Thanos vs... (WARNING: likely spoilers for various summer movies).

[The Romulan Republic]

Okay, so, since Thanos beat the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers, lets try putting him up against some other teams.

Thanos (pre-capture of the Time Stone) vs.:

1. The DC films Justice League.

2. The DCAU core Justice League (Bats, Supes, Wonder Woman, Flash, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl).

3. The combined Bat Family (comics)- Batman, Batwoman, Alfred, all Robins and Batgirls, and Catwoman just 'cause.

4.Deadpool and team from Deadpool II. Let's say Deadpool, his bartender and cabdriver buddies, Vanessa 'cause she's awesome, Domino, the pyrotechnic kid, NTW and her girlfriend, Cable, and Colossus.

5. Dumbledore's Army and the Order of the Phoenix forces from the Ministry battle in the fifth film.

6. The Scoobies and Potentials (Buffy and company) from the end of season seven of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

7. Team Angel from season five of "Angel". Assume Illyria is fighting on their side, and her time-warping powers are in effect.

8. Harry Dresden and his main allies as of the last book: we'll say Harry, Mouse, Bob, Butters (as a Knight), Murphy, Molly, Thomas, Sanya.

Can any of them take him?

Edit: Added spoiler warning.

[Simon_Jester]

For (1) and (2) the big question is "how well does Thanos cope with speedsters?" In particular, Superman, who's got Flash-level speed and punches on the same level as comic book Hulk, maybe harder than MCU Hulk?

(3) doesn't sound promising; a bunch of badass normals don't have what it takes if a team of superheroes can't do the job.

I don't feel qualified to comment on how well Thanos will (or won't) cope with having a bunch of wizards screwing with him, as would be the main issue in (5) and (8).

[Crazedwraith]

That seems a good summary from Simon.

Are we assuming that this is a force sub for the titan battle in Infinity War. Ie) The battle is on Titan, they have prep time and Thanos has just got soul stone/killed Gamora? I ask, especially the last one because comparing Thanos' use of the gauntlet on Knowhere and on Titan, the only reason I can think why he just doesn't cube everyone again, is the ambush scenario and grief over Gamora.

The two incarnations of the JL have the best chance. (THE DCAU even more so given they have Martian Manhanter and his telepath to sub for Mantis) as Simon says how well Thanos can cope with super speed is really key.

[NeoGoomba]

Thanos is still limited by how he perceived the universe before he got the Gauntlet. He isn't very creative at all with his powers. Dr. Strange was throwing some very exotic spells at him, and all Thanos did was absorb the power and just generic power blasts. So he's a crazy strong brick with formidable energy blasts, but that seems to be about it. He still has the reaction time of a human, as Captain America was able to land two or three hits on him right at the end. Whether it is Thanos' inner self-loathing they are playing with, or just him being dense, will hopefully be shown in Avengers 4.

Both versions of the Justice League will rock the hell out of him. Unless he turns them into slinky's first.

[The Romulan Republic]

For (1) and (2) the big question is "how well does Thanos cope with speedsters?" In particular, Superman, who's got Flash-level speed and punches on the same level as comic book Hulk, maybe harder than MCU Hulk?

Some of his opponents are pretty fast (Stark and Quill when in the air, Spidey), but not to that level. Pity Quicksilver isn't still around in the MCU, because we don't really have any way to answer this question from on-screen evidence.

(3) doesn't sound promising; a bunch of badass normals don't have what it takes if a team of superheroes can't do the job.

I mainly given them a chance because comics Bats is pretty much wank personified a lot of the time. But in a purely physical contest... yeah.

I don't feel qualified to comment on how well Thanos will (or won't) cope with having a bunch of wizards screwing with him, as would be the main issue in (5) and (8).

Well, we see him fight Strange and Wanda, who are a wizard and a witch in all but name. Though Potter magic is more versatile, but less powerful, and Dresden-verse top level magic involves rituals with lengthy prep.

Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on scenarios 4, 6, and 7?

That seems a good summary from Simon.

Are we assuming that this is a force sub for the titan battle in Infinity War. Ie) The battle is on Titan, they have prep time and Thanos has just got soul stone/killed Gamora?

Yeah. Let's say its on Titan, Gamora is dead ( ), and Thanos has every stone but Time and Mind. His opponents have equal prep time to the Guardians/Strange/Stark/Spidey, and that they are aware that Thanos is very powerful, seeking the stones, has three, and will be able and willing to wipe out half the universe if he gets the others.

I ask, especially the last one because comparing Thanos' use of the gauntlet on Knowhere and on Titan, the only reason I can think why he just doesn't cube everyone again, is the ambush scenario and grief over Gamora.

On the flip side, I honestly wonder why Strange didn't just open a portal at neck-level and slice off Thanos's head.

The two incarnations of the JL have the best chance. (THE DCAU even more so given they have Martian Manhanter and his telepath to sub for Mantis) as Simon says how well Thanos can cope with super speed is really key.

Probably, yeah.

And Martian Manhunter will be a very powerful asset in this fight, yeah, between the telepathy, phasing through things, and shape shifting.

Thanos is still limited by how he perceived the universe before he got the Gauntlet. He isn't very creative at all with his powers. Dr. Strange was throwing some very exotic spells at him, and all Thanos did was absorb the power and just generic power blasts. So he's a crazy strong brick with formidable energy blasts, but that seems to be about it. He still has the reaction time of a human, as Captain America was able to land two or three hits on him right at the end. Whether it is Thanos' inner self-loathing they are playing with, or just him being dense, will hopefully be shown in Avengers 4.

Both versions of the Justice League will rock the hell out of him. Unless he turns them into slinky's first.

That's a good point. So he probably can't land a hit on a speedster except by luck or just blasting the entire area they're in. Though they won't necessarily be able to hit hard enough to put him down (Hulk hitting him didn't seem to phase him, Iron Man could barely scratch him in a prolonged fight where he landed multiple hits, and he survived a super ax to the chest from an enraged Thor, albeit with injuries).

[Tribble]

1, As others have mentioned Superman is the biggest factor in this fight.

Wonder Woman is no slouch either; she tanked shots from Doomsday, and cut off one of its hands with her sword. IMO it's probably capable of cutting Thanos as well.

DC film Flash is fast, but I'm not sure how hard he can hit. Against opponents who can keep up with him he doesn't appear to be able to do much. IIRC he tried pushing Superman at one point during their fight to no effect. He may have better luck with Thanos though.

Cyborg is basically Iron Man. Aquaman can help but isn't in the same league as Supes.

Batman's main use will be in the planning stage as I don't think he had his armoured suit rebuilt in time for Justice League. He's pretty good at dodging, so I suppose he could make a good distraction.

Their main disadvantage that there is no one with telepathy to mess with Thanos' mind, so its going to be a slug fest. Still, IMO their odds are better than the Avengers / Guardians.

2. The DCAU Justice League would have the advantage. IIRC Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Batman are all generally superior to their live-action counterparts, plus you have Martian Manhunter (who can mess with Thanos' mind in addition to his other abilities) Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. Perhaps just as importantly, assuming they are from the end of Justice League Unlimited, they have quite a bit of experience taking on Thanos-level characters. IMO they'd probably win this.

3. They all die given that they do not usually have the kind of weapons needed as part of their standard equipment. At most Batman may have some power armour that might be able to put up with Thanos for a bit, but unlike Superman there's nothing lying around like kryptonite that they'd be able to exploit.

4. I don't think anyone on the team with telepathy so its just a slug fest with Thanos have the advantage. Deadpool won't be able to do much except act as a distraction (which, to be fair, he's pretty good at). His bartender, cabdriver buddies and Vanessa are little more than targets / meat shields. Domino's luck powers may keep her alive for awhile and cause Thanos to trip on a banana or something, but I doubt it would make much difference. The pyrotechnic kid, NTW, Cable and Colossus combined could probably put up a fight but I doubt they'd win. I can't remember what NTW's girlfriend can do... Still I think it's a safe bet that Thanos takes this.

