Drax is an intergalactic criminal and a former member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He sought revenge on Ronan the Accuser for killing his wife and daughter, and went on a rampage across the galaxy, ending with him becoming known as Drax the Destroyer, and being imprisoned by the Nova Corps in the Kyln. There, Drax became uneasy allies with Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket and Groot. Together, they broke out of the Kyln and became embroiled in the Quest for the Orb. After the Battle of Xandar, in which he finally exacted his vengeance on Ronan, Drax left Xandar with the other Guardians but not before declaring Thanos as his next target.
Following the Guardians, Drax assisted in killing the Abilisk for the Sovereign people, only for Rocket to betray them. Drax followed the Guardians as they encountered Ego, the long-lost father of Star-Lord. Along the way, he developed a close bond with Mantis, who soon revealed that Ego's true plan was to destroy and rebuild the entire universe. Drax and his fellow Guardians defeated Ego, saving the galaxy once more but at the cost of Yondu Udonta's self-sacrifice.
Four years later, the Guardians of the Galaxy joined up with Thor and the Avengers in trying to stop Thanos from obtaining the Infinity Stones. When Thanos gathered all of the stones, he used them to eradicate half the universe's population, including Drax and the Guardians, except Rocket and Nebula. Five years after the Snap, the remaining Avengers successfully gathered the Infinity Stones from different points in the past and Hulkresurrected the victims of the Snap, restoring Drax back to life. He then participated and survived the Battle of Earth, attended Tony Stark's funeral, and rejoined the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Drax continued to defend the Galaxy with his team, on missions including the Battle of Indigarr. After Thor left the group, Drax and the other Guardians aided planets who had their gods killed by Gorr the God Butcher. Eventually, Drax joined the group in rebuilding Knowhere and establishing it as their new headquarters. To make Star-Lord happy, Drax and Mantis went to Earth to abduct Kevin Bacon as a Christmas present, much to Star-Lord’s disdain. Their spirits changed once Bacon agreed to celebrate Christmas at Knowhere, bringing joy to Star-Lord all the same.
Drax joined the Guardians in thwarting an attempt made by Adam Warlock on the orders of the High Evolutionary to abduct Rocket. The Guardians discovered a kill switch embedded in Rocket preventing them from treating his wounds, leading them on a mission to retrieve the override code, venturing first to the Orgoscope and then Counter-Earth. After saving Rocket, the team mounted a mission to liberate the High Evolutionary’s imprisoned test subjects from Arête Laboratories, overwhelming waves of Hell Spawn and defeating the High Evolutionary, before Drax personally saved his life and took him into custody. Drax opted to leave the Guardians in order to help raise the rescued Star Children on Knowhere, having reignited his passion for parenting upon encountering them.
"I first met my beloved at a war rally, everyone in the village flailed about dancing except one woman, my Ovette. I knew immediately she was the one for me."
Drax comes from a planet which has a mountain called Mount Kylos with his people, a race of primitives who are considered naïve and hopelessly underdeveloped by the more advanced galactic groups. As a result, Drax is extremely unaware of basic concepts such as metaphors and customs. They are, however, a fierce and capable warrior race who follow a tribal-like culture.[1]
During his youth, Drax's father would tell the story of the night he had impregnated Drax's mother with him, something Drax found beautiful.[5] Drax's cousin was brutally killed by a rogue GoBot.[6][7] While attending a war rally with his people, Drax met a woman named Ovette, falling in love with her due to her lack of joy at the festivities, and together had a daughter named Kamaria.[5]
Under the order of the warlord Thanos, Ronan the Accuser randomly divided Drax's species into two parts, and one of them was slaughtered. Drax was put on the side which survived, but Ovette and Kamaria were murdered with the rest.[8] Drax was driven into a path of vengeance and went on a bloody rampage across the galaxy in search of the murderous Kree, gaining a reputation as one of the most dangerous beings in the galaxy and earning the nickname, The Destroyer. After over twenty-two counts of murder and five counts of grievous bodily harm, he was arrested by the Nova Corps and brought to the Kyln.[1]
"He killed my family, I shall kill one of his in return." "I'm no family to Ronan or Thanos. I'm your only hope at stopping him." "Woman! Your words mean nothing to me!"
As Drax served his sentence in the Kyln, he witnessed the arrival of Gamora, the adopted daughter of Thanos and who had been working for Ronan the Accuser. As Gamora was threatened by the other inmates, many of whom had lost their own families to Ronan's wars, Drax sat quietly and waited for the right moment to gain his revenge and kill Gamora in order to hurt Ronan.
That night, Drax found Moloka Dar dragging Gamora into the shower rooms with some other inmates with the intention of cutting her throat. Drax, however, appeared and warned them all to stop what they were doing, making it clear how Ronan had murdered both Ovette and Kamaria and therefore he felt he was the one who had to kill Gamora. Dar was clearly terrified of Drax and willingly handed over his own knife to the destroyer to then kill Gamora.
Drax explained that as Ronan had killed his family, he intended to kill one of Ronan's daughters. Gamora, however, disarmed Drax and Dar, killing the other inmate and threatening them both while noting that she was no daughter of either Thanos or Ronan and in fact was the only hope of stopping them. Drax ignored Gamora's claims and gripped her by the throat, insisting that this changed nothing as he prepared to violently kill her to gain some satisfaction.
Before Drax could have his revenge, he was interrupted by Star-Lord and Rocket, who insisted that Drax keep Gamora alive in order to draw Ronan to the Kyln where he could destroy the man who killed his family. Despite some miscommunication, Drax eventually agreed that this was the best plan and reluctantly freed Gamora from his grasp. Before he departed to return to his cell, Drax informed Dar he was now keeping the knife for himself.[1]
Prison Break[]
Drax witnesses the prison riot breaking out
"Cease your yammering and relieve us from this irksome confinement." "Yeah, I'll have to agree with the walking thesaurus on that one." "Do not ever call me a thesaurus."
The next day, Drax witnessed Groot stealing a Quardrix battery from the middle of the Kyln, which almost immediately caused the entire prison to go straight into emergency mode and the guards to rush in to pacify the inmates. As Drax stood by and watched, Groot grew to an incredible size and battled against the security hoverbots, with Rocket on his back, while chastising him over his foolish actions. When Drax saw the guards preparing to shoot at Rocket Raccoon and Groot, Drax had then made the split second decision that he would assist them so he could also escape from the Kyln.
Drax eager to fight during the sudden escape from the Kyln
Drax fought a number of guards and easily knocked all of them out, laughing hysterically as he did as he had enjoyed the sense of battle. Once the guards were defeated, Drax threw a machine gun to Rocket who used it to shoot at the hoverbots. Drax later assisted Peter Quill by ripping a security drone apart with his bare hands, before he called out Quill for his story of sleeping with an A'askavariian while he climbed up the side of Groot to finally escape from the prison.
The five prisoners locked themselves in the security watchtower, leading to a confrontation between Drax and Gamora, who was horrified that Drax was with them while Rocket mocked their new teammate for his lack of understanding of metaphors. Rocket then initiated his plan. He switched off the prison's artificial gravity, took control of the hoverbots, and used them to propel the watchtower room out of the cell block to make their escape.
Once they reclaimed their belongings, the group was ordered to wait in Star-Lord's spaceship while he completed one final task. As they waited in the Milano for Quill, Gamora realized that he had taken the Orb with him and therefore they could not leave without him. While Rocket panicked that soon the Nova Corps would arrive and shoot them out of the sky, Drax looked out of the window and was the first to see Quill coming towards them, using his helmet to keep him alive as he jetted through space with his boots and rejoined the others.
Drax was greatly impressed by Quill's bravery in successfully fighting off the Nova Corps guards and having returned to the ship in such spectacular style, complimenting his new ally as he pulled him onto the ship. Drax questioned what had made Quill depart on his brief mission, but was horrified when he discovered that Quill was simply retrieving his Walkman, looking up at Quill and calling him an imbecile for risking his life for something so minor.[1]
While traveling in the Milano, the team discussed their next move and who they intended to sell the Orb to. Drax suggested that if it was a weapon they should use it to kill Ronan the Accuser which led to an argument between him and Gamora. Before they could begin fighting, Peter Quill broke them apart and suggested that they concentrate on getting paid, to which Drax claimed to have no interest in money as it did not help him in his goal to kill Ronan.
Drax and the rest of the group traveled to Knowhere to deliver the Orb to Taneleer Tivan, to whom Gamora had agreed to sell the Orb. As they approached the city, Drax was amazed by the incredible structure, which Gamora explained had been built out of the severed head of an ancient celestial being and warning that the people there were not to be trusted. While walking about, Drax and Quill discussed Earth, with Drax noting he would like to visit.
