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Infinity Gems, originally referred to as Soul Gems, are six immensely powerful fictional gems appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Whoever holds all six gems and uses them in concert, such as in the Infinity Gauntlet, gains virtual omnipotence and omniscience. In later storylines and crossovers, a seventh Infinity Gem is sometimes added to the primary six. ==Publication history== The ''Soul'' Gem first appears in ''The Power of Warlock'',〔''The Power of Warlock'' #1-8 (Aug. 1972 - Jun. 1973: bi-monthly)〕 with all six appearing during the second Thanos War storyline in an ''Avengers'' and ''Marvel Two-In-One'' annual, with Thanos harnessing their latent energies to power a giant gem to extinguish every star in the universe.〔''Avengers'' Annual #7 and ''Marvel Two-In-One'' Annual #2 (1977)〕 In the third volume of the ''Silver Surfer'' title, the character refers to the gems as ''Soul Gems''.〔''Silver Surfer'' vol. 3, #6-10, 16-17 (Dec. 1987-Apr. 1988 & Oct.-Nov. 1988)〕 They are gathered by the Elders of the Universe, who intend to use their combined power to drain Galactus of his lifeforce and then recreate the universe with themselves as the oldest beings in it (Galactus (Galan) having existed in the Universe that existed prior to the birth of the current Marvel Universe). This plot is thwarted by the Silver Surfer with several Elders and the gems lost in a black hole, while Galactus consumed other members of the Elders. In a follow-up story, because the Elders of the Universe were barred from entering Death's realm due to prior machinations of the Grandmaster, Galactus soon found himself being poisoned from within by the Elders he consumed. Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantastic, and the Invisible Woman journeyed through the black hole to recover the gems, where Invisible Woman became possessed by the sentient Soul Gem and had her evil Malice persona awakened. She was later subdued and the gems were returned to successfully extract the Elders and save Galactus. The gems then fell back into the possession of the Elders before the beginning of their most famous story. In the limited series ''Thanos Quest'' Thanos refers to the entire set as ''Infinity Gems'' for the first time. Thanos systematically subdues the Elders one by one to gather all six gems. Once reunited under his control he sets the gems into a gold glove (the left gauntlet of his customary attire) which he refers to as the Infinity Gauntlet. This series also reveals the origin of the Gems, with Thanos explaining to the Runner, one of the Elders of the Universe, that the set are actually the remains of a once nigh omnipotent but lonely being (later revealed to be Nemesis). Unable to endure eternity alone, Nemesis eventually commits suicide, although a fraction of her being remains and becomes the Infinity Gems.〔''Thanos Quest'' #1-2 (Sep.-Oct. 1990)〕 Thanos becomes nigh omnipotent and challenges the Silver Surfer and Drax in the former's title, handling the heroes with ease. He also reclaims his ship Sanctuary II from its current captain, his ostensible granddaughter, the space pirate Nebula, burning her nearly to death, but then uses the Gems to keep her suspended between life and death in immortal agony as a "work of art" in his words; "a monument to the insanity of Life and Death denied." He is then joined by Mephisto as an adviser as he sets about dominating reality, while the Silver Surfer makes his way to Earth to warn Earth's superheroes of the threat of Thanos and the Gems, thus setting the stage for the tale of the Infinity Gauntlet. In the ''Infinity Gauntlet'' limited series, Thanos uses the Gauntlet to erase half the population of the universe, finally completing the quest that had led him to find the Gems and assemble the Gauntlet in the first place; fulfilling a pledge to his love, Lady Death, who felt it was a great cosmic imbalance that there were currently more sentient beings alive than had ever died in all of history, that this was a danger akin to a universal ecological imbalance which would lead to starvation, pestilence, and misery for the overpopulated living species across the cosmos. Thanos goes on to decimate Earth's heroes in combat when they attack him in retaliation, and then battles the pantheon of cosmic entities when they attack in an attempt to strip him of the Gauntlet, defeating them all and turning them to stone. He eventually (and apparently inevitably) loses the Gauntlet to the aforementioned Nebula when he uses the Gems to supplant Eternity, gaining Eternity's ethereal form and forsaking his physical body, which leaves the Gauntlet vulnerable to being separated from his body and ending his control