5. One problem for the DA / OotP is that generally speaking the more powerful a creature is, the more resistant they tend to be against magic. Giants and Dragons are highly resistant to spells, for example. Even without the Infinity Stones IMO Thanos would be pretty resistant to magic and with the stones even moreso. So I doubt we'd see things like Thanos being forced to tap-dance. IMO It's going to take very powerful spells to do any damage, if they are able to at all.

Also, most of the DA and OotP are "good guys" and generally won't resort to the spells that have the best chance of doing something, like the Unforgivable Curses. Which is a big problem when you are in fight to the death. There are few "good guy" spells I can think of that would be able to hurt Thanos; IMO he is way too powerful for something stunners to work, and I doubt disarming / summoning charms would be enough to get the gauntlet off on their own.

With morals off, things would get interesting.

IMO Thanos is normally strong willed enough to throw off something like the Imperius Curse, but in this particuar instance due to his grief he might be susceptible, at least for a bit. Ditto with Crucio. Fiendfyre could potentially hurt him given that it was able to destroy magically protected objects, but its not certain. The real question is whether something like Avada Kedavra would work. If it does than Thanos is in trouble: the Avada Kedavra can be dodged and blocked with physical objects (and likely energy beams from the Infinity Stones given their raw power) but a direct hit would instantly kill him. There's also that red spell which killed Sirius and Bellatrix. We don't know exactly what it does, but it seems to kill people nearly instantly.

As they are all squishy meat bags, Thanos would make short work of them all if they are unable to bring him down fast.

IMO this one boils down to whether or not powerful spells (in particular the Unforgivable ones) work on Thanos, and if so, whether or not the members of DA/ OotP who are capable of using the spell are willing to spam them. If so, then Thanos would probably get overwhelmed and eventaully hit with an AK. If not, I'd say he probably stomps.

6. Been a long time since Buffy, but apart from maybe Willow and other Witches I doubt seem to remember anyone having the abiltiy to do anything to Thanos. Subject to being corrected, I'd say they all die.

7. SImilar to 6; even with time warping abailties, could anyone hurst Thanos and / or take the gauntlet off him?

8. Don't know anough about the Dresden Universe.

[The Romulan Republic]

1, As others have mentioned Superman is the biggest factor in this fight.

Wonder Woman is no slouch either; she tanked shots from Doomsday, and cut off one of its hands with her sword. IMO it's probably capable of cutting Thanos as well.

Yeah, to be honest, either of them is probably equal to or stronger than Thor, and Thor was the one who came closest to taking Thanos down.

DC film Flash is fast, but I'm not sure how hard he can hit. Against opponents who can keep up with him he doesn't appear to be able to do much. IIRC he tried pushing Superman at one point during their fight to no effect. He may have better luck with Thanos though.

Cyborg is basically Iron Man. Aquaman can help but isn't in the same league as Supes.

Batman's main use will be in the planning stage as I don't think he had his armoured suit rebuilt in time for Justice League. He's pretty good at dodging, so I suppose he could make a good distraction.

Their main disadvantage that there is no one with telepathy to mess with Thanos' mind, so its going to be a slug fest. Still, IMO their odds are better than the Avengers / Guardians.

This sounds about right.

2. The DCAU Justice League would have the advantage. IIRC Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Batman are all generally superior to their live-action counterparts, plus you have Martian Manhunter (who can mess with Thanos' mind in addition to his other abilities) Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. Perhaps just as importantly, assuming they are from the end of Justice League Unlimited, they have quite a bit of experience taking on Thanos-level characters. IMO they'd probably win this.

Agreed. In particular, I think that MM makes a big difference.

