Only a few antagonists have made an impact within and beyond a movie franchise, like Thanos from the MCU. Many traits about this Mad Titan have cemented him as arguably the best-written comic book villain in cinema history. And this is not by chance. A great deal of creative effort was infused into Thanos’ character arc and design that you can not help but acknowledge him.
Update July 30, 2023: Fans of the Mad Titan will be pleased to know that we've updated this list with even more unforgettable quotes.
This is owed to many factors. First is his unquenchable, if unorthodox, desire to fulfill his destiny of eliminating half of life with a snap of his fingers. Another is Thanos’ nihilism theory of life having no meaning and overpopulation being the genesis of extinction. There are aspects of Thanos that we cannot ignore. Although he is universally regarded as the personification of cruelty, inescapable death, and infinite destruction, he reminds us to hold fast to our ideologies and, more importantly, to live by them. Thanos faces off against the best teams in the cosmos, yet he still prevails after completing the Infinity Gauntlet. In addition to his unbreakable will, one major unmissable attribute that makes Thanos a memorable villain within and beyond the MCU is the memorable lines he delivers with all conviction. Here are 20 of his best quotes.
20 "Fine, I'll do it myself."
Thanos is introduced in the MCU's Phase 2 as a purple alien awaiting the results of Ultron's mission to eliminate humanity in Avengers: Age of Ultron. But when Ultron succumbs to the first assemblage of the Avengers, Thanos is ready to step into the scene. His first line in the MCU franchise proves the famous saying, "If you want something done right, you do it yourself."
19 "You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
Upon meeting with Tony Stark, Thanos states he already knew of Tony and cites their shared genius as the reason why. Although Tony generally seems proud of his intelligence, the MCU also doesn't stray away from portraying the character's darker moments. The scene is one of the first times the audience sees Thanos as somewhat sympathetic, his use of the word "cursed" indicating that he feels burdened with what he knows. Given the context of Thanos' appearance in the MCU, this line makes it seem as though Thanos almost wishes he doesn't have to take half the population but feels it's an inevitability he can't ignore because of what he knows.
18 "Undying? You should choose your words more carefully."
This brilliantly cold line perfectly sets the tone for the first major death at the hands of Thanos and his plans. When Loki attempts to trick the Titan, Thanos not only picks up on this but swiftly delivers this line before strangling Loki. Not only does this demonstrate Thanos' quick thinking, but it also shows his brutality. Loki's death sets the tone for the film going forward, and Thanos has no time for tricks and games, briskly bringing anybody who stands in his way to an end.
17 "All that for a drop of blood."
Perhaps one of the most chilling lines delivered by the Titan, after the heroes fight with their all to bring down Thanos, he remarks how unsuccessful their attempts have been. When watching the battle, it's easy to ignore the fact that Thanos doesn't appear particularly hurt until he draws attention to it. This one line casts a shadow of impending doom over the heroes and the audience alike, where it becomes clear that they're out of their element in a way we haven't seen before. Tony, Spider-Man, and the rest of the heroes have given it their all and only managed a small scratch on Thanos; it's pretty terrifying!
16 "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say, I am."
To kick-start his killing spree, Thanos stands over the fallen bodies of Asgardian soldiers. But what makes this opening quote in Avengers: Infinity War is Thanos' show of tenderness for Thor and Loki. In one monologue, he empathizes with their feeling of defeat while assuring them of their weakness and the futility of their resistance.
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The bad guy always loses in Marvel movies, but it becomes even more terrible to have one who has experienced it and still returns to fight. Thanos was familiar with failure, heartache, and loss, but he persisted because he believed his cause was essential. All of this demonstrates how frightening of a villain he was because, instead of quitting when he lost the first time, Thanos learned and persisted in his fight, which helped him win.
15 "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
Thanos is not like any villain who wants to commit evil for the sake of it. He believes his genocidal solution to overpopulation and the preservation of environmental resources is the best despite being the hardest. Seeing that he had just sacrificed his daughter, Gamora, to attain the Soul Stone.
To further prove his ideology to Doctor Strange, Thanos presents an image of what would befall Earth, hoping that the sorcerer will see his logic and join his crusade. This line further reflects an unnoticed layer of Thanos, revealing him in a new light like never before since his MCU debut. Deep down, if there was another realistic solution for him, he would take it rather than kill half of life. Thanos even goes on to explain, in detail, how his Snap is merciful and fair.
14 "I am a survivor."
Throughout Infinity War and Avengers:Endgame, there are moments where fans find themselves empathizing with or feeling terrible for Thanos, particularly in the scene where he describes what happened to his native planet of Titan, of which he is the sole survivor. Thanos saw his home on the verge of doom and offered them a solution, but they rejected it (rightly so), and as a result, the planet perished. Since he wants to avoid the same happening to any other planet, he makes it his ambition to ensure that there are survivors on every planet.
13 "You have my respect, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will be alive. I hope they remember you."
No matter how you felt about him, Thanos wasn't your typical villain. He was motivated by his own moral convictions and by his own set of rules for life. Given that Thanos initially debuted in the pages of an Iron Man comic book, when Tony Stark/Iron Man confronts him in a hand-to-hand confrontation for what will be the last time, it's an epic comic book-to-screen moment. The Mad Titan knifed Tony Stark in the chest before paying his respects and obliviously foreshadowing Stark's death in Endgame.
