Drax the Destroyer

While driving through a desert with his wife and daughter, Arthur Douglas' car is attacked by a spaceship piloted by Thanos, who thinks the humans have seen him.[2] His daughter, Heather, survives the crash and is adopted by Thanos' father, Mentor, and raised on Titan. She later becomes Moondragon.[3]

Drax (top) on the cover of Captain Marvel #58 (September 1978). Art by Dave Cockrum.

Needing a champion to combat the threat from Thanos, Mentor and the Titan god Kronos capture Douglas' spirit and placed it in a powerful new body. He is rechristened "Drax the Destroyer", and his sole purpose is to kill Thanos. With Iron Man, Drax battles Thanos and the Blood Brothers,[4] but Thanos escapes. While trying to prevent Thanos from getting the Cosmic Cube,[5] Drax's memories are restored to him.[2] After seeing Captain Marvel defeat Thanos,[6] Drax attacks Captain Marvel, for robbing him of his purpose.[7] Drax wanders space in grim contemplation, searching for a resurrected Thanos. By the time he learns that Thanos had managed to rematerialize himself, Thanos has once again been destroyed in battle with Captain Marvel, the Avengers, and Adam Warlock.[8][9] Alongside Captain Marvel, Drax battles ISAAC, Stellarax, Lord Gaea, Elysius, and Chaos.[10][11]

Some time later, Drax, possessed by an alien entity, battles his daughter Moondragon and the superhero Thor. After Drax recovers, he and Moondragon journey through space in search of knowledge.[12] Eventually, they come upon the planet Ba-Banis, a world of humanoid aliens caught in a vast civil war. Moondragon uses her mental powers to quell the conflict and then decides to set herself up as the world's goddess. Drax recognizes that her ambitions are ignoble and so sends their ship to Earth with a holographic distress message. The Avengers respond and discover Moondragon's world of mentally enforced tranquility.[13] Freed by the Avengers from his daughter's mental domination, Drax advances toward her, seeking to end her menace. In order to stop him, Moondragon mentally forces Drax's life essence to vacate his artificial body.[14]

When Thanos is resurrected by Mistress Death, Kronos reanimates the Destroyer and grants him even greater physical power.[15] However, Kronos does not consider the effects of Drax's death, and the Destroyer's mind retains the damage done by Moondragon. Alongside a multitude of other heroes, Drax helps battle Thanos and Nebula for possession of the Infinity Gauntlet.[16] Drax is chosen by Adam Warlock to safeguard the Power Gem as part of the Infinity Watch.[17]

After the energy vampire Rune steals the gems,[18] the Watch members go their separate ways.[19] Drax returns to Titan with Moondragon, who successfully petitions Kronos to restore Drax's mind to its former acuity at the cost of some physical power. Thus, Drax is restored to his original condition.[20] Drax is accused of the murder of Elysius and several others, but is cleared when it is discovered that the creature Syphon was manipulating him.[21] While seeking out Moondragon, Drax enters into an altercation with Genis-Vell.[22] In the course of this struggle, Drax is transported to the Microverse with Genis, where, for a time, he finds acceptance and happiness on the planet K'ai.[23]

Later, Drax is seen on a prison transport ship with Paibok, Lunatik, and the Blood Brothers. The ship crashes in Alaska, and Drax attacks the others to keep them from harming innocent lives.[24] He mistakes a young girl named Cammi for his daughter, and tries to protect her from Paibok. Drax appears to be killed, but a slimmer, smarter Drax emerges from the larger shell of the dead body.[25] When a second prison ship arrives to recapture the prisoners, both Drax and Cammi are arrested.[26]

Surviving Annihilus' attack on the intergalactic prison known as the Kyln, Drax and Cammi team up with the last member of the Xandarian Nova Corps, Richard Rider. Together they fight against the advancing Annihilation Wave as Drax trains Nova to be a warrior.[27] Drax learns that Thanos has taken Moondragon hostage, and that she will be killed if Drax pursues him.[28] During a doomed battle between the Annihilation Wave and the United Front, Drax stays behind to fight off the invaders while Nova and the rest of the group (including Cammi) finish the evacuation.[29] Drax fights his way to the Annihilation Wave's mother ship, where he finds Thanos and kills him. Drax helps to free a captive Galactus, who teleports Moondragon and Drax to a far-off planet to spare them from his wrath on the Annihilation Wave.[30] Afterwards, Moondragon says Drax just "disappeared". Cammi is later seen, alive, allied with Skreet,[31] one of Thanos' powerful, miniature assistants.[32]