3. They all die given that they do not usually have the kind of weapons needed as part of their standard equipment. At most Batman may have some power armour that might be able to put up with Thanos for a bit, but unlike Superman there's nothing lying around like kryptonite that they'd be able to exploit.

Probably. I guess it depends how much fancy weaponry Bats has access to. He's got to have a lot of crazy shit stored in the Batcave.

4. I don't think anyone on the team with telepathy so its just a slug fest with Thanos have the advantage. Deadpool won't be able to do much except act as a distraction (which, to be fair, he's pretty good at). His bartender, cabdriver buddies and Vanessa are little more than targets / meat shields. Domino's luck powers may keep her alive for awhile and cause Thanos to trip on a banana or something, but I doubt it would make much difference. The pyrotechnic kid, NTW, Cable and Colossus combined could probably put up a fight but I doubt they'd win. I can't remember what NTW's girlfriend can do... Still I think it's a safe bet that Thanos takes this.

The main reason I give them any chance at all is Domino. Depending on how far you take her powers, Thanos might trip, causing the Gauntlet to fall off and land on one of his enemy's hands or something.

Collosus, NTW, the kid, and the other girl together can at least slow him down for a while, and they also get a one-time do-over thanks to Cable's time travel device.

The others are canon fodder, or in support roles rather than direct combat.

5. One problem for the DA / OotP is that generally speaking the more powerful a creature is, the more resistant they tend to be against magic. Giants and Dragons are highly resistant to spells, for example. Even without the Infinity Stones IMO Thanos would be pretty resistant to magic and with the stones even moreso. So I doubt we'd see things like Thanos being forced to tap-dance. IMO It's going to take very powerful spells to do any damage, if they are able to at all.

Well, magical beings have those resistances. Is Thanos magic, or just really tough.

Also, most of the DA and OotP are "good guys" and generally won't resort to the spells that have the best chance of doing something, like the Unforgivable Curses. Which is a big problem when you are in fight to the death. There are few "good guy" spells I can think of that would be able to hurt Thanos; IMO he is way too powerful for something stunners to work, and I doubt disarming / summoning charms would be enough to get the gauntlet off on their own.

With morals off, things would get interesting.

They are mostly good people, but having morals doesn't preclude being willing to use lethal force in a fight. Harry might not use lethal force, but others might. I can't recall if its in the film (I don't think so), but Lupin criticized Harry for not using lethal force on an Imperiused man in the seventh book.

Its a pity Snape wasn't at the Ministry battle. He'd definitely kill.

I agree that Stunners aren't going to do much, though, nor are most forms of magic causing direct physical damage. And he could probably break something like a body bind from shear physical strength. Summoning the Gauntlet might work. Apparition and stealth spells give them some more options for hit and run warfare and surprise attacks.

IMO Thanos is normally strong willed enough to throw off something like the Imperius Curse, but in this particuar instance due to his grief he might be susceptible, at least for a bit. Ditto with Crucio. Fiendfyre could potentially hurt him given that it was able to destroy magically protected objects, but its not certain. The real question is whether something like Avada Kedavra would work. If it does than Thanos is in trouble: the Avada Kedavra can be dodged and blocked with physical objects (and likely energy beams from the Infinity Stones given their raw power) but a direct hit would instantly kill him. There's also that red spell which killed Sirius and Bellatrix. We don't know exactly what it does, but it seems to kill people nearly instantly.

No.

Firstly, I'm using the film version, where Bellatrix was hit by a strange spell that made her sort of... implode, and Sirius got hit by Avada Kedavra. As to the spells used on Sirius and Bellatrix in the books, its not confirmed in either case which spell was used, or even if it was the same spell, but it was getting knocked back through the Veil that killed Sirius.

