Infinity Stones

The Infinity Stones are fictional items in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise, based on the Infinity Gems of the Marvel Comics. As expounded across several interwoven MCU multimedia titles, the six Infinity Stones are reputed to embody and control essential aspects of existence—Space, Mind, Reality, Power, Time, and Soul—thereby making them critical artifacts in the MCU.
Thanos sets out to collect all six Stones to use them to wipe out half of all life in the universe, believing that his plan will save it from extinction. In 2018, Thanos accomplishes his goal and snaps his fingers while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet containing the Stones, causing the Blip. Thanos eventually uses the Stones again to destroy them and five years later, the surviving Avengers form a plan to go back in time to collect the Stones from other time periods to undo Thanos' snap. After defeating Thanos and bringing everyone he snapped out of existence, Steve Rogers / Captain America returns the Stones to the exact moments in time that the Avengers collected them from.
Despite being destroyed, the Stones make appearances in the Multiverse Saga, including in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in an alternate universe where Thanos was defeated on his home planet of Titan by the Illuminati before he can collect all of the Stones. They also make appearances in several of the MCU television series on Disney+, between flashbacks in WandaVision and alternate universes in the first season of Loki and the animated series What If...?. Scientific studies relating to the Stones have been conducted, mostly since the release of Infinity War, including one focusing on the control of matter.

Film chronology

The Stones, with the exception of the Soul Stone, made their debuts in films leading up to Avengers: Infinity War.
The Space Stone, the first Stone to appear, was featured in a post-credit scene for Thor, housed within the Tesseract. The Stone / Tesseract established its significance in the MCU through the following films, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. In The First Avenger, the Red Skull uses the power of the Stone to power Hydra's weaponry during World War II. In The Avengers, Loki is sent to Earth by Thanos to get the Stone from S.H.I.E.L.D. The Space Stone did not make another appearance until Phase Three, when it made a minor appearance in Thor: Ragnarok and played a major role in Captain Marvel where it is revealed that the Stone gave Carol Danvers her powers.
The Mind Stone first showed up in The Avengers, housed in a scepter given to Loki in his efforts to get the Space Stone from Earth. The Stone is shown within the scepter in Avengers: Age of Ultron where it is being used on human test subjects. The Mind Stone is eventually used to give Vision life.
Thor: The Dark World introduced the Reality Stone in its liquid form known as the Aether. It temporarily infects Jane Foster before it is given to The Collector to keep it separate from the Space Stone.
The Power and Time Stones made their debuts in Guardians of the Galaxy and Doctor Strange respectively. Ronan the Accuser seeks out the Power Stone for Thanos, but he is defeated by the Guardians of the Galaxy, who entrust the Stone with the Nova Corps. Stephen Strange finds the Eye of Agamotto, which houses the Time Stone, and uses it to save Earth from the demon Dormammu.
The Soul Stone was the last Stone to make an appearance, first showing up in Infinity War when Thanos collects the Stone on Vormir after sacrificing Gamora.

Fictional history

The stories of the Stones in the MCU take place in the Earth-616 universe. The fictional information below includes events that happened with the Stones from more than one Earth-616 timeline, as well as events that happened with them in multiple other universes.

Name	Ability	Color	Gauntlet location	Container	First appearance
Space Stone	Create portals to teleport; telekinesis	Blue	Middle finger	Tesseract	Thor
Mind Stone	Control minds, enhance the user's intelligence, and create new life	Yellow	Back of hand	Loki's scepter Vision's forehead	The Avengers
Reality Stone	Alter reality	Red	Ring finger	Aether	Thor: The Dark World
Power Stone	Manipulate energy; increased strength	Purple	Index finger	Orb	Guardians of the Galaxy
Time Stone	Control and manipulate time	Green	Thumb	Eye of Agamotto	Doctor Strange
Soul Stone	Manipulate the soul of a person	Orange	Little finger		Avengers: Infinity War

Creation

In 2014, the Collector explains that the Infinity Stones are the remnants of six singularities that existed before the Big Bang, which were compressed into Stones by cosmic entities after the universe began and which were dispersed throughout the cosmos. Four years later, it is further explained by Wong and Stephen Strange that each Infinity Stone embodies and controls an essential aspect of existence.