While they waited for Tivan; Drax, Rocket, and Groot went to the nearby Boot of Jemiah, where both Drax and Rocket ended up getting drunk and betting on some Orloni fights. For a while, Drax and Rocket appeared to get along and even shared laughs together.[1] Taking a break from the drinking and laughing, Drax explained the stories behind his many markings on his skin, however, this eventually led to the pair beginning an argument about mourning.[9]
Their argument soon led to Drax and Rocket getting into a fight after Drax insulted Rocket's rodent-like appearance. Groot tried to help Rocket, but Drax attacked him and pinned him down where he proceeded hit him repeatedly, prompting Rocket to draw a Laser Cannon and prepare to shoot Drax with it. Luckily, Quill came and stopped the drunken Rocket, convincing him to let it slide until they had gotten their money. In a rage, Drax left the bar. After he left, the rest of the group was finally summoned by Tivan.
While stalking through Knowhere in frustration at his team's inability to work together for his goal of destroying Ronan the Accuser, Drax looked down the street and came across Steemie Blueliver at the Tivan Dispatch Center. Sneaking up on Steemie while he was ordering supplies, Drax threatened to cut off his head with twin blades and forced him to call Ronan and bring him to Knowhere so that he could kill him and finally avenge his family.[1]
While the rest of the group discovered that inside the Orb was one of the Infinity Stones powerful enough to destroy a planet, Drax got his knives ready as Ronan the Accuser arrived, prepared to destroy his enemy. While Drax confronted Ronan about the murder of his wife and daughter and his desire for revenge, he intended to gain by killing Ronan.
Although Ronan attempted to just walk away, not seeing Drax as a worthy opponent, Drax refused to allow his enemy to get away and charged at him, with Ronan very casually dodging Drax's blows while he continued giving his orders to Nebula to reclaim the Orb from Drax's allies who were attempting to escape. Despite all of Drax's attempts to kill the far stronger Kree soldier, Ronan the Accuser was able to overpower Drax, throwing him around with ease.
Despite all of Drax's efforts as he pounded at Ronan's Kree Armor, he was unable to do any notable damage to his foe, who was able to finally overpower and defeat Drax, choking him and throwing his body to the ground with minimal effort. Ronan dismissed Drax's claims of murdering his family, claiming he did not remember them and would not remember killing him either, with Drax now too beaten and weak to even stand and defend his family's honor.
Once Drax had been easily subdued by Ronan with little effort, he was dragged across the street by his foot before being thrown into a tank full of spinal fluid from the Celestial and left to die, all while Ronan calmly returned to a Necrocraft which took him back to the Dark Aster as Nebula had reclaimed the Orb from Gamora. Drax nearly drowned in the tank, but Groot pulled him out just in time and resuscitated him by stabbing Drax in the chest.
Outside of Knowhere, Gamora was nearly killed by Nebula, and the Orb was retaken by Ronan. Peter Quill summoned the Yondu Ravager Clan to assist, and they ended up capturing him and Gamora. Drax was blamed by Rocket for Quill and Gamora's kidnapping, and Drax realized that he used anger just to hide his pain. However, he got no sympathy from Rocket, who intended to escape to the other side of the galaxy to avoid Ronan's wrath. Drax, however, stood by Groot and chose to rescue Quill and Gamora.[1]
Hoping to save Star-Lord and Gamora, the three flew to the Eclector in the Milano, planning to destroy the Ravagers' ship with the Hadron Enforcer if they did not hand over Quill and Gamora in five seconds. Right before they were going to destroy the ship, Quill used the Ravagers' communication system to tell Rocket that he had managed to come up with a deal for Yondu Udonta.
With Quill and Gamora back on the ship, they began discussing what their next move would be in order to get the Orb back. When Drax attempted to make a comment, Gamora told him not to speak after the disaster he caused on Knowhere by calling Ronan the Accuser in order to try and battle him. When Drax argued he should get credit for saving Quill, he was reminded that his attempt to save him had involved threatening to blow up the ship he was on.
Eventually, Quill pitched his plan to attack the Dark Aster, kill Ronan the Accuser and take back the Orb, although the plan seemed like a suicide mission, Drax stood by Quill and vowed to fight with him, noting that once the battle was over and they had all been killed, he would be reunited with his wife and daughter, leading to all the other Guardians of the Galaxy standing with him and agreeing to fight in order to save Xandar and defeat Ronan once and for all.
It didn't take long for the rest of the team to agree to help as well and they went back to the Ravagers' ship to discuss the details of the plan with Udonta and his men. When Kraglin Obfonteri noted that there would be hundreds of Sakaarans on board the ship willing to fight for Ronan, Drax noted that he viewed the Sakaarans as nothing more than paper people, this pleased Obfonteri who punched Drax in the shoulder, which caused Drax to look at him in rage.
Drax prepares for their upcoming battles
With the plan ready to go into action, Drax put on his new uniform and readied his knives to go into battle with his friends in order to save Xandar from almost certain destruction at the hands of Ronan and his army, with Drax joining Quill, Gamora and Groot on board the Milano which would board the Dark Aster in order to confront Ronan while Rocket had his own ship and led the Ravagers in the upcoming aerial battle against the army of Sakaaran soldiers.[1]
The next day, Star-Lord's team and the Ravagers put the plan into action and Quill warned Rhomann Dey so that he could tell the rest of the Nova Corps. As the battle began, Drax rode with Quill, Gamora and Groot towards the Dark Aster. However, they were quickly attacked by swarms of Necrocraft sent by Ronan the Accuser, who overwhelmed them, even managing to shoot Yondu Udonta's battleship out of the sky.
Drax celebrates as he flies into battle
Just before they could all be destroyed, however, the Nova Corps arrived, led by Garthan Saal under the orders of Irani Rael. While Saal and Rocket kept Ronan's entire army at bay with the aid of the Ravagers, Star-Lord flew the Milano onto the Dark Aster through a hole blasted in by Rocket. As they crash landed into the ship, Drax could not hold back his glee and cheered with delight as Quill used the ships' guns to kill dozens of the Sakaarans inside.
Drax apologizes for his more recent mistakes
Once they landed and left the crashed ship, they discovered that the Dark Aster was too dark for them to see so Groot used his powers to create a strange light across the ship to show them the way, when Drax questioned how he could do it, Star-Lord noted the answer would likely be "I am Groot." As they made their way across the ship, Drax apologized to the group for his past mistakes and expressed his gratitude at having their new found friendship.
They were suddenly stopped by Nebula who attempted to kill the Guardians of the Galaxy, as she cursed at Gamora for betraying Ronan and Thanos, Drax shot her with his rocket launcher, claiming no one should speak to his friends like that. With the threat of Nebula seemingly dealt with the team, they split up: With Gamora going to unlock the security doors while Drax, Star-Lord and Groot made their way through the Sakaaran army towards Ronan's location.[1]
As they battled their way towards Ronan the Accuser, killing several Sakaarans who got in their way, they were eventually confronted by a team led by Korath, who attempted to kill Star-Lord in order to prevent any of them from getting close to Ronan. While Drax battled the small army of Sakaaran soldiers, using both of his knives to rip them apart, Star-Lord was forced to battle the far stronger Korath, who easily overpowered the human despite his best efforts to keep fighting.
Once he had killed the soldiers, Drax then came to Quill's aid and personally engaged in a fierce battle against the strong Kree soldier. Eventually, Drax managed to pin his new enemy against a wall and proceeded to slay Korath by ripping out one of his cranial implants, electrocuting him to death before making a comment to Quill about whether or not he had successfully said a metaphor by remarking that a finger to the throat was the symbol of death.
Just as Star-Lord considered correcting Drax on the meaning of a metaphor, they were attacked by another large team of Sakaarans sent by Ronan. Before they could engage in another battle against the soldier, Drax and Star-Lord then witnessed Groot massacre the entire team of Sakaarans with minimal effort as he extended his arm and impaled the soldiers. As Groot smashed the soldiers from wall to wall, Drax could not contain his glee at the slaughter.
Drax mistakenly thinks Ronan is dead
As they continued toward, they discovered that the door was still locked due to Gamora being busy battling against Nebula. Before long, however, the door was opened and the team charged inside to confront the Kree warmonger. Finding Ronan, the group attempted to kill him with the Hadron Enforcer, which caused a massive explosion, much to Drax's delight. Ronan, however, survived and used his own hammer, the Universal Weapon to knock back the team.
Still unwilling to allow Ronan to win, Drax charged forward to attack him, only for the powerful Kree to grab him by the throat and hold him high in the air, once again mocking Drax by noting how pitiful he found his wife and daughter's screams to be. Before Ronan could finish the group, Rocket suddenly crashed his ship through the Dark Aster and into both Ronan and Drax, causing both vehicles critical damage and almost killing Drax in the process.
Drax was knocked unconscious in the crash, and it clearly became clear that the Dark Aster had lost all power and was crashing. In order to save his allies from certain death, Groot created a dome of wood out of his body, which would protect the team when the Dark Aster crashed into Xandar. Despite Rocket's insistence that Groot try and save himself when the ship crashed, the team were all saved, but Groot's body was pulverized into pieces.[1]
"Your wife and child shall rest well, knowing that you have avenged them." "Yes. Of course Ronan was only a puppet. It's really Thanos that I need to kill."
Quill quickly grabbed the stone but was nearly killed by its power. Gamora helped him by taking his hand and spreading the burden between the two of them. Drax did the same by grabbing onto Quill's shoulder, with Rocket following suite by gripping Drax's finger. Stabilizing the stone's power long enough to direct it towards Ronan, the four obliterated him and then resealed the stone back into a new orb-like device, freeing them from its power.
