Comics
Thanos
Iron Man #55 · 1973
The comic book villain who became a household name overnight
Threat index 90
Cosmic Threat · Comics
Galactus
Not evil. Hungry.
Attribute scores
Power100
Intellect92
Menace94
Fear factor80
Cultural impact84
Charisma58
Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.
Who they are
Galactus eats planets because that is what he is, the way a storm is not cruel for making landfall. He is one of the great conceptual leaps in comics: an antagonist with no malice, no negotiation and no crime, whose defeat requires convincing him rather than beating him. Kirby's design, a figure the size of a skyline in a purple helmet, still looks like nothing else.
Defining traits
Planetary consumptionThe Power CosmicHeralds who scout for himNo moral frameworkEffectively unkillable
What makes them dangerous
His arrival is an extinction event, and stopping him requires a weapon that could unmake the universe.
And what undoes them
He honors bargains and can be reasoned with, which makes him the rare villain talked into leaving.
Things you might not know
- Kirby has said he designed him after wondering what a being that had met God would look like.
- He arrived as part of a three-issue run widely regarded as the high point of 1960s superhero comics.
- Removing him from existence has been shown to cause worse cosmic consequences, so heroes keep him alive.
Why number 1 in Most Powerful
He eats planets to survive and requires universe-ending weaponry to inconvenience. Nothing else on this list operates as a routine extinction event.
Why number 6 in Most Dangerous
He is not malicious, which is why he ranks here instead of first, but his arrival is an extinction event for whatever planet he reaches.
Why number 11 in Comics
A villain with no malice and no crime, who has to be argued with rather than beaten. That was a genuine conceptual leap in 1966.
If you like this villain
Comics
Comics
Lex Luthor
Action Comics #23 · 1940
Humanity's greatest mind, ruined by one man who can fly
Threat index 77