How Powerful Is Drax the Destroyer? Powers & Abilities Explained

Marvel Comics has changed a lot of characters since the middle of the 20th century. From storylines, character origins, and even the main setting of the comics, Marvel was revamped a lot throughout history. Of course, these changes were natural since each Age of comics brought new storytelling and material for new content, but some characters were revamped a lot. One of them is Drax the Destroyer, the Thanos Slayer, and a Guardians of the Galaxy member. In this article, we will discuss how powerful Drax truly is, mostly focusing on Marvel Comics.

Drax’s powers and abilities changed a lot over the years, and when he first appeared in Marvel Comics, he was extremely powerful. Besides his usual superhuman strength, stamina, and resistance to physical injury, Drax the Destroyer could project concussive blasts of cosmic energy at his enemies and fly. After the resurrection of the character, Drax was “nerfed,” with his superhuman powers reduced and cosmic projection removed, but his regeneration powers and sense of smell that could make out any alien species make him a capable warrior. He gets stronger the closer he is to Thanos, the new addition during the Annihilation storyline. Oh, and he can definitely defeat Thanos.

Drax’s character has been through soft resets a few times in Marvel Comics, and despite it all, he is still considered powerful, especially around Thanos. We will explain his powers in detail and determine if the reduction of his powers affected his character.

Why is Drax called the Destroyer?

Drax the Destroyer first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man comic book run #55 in 1973, written by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich. Afterward, Drax appeared in numerous comic book storylines as a supporting character in Captain Marvel, Warlock, Iron Man, Thor, and other comic book runs during the 1970s.

First of all, Drax the Destroyer was vastly different from today’s version – he wore a purple cape and looked like a Deviant Skrulls species in Marvel Comics. Now, his origin story revolves around being a creation of Kronos and Mentor, who combined Arthur Douglas’ life essence and humanoid with superhuman powers to create Drax the Destroyer, a being who will hunt Thanos across the galaxy and destroy the Mad Titan.

Of course, he did it with powers that some newer fans could only imagine. Drax was extremely powerful to the point where he would battle the likes of Captain Marvel, Thanos, and other extremely powerful galaxy beings.

Because he was the product of a cosmic entity, Drax had superhuman strength, durability, and stamina because he was physically resistant to energy because he was the product of a cosmic entity. However, the most outrageous aspect of his powers in the 1970s and 1980s was a cosmic projection, telepathy, and traveling at high speeds in outer and hyperspace.

Drax used his telepathy powers to engage Thanos in the psychic battle to test the Mad Titan. Overall, his powers were so vast that he could easily fight any being in space. Drax was flying in the 1980s, but still, this was not the peak of his powers – Drax was even more powerful.

He was called the Destroyer because he literally destroyed everything in front of him, but mainly, his life’s mission was to destroy Thanos, hence why Kronos created him in the first place.

What is Drax’s strongest form?

The story about Drax’s death is terrifying since his daughter Moondragon used her psychic powers to kill her father., but that death brought us the strongest form of Drax in the comics. His body was sent to flow in space until Kronos once again resurrects the Destroyer and gives him much more powerful abilities, but he doesn’t realize he still suffers from the mental problems of his daughter.

Drax’s powers were already insane, but his superhuman strength and other physical aspects improved massively. His telepathy got an upgrade, and besides using telepathic powers to track Thanos across the galaxy, Drax could sense Thanos or his scent on other beings to determine where the Mad Titan was.

At one point during that time, Drax had access to the Power Gem he used only for boasting his strength due to his mental incapabilities. But, the Destroyer with Power Gem was compared to the strength of Hulk, which was absolutely bonkers. Of course, this was the last time Drax was insanely powerful because Marvel decided to revamp his character, and that happened before the Annihilation comic book event.

Jim Starlin himself admitted that he essentially created Drax “dumber” with his brain damage, making him more like a Hulk, whose mostly brute strength during that time. This is telling since Drax was brain damaged, but he was at the peak of his powers and someone who could take on the Mad Titan regularly.

Is Drax as strong as Thanos?

The solo four-issue series Drax the Destroyer from 2005 sees a new character version, with different powers and design, debuting in Marvel Comics again. Drax was massively “nerfed” this time – he lost cosmic projection powers, flying ability, traveling through space, decreased superpowers, and more.

However, Drax got a new character design, a pair of weapons, and one interesting upgrade – Drax got stronger as he was closer to Thanos. Moreover, the creators brought Drax’s intellect back, which helped the character massively.

One of the coolest Nova Corps, Thanos, and Drax-centric comic book events is Annihilation from 2006. During that storyline, Annihilus leads his army from Negative Zone to the positive matter universe to take over the galaxy, and after almost a year of fighting the enemy, Drax uses his chance to kill his nemesis and saves his daughter, Moondragon.

Drax sneaked up on Thanos and literally took his heart out, killing him instantly. The comic book panel above is one of the coolest we’ve seen from Drax, who pierced Thanos from behind and snatched his heart from the body.

Drax can kill Thanos in the comics, but he needs to find the Mad Titan in an unassuming position and then try to hit him head-on. However, the current version of Drax the Destroyer might not be able to kill Thanos since he is the clone of the original version of Drax.

Since 2019, the current Drax is a clone of the original one who is still learning his powers as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, so we still don’t know the full extent of his powers.

But, knowing Marvel, a new version of Drax will most likely reach the point where he will become stronger and, with that, closer to the powers of Mad Titan. Until then, we have to wait and see.