The term "god" is a funny word when used in relation to superheroes. This is because superheroes can often have many of the powers that are often attributed to gods, but these heroes are mere mortals who often use these abilities to fight crime and halt alien invasions instead of ruling over humans and existing in an otherworldly pantheon.
Consequently, gods, as they exist in the Marvel Universe, can come off as fairly weak. They often interfere with the operations of superheroes, and this is often to their detriment. There have been countless times that gods get put in their place by superheroes. Even then, some gods sink even farther below expectations than others.
10 Ego The Living Planet Will One Day Shatter Himself With Planet Quakes
Ego the Living Planet is an Elder of the Universe and is exactly as his name describes: a living planet. He was allegedly created by the Stranger, another Elder of the Universe. He possesses great power and energy in his station, but he seems unable to do much once someone lands on his surface. Ego can manifest golems and use planet life to defend his surface, but they've been often unable to adequately protect him in the past.
One of the most egregious examples of Ego's frailty is, in a far-future story, he is possessed by All-Black, the Necrosword, and a worm on his surface begins mocking Ego. Ego begins shaking his surface and causing massive quakes that ultimately shatter Ego. This allows the worm, revealed to be Loki, to steal All-Black for his own.
9 Galactus Has Been Dominated Or Swayed By Mortals An Awful Lot
Galactus is another Elder of the Universe and easily one of the most powerful entities in existence. That said, he seems oddly easy to manipulate. From being deterred from eating Earth by Mister Fantastic with the Ultimate Nullifier to Norrin Radd offering to become Galactus' herald to save Xenn-La, it doesn't seem to take much to redirect Galactus' legendary hunger.
According to the Ultimates by Al Ewing and Kenneth Rockafort, Galactus is actually an incomplete being, as he was intended to be a Life-Bringer that builds worlds as opposed to a Devourer of Worlds. Most recently, Thor used his immense power and the remnants of the Black Winter to slay Galactus, using the entity's helmet to adorn the Bifrost Bridge.
8 The Celestials Seem To Die A Lot And At Random
The Celestials are a complex race of stoic and god-like beings. The Avengers have fought them before and even driven them off-world. Despite their status as massive and powerful immortals, they do seem to die a lot.
The Avengers of 1,000,000 BC were able to defeat a Celestial at the dawn of Earth's history. The Dark Celestials were able rain dead members of their species down upon the Earth. Some sort of cosmic illness began wiping out Celestials around that point as well. Most recently, Knull, God of the Symbiotes, began killing and possessing Celestials during his warpath across the universe.
7 Heimdall Was Killed By Bullseye, Mostly Just For Laughs
In the wake of the War of the Realms, Heimdall came to Midgard to oversee the aftermath of the war as well as guide new Valkyrie, Jane Foster, on her duties as the last surviving member of the Valkyrior.
For all of Heimdall's vision and power, he didn't expect Bullseye, regular antagonist of Daredevil, to strike from nowhere and kill him. Heimdall was killed in front of the Valkyrie, and she had to avenge his death. Lady Sif later took up Heimdall's duty and gained his all-sight.
6 The Warriors Three Are Usually An Appetizer Before Thor Comes Out
The Warriors Three, Volstagg, Fandrall, and Hogun, are legendary warriors of Asgard. They are considered to be among the most potent team of fighters across the Ten Realms. That said, whenever a major threat arrives, the Warriors Three are often just a warm-up before whatever big bad is attacking Asgard this week takes on Thor. The Warriors Three aren't actually that impressive gods or fighters, for all their charm and charisma.
Notably, Volstagg was tricked by Norman Osborn into fighting the U-Foes in a crowded stadium. The U-Foes ended up killing everyone in the stadium, leaving Volstagg to take the blame. This gave Norman Osborn, then head of H.A.M.M.E.R. and leader of the Avengers, every excuse he needed to invade Asgard--which was then located in Broxton, Oklahoma. More recently, Volstagg has been replaced by Hildegarde as a member of the Warriors Three.
5 Hercules Is Often Betrayed By His Own Vices And Impulsiveness
Hercules is one of the physically strongest beings in existence and a famous member of both the Avengers and the Champions. Hercules has taken on the likes of the Hulk, Thor, and the Silver Surfer over the years. Despite that, Hercules is still often seen as a joke by his superhero peers.
Hercules has a bad tendency to drink a lot, and this leads him to frequent drunken stupors that have led to his defeat. He even crashed the funeral for the Avengers that died during Avengers Disassembled, complaining that they weren't mourning the then-missing Thor. He has since tried to lay off the alcohol, but many of his allies still see him as a liability.
4 The Champion Of The Universe Gets Embarrassed A Lot
The Champion of the Universe first arrived on Earth in Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7 and was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Wilson. He is a supposedly unbeatable Elder of the Universe. He defeated all of Earth's heroes in a contest over the fate of the planet, but he was impressed by the dedication of the Thing--so he let Earth be after the fight.
Since then, he was tricked by Thanos into beating himself into a stupor so the Mad Titan could take the Power Gem off his hands. The Champion later joined up with Thane, Starfox, and others in a secret coalition to kill Thanos for good, but the Champion proved unable to fulfill this task as well.
3 The Cosmic Gardener Is An Elder Of The Universe With Little Apparent Power
The Cosmic Gardner is another Elder of the Universe that Thanos visited on his quest to obtain the six Infinity Gems. The Gardener was only interested in tending to his plants, and he did so, unknowingly, with the Time Gem so they would bloom more quickly. Thanos tricked the Gardener into being consumed by his growing plants, seemingly killing the Gardener.
Since then, the Gardener has turned villain and fought the Guardians of the Galaxy. They were able to overcome him with a super-powered Groot.
2 Mentor, Father Of Thanos, Isn't As Impressive As One Would Think
Mentor is an Eternal of Titan, and he is the father of Thanos and Eros (the latter of which is also known as the Avenger, Starfox). Despite siring such impressive sons, Mentor has rarely shown much capacity for power himself. He's been historically unable to slow Thanos' mad quests for power and often needs the help of Eros or Drax during a crisis.
When Thanos discovered that he was ill and possibly dying, he sought Mentor for help. Mentor simply told Thanos that he was glad to see his son die, and this prompted Thanos to finally kill his father.
1 Loki, For All Of His Tricks, Isn't Really All That Powerful
Loki, the God of Mischief, isn't really all that impressive in a fight. Despite his sorcery and misdirection, he's not made for direct confrontation. He has the superhuman strength and constitution of a god, but he rarely uses even that.
Ultimately, Loki is most powerful while working in the background. He's more skilled in manipulating events from behind the scenes while more adept fighters do his dirty work.
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