Characters / MCU: Ronan

Main Character Index > Villainous Organizations > Cosmic Threats > Thanos' Forces (Thanos) | Ravagers | Kree (Ronan) > (The High Evolutionary | Ego | Hela Odinsdottir | Gorr)

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All spoilers prior to the end of Avengers: Endgame are left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

Ronan the Accuser

"I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you, either."

^{Click here to see him in Captain Marvel}
"A cell of Skrulls anywhere is a threat to Kree everywhere."

Species: Kree

Citizenship: Kree Imperial

Affiliation(s): Kree Empire (formerly), Accuser Corps (formerly), Thanos (formerly)

Portrayed By: Lee Pace

Voiced By: Rubén Moya (Latin-American Spanish dub), Juan Fernández Mejías (European Spanish dub), Hiroshi Shirokuma (Japanese dub)

Appearances: Guardians of the Galaxy | Captain Marvel

"They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!"

A Kree fanatic who insists on staying true to the old ways of his people... particularly their code of vendetta. When the peace treaty between the Kree and Xandar is signed after a millennium of conflict that killed his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, he goes rogue.

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A-M

• Achilles' Heel: Ronan is virtually unstoppable. His warhammer, on the other hand, isn't. It also happens to be where he carries the Power Stone.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the first movie, Drax seeks revenge on Ronan for murdering his wife and daughter. In the comics, Ronan has nothing to do with the comics as it was Thanos who killed Drax' family directly, while here Thanos was just The Man Behind the Man for Ronan.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, the Accuser is an officially sanctioned Judge, Jury, and Executioner and Ronan carries out his duties as a ruthless By-the-Book Cop at worst — while not exactly a heroic character, he remains loyal to the Kree Empire, only acting under orders or within his legal remit, and even serving as an occasional ally to the heroes if an alliance is in their common interests. Here, he's a savagely brutal renegade and a genocidal terrorist who continues the Empire's war against Xandar despite the peace treaty between them — although it's implied that certain Kree authorities unofficially approve. Ultimate Ronan is closer to this portrayal of the character, but even in Ultimate Marvel, Ronan was loyal to Thanos (who, in that continuity, was his father). Here, Ronan obviously loathes the Mad Titan and turns on him at the earliest opportunity.
• Aggressive Categorism:
  • Ronan hates all Xandarians and wants to eradicate them because they are a disease.
  • He also calls the Skrulls "infestation".
• Amazing Technicolor Population: Like most of the Kree, Ronan has a blue skin color.
• And There Was Much Rejoicing: Once he's dead, Xandar celebrates his demise.
• Arch-Enemy: Serves as this for Drax, since he had his family killed by the Kree warrior. After Ronan's defeat, Drax focuses on fighting Thanos.
• Ax-Crazy: He was very enthusiastic about destroying Xandar, and according to Drax, Ronan laughed as he murdered Drax's family.
• Bad Boss: In Captain Marvel, we see that he is horrid towards his own subordinates, the Starforce, berating and belittling them for their failure that cost them Carol. Usually, he'll end every communication with an Implied Death Threat. In Guardians of the Galaxy, he has his Sakaaran troops become suicide bombers in his attack on Xandar and doesn't react the slightest when Korath is killed or when Nebula disappears from the battle, so it really doesn't matter if you are Kree or not.
• Badass Boast:
  • He delivers one to Drax in their first fight:
    Ronan: I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you, either.
  • Delivers quite a good one to Thanos after betraying him:
    Ronan: I will unfurl one thousand years of Kree justice on Xandar, AND BURN IT TO ITS CORE! And then, Thanos, I'm coming for you.
  • He delivers a rather terrifying one to the Nova Corps:
    Ronan: Xandar! You stand accused! Your wretched peace treaty will not save you now! It is the tinder on which you burn!
• Badass Longcoat: His ceremonial armor and robes resemble one.
• Bald of Evil: A brief scene near the beginning of Guardians of the Galaxy shows Ronan to be bald.
• Bare-Fisted Monk: Prior to equipping his warhammer with the Power Stone, he only uses it to execute a restrained captive. In his fight with Drax, he shows his unarmed combat expertise by effortlessly pummelling him with only his bare hands.
• Big Bad: Ronan is the main antagonist of Guardians of the Galaxy, with his search for the Orb and goal of destroying Xandar causing him to come into conflict with the main characters.
• Blood Bath: It's implied he regularly bathes in Xandarian blood, and it's how he's introduced.
• Blow You Away: His warhammer can project shockwaves of varying intensity and size, large enough to knock several people off their feet without otherwise harming them or small and powerful enough to cause a Neck Snap. After the warhammer has been imbedded with the Power Stone, it could produce a shockwave powerful enough to completely dismantle the Nova Corps' blockade of the Dark Aster in a single blow.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: He doesn't quite remember killing Drax's family when they first fight, though he apparently managed to recall it by the time they meet again in the finale, although he may have been lying about remembering in order to taunt Drax. The commentary for Infinity War seems to point to the latter, as it was stated Drax's family was part of the unlucky half. Averted with his encounter with Carol Danvers though. Ronan makes it clear that her shredding his fleet and costing him the battle over Earth was not going to be one of those "forgetable" incidents.
