Power Stone

"The stone reacts to anything organic, the bigger the target, the bigger the power surge." "All Ronan has to do is touch the stone to the planet's surface and zap, all plants, animals, Nova Corps..." "Everything will die."

- Gamora and Star-Lord

The Power Stone is one of the six Infinity Stones, the remnant of a singularity that predates the universe. The Power Stone is a powerful weapon capable of granting a person great, cosmic power, but is highly likely to kill any organic beings that touch it. It was used by Eson the Searcher until it was forgotten for millenia in the planet Morag inside the Orb. The Orb containing the Power Stone was coveted by Thanos, who employed the Kree warrior Ronan the Accuser to bring it to him. However, before Ronan obtained the Orb, it was stolen by Star-Lord on Morag, prompting a galaxy-wide hunt that resulted in the Orb being given to the Nova Corps for safe-keeping. Thanos later retrieves the Power Stone from Xandar and inserts it into his Infinity Gauntlet.

Origin
The Power Stone is a remnant of one of the six singularities which existed before the universe. After the universe came into existence, the Cosmic Entities used the energies of these singularities to forge six immensely powerful objects known as Infinity Stones. Hence its name, the Power Stone represented the destructive nature of the universe, and was incredibly powerful, capable of annihilating entire planets. The Power Stone was used by the Celestial being Eson the Searcher to destroy planets and civilizations until it was forgotten inside the Orb for millenia.

It was later in possession of a group of Cosmic Beings who attempted to harness the power of the Stone by sharing its power between them, achieved this by linking themselves together. The effects were short-lived as the energy of the stone disintegrated all nine beings after a few moments. Eventually, the Orb, and the stone inside it were hidden on the planet Morag, storing it in a secret tomb that was hidden beneath the planet's vast ocean. The ocean would recede every 300 years, making the tomb accessible.

Collector's Demonstration
"Carina! Stand back!" "I will no longer be your slave!" "No!"

- Collector and Carina

Once the Orb had been found by Star-Lord, he found himself on a mission with the Guardians of the Galaxy to sell it before Ronan the Accuser could find it and use its power for evil. The Guardians took the Orb to the Collector where he used his technology to open the Orb while explaining the history of the Infinity Stones, marvelling at the Power Stone when it was finally revealed to him as he prepared to pay for it. However, the Collector's assistant Carina saw an opportunity to kill her master and attempted to grab the stone, only for its power to violently rip through her body, destroying her entirely as well as much of the Collector's Museum. The Guardians attempted to escape with the Orb, only to be found by Ronan and his soldiers, as Nebula was able to defeat Gamora and took the stone into her own possession to return it to Ronan, much to the Guardians' horror.

Ronan's Betrayal
"The Orb is in my possession, as I promised." "Bring it to me." "Yes, that was our agreement. Bring you the Orb, and you will destroy Xandar for me."

- Ronan the Accuser and Thanos

Upon learning that the Orb contained the Power Stone after acquiring it from the Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan the Accuser questioned his need for Thanos' assistance in his quest for revenge. Ronan ripped the Orb in half and took the Stone from it, consuming its energy and causing explosions all around him before attaching the Stone to his Cosmi-Rod in order to control its power. He became so powerful that he was no longer afraid of even the Mad Titan himself, who watched in silence and anger at the betrayal and cut off contact soon without being fazed by Ronan's threats to kill him.

Battle of Xandar
"Xandar, you stand accused. Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now. 'Tis the tinder on which you burn!"

- Ronan the Accuser

Unfazed by his enemies' attack on Xandar and filled with more power than all of them combined, Ronan the Accuser responded standing before the fleet of Nova Corps' Star Blasters and accusing them before sentencing them to destruction. He then used the Stone's power to fire a powerful blast from the Cosmi-Rod which destroyed the Nova Corps' entire fleet, as the burning remains of the army flew to the ground below and Ronan looked at the destruction with a sense of satisfaction watching the pain he was causing to his enemies.