My own thought is that it was likely a simple stunner, which is the classic combat spell in the Harry Potter books with a red color, I believe. Sirius died because he went through the Veil. Bellatrix... well, the book describes the intensity of Bellatrix's and Molly's spells cracking the stone work around them IIRC, so that sounds like either very high-powered spells (its show in the books that the intensity of the emotion behind it can effect the power of a spell), or blasting spells, or both. Though AK can also go off like a grenade when it hits a physical barrier.

Or if its the same spell, a very high-powered stunner could have killed Bellatrix. In book five, the school nurse mentions that four stunners to the chest might have killed McGonnagle, so its possible that a very powerful stunner to the chest could be lethal.

As they are all squishy meat bags, Thanos would make short work of them all if they are unable to bring him down fast.

Yes. Though as I said, stealth plus apparition/flight helps somewhat.

IMO this one boils down to whether or not powerful spells (in particular the Unforgivable ones) work on Thanos, and if so, whether or not the members of DA/ OotP who are capable of using the spell are willing to spam them. If so, then Thanos would probably get overwhelmed and eventaully hit with an AK. If not, I'd say he probably stomps.

Using stealth to get the Gauntlet off him is the best bet, in my opinion.

6. Been a long time since Buffy, but apart from maybe Willow and other Witches I doubt seem to remember anyone having the abiltiy to do anything to Thanos. Subject to being corrected, I'd say they all die.

Buffy-verse magic is tricky. The fast combat spells tend to be fairly low-power, though versatile. I doubt Willow could shield against a full-power blast from Thanos, or seriously hurt him with a physical attack. And she's one of the most powerful witches on Earth. But the Buffyverse also has ritual magic capable of rewriting memories/reality on a large scale.

Give Willow prep time, spell books, and the necessary ingredients, and she could probably just mind wipe Thanos from another continent. Hell, anyone remotely competent probably could. There are at least three people on the team at this point who probably have enough magical power and know-how to do something like this, given prep time and equipment: Willow, Giles, and Anya. Andrew is another possibility.

The others likely aren't much of a factor, except as very brief distractions. Though if Spike's amulet that he used to destroy the Hellmouth triggered, that might put down Thanos.

7. SImilar to 6; even with time warping abailties, could anyone hurst Thanos and / or take the gauntlet off him?

Illyria could warp time to slow him down and try to grab it. That's about it. Although Wesley is basically a cold, more vicious Giles, and could probably pull off some ritual magic with prep. time.

8. Don't know anough about the Dresden Universe.

Dresden and Molly are roughly Strange-level casters, I'd say. Knights of the Cross (Butters and Sanya, in this case) have holy swords which basically negate the abilities of powerful/malevolent supernatural entities, and might very well partially negate the Infinity Gauntlet. They also have a certain amount of divine favor- coincidence tend to work out in their favor when they're on the job. And they tend to be good at seeing through deception. They also work under fairly tight constraints, however. They have to respect free will, can't take vengeance, and they have to offer their opponents a chance to surrender and give up their power (though that might only apply to people under the influence of the Fallen), and so on. Thomas is a succubus with low-to-midrange superhuman strength and durability, and some psychic influence (simply put, he's a walking date rape drug). He can drain someone's life force to fuel himself through physical contact. Murphy is just a cop who knows marital arts, shoots well, and has a lot of experience dealing with supernatural shit. Mouse is a highly intelligent supernatural guard dog, with supernatural durability and an ability to detect and intimidate monsters. That's the basic run-down.

[Solauren]

Most of the fights go against Thanos.

Why?
There are a NUMBER of heavy hitters on a level that can challenge Thanos in those teams. All you need is him locked in a full-nelson, while the rest pry his fingers off. None of them have Peter's emotional weakness (or Mantis not knowing when not to talk).

The exceptions are Bat-family (sorry Bruce), and the Order of the Phoenix.

Bat-family, no muscle in that to stand against Thanos.

The OOTP, we don't know how the Infinity Gauntlet will shield against their spells. IF it shields against them, Thanos has a good chance.
If not, then all it would take is the wizards heaping on Immobilus spells, or someone going 'screw it, he's an alien' and hitting the Killing Curse on him.