Drax comforts Rocket after Groot's "death"
With Ronan now dead and Quill having given a fake Orb to Yondu Udonta and his Ravagers so they could give the true Orb to the Nova Corps for safe-keeping, Drax walked over to Rocket Raccoon, who was mourning the death of his dear friend Groot. Seeing no other way to comfort his new friend, Drax simply sat next to him and stroked his fur, which seems to relax him as they sat in the wreckage of Xandar while the people looked on in amazement.[1]
After the battle, the stone was given to the Nova Corps and Drax realized that Ronan the Accuser was sent by Thanos to kill his family, and vowed to kill Thanos next, informing Gamora of his intentions had also learned from Irani Rael new information about Star-Lord's father who was not from Earth as Star-Lord had long believed.
As they stepped outside, Rhomann Dey presented Star-Lord and the rest of the team the now newly restored Milano as a thank you from saving their lives during the Battle of Xandar. Dey warned the team that while their criminal records had been deleted, they still could not commit any crimes. Drax questioned this concept by asking if he could rip out a man's spine if he annoys him, to which Dey reminded him that murder was illegal and he would not be allowed.
Drax prepares for his next adventure
Having boarded the Milano with the rest of his new teammates and friends, Drax traveled around the universe with Quill's team, which became known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, with Drax nodding to Rocket who was holding a twig from Groot's body which he had planted to regrow his greatest friend. As they prepared to leave Xandar, Quill questioned if they should next do something good or bad before deciding they should do a bit of both.[1]
The twig that Rocket had managed to save from Groot's body soon allowed Groot to grow into a new body, although slowly as he began tidy as he slowly grew back. Once in the Milano, after Groot had grown a little bit bigger, he began to dance to "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 behind Drax as he cleaned and sharpened his knives. Whenever Drax would look in Groot's direction, he would freeze until Drax looked away, leaving Drax still none the wiser to the silliness that was currently occurring just behind his back.[1]
After the Battle of Xandar, the Guardians of the Galaxy became well known across the galaxy. The Sovereign hired the Guardians to take down the Abilisk that was eating the Anulax Batteries. When the Guardians arrived on the planet, Gamora questioned Drax as of why he wasn't wearing one of Rocket's Aero-Rigs, which he told her it made his nipples hurt. Quill asked Rocket what he was setting up. When Drax heard that Rocket was setting up a speaker system, he told Rocket that he thought it was a terrible idea.
The Abilisk arrived and Drax leaped into battle with the rest of his team as Groot began dancing to music, when Drax was knocked back landed next to Groot, Groot froze to Drax's confusion, the latter of whom simply got to his feet and returned to the battle. As the fighting resumed, Drax found that the Abilisk's skin was too strong to be penetrated before he was knocked back a second time, with him landing on the speakers, angering Groot, who began attempting to hit Drax for stopping the music.
Drax then informed Gamora that the Abilisk must be cut on the inside as its hide was too thick to penetrate. While Gamora tried to explain to him not to do that because it would not work, Drax grabbed his twin knives and jumped inside its mouth and began hacking away at its organs. When the Guardians finally killed the creature, Drax fell out of its wound, laughing that he had killed the beast, with the rest of the Guardians giving him angry looks for taking the credit.[5]
Drax joined the other Guardians of the Galaxy in greeting Ayesha in the wake of their victory over the Abilisk, as Ayesha gave them their prize for defeating the beast, handing over Nebula whom they intended to hand over to the Nova Corps. As they were leaving, Rocket mocked Ayesha before revealing to Drax that he had stolen the Anulax Batteries, causing Drax to laugh out loud.
Back on board the Milano, Drax witnessed Peter Quill attempting to flirt with Gamora and failing, so he decided to offer his own opinions. Drax told Quill that he should not pursue Gamora, noting that there were only two types of beings in the universe, those who danced and those who did not, explaining this was why they should not be together. Drax then went on to tell the story of how he first met Ovette and how he fell in love with her as she refused to dance to even the most enjoyable song just like he would.
During the flight, however, they were suddenly attacked from behind and realized it was the Sovereign, seeking revenge for the Guardians having stolen the Batteries from them, which Drax then inadvertently revealed to the others, much to Rocket's great annoyance. As Quill attempted to fly away from the incoming horde of Omnicrafts, he and Rocket got into an argument about who should fly the ship while Drax protected Groot from being sucked out of the ship. As the chase continued through an asteroid field, the outnumbered Guardians were aided by Ego who quickly destroyed hundreds Omnicrafts with a single powerful attack.
Despite Ego destroying the majority of the fleet, Drax soon realized that Zylak was still shooting at them. Taking one of the Holographic Space Suits, Drax stepped out of the Milano in mid-flight with an Energy Cannon and attempted to shoot Zylak's Omnicraft out of the sky himself, eventually succeeding although he then found he could not get back into the Milano to safety as it quickly began losing control and crash landing.
Drax celebrates surviving the crashlanding
As the Milano fell towards Berhert, Drax remained trapped outside as Gamora desperately tried to pull him to safety. Eventually, the ship hit the ground and was torn apart by the impact, with Drax being flung away and hitting the ground hard. However, Drax's own superhuman strength allowed him to survive the impact as he got onto his knees and celebrated the victory, yelling out insults to the Sovereign as he laughed and cheered about the victory. He then regrouped with the other Guardians who were arguing about the crash.[5]
"I thought Yondu was your father." "What? We've been together this whole time and you thought Yondu was my actual blood relative?" "You look exactly alike."
Having crash landed, Drax watched as Gamora had begun confronting both Rocket and Star-Lord over all their own involvement in the crash, blaming them for causing it by challenging each other. During the argument, Drax interrupted by attempting to correct Star-Lord's pronunciation of Anulax Batteries although Star-Lord still insisted that he was incorrect. When Star-Lord called Rocket a trash panda, Rocket asked Drax what it meant while Drax admitted he did not know while Star-Lord hinted it was.
While Gamora was still furious at the entire situation, they discussed how it was possible that Ayesha's entire army of Sovereign ships were suddenly destroyed by another person's ship which Rocket described as three inches tall. Before they could discuss this further, the group were interrupted by the sudden arrival of Ego's Ship, with Drax questioning if this was the man Rocket had mentioned. Arming himself, Drax watched as Ego left the ship before introducing himself as Star-Lord's long lost father, much to their surprise.
As they sat around the fire and listened to Ego explaining how he had been searching for Star-Lord, ever since Yondu Udonta had failed to bring him back to him as required. Drax questioned his belief that Udonta had been Star-Lord's father, noting that they looked identical despite Udonta's blue skin. Mantis then spoke with Drax, attempting to smile before Drax then taught her the concept of jokes by letting her pet Rocket who then bit her, much to Drax's amusement.
Drax was then invited to come to Ego's Planet to discuss the matter more along with Star-Lord and Gamora, leaving Nebula behind with Rocket and Groot while Rocket was attempting to repair all of the damage done to the Milano during their crash landing. Drax chose to pack several large bags with his belongings, telling Star-Lord that he did not trust Rocket and Groot to be alone with his stuff. They then left the planet of Berhert onboard Ego's own Ship.
While flying through space towards his planet, Drax watched as Ego was put to sleep by Mantis. Drax later sat down with Star-Lord and Mantis as they discussed a bet they had made in regards to Mantis' antennas and their purpose which Drax now believed they were for protecting her from low leveled doors. Mantis explained that she is an Empath and can read people's feelings, meaning Drax had lost his bet to Star-Lord, much to his own great disappointment.
Mantis demonstrated this power to them both by using her abilities to sense that Star-Lord felt a strong sexual love for Gamora, causing Drax to burst out laughing out loud at his own friend's expense, with Mantis touching Drax's skin to also feel Drax's remarkable joy at the situation. Although Gamora still refused to get involved with the discussion and did not allow Mantis to touch her skin, they went on to discuss how Mantis could use her powers to help Ego to sleep for long journeys like this, using this power on Drax who instantly fell backward, sound asleep while snoring loudly.[5]
"I wanted to experience what it was to be human. So I created what I imagined biological life to be like, down to the most minuet." "Did you make a penis?"
Drax arrived on Ego's Planet with Peter Quill, Gamora and Mantis and was instantly captivated. He immediately noted the world's humility, believing it be a personal trait of his. Upon touching the bubbles that surrounded the vessel, Drax burst into laughter; again illustrating one of his more childish sides.
Ego explains his origins to the Guardians
Ego discussed his history to the Guardians of the Galaxy as a Celestial, highlighting how his power left him desiring to mean; requiring him to create human avatars. Drax questioned if Ego made himself a penis, to the disgust of Quill and Gamora. Appearing genuinely dismayed, Drax queried how a planet could have intercourse with a human woman. With no delicacy, Drax revealed that his father would recount the story of his own conception every winter solstice. He concluded this debate with Quill by suggesting that he was too troubled about discussing reproducing.[5]
"You are horrifying to look at, yes, but that's a good thing when you're ugly, and someone loves you, you know they love you for who you are. Beautiful people never know who to trust." "Well, then I'm certainly grateful to be ugly."
