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![tropes: Thanos Did Nothing Wrong
What exactly makes Thanos from Marvel's Infinity War so great? His full belief in his
philosophy, of randomly killing half of the people in the universe so the survivors can live in
peace. A goal we the audience is supposed to hate. But there is something about Thanos's
delivery that makes you question if his plan is really such a bad idea. Unlike other villains, he
doesn't want power or wealth or land for himself, and in fact, he is willing to sacrifice everything
for what he believes is right. The crucial factor in the argument that justifies itself is the abject
randomness of it. Rich and poor alike will be subject to this culling, distinguishing it from your
typical genocide. We rationalize hunting some animals because it curbs overpopulation and
allows the population to stay healthy, and we snip up excess flowers from a garden so the
survivors can grow healthily. Wouldn't it make sense to do the same for humans? Thanos crafts
this ideology when his own planet is destroyed by the ravages of overpopulation. Earth itself has
begun the decline into these same trials. Global warming, disease, famine, and crime could all be
averted by a snap from Thanos, at least according to Derek Parfit. Parfit is a philosopher who, in
his book The Repugnant Condition, states "For any possible population of at least ten billion
people, all with a very high quality of life, there must be some much larger imaginable
population whose existence, if other things are equal, would be better even though its members
have lives that are barely worth living." Parfit essentially believes that even if society is the
same, the more people there are, the less happy each individual would be. For example, if the
population were halved, people wouldn't have to compete for jobs, education, and resources. If
one abandons the normative thought that Thanos is the quintessential villain of the Avengers and
all things morally sound, it isn't difficult to see the thematic parallels that best classify Thanos as
a tragic hero. According to works that define a classic hero such as The Iliad and The Odyssey, a
hero is defined as someone willing to sacrifice everything including themselves for the greater
good of othe
he arrives at all the points in the hero's journey arc, sacrifices himself for the good of others, and
is justified in his logic
Therefore, Thanos is the protagonist and hero of Marvel's Infinity War, because
Although he is most aptly described as the villain of Infinity War, Thanos goes through
the hero's journey at least once. The classical hero's journey arc is originally outlined in The
Hero with a Thousand Faces, which shows that all heroes in all stories go through all the same
beats and must complete similar tropes in order for a character to be a hero. To begin, the hero's
journey starts with a call to action. Intriguing, Thanos's call to action is not entirely initially clear
from the beginning of his introduction, or even from the beginning of Infinity War, as it is not
revealed until the opening of the third act, when Thanos explains how he develops his solution of
aloof genocide through the tribulations his people went through due to overpopulation. The
young Thanos warned his planet of the danger of their path and that a solution, although drastic,
must be executed in order to save the planet's population, but Titan didn't listen, and thus, the
Thanos's mentor in the Hero's Journey, teaching him of
the dangers of overpopulation, and informing him of how this problem can be solved. Titan
teaches him that if Thanos fails to intervene and stands by as populations grow, societies and
civilizations will crumble to the hands of time. Thanos's supermatural aid, another stage in the
hero's journey, is not a physical object, but rather the knowledge that the infinity stones have the
capacity to make his goal logistically practical on a universal level. The infinity stones grant
anyone who has possession of all six the powers of a god, and Thanos sees this power as an
planet fell into ruin. Titan also serves
opportunity to expand his solution to as many groups as possible. Thanos has multiple
temptations through his journey, manifesting in his love for his adopted daughter Gamora, and
his constant desire to rest. His desire to rest is shown at the end of Infinity War when he "finally
rest[s] and watch[es] the sun rise on a grateful universe." Finally, Thanos reaches his abyss after
the events that occured in Avengers 2012 in New York, when he lost both the space and mind
stones, along with a massive loss in manpower and military capital. Of course, as the Avengers
are the heroes of the film at the time, they thwart Thanos's masterplan, and end up taking the
stones for themselves. Thus, Thanos is left with no stones and is forced to begin his quest for the
infinity stones all over again from nothing.
Thanos's next part of the hero's journey especially defines his heroism, that being his
atonement. The quote from baby Gamora after Thanos's snap "What did it cost?" and Thanos
replying with "Everything" perfectly describes how Thanos understands the terrible sacrifice he
has made, but still considers it a necessary evil to bringing about health to an aching universe.