When the Phalanx invade the Kree home-world, Drax is assimilated as a "select" of the Phalanx hive mind. They dispatch him, along with Gamora, to apprehend Nova, who had fled the planet.[33] Following Nova to Kvch, the home planet the Technarchy (parental race of the Phalanx), Drax and Gamora are freed from the Phalanx by the Technarch Tyro. Together they return to Hala where they help in the defeat of Ultron.[34]

Star-Lord recruits Drax for the new Guardians of the Galaxy.[35] The Guardians are forced to ally themselves with a resurrected Thanos and travel into an alternate reality known as the "Cancerverse".[36] While experiencing a bout of madness, Drax attacks Thanos and is killed.[37] Drax later reappears with the Guardians on Earth without reference to his death.[38][39]

• Drax appears in the episode "Learning Curve" of the Silver Surfer animated series, voiced by Norm Spencer. He is a cyborg, stated to have an organic brain in a mechanical body, and is a companion of Mentor.
• Drax the Destroyer appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Guardians of the Galaxy", voiced by David Sobolov. He is seen as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the episode "The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy", Drax the Destroyer was seen recuperating on the Guardians' spaceship when they land on Earth at the time when Titus and the Chitauri target Nova's helmet. Drax the Destroyer recovers in time to help fight Titus's forces.
• Drax the Destroyer appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Guardians and Spaceknights", voiced again by David Sobolov.
• Sobolov reprises his role as Drax in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "It's a Wonderful Smash",[45] and "Guardians of the Galaxy".
• Drax appears in Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers episodes 24 and 25, voiced by Yoshinori Sonobe.
• Sobolov reprises his role as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy animated series.[46] It was shown in the "Origins" episode that Drax surrendered himself to the Nova Corps in exchange that the aliens with him that were abducted by Ronan the Accuser are returned safely to their planets. While this version is primarily based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation, the episode "Black Vortex: Part 1" makes numerous references to his comic book origins.
• Drax appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes – Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat, voiced again by David Sobolov.[47]

Dave Bautista as Drax in a character poster for the 2014 film, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Dave Bautista plays Drax in the live-action 2014 Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy.[48] In the film, Drax is an alien who was obsessed with killing Ronan the Accuser who slaughtered his wife and daughter. He first meets the other Guardians of the Galaxy in prison, including Gamora, whom he holds responsible for his family's deaths because she is a daughter of Thanos. She tells him that she was raised by Thanos only after he slaughtered her own family, and bears no loyalty to him, and the two join Peter Quill in escaping prison in order to confront Ronan, whom they eventually kill. A recurring gag throughout the film is Drax's inability to understand metaphors because Drax's species is, according to Rocket, completely literal. Bautista reprised his role as Drax in its 2017 sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and again in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).[49][50][51]

• Drax makes a cameo appearance as he is seen as frozen statues in the backgrounds of Thanos stages in Marvel Super Heroes. Once Thanos is defeated by any of the superheroes, he is unfrozen and the heroes are saved.
• Drax the Destroyer appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by David Sobolov.[52]
• Drax appears as an unlockable character in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
• Drax is a non-playable Team-Up character in Marvel Heroes. He can be called in to assist heroes in combat if purchased or unlocked.
• Drax is a playable character in the video game Disney Infinity 2.0 and Disney Infinity 3.0, voiced by David Sobolov. He is playable in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Marvel Battlegrounds” playsets.[53][54]
• Drax is an unlockable and playable character in the game Marvel Contest of Champions, along with other Guardians of the Galaxy members like Gamora, Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon.
• Drax is a playable character in Marvel: Future Fight.
• Drax is a playable character in Marvel Puzzle Quest.[55]
• Drax appears in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series, voiced by Brandon Paul Eells.[56] This version has a wife named Hovat and daughter named Kamaria, who were killed by Thanos.
• Drax is a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.[57]
• Drax is a playable character in Marvel Strike Force, with Dave Bautista reprising his role.[58]