During his stay on Ego's Planet, Drax spent time with Mantis. Mantis revealed that she was an orphan when Ego found her and chose to raise her by hand. Ever inquisitive, Drax asked if she was instead a pet; and was confused as to why Ego would choose a hideous pet. Drax assured Mantis that looking horrifying was a good thing, as she would be loved for who she is. Drax noted that the pools on Ego's planet reminded him of those found on his homeworld, and the times he spent with his daughter there. He compared his daughter to Mantis, stating that they shared the same innocence.
Drax grieves over his family
Mantis then used her abilities to feel Drax's emotions and was overwhelmed by the grief and sadness that she found. Drax remained unmoved. Troubled with guilt, Mantis said that she had something to tell Drax, but was interrupted by Gamora. Drax and Gamora were shown to their quarters by Mantis, who insisted that she had nothing to say to Drax before Gamora interrupted her. Drax and Gamora shared suspicion about Mantis' claim.[5]
Drax was suddenly woken up by Mantis, who could bear her guilt no longer. Thinking that Mantis was sexually interested in him, Drax apologized for not being attracted to her. He stated that he preferred a woman with 'meat on her bones'. Drax almost threw up at the thought of having intimate relations with her. Offended, Mantis stated that she wasn't attracted to Drax's species; a suggestion he found offensive. Having had enough of his bickering, Mantis exclaimed that Drax and his friends were in danger.
The pair left Drax's quarters and began speaking in the corridor, only to be interrupted by Gamora once again. Gamora's suspicions turned violent as she attacked Mantis, demanding to know what Ego really wanted. Drax retaliated by demanding that Gamora release her from her grasp. Drax then revealed to Gamora that Mantis had already told him everything. Upon Nebula's suggestion that they abandon Peter Quill to his fate, Drax announced that they were family; and would leave no one behind.[5]
"Didn't you say you could make him sleep?" "When he wants. He's too powerful. I can't!" "You don't have to believe in yourself. Because I believe in you!"
Drax and his fellow Guardians of the Galaxy rushed to the palace to save Peter Quill from being used as a battery as a part of Ego's Expansion. Drax kicked the palace doors down just as Yondu Udonta and Rocket's industrial craft collided straight into Ego, releasing Quill from Ego's grip. The Guardians boarded Udonta's craft and decided that in order to prevent Ego's conquest of the universe, they would have to destroy him. Quill and Udonta piloted the craft to the center of the planet in an effort to destroy Ego's brain.
Meanwhile, the Sovereign's fleet entered Ego's orbit to eliminate the Guardians of the Galaxy. In their attack, the fleet managed to knock Drax, Gamora, and Mantis out of the craft and onto the surface of Ego's core. As Ego grew more powerful, Drax suggested that Mantis put her former master back to sleep. Mantis rejected Drax, stating that Ego was too powerful for her abilities, as the light cracks through the surface of the planet.
Seeing that her lack of confidence, Drax proclaimed that Mantis didn't need faith in herself on stopping Ego from attacking because he believed in her. As Ego began to face them and attack, Mantis listened to Drax and places her hand on the ground, successfully commanded Ego to sleep. Relieved at her accomplishment, Drax admitted toward Gamora that he didn't believe she could do it, given how weak and skinny she was.
The Guardians regrouped on the surface of Ego's core where Mantis was knocked unconscious by debris, which Drax told her to look before she was conscious. After Ego was released from his temporary sleep, Drax picked up Mantis as the planet began collapsing around them and given Star-Lord's Aero-Rigs to fly to the extraction point, taking Mantis with him. Kraglin Obfonteri met Drax and Mantis at the extraction point in the Quadrant, which was quickly overpowered by Ego. As Ego's power returned, Drax sank into the planet, fighting to stay above the ground, keeping Mantis above the rising dirt.
As Quill used his abilities to fight against his father, Ego's hold on the Guardians ceased, and the dirt consuming Drax plummeted. Finally, Drax carried the unconscious Mantis into the Ravager ship and to safety. Rocket commanded Obfonteri to take off, to the objection of Drax who repeatedly demanded to know where Quill was. As the Guardians flew into orbit, Udonta gave Quill his Space Suit and aero-rig, sacrificing himself and dying in the vacuum of space.[5]
Once Peter Quill gets back to the Quadrant with Yondu Udonta, Drax participated in Quill's tribute to Udonta in order to pay respects to him, letting the Guardians of the Galaxy members to have assisted in preparing Udonta's funeral, standing vigil as Quill gave a eulogy. During which, Drax and Rocket shared a confused look when Quill mentioned David Hasselhoff.[5]
After the funeral, Mantis privately revealed to Drax that Ego was her biological father, but that she did not want him to tell the others, especially Quill. Drax stated that Quill should know that she was his sister, although Mantis replied that their only connection came from being children of Ego, and that Quill found his parentage shameful. Not wanting to ruin her new place with the Guardians, Mantis thought it was best to keep the truth hidden.[10]
Noticing out in space, Drax joined the rest of the Guardians and watched as the remaining Ravagers gave Udonta a traditional Ravager funeral for his final farewell. Groot yawned in Gamora's arms and sought the comfort of Drax, who patted him to sleep. Mantis stood in awe of the funeral, admiring its beauty. Drax added that she was beautiful too, on the inside.[5]
When Drax was sitting in a room alone, Kraglin Obfonteri experimented with the Yaka Arrow Controller, trying to take control of it with a whistle. Once he succeeded in using the arrow with him by constantly whistling, Obfonteri accidentally fired Udonta's Yaka Arrow into Drax's chest, causing him severe pain, with Obfonteri making a hasty escape before Drax could learn he was to blame.[5]
Sometime later, Drax went to take a shower only to find his soap bar missing. Following this, he searched for it and complained excessively to the team about losing it.[11]
Four years later, the Guardians of the Galaxy in their new ship, the Benatar, responded to a distress call from the Statesman, although Drax was asleep in his seat for much of the journey. After discovering the wreckage of the ship and bringing an unconscious Thor on board, Drax commented that Peter Quill was merely a "dude," while Thor was a man, noting how muscular and fit Thor was while Quill had gained weight.
Mantis woke Thor up, and informed them of his encounter with Thanos. Gamora then explained to the group Thanos' mission, with Drax noting that his planet was victim of his massacres. Learning that Thanos was seeking to unite all six of the Infinity Stones, the decision was made to split the Guardians. While Rocket and Groot accompanied Thor to Nidavellir, Drax went to Knowhere with Quill, Gamora, and Mantis where Thanos was heading next for the Reality Stone.[4]
On the way to Knowhere, Drax watched as Gamora made Peter Quill promise to kill her if she gets captured by Thanos, due to her knowing something that could be dangerous if Thanos obtained the information from her. They shared a sweet moment that was interrupted by Drax. Asked how long he had been standing there, Drax appeared to believe that he could become invisible if he stood completely still, demonstrating this by remaining still and then moving very slowly, completely unaware that he was still visible to Quill and Gamora. Drax was very disappointed when Mantis walked in and greeted him, proving his theory wrong.
Arriving on Knowhere, they found Thanos trying to force the Collector to give him the Reality Stone. Eager to avenge his wife and daughter, Drax tried to attack Thanos before they were ready. Quill tried to restrain him, but Mantis intervened and used her abilities to make him sleep. However, this caused him to fall onto the ground and make a loud noise, alerting Thanos to their presence.
When Drax woke up, he saw that Thanos had already obtained the Reality Stone and the Museum was up in flames. Seeing that Thanos had taken Gamora captive, Drax yelled at him, but Thanos, remaining calm, simply smirked at him and effortlessly incapacitated him with the Reality Stone, turning him to pieces. With Gamora in hand, Thanos used the Space Stone to teleport away from Knowhere, and Drax resumed his normal form.[4]
The Guardians returned to the Benatar where Peter Quill played "New York Groove" on repeat to try and build back his "groove." Drax eventually became annoyed with this and stopped the music. The two then began to argue and blame each other for losing Gamora, with Drax feeling that Quill stopped him from "seizing the moment" and killing Thanos. They were then alerted by Mantis of several messages that had been sent to them from Nebula.
Quill then became frustrated at Drax as it was his job to watch the coded message channel, for which he did, but mixed Quill's rule for flushing with the blinking light. The message informed them that Gamora was alive and that they need to head to Titan. The Guardians headed to the planet and entered a Q-Ship that had just crash-landed, attacking Tony Stark, Peter Parker and Doctor Strange, believing that they were in league with Thanos. During the scuffle, the Cloak of Levitation restrained Drax's hands, before Stark confronted him and threatened to kill him in response to Quill doing the same to Parker. However, after the misunderstanding was sorted out, the Guardians joined forces with them.[4]
When Thanos arrived, Drax, as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers and Doctor Strange worked in concert in an effort to stop him. Drax and Strange first engaged Thanos in combat using their weapons and were able to hold their own, but Thanos' skills and strength was too much and Drax was the first overpowered and incapacitated with a powerful punch that sent him through stones.
