The Elders of the Universe recovered five Gems, and had the Silver Surfer steal the sixth from the Kree Supreme Intelligence. Eventually, Thanos was killed, Adam Warlock found peace within the Soul Gem, and the Gems were scattered. Thanos used elements of each of them to create a synthetic "Star Gem." Using a fraction of the Gems' true might, he caused supernovas in an attempt to please Mistress Death, the personification of death itself. The Time and Power Gems were owned by cosmic entities the Gardener and the Stranger, respectively.Īt some point, Thanos acquired these two and three others- from an alien prison satellite, a cavern on Deneb IV, and the grip of the "monster" Xiambor - and scanned Warlock's Soul Gem. Warlock was given the Gem by the High Evolutionary, who had obtained it and other Gems under unrevealed circumstances, and he wore it for many years. In particular, Adam Warlock bore the Soul Gem and only knew its power over the human mind and its self-contained pocket universe. However, the gems were not known to be a collective power for ages. The Gems were actually once part of the primordial entity Nemesis, who, eons ago, ended its existence rather than live as the only sentience in the universe. When all six are directly wielded together, nothing is impossible for their bearer. Each one allows its owner extreme control over one aspect of the universe: time, space, reality, mind, power, and soul. The Infinity Gems (previously known as "Soul Gems") are some of the most powerful artifacts in the Universe.