Death (Marvel Comics)

This article is about the personification of death in the Marvel Universe. For the Apocalypse Horseman of Death, see Horsemen of Apocalypse.

Death
Death claims hero Captain Marvel on the cover of the graphic novel The Death of Captain Marvel. (1982). Art by Jim Starlin.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Captain Marvel #27 (Jul 1973)
Created by	Mike Friedrich Jim Starlin
In-story information
Partnerships	Thanos
Notable aliases	Mistress Death
Abilities	Unlimited cosmic power, omnipresence, omniscience,

Death is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain Marvel #27 (Jul. 1973) and was created by Mike Friedrich and Jim Starlin.

Fictional character biography

Death is an abstract entity, the embodiment of the end of life in the Marvel Universe, and the opposite of Eternity, the embodiment of the universe.^[1]

The character appears sporadically throughout the Marvel universe. The entity appears in the title War Is Hell and forces soldier John Kowalski to undergo a number of lives and deaths as punishment for doing nothing to prevent the invasion of Poland,^[2] with Kowalski eventually becoming an aspect of Death;^[3] in the title Ghost Rider posing as "Death Ryder" to test Johnny Blaze^[4] and becoming fascinated with the Titan Thanos.

After killing herself, Phoenix finds herself on a strange construct at the edge of space, alone with a construction worker. Having nowhere else to go, she helps him with the work, suddenly reliving her crimes as Dark Phoenix as a result. Afterwards, she understands that the worker is Death and her experiences help her understand her own role in the cosmic order. She decides to return to life, having learned from her mistakes. Left alone, Death pities her, as there are pieces of the puzzle she isn’t aware of, but she will learn the hard way.^[5]

An elaborate storyline in the title Captain Marvel showcases Thanos' scheme to conquer the universe, as the character becomes determined to prove his love for Death by destroying all life. Although Thanos obtains the artifact the Cosmic Cube and succeeds in taking control of the universe, Death abandons the character when he is defeated by the combined might of Captain Marvel; Drax the Destroyer and the Avengers.^[6] Two Marvel Annuals feature Thanos as he tries to "woo" Death back (courtesy of the Infinity Gems with which he plans to extinguish every star in the galaxy), but the character is killed in a final battle with the Avengers; Captain Marvel and Adam Warlock.^[7] When Captain Marvel is dying from cancer, Thanos returns to the character in a vision and introduces him to the entity Death. Marvel willingly surrenders his life and embraces the entity.^[8]

In Marvel's first limited series, Contest of Champions, Death is coerced into a game of strategy by the Elder of the Universe the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster wins the game and forces Death to resurrect the Collector,^[9] a fellow Elder. The Grandmaster then takes his place in the Realm of the Dead.^[10] In the limited series Secret Wars II the entity the Beyonder takes human form and visits Earth. It decides to "save" mankind, and in doing so destroys Death, but is then shown there is a need for Death and recreates the entity.^[11]

In an Avengers Annual the Grandmaster reveals his sacrifice was a ruse as he is able to steal Death's powers and via another deception tricks the entity into banishing all Elders from the Realm of the Dead, effectively rendering them immortal.^[12] The threads of this storyline continue in the title Silver Surfer, as Death does not forget the manipulation and wipes three Elders - the Astronomer; Possessor and Trader - from existence when they attempt to disrupt the cosmic balance by attempting to kill fellow cosmic entity Galactus.^[13]

The limited series The Thanos Quest reveals that Death perceives an imbalance in the universe and a gradual shift towards life rather than death, the entity resurrects Thanos. Thanos successfully collects the Infinity Gems, and as a now omnipotent being, attempts to converse with Death. The irony is the character is now superior to Death, and as such Death may not speak with him (a fact relayed via one of Death's minions).^[14] The story continues in a consecutive limited series, The Infinity Gauntlet, in which Thanos then wipes half the beings in the universe from existence as proof of his love for Death; the entity remains and watches as he battles Earth's metahumans, but after they are defeated, Death joins the cosmic pantheon in trying to defeat Thanos. Though the cosmic entities are unsuccessful, Thanos eventually loses the Infinity Gems and is defeated.^[15]

The mercenary Deadpool is depicted having a humorous exchange with the entity in a self-titled Annual. Deadpool is shown becoming infatuated with Death after a number of near-death experiences.^[16] During the Funeral for a Freak storyline, Death appears to reciprocate the feeling, and a jealous Thanos prevents Deadpool from dying and joining the entity.^[17] In the second volume of Captain Marvel, Death reunites with Thanos to confront the Death God Walker, who tries unsuccessfully to court Death. Death hides within the body of Marlo Chandler, the girlfriend of Rick Jones, in an attempt to escape Walker. The entity eventually destroys Walker and then leaves the body of Marlo, although Marlo retains a small fraction of Death's power.^[18]