Drax quickly recovered, and he and the others were soon joined by Nebula. Drax then played a role in restraining Thanos by grabbing his leg. They were close to removing the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos after restraining him and getting Mantis to subdue his mind, but after Peter Quill discovered from Nebula that Thanos had killedGamora, he flew into a rage and allowed Thanos to escape the trap. Thanos then knocked Drax, Quill, and Nebula out using the Power Stone and later sent a moon hurtling down on the planet. Fortunately, Spider-Man was able to rescue Drax, Quill, and Nebula.[4]
As Drax and the others recovered and regrouped, Mantis alerted them that something was happening before disintegrating into dust suddenly, as they realized that Thanos had succeeded in his goal and completed placing all six of the Infinity Stones into the Infinity Gauntlet. Drax watched on in alarm, before calling out to Peter Quill, as he disintegrated himself.[4]
During the battle, Drax saved Korg from Cull Obsidian by attacking from behind with his knives and allowing Korg to strike Obsidian. The battle ended when Tony Stark used the Infinity Stones to decimate alternate Thanos and his army at the cost of his own life.[15] All the heroes, including Drax, then gathered around the fallen hero and knelt before him, out of respect for his sacrifice.[16]
As Drax had been wounded during the battle, he spilled his blood on the battlefield, which was collected by Nick Fury's secret Skrull unit and placed into a vial known as the Harvest alongside other enhanced DNA samples. The Harvest vial was later administered by Super-Skrulls Gravik and G'iah, granting them access to Drax's physiology and abilities.[17][18]
A week later, Drax and the reunited Guardians of the Galaxy attended Tony Stark's funeral at Stark's house.[15] Although content that Thanos was no more, Drax possibly still felt a bit unsatisfied that he was not the one who killed him; however, he honored Stark's sacrifice anyway.[19]
After the funeral, the Guardians decided to return to space. They obtained the Benatar again and flew to New Asgard, Norway and waited for Thor, who was joining them. Once they were all on board, there was a light interaction between Peter Quill and Thor in regards to who was in charge. Soon, the rest of the Guardians joined in, with Drax suggesting that they should fight to decide who should be the leader of group, which the two shut down, but still left who was the leader unanswered.[15] Drax's short time on Earth resulted in the citizens learning of his existence, and he was featured at the New Jersey AvengerCon.[20]
Over the next several months, Drax and the Guardians of the Galaxy welcomed Kraglin Obfonteri into the team, while helping Thor lose weight and get back into shape. At one point, they let Thor pull the Benatar for strength training. During a journey to a swamp-filled planet, Drax and his teammates fought off swamp robotic creatures while Thor watched from his perch on a rock.[21]
After Thor’s request, the Guardians traveled to Indigarr, thinking it would be a "relaxing holiday", but ended up facing Habooska the Horrible and his army, they were also accompanied by Korg, Thor's friend. Taking cover from enemy fire, Drax then listened as Thor gave a speech to King Yakan of the Indigarrians and then single-handedly defeated Habooska and his army, accidentally destroying the Sacred Temple in the process. After saving the Indigarrians, Drax and the rest of the Guardians received the thanks of King Yakan.[21]
At the Benatar, Drax and the Guardians argued with Thor for bringing Toothgrinder and Toothgnasher, as they ate control of the distress calls, with Drax stating that he loves the goats, as he tries to calm them down. Later, the Guardians watched the calls for help in horror, discovering that several gods were being killed by Gorr the God Butcher. Before answering the calls, the Guardians saw a distress call by Sif. Thor told them he needed to help her and the Guardians said goodbye to Thor before leaving.[21]
"Over the years, Quill has talked about one person more than any other. A legendary hero who has saved countless lives. We could give him to Quill as a present."
Sometime later, the Guardians of the Galaxy had bought Knowhere from the Collector and decided to rebuild it so that it was liveable again after it had been destroyed by Thanos. They also acquired a new ship as their main source of transportation, and were joined by Cosmo, a dog who they previously encountered on Knowhere in 2014.[6] Like the rest of the Guardians, Drax moved into an apartment.[22]
In late 2025, Drax noticed how weird Peter Quill was acting. Kraglin Obfonteri explained that Christmas was coming up, which is a holiday that Yondu Udonta ruined for Quill. Mantis remarked at how sad the story was. Drax agreed, saying how he hated that nobody died. Mantis then told Drax that she wanted to get Quill a present to make him feel better, reminding him of the secret only he knew, that she was Quill's sister. So Drax came up with the idea to get Quill the person he most admires as a present, Kevin Bacon.[6]
Drax and Mantis set off to Earth, to get Peter Quill's hero, Kevin Bacon. As they entered Hollywood, Mantis wondered why everyone was staring at them. Drax claimed he put cloaking on, but quickly turned it on right in front of Mantis, leading to her remarking that she should have brought Groot.
They touched down in Los Angeles and walked along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where they saw many cosplayers. Mantis mistook one for Captain America, who ran away from them. Drax thought he saw a Go-Bot, and remembering how his cousin was killed by a Go-Bots, he became enraged, but Mantis held him off. Many people around thought that they were cosplayers as well and posed for photos with the two aliens and gave them money, much to their confusion. As Mantis continued posing for photos, Drax returned to the Gp-Bot and repeatedly punched him.
Later that night, they went to a bar to look for Bacon, and used their money to buy drinks. Drax and Mantis did shots together, and enjoyed them. As Mantis went off to dance, Drax stayed at the bar, where he was approached by a man who asked him to join them in dancing. Drax turned down the offer, thinking dancing was pathetic, and they instead did more shots at the bar. Mantis returned and they continued drinking until they ran out of money. As they sat outside now in a drunken state, Drax fell asleep as Mantis acquired them a map that gave directions to Bacon's house.[6]
Drax and Mantis arrived at Kevin Bacon's house and rang his doorbell, but he did not let them in. Drax then threw Mantis over the gate so they could get to the front door. On the way, Drax saw an elf statue and took it. When Bacon told them to leave, Drax crashed through the glass, announcing that Bacon was coming with them as a present. A scared Bacon ran away in his house until he got outside.
Drax being shot at by the police officers
They followed him outside, but on the way out, Drax realized he forgot the elf. Mantis asked if he would really take the elf over Peter Quill's well-being. Drax said yes, but decided to forget it and keep chasing. They leaped over the fences of multiple houses in pursuit of Bacon until they encountered the police. An officer told Drax to stand down, but he continued forward, so she shot him, but it merely tickled him. Mantis incapacitated all of the officers, and Drax flipped over an incoming police car, which he enjoyed, and they went to find Bacon.[6]
Eventually, Mantis finally got Kevin Bacon to go with them by mind-controlling him. They then stole Christmas supplies from a store and left for Knowhere. On the way, Drax was amazed that Bacon saved the world by dancing like an idiot. Bacon told him that that was just a character. Together, Mantis and Drax realized that Bacon was merely an actor, causing Drax to get really mad. Mantis then controlled Bacon to act like a hero.[6]
Celebrating Christmas[]
Drax happily celebrating Christmas
"It's Kevin Bacon. He's not a loser. He's great. We don't hate him at all."
They then gathered up everyone in Knowhere and decorated until Peter Quill came out, amazed to see what they have done. They then unveiled Kevin Bacon. Quill's mood changed as he realized that they kidnapped Bacon. However, Drax did not realize how bad that was. Mantis removed the mind control, causing Bacon to run.
However, Bacon soon came back, agreeing that they needed to learn about Christmas. He then sang along with Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen. During the celebration, Mantis gave Drax the elf statue he found at Kevin Bacon's house as a gift while Groot gave Drax his gift containing a wood carving of him flipping the police car, making him laugh. When the night was over, they group hugged with Bacon before he left for Earth with Kraglin Obfonteri.[6]
Over the next few months, the Guardians of the Galaxy continued working to rebuild Knowhere and turn it into a base of operations for the team. However, during this time, Peter Quill fell into a deep depression, still not over the loss of Gamora. One day, as Drax was working, Mantis asked him to dance with her, but he refused, continuing to insist that dancing was bad. Later, the Guardians discovered that Quill had passed out drunk once again, which both concerned and disappointed them, and they discussed the issue.
That night, Rocket was attacked by Adam Warlock. Drax joined the fight and lifted Adam before punching him in the face. Drax threw Adam around, but he flew back and the two grappled. Adam started to use his energy blasts, so Drax restrained his arms, but Adam was stronger and hit Drax. Knocked to the ground, Drax was unable to get up as Adam stood over him and viciously beat him. Drax was saved by Nebula, who stabbed Adam in the chest, making Drax smile as the foe collapsed to the ground. Groot, who was rendered just a head in the fight, comforted Drax.[22]
"I mean, can't you see these authentic mechanic uniforms that we're wearing on our bodies? That blend in with some of our skin-tones better than others?" "Excuse my friend. He is the bosses nephew. He's a little..."