Throughout his journey during the Marvel Cinematic Universe and especially in Infinity War,
Thanos is constantly willing to sacrifice everything he loves and himself in order to bring vitality
to the universe. First, Thanos sacrifices the only person he truly loved in the universe, Gamora,
in order to get the soul stone. Thanos had many daughters in his life, though all were simply
kidnapped orphans whose families and homes had been destroyed by his own attempts at
balancing. But even though he had a myriad of children to choose from, Thanos took a liking to
the strongest one, Gamora. Gamora quickly became Thanos's favorite daughter, and his reliable
advisor in wartime strategy. However, during the events of Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora
switches sides, fighting against Thanos to prevent him from getting the infinity stones. However,
despite this, Thanos still continues to love her like a wayward child, and during Infinity WWar
takes Gamora on the rest of his quest for the infinity stones. In this quest, the soul stone demands
a payment for the power it provides, namely something the wielder loves, and Thanes sheds a
single tear as he realizes what he most do. With great struggle, Thangs sacrifices Gamora and is
given the soul stone. Along with the loss of those he loved, Thanos also sacrifices himself in a
physical sense, when he snaps and the infinity stones' power destroys his arm and half his body,
leaving him battered and gimped. This former celestial warlord was reduced to a husk of his
former self, a thematic mirroring of his physical omnipotence showcased earlier in the film when
all of the strongest heroes combined could barely put a scratch on Thanos's mighty purple head.
With his sacrifices comes his reward, one that he desired throughout his whole journey,
to rest. In the conclusion of Infinity War after the snap, as well as the beginning of End Game,
Thanos's rest is shown as he sits peacefully and lives as a farmer in The Garden. As his armor
sits on a stand in the middle of his field like a scarecrow, it reflects how he's just a shell of who
he was, and even though he's lost everything, his purpose has been fulfilled, and he feels that he
can finally rest and let himself be at ease, not always thinking about the next part is his grandiose
plan. The scarecrow also represents how his old self, similar.to a scarecrow, scares off beasts
who would prey on the scarce resources. Now, he is able to hang up the mantle, and no longer
has to be the universe's scarecrow, and in tum was granted with the true hero's reward as
compensation for his quest, completing the hero's journey. With the completion of the hero's
journey, Thanos returns back to his familiar or regular world, and although it is not his actual
familiar world in a literal sense, the familiarity comes with the peace and serenity of a farmer's
life, as opposed to the constant fighting of his past war filled life.
Thanos's philosophy is one not unfounded in philosophical literature, showcased in the
work by prominent philosophers Malthus and Ehrlich. Ehrlich's novel, The Population Bomb,
was a work that inspired terror in the hearts of countless scientists in the late 60s. Ehrlich was a
Nobel Prize winning scientist, and thus his assessment that the world would face major
starvation epidemics in the 70s and 80s was taken incredibly seriously by respected individuals
across the globe. Jacques Cousteau, incredibly influential and famous marine researcher, went to
the United Nations and told them that they needed to organize a method to kill 350000 people
the world would soon suffer the effects of overburdening the Earth beyond her carrying
daily,
capacity. And of course, the most famous and influential, quintessential author for
overpopulation enthusiasts everywhere, Thomas Malthus. Malthus wrote a host of novels all
about why the population needed to be curbed, and he had plenty of famous quotes detailing
exactly why, but his most famous is The Theory of Population, where he describes the
geometrical ratio of the expansion of population. Malthus described a litany of woes, all sourced
from unchecked population expansion, and various authors throughout the past two centuries
since Malthus began writing have agreed with him.
began "The Overpopulation Project," a global attempt to slow down population growth across
the planet. The United Nations considers overpopulation a long-term issue, not just a singular
event, as is evidenced by them labeling control of population growth as one of their core goals
for 2030.
fact, in July of 2018 the United Nations
Of course, even considering all of the logics of Thanos's argument and the thematic
undertones of the film Infinity War, it's rather obvious that Thanos's argument is incoherent,
requires a juvenile understanding of mathematics, and is a thinly veiled attempt to plaster the
mad titan's genocidal urges as noble. Neither Thanos nor any advocate for his position besides
Jacques Cousteau realize that you need continual pruning for a population to actually stay low. If
we assume Malthus is correct, that populations grow geometrically, then a population will
regrow itself in a matter of years, not millennia or eons, and if he's wrong, then there's no
problem anyways, and the population will check itself. The statistics also use averages for
population growth, which ignores the fact that the vast majority of population expansion occurs
in third world countries where a high number of children is necessary to make sure enough
survive to adulthood, which will be resolved in due time as the world pulls itself as a whole from
poverty. The film Infinity War is geniusky crafted in being able to constantly contrast Thanos's
actions with the film's honorable executions of them, utilizing a swooping score, allusive
cinematography, and well-known story tropes to pass off all of Thancs's decisions as being close
enough to a hero's to mistake him for one. But the Russos' characterization of Thanos as a hero,
while ingenious, is only so because he is so far from it. Thanos may believe he is a hero on some
conscious level, but as is showcased in Endgame where Thanos begins an egotistical invasion of
Earth and rampages through the Avengers, he is aware unconsciously that he truly just desires to
kill, the power that comes from controlling another's life. His relegation of his aggressive
tendencies to his subconscious in an attempt to be a noble hero just amplify them and make them
bubble and boil just beneath the surface, making him unstable and violent. Therefore, Thanos is
the antagonist and villain of Marvel's Infinity War, despite arriving at all the points in the hero's
journey arc, because his sacrifices are made for a personal psychopathic streak, and he uses his
banner of benevolence as a logical excuse for murder.