Events before ''Infinity War''

Space Stone

At some point in time, the Tesseract, which contains the Space Stone, came into the possession of Odin, who hid it on Earth in the Norwegian village of Tønsberg, whose inhabitants were Asgardian worshippers. In 1942, during World War II, Johann Schmidt steals the Tesseract from a church in Tønsberg and uses it to power Hydra's weaponry. During Steve Rogers's final fight against Schmidt in 1943, the Tesseract transports the latter to the planet Vormir. Afterwards, the Tesseract falls into the Arctic Ocean, where it is later recovered by Howard Stark and taken to a S.H.I.E.L.D. secret base.
In 1989, Dr. Wendy Lawson unsuccessfully tries to use the Tesseract to unlock light-speed travel to help the Skrulls find a new home. However, her experiments result in Carol Danvers being granted superhuman strength, flight, and the ability to generate energy blasts. In 1995, Danvers eventually recovers the Tesseract and returns the object to S.H.I.E.L.D., but it is temporarily swallowed by a Flerken named Goose, who later vomits it out on Nick Fury's desk.
In 2011, Fury shows the Tesseract to Dr. Erik Selvig and recruits him to work with it. In 2012, the Tesseract suddenly opens a portal allowing for Loki to come through. Loki steals the Tesseract and later opens a wormhole, using it to transport the Chitauri army to New York City in an attempt to conquer Earth. After the Avengers repel the invasion, Thor returns the Tesseract to Asgard for safekeeping in Odin's vault, and it is used to repair the Bifrost. In 2018, Loki takes the Tesseract from the vault as they escape the destruction of Asgard.

Mind Stone

The Stone is originally housed in a scepter in the possession of Thanos and the Other. It is lent to Loki in 2012 to help locate the Tesseract and conquer Earth with its ability to control people's minds and project energy blasts. After Loki's defeat, the scepter is handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D., after which it falls into the hands of secret Hydra leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. He uses it to experiment on people, including siblings Pietro and Wanda Maximoff; they are the only surviving subjects of Strucker's experiments. Von Strucker's experiments cause Pietro to gain superhuman abilities and amplify Wanda's powers. In 2015, Strucker's base is attacked by the Avengers, who take back the scepter. The Avengers discover that it contains the Mind Stone, which itself contains an artificial intelligence. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark integrate the AI into the computer program Ultron, who steals the scepter and removes the Stone to create a newly upgraded body. The Avengers steal the Mind Stone–infused body from Ultron and upload the A.I. J.A.R.V.I.S. into it, giving birth to the android Vision. From then on, the Mind Stone is embedded in Vision's forehead.

Reality Stone

Eons ago, Malekith attempted to use the Reality Stone, appearing in its fluid-like weapon state called the Aether, to destroy the Nine Realms. His plan was to return the universe to its pre-Big Bang state, only to be thwarted by Bor, who had it hidden on Earth. In 2013, Jane Foster becomes infected by the Aether after coming across its resting place. Malekith is awakened by the Aether's release and later draws it out of her. After Malekith is defeated by Thor, Sif and Volstagg, they seal the Aether in a lantern-like container and entrust it to the Collector on the planet Knowhere to keep it separate from the Tesseract, as they consider it unwise to have multiple Infinity Stones close to each other. The Aether, once bonded to a host, can turn anything into dark matter, as well as suck the life force out of humans and other mortals. The Aether can also disrupt the laws of physics and repel threats if it senses any.

Power Stone

Housed in an Orb hidden in a secret temple on the abandoned planet Morag, the Power Stone is capable of increasing the user's strength and destroying entire civilizations with a single blast. However, the Stone is too much for most mortal beings to physically handle because its power will destroy them on contact. In 2014, Ronan the Accuser seeks the Orb for Thanos, but Peter Quill finds and steals the Orb from Morag's resting spot before Korath can. Ronan eventually steals it from the Guardians. After learning about the Power Stone, however, Ronan betrays Thanos and tries to use its destructive power to destroy the planet Xandar. During the battle to protect Xandar, by sharing the burden of the Power Stone's energy, the Guardians are able to use it to kill Ronan. It is later revealed that Peter Quill's half-Celestial physiology allowed him to withstand the Stone's power on his own for a brief time before the other Guardians joined him. They seal the Power Stone in a new Orb and entrust it to the Nova Corps on Xandar for safekeeping.