Rocket was fatally wounded in the fight, so they took him to the Med-Bay in the Bowie. They discovered he had a kill switch inside him that needed a passkey from OrgoCorp to save him, so they left immediately. To get through the Orgoscope's shields, Drax accompanied Peter Quill and Mantis as they bypassed them, eating Zarg-Nuts, which he offered to Quill but not Mantis, which she yelled at him for.
The Bowie was then boarded by the United Ravagers, as Nebula had contacted the alternate Gamora to help them on their mission. Stakar Ogord explained the infiltration plan and supplied the Guardians of the Galaxy with Orgocorp uniforms, although Drax commented on how the uniforms clashed with his eyes, but Ogord ordered him to put it on. The Guardians and Gamora put on Space Suits and descended onto the Orgoscope's surface. While Nebula cut through the surface, Quill tried to talk privately to Gamora, but all of the Guardians could hear.
After getting inside, they were immediately discovered by Master Karja, but they were able to maintain their cover, with Drax once again bringing up his distaste for the color of their uniforms. However, they did lose their Space Suits, as they were put in the decontamination pod that released them into space. They then split into two teams, with Drax and Mantis accessing the spaceport so they could escape, while Quill, Nebula and Gamora retrieved the passkey. Drax and Mantis took an elevator down to the spaceport, where Mantis used her powers to make a guard fall in love with Drax to let them through.
Drax and Mantis found the spaceport, but they were surrounded by the Orgosentries, so Mantis felt they should run, but Drax wanted to fight. The two were forced to fight, much to Drax's enjoyment, as he brawled with and threw several Orgosentries around, which he enthusiastically celebrated. When Drax turned around, Master Karja shot him in the chest, sending Drax flying. Badly hurt, Mantis tried to help him, but Drax was shot again in the back by Master Karja, so they surrendered. They were saved by Quill who hacked the Orgosentries' suits, allowing them to escape on the Bowie.[22]
"I got a bad feeling about this." "Peter just told you to stay here." "Yeah, well, that's his fault. He should know by now that I never do anything that anyone ever tells me."
On the Bowie, Drax recovered from his wounds and the Guardians of the Galaxy viewed Rocket's file and witnessed the torture that he underwent at the hands of the High Evolutionary. They noticed that the passkey had been deleted by Theel, so they decided to track him down and recover it. Mantis enlisted Drax with giving advice to Peter Quill on her behalf. Drax repeated Mantis' words perfectly, but Quill was suspicious of Drax using analogies, so Drax tried to give his own examples, blowing Mantis' cover.
The Guardians arrived at Counter-Earth, where they encountered the Humanimals, who were hesitant of the team. A child passed her ball to Drax so he tried to playfully pass it back, but instead knocked her over, causing the Humanimals to treat them as hostiles and they attacked the Guardians. Drax initially laughed as Quill was hit in the head, but then he also fell under attack, so Groot scared the Humanimals away. However, one of the Humanimals, Neelie invited the Guardians into her home.
Inside, Drax immediately laid his whole body on the couch, so the Guardians told him off for being rude, but Drax didn't understand what the problem was. Quill explained their situation to Neelie, and Drax tried to lay back down, but Quill scolded him once again. When Quill drew Theel to show Neelie, Drax was genuinely impressed by the sketch and asked if he could keep to hang in his apartment. Neelie pointed them towards Arête Laboratories, so Quill told Drax and Mantis to stay and protect Rocket while the rest headed there, although Drax wanted to come along.
However, Drax did not like staying behind so he stole a motorcycle to take to Arête Laboratories. Mantis reminded him that Quill ordered them to protect Rocket, but Drax stated that he never did what he is told. Mantis was adamant on staying, so Drax tricked Mantis by claiming that he was only going to ride back to the Bowie. Mantis got on the bike, and Drax headed straight to Arête Laboratories, which began to ascend right as the planet was being destroyed. Nebula contacted them to bring the ship to her, but Drax informed her they weren't with the ship, and she turned around to see the two of them behind her.[22]
"They're gonna tell the other kids to stay away from the starboard wall." "Why didn't you tell us you knew their language this whole time?" "Why didn't you ask?"
The three jumped onto Arête Laboratories but were unable to get inside as it ascended into space. Before the trio passed out from lack of oxygen, Drax was able to break down the door, where they discovered children locked in cages.
Drax celebrated saving them, but it was cut short by Nebula pushing him. She yelled at him for going against orders and began to berate Drax for being stupid, saying that made him a liability. Mantis came to Drax's defence, stating that it wasn't his fault he was stupid, but that he loved them, and that's what mattered. Mantis addressed that although Drax had sadness in his past, he was the only one who didn't hate himself, and so she didn't care he was stupid. However, Drax was hurt by being called stupid, so Mantis used her powers to make Drax forget what they said.
Drax freed the imprisoned children as Nebula made contacted with Peter Quill, who had already gotten off the ship. While Drax played with the children, he told Nebula to tell Quill that they were going to rescue him, having not paid attention to the conversation, frustrating Nebula. They then heard Rocket's voice, and the three were relieved to learn that he was alive. They were interrupted when the High Evolutionary arrived and knocked Drax, Nebula and Mantis unconscious, and threw them in a pit.
They were found by some of the children that escaped, and realizing that Quill was heading to rescue them, they needed to stay clear of the starboard wall. After Nebula and Mantis scared the children, Drax, possessing the skills to talk to children, stepped in and was able to calm them down. Drax told them about his daughter and how she enjoyed when he made monkey noises. Drax then pretended to be a monkey and told the children, in their language, the plan. Nebula questioned Drax on why he didn't say he knew the language, but Drax wondered why she never asked.
The walls of the pit them lifted, and the three found themselves surrounded by three Abilisks. They tried to escape, but were cut off at every turn, rendering them trapped, so Drax and Nebula protected Mantis. However, when all hope seemed lost, Mantis stepped out and approached one of the Abilisks, reminding them that Abilisks only ate batteries, not people, and suspected the creatures were just scared. Drax and Nebula then watched as Mantis touched one of the Abilisks, which did not attack her, and she used her empathic powers to calm the creatures.[22]
Drax, Nebula and Mantis were able to ride on the Abilisks through Arête Laboratories. They headed to the starboard, where they were reunited with Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot. The three informed the others about the children and creatures trapped onboard, with Drax stating that they needed to be good "joob joob," explaining that it meant friends. They all noticed Rocket had headed off to save them, so the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy followed his lead.
The Guardians entered a hallway filled with the High Evolutionary's guards and Hell Spawn, and as a team, they managed to successfully defeat every single enemy. Star-Lord made a plan for them to connect the hole in Arête Laboratories to Knowhere, so Drax joined Star-Lord, Mantis, Groot and Gamora to rescue the children while Rocket and Nebula piloted the ship. Returning to the cages, Drax was reunited with Phyla, and with the other Guardians' help, they were able to free the children and escort them to the hole that was connected to Knowhere and helped them get to the other side safely.
Groot had saved Adam Warlock and brought him to Knowhere, and when he asked Groot why he saved him, Drax translated and told Adam that he said everyone deserves a second chance. When they noticed Rocket hadn't returned, the Guardians went searching and found him fighting the High Evolutionary. The rest of the Guardians joined in, with Drax slamming his body to the ground and punching him into the air. Once defeated, Drax urged Rocket to kill him, but he instead spared the High Evolutionary. The Guardians rushed back to Knowhere with the caged animals,[22] and Drax carried the High Evolutionary just before the ship exploded.[23]
In the aftermath of the battle, the Guardians of the Galaxy were summoned together and listened to Peter Quill reveal that he was leaving the team and returning to Earth. Mantis also revealed that she was leaving, wanting to go out on her own. Drax said he would join her, feeling that he needed to protect her, but Mantis didn't objected.
Nebula interrupted to tell Drax that she needed him to stay on Knowhere, as she had a lot to deal with creating a new society, and the Star Children were going to need someone to take care of them. Nebula acknowledged that she finally saw who Drax really was, stating that he was not meant to be "The Destroyer," but was always born to be a father. Drax was touched by Nebula's words and accepted the responsibility. With everyone going their separate ways, Rocket Raccoon thought the Guardians were over, but Quill appointed him captain, and the others saluted the new leader.
They all then exited the bar, where Drax went to see Mantis off before she departed. Drax and Mantis shared a look at each other, with Drax tearing up to see his best friend leave. The two waved goodbye to each other, and Drax watched as Mantis walked away along with the three Abilisks she rescued. Rocket had played music through the speakers on Knowhere and all the citizens were dancing, so some of the children dragged Drax to the festivities. Although he had never danced before due to disliking it, Drax joined in, laughing giddily and letting out a loud cheer as he celebrated their victory.[22]
Personality[]
"It's not his fault he's stupid." "He's a liability." "He makes us laugh and he loves us. How is that a liability?"
Underneath Drax's brutish appearance, serious demeanor, and seemingly unquenchable murderous rage, due to his quest to avenge his family, belies a sense of honor and a calm mind capable of strategy and refined eloquence. He was capable of elaborated speech filled with vocabulary few would expect someone like him to know when calm, enough to prompt Peter Quill to call him a thesaurus, which he disliked as he did not understand that it was a metaphor. As such, Drax demonstrated many times a severe lack of understanding for metaphors and symbolism, noted to be a trait of his people by Rocket Raccoon.
