Drax the Destroyer

Origin

Born in California, Arthur Douglas married Yvette and raised a daughter named Heather (who later became Moondragon). One day, while traveling through the Mojave Desert on their way to Los Angeles, they witnessed a spaceship above. In the spaceship was Thanos, who had been on a mission to survey Earth. To rid any evidence of his existence, Thanos destroyed the car with Douglas family still inside. Mentor, who was monitoring Thanos’ surveillance of Earth at the time, found out that Heather survived the attack, so he took her back to his planet, Titan. Mentor believed that Thanos had grown too dangerous and that he needed to be stopped so he called upon Kronos to find and seize the consciousness of Arthur Douglas before it was too late.

Kronos and Mentor created a body which had superhuman powers and installed Arthur’s spirit in it, in the process creating Drax the Destroyer. All of Arthur’s past memories were removed and replaced with the hate and pure desire to kill Thanos. Along with Iron Man, Drax battled Thanos and the Blood Brothers. Thanos fled and for years, Drax chased him and had brief encounters with him but never killed him.

Creation

Drax the Destroyer was created by Jim Starlin and debuted with the scripting assistance of Mike Friedrich. He debuted along with some other prominent characters who would go on to define Starlin’s cosmic arena, namely Thanos and the other Eternals of Titan.

Character Evolution

Thanos’ Nemesis

Though created as an archenemy to Thanos, Drax proved to be less popular than his hated prey and was subsequently overshadowed by Thanos in the years to come. The likes of Adam Warlock and Captain Marvel rose to take his place as Thanos’ primary adversaries, and Drax was killed off.

Infinity Watch

Starlin soon brought Drax back but with major alterations to the character. Drax was now larger than he had been before, and his intelligence was severely diminished, making him child-like and prone to tantrums. Understandably, “Space Hulk” became a term used to describe him. Starlin’s cosmic stories found a new level of popular with the Infinity Gauntlet event, and Drax was one of the characters who rode this wave. As a member of the Infinity Watch, Drax was a major character in Starlin’s ongoing saga with Adam Warlock over the next few years. Though the character was a source of some drama, this incarnation of Drax was largely used for comic relief and heavyweight action.

Annihilation

After returning to cosmic obscurity for several years, Drax was on the receiving end of another major alteration, but this time is came from writer Keith Giffen, who wrote a limited series surprisingly starring Drax as the lead. This saw Drax get a major redesign but also be returned to something much closer to the cunning and determined hunter of Thanos he was originally meant to be, salvaging him from being the joke character he had come to be seen as by readership. Giffen went on to write the Annihilation event, restructuring and revitalizing Marvel’s cosmic franchise. Drax was one of the breakout stars and was repositioned as one of Marvel’s major cosmic characters along with Nova. He soon starred as one of the main characters in the new Guardians of the Galaxy series.

Major Story Arcs

Fighting Thanos

Drax finally got his chance to battle Thanos during Thano’s quest to get the Cosmic Cube. Drax, along with the Avengers, Moondragon, and Captain Marvel, battled and eventually destroyed Thanos. However, after finding out Thanos had rematerialized, Drax searched the Galaxy for the resurrected Thanos. Though before Drax could battle him, he found out that Thanos had once again been destroyed in a battle with the Avengers, Captain Marvel, and Adam Warlock.

Later when Drax was possessed an Alien entity, he battled Thor and Moondragon. After recovering from the possession, Drax is asked by Moondragon to join her on her journey in search of knowledge. Eventually, they came upon the planet Ba-Banis, a world of humanoid aliens caught in a vast civil war. Moondragon used her mental powers to quell the conflict and then decided to set herself up as the world’s goddess. Recognizing that her ambitions were not honorable, Drax sent their ship to Earth with a holographic distress message. The Avengers responded and discovered Moondragon’s world of mentally enforced tranquility. Freed by the Avengers from his daughter’s mental domination, Drax sought to end her menace but was stopped by Moondragon when she used her mental powers to force Drax’s life essence to vacate his artificial body. The Avengers subdued Moondragon and brought Drax’s body back to Earth. They put Drax in the ship Sensia, sent the ship into space, and set it for self-destruction. Drax’s body was destroyed when the ship exploded but without his spirit inside.