Works Cited
Arrhenius, Gustaf, et al. "The Repugnant Conclusion." Staford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Stanford University, 16 Jan. 2017, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/repugnant-
conclusion/.
Ehrlich, Paul R. The Population Bomb. Buccaneer, 2007.
Finkelberg. Margalit. "Odysseus and the Genus 'Hero': Greece & Rome." Cambridge Core,
Cambridge University Press, 7 Sept. 2009, https://www.cambridge.org/core journals
greece-and-rome/article/odysseus-and-the-genus-hero/8146C3FFC480785339560270
044E827E,
Gunn, James, director. Guardians of the Galacy. Marvel Studios, 2014.
Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population. Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1798.
Russo, Anthony and Joseph Russo, directors. Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel Studios, 2018.
Russo, Anthony and Joseph Russo, directors. Avengers: End Game. Marvel Studios, 2019.
Whe
Joss, director. The Avengers. Marvel Studios, 2012.
For a college English class final we were able to make a 6-page essay on whatever we wanted so I chose a topic that interested me, Thanos as a hero and main protagonist. Anyways I'm very proud of the product and I know it's long but if you have the time give it a read.](https://pics.onsizzle.com/thanos-did-nothing-wrong-what-exactly-makes-thanos-from-marvels-66730659.png)
![tropes: "I make myself feel better by
who enjoy different things than I do" starterpack
putting down people
The
stronk_tank 4 points 1 day ago
Ay hold up, girls und panzer is fire
S O points 3 hours ago
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This is why you can't get a girlfriend.
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A RedKam 1 point 3 hours ago
I can think of much bigger reasons why I don't have a girifriend
IS]1 point 3 hours ago
Girls und Panzer is pussy repellent material.
"Feminism is the reason why I cani get a girlfriend" starterpack redd
submitted 1 day ago by
2108 comments share save hide report
36.4k
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lol
"Feminism is the reason why I can't get a girlfriend"
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+ I'm an asshole because I said something you didn't
agree with?
S1 1 point 3 hours ago
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You're being an asshole by bashing things
people enjoy while defending the things people
are bashing you for enjoying. Don't you see that's
pretty hypocritical? If you enjoy playing Doki Doki,
then good for you man, but that doesn't mean
you get say stuff like "The people who watch
Dragon maid probably doesn't have anything
other than free time." I mean come on.
RedKam 2 points 2 hours ago
Der
Untermen(ch
Kaayashi
Dragen Maid
Anti-social behaviour
Fom Wpea, the eenyped
Ret Me
Nor e conteed with Asooaty Antisocia personalty daorder, Social phoba or Counterout
The examples and perspective in the article deal primarily with the
Cworidwide view of he ubect You may improve ths article, discus
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aporopriate anwandhen an empiatema
Anti-social behaviours are actions tha ha or lack consideration tor the wel-being of others
EnalessEightSurvivor 12 points 1 day ago
nghts of ancther personand any behaviour that is consdered to be dangtive to ohers in society
A DDLC fan insulting anime fans?
Dude you play a dating sim Imao
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ALL
[S] -11 points 1 day ago
I got my comment downvoted even though I was playing along.
parent report repy
DDLC is a western made horror game with a well-written tragic story, it also makes fun of VN tropes and stereotypes in a very clever
way.
S] -10 points 1 day ago
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morerokk 21 points 1 day ago
LMAO, I have never seen someone make themselves look this bad this quickly.
ermalink spbedsave
"Hürr dürr I was only pretending"
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The "I make myself feel better by putting down people who enjoy different things than I do" starterpack](https://pics.onsizzle.com/i-make-myself-feel-better-by-who-enjoy-different-things-66487565.png)
