Thanos' adopted daughter is the highlight of almost every Guardians of the Galaxy story
she appears in, but if you only know Gamora from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you're
missing out.
She's much more than a world-class assassin.
She's also a time traveler, a mother, a fashion icon, and a lover... and she's wielded one
of the most powerful weapons ever made.
Gamora's comic backstory is full of twists and turns that are crazy in all the best ways.
There's a reason Gamora is called "the most dangerous woman in the universe."
Let's take a look at some of the story elements you might not know about Marvel's green superheroine.
Unfortunate origin
In the MCU, Gamora's origin is pretty straightforward.
Her planet was wiped out by Thanos, who rescued her and raised her to be a warrior.
She eventually turned on Thanos, teamed up with Star-Lord, Rocket, Drax, and Groot, and
the rest is history.
In the comics, Gamora first appeared in Strange Tales #180, but we don't learn her history
until Warlock #10.
As the story goes, Thanos correctly predicted that the villainous Magus, a time-warped version
of hero Adam Warlock and leader of the tyrannical Universal Church of Truth, threatened his
plans for galactic domination.
So, Thanos needed a weapon he could use to stop Magus before he grew too powerful.
He found one, in the future.
Years after Warlock #10 takes place, Magus' soldiers killed Gamora's kinsfolk, the pacifist
Zen Whoberis as part of their crusade.
Thanos, however, managed to rescue Gamora at the last minute, took her to the present,
and trained her to stop Magus once and for all.
Her assassination attempt fails, and Gamora flat-out perishes after turning on Thanos,
but she still helps Adam Warlock beat Magus and the Church anyway.
Unseen action
Like her origin story, Gamora's earliest days are pretty confusing.
After two appearances in Strange Tales, her story moves into the Warlock standalone series.
Then, the struggle between Thanos, Adam, and Gamora concludes in Avengers Annual #7 and
Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2.
As a result of all of this ping-ponging between different books, there's one big hole: while
Gamora eventually learns about Thanos' true nature and betrays him, we never actually
see the whole story.
In Warlock #15, Gamora is tasked by Thanos to hunt down Adam Warlock, but is attacked
en route by Drax… but then the series ends.
Next we see her, she's been left for dead by Thanos himself.
So, what happened?
Seeing Gamora betray her surrogate father should've been a real big moment, but it was
reduced to three flashback panels.
According to author Jim Starlin, Warlock was ultimately cancelled due to poor sales, so
he had limited pages to wrap the story up, which meant supporting characters like Gamora
got the short end of the stick, leaving her epic family drama as a footnote.
Nine lives
Gamora might be good at taking lives, but that doesn't mean she hasn't lost her own
a time or two.
When she was a kid, she snuck out against Thanos' wishes on the planet Tartoonla #7
and got attacked and slaughtered a by a roving street gang.
Thanos had to rebuild her from artificial parts, and she lost her tear ducts in the
deal.
We also see Gamora die in Avengers Annual #7, and while her body perishes, her soul
is saved by Adam Warlock, but her spirit, along with Warlock's and Pip the Troll's,
ended up safely ensconced inside the Soul Gem, one of the Infinity Stones.
She returns to life in Infinity Gauntlet #1, published about 14 years later, but there's
a catch: her soul is put into the corpse of a woman named Bambi Long.
Even when Gamora is alive, she's still technically not.
When Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet to end half of the life in the universe, Gamora
bites it again, although Nebula resurrects her and everyone else.
In other words, Gamora might be one of the strongest heroes in the universe, but her
life tends to come and go.
Gem carrier
So far, Marvel's movies have been all about the Infinity Stones, six brightly colored
and infinitely powerful rocks that act as the MacGuffins for the entire MCU.
The Red Skull used one to fuel his superweapons.
Loki's scepter held the Mind Stone, which later ended up bringing the Vision to life.
The Reality Stone pops up in Thor: The Dark World, the Time Stone plays a crucial role
in Doctor Strange, and the Power Stone is the thing that drives the action in Guardians
of the Galaxy.
The Infinity Gems have comic book counterparts, of course, although on the printed page they're
better known as the Soul or Infinity Gems.
They've been around since 1972, and they play a big role in Infinity Gauntlet, which is
a foundation for Avengers: Infinity War.
It's not just Thanos that's wielded the gems, however.
After Infinity Gauntlet, Adam Warlock took control of the Infinity Gems, but higher powers
than him decided that it was too much power for one person to handle, and distributed
the gems among some of Marvel's cosmic heroes, including Gamora.
As part of the superteam known as Infinity Watch, Gamora was entrusted with guarding
the Time Gem.
Now, Gamora didn't actually know how to use the Time Gem, although she'd occasionally
get prophetic visions thanks to the gem's influence, and she eventually gave up her
duties and left the Watch.
The gems were stolen and Infinity Watch disbanded shortly thereafter.
Mommy dearest
By now, you might've noticed that Adam Warlock plays a big part in Gamora's pre-Guardians
life.
Given the laws of comic book relationships, that means that they'll inevitably hook up.
Warlock and Gamora didn't just become a couple, however, they actually have a child together,
albeit an adopted one.
In Infinity Abyss, Jim Starlin's 2002 entry in his long-running "Infinity Saga," five
clones of Thanos called the Thanosi set out to kill Thanos and destroy the universe.
Naturally, Warlock, Gamora, and their friends try to stop them.
The key to the Thanosi's scheme is an all-powerful being called Atlez, the "anchor of reality"
since the days of the Roman Empire.
When Atlez realizes his time is running out, he realizes he needs to pass on his knowledge
to a human girl named Atleza, who was born for this purpose.
There's just one problem: Atleza is still a little girl.
Gamora and her buddies end up defeating the Thanosi, but Atleza, who's kinda overwhelmed
with her newfound cosmic powers, needs training.
As such, Gamora and Warlock retire to a pocket dimension to teach her the ways of the universe
while also serving as her foster parents.
It's one of the weirdest families imaginable, but for Warlock and Gamora, weird is an everyday
thing.
With the two of them at her side, Atleza should be just fine.
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