Name: Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan

Superhero Name: Gamora

Created By: Jim Starlin

Played By: Zoe Saldana

Powers: Superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability and reflexes, regenerative healing, an expert markswoman, hand-to-hand combatant and assassin

Mini Bio: Gamora is the last survivor of a peace-loving race of aliens known as Zen Whoberis, whose entire population was wiped out by a zealous religious order seeking to create and rule a galaxy-wide empire. Thanos saved Gamora from the massacre, adopting her as his own daughter and putting her through a childhood of torturous training until she became the deadliest woman in the galaxy.

This training involved pitting her against his other adoptive daughter, Nebula, using the tension between the sisters to his advantage. Thanos did sometimes show Gamora affection, such as celebrating the religious holiday of Yule, but he was still a manipulative taskmaster who used Gamora and Nebula for his own ends.

Those ends were to send Gamora to assassinate Magus, a twisted version of Adam Warlock from an alternative future. Before he could send her on this mission, he sent her on a practice mission – to kill those who killed her people. On this mission, she found some exiled Zen-Whoberiss, and realised that her life had been consumed by revenge, with nothing left outside of that mission.

Gamora tried to help the last of her people but was captured by Nebula and taken back to Thanos. She was ordered to become Magus’ bodyguard, in the hopes that getting her close to him would give her a chance to assassinate him. Magus saw through this, and prevented Gamora from ever getting close, though she did still manage to help Adam Warlock to defeat his evil future self in the end.

Gamora returned to Thanos again, only to be attacked by Drax the Destroyer, who was seeking to kill him. It was here that she found out about Thanos’ overarching plan – to wipe out the universe to impress the celestial embodiment of Death. She tried to stop him, but Thanos killed her first. Adam Warlock found her and saved what was left of her life force by letting the Soul Stone absorb her consciousness.

She would be resurrected during the Infinity Gauntlet crisis and stood by Adam Warlock to defeat Thanos. After the battle was over, Gamora worked with Adam Warlock and his Infinity Watch, personally guarding the Time Stone, all while hiding her feelings for Adam. This caused tension between her and the rest of the team until she left to become an assassin for hire for a few years. Gamora and Adam eventually met again and fell in love, but things didn’t work out between the two.

After the Annihilation event, Gamora joined the Guardians Of The Galaxy, though she wasn’t entirely trusted for a long time due to her past. It took time, but she did eventually earn their trust, and has since helped them save the galaxy multiple times and helped fight in Civil War II on both sides of the argument.

Currently, her and the rest of the Guardians team are the officially sanctioned protectors of the cosmos.

Interesting trivia: As a child, Gamora could see Death (as in the cosmic entity of Death) even if she wasn’t close to dying herself, it is currently unknown if she still can do this though.

First Comic Appearance: Strange Tales issue 180 (1975)

Most Common Team Ups: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Nova Corps, Infinity Watch, Thanos

Comic Recommendations: Strange Tales issue 180 (1975), Warlock And The Infinity Watch (1975) by Jim Starlin, Guardians Of The Galaxy by Dan Abnett (2008), Gamora: Memento Mori (2017) by Nicole Perlman