Resurrection

When Death resurrected Thanos years after Drax’s death, Kronos decided it was time to bring Drax back. He resurrected him and gave him a better physical structure and strength and again installed the hate and desire to destroy Thanos. But Kronos had not realized that when Moondragon mentally damaged Drax’s mind, that he would be left a mindless, confused brute, with a taste for Earth’s television program ‘ Alf‘. Drax had occasional memory breakthroughs when he watched an “I Love Lucy” rerun on TV and had a passing familiarity with his daughter Moondragon when they first meet after his reincarnation. She was scared that he might retaliate if he remembered what she did to him, but the memory passed without incident.

In his renewed quest to destroy Thanos, Drax encountered Thanos’ new nemesis, the Silver Surfer, and together they ventured into soul world, where they encountered Adam Warlock, Gamora and Pip the Troll, all who were pivotal in Warlock’s decision to return to the land of the living. Drax joined the heroes’ assault on Thanos during ‘ The Infinity Gauntlet‘ ordeal and was one of the very few heroes who wasn’t killed during the conflict; being present up to the very end when Thanos’ so-called granddaughter Nebula held the gauntlet.

Infinity Watch

Following Thanos’ defeat and the subsequent breakup of the Infinity Gauntlet, Drax was chosen by Adam Warlock to safeguard the Power Gem as part of the Infinity Watch, alongside his daughter Moondragon and Gamora. When presented with the Power Gem, unlike most of the other Infinity Watch members who wore their gems upon their brow, Drax mistook the gem for a jelly bean and ingested it. Luckily, the gem was indigestible and instead resided within Drax for a few years, having lodged itself within him (rather than passing through). During his time as a largely earth-based superhero, Drax, with the power gem, would prove to be stronger than even the Hulk, though his diminished mental faculties would hold him back in more ways than one, including his inability to land gracefully when flying ( and always causing great amounts of property damage as a running gag).

Towards the end of the Infinity Watch’s existence, Moondragon was critically injured during a mission and was put into a full body cast, whom Drax dutifully watched over. Eventually, due to internal strife and the disappearance of the Infinity Gems, the Watch fragmented and went their separate ways. Drax returned to Titan with Moondragon, who successfully petitioned Chronos to restore Drax’s mind to its former acuity (and Drax for Moondragon’s restored health), at the expense of some physical power.

A short time later, Drax was accused of murdering Elysius (wife of the late Captain Marvel and mother of Genis-Vell) and several others. Warlock, along with Gamora, Pip, and Genis-Vell , tracked Drax down and subdued him in time to find out that the real culprit was the re-animated corpse of the original Captain Marvel. Using his soul-gem, Warlock traced the being controlling the corpse, a creature within the Negative Zone known as Syphon, who was using the Nega-Bands as a conduit. Felled by a backlash of psychic energy, Warlock was unable to stop the transfer of the Nega-Bands to the unconscious Drax, who flew off into space. Warlock then gathered his allies and pursued Drax, finding that Syphon was using Drax and the bands to rip a portal into the Negative Zone, which threatened the structure of the Universe. Summoning all of his strength, Warlock pulled Drax free and removed the Nega-Bands, causing the portal to shrink. But before the portal could completely close, Syphon pulled Warlock into the Negative Zone, and, in front of Blastaar and Annihilus, took Warlock’s gem, and used it to re-open the portal.

Warlock recovered but without his soul-gem, had little chance of subduing both Blastaar and Annihilus before Syphon was successful. Fortunately, Drax arrived with Pip, Gamora, and Genis-Vell to aid Warlock. As his friends fought on, Warlock went on to damage Syphon’s conqueror wheel, thus closing the portal once more. Syphon attempted to use the soul-gem to kill Warlock, but found his attack turned upon his own soul. He fought back long enough to flee his own body and Warlock claimed the gem once more and, along with Drax and his other companions, returned back to their Universe.

