Gamora

Warrior Assassin

Gamora was a little girl when Thanos and his army invaded her home world, wiping out half the population. Gamora was separated from her mother in the attack, but Thanos himself took a liking to the young girl, giving her a blade as a present and shielding her from seeing the massacre of her people. Taking her in as his adoptive daughter, Thanos would go on to turn her into a living weapon with cybernetic enhancements. As she grew up, Thanos would force Gamora and her adoptive sister Nebula to fight one another, but referred to Gamora—who won every fight—as his favorite daughter.

Gamora served under Thanos for 20 years, until he agreed to destroy home-world planet of the Xandarians for Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Empire, in exchange for a valuable Orb that contained an Infinity Stone. Thanos loaned the services of Gamora and Nebula to Ronan to aid him in the task. Realizing the mass casualties that would result should Ronan or Thanos gain control of the Orb, Gamora decided to betray them, accepting a high-priced offer from the Collector to retrieve the Orb for him.

She discovered that Peter Quill, a Ravager calling himself Star-Lord, had stolen the Orb and intended to sell it on Xandar. Gamora intervened, only to be captured by Xandar's armed forces, the Nova Corps, and sent to prison alongside Quill and the duo Rocket and Groot, who had been seeking a bounty on Quill's head. In prison, they met Drax, with all five outlaws forming an unlikely bond after they escaped together, and Gamora forging a new path as a hero.

Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy

Gamora is a master assassin, combatant, and swordswoman trained as a living weapon under Thanos which gives her the reputation as the “Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy.”

Her alien physiology and surgical modifications give her superhuman strength and agility and she is able to lift others with ease and leap at incredible heights. Her enhancements include a cybernetic skeleton, ocular and respiratory implants, an improved neurological system and regeneration implant. These augmentations give her augmented durability, vision, and stamina.

Her favored weapon is a retractable sword, but she is also known to use a retractable bejeweled knife that she was gifted by Thanos as a child. When she is without her typical weaponry, she uses whatever is around her, from turning a ship’s gun turret into a handheld weapon, to seizing knives that are trained against her.

No Love For Father

As an instrument of Thanos for many years, his enemies were once hers as well. But, as she works to redeem her life under the Mad Titan, her foes align with those of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the galaxy itself.

When the Kree zealot, Ronan the Accuser, breaks a peace treaty with the Kree and Xandarians and intends to commit genocide on Xandar, Gamora is moved into taking action against both him and Thanos. She works with the Guardians to put a stop to his plans for massacre.

Gamora faces off against The Sovereign and their High Priestess, after they target all the Guardians of the Galaxy because Rocket steals from them. She is also one of the first to learn the true nature and dark intentions of Peter Quill’s father, the Celestial named Ego, and opposes him with the rest of her teammates to save Quill and the universe.

Perhaps Gamora’s most notable enemy is Thanos. Although he is Gamora's adoptive father, his cold and cruel nature—and memories of what he did to her people—ensures Gamora grew up hating him. She also deeply resents what he put her through and forced her to do over the years. A final confrontation with him costs her everything.

An Assassin’s Friends

Gamora fights alongside her fellow outlaws turned Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket, Groot, and later, Mantis, developing true friendships with her teammates over time.

One of her most important relationships is her bond with Peter Quill, who is romantically interested in her. Initially resistant to Quill’s flirtations, Gamora begins to return his feelings over time, eventually telling Quill that she loves him more than anything. They also tend to act as surrogate parents to the young Groot.

Yondu Udontu straddles the ally and enemy roles depending on his mood, but ultimately sides with the Guardians to stop Ego, as does another Ravager, Kraglin Obfonteri.

Gamora has a complicated relationship with her adoptive sister, Nebula, as the duo were pushed to the limits of competitiveness by Thanos’ cruelty and manipulation, although Nebula receives much more harsh treatment. While both break free of Thanos, they consider each other enemies for a time, until realizing the bond they truly share. Gamora genuinely cares for her, as it is Nebula’s torment that breaks Gamora’s resolve when Thanos questions her about the Soul Stone.

An Outlaw’s Record

After being locked up in the Kyln, Gamora overcame the murderous intentions of the guards and prisoners alike, convincing vengeful fellow prisoner Drax that she was working against Ronan and Thanos, who were responsible for his family’s death. Agreeing to Quill and Rocket’s offer to split the profits from selling the Orb, they managed to escape—retrieving the Orb in the process —along with Groot and Drax.

Gamora set up a meeting with her buyer on Knowhere, resisting Quill’s attempt to kiss her along the way, while admitting she enjoyed the Earth music he played her. During their meeting with the buyer, Taneleer Tivan, the Collector, they learned the Orb held the Power Stone, one of the fabled Infinity Stones. The intervention of the Collector’s slave, Carina, stopped the sale when she grasped the Power Stone, setting off a large explosion.

When the Ravager Yondu and Ronan simultaneously arrived, both separately seeking the Orb, Nebula—still working with Ronan—shot down Gamora’s craft, sending her into space. Gamora’s body modifications kept her alive long enough for Quill to save her, with Quill risking his own life in the process. Taken onboard Yondu’s ship, a deal was made for them to work together to stop Ronan from gaining the Orb, as long as Yondu was given the Orb when it was done.

