“At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then... boom. The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence. Space, Reality, Power, Soul, Mind, and Time.”
The Infinity Stones are a collection of six special gems of great power from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Created by the Cosmic Entities, they existed long before time began. The Infinity Gauntlet is a glove with six holes; the first five on each finger, and the sixth on the back of the hand.
The Infinity Stones can shift from their natural form to a gem form. Once shifted into gems, each Infinity Stone goes into one of the holes in the Infinity Gauntlet. This gives the Infinity Gauntlet its power, and thus gives the one who wears it power beyond comparison. The supervillain Thanos seeks their power to wipe out half of all the life and bring balance to the universe.
Space Stone - A blue stone with control over space. It was kept in a blue cube called the Tesseract. The Tesseract was taken to a vault on Asgard, after being used to recreate the Frost bridge connecting Asgard to different realms. Odin hid the stone at Norway until World War II where Johann Schmidt took it for power. Loki had the Tesseract, but gave it to Thanos to spare his brother's life. In the 2012 alternate timeline, Loki stole the Tesseract from the Avengers, and but it was confiscated when he was arrested by the Time Variance Authority.
Mind Stone - A yellow stone with control over mind. It was inside a scepter given to Loki by The Other. Loki used the scepter to control Hawkeye, Erik Selvig, and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The scepter was used by HYDRA in experiments that enhanced the powers of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. The scepter was then used by Ultron (with the help of a mind-controlled Dr. Helen Cho) to create Vision. The Mind Stone was once on Vision's forehead until his destruction by the hand of Thanos. Despite its destruction, a piece of this Infinity Stone remains inside Wanda, and she later used it to recreate Vision inside the Westview fantasy reality.
Reality Stone - A red stone with control over reality and existence. It was initially in a liquid form called Aether and used by Malekith. The Collector previously had the Aether until it was acquired by Thanos.
Power Stone - A purple stone with control over energy. It was inside a silver Orb used by the people of Morag to harness its power. The Orb was inside a vault in Xandar prior to the planet's devastation by Thanos. This stone was the first one to be collected by Thanos. It is the most destructive and possibly the most powerful of them all.
Time Stone - A green stone with control over time. It was held in the Eye of Agamotto, which allowed the Eye to bend time. The Eye was held in Kamar Taj in Strange's possession until Doctor Strange gave up the stone to Thanos.
Soul Stone - An orange stone with control over life and death. It is both the most mysterious and the most dangerous of all the stones. The Soul Stone was found on the planet Vormir guarded by the Stonekeeper. This Infinity Stone requires the person to sacrifice a loved one in order to be obtained, thus exchanging a soul for a soul. It was claimed by Thanos, who sacrificed his daughter Gamora to obtain it. In the the 2014 alternate timeline, it was claimed by Hawkeye, after Black Widow sacrificed herself so her friend would be able to get the Infinity Stone.
Three years later in 2018, Thanos sends his remaining accomplices to travel the universe and get the time stone from Doctor Strange, the mind stone from Vision, and the soul stone from Vormir. Thanos is given the space stone from Loki who sacrifices his life to save Thor, resulting in his death. Thanos finds the Guardians of the Galaxy team and takes Gamora to Vormir where he sacrifices her life for the soul stone. Thanos then travels to Titan, his home planet, where he is willingly given the time stone from Doctor Strange in exchange for Iron Man's life. After this, Thanos goes to Wakanda to get the mind stone from Vision which he succeeds and is able to snap his fingers after Thor fails to "go for the head". This results in 50% of the universe to be erased from existence and the Avengers defeat.
23 days after Thanos' snap, the Avengers and Captain Marvel learn that Thanos destroyed the stones after they almost killed him from the radiation. Angered, Thor kills Thanos and the team returns to earth defeated. Five years later in 2023, the Avengers regroup and decide to time travel to different points in time to get the stones to undo the snap. Steve, Tony, Scott and Hulk travel to 2012 to get the space stone but are forced to travel to 1970 since their plan failed and an alternate Loki steals the stone, travelling off to an unknown place. Tony and Steve are successful and get the tessaract and return to 2023. During this time, Nebula and War Machine travel to 2014 and manage to obtain the power stone after knocking out an alternate Star-Lord. Black Widow and Hawkeye, during this time, travel to Vormir and he is able to get the soul stone after she sacrifices her life for the chances of restoring the lives of the blip victims. In 2013, Thor and Rocket Raccoon collect the reality stone from the Aether that is inside Jane Foster. After everyone returns to the present time, the Avengers mourn the loss of Natasha and undo the blip, bringing everyone who was killed, back to life. Tony uses the stones to erase Thanos and his army out of existence, resulting in the hero's death. Following the battle of earth, Steve Rogers does one final mission where he returns all the stones to the different points in time, where they can return to the exact moment the Avengers got them. Following this, Steve returns to the present time as an old man, deciding to retire and live the full life he missed with Peggy Carter, before giving a resurrected Sam Wilson his shield and making Sam his successor as Captain America.