Afterwards, Drax’s condition began to revert; his mass and strength climbed back to previous levels, and his mind became clouded once more. He sought out Moondragon, who was residing with Genis-Vell and Rick Jones on Earth, which led to an altercation with Genis-Vell. In the course of this struggle, Drax was transported to the Microverse with Genis-Vell, where he finally found acceptance and happiness on the planet K’ai, where he remained for some time. During this period, Drax fought alongside the Micronauts until his diminished mental state was taken advantage of by Psycho Man. After leaving the Microverse, Drax was than seen as a combatant recruited by Adam Warlock to take on The Champion of the Universe in an attempt to stop The Champion from exploiting another planet. Drax failed to defeat The Champion, as did Warlock’s and his other recruits ( Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, and The Silver Surfer). However, The Champion was eventually defeated by She-Hulk, who trained months for her battle under Gamora.

Earth Fall

Drax was later seen on a prison ship with Paibok, Lunatik, and the Blood Brothers. He was accused of murdering 200,000 Skrulls. They were being transported to an intergalactic prison, but the ship crashed on Earth under mysterious circumstances. Drax attacked the others to keep them from harming innocent lives and his intelligence came back to him at random intervals during his fight with the other prisoners. While on Earth and at a low-point of intelligence, he wandered through Alaska and confused a young girl named Cammi for his daughter. As he slowly wandered through the country side, he encountered Paibok again. Drax was killed by Paibok but emerged with a new body with a higher intelligence and other unknown abilities, albeit with reduced strength and the inability to fly or “channel energy”. The “new” Drax killed Lunatik and one of the Blood Brothers. The mini-series ended with Drax and Cammi back on a prison ship.

Annihilation

During the events of Annihilation, Drax survived an attack on the intergalactic prison known as the Kyln. Drax and Cammi teamed up with the last member of the Xandarian Nova Corps, Richard Rider (Nova). Together they fought against the advancing Annihilation Wave. Drax taught Nova the power of concentration so that he could contain the entire Nova force. Nova also asked Drax to teach him an important lesson: How to destroy. Drax was given the benefit of the doubt by Nova as his new body was just different enough from the Wanted file for ‘Drax the Destroyer’ that as long as Drax refers to himself merely as ‘Drax’ and acknowledges no past of destroying things, Nova would let the record slide.

Moondragon was taken captive by Thanos, who had allied himself with Annihilus and her severed ear was sent to Drax. Drax assisted the United Front and during a doomed battle between the Annihilation Wave and the United Front on Daedalus 5, fought off the invaders while Nova and the rest of the group (including Cammi) finished the evacuation. Drax fought his way to one of the Annhilation Wave’s ships in his quest for Thanos, whom he found attempting to release Galactus from his prison on Annihilus’ mother ship. Moondragon attempted to keep Drax at bay until Galactus was released but failed.

Before Thanos could release Galactus, however, Drax broke through Thanos’ defensive shield and punches a hole through his chest. Drax then realized that the Silver Surfer was the only person who had enough power to match Thanos. While severely weakened, the Silver Surfer used all he had to match the height of Thanos’ power output and succeeded. Once Galactus was freed, he teleported Moondragon and Drax to a far-off planet to spare them from his wrath on the Annihilation Wave. After that, Moondragon said Drax just disappeared, (which was Moondragon’s way to cover for Drax). Drax resurfaced during the second Annihilation war on the run from the Phalanx ‘s select hunters. Drax was taken down by the phalanx-infected Nova and Gamora and was turned into one of the Phalanx Select. Once Nova managed to free himself from Phalanx control, the infected Drax and Gamora go after him with the goal of reinfecting him or destroying him. However, Nova eventually managed to free Drax and Gamora from Phalanx control.

Guardian of the Galaxy

After the second Annihilation war, Peter Quill / Starlord offered Drax a position in his new Guardians of the Galaxy, alongside Phyla-Vell, Adam Warlock, Rocket Raccoon, and Gamora. As a member of the Guardians, Drax was more grim and solitary but was a force of destruction who bailed them out of many predicaments during their first missions. After a Skrull infiltration of their headquarters on Knowhere, it was revealed that Mantis had been asked by Quill to use her mind-control powers on the team’s members in order to help the team function better. As a result of this news, Quasar, together with Drax, go in search of Moondragon, bringing her to Mentor, who promptly murdered them!

