Infinity Gems

Gallery

Official Name

Infinity Gems

Aliases

The Stones, Ina Abanayyartu^[1]

Origin

Universe

Earth-616

Owners

Current Owner

See "Gem Protectors" in article

First appearance

Marvel Premiere #1
(April, 1972)

History

Before being called the Infinity Gems, they were called Soul Gems. The first soul gems was the one which first appeared on the forehead of Adam Warlock which was given to him by the High Evolutionary.

Thanos was the first to use the six soul gems in unison. He intended to destroy the universe by using the soul gems to destroy the stars but he was stopped by the Avengers, Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel.

The Elders of the Universe was the second to use the gems in unison. Connecting the six soul gems to a device, they were able to use its beams to absorb the life energy of Galactus and transfer it to a barren planet, giving it life. However, the Silver Surfer interfered and destroyed the machine, and the gems were lost in a black hole.

After Thanos' resurrection, he began collecting all the soul gems (now Infinity Gems). There it was revealed that the Infinity Gems are the remnants of one of the earliest beings from the time of the universe's creation. Feeling lonely, it split itself into six different fragments. Under unknown reasons each individual gem became associated with a particular facet– power, space, time, mind, soul and reality.

The Infinity Gems were kept by the In-Betweener and by members of the Elders of the Universe. The mad Titan Thanos gathered these gems into the Infinity Gauntlet.

Green Infinity Gem - Soul Gem - taken from the In-Betweener

Red Infinity Gem - Power Gem - taken from the Champion

Orange Infinity Gem - Time Gem - taken from the Gardener

Yellow Infinity Gem - Reality Gem - taken from the Collector

Purple Infinity Gem - Space Gem - taken from the Runner

Blue Infinity Gem - Mind Gem - taken from the Grandmaster

During the Infinity Gauntlet saga, Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to remove from existence half of the population of the universe in order to gain Death's love. However, in the end, Thanos was defeated when Adam Warlock was able to gain possession of the Infinity Gauntlet.

However, Adam Warlock was brought before the Living Tribunal because of the danger posed by the Infinity Gauntlet in his hand. After being shown that Adam Warlock is too mentally unpredictable, he was required to surrender it. Since it was too dangerous for it to be possessed by anyone, the Living Tribunal decreed that it cannot be used together again. Warlock then formed the Infinity Watch.

During the Infinity War, Magus tricked the Galactus in helping Eternity (Earth-616) to agree to the activation of the Infinity Gauntlet. Magus defeated the heroes using the activated Infinity Gauntlet. Still Adam was able to defeat the Magus when it was revealed that the Reality Gem is a fake and Adam, taking advantage of this distraction, was able to trap the Magus in his Soul Gem.

When the gems were transported into the Ultraverse along with several heroes and villains, Adam Warlock pursued them. In that universe, another gem, the Ego gem, was found. It claimed that it was the original being and was now ready to reclaim itself. The gems gestalted as Nemesis, but were defeated by the Avengers and Ultraforce (alongside several alternate reality versions of the same teams). With its defeat, the Ego Gem was apparently destroyed.

The gems were found to be back in the universe by Galactus. Warlock regained his Soul Gem and Champion, the Power Gem. The Power Gem later fell into the hands of Titania and She-Hulk.

She-Hulk turned the Power Gem over to Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards). The Illuminati gathered the gems so they could not be used to attack Earth. Once the gems were all brought together in the Infinity Gauntlet, Reed tried to will them out of existence, but failed. Uatu the Watcher then appeared to the Illuminati and expressed his disappointment in Reed and the Illuminati. The Illuminati then divided the gems amongst themselves. Iron Man received the Reality, Prof. Xavier the Mind, Namor the Time, Black Bolt the Space, Dr. Strange the Soul and Reed Richards the Power gems. Due to the events following the gathering of the Gems, the Illuminati disbanded for a time.^[1]

After The Hood stole three of the Gems, and while looking for the fourth one, the Illuminati gathered once more and, with the Avengers' help, stopped him. After recovering once more the six Infinity Gems, they once more divided the Gems among themselves (this time, Namor received the Power; Mister Fantastic, the Reality; Professor Xavier, the Mind; Captain America, the Time; Iron Man, the Space; and Dr. Strange, the Soul gems) and disbanded once more.^[2]

The group assembled after Black Panther discovered that another Earth was colliding with Earth-616. Reluctantly he called the Illuminati together to stop the collision.^[3] After long debate they decided that the only way to do so was to destroy the other Earth with the Infinity Gems, but had to find the Mind Gem that was in the possession of Charles Xavier before he died.^[4] Beast eventually recovered a memory implant put in his mind by Xavier, which asked him to take his place in the Illuminati, and where the gem was. As soon as Hank retrieved it, Namor, Black Bolt, and Captain America showed up and recruited him into their team.

They went to the location where the other Earth would hit and formed the Infinity Gauntlet, which got the attention of Uatu the Watcher, Galactus, and Thanos. The group decided Captain America should wield it. Cap fired the power at the other Earth, but something went wrong and caused all the Infinity Gems to shatter except the Time Gem, which suddenly vanishes.^[5]

Capabilities

The gems seem to be much stronger and more powerful when used in combination. Wielders of the gem have increased powers depending on their skill and the amount of experience they have with the gems. The gems are also sentient. Its power is known to exceed that of abstract entities like Eternity, it seems that the only being more powerful than the Gems is the Living Tribunal.

• Power Gem – Increased strength and durability, enhances virtually any known superhuman ability, energy manipulation.
• Time Gem – Time travel; stop, slow down or speed up flow of time; accelerate or slow down aging; see into past/future.
• Space Gem – Travel through space, mostly through teleportation. Able to interfere with the motion of other objects.
• Soul Gem – Observe, attack or even steal a being's soul or spirit. Also used to revert individuals to their natural state.
• Reality Gem – Alters all of reality; similar to the effects of a Cosmic Cube, but much, much higher.
• Mind Gem – Near-limitless psionic/psychic abilities including empathy, telepathy and telekinesis.
  

Gem Protectors

The gems are now in the protection of the Illuminati. Each member has taken a gem and hidden it from the others.

• Power Gem – Namor.
• Space Gem – Iron Man.
• Soul Gem – Dr. Strange.
• Reality Gem – Mr. Fantastic.
• Time Gem – Captain America.
• Mind Gem – Professor Xavier.
  

Notes

• No special notes.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.

See Also

• 49 Appearances of Infinity Gems
• 6 Images featuring Infinity Gems
• Item Gallery: Infinity Gems
• Fan-Art Gallery: Infinity Gems

Links and References

• None.