Death is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is known under the codename of Mistress Death.
Since her original introduction in comics, the character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including video games , animated television series , and merchandise. She forces soldier John Kowalski to undergo a number of lives and deaths as punishment for doing nothing to prevent the invasion of Poland. In the s, Death perceives an imbalance in the universe and a gradual shift towards life rather than death, and so in The Thanos Quest resurrects Thanos so that he may collects the Infinity Gems, attempt converse with Death on her own level, [ 10 ] and in The Infinity Gauntlet , wipe out half the beings in the universe from existence as proof of his love for Death.
She is also featured in the Deadpool series. In the s, she appears in Deadpool , Captain Marvel , Avengers: Celestial Quest , Marvel: The End , and Annihilation , admitting to Deadpool in the form and Thanos in the latter three that she does feel "love" for them both. She appeared in the Thanos: Death Notes one-shot. Death is an abstract entity, embodiment of life ending in the Marvel Universe , and the opposite of Eternity , embodiment of the universe.
A storyline in the title Captain Marvel showcases Thanos ' scheme to conquer the universe, as the character becomes determined to prove his love for Death by destroying all life. Although Thanos obtains the artifact the Cosmic Cube and succeeds in taking control of the universe, Death abandons the character when he is defeated by the combined might of Captain Marvel, Drax the Destroyer and the Avengers. Mar-Vell willingly surrenders his life and embraces the entity. In Marvel's first limited series Contest of Champions , Death agrees to a game of strategy with the Elder of the Universe the Grandmaster.
The Grandmaster wins the game and Death provides him with the power via the Golden Globe of Life to resurrect the Collector , [ 23 ] a fellow Elder. Only then does Death reveal that the Golden Globe is an empty instrument that needs to be powered by a life-force equal to that of the being who is to be restored. To resurrect the Collector, the Grandmaster sacrifices his life and takes the Collector's place in the Realm of the Dead. It decides to "save" mankind, and in doing so destroys Death.