Phylla and Drax than found themselves on a borderland called Oblivion, where the Quantum bands fell off Phyla’s wrists, seeing as the bearer was now dead. Not long after, Phyla faced by her own demons but Drax sent them packing. They were joined by Maelstrom, who used Moondragon as bait to lure them for his master Oblivion, with the intent of using them to cross back over into reality. After his apparent defeat, Maelstrom agreed to lead them to Moondragon but instead led them to the Dragon of the Moon, where he said Moondragon was supposed to be, within the dragon that was regaining its strength after Ultron dispatched it back to Oblivion. Maelstrom however regained the upper hand once the Quantum bands re-bonded with him and he quickly encased Phyla and Drax, with the intent of feeding them to the Dragon in exchange for the Dragon using its energy to release Maelstrom from Oblivion.

Maelstrom dropped Phyla into the Dragon’s mouth but after a short battle with Maelstrom, Phyla tore herself out of Dragon, while carrying Heather in her arms. With the Dragon dispatched, Quasar tried to return the bands to her but Phyla declined, stating that she had powers of her own. Together with Heather and Phyla, Drax returned to Mentor’s place. Drax and Phyla rejoined the rest of Guardians of the Galaxy back on Knowhere, accompanied by Heather. Upon learning of the upcoming war between the Shi’ar Empire, with their new Emperor Vulcan, and the Kree, now led by the Inhuman‘s and their King Black Bolt, all of the Guardians reunited and made a plan to stop the aggressions before they destroyed the very fabric of reality.

War of Kings

Adam Warlock returned with Gamora to the Guardians and informed them of the War of Kings. Starlord and Rocket Raccoon decided the Guardians needed to be split into three teams to prevent the war from growing out of proportion. The three teams were; The Kree Team with Starlord, Bug, Gamora, Jack Flag and Martyr (Phylla-Vell), the The Shi’ar Team with Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Adam Warlock, Major Victory and Groot and The Coordination Team with Moondragon, Mantis and Cosmo the Spacedog. Drax was placed on the Shi’ar team because they required the brute force necessary to counteract Vulcan’s destructive power. The Kree Team asked Blackbolt to stop the war, which he denied. The Shi’ar team then became separated from Warlock, who was transported on to a Shi’ar vessel and attacked by Vulcan. The rest of the Shi’ar Team worked with the Starjammers to free Lilandra Emperor Vulcan.

But negotiations soon failed and the team found itself in between a battle with the Inhumans and the Imperial Guard. The War of Kings ended with a massive fissure in space-time known as the Fault. To stop it’s expansion, Adam Warlock overlaped the timestreams, which caused him to become Magus, subsequently attacking the team. Drax tried to rip out Magus’ heart as he did Thanos, but Magus didn’t have a heart and was able to shrug Drax off. Eventually, Magus was defeated, but at a massive cost to the team. Six members perished and Drax returned with the team to Knowhere, having paid a high price for their victory.Or so they were led to believe. Magus actually captured the fallen members who were later escaped. But during the escape they uncovered something the Church had resurrected – Drax’s purpose in life was now renewed as Thanos came back from Death’s realm.

The Thanos Imperative

It seemed that Thanos had been resurrected for a purpose. The evil inhabitants of the Cancerverse, a twisted universe located on the other side of the Fault, were attempting to kill Death and turn all conquered universes into corrupted universes filled with life. Much to Drax’s disagreement, Starlord formed a plan around Thanos and the team went into the Cancerverse.

Once in the Cancerverse, Drax became overwhelmed with his hatred and disgust for Thanos. Against his orders, Drax attacked Thanos and stuck a detonator to his chest, vaporizing Thanos to a skeleton. As Starlord argued with Drax for ruining their only hope of saving the universe, Thanos slowly and painfully reformed, having been barred from Death once again. Drax attacked a second time but this time Thanos did the vaporizing, claiming that his reasoning was not a personal issue of revenge.

Star-Lord and Nova held back Thanos long enough for the rift to the Cancerverse to close. Because nothing dies in the Cancerverse, Drax resurrected and continued to fight alongside his friends. Eventually, Nova would combine the power of the Cosmic Cube with his Nova force to open a gate back to their own dimension. Star-Lord, Drax, and accidentally, Thanos were able to return home, stranding Nova for now.

