Marvel Studios 

      

 

I am a circus aerialist influenced by Dick Grayson and Spider-Man. Fortunate to write about the characters that inspired me. I also have a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a Master's degree in International Trade.