Scepter

"You question us? You question him? He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"

- The Other to Loki

The Chitauri Scepter, sometimes referred to as Loki's Scepter, was a scepter that served as a containment device for the Mind Stone, one of the Infinity Stones. It was wielded by Loki, who received it as a gift from Thanos in the invasion of Earth. After the Battle of New York, the Scepter was confiscated by S.H.I.E.L.D., but it was later stolen by Wolfgang von Strucker's HYDRA cell whose scientists used it to give extraordinary powers to the twins Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. After the fall of HYDRA, the Scepter was recovered by the Avengers. It was taken by Ultron and its blue gem was shattered, releasing the Mind Stone inside.

Loki's Weapon
"You've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

- Tony Stark to Loki

The Chitauri Scepter was a Chitauri weapon that was powered by an Infinity Stone. The stone gave the scepter the ability to fire energy blasts and manipulate others. The stone had been in the possession of Thanos, who entrusted both it and the scepter to Loki of Asgard, along with an army of Chitauri warriors, under the condition that Loki travel to Earth to secure the Tesseract and prepare the planet for subjugation under his rule. Loki arrived on Earth through a portal jump-started by the Tesseract, arriving in the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, and used the scepter to defeat a unit of armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that were present. Loki proceeded to use the scepter's powers to control the minds of agent Clint Barton and scientist Erik Selvig before escaping the facility. Loki continued to carry the scepter during his activities on Earth, using it to establish a mental link to speak with The Other, and using it during several altercations with the Avengers. After being captured and imprisoned on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, the scepter was stored in a science lab on board, where it was observed and studied by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. During an argument among the Avengers members and Nick Fury, the scepter was revealed to be slowly affecting their minds, increasing tensions and turning them against each other until an immediate threat put them back in focus. Upon escaping from his holding cell on the Helicarrier, Loki regained the scepter, which he later used to stab Agent Phil Coulson through the heart when Coulson attempted to stand against him. Loki continued using the scepter to fight against the Avengers in New York City after opening a portal for the Chitauri to invade Earth, until he lost it shortly after fighting his brother Thor. Near the end of the battle Black Widow picked up the scepter and used it to activate a fail-safe that closed the portal being generated by the Tesseract. Following the invasion, Black Widow turned possession of the scepter over to S.H.I.E.L.D.

In S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Possession
"Could the connection between the Scepter and the Tesseract really be that simple?"

- Nicholas Cooper

The scepter was placed in the facility called S.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N. to be researched by S.H.I.E.L.D. One of its researchers, Nicholas Cooper, was very enthusiastic about working with the scepter, but his colleague Mark Smith did not share his enthusiasm. Smith explained how he wanted to be a field agent, but as he was deemed psychologically unstable by Maria Hill, he was transferred to the science division.

Eventually, Smith's displeasement with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s leadership allowed him to be recruited into HYDRA by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Strucker's first order to Smith was to retrieve the scepter.

While Cooper developed a new groundbreaking theory about the scepter's connection to the Tesseract, Smith, along with a HYDRA colleague, burst into the room, stealing the Scepter, and killing Cooper in the process.

In HYDRA's Possession
"What we have is worth more than any of them ever knew. We've only scratched the surface and already..."

- Wolfgang von Strucker

The scepter was transported to the HYDRA Research Base in Sokovia, where Strucker and his scientists began to study it, and powered up a large number of Chitauri Guns using it. As Strucker was not completely satisfied with the results, he ordered his lead scientist Doctor List to gather volunteers among the rioting population of Sokovia for experiments with the scepter. Although many volunteers died as a result, the twins Pietro Maximoff and Wanda Maximoff gained extraordinary powers.

By the time of the Battle at the Triskelion, Strucker and his scientists realized that the Scepter's powers were far greater than they originally thought.

During the Attack on the Arctic HYDRA Research Facility, Phil Coulson, now the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., was able to learn the location of the scepter and sent the information to Maria Hill, so she could give it to the Avengers. Meanwhile, the Inhuman clairvoyant, Raina, had a vision about the scepter. In the meantime, Strucker and his scientists used their research into the gem inside the Scepter to start experimenting with the artificial intelligence, for which they designed several very advanced robots.

In Tony Stark's Possession
"You want me to take the scepter behind everyone's back and use it to bring Ultron to life?" "Yeah, we don't have time for a city hall debate."