Marvel NOW

Drax appears as part of the team alongside Star-Lord, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket. They head to Earth after J’Son of Spartax blacklists it from receiving alien visitors. The Guardians knew J’Son was just putting a target on Quill’s home planet, so they vowed to put themselves between it and the rest of the galaxy. During this time, Drax would end up with a number of temporary Earthling teammates: Iron Man, Angela, Carol Danvers, Agent Venom, Ant-Man (Lang), and The Thing.

During this time, Drax would get involved in a number of Earth related issues as well. Carol Danvers would recruit them to help her during Civil War II. He would also get involved with a long standing tension between the X-Men and the Shi’ar, eventually getting involved with the mysterious power item, the Black Vortex.

Vow of Nonviolence

During a hunting trip, Drax came across a group of slavers. When they confronted Drax, Drax killed them easily, but their slaves begged him not to. Unknown to Drax, the slaves were outfitted with special brands that released poison upon the death of their master. With the lives of the innocent slaves on his conscience, Drax took a vow of pacifism.

Despite this, Drax continued working alongside the Guardians when Gamora brought them back together when she was hired by the Collector and Grandmaster for a gig. Eventually, they would be deputized into the Nova Corps to help protect an oversized Power Gem. Unfortunately, their adventures put Drax at too much risk to hurt or kill someone, so he decided to leave the team. On Quill’s suggestion, Drax decided to stay with the Power Gem.

Soon after, the planet with the Power Gem would be attacked by the Chitauri and the Fraternity of Raptors. With the Guardians and Nova Corps by his side, Drax embraced the Power Gem and broke his vow, fighting off many of the invaders. With the Power Gem secured, the Guardians were eventually approached by Adam Warlock, who was looking to assemble the gems. Drax agreed to work with Warlock after he stopped Gamora from trying to take the Soul Gem.

Infinity Wars

Angry at Drax’s rebuke, Gamora kills Thanos, prompting Doctor Strange to bring everyone who possesses an Infinity Gem together in Central Park, including the Guardians, who have the Power Gem. Their gem proves to be fake, as Gamora shows up with the gem on the hilt of her sword. Quickly she kills Quill (who is saved by Strange), bonds with the missing piece of her soul, and dispatches all her challengers (including nearby Avengers) by combining pairs of them into single individuals and trapping them in a pocket dimension for Devondra, the Soul-Eater inside the Soul Gem, to consume

However, Loki, who is sent to Warp World without being combined with anyone, is able to rouse the warped heroes and some un-warped heroes to fight back against Gamora. This included Drax who was never combined with anyone since he already was a being with two souls. When Adam Warlock used the Soul Gem to revert the Guardians back to normal, it split Drax into two beings: Arthur Douglas and The Destroyer.

Arthur and Destroyer stay behind in Warp World to keep the portal open for the rest of the heroes. For this act of heroism, the Soul Gem gave them both their happy ending. Arthur got a quiet life playing the saxophone, and Destroyer got an endless parade of rivals to do battle with.

Universal Church

When a version of the Universal Church traveled from the future to target Earth, they had a run in with the Guardians. The church had an army of Drax clones at their disposal that hooked most of the Guardians in faith generator pods. Rocket, still freed, used his engineering skills to release his friends and all the other faith generator prisoners, replacing them with all but one of the Drax clones.

Moondragon was able to use her psychic abilities to force everyone’s memories of Drax into the last Drax clone effectively turning that clone into the Drax they all knew and loved. After Rocket experiences a medical emergency, Rocket convinces the core group, including Drax, to stick together.

Return to the Guardians

The Guardians were laying low when Nova asked for their help. Gamora turned him down, and Drax was happy with that decision. Star-Lord and Rocket weren’t. They snuck off in the middle of the night to help Nova, but Star-Lord was killed (but actually sent to an alternate reality). As a result, the Guardians split into two groups. One went with Rocket to work for Nova. Drax stuck with Gamora’s group, who fell in with Blackjack O’Hare.

