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I thought that normal people couldn't handle the Infinity Stones without something to control their power?

The main scene that drives this home for me is the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, where Peter Quill, being part eternal, can barely hold one Infinity Stone but in Endgame they treat them as just stones that anyone can hold.

Can this apparent discrepancy be resolved?

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  • I changed the title as I thought it reflected the qustion better, but I'm not overly happy with the result. Feel free to change it back.
    – Jenayah
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:21
  • ehh what? I dont think anyone touched the stone just like that. it was always in the Iron man's gauntlet (The big one).
    – RC0993
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:22
  • They're pretty much treated as shiny pebbles in Endgame as I recall but I've only seen it once. I severely doubt a glove makes that much difference.
    – Paulie_D
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:23
  • @RC0993 When you get the soul stone, you're waking up holding it in your hand. Like Hawkeye.
    – Chris
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:24
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    The original title with "humans" might be preferable, since some users might freak out on learning from the title that everyone in Endgame juggles around with the Infinity Stones.
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:27

2 Answers 2

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I believe that destructive effect is only for the Power Stone. All the others are held without a problem multiple times as you pointed out in many MCU films. But when someone as strong as Thanos removes the Power Stone from the Gauntlet to power punch Captain Marvel, it shows him struggling and in pain from using it like that, before quickly placing it back.

Instances of Infinity Stones being held in their raw form include:

The Mind stone

Is studied throughout Age of Ultron (but not handled directly) and finally is inside Vision his whole life.

The Space stone

Is broken from the Tesseract and handled by Thanos in Infinity War.

The Soul stone

Is held by Thanos and Hawkeye after being acquired on Vormir, both time held in hand without issue.

The Time stone

Is held by Thanos in Infinity War and by Hulk in Endgame.

The Reality stone

Never seen being held in raw form

The Power stone

Held by the Collector's assistant, Carina, who was violently ripped apart by it in Guardians of the Galaxy later it's held with difficulties by Peter Quill and The Guardians and again with issue by Thanos in Endgame

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    Technically Hawkeye was wearing a glove, but good points. +1
    – Jenayah
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:43
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    All your examples seem to be either Thanos (who's not exactly your puny little mortal) or people from Endgame, which is exactly the point of the question, though.
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:43
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    @NapoleonWilson as I pointed out, Thanos holding the Power stone in Endgame did cause him issue, just as it did to Peter Quill. But none of the other stones he held did that. Leading me to believe that it's just the Power stone that's destructive.
    – Virusbomb
    Apr 29, 2019 at 16:46
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    @GustavoGabriel I almost added that too but I think he's not actually holding it. I think each time him and The Ancient One remove it from the necklace it's always floating mystically and not actually touching them. But I could be forgetting a time that he does.
    – Virusbomb
    Apr 29, 2019 at 17:23
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    Jane Foster spends half of Thor: The Dark World with the Reality Stone inside her so I would consider that to be direct contact. Although it is remarked that it is slowly killing her, the effects are far less devastating than direct contact with the Power Stone.
    – aleppke
    Apr 29, 2019 at 18:47
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In endgame: The mind stone was held in Loki’s staff. The space stone was inside the tesseract. The power stone was inside an orb. The reality stone was still a sludge so not broken down to stone form and held in an extractor. The soul stone was actually held by Hawkeye. The time stone hovered over the ancient ones hands but I assume banner actually held it. Seems like for the more destructive ones, there was a cover. We only see 2 of the stones in the past in actual stone form and then afterwards we just see all 6 of them get put into iron man’s gauntlet.

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