- Bruce Banner and Tony Stark

When the Avengers invaded and captured Strucker's fortress, Tony Stark discovered the Scepter in the secret laboratory. Once the Scepter was transported to the Avengers Tower, Stark began experimenting on it, aiming to unlock its secrets before Thor could take it to Asgard. Discovering A.I. (artificial intelligence) Stark started creating the Ultron Program with help from Bruce Banner. Three days later, the gem inside the Scepter successfully connected with Stark's Ultron Program, thus creating the new artificial intelligence, Ultron. Ultron attacked J.A.R.V.I.S. and immediately took control of Stark's equipment, building himself a robotic body from the damaged parts of Stark's Iron Legion robots. The robots then attacked the Avengers, and though they were defeated, one of the them escaped with the Scepter, while Ultron hacked into the internet and moved his consciousness to the computers at Strucker's fortress, where he made himself a new, more advanced body along with an army of robots.

In Ultron's Possession
"You’re a brilliant woman, Helen. But we all have room to improve."

- Ultron to Helen Cho

Ultron used the power of the Scepter to enthrall Helen Cho, in order to make him a new body with a combination of her expertise using the Cradle and Ultron's supply of Vibranium. He later broke the Scepter to claim the jewel, so he could use its power to evolve into a perfect body. Using a mixture of vibranium and living tissue, the Infinity Stone eventually gave life to Vision.

Capabilities
"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon." "I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

- Captain America and Nick Fury

The scepter has a golden handle and a black fitting which holds the Infinity Stone embedded in a blue "core" encircled with silver blades. It allows its owner to open rifts through dimensions using the Tesseract as a gate key, fire powerfully destructive blast of blue energy, communicate across space through a form of astral projection, and bend the will of others by controlling their minds.

The scepter has two blades encircling the Infinity Stone, an elongated blade over the stone and a shortened blade underneath, as well as a handle measuring approximately two feet in length overall, making it ideal for close-quarters melee and firing accurate energy bursts. The scepter functions as a formidable weapon, its sharp blades being able to violently impale and slash enemies. It is made from extremely durable materials as it was even strong enough to match Thor's mighty hammer Mjølnir in close-quarters combat.

It can also produce lethal energy blasts using power from the stone, similar to the weapons HYDRA used, which were powered by energy from the Tesseract. This led the Avengers to conclude that it, too, was powered by the Tesseract. Like the Tesseract, it emitted low levels of Gamma Radiation.

When the blade tip is placed against another person’s heart, the Infinity Stone produces a blue, wisp-like energy which is transferred into the person’s body where it spreads up to their head, notably affecting their eyes, turning them a florescent blue color. This causes the affected individual to become loyal to the wielder indefinitely. People put under the scepter's control will often regain their individuality after receiving a significant blow to the head, as with Hawkeye, since a temporary loss of consciousness will allow their normal mental state to "reset" and return. In some situations the effects of the mind control can be negated outright if the energy from the scepter is unable to diffuse into the target's body, such as when Tony Stark's Arc Reactor absorbed the energy instead.

Through the stone's power, the scepter is also able to link the consciousness of its wielder to that of another person, as evidenced when Loki used the scepter to mentally communicate with the Other. This form of astral projection appears to have no real limits on distance, as Loki and the Other's conversation had been all the way from Earth to far off space. During this conversation, The Other was able to cause Loki pain through the scepter, implying that the former had access to the stone's power. It's unclear whether this function was a property of the Mind Stone, or a function built into the Scepter when it was created so that the Other could communicate with Loki. It also acted as a "key" to Erik Selvig's portal device, which he built under its influence.

The scepter "opened the eyes" of Hawkeye and Erik Selvig, showing them visions and granting them specialist knowledge. Hawkeye was shown targets and detailed plans for breaking into installations, and Selvig was shown visions of other dimensions and advanced technology. While the scepter was in HYDRA's possession, Wolfgang von Strucker commented that the scientists studying it had only just scratched the surface, implying that the scepter's capabilities are more diverse than they appear. It granted powers to Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver via lethal experimentation. Scarlet Witch seemingly retained a connection to the stone, or was able to influence it.

After the core was cracked open, the stone inside was found to be a powerful computing device containing advanced knowledge. The code inside was able to grant sentience to Ultron and Vision, and enabled Vision to hack computers, as well as seemingly granting him other powers in conjunction with his Vibranium physiology - energy blasts, density manipulation, and flight.

Trivia

 * The Scepter was first confirmed as holding one of the Infinity Stones in the teaser trailer for the upcoming film Avengers: Infinity War.
 * Following its appearance in The Avengers, an scepter with identical design, but different capabilities, has become Loki's weapon of choice in most comics, animated series and videogames.