[The Romulan Republic]

Most of the fights go against Thanos.

Why?
There are a NUMBER of heavy hitters on a level that can challenge Thanos in those teams. All you need is him locked in a full-nelson, while the rest pry his fingers off. None of them have Peter's emotional weakness (or Mantis not knowing when not to talk).

The exceptions are Bat-family (sorry Bruce), and the Order of the Phoenix.

Did you read the full list? Because while there are some magical heavy-hitters on the teams, I very much doubt that anyone on the Buffy, Angel, or Dresden teams could put Thanos in a full-nelson and live. Not sure anyone on the Deadpool team could either (the only maybe is Collosus).

Either Supes or DCCU Wonder Woman probably could, yeah. Not sure about DCAU Wonder Woman.

I also wonder if a Green Lantern could hold him using a force field, at least for a little while.

Bat-family, no muscle in that to stand against Thanos.

Nah. Comics Batman could probably whip up a Thanos-busting suit, given time (he's like a more focused Tony Stark), but with standard gear, they're fucked.

The OOTP, we don't know how the Infinity Gauntlet will shield against their spells. IF it shields against them, Thanos has a good chance.

The reality stone seems to be effectively "I think it, it happens" from what I recall. He could probably counter magic with that unless he was taken by surprise.

If not, then all it would take is the wizards heaping on Immobilus spells, or someone going 'screw it, he's an alien' and hitting the Killing Curse on him.

Like I said, its a pity Snape isn't on the OotP team that I picked. Because Snape would certainly Avada Kedavra Thanos to save the world.

[Solauren]

When I said the Buffy and Angel teams could handle Thanos, I never said there wouldn't be a body count.

Besides, Illyria and Willow would be doing all the heavy lifting in terms of fighting Thanos in those fights.

Mind you, I have this vision of Spike or Angel bitting Thanos, and getting drunk of his alien blood for some reason.

[The Romulan Republic]

When I said the Buffy and Angel teams could handle Thanos, I never said there wouldn't be a body count.

Besides, Illyria and Willow would be doing all the heavy lifting in terms of fighting Thanos in those fights.

Mind you, I have this vision of Spike or Angel bitting Thanos, and getting drunk of his alien blood for some reason.

Honestly, considering that it took multiple hits from Iron Man to give him a small scratch, I don't think their fangs could pierce his hide. For Buffy-verse, you'd need either high-end spell-casting, or maybe some high-end enchanted weapons.

[The Romulan Republic]

Honestly, for Buffy-verse, the best approach would be not even to get in the same city as Thanos, unless you were an Old One. Hit him from another county with one of those reality-warping ritual spells.

Edit: Of course, if he (or his minions) find you... then hope that Willow/Illyria can slow him down until you're finished.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah.

Buffyverse is just... not that high power a setting, you know? I'm not very familiar with it, which is why I don't have opinions on it, but that much is fairly obvious.

It's like, any setting whose most powerful characters are credibly threatened by a guy with a pistol isn't a setting that's going to do well against Thanos, unless there is something very weird going on (like being able to target him from long range with a spell that stops his heart before he even realizes what's going on).

[Elheru Aran]

Buffy does have some very high end stuff, but it tends to require extreme circumstances to bring them out. Overall, considering that something like 90-95% of their opponents can be brought down with a stake through the heart or a few bullets, it's not that impressive. I'd rank it above your typical zombie-pandemic setting, sure, but say Necroscope would be a lot tougher when it comes to vampire settings.

[The Romulan Republic]

Yeah.

Buffyverse is just... not that high power a setting, you know? I'm not very familiar with it, which is why I don't have opinions on it, but that much is fairly obvious.

It's like, any setting whose most powerful characters are credibly threatened by a guy with a pistol isn't a setting that's going to do well against Thanos, unless there is something very weird going on (like being able to target him from long range with a spell that stops his heart before he even realizes what's going on).

