10 Most Powerful Members Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy In Comics, Ranked

The Guardians of the Galaxy became one of the most popular superteams in the world thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What made this even more impressive was the fact that they were never a really big deal in comics before that. Marvel Comics introduced the team in 1969, and it looked nothing like the movie version.

However, thanks to the MCU, the Guardians are now more popular than ever, even in the comics. The team from the movies formed in the comics in 2007, seven years before their debut in the MCU. Since that time, some of the most powerful cosmic Marvel heroes joined forces on the team, many capable of matching up to even Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

10 Drax The Destroyer

Drax the Destroyer first appeared in Iron Man #55 in 1973. The hero was a tragic Guardians of the Galaxy character, with his family seemingly dying as victims of Thanos. A human in the comics, Arthur Douglas returned in the body of the Drax the Destroyer, a cosmic powerhouse feared across the galaxy as an unstoppable force of nature.

Drax is immensely powerful, dying and returning more than once thanks to him being an Avatar of Life. The Eternal Kronos created his body and strengthened it to battle Thanos on even ground. Drax also has an aura around his body, and when it surrounds him, he has even more power and has even killed Thanos more than once.

9 Groot

Groot is an alien from Planet X, exiled from his homeworld for his sense of empathy and kindness for others. However, while Groot is a being that seeks peace, he is also a powerful warrior that is strong enough to fight countless enemies at once, and tear through them with ease.

Groot can grow in size at will to take a giant form in battle. He can also stretch his limbs and attack from all angles at once, from great distances. In battle, he has superhuman strength and durability and has both regenerative abilities to instantly heal himself as well as the power to heal his allies. Add on the ability to control other plant life, and he is a very powerful ally for the Guardians of the Galaxy.

8 Agent Venom

Flash Thompson’s Agent Venom also joined up with the Guardians of the Galaxy at one point. One of the most heroic symbiote hosts from Marvel Comics, Agent Venom joined the Guardians as a liaison for The Avengers and became close friends and allies with the cosmic team. This is also where readers learned more about Knull and the symbiotes’ origin.

Flash had the same Venom symbiote that Eddie Brock had, and that made him an incredibly powerful character. He had all the powers of Brock’s Venom but also used his skills as a military strategist to use the symbiote to form various weapons and guns to use.

7 Hercules

The Guardians of the Galaxy have dealt with goods more than once, and in recent issues of the comics, they even had to battle Zeus and the Greek gods. They also had a member of that pantheon on their team, as Hercules had joined the Guardians long before these battles began.

The former Avenger has godlike strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina. He is also invulnerable thanks to Hela and can withstand more damage than any god outside of Zeus. Additionally, Hercules is immortal, and he can never truly die by conventional means, putting him a step above someone like Agent Venom.

6 Phyla-Vell

Phyla-Vell was the second artificially created offspring of Captain Mar-Vell, the original Kree warrior that became an ally to Earth. She proved her power when the Guardians and Nova fought in the Annihilation War, one of the most devastating cosmic wars in Marvel history. She was responsible for helping end the war when she attacked Annihilus and stole his Quantum Bands.

According to the Nova Corps, Phyla-Vell’s powers are “Continental Threat” level. On top of her strength, she can also absorb energy from the reality around her and use it as a weapon or as a healing force. She also gained more powers as the Avatar of Oblivion, but those are still unknown, although they hint to be even greater than her previous powers.

5 Quasar

Quasar has always been one of cosmic Marvel’s most powerful heroes, although he isn’t as prominent as others. The original Quasar, Wendell Vaughn, also recently went through changes that altered everything about the hero, as he and former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Avril Kincaid can now switch places at any time with the Quantum Bands.

Quasar is pure quantum energy. This means he/she can turn their body into any shape imaginable and then disperse the energy from the body as a weapon. What holds them down is the fact they need the Quantum Bands to reach full power and can tire out after large excursions of power.

4 Nova

Richard Ryder was a teenager on Earth when he became Nova. However, in the years since, he has become one of the most powerful cosmic warriors, battling on the front lines to save the galaxy from all sorts of threats, from Thanos to Annihilus. He was the lead general in Annihilation and helped win that war.

At one time, Nova was a powerful warrior, but he now serves as the host for the entire Nova Force, which is pure energy that gives him several powers. This used to power up the Nova Corps and now he uses it by himself. His power is so strong that he battled Silver Surfer on even ground. He also hosts the Xandarian Worldmind, which both protects and advises him in all battles.

3 Moondragon

Moondragon is Heather Douglas. In the comics, she was Drax the Destroyer’s daughter, but she did not die in Thanos’ attack, as the Mad Titan’s father saved her and took her back to his home to train her. She ended up as a hero, a villain, an Avenger, and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy member.

Moondragon is considered one of the most powerful telepaths ever born on Earth. While Professor X and Jean Grey are considered two of Marvel’s most powerful telepaths, Moondragon has proven at times to possess stronger psionic energy. Her power is so great, she pierced the mind of Galactus at one point.

2 Adam Warlock

The big difference between the Infinity Gauntlet storyline in comics and Avengers: Infinity War was that it wasn’t the Avengers who beat Thanos in the comics. It was the combined efforts of cosmic heroes like Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock. It was actually Warlock that took the Infinity Gauntlet for himself after the war.

However, it was also Warlock that ended up losing control and almost destroying the universe itself when he became Magus. He has more powers than almost anyone in the Guardians of the Galaxy and was the most powerful member until recently. He has cosmic powers, can use quantum magic, and manipulates energy and matter, meaning he is overpowered and can do almost anything.

1 Star-Lord

At one point, Star-Lord was one of the weakest, yet most determined members of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He was their leader and was a great field general, but from a powers point of view, he offered little outside of his ability to lead a team into battle.

Peter Quill is now literally the Star-Lord, a godlike figure in Marvel Comics. Quill traveled through time after stopping the Greek Gods in 2020’s Guardians of the Galaxy series and when he returned, he possessed the powers of the sun. He destroyed a symbiote dragon just by lighting up his own body. He can also turn his body into any weapon of his choice with unlimited power, can heal himself from any injury, and has full cosmic awareness.

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