over the Gems. (According to Adam Warlock this was subconsciously intentional by Thanos, who, deep down, didn't truly believe he was worthy of the power.) Nebula takes the Gauntlet from Thanos' body, but her attempts to wield it fail due to her inexperience and lack of willpower, and to Adam Warlock's great understanding of the Gems' "sentience" and nature; Nebula is left debilitated after undoing the deeds of Thanos (specifically resetting things to the way they were before he had killed half the population of the universe, which unintentionally included restoring all of Earth's heroes, setting free the cosmic pantheon, and once again reducing her to a near-mindless state suspended between life and death.) She is defeated in a battle with Earth's heroes,〔''Infinity Gauntlet'' #1-6 (July-Dec. 1991)〕 and out of the ensuing conflict and confusion Adam Warlock emerges as the new possessor of the Gauntlet. Warlock tries to reassure a few of Earth's heroes that he will not be a threat like Thanos, but they do not trust him and he sends them away before they can attack. He is then called to judgement in a suit brought by Eternity before the Living Tribunal, who finds Warlock unworthy of the power of the Gems due to his emotional instability. The Tribunal manages to reason with Adam and talk him out of using the Gauntlet, and out of fighting to maintain possession of the Gems, a battle that would devastate the universe. Instead of fighting the Living Tribunal and the greater power it represents and potentially destroying the universe, Warlock follows the course he always knew he would (as his possession of the Gauntlet allows him to perceive the flow of Time as a continuous loop, making him aware of all outcomes) and proposes to distribute the Gems to a group of trusted guardians and companions, a proposal which the Tribunal accepts, to the dismay and anger of Eternity. In the series ''Warlock and The Infinity Watch'' the Gems are distributed by Adam Warlock to a group he dubs "the Infinity Watch",〔''Warlock and The Infinity Watch'' #1 (Feb. 1992)〕 with himself as the leader and once again guardian of his old companion, the Soul Gem. He names the astral samurai Gamora guardian of the Time Gem, the hedonistic rogue Pip the Troll guardian of the Space Gem, the impervious powerhouse Drax the Destroyer guardian of the Power Gem, the Eternal-trained human mystic telepath Moondragon guardian of the Mind Gem, and an unknown member (later revealed to be Thanos himself) guardian of the Reality Gem. During the course of the series several enemies attempt to steal the Gems. An early encounter sees Warlock's old nemesis from Counter-Earth, the creature called the Man Beast, abduct several members of the Watch and use the combined ''Mind'', ''Power'', ''Space'' and ''Time'' Gems to create a monstrous energy humanoid called the ''Infinity Thrall'', although both are eventually defeated by Adam Warlock. The cosmic entity the Living Tribunal is once again called for judgement, and declares that the Infinity Gems will no longer be able to act in unison.〔''Warlock and The Infinity Watch'' #5-6 (June–July 1992)〕 This decree is overturned — courtesy of the machinations of Warlock's evil alter ego from an alternate future, the Magus — in the ''Infinity War'' limited series. The character, who had gained physical form when Warlock cast out his "Good" and "Evil" sides from himself while holding the Gauntlet in an attempt to make decisions based on pure logic, unites the Gems and plans universal conquest until tricked and defeated, with Warlock revealing that the ''Reality'' Gem was a fake. Eternity later announces that the six Gems will never again be used in unison.〔''Infinity War'' # 1-6 (June-Nov. 1992)〕 The Gems then feature in the ''Infinity Crusade'' limited series, where Warlock's cast out feminine "Good" side attempts to rid the universe of Evil by eliminating free will, and, ultimately, rewriting the universe such that it has no sentient life to commit Evil at all.〔''Infinity Crusade'' # 1-6 (June - Nov. 1993)〕 Following the cancellation of the Infinity Watch series, in the one-shot title ''Rune/Silver Surfer'' the Gems are stolen by the extradimensional vampire Rune and dispersed throughout the alternate universe Ultraverse.〔''Rune/Silver Surfer'' #1 (June 1995)〕〔''The Curse Of Rune'' #1 (1995)〕〔''Eliminator'' #1 (1995)〕 The Asgardian god Loki enters the Ultraverse and collects the Gems,〔''NecroManta/Lord Pumpkin'' flip book (April 1995)〕 also discovering the existence of a seventh Gem - ''Ego''. The character learns the Infinity Gems were originally part of a gestalt being known as Nemesis. The Ego Gem, possessing the Avenger Sersi, merges with the other Gems to reform Nemesis and battles superhero teams the ''Avengers'' and ''Ultraforce'', before being dissipitated once again.