While to continued to watch the battle unfold, Ronan found himself confronted by the Guardians of the Galaxy after they subdued his bodyguards and shot Ronan in the chest with the Hadron Enforcer. Ronan then easily overpowered the group with a single shockwave blast from the Power Stone using his hammer.

Smiling to himself at the desperate and pathetic attempts to stop him that had been proved to be worthless, Ronan the Accuser mocked the Guardians of the Galaxy and prepared to unleash the Stone's power to annihilate Xandar. The moment before he could unleash the power, he became distracted by Star-Lord, who had challenged him to a dance-off. This distraction allowed Rocket enough time to repair the Hadron Enforcer allowing Drax the Destroyer to fire it at him, managing to destroy Ronan's Cosmi-Rod, disarming him and leaving the all-powerful Power Stone flying in the air before him. In a desperate move to gain the advantage in the battle and kill each other, both Ronan and Peter Quill attempted to catch the Stone during the split second it hung unprotected in the air before them. Despite Ronan's best efforts to regain the powerful weapon, Quill was a moment faster and quickly caught the Stone.

Ronan's Destruction
"You're mortal! How?!" "You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

- Ronan the Accuser and Star-Lord

The moment the Power Stone was touched by Peter Quill's hand, it unleashed a massive amount of energy, causing a shock-wave which threw Ronan backwards as flames engulfed the group. As Ronan watched on with a sense of delight, the Stone's incredible and almost uncontrollable power nearly killed Quill as his body was slowly ripped apart from the inside by the Stone. Ronan laughed as he watched Quill screaming in horrific pain. However, Ronan witnessed Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Rocket Raccoon come together as a team and grab each other's hands, helping with the burden of the Stone's power and gaining complete control over it. He looked on in horror and demanded to know how that was possible for a human to survive such power and Quill informed him it was because together they were a team, before directing the Stone's energy at Ronan, destroying his body and killing him.

Stored Away
After the defeat of Ronan, the stone was stored in the Nova Corps Headquarters vault. It remained peacefully untouched for three years.

Acquired by Thanos
After Thanos decided to personally hunt for the Infinity Stones, his first attack was on Xandar to retrieve the Power Stone. Thanos successfully acquired the Power Stone after destroying the Nova Corps and Nova Empire and destroyed the Orb to unveil the Stone before putting it into the Infinity Gauntlet and he then killed off half of Xandar's population with it.

He later uses it to torture Thor by exposing him to the Power Stone's energy, quickly getting Loki to hand over the Tesseract and later to blow the Statesman after acquiring the Space Stone.

Thanos would use the Power Stone's energy manipulating powers the most often out of all the stones when he battled half of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange, using the Infinity Stone to destroy the Milano after Iron Man send it to him with a burst of energy, blast energy repeatedly at Star-Lord, although it failed due to Star-Lord having aid from Doctor Strange's use of Eldritch Magic to conjure platforms and later a shockwave, knocking out Drax, Star-Lord, and Nebula soon after being freed from Mantis's telepathy. His most notable feat was using the Power Stone to crush Titan's moon so he can hurl the pieces at his enemies. He then used the Power Stone to send out a beam of energy at Doctor Strange when he dueled with him after dodging all of the sorcerer's fiery rays of energy with a simple powerful leap and later to destroy Doctor Strange's use of the Mirror Dimension by empowering the Gauntlet with the Power Stone's energy as well as unleashing a burst of energy to free himself from the countless Eldritch Whips Strange used to bind him upon identifying the real Strange among the countless replicas he conjured while simultaneously dissipating them all. Thanos also used the Power Stone to send a beam of energy that almost overwhelmed Iron Man's shield and then to send him flying with a concentrated beam that heavily damaged the armor. His final use of the Power Stone in the battle was to emit its energy from the Gauntlet to act as a barrier to deflect Iron Man's repulsors while simultaneously walking towards the hero, allowing him to quickly end the attack by punching off the armor's helmet.

