Is Thanos a mutant

[DonDaddyD]

Is Thanos a mutant? Yes. But what has to be asked is, What is a Mutant in the Marvel Universe?

When most people refer to a character as a Mutant what they are actually refering to is a person from the Homo Sapien Superior race. They are the next evolutionary step from Homo Sapien Sapien and the whole point of the X-men comic. To be a Homo Sapien Superior, one would need an X-gene. This race of being were given the disparaging term as a way to undo the importance of their existence in a World that hates and fears them. in actuality by definition and justification of the species widespread existence, non are in fact mutants.

Thanos however is a mutant he is an Eternal another offshoot of humanity who was unfortunately born with deviant syndrome, a rare genetic flaw within his respective race.

Kronos, Thanos; Grandfather however I feel is not a mutant he was born a Eternal with no genetic flaw. Due to an unforeseen accident he pushed past the boundaries of linear existence to become the Titanian God Kronos master of time.

 

[Lawless]

Yes

Yes Thanos is a mutant, a mutant eternal. While the running tradition of the word in MU is related to homo sapiens, the actual qualifier is any genetic variant of particular species. Thanos has abilities that no other Titan Eternal has, and as a species that sub-species of Eternals do not have a long list/history of different abilities per individual like they do in earth born Eternals. In fact Thanos’ family with the exception of his mother are all mutants. Eros has his empathy thing, dad does the energy thing too, to a degree. He isn’t human but Thanos is inborn genetic variation of his sub-species of Eternals.

 

[Hawksmoor]

Thanos is undoubtedly a mutant amongst his species; this has been signified, on the most superficial level, by his looks. Eternals have long been a race of great physical beauty, so it is little wonder that recently Jim Starlin described Thanos' mutation as Deviant Syndrome, since the Deviants were a hideous race who despised the beauty of the Eternals.

Although Thanos is undoubtedly a mutant, in terms of being clearly different to the rest of his race, then you are quite right that the term "mutant" most usually refers to the race Homo Sapiens Superior, whose most notable members have included Charles Xavier, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Emma Frost and Lorna Dane.

Having spent a lot of time considering and researching the genetics of Homo Sapiens within the Marvel Universe (the main write-up of which can be found HERE), I've become of the belief that Thanos' mutation is due to the breeding between two distinct groups of Eternals, which threw up a brand new individual.

The summary version (full version through that link) is that there was once a war between the Eternals, with half exiled from Earth; the half that remained were doused by the same cosmic radiation that transformed their leader Kronos, endowing them with great power far beyond those who had left.

Yet when the Earth Eternals schismed once more, Mentor, with his followers, went to the moon Titan, where they found some of the exiles, and began to breed. This led to a scenario where despite being of the same race, one set were in possession of vastly greater power than the others. Whilst in many cases this simply meant a compromise between the genetics, with the children being weaker than their Earth parent, in the case of Thanos this seems to have led to some sort of anomalous deus ex machina effect, granting him greater power than his brethren.

It does seem likely that it was this meeting of different types of Eternal which caused this, since there are no other recorded examples of Deviant Syndrome in either the Earth Eternals or the pre-Mentor Titanian Eternals.

That said, it's not sure how much more powerful than the Titanian Eternals he was, since from an early age Thanos would experiment with magic and technology, seeking ever more ways to augment his own power. Even then, he was probably not equal to the Silver Surfer, since the two seemed reasonably evenly matched (with an advantage on Thanos' side) after the Mad Titan's resurrection by Mistress Death, which augmented his abilities tenfold.

So, as far as I'm concerned, whilst Thanos is clearly a mutant Eternal, it is uncertain at best how much power this genetic difference granted him.