〔''Ultraforce/Avengers #1 (Sep. 1995) & Avengers/Ultraforce'' #2 (Oct. 1995)〕 In the mainstream Marvel Universe the cosmic entity Galactus collects all six Infinity Gems in the ''Thanos'' ongoing series, intent on ending his need to consume planets. He is seen taking the gems off a vampiric skeleton (presumably Rune) that he retrieves through an interdimensional portal. Galactus' plan fails, and instead allows a deadly inter-dimensional parasite, named Hunger, access into the Earth-616 universe (it was this parasite mentally influencing Galactus' actions all along; as Thanos noted he could have simply used the Gems to finally wish away his hunger). After the threat is averted, the Gems are scattered with the exception of the Soul Gem, which the Titan Thanos retains for its customary holder, Adam Warlock.〔''Thanos'' #1-6 (Dec. 2003-Apr. 2004)〕 The Gems feature briefly in the ''JLA/Avengers'' limited series, when the Infinity Gauntlet is found by DC Comics villain Darkseid as it is placed on Apokolips, who discards it upon discovering that the Gems do not work in his own (DC) universe. The Flash is able to retrieve it.〔''JLA/Avengers'' #1 & 3 (Sep. & Dec. 2003); ''Avengers/JLA'' #2 & 4 (Oct. 2003-May 2004)〕 Following a story in the She-Hulk ongoing series, in which Titania gets possession of the Power Gem, all six Gems feature in the ''New Avengers: Illuminati'' limited series and become the possessions of the superhuman group the Illuminati. Reed Richards of the Illuminati attempts to will the Gems out of existence to prevent further misuse, but the entity the Watcher Uatu reveals that the Gems must exist as part of the cosmic balance. The Gems are then separated and each is placed in the care of an Illuminati member, who vows never to use it or reveal its location.〔''New Avengers: Illuminati'' #1-2 (Feb.-Mar. 2007); #3 (July 2007); #4 (Sep. 2007) & #5 (Jan. 2008)〕 The Gems are reunited in the humorous ''Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers'' limited series, with the pets of various heroes finding the Gems and being forced to use them to battle Thanos. Lockjaw, pet of the Inhumans, then gives the Gems to Reed Richards.〔''Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers'' #1-4 (July-Oct. 2009)〕 The gems were part of the ongoing Avengers series during the Heroic Age. Although the Hood managed to collect the Gems of Power and Reality in time to defeat the formidable Red Hulk,〔''The Avengers'' #7 (November 2010)〕 his subsequent attempts to acquire the others resulted in the Red Hulk stealing the Power Gem from him while Thor beat him to the Space Gem, although he was able to acquire the Mind and Time Gems. He subsequently used the Gems to take him to the Soul Gem in the astral plane.〔''The Avengers'' #10 (March 2011)〕 Fortunately, the Hood was delayed by an illusionary Thanos that Doctor Strange had created long enough for the Avengers to catch up with him. After a climactic battle, the gems ended up with Iron Man who after sending the Hood back to jail, seemingly wished the gems out of existence. However it was revealed that the gems were back with the Illuminati and Captain America (replacing Black Bolt), who all vowed to hide them more securely than before.〔''The Avengers'' Vol. 4 #12〕 In an attempt to stop another universe from collapsing into their own, the Illuminati decided to gather the Infinity Gems and reassemble the Infinity Gauntlet. While Captain America managed to use the Infinity Gauntlet to push the other universe back, however because Eternity declared that the gems cannot be used in unison all gems shattered, except for the time gem, which vanishes.〔"New Avengers" Vol. 2 #2-3〕 Afterwards, Captain America does not want the group to destroy more worlds, so Doctor Strange wipes his memory.〔"New Avengers" Vol. 2 #3〕 After the murder of Uatu the Watcher, Captain America is exposed to Uatu's eye〔''Original Sin'' #3〕 which restores his memory.〔''Avengers'' vol. 5 #29〕 Afterwards, Captain America and some of the Avengers are transported into future realities with the previously vanished time gem as a result of the time gem being destroyed across all time.〔''Avengers'' vol. 5 #34〕 After the incursions destroyed multiple alternate universes and combined the survivors into a single Battleworld, Doctor Strange gathered various infinity gems from various realities into a new Infinity Gauntlet, which he left hidden until the surviving heroes of Earth-616 managed to return, with the Gauntlet being subsequently claimed by T'Challa. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Infinity Gems」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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