Drax the Destroyer

"His people are completely literal. Metaphors are gonna go over his head." "Nothing goes over my head! My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."

- Rocket Raccoon and Drax

Drax, also known as Drax the Destroyer (or simply The Destroyer), is a former intergalactic criminal and a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Backstory
While his species has not been named, Drax comes from a race of primitives who are considered naive and hopelessly underdeveloped by the more advanced galactic groups. As a result, Drax is extremely unaware of basic concepts such as metaphors and customs. They are, however, a fierce and capable warrior race who follow a tribal-like culture. Drax was married to a woman named Hovat, and together the two had a daughter named Kamaria.

After Ronan the Accuser murdered Hovat and Kamaria under the order of the warlord Thanos, Drax was driven into a path of vengeance and went on a bloody rampage across the galaxy in search of the murderous Kree. After over twenty-two counts of murder and six counts of grievous bodily harm, he was arrested by the Nova Corps and brought to the Kyln.

Meeting the Guardians
In Kyln, Drax ended up meeting Peter Quill, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Gamora, the latter whom had very close ties to Ronan. The four carried with them the Orb, a housing device carrying a powerful Infinity Stone that Ronan was attempting to deliver to Thanos. Drax came close to murdering Gamora in order to briefly satisfy his thirst for revenge, but Quill was able to convince him to spare her, as she had recently betrayed Ronan and would undoubtedly lead him to her.

The five prisoners then joined up with each other to escape from the prison, and traveled to Knowhere to deliver the Orb to Taneleer Tivan, whom Gamora had agreed to sell the Orb to. While they waited for Tivan, Drax, Rocket, and Groot goofed off in The Boot of Jemiah, where Drax and Rocket ended up getting drunk. While betting on Orloni fights, Drax and Rocket got into a fight after Drax insulted Rocket's rodent-like appearance. Groot tried to help Rocket, but Drax attacked him, promting Rocket to withdraw a Laser Cannon and prepare to shoot Drax with it. Luckily Quill came and stopped the drunken Rocket. In rage, Drax left the bar. After he left, the rest of the group was finally summoned by Tivan. While stalking through Knowhere in frustration, Drax came across a communications officer and forced him to call Ronan so that he could kill him and avenge his family.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group discovered that the stone inside the Orb was powerful enough to destroy a planet. When Ronan arrived, he sent Nebula and his Sakaaran mercenaries after the rest of the group while he fought with Drax. Ronan dismissed Drax's claims of murdering his family, claiming he did not remember them, and easily subdued Drax with little effort before dropping him in a tank full of yellow liquid. Drax nearly drowned in the tank, but Groot pulled him out and resuscitated him.

Outside of Knowhere, Gamora was nearly killed by Nebula, and the Orb was retaken by Ronan. Quill summoned the Ravagers to assist, and they ended up capturing him and Gamora. Rocket blamed Drax for Quill and Gamora's kidnapping, and Drax realized that he uses anger just to hide his pain.

Hoping to save Quill and Gamora, the three fly to the Ravager ship in the Milano, planning to destroy the ship if they do not hand over Quill and Gamora in five seconds. Right before they were going to destroy the ship, Quill used the Ravagers' communication system to tell Rocket that he had managed to come up with a deal for the leader of the Ravagers, Yondu Udonta. He planned to get the Orb back from Ronan by raiding his ship and stopping him from destroying Xandar.

Battle of Xandar
The next day, Quill's team and the Ravagers put the plan into action and Quill warned Rhomann Dey so that he could tell the rest of the Nova Corps. When the battle began, Drax road with Quill, Gamora and Groot into Ronan's battleship, the Dark Aster, where they battled their way to Ronan, killing several Sakaarans. Drax also personally engaged and slew Korath the Pursuer by ripping out one of his cranial implants, electrocuting him to death. Upon finding Ronan, the group attempted and failed to kill him with Rocket's Hadron Enforcer. Before Ronan could finish the group, Rocket suddenly crashed the Milano through the Aster and into Ronan, causing both vehicles critical damage. Drax was knocked unconscious in the crash, and Groot created a dome of wood out of his body, which protected the team when the damaged Aster crashed into Xandar. When the ship crashed, the team survived, but Groot's body was pulverized into pieces.

Ronan also survived the crash and nearly attempted to destroy Xandar with the Infinity Stone. Luckily, Rocket and Drax used the Hadron Enforcer to blast Ronan's hammer, exposing the stone. Quill quickly grabbed the stone, but was nearly killed by its power. Gamora helped him by taking his hand and spreading the burden between the two of them. Drax did the same by grabbing onto Quill's shoulder, with Rocket following suite by gripping Drax's finger. Stablizing the stone's power long enough to direct it towards Ronan, the four obliterated him and then reseaeled the stone back into a new orb-like device.

After the battle, the stone was given to the Nova Corps and Drax realizes that Ronan was sent by Thanos to kill his wife and daughter, and vowed to kill the Dark Lord next. Drax then traveled around the universe with Quill's team, which became known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. Rocket managed to save a twig from Groot's body and put it in a pot, allowing Groot to grow into a new body. Once in the Milano, after Groot had grown a bit bigger, he began to dance to I Want You Back behind Drax, freezing whenever Drax looked his way.

Powers and Abilities

 * Superhuman Strength: Drax has much more physical prowess than most species, capable of lifting five times his own weight and breaking through solid metal. Using his brute strength alone, Drax has ripped apart metal prison turrets, parts of Groot, and Korath's cybernetic implants. His strength has allowed him to overpower many enemies and toss them aside.
 * Accelerated Healing Factor: Drax's cells regenerate at a faster rate than most species.
 * Superhuman Durability: Drax can withstand attacks that most species cannot, due to impact resistant skin. During the prison escape, Drax withstood direct turret blasts to his chest unharmed before tearing the turret apart with his bare hands. Drax has also withstood a beating from Ronan the Accuser, who sent Drax flying several feet through a metal wall. Also in the Guardians' battle with Ronan aboard the Dark Aster, Drax was able to survive the impact of Rocket's Milano crashing into him, although he was knocked unconscious.
 * Superior Awareness: Due to the nature of his people, he is raised to be straightforward and more tactical-minded.

Equipment

 * Dual Knives: Acquired from an inmate from Kyln, Drax uses 2 knives in battle.

Relationships

 * Family
 * Hovat † - Wife
 * Kamaria † - Daughter
 * Moloka Dar † - Ally
 * Guardians of the Galaxy - Teammates
 * Star-Lord - Leader
 * Groot
 * Rocket Raccoon
 * Gamora
 * Ronan the Accuser † - Enemy
 * Korath the Pursuer † - Enemy
 * Thanos - Enemy
 * Nebula - Enemy

Trivia

 * In the comics, Drax was a human named Arthur Douglas whose wife was killed by Thanos. His daughter, Heather, survived and was found by Thanos' father. She grew up to become superheroine Moondragon.
 * In the movie it required Drax plus 3 of the other guardians to control the power of the Orb for just a moment. However in the comics an incarnation of Drax managed to easily control the stone all by himself.