Buffyverse is hard to place as either high or low-power. In hand-to-hand combat and close-range off-the-cuff spellcasting its nothing special, even fairly low-end for a superhero-verse unless you break out Old Ones. Honestly there's not a Buffy big bad (other than the First Evil, who's incorporeal/eternal) who MCU Cap couldn't take out by his lonesome.

But this same setting also has reality-warping ritual magic that a reasonably-smart middle class high school kid can apparently perform on his own if he knows the right spell/has the right ingredients, though that sort of thing usually comes with a price.

Which is why any viable plan the Scoobies would have would probably amount to "Run like hell/hide/try to stall Thanos while Giles or Willow try to set up a long-range spell to nerf him." Probably best to have Giles do the casting if possible while Willow acts as a guard, because she's the only one who might have a prayer of slowing down Thanos or his minions in a fight.

Edit: Okay, if you add Angel Big Bads, Cap would lose to Jasmine (because of her "Make anyone who sees me love me" power) and the combined power of Wolfram and Hart/Circle of the Black Thorn (in fact, given the observed power of other Old Ones-Illyria in the show and others in the comics-I doubt he could take any one of the Senior Partners). Angel generally had more powerful and dangerous villains than its parent show.

[Q99]

Buffyverse is hard to place as either high or low-power. In hand-to-hand combat and close-range off-the-cuff spellcasting its nothing special, even fairly low-end for a superhero-verse unless you break out Old Ones. Honestly there's not a Buffy big bad (other than the First Evil, who's incorporeal/eternal) who MCU Cap couldn't take out by his lonesome.

I dunno, Glory can literally be hit by a truck and be fine, just reverted to Ben for awhile. And the Mayor was a *giant* snake- granted Steve could lay a trap like Buffy did, but that's not something to be taken out by shield throws.

[The Romulan Republic]

Buffyverse is hard to place as either high or low-power. In hand-to-hand combat and close-range off-the-cuff spellcasting its nothing special, even fairly low-end for a superhero-verse unless you break out Old Ones. Honestly there's not a Buffy big bad (other than the First Evil, who's incorporeal/eternal) who MCU Cap couldn't take out by his lonesome.

I dunno, Glory can literally be hit by a truck and be fine, just reverted to Ben for awhile. And the Mayor was a *giant* snake- granted Steve could lay a trap like Buffy did, but that's not something to be taken out by shield throws.

Cap blocked a punch from Thanos, and Thanos took, and dished out, a hell of a lot more damage than being hit by a truck. Cap might not be able to kill Glory, but he could leave her begging for him to stop hitting her, as Buffy did during their final battle. He also took hits from Ultron IIRC. He's probably fast enough to dodge most of her blows as well (he was able to keep up with Loki for at least a little while in Avengers), and catch those he can't dodge on his shield (I don't recall Glory having superhumanly fast reflexes during her fights with Buffy).

The Mayor would probably be the trickiest one, yes- but luring him into a trap is an option, and I'm willing to bet that Cap could outrun him, and is certainly more maneuverable than him. He can put a lot of force behind his supernaturally durable shield too- maybe enough to sever the thing's spine if he got behind it.

[Gaidin]

(8) is a curious thing to pin down. Because the Winter Knight still has summoning spells. You take that list of names and you're mainly limiting it to the Avengers without even giving them an African army. But...the Winter Knight still has summoning spells.

If he gets that circle up. Which characters like Mouse, Butters (as a Knight), Molly(especially as the Winter Lady), Thomas, and Sanya can do, mind. They can give him time.

Harry can call out names. Just two I would name are Mab and Mother Winter(depending on the time of year). Because Harry is Winter now. Would this even be a unique enough situation to get Summer to work together with Winter? Harry's a on speaking terms with Sarissa and Fix. I've expanded the playing field with some very powerful people by using some very legit rules.

OP might want to pin down (8).

