Guardians Of The Galaxy: Nebula’s 10 Strongest Powers, Ranked

Initially an accomplice of her adoptive father Thanos, Nebula switched sides in the closing chapters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, joining the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers. Like her original comic-book incarnation, she’s a Luphomoid cyborg who possesses several strengths like superhuman strength, agility, and a healing factor. Played by Karen Gillian, Nebula is a pretty popular character in the MCU, often paired with her adoptive sister Gamora with whom she shares a pretty turbulent relationship.

Her cybernetic enhancements help her a great deal in hand-to-hand combat and assassination missions. Additionally, she’s also a proficient pilot. Even though her comic-book and cinematic forms share mostly similar powers, it’s yet to be seen any new powers that Nebula would unleash in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

10 Cybernetic Communication

A cybernetic brain implant allows Nebula to easily transmit mental messages to other people in the vicinity. She used this ability to alert Sakaarans about Gamora possessing ‘the Orb’. Because of her internal configuration with such implants, she hardly keeps any other electronic devices on her. In other words, Nebula can be seen as a machine in herself.

She also communicated with Thanos through this technology to inform Thanos that she possessed the Nano Gauntlet during the Attack on the New Avengers Facility in Avengers: Endgame.

9 Intellect And Memory

Nebula’s power of thinking and processing information is much higher than an average human, thanks to the synaptic implant in her brain. This allows her to make quick decisions and strategies. It might also explain her vast knowledge in time travel as seen in Avengers: Endgame.

The implant is located on the side of her head and forms a part of her brain. It can however malfunction if she shifts through timelines and finds a doppelganger of herself, as seen in Infinity War and Endgame.

8 Storing Holographic Information

The cybernetic neuro-implant also allows Nebula to store certain memories for future use, and display them as holographic projections. While it’s a strong attribute and shows that Nebula has a literal ‘photographic’ memory, it can again be misused like the intellectual powers that the implant grants her.

For instance, Thanos could access the memories of Nebula from 2023 (through Nebula’s version from the past) as both variants were mentally linked through the same cybernetic neuro-network.

7 Tempersteel Claws

Nebula also possesses two retractable tempersteel claws (one on each hand). She uses these claws to easily climb and grip onto surfaces at great heights. A display of these claws can be seen in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film when Nebula uses the claws to climb up the exterior surface of the Cloud Tombs of Praxius while pursuing an Infinity Stone (the Orb).

However, after she loses her left arm, she ends up losing one of the claws lessening the impact of this power.

6 Hacking

For some time, the charges from her cybernetic hand could also be used to hack other electronic devices, and Nebula could even connect the hand directly to a computer system (or any other digital device).

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Nebula uses this power while transporting Thanos (from 2014) and his army to the present day. For this, she connected her cybernetic technology with the computer that was linked to the Quantum Tunnel.

5 Superhuman Agility

Good running speed, a quick judgment of combat moves, and great flexibility allow Nebula to be a tough fighter and a good match for contemporaries like Gamora. She could even land a few impactful punches on Thanos even though the latter eventually defeated her.

Even though she can handle guns and blasters, Gamora is pretty swift in mastering control over her electroshock batons. The batons are more than often her weapon of choice.

4 Electroshock Charges

Nebula’s cybernetic left arm is quite efficient as it can generate electricity by will. She once used the hand’s electric charges to even repair a broken-down Ravager ship that she and Yondu were on.

The arm also allows her to fire several electroshock charges over enemies in a limited target area. This power is not explored that much in the films, but one of her earliest comic-book appearances significantly features the energy blasts from her hands (even though the blasters are attached to her hands in the comics, rather than being implanted inside).

3 Superhuman Durability

Nebula possesses a healing factor that repairs her body tissue and cybernetic parts. Otherwise too, her body is durable enough to withstand a lot of damage. She’s shown to be easily jumping off great heights or even falling from such heights without feeling any impact trauma.

To power a ship’s energy beams, she plugged her mechanical arm into the ships. This resulted in her arm getting electrocuted and yet she survived.

2 Superhuman Strength

With great durability, comes great strength. Even after being strangled by the mighty Thanos, Nebula still managed to regain enough strength to snap the neck of a Chitauri soldier. She can even break through surfaces like an M-ship’s (the ships used by Ravagers) windshield.

The very fact that she can engage in one-on-one combat with extremely strong beings like Gamora and Thanos bears testimony to her superhuman strength.

1 Healing Factor

Like a few other characters in the Marvel pantheon (chiefly Wolverine), Nebula has a healing factor due to a regeneration implant in her body. This allows her not only to quickly recover from fatal injuries but it also helps in reshaping her body within minutes.

In the films, she has received near-death blows from Drax’s cannon as well as an M-ship’s impact, and yet she just snaps her jaw and arms back to their normal place. Nebula returning to her original shape seems somewhat similar to the android T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day as he also can instantly reform itself from any physical damage.

About The Author

Shaurya Thapa
(727 Articles Published)

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Shaurya Thapa is an Indian freelance journalist who mostly dabbles in writings on cinema, music, and human interest features. When it comes to Screen Rant, he writes lists on a wide array of subjects ranging from international films to mainstream Netflix series and comic book trivia. He also hosts a podcast called ‘BhindiWire’, an Indian parody of IndieWire.

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