10 Most Important Infinity Stone Moments (That Explain Their Entire History)

Of all the powerful items in the Marvel Universe, the most dangerous has always been the Infinity Stones. These items are often gathered and used by Thanos in one of his many attempts to end all life in the universe. While the stones are well known in the Marvel Universe, their actual history isn’t as well known among comic readers.

The stones have been around for a long time and have gone through a lot of changes. Originally called the Infinity Gems or the Soul Gems, they were eventually changed into the Infinity Stones, and the way they worked was changed as well. Marvel also expanded their lore, adding more stones than the original six. This has led to their history being just a bit confusing, but these are the biggest events that defined the history and legacy of the Infinity Stones.

10 Thanos Was The First To Gather The Infinity Stones

Avengers Annual #7 by Jim Starlin, Josef Rubinstein, Petra Golderb, and Tom Orzechowski

The first time anyone gathered the Infinity Stones together was way back in Avengers Annual #7, and it was, unsurprisingly, Thanos who decided to gather them. This was yet another attempt by Thanos to bring about the end of all life in the universe. But his attempt to do so was a bit crude. Instead of using unyielding power to kill everyone in the universe, Thanos simply tried to focus the gems through a weapon to destroy all the stars in the universe. He then figured that without light or heat, people would eventually die naturally.

It was a fine, if convoluted, plan, but thankfully, Thanos was defeated. This would be the very first time that the Infinity Stones are used for evil purposes, but it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Thanos would soon learn the stone’s true purpose and return even stronger.

9 Thanos Next Used The Stones in His Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet #1 by Jim Starlin, George Perez, Josef Rubinstein, Tom Christopher, Max Scheele, Ian Laughlin, and Jack Morelli

One of the most famous things Thanos ever did was find the Infinity Gauntlet and use it along with the Infinity Stones to end half the life in the universe. It was a major moment and one of the most famous comic book stories ever told. After Thanos was killed and resurrected by Death, he realized the true purpose and nature of the Infinity Stones. With the new goal of wanting to impress Death, he gathered the Infinity Stones once more and used them along with the Infinity Gauntlet to cause genocide on a universal scale.

This moment would become nearly synonymous with Thanos and most interpretations of the character call back to this Infinity Gauntlet storyline, with the most recent being the last two Avengers movies in the MCU. But surprisingly, Thanos wouldn’t be the most dangerous person to have them.

8 Adam Warlock & The Living Tribunal Assemble Infinity Watch

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #1 by Jim Starlin, Angel Medina, Terry Austin, Ian Laughlin, and Jack Morelli

After the disaster of Thanos trying to end the universe with the Infinity Stones, twice, Adam Warlock was summoned by the Living Tribunal and told that the Infinity Gauntlet was simply too powerful to be used. As Thanos had previously used it to nearly kill everyone, and Adam Warlock wasn’t exactly the most sane person either. Adam Warlock then surrendered the Infinity Gauntlet and formed the Infinity Watch, a group dedicated to keeping an eye on the Infinity Stones.

Unfortunately, this didn’t work out perfectly, as Adam Warlock’s evil persona, Magus, took over and manipulated Galactus into reactivating the Infinity Gauntlet. This almost led to another universal disaster before Adam was able to defeat his evil persona. This battle left Adam in a comatose state, and opened the door for Rune to try and steal the gems next.

7 The Next Person To Use The Stones Would Be Galactus

Thanos #4 by Jim Starlin, Al Milgrom, Christie Scheele, Heroic Age, and Dave Sharpe

There would be a few people who got the stones before Galactus, such as the vampire Rune and Adam Warlock’s evil alter ego Magus. During Infinity War, Magus tricked Galactus into causing the Infinity Gauntlet to reactivate. This event would cause Galactus to turn his attention to the Infinity Stones, as he tried to figure out a way to use them to end his permanent hunger. Part of the role of Galactus was his unending hunger that could only be cured by devouring planets.

Wanting to free himself of this, Galactus tried to use the Infinity Stones to cure him, but he accidentally unleashed a monster known as Hunger, a universal-scale parasite that feeds on universes. Hunger had been manipulating Galactus all along and very nearly destroyed the 616 Universe, but Thanos managed to intervene and prevent Hunger from entering the Universe.

6 Marvel Would Then Reveal The Existence Of The Ego Stone

Silver Surfer #45 by Jim Starlin, Ron Lim, Tom Christopher, Ken Bruzenak, and Tom Vincent

While everyone thought there were only six Infinity Stones, there was actually a hidden seventh stone, which Thanos would learn from the demon Mephisto. It turns out that the stones were originally part of a being known as Nemesis, who was the first being in the universe. Completely alone due to there being literally nothing else in existence. Trying to create something else to live with, Nemesis created demons, but since Nemesis had no concept of good or evil, neither did the demons, who chose evil.