His rage and hatred for Ronan the Accuser often made him highly impatient with his new teammates when he did not see that they could beat Ronan. This made him act without thinking of the consequences, such as getting Ronan to come to Knowhere in order to fight him, which lead to Ronan obtaining the Orb, nearly destroying his friends, and eventually lead to the Battle of Xandar and near destruction of the planet at Ronan's hands. He felt great remorse towards his rashness and selfishly endangering others for his own vengeance, prompting him to work better with his team. However, his vengefulness then made him want to kill Thanos when he rationalized that Ronan was only a puppet. His wrath, as well as his calm demeanor, also hide his sadness and grief over his family, though Mantis was able to sense and experience it and was driven to tears while Drax remained outwardly unfazed, only showing some somberness.
Despite his calm nature in most situations, Drax's unending hatred for Thanos remains as strong as ever even four years after swearing to kill him and finding solace with the Guardians. Upon encountering an illusion of the Mad Titan on Knowhere, his serenity dissipates to the point where he seethes with rage and had to be restrained by Quill and Mantis before he attempted to kill him. Nevertheless, Drax does not associate his hatred with anything related to Thanos such as his daughters in contrast to the Drax that was willing to kill Gamora in the Kyln just to hurt Ronan. When he grabbed Gamora in Knowhere, Drax screamed at Thanos to let her go and bravely charged at him with only two knives despite him being equipped with three of Infinity Stones at the time. Drax later screamed at Thanos upon arriving on Titan, immediately throwing his knife at him without any care that it may not be Thanos or his minion, but someone else and later on unhesitatingly and ferociously fought the Titan alongside Doctor Strange. Drax was also in disbelief that Mantis claims Thanos was in mourning on Titan due to his strong belief that he was a monster with no redeeming qualities, which proved to be not entirely correct, as Thanos does have the same (though much more twisted) love for Gamora that Drax felt for his own daughter.
Though his warrior mentality caused him to appear brooding and serious, Drax expressed an immature and childish excitement for battle and adventure and was often thrilled when faced with dangerous and tense situations. As such, he was laughing jovially when fighting guards at the Kyln and when crashing into the Dark Aster with his team. Drax has an uncanny affinity for knives, making them his weapon of choice in most situations, regardless of the size and type of foes he fought unless forced otherwise. It was so well known that Moloka Dar attempted to appease him by offering Drax his own. Despite this, he was willing to use other weapons, such as the Hadron Enforcer.
Although Drax has grown fond of his teammates, his social skills leave much to be desired as he called Gamora a "green whore" when telling her she is his friend along with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Ironically, he will not hesitate to harm or even kill anyone who insults his friends, as he blasted Nebula with a rocket launcher as she was insulting Gamora, before calmly stating no one could speak to his friends in such a manner. Though unlikely to admit being so, he was shown time and again to have a soft side to him, enough to comfort his friend, Rocket, when the latter seemingly lost his friend, Groot.
After the battle with Ronan, Drax attempted to learn more about living as a modern citizen to avoid getting into any more trouble with the law since his records have been expunged. He, in turn, experienced trouble understanding this concept, he asked if he could rip out a man's spine if he annoys him, which Rhomann Dey reminded him was murder, and therefore, illegal.
For Drax, his exploits with the Guardians of the Galaxy have been a journey of renewal. The trauma he suffered after losing his family was so severe that he lost himself to rage and revenge. Yet the new family Drax has found has provided him some peace and allowed him to reconcile the loss of his wife and daughter. In the Guardians, Drax finds an adopted family that share similar experiences of loss and hardship. In particular, Drax finds a daughter figure in Mantis, whom he sees as sharing the same innocence that his daughter once had.
Drax consistently displayed a dislike for dancing. He fell in love with his wife because she was the only one of their people who was not dancing during a party at their village. Drax would go so far as to put people into two categories: those who danced and those who didn't. Drax would maintain this mentality for several years, refusing to dance whenever anyone asked him. However, Drax would finally change his attitude after the Guardians' victory over the High Evolutionary. As the rescued children brought him into the group to dance to the music, Drax conceded and began wildly dancing with the rest of the children.
Although Drax was lacking in terms of socializing and understanding complicated speech, as noted by Mantis, he is the only Guardian who isn’t afraid to be himself, while other members of the Guardians are flawed to some extent. As such, Drax’s naivety was actually a form of self-acceptance and stems from his heart. Despite this, Drax was emotionally sensitive to what his friends and others thought of him, which was first shown when Mantis in her attempt to warn him of Ego's intentions remarked that she didn't like Drax's species, offending Drax in the process, while reassuring him she wasn't sexually interested in him. This was again shown when Nebula lashed out at him during an argument for disobeying Quill's order for him to protect Rocket, calling him a liability to the team due to his naivety and his occasional tendency to ruin the Guardians’ plans, and when Mantis expressed her belief that Drax was stupid even though she still cared for him. As a result of that and his remorse over his actions in disobeying Quill's order, Drax temporarily became despondent, which forced Mantis to erase Drax's memories of the argument.
Even though he is violent during battles, he is still a caring individual. When rescuing the Star Children imprisoned by the High Evolutionary, Drax showcased his fatherly side. The Star Children reminded Drax of his deceased daughter and family, and Drax is the only Guardian who could communicate with the Star Children to convince them to escape with them, while Drax also displaying the lighter side of him by entertaining the kids and pretending to be animal to cheer the kids up after Nebula and Mantis scared them. Despite his muscular appearance and harsh attitudes, Drax is capable of love and care towards children as he was once also a father, and meeting the Star Children reignited this love for younglings. This changed Nebula’s views towards Drax, as Nebula was previously often frustrated by Drax's naivety and his occasional rebellious nature, even though she still cared for him enough to save him from Adam Warlock's attack. In the end, Drax’s fatherly side was appreciated by Nebula as the latter gained more respect for Drax and even invited him to stay behind in Knowhere and help raise the Star Children, and Drax is able to embrace his new role as a father to the children.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
"Ha! You're lucky I was able to knock down that door with my incredible strength."
Drax has much more physical prowess than most species, being able to lift the bulk weight, break through stone and metal with ease, and rip machines in half with his bare hands. Using his brute strength alone, ripped off pieces of Groot, and pulled out Korath's cybernetic implant from his head. His strength has allowed him to overpower many enemies and toss them aside, to the point where he could easily restrain Gamora with one hand, brawl with Groot and effortlessly take out most of Ronan's forces. While escaping prison, Drax was capable of easily ripping a Kyln security drone in half. He was also able to match and eventually overpower the cybernetically augmented Kree Korath. The strength of Drax also extends to his legs, allowing him to jump great heights at a single leap; he was able to catch a drone several feet off the ground with a single leap, and also was able to jump several meters to attack Ronan the Accuser and later did the same to begin his battle with Thanos. Despite his incredible strength, Drax was easily beaten half to death by Ronan, although he could still fight against him for a time, and was effortlessly overpowered by Thanos, who had no problem parrying Drax's knife attacks and knocking him out with a single punch that Drax could not deflect even with his knives, although he managed to injure Thanos slightly on the leg using his knives when he had him off-guard as well as with aid from Doctor Strange's Eldritch Whips, Spider-Man's web, and Star-Lord's Gravity Mine fired from his blaster, Drax even managed to restrain Thanos long enough for Mantis to briefly subdue him so Iron Man and Spider-Man may attempt to pull the Infinity Gauntlet from his left arm. Drax can also throw his knives with immense force, enough to pierce Doctor Strange's twin Tao Mandalas. Aboard the Benatar, Drax was the one designated to restrain the rambunctious Toothgnasher. While kidnapping Kevin Bacon, Drax threw Mantis over his gate in order to infiltrate his home. He then proceeded to smash through Bacon's window. Later, he also flipped over a police car with little force. During the Attack on Rocket, Drax was able to throw Adam Warlock into a wall and his punches were doing damage to Adam's durable skin. To save the Star Children, Drax easily broke metal cages. In the Infiltration into the Orgoscope, Drax fought off several soldiers, knocking them out easily and throwing them at great distances. Drax also managed to break down a huge door before being frozen in space. In the Attack on Arête Laboratories, Drax forcefully opened a metal door to enter the battle, managing to throw several humanoid soldiers and even Hell Spawns at great distances. He managed to easily rip out the guts of one Hell Spawn.