They teams came to blows over a casino that one was investigating and the other was meant to protect, however, they made a formal truce when 616 Moondragon and an alternate reality Moondragon bonded into a single entity. A number of galactic political events kept the Guardians occupied, including a surprising alliance between the Kree and Skrull empires, the return of Star-Lord with superpowers, and the general fall of the galactic economy.

With the Nova Corps gone and the galactic economy failing, Super-Skrull, as a member of the Galactic Council, deputized the Guardians of the Galaxy as the new peacekeepers.

The Last Annihilation

Super-Skrull extended an invitation to the Guardians of the Galaxy to be the new cosmic peacekeepers. The Galactic Council did not have the funding for a new Nova Corps, so Nova took leadership of the Guardians to turn them into the Avengers of Space. One of the Guardians first official cases was investigating a Skrull blood cult performing a ritual on Ego the Living Planet. Their ritual turned Ego into a giant black egg that hatched ten days later revealing a planet sized Dormammu.

His new teammate, Doctor Doom, determines that the planets Dormammu are attacking make a pentagram on a star chart and suggests they got to the fifth world, Chitauri Prime, before it falls. When they find Chitauri Prime already fallen to Dormammu, Doom attacks with his secret army of Doombots leading Drax to believe they shouldn’t have trusted Doom in the first place.

Doom followed through though. He assembled this squad for a spell as a cosmic tarot, with Drax as the “The Dead Man,” affording him a level of cynicism. Together, they drained Dormammu of his magic energy. Once enough was taken, Doom teleported his fellow Guardians to multiple battlefronts. Drax was sent to Phyla’s side, while Quill is sent to combine his power with Nova’s and take out a weakened Dormammu.

With peace over the galaxy, Drax and his family ponder a much needed vacation.

Grootfall

Drax and the Guardians were building their reputation as official peacekeepers when they were joined by Nebula. She wanted to prove herself and put her probability machine to good use finding problems for the Guardians to squash. One of her first targets ended up being Groot’s dying homeworld where he received a god-like ability to cultivate his people, causing him to go feral and attack a region called the Manifold Territories. The Guardians tried to stop him, but they suffered heavy losses, including the death of Moondragon. After being stranded in the Manifold Territories, Drax felt guilty for staying out of the fight against Groot to save his friend from a painful death at Drax’s own hands.

Drax and the Guardians did their best to protect that people of the territories, nicknamed The Fold. Unfortunately, this often meant evacuating them to a different planetoid within the The Fold. When Quill thinks Groot is communicating with them, he convinces Drax and the others to try to communicate back. This causes them to be absorbed by Groot and learn the truth, that Groot hasn’t killed anyone or destroyed anywhere. It is all just waiting to bloom, and The Guardians vow to protect Grootspace until it can.

When Hulking and Wiccan investigate their deaths and find them alive, they choose to trust their friends and cover them with the Galactic Council. Unfortunately, it does not work with the Spartoi, who already had one war party repelled by the Guardians. The Guardians did their best to distract them, but they had a secret weapon: a ship with an exploding power core. Drax sacrificed himself to steer the ship away, just in the nick of time, as Groot finally bloomed, returning everyone believed wiped out.

Powers & Abilities

Original Powers

After his death at the hands of Thanos, Kronos used his cosmic power to fuse Arthur Douglas’ soul to a new body formed from Earth’s soil. This body possessed a variety of super-human abilities. The Destroyer’s body, while inhabited by Drax’s spirit, was nearly invulnerable to all forms of physical injury. Drax’s powers at this point included super strength, tremendous resilience, flight, and the ability to project concussive blasts of cosmic energy from his hands, as well as the ability to survive, and travel, at high speeds in outer space, as well hyperspace, without air, food, or water. Drax could harness his cosmic energy and project it through his arms as concussive blasts. The maximum amount of force Drax is able to project is unknown. However, he can project enough energy to shatter large, ferrous meteors. Drax also possessed the ability to sense the presence of Thanos across vast distances.