Disappointed in her creations, Nemesis split her own being into the Infinity Stones, with the seventh stone, which was in the Ultraverse, known as the Ego Stone, which contained Nemesis’s own consciousness. The Avengers eventually destroy the Ego Stone, and Thanos never got to make use of this hidden stone.

5 Captain America Used The Stones To Move A Universe

New Avengers #3 by Jonathan Hickman, Steve Epting, Frank D’Armata, and Joe Caramagna

When the Multiverse began collapsing, there were things called incursions that would happen. This was when two universes began to physically collide with one another, either destroying both universes or having one universe replace the other. When the 616 universe was in danger of one of these incursions, unwilling to destroy the other universe, Captain America took the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones.

He was able to use them then to physically push the approaching universe back. This was nearly an ideal solution, as it saved both universes, at least temporarily. Unfortunately, it had the major drawback of completely obliterating most of the Infinity Stones, with every stone except the Time Stone shattering. This was the first time in the Marvel Universe that the stones would be physically destroyed. But they wouldn’t stay gone forever.

4 The Next Person To Gather The Stones Would End Thanos

Infinity Wars Prime #1 by Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr, Frank Martin Jr, and Cory Petit

Infinity Wars was a major event in 2018, one of the biggest for Marvel that year, which was made to coincide with the release of the Avengers movie of the same name. The most shocking part of this event was in the very first issue, where Thanos is immediately killed off. Most people would assume the primary character of an infinity event would be the Mad Titan. But it ends up being his daughter, Gamora, and Loki. Gamora manages to steal the Infinity Stones from the rest of the Avengers and seals them away inside Warp-World, a bizarre pocket dimension inside the Soul Gem.

Unbeknownst to Gamora though, was the fact that Warp-World also contained its own versions of the Infinity Stones, and Loki was able to assemble them and escape Warp-World with them. This would lead to a conflict between the two, which Loki ultimately wins.

3 Marvel Reveals The Origin Of The Infinity Stones

Infinity Wars #5 by Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr, Frank Martin Jr, and Cory Petit

After the Infinity stones were recreated from their prior origin as the Infinity Gems, they needed a new explanation. After all, if the Infinity Gems came about because Nemesis split herself into several different aspects, what are these new Infinity Stones and where did they come from? Marvel had the answer as they revealed these new stones were placed by the Celestials. There are two groups of Celestials, those who create and those who destroy, but the ones who destroy can not do so directly, they can only supply the means to do so.

This results in the Celestials “tossing stones” into the universes with the hope that certain beings, like Thanos, will eventually discover said stones and use them to destroy the universe. It’s a remarkably dark explanation, but it also perfectly shows why the Infinity Stones are so often used to obliterate instead of create because, at the end of the day, they’re being used exactly as they were created for.

2 The Infinity Stones Are Given Sentience

Infinity Wars #5 by Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr, Frank Martin Jr, and Cory Petit

One of the biggest changes to the Infinity Stones lore was the fact that they were granted sentience by Adam Warlock. They were no longer just objects of pure destruction that could be used by anyone. They could now actively choose their own hosts. This meant there wouldn’t be any point in fighting brutal wars over gathering and using them anymore, as they had to actively choose to bond with someone. It was a brilliant choice that permanently ended the threat of the Infinity Stones.

After they were granted sentience, they left Earth and searched for people to bond with. The Time Stone went to Hector Bautista, the Reality Stone merged with Riley Ryan, the Power Stone ended up with Otherone, the Space Stone merged with Quantum, and the Soul Stone was bonded to the synthetic man known as Multitude.

1 Marvel Introduced a Final Shocking Stone

Thanos #4 by Christopher Cantwell, Luca Pizzari, German Peralta, Ruth Redmond, and Cory Petit

The Death Stone is the latest and most dangerous of the Infinity Stones. This stone was created after Thanos was once again rejected by Death, and he managed to subdue and trap her inside an Infinity Stone in response. While Thanos was able to trap Death and create the Death Stone, he was unable to wield it. Which is great news for every living being in the universe.

The Death Stone would, presumably, allow the user control over life and death. The stone hasn’t really been seen in action so far though, with the only major thing of note that it did was reviving the dead Phil Coulsin after it landed in a cemetery. While the full power of the Death Stone has yet to be shown off, readers can be sure that it will likely pop up again. While Thanos hasn’t managed to unlock it’s power just yet, he definitely created it for a reason.