Thanos is the central villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga. After his home planet, Titan, was destroyed, he became convinced that the only way to save the galaxy was to eliminate half of all life. He believed this would prevent a future filled with hardship and suffering. To achieve this, Thanos gathered a powerful army and embarked on a quest to collect the Infinity Stones, incredibly powerful objects that would allow him to carry out his plan.
Having the gems gave Thanos incredible power, and he was right to think he could achieve anything. However, the gems had a hidden drawback: Thanos only used them to carry out his plan to eliminate half of all life, and wasn’t interested in exploring the individual power each gem offered. Unlike Ultron, he didn’t revel in the increased abilities. This restraint might be why many consider Thanos a more nuanced and compelling villain than a standard power-hungry one.
In *Avengers: Infinity War*, Thanos achieves his goal of collecting all the Infinity Stones and uses them to eliminate half of all life in the universe with a simple snap. Before doing so, though, he enjoys testing out his newfound power by battling Earth’s heroes. This article ranks each of the Infinity Stones based on how much they boosted Thanos’ abilities.
6) Mind Stone
The Mind Stone stands out among the Infinity Stones because it’s been used to create powerful characters like Scarlet Witch, Ultron, and Vision. Theoretically, its abilities are amazing – it can control minds, create artificial intelligence, unlock hidden psychic powers, and even boost a person’s intelligence. However, the movies haven’t fully showcased the extent of these capabilities.
The Mind Stone often feels underutilized in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After the Avengers acquire it, it mainly seems to just shoot energy blasts, whether used by Vision or Loki. However, Loki demonstrates the stone’s real potential: it can manipulate even the most virtuous people, making them do the user’s bidding. Interestingly, the stone’s power seems limited, as Scarlet Witch is able to destroy it – at least for a time.
Thanos seems to utilize the Mind Stone in a fairly limited way. While crucial for the Snap and destroying the Stones themselves, it mostly functions as a simple component. It’s possible the Stone boosted his intelligence, but that isn’t directly shown. Ultimately, he doesn’t really leverage the Mind Stone’s unique abilities for any clear benefit.
5) Space Stone
The Tesseract, containing the Space Stone, frequently appears on Earth, and organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. want to weaponize it. However, they misunderstand its true potential: the Stone can open doorways to anywhere in the universe. Thanos uses it for fast travel across the galaxy while collecting the other Stones, making it a useful tool but not a significant power boost. It’s mostly a convenience upgrade, although he *does* use it to teleport pieces of Titan’s moon to bombard enemies on the planet’s surface – a surprisingly powerful tactic.
4) Power Stone
When the Guardians of the Galaxy encounter the Power Stone, they quickly realize how incredibly dangerous the Infinity Stones can be. Ronan the Accuser uses the Power Stone to devastate Xandar, effortlessly destroying a huge number of its ships. Despite its power, though, the MCU features other items that are just as strong, meaning the Power Stone isn’t entirely one-of-a-kind.
Xandar is a key location in understanding Thanos’s power. He easily takes the Power Stone from the Nova Corps without needing any other stones, showing just how strong he already is. The Power Stone significantly boosts his natural strength – similar to how it enhances the other Infinity Stones. Thanos relies on overwhelming force, and the Power Stone lets him demonstrate this, like when he destroys a moon or defeats powerful heroes from the Avengers and Guardians. He even uses it to make his attacks and torture more effective.
3) Soul Stone
The Soul Stone is arguably the most enigmatic of the Infinity Stones. Thanos searches for it for years, and even when he finds it, obtaining the stone comes at a terrible cost – he must sacrifice Gamora, someone he deeply cared for. Interestingly, he doesn’t fully utilize the stone’s power. As seen in the animated series *What If…?*, the Soul Stone can even grant life to objects, like the Infinity Crusher, a weapon designed solely to destroy the other stones. Perhaps the immense power over life and death is why the Soul Stone is so difficult to obtain.
The Soul Stone is essential for Thanos to perform the Snap, instantly taking the lives of half of all living beings. While he doesn’t delve into its other abilities, the fact that he’s able to eliminate so many at once makes it a particularly powerful Infinity Stone.
2) Reality Stone
Loki and Frigga are masters of illusion, but their skills are unique and can’t be taught. The Reality Stone is the only way to achieve that level of power, letting users create incredibly realistic things seemingly from nothing. We see this power clearly when Thanos uses the stone to create a fake version of himself on Knowhere, tricking the Guardians of the Galaxy into revealing their location so he can capture Gamora, who is deeply upset believing she killed her father. Beyond illusions, the stone also allowed Thanos to completely change anything – both non-living objects and living creatures.
1) Time Stone
In the magical world, altering time is a serious offense. Karl Mordo betrays Doctor Strange because Strange carelessly uses the Time Stone, unaware of its risks. However, the benefits sometimes outweigh the dangers, as shown when Thanos reverses time after Scarlet Witch kills Vision to retrieve the Mind Stone. While the Time Stone could potentially fix many mistakes in the right hands, it made Thanos virtually unstoppable while he held it. Ultimately, Thanos’s power with the Time Stone ensures his victory.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are streaming on Disney+.
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2025-09-14 19:42