The Infinity Stones appear in the first episode, as there are many stones from different timelines retrieved by the Time Variance Authority, besides the Tesseract that the LokiVariant stole to escape from the Avengers in 2012. At the TVA, the power of the stones are rendered useless and a worker named Casey doesn't even know what the stones are. They are seen stored in a drawer of a cart and Casey explains to Loki that the TVA gets a lot of them and they are normally used as paperweights, which makes Loki realize that the TVA holds the greatest power of the universe, surpassing even the power of the stones. Right after, Hunter B-15, who was chasing Loki inside the TVA, finds him and tries to prune him by hitting him with her Time Stick, however, but he manages to escape and she hits Casey's cart instead. The cart disintegrates, being sent to the Void with all its contents, including the Infinity Stones that Loki just saw.
The Infinity Stones are a major gameplay feature in the Capcom crossover fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. The Infinity Stones function similarly to the "Groove System" in Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001. Players will select one Infinity Stone at the beginning of a match, which will give the player two special power-up abilities. The first special power-up ability is called the "Infinity Surge," and can be activated at any time, akin to the V-Skills from Street Fighter V, which fills the Infinity Stone meter. The second, stronger special ability is called the "Infinity Storm," and can be activated when the player fills their Infinity Stone meter at least half-way, akin to the Ultra ComboRevenge Gauge in Street Fighter IV, giving them a significant boost for a limited time, similar to the X-Factor system from Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.
Game mechanics[]
Power Stone:
Infinity Surge: hits the opponent with an attack that knocks them against the wall, allowing for increased combo potential. This attack also destroys projectiles.
Infinity Storm: increases damage output ability and combo potential, similar to the X-Factor system from Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Time Stone:
Infinity Surge: performs a quick teleport dash that can pass through the opponent; it can also be performed in the air.
Infinity Storm: increases speed, and grants the ability to perform custom combos, similar to those in the Street Fighter Alpha series and Capcom vs. SNK 2.
Space Stone:
Infinity Surge: pulls the opponent closer to the player's character.
Infinity Storm: traps the opponent in a cube that severely limits their mobility.
Reality Stone:
Infinity Surge: releases a homing projectile that tracks the opponent's position.
Infinity Storm: initiates elemental magic attacks that accompany and augment normal physical attacks.
Light punch: produces a wind blade that blows the opponent away.
Light kick: freezes the opponent in a block of ice.
Heavy punch: produces a fire beam.
Heavy kick: produces a lightning bolt.
Mind Stone:
Infinity Surge: hits the opponent with an attack that renders them dizzy for a few seconds.
Infinity Storm: continuously regenerates the player's Hyper Combo Gauge to maximum.
Soul Stone:
Infinity Surge: Shoots an energy burst that absorbs energy from the opponent into the player's own life bar.
Infinity Storm: Brings the player's partner character out to aid the point character in attacking the opponent together, akin to the Duo Team Attack feature from Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes and the Scramble Mode feature from Street Fighter X Tekken. If the partner was knocked out earlier in the match, they will be revived with 20% of their health restored.
Guardians of the Galaxy[]
At least one Infinity Stone, the Power Stone, appears in Square Enix's Guardians of the Galaxy game.
Trivia[]
In the comics, the Infinity "Stones" are referred to as the Infinity Gems.
Likewise, they were initially all called the "Soul Gems", until Thanos renamed them into the Infinity Gems.
In the movie, the Space Stone transported Red Skull to the planet Vomir to guard over the Soul Stone. This did not happen with the Space, or any gem in the comics.
The reality and time stones make appearances in Deadpool & Wolverine, where Cassandra Nova is in possession of them, with a sling ring. It's not explained though, how she got these stones.
Gallery[]
Marvel Cinematic Universe[]
The Space Stone inside the Tesseract
Loki's scepter gem, revealed to be the Mind Stone
The Reality Stone in its Aether form
The Power Stone
The Time Stone encased in the Eye of Agamotto
The Soul Stone.
Infinity Gauntlet in Odin's Weapon Vault (actually a fake, since the real one is a left glove)
Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet and all Infinity Stones
Marvel Animated Universe[]
The Infinity Stones all together in Avengers Assemble.