[The Romulan Republic]

(8) is a curious thing to pin down. Because the Winter Knight still has summoning spells. You take that list of names and you're mainly limiting it to the Avengers without even giving them an African army. But...the Winter Knight still has summoning spells.

If he gets that circle up. Which characters like Mouse, Butters (as a Knight), Molly(especially as the Winter Lady), Thomas, and Sanya can do, mind. They can give him time.

Harry can call out names. Just two I would name are Mab and Mother Winter(depending on the time of year). Because Harry is Winter now. Would this even be a unique enough situation to get Summer to work together with Winter? Harry's a on speaking terms with Sarissa and Fix. I've expanded the playing field with some very powerful people by using some very legit rules.

OP might want to pin down (8).

This is a good point, but I can't see any way to limit eight without being arbitrary.

So Harry can stand there, shout "Mab" three times, and then sit back and watch the fireworks- though Mab might choose not to intervene for her own reasons.

I don't think you'd get Summer and Winter working together, though. IIRC, part of Summer and Winter's nature (as is explicitly stated in the books) is that if one moves, the other moves in opposition to it. So calling in Mab, for example, potentially means Titania aiding Thanos, at least indirectly. Because fairies. Hell, that'll probably happen anyway with Winter Knight Harry on the team. Especially if you add Winter Lady Molly to the mix.

Hell, Thanos's mindset isn't even all that different from the Queens, in some respect. The Fae are big on maintaining balance, and don't really care about things like "collateral damage", "innocent lives", or "fighting the good fight". From their point of view, Thanos's plan probably wouldn't be seen as evil, or even necessarily a bad thing, except if it interfered with their purpose (mainly defending the Outer Gates for Mab, and checking Mab's power for Titania).

[NeoGoomba]

Something tells me that the elder forces in the Dresden universe would be rather hesitant to take on Thanos since, in this scenario, he has the Space, Power, and perhaps most importantly, the Reality stone. They might hope to weather the storm of Thanos's fingersnap, as being deprived of half their spiritual power (if it comes from mortal belief) is far preferable to being winked out of existence as well.

Lets say the Summer and Winter Courts decide to throw down against Thanos. Maybe they try and bury him under pixies or stags or centaurs or whatever. If he survives their onslaught, now he knows about them, and may either include them in his genocidal randomizer once he completes the Gauntlet, or he just obliterates them outright as they don't have any bearing on his calculations.

In every scenario here except probably the two Justice Leagues (who can probably just take him on "regularly" and deal with him), the characters really need to Alpha Strike Thanos so hard and fast he cannot retaliate, either by cutting his arm off or vaporizing him. Any conflict that drags out benefits Thanos as the more pissed off he gets, the more destruction he will cause.

[Gaidin]

Well, keep in mind the hilariously unique position characters like Odin are in. For all Odin is not Norse Odin anymore, he's still literally a god damn god as opposed to merely..."merely"..."Marvel's Odin" and these are literally the kind of characters that can throw down with Thanos even with the fully gemmed gauntlet. The difference between "like a god" and "is a god" is key here. Given it was one marvel assassin that ripped it off his hand and undid his Snappening in the comics way back when.

[Gaidin]

As a total aside as food for thought for (8):

Winter and Summer know the purpose of Winter and what Winter's really doing, and what Summer does to steer them straight insofar as their tinkering in what I'll just call the 'mortal realms'. Remember Mother Summer herself briefed Harry Dresden and gave him a tour of the warzone herself. Not Winter. Summer. And she wasn't exactly disrespected.

What I wouldn't be shocked at is if Winter and Summer struck a deal with Thanos regarding leave Winter and Summer out of his shit and they leave him well enough alone because they've got their purpose and he's got his. Cross a line that leaves the mortal realms vulnerable and be wary.

Would Harry like this? Probably not. But...well...He's got a broken back. He and Molly would be out of the game unless Thanos broke any deal that managed to be struck. If any deal were struck.