Second Resurrection

When Drax was later resurrected, his physical might increased, but suffered severe mental disability in his new incarnation. Instead of his ability to sense Thanos across vast distances, Drax possessed the ability to sense when beings were in recent contact with Thanos, and a precognitive ability to sense when beings will be in contact with Thanos in the near future. Drax’s strength was comparable to that of the Hulk, but lacking the latter’s rage-fueled potential.

With the Power Gem, Drax was a truly unstoppable force with limitless strength. He subconsciously used the Power Gem to tap into it’s power and grew stronger and stronger.

Current Powers

As of the 2006 ” Annihilation” mini-series, Drax had again died and undergone a rebirth, appearing to have lost some of his strength and resilience, as well as his ability to fly and shoot cosmic energy blasts. However, his intellect returned to its original level and had taken a liking to using knives in battle. After his rebirth, he did display some psionic ability. He entered the mind of the human girl, Cammi, that was with him during his death and rebirth. He used her memories to reconstruct the events leading up to and following his death.

Drax has proven to have a superhuman olfactory senses. During the Annihilation event he was able to determine that Nova was a human like Cammi by sheer smell alone. Drax had also used this ability to recognize when weapons were about to be discharged in his area. In the Guardians of the Galaxy #5, he was asked if this acute sense had picked up any of the cloaked Skrulls.

In issue #4 of “Annihilation” Drax displayed an ability unseen in any of his previous incarnations; while in close proximity to Thanos’ body, his own body emitted a strange, form-fitting aura. Shortly thereafter, he punched straight through the Thanos’ chest with a single blow.

The full extent of Drax’s powers after his most recent rebirth are unknown at this time.

Abilities

Drax is a more than proficient in combat, which was especially true in his original and more powerful incarnation. In Guardians of the Galaxy #5, Drax was said to have mastered the alien martial art form called “Dwi Theet”. He used this to defeat Impact, a master in six different martial arts, with ease. In his normal life Arthur Douglas was skilled in playing the saxophone.

Strength levels

Drax’s original form possessed superhuman strength, allowing him to lift (press) 40 tons. Following his death and subsequent resurrection, his strength increased to Class 100 level, allowing him to lift (press) 100 tons. With the Infinity Gem, his strength was raised even further, able to lift well in excess of 100 tons. As a result of his recent rebirth (shortly before Annihilation), Drax’s strength appeared to have diminished somewhat, to what degree is unknown. The Marvel Power grid places his current strength at being able to lift over 75 tons and up to 100 tons.

Equipment

Drax currently carries a pair of knives made from unknown material. As a member of the Infinity Watch, Drax once wielded the Power Gem.

Characteristics

• Height: 6’4″ (Currently), 5’9″ (Douglas), 7’4″ (Most powerful form)
• Weight: 680 lbs (Currently), 161 lbs, (Douglas), 1050 lbs (Most powerful form)
• Eyes: White (Currently), Blue (Douglas), Red (Most powerful form)
• Hair: Bald (Currently), Brown (Douglas), Bald (Most powerful form)
• Citizenship: American, Titan
• Place of Birth: Burbank, California
• Marital Status: Widower
• Occupation: Official peacekeeper with the Guardians of the Galaxy; formerly guardian of the Power Stone, Avatar of Life, bounty hunter, agent of Kronos, real estate agent, jazz musician
• Known Relatives: Yvette Steckley-Douglas (wife), Heather Douglas/Moondragon (daughter), Phyla-Vel (daughter-in-law), Camille Benally (foster daughter)
• Distinguishing Features: Green skin and for a long time red tribal tattoos that he no longer has since being cloned by the Universal Church

Title

At one time Drax destroyed a sun. This partially led to his title of “the Destroyer.”