Having infiltrated Ronan’s ship with her allies, Gamora tried to convince Nebula to help them against Ronan, but her sister refused, escaping on her own. On Xandar, Ronan was going to annihilate the populace, but Quill managed to get ahold of the Power Stone. Its power was such that he was unable to wield it himself, but at Gamora’s suggestion, the newly formed Guardians of the Galaxy held hands, allowing them to harness the stone’s power together and defeat Ronan. While Gamora was upset when Quill gave the Orb back to Yondu, it turned out to be a ruse, with the stone itself given to the Nova Corps for protection.

Not long after, the Guardians took a job for the Sovereign. In return for their services, they received Nebula, who the Sovereign had detained, as payment. Pursued shortly after by the Sovereign themselves, due to Rocket stealing priceless batteries from them, the team were saved by Ego, Quill’s biological father.

Gamora initially encouraged a skeptical Quill to give his father a chance, while Thanos’ empathetic servant, Mantis, embarrassingly publicly revealed that Quill felt love for Gamora. Attacked on Ego’s planet by Nebula, who had escaped the Guardians, Gamora ended up saving her sister’s life when her ship crashed. Beginning to work through their differences, the sisters were interrupted by their discovery of a massive pile of skeletons left by Ego—learning from Mantis that he had killed his many other children when he discovered they did not possesses the Celestial power he desired in order to complete his expansion plan to take over the universe.

The Guardians, aided by Mantis, Nebula, Yondu, and the Ravager Kraglin, fought against Ego, ultimately defeating him, though at the loss of Yondu’s life. Nebula declined Gamora’s offer to stay with the Guardians, instead leaving to find and kill Thanos, although she accepted and returned Gamora’s farewell embrace.

Years later, the Guardians received a distress call, discovering the Asgardian Thor amongst the wreckage of a ship. Thor informed the Guardians that Thanos now had acquired two of the six Infinity Stones. Afraid, Gamora warned them that if Thanos got ahold of all six stones, he would be able to destroy the universe with a snap of his fingers. Gamora, Quill, Drax and Mantis traveled to Knowhere to attempt to stop Thanos from getting the Reality Stone from the Collector. During their journey, Gamora made Quill promise to kill her should Thanos get ahold of her, saying she had information which he could use to destroy the entire universe.

On Knowhere, seemingly finding him before he had the Reality Stone, Gamora fatally stabbed Thanos. When he fell to the ground, asking her why she had done it, she broke down in tears. Thanos revealed he already had the Reality Stone and his “death” was a ruse, noting her reaction had proven she still cared for him. Thanos grabbed Gamora and while Peter initially resisted her pleas to shoot him, he finally went through with his promise to her, wanting to give her agency. However, Thanos used the Reality Stone to turn his blast into mere bubbles, as he teleported away with Gamora.

On his ship, Thanos showed Gamora that he had captured Nebula when she had attempted to kill him. He tortured her in front of Gamora, until Gamora revealed the information she had kept from him—that she knew that the Soul Stone was located on the planet Vormir.

Thanos and Gamora arrived on Vormir to find the Red Skull, now serving as a guide to the Soul Stone. He informed them that Thanos would have to sacrifice someone he loved to possess the stone. Believing this to be Thanos’ undoing, Gamora told Thanos she was thankful she could see the moment when the universe laughed in his face, since he loved no one. When Thanos turned to her with tears in his eyes, Gamora refused to believe what he felt for her was love. However, her own expression changed to one of dread, as he grabbed her by the arm, throwing her off a cliff to her doom. After he killed Gamora, Thanos was indeed granted the Soul Stone.

Later, when Thanos gathered all six Infinity Stones, he snapped his fingers and ended half the life in the universe, just as Gamora had feared he would. In the moment he did so, he briefly found himself seeing a vision of the young Gamora he first encountered years before on her planet. She asked him if he succeeded, and when he said he had, she asked what it had cost him. He told the little girl it had cost him everything.

Out Of Time

The Avengers who survived Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet snap worked together on a plan to acquire the Infinity Stones from various points in the past to bring everyone back, though that would not have included Gamora who perished beforehand. Nebula and War Machine traveled to the past to snatch the Power Stone on Morag and succeeded along with the others. However, Nebula discovered that she was sharing a network with her past self, thus feeding information to the Thanos of that era.

The Gamora of the past appeared concerned about Thanos' quest to find the Stones, but kept her thoughts secret. After capturing future Nebula, past Nebula took her place and returned to the present allowing Thanos' ship to fly through the time platform to the future. Once there, Gamora freed Nebula and the two agreed to stop Thanos. Shortly after making Earthfall, they encountered past Nebula who had retrieved the Infinity Gauntlet. Gamora watched as the Nebula of this home era killed her past self.

During the battle, Gamora met Star-Lord who confused her with the one he already knew. When he tried touching her, she knocked him to the ground. From there, she joined the larger fight, working with the other heroes—who had returned via magic portals—to get the Gauntlet where it needed to go. Ultimately, Iron Man used the Stones to snap Thanos and his attackers away. It remains unknown what that move meant for the Gamora of the past, though Quill left Earth still searching for her.