12 "Reality is often disappointing. Now, reality can be whatever I want."
After Thanos traveled to Knowhere, and took the Aether from the Collector, solidifying it into the Reality Stone and adding it into the Infinity Gauntlet, he played a mind trick on Quill and Gamora before reiterating his possession of the reality-altering gem.
11 "Perfectly balanced as all things should be."
This statement captures Thanos' mentality. Due to his intense conviction that what he was accomplishing was the right thing, he thought everything should be in its proper place, even if that meant wiping out half of the universe. In a flashback, this dialogue between a war criminal and his soon-to-be-adopted daughter reveals Gamora's childhood and Thanos' early planetary raids. While death and destruction occur behind them, Thanos, with zero remorse, demonstrates the need for equilibrium between life and death.
10 "A small price to pay for salvation."
This is an interesting conversation between Thanos and Gamora; the audience gets to witness more of their complicated father-daughter dynamic. Here, Thanos reminds Gamora of the necessity of sacrifice and collateral damage to achieve the greater good. He boasts of his salvational deeds and places himself as the universe's messiah.
9 "You should have gone for the head."
This line from Infinity War is one of the few times the audience assumed The Avengers had won — that is, until they realize it takes more than an axe in the chest to kill Thanos. Thor delivers what should have been a fatal blow to Thanos, using his new weapon Stormbreaker, but, as it turns out, he should have gone for the head. This allows Thanos to snap his fingers with the complete Gauntlet. Not only is this heart-wrenching, but this is also the precise moment The Avengers and the entire Marvel fandom knew the battle for humanity in Wakanda was lost.
8 "I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again... Even for you."
Despite being a pretty frightening villain, the films do a brilliant job of making Thanos seem sympathetic. We see how he genuinely believes what he's doing is best for humanity and that he has no choice, he's seen what happened to his own planet and wants to avoid the same happening elsewhere. Whilst he is responsible for the death of Gamora's biological family, he sees himself as having taken her in as a positive, and appears to genuinely feel affection for her. So, when he and Gamora are on Vormir, and he learns he must sacrifice her in order to obtain the Soul Stone, there is a moment of true sadness. How much must Thanos believe what he's doing is necessary that he'd be willing to sacrifice his own daughter?
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Feelings of sympathy are pretty swiftly whisked away once he throws Gamora off the cliffs of Vormir, but the line provides a dark insight into Thanos' mind and how set he is on accomplishing his mission.
7 "As long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
In his sheer compassion, Thanos believes that by eliminating half of life on earth, others will appreciate the gift of abundance. Still, he learns humans are not like most races across the galaxies he encountered. Seeing the rebellion of the other half, Thanos regrets his initial decision and ensures not to repeat the same mistake.
6 "I will shred this universe down to its last atom and then, with the Stones you've collected for me, create a new one teeming with life that knows not what it has lost, but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."
According to a sarcastic Tony Stark, "Humans are all kinds of stubborn." This fuels Thanos’ new decision to completely annihilate Earth to its last atom. Hearing Thanos assert that gratitude for his oppression is what's needed underscores how tyrannical his logic became. In one statement, he puts himself as the destroyer of one planet while the creator of another.
5 "In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter, it was never personal. But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet, I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."
Throughout Infinity War, Thanos was portrayed as the Titan who was adamant about wiping out half the universe. Even though he killed fan-favorite characters like Loki, he maintained his relaxed, collected demeanor. But by claiming to be having a little fun, he actually revealed the underlying callousness beneath his tenable logic.
4 "I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless."
Perhaps one of Thanos' most relatable quotes, everybody knows what it's like to have lost. Not only is it a relatable quote for the audience, but it's delivered as a way of Thanos relating to the heroes. As the audience looking in, we know that what Thanos is trying to do is wrong and unimaginably cruel, and our interests align with the main heroes.
However, this oddly relatable quote makes the audience think for a moment; Thanos wholeheartedly believe he is in the right. Thanos is blinded by his plans and genuinely sees this as the only way to ensure that what happened on Titan doesn't happen elsewhere.
3 "Fun isn't something one considers when balancing the universe. But this...does put a smile on my face."
This line wasn't even in the finished film. Fans heard this chilling line from Thanos in the trailer for Avengers: Infinity War, and it was instantly quotable leading up to the film's premiere. Even if it was not in the film, it was a good insight into what Thanos's overall plan would be. Instead of his comic book characters' quest to impress death, Thanos would be about balance, as he says in the film, all things should be.
2 "I am inevitable."
In Infinity War, it seemed Thanos was inevitable. However, he would have a different luck in Endgame. This phrase caused fans to panic when they thought Thanos had won yet again, making it one of the most memorable quotes from Endgame. Thanks to Tony Starks quick decision and bravery to remove the Infinity Stones and respond with a cooler catchphrase that ends the MCU's Infinity Saga.
1 "You could not live with your own failure. Where did that bring you? Back to me."
This is arguably the best quote in the history of the MCU. Not only does this line lead to the climax of the third phase of the MCU, it accurately paints the power disparity between Thanos and the Avengers. It is one thing to confront an opponent for the first time, but it is another entirely to face the opponent conscious of their first defeat and certain of yours. Thanos holds this position as he confidently awaits Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor to meet a second loss.