Upon arriving in Wakanda, Thanos used the Power Stone multiple times to knock away Captain America and Winter Soldier and then to stop Okoye's spear in mid-air and hurl her away, knocking her out of the fight. After completing the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos used all the stones in conjunction to successfully wipe out half of the universe even after Thor wounded him with Stormbreaker.

Capabilities
As the Infinity Stone that embodies the destructive force of the universe, the Power Stone grants its wielder vast energy manipulation capabilities. Like all Infinity Stones, the Power Stone is among the most powerful artifacts in the universe, with only beings of an extraordinary constitution being able to use it while less powerful beings would erupt in a violent explosion.

The Power Stone can also be used via a conduit, such as the Cosmi-Rod or Infinity Gauntlet, preventing the need to touch the Stone while still being able to utilize its power. If multiple beings are linked together, the Stone's power is distributed among each of them, making it easier to withstand the Stone's effects, as demonstrated by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Attempting to use the Stone without any safety measures is extremely painful even incredibly powerful beings. The Cosmic Beings, as shown in the Collector hologram, were disintegrated when attempting to harness the Stone's energy, and Star-Lord's skin was quickly burned from holding the Stone with his hand despite his half-Celestial biology.

Wielders of the Power Stone are able to project fiery purple energy beams and waves, strong enough to destroy an entire planet. The Stone's energy also enhances the user's strength and durability, to the extent that Ronan the Accuser was able to withstand a close-range shot from the Hadron Enforcer, a weapon powerful enough to destroy a moon, and walking away unscathed from the wreckage of the Dark Aster after it crashed into the surface of Xandar.

When used with the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos, having a strong understanding of its abilities, was able to manipulate itss energy to achieve a plethora of dangerous capabillities. He was able to empower it to shatter a gateway to the Mirror Dimension sent by Doctor Strange. He also displayed the ability to manipulate its destructive energy for smaller tasks, such as torturing Thor by pushing the Stone into the Asgardian's head, causing him to shout out in pain, and charging objects with the Stone's energy, causing them to overload and violently detonate. Thanos was able to slowly overload and detonate the Statesman after retrieving the Space Stone. During the Battle of Titan, Thanos used the Power Stone's energy to shatter Titan's moon in mere moments.

When facing Iron Man, Thanos was able to concentrate the Stone's energy into beams powerful enough to heavily damaging the Avenger's armor with a single blast. Thanos was also able to project a force field of energy that was powerful enough to block Iron Man's repulsors at full charge.

Thanos also displayed that he is able to combine the Power Stone with the other Stones to enhance its powers and make it capable of achieving a more wide variety of effects. Combining the Space Stone and Power Stone, Thanos can also manipulate and redirect outside energy, absorbing and channeling the explosive power of Iron Man's missiles into a concentrated beam of fire. After the Infinity Gauntlet was completed, the Power Stone, now upped to its full potential, was used along with the five other Infinity Stones to wipe out half of all life in the universe with a snap of Thanos' fingers.

Trivia

 * In the comics, the red-colored (later purple) Power Gem gives the owner access to all power and energy that ever has or will exist, and can back the other gems and boost their effects. Its most basic powers grant its user unlimited stamina and can increase the user's strength to unlimited levels depending on how much the gem is drawn upon. It allows the user to duplicate practically any physical superhuman ability and become invincible. It was used by the Champion of the Universe, Thanos, Nebula, Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Thor, Magus, Rune, Lord Pumpkin, Loki, Galactus, She-Hulk, Titania, Mister Fantastic, Odeni, Hood, Red Hulk, Xiambor and Namor.
 * Eson the Searcher, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan the Accuser and Thanos are the only beings to have successfully used the Power Stone thus far, with the latter using it in conjunction with all of the other Stones.