Superhuman Durability:
Drax withstanding machine gunfire
Drax can withstand attacks that most species cannot. Drax has withstood a beating from Ronan the Accuser, who sent Drax flying several dozen feet through a metal wall. Also in the Guardians' battle with Ronan aboard the Dark Aster, Drax was able to survive the impact of Rocket's M-Ship crashing into him, although he was knocked unconscious, and sustained no injuries when he was set on fire and flung against several trees as the Milano crashed onto Berhert while he was tethered to the outside of the ship. Drax had even survived being smashed to the ground when the Abilisk's tentacles grabbed him and later during the Battle on Ego's Planet, Drax effortlessly landed on his feet completely unharmed after falling from the Laser Drill. Drax's skin is much denser than average and is thus impact resistant and difficult to be cut with bladed and piercing weapons.[24] Due to this, Drax was able to withstand being accidentally pierced by a Yaka Arrow by Kraglin Obfonteri. He also can easily survive falls from great heights and land on his feet. Drax was even able to withstand a powerful blow from Thanos himself, which knocked him through stones, and then was able to withstand being hurled off Thanos and quickly recover to attempt to battle him again alongside Nebula and Quill, surviving a powerful shockwave from the Power Stone, although it knocked him out for a while. However, Drax has his limits, as both Mantis and Doctor Strange doubted he could withstand a point-blank blast to his face from Iron Man's nanotech suit. He also easily withstood gunshots from police officers and even laughed, remarking at how it tickled. While distracted, Drax survived two shots from Master Karja's gun, but was injured. In the Attack on Arête Laboratories, Drax was able to withstand the quantum blast of an Abilisk and easily tanked a hit from a Hell Spawn, who are creatures capable of destroying entire buildings.
Drax has a higher level of agility than most others, leaping great distances or great heights with precision.[24] He was able to precisely take down enemies, such as leaping onto a Kyln guard's shoulder to kick a guard behind him. He jumped many feet into an Abilisk's mouth. He was also able to jump at Thanos and successfully strike him with his knives, and later easily leap onto Cull Obsidian's back. Drax also easily jumped over the gate of Kevin Bacon's house and later chased him in the street leaping at great heights alongside Mantis. In the Battle of Counter-Earth, Drax jumps a great distance to reach the High Evolutionary's ship alongside Mantis and Nebula. During the Attack on Arête Laboratories, Drax managed to leap across the room to fight a Hell Spawn.
Superhuman Stamina: Drax can fight alongside the rest of the Guardians for great periods of time. He fought Thanos without any visible tiring and even fought an alternate Thanos along with his entire army.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Drax's cells regenerate much faster than most species. During his fight with Ronan, Drax suffered several bruises and cuts on his face; however, when he was removed from the yellow liquid tank, he was completely healed. In particular, Drax's skin cells have a drastically higher regenerative rate than his other cells, allowing him to recover from superficial and light wounds faster.[24]
Abilities[]
"You know who I am, yes?" "You're Drax. The Destroyer." "And you know why they call me this?" "You slayed dozens of Ronan's minions."
Drax has proven to be a brutal, yet accomplished combatant, able to overpower multiple opponents, including several Kyln guards and Sakaaran warriors with little effort. Drax was also capable of fighting equally with the highly trained and cybernetically enhanced Kree Korath, eventually managing to kill him. However, Drax was easily outmatched by Ronan the Accuser despite lasting better than most against the Kree General and despite engaging him with Doctor Strange, was swiftly beaten by Thanos, who effortlessly knocked him out with a single blow before he overwhelmed Strange, too. Drax held his own for the longest amount of time against Adam Warlock, who was able to make quick work of Nebula and Mantis.
"I would not slice his throat. I would cut his head clean off."
Drax is highly skilled in using knives, particularly his own dual knives, that he used to take down many Sakaaran soldiers and even land a strike on Thanos and fight against the Titan alongside Strange using a sword made of Eldritch Magic, although only briefly. He can also skillfully throw his knives.
Expert Marksman: Drax was able to use the Hadron Enforcer to accurately shoot and destroy Ronan's Universal Weapon once Rocket repaired it, exposing the Power Stone and allowing the Guardians to defeat Ronan. Using a blaster, Drax was additionally able to shoot down Zylak's Omnicraft mid-flight. Drax could also accurately throw his dual knives, as he almost hit Doctor Strange if not for his Tao Mandalas. In the Battle of Indigarr, Drax used guns to shoot at the Booskans.
Pilot: Drax was able to co-pilot the Bowie, along with Mantis, as they made their way to Knowhere after kidnapping Kevin Bacon.
Multilingualism: Drax is fluent in his native language and he can understand Groot after spending years connecting with him. He also speaks Orbose, despite the language being inaccessible by a Translator Implant.
Drax's weapons of choice are two knives which he often takes into battle. Due to his main knives being taken away by the Kyln guards, Drax briefly used Moloka Dar's knives until he got his own back. He then used the knives to battle Ronan the Accuser during the Skirmish on Knowhere as well as fighting against the Sakaarans during the Battle of Xandar, using them for both close-quarters combat as well as using them as throwing knives. He continued to use them alongside the Guardians, notably when he attempted to stab the Abilisk to death, but to no avail. Drax armed himself with his knives when he prepared to confront Thanos on Knowhere, but he was quickly stopped in his tracks when Thanos altered his biology with the Reality Stone. He used the knives as a part of Quill's plan to incapacitate Thanos on Titan, slashing his legs with them. Though he disappeared from the Snap, Drax kept his knives after the Blip and used them to stab Cull Obsidian during the Battle of Earth.
"The lunatic on top of this craft is holding a Hadron Enforcer. It's a weapon of my own design."
Drax used one of Rocket's jet-pack like devices to seamlessly fly through the air while carrying Mantis to safety.
Space Suit: A special suit used to survive in the vacuum of space. Drax and the other Guardians of the Galaxy used the suits until Mantis accidentally threw them away.
Drax and the rest of the future Guardians of the Galaxy used the Milano to escape the Kyln, and used it to travel to Knowhere, hoping to sell the Orb. Drax, Rocket, and Groot later used the Milano to threaten the Ravagers, hoping to get Peter Quill and Gamora saved. Drax and the rest of the Guardians crashed Milano into Ronan the Accuser's ship, and it was later repaired as the Guardians began using it as their base of operations, where Drax sharpened his knife, getting distracted by Groot dancing. Drax was in the ship while Quill and Rocket piloted it away from a Sovereign fleet following the theft of the Sovereign's Anulax Batteries, and Drax tethered himself to the ship while jumping out into space to defend it. However, the ship then crashed on Berhert, and Drax left it on the planet to go to Ego's planet.
Eclector: Drax boarded the Eclector following Peter Quill and Gamora's abduction by the Ravagers. The Guardians of the Galaxy all met on the ship and discussed Ronan the Accuser's possession of the Orb, all agreeing to stop Ronan. Drax and the rest of the Guardians prepared for battle and shared their plan with the Ravagers on the ship.
Drax fled the Battle on Ego's Planet onto a quadrant of the Eclector, bringing Mantis with him. The rest of the Guardians made it to the quadrant safely, except for Yondu Udonta, who sacrificed himself for Quill. Drax and the other Guardians mourned Udonta in the Quadrant and held a funeral for him, watching as other Ravager clans came together and held a Ravagers' funeral for him.
Dark Aster: Drax and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy broke into the Dark Aster and fought their way through several guards, eventually reaching Ronan the Accuser, who Drax began fighting. The ship began to fall apart and crash, so Groot covered Drax and the others with his own body, sacrificing himself for the team.
Ego's Ship: Ego brought Drax, Peter Quill, and Gamora to his planet using his ship. While on the ship, Drax and Quill made a bet about what Mantis' antennae were for, and they discussed Mantis' ability to read people's emotions. Drax enjoyed Mantis revealing Quill's were for, and Mantis joined Drax's enjoyment. Mantis also explained that she could people to sleep, and demonstrated her ability on Drax at his own request.
Laser Drill: Drax and the other Guardians of the Galaxy boarded a laser drill and used it to go to Ego's core, hoping to destroy it and kill the Celestial. However, the ship got a hole in the bottom, which Drax fell out of.
The Guardians of the Galaxy used the Benatar following the destruction of the Milano. They responded to a distress call on the ship, causing the team to meet Thor and learn that Thanos was looking for the Infinity Stones. Drax took the Benatar to Knowhere, hoping to stop Thanos from getting the Reality Stone there, but failed. Drax and the team then took the ship to Titan, where they again confronted Thanos and Drax was killed in the Snap. Five years later, Drax returned and helped defeat Thanos, and the team again took off in the Benatar, leaving Earth with Thor.
In December 2025, Drax and Mantis used the Bowie to go to Earth to kidnap Kevin Bacon. Both of them later returned to Knowhere with Bacon. In the following year, Drax and the Guardians used the Bowie to help find information to operate on Rocket.
Drax was imprisoned in the Kyln for 22 counts of murder and five counts of grievous bodily harm. He approached Gamora shortly after she was incarcerated in an attempt to kill her for her affiliation with Ronan the Accuser and Thanos, but he was convinced by Star-Lord to spare her because she was no longer associated with them, as well as that he would have the opportunity to confront Ronan for himself. Drax later escaped alongside Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot and Rocket after helping the latter two dispatch of the prison's security hoverbots.
In the comics, Drax was a human named Arthur Douglas whose wife was killed by Thanos. His daughter, Heather Douglas, survived and was found by Thanos' father.
In the movie, it required Drax plus three of the other Guardians to control the power of the Orb for just a moment. However, in the comics, an incarnation of Drax managed to easily control the Power Gem by himself.
Drax's skin tone was changed from the bright green in the comics to a muddier grey, to avoid visual similarities to Hulk.