Other Media

Film

• Drax is portrayed by professional wrestler Dave Bautista in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy. The movie implies that he is an extraterrestrial, rather than an altered human. Although he retains the origin story of a murdered family, they were killed by Ronan, rather than Thanos, in the film. Although Drax is very distant from others when first seen, he eventually grows to consider the rest of the team as his friends. He also shows difficulty understanding metaphors.
• Dave Bautista returns as Drax in the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Although his role seems relegated mostly to comic relief, he is the only member of his team not to get taken in by family drama introduced by Ego. This allows him to regroup the team with the help of Mantis, who decides to confide in Drax the truth about Ego’s intentions with Star-Lord.
• Bautista reprises his role again in the 2018 crossover film Avengers: Infinity War, which sees the Avengers and Guardians teaming up to stop Thanos from completing the Infinity Gauntlet. At the end of the film, Drax is one of the numerous heroes who is dusted after Thanos activates the Infinity Gauntlet and uses it to wipe out half of the universe’s life.
• Bautistia again reprises his role in the 2019 follow-up, Avengers: Endgame. After the Hulk uses the Infinity Gauntlet to undo Thanos’ decimation, Drax and the other heroes return and help fight off the army of alien invaders.
• Bautista reprises yet again the role of Drax briefly in the beginning of Thor: Love and Thunder. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Thor was still riding with the Guardians answering a number of distress signals with a bit of showboating.
• Bautista reprise in the Disney+ special presentation, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. He heads to Earth with Mantis to find a gift for Peter Quill so that they could approximate a Christmas celebration like Quill used to have on Earth.
• Dave Bautista returns as Drax in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the second sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy and director James Gunn’s final MCU film. According to Dave Bautista, it will also be his final MCU film. Drax continues his work as a Guardian, eventually re-igniting his desire to be father when helping a number of orphans they rescued from the High Evolutionary.

Television

• In the Silver Surfer animated series, Drax is the android companion of Mentor. Drax has an organic mind that sometimes glitches and disappears. After Mentor become a part of the Virals (what has become of the Watchers), he claims to have no purpose. The Surfer encourages him to live his life, for he deserves it. Drax is voiced by Norm Spencer, who also was the voice of Cyclops in X-Men: The Animated Series.
• Drax appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episodes “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy,” voiced by David Sobolov. This same version of Drax also appeared in Avengers Assemble and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., with Sobolov reprising his role both times.
• Drax appears in two episodes of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, voiced by Yoshinori Sonobe.
• Drax appears as one of the main characters in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced once again by David Sobolov.
• Drax appears briefly in two episodes of What If…? voiced by Fred Tatasciore. In both episodes, he is seen partying: once when he bumps into a T’Challa (as Star-Lord) in a bar and again, when he comes to Earth for Thor’s big rager.

Video Games

• Marvel Super Heroes – Drax appears as one of the petrified statues in the background of Thanos’ stage, which is a shrine to Death. He returns to normal after Thanos is defeated.
• Marvel: Avengers Alliance – Drax appears as a playable character.
• Marvel Heroes – Drax appears as a Team-Up character.
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes – Drax appears as a playable character.
• Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series – Drax appears as one of the main characters, voiced by Brandon Paul Eells.
• Marvel Future Fight – Drax appears as a playable character.
• Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes – Drax appears as a playable character, voiced by
• Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 – Drax appears as a playable character.
• Marvel Strike Force – Drax appears as a playable character, with Dave Bautista reprising his role.
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order – Drax appears as a playable character, with Brandon Paul Eells reprising his role.
• Drax appears in Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced by Jason Cavalier.

Lego Marvel Super Heroes

Drax is a playable character.

Disney Infinity

Drax is a playable figure in the game, sporting his appearance from the movies.

Merchandise

• Drax appeared in Lego’s Guardians of the Galaxy line.
• Drax has appeared in the HeroClix figure game.
• Hasbro released several Drax figures, based on both his comic and movie likeness.
• Hot Toys released a Drax figure with Dave Bautista’s likeness.
• Drax has been featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Legends line several times in both his movie and comic incarnations.
• Funko released Drax bobbleheads for the Pop! line.
• Hot Toys released a figure of Drax sporting his movie incarnation.
• Drax has appeared in kits produced by Lego.
• Drax was featured in the product lines for both Guardians films, as well as Avengers: Infinity War.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout

In 2016, it was announced that The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror ride at Disney California Adventure Park would be shut down and revamped as a Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

The attraction is based on The Collector’s collection, which now features the team as its latest acquisitions. Riders take the role of visitors receiving an official tour from the Collector but are recruited by an escaped Rocket to help him break out his teammates.

It features almost the entire returning cast including Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, in the many video vignettes that happen pre-show and on various levels of the museum.