The limited series Avengers: Celestial Quest continues to explore the relationship between Death and Thanos, as the entity reveals to Thanos that their energies merged when he was resurrected, creating an offspring called the Rot. Death and Thanos work together to destroy their offspring, and it is at this time that Death finally addresses Thanos and admits to feeling "love" for him.^[19] The pair also share a kiss in the limited series Marvel: The End, moments before Thanos, possessing the artifact the Heart of the Universe, recreates the universe minus a critical flaw that would have destroyed it.^[20]

During the limited series Annihilation, Thanos joins the fight to stop the Annihilation Wave, and during the war is killed by his old foe Drax the Destroyer. When the hero Nova is near death from injuries sustained in battle, he glimpses Death and Thanos standing together watching him.^[21] The second volume of the Guardians of the Galaxy features a new development: Phyla-Vell, the heroine Quasar, agrees to become the new avatar of Death in exchange for the freedom of lover Heather Douglas.^[22]

In The Thanos Imperative, the Captain Marvel of the Cancerverse, called Lord Mar-Vell, using a ritual to the Many-angled ones that involves sacrificing the Avatar of Death, is able to destroy Death's M-body and remove her from his universe.^{[volume & issue needed]} In the last issue of this six-part mini-series, it is revealed that Thanos, upon coming back to life, has been completely removed from the realm of death and can no longer die. In a twist he appears to accept Lord Mar-Vell's proposal to be a sacrifice so the Many-angled ones can invade the 616 universe; however, this proves a trap set by Death herself in order to get close to Mar-Vell. By destroying him, she kills every living thing in the Cancerverse, initiates its and the Fault's collapse, and even injures the Many-angled ones to such a degree that it will take them eons to heal.^{[volume & issue needed]}

During the Chaos War storyline, Daimon Hellstrom mentions to Hercules that Death has fled their reality upon Amatsu-Mikaboshi triumphing in the realms of the dead, causing the souls of the deceased to be unleashed upon the Earth, and rendering the victims of the siege, whose injuries might otherwise prove fatal, merely locked in a deathless limbo.^[23]

Powers and abilities

As a cosmic concept, Death possesses the power to achieve virtually any effect. Being an abstract entity, Death has no physical body, but usually appears in a female humanoid form, sometimes with a beautiful face or alternately with a bare skull, so it can be perceived by lesser beings. Death resides inside a pocket dimension known as the Realm of Death, which also houses the Infinity Well, containing the knowledge of the universe.^[24] Death is classified as a "possibly multiversal" level threat by Nova Corps, the only being in their files to be described thus.^{[volume & issue needed]}

Other versions

Earth X

In this universe, Death is obliterated by Thanos when he uses the artifact the Ultimate Nullifier to destroy her.^[25]

Other media

Television

Death appears in a few episodes of the Silver Surfer alongside Thanos but has no major roles.^{[clarification needed]}

References

1. ^ Quasar #19 - 25 (Feb. - Aug. 1991)
2. ^ War Is Hell 9 - 15 (Oct. 1974 - Oct. 1975:bi-monthly)
3. ^ Man-Thing vol. 2, #10 - 11 (May & July 1981)
4. ^ Ghost Rider #35 (Apr. 1973)
5. ^ Classic X-Men #43 (January 1990)
6. ^ Captain Marvel #27 - 33 (Jul. - Jan. 1973 - 1974)
7. ^ Avengers Annual #7 + Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 (1977)
8. ^ The Death of Captain Marvel (Apr. 1982)
9. ^ Killed by the entity Korvac in Avengers #175 (Sep. 1978)
10. ^ Contest of Champions # 1 - 3 (Jun - Aug. 1982)
11. ^ Secret Wars II #6 (Dec. 1985)
12. ^ Avengers Annual #16 (1987)
13. ^ Silver Surfer vol. 3, #16 - 17 (Oct. - Nov. 1988)
14. ^ Thanos Quest #1 - 2 (Sep. - Oct. 1990)
15. ^ Infinity Gauntlet #1 - 6 (July - Dec. 1991)
16. ^ Deadpool/Death '98 (1998)
17. ^ Deadpool vol. 2, #61 - 64 (Feb. - May 2002)
18. ^ Captain Marvel vol. 2, #17 - 19 (Feb. - Mar. 2001)
19. ^ Avengers: Celestial Quest #1 - 8 (Sep. 2001 - Apr. 2002)
20. ^ Marvel: The End #1 - 6 (May - Aug. 2003)
21. ^ Annihilation #6 (Mar. 2007): Annihilation #1 - 6 (Oct. 2006 - Mar. 2007)
22. ^ Guardians of the Galaxy #12 (May 2009)
23. ^ Chaos War #2
24. ^ Thanos Quest #1 (1990)
25. ^ Earth X #0-12 (Mar. 1999 - Apr. 2000)

External links

• Death at Marvel.com
• Death at Marvel Directory