• The Caligula: Ronan's genocidal crusade against the Xandarians has only made him cruel, unhinged and megalomaniacal. Even when he was more rational back when he was the Grand Accuser, he had no regard even for other Kree, and often threatened them with execution should they fail to properly carry out their missions. With the reveal in The Marvels that the Kree Empire was in a state of civil war during Guardians of The Galaxy from the loss of the Supreme Intelligence, it's rather clear Ronan is too delusional to see the bigger picture that his leadership would've run Hala to the ground even further.
• Carry a Big Stick: Much like in the comics, he wields a warhammer known as the "Universal Weapon". However, the ''Official Guidebook To The Marvel Cinematic Universe - Guardians of the Galaxy'' reveals its MCU name as the "Cosmi-Rod".
• Cartoonish Supervillainy: And how. His simple genocidal motives (already done to death in many works of fiction), his unequivocal cruelty to everyone and everything and his ridiculously over-the-top demeanor fit this trope to a tee. However, the MCU successfully plays it for drama, as there is nothing funny or amusing about Ronan and his actions.
• Celebrity Paradox: The Hobbit was referenced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier by the titular characters. Lee Pace portrayed Thranduil the Elvenking in all three films.
• Characterization Marches On: Captain Marvel reveals that Ronan, while still a genocidal and racist jackass, was far more reasonable and reserved in his methods of serving his Empire and killing those he deems his enemies, a sharp contrast to the megalomaniacal monster he would become in Guardians of the Galaxy. The reveal that the Kree lost Hala in the civil war that broke out after the Supreme Intelligence's demise might have played a role in that.
• Co-Dragons: With Yon-Rogg to the Supreme Intelligence back while he was still the Kree Grand Accuser, and was effectively the Judge, Jury, and Executioner of the Kree Empire.
• The Comically Serious: He's just finishing up his big evil speech and preparing to fulfill his dream of Xandar's destruction when Star-Lord challenges him to a dance-off. This was an... unanticipated event which elicited a genuinely puzzled reaction from Ronan.
• Composite Character: Closer to the prime universe Ronan in appearance, but his villainy and connection to Thanos come from the Ultimate version.
• Cool Starship: Ronan commands the Dark Aster, a massive starship. He uses it as some sort of personal temple to execute the Xandarian at the beginning and, at the climax, he uses it to attack Xandar itself. The ship's similar design to the Accuser warships he command during Captain Marvel (2019), suggesting the ship is a variant of their class. Unlike them, Dark Aster is totally unarmed and appears to be unarmored (at one point the Milano blasts a hole through it with just its small rotary cannon). It seems to act as a mobile base and transport more than a warship, similar to the Chitauri mothership, just much bigger (three miles wide).
• Cop Killer: Ronan's first scene has him using his warhammer to brutally execute a captive Nova officer.
• Create Your Own Hero: Him killing Drax' family is the motivation for the latter to seek revenge on him and join the Guardians in the first place. Furthermore, his actions during the first movie and especially his plan to destroy Xandar are what leads to five outsiders with different backstories and motivations to team-up and become the superhero team Guardians Of The Galaxy, ultimately defeating Ronan.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: They seem to be a common trait for the Kree.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Ronan easily defeats Drax in their "fight" on Knowhere.
• Dark Is Evil: He wears black clothing and black make-up, his soldiers wear black uniforms, Ronan commands the massive, intimidating black warship Dark Aster, and when in possession of the Infinity Stone, his warhammer glows purple. Ronan fulfills this trope like no villain since Darth Vader.
• Deal with the Devil: He made a pact with Thanos, offering to find the Orb in exchange for Thanos wiping out Xandar. As soon as he finds out that the Orb contains an Infinity Stone with the power to do just that, he turns on Thanos the first chance he gets.
• Death from Above: Captain Marvel shows that Ronan's favored method of attack is launching Kree Ballistic Missiles to snuff out and annihilate enemies. Although he didn't have access to those weapons anymore by the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, he instead has Immolation Protocol, wherein kamikaze squadrons dive onto the surface of planets, which are not as powerful as the Kree Ballistic Missiles, but accomplish the same effect.
• Defector from Decadence: Falls somewhere between here and My Species Doth Protest Too Much. He, along with several other members of his race, are not pleased their government is just rolling over after years of lost lives to war with the Xandarians with a mere peace treaty. Rather than just riot like the rest of his disgruntled folk, he takes matters into his own hands and begins violently crusading on his own terms to get his own brand of justice against Xandar.
• Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Ronan declaring he will kill Thanos is practically daring Thanos to try and stop him. This insolence did not sit well for Thanos in the long run.
• Dirty Coward: Ronan's enormous arrogance and cruelty vanish whenever he's faced with an actual threat as his turning tail and running when Carol plowed through his forces, not caring in the slightest about his men, shows.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Ronan kills the Other just for annoying him. He also hates the Xandarians because his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather died in the Kree Empire's war with them. Ronan's response? Try to commit genocide against the Xandarians and wipe their culture from the face of the galaxy. Ronan does not handle grief well.
• The Dragon: To Thanos, as Ronan is tasked in finding the Infinity Stones for him, though he betrays Thanos and uses the Power Stone to become powerful enough to destroy Xandar.
• Dragon Their Feet: After Carol destroyed the Supreme Intelligence, Ronan outlived his leader by almost 2 decades. The loss of the Kree's leader led them to eventually sign the peace treaty with Xandar, which Ronan did not take well and defected from the empire to embark on a genocidal campaign that ended with his defeat at the hands of the Guardians.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Even before betraying Thanos, he makes it damn clear he only works for the Mad Titan because of his promise to destroy Xandar. He's Thanos's prime agent in hunting the Infinity Stone but he doesn't even speak to him respectfully.
• The Dreaded: No one wants to be on Ronan's bad side. Upon hearing the Accuser's name, the Broker freaks out, kicks Peter Quill out of his store, and refuses to have anything to do with the Orb. It's also part of the reason why the Kree Empire does not want to deal with him — because he's that dangerous. Only Drax, Thanos, and Carol ever directly encounter Ronan without expressing any fear of him. And back when he was the Kree Empire's highest ranking official under the Supreme Intelligence, Kree soldiers would not want to face his wrath if they fail their charge and worse he has no regard even for other Kree.
• Establishing Character Moment: Bathing in Xandarian blood, speaking at length about his adherence to the ancient ways of the Kree and his hatred for the entire Xandarian culture, making it clear that the peace treaty between the Kree Empire and the Nova Corps means nothing to him, before brutally executing a captive Nova Corps officer.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Played with. He mentions having lost his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather to the war with the Nova Empire. But it does not humanize him or make him sympathetic in the slightest, and it's implied that he is justifying his own sadism, and who's to say his relatives weren't as bad as him either?
• Evil Costume Switch: Not that he wasn't evil beforehand, but in Captain Marvel, he wears his traditional green uniform back when he was still the Kree Grand Accuser. By the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, after leaving the Kree Empire, he switches to a black uniform with red marks and adds black warpaint.
• Evil Gloating: Loves doing this. It backfires since it gives Rocket the time to build a weapon to take him out.
• Evil Is Hammy: Ye Celestials is he ever. Every time Lee Pace gets a chance to really let loose with Ronan's evil monologues, particularly after he becomes drunk with power from the Infinity Stone, Ronan eats and chews the scenery with aplomb with unrelentingly bombastic speeches over how he shall destroy Xandar and every living thing on it. Ironically, the one time Ronan is off-guard, he lets the hamminess slip entirely and speaks like a normal, confused guy. To quote Lee Pace's description of his own performance:
  Lee Pace: I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "More, more!"
• Evil Is Petty: Ronan killed the Other just for being annoying, and, when betraying Thanos, he recalls the Mad Titan's previous insult (namely, referring to Ronan as "boy"), indicating that he took the relatively minor remark very personally.
• Evil Plan: Destroy Xandar and wipe out its culture because a long war that was supposed to do that has been halted by a peace treaty.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Lee Pace's naturally deep, imposing voice only sounds more intimidating when combined with Ronan's booming, hammy dialogue.
• Evil Versus Evil: Subverted. Ronan sets this trope up when he reneges on his deal to give the Power Stone to Thanos, where he screams at the Mad Titan for belittling him, and states his intent to eliminate him after the destruction of Xandar. However, the titular Guardians of the Galaxy end up defeating Ronan before he can accomplish either of these actions.
• Evil Wears Black: As an agent of Thanos, Ronan, as well as his soldiers, wears black armor.
• Failed Attempt at Drama: Ronan's New Era Speech is abruptly interrupted by Star-Lord challenging him to a dance-off.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Ronan despises the Xandarians and their culture to the point of regarding both as a disease. When a captive Nova officer defiantly proclaims that Ronan will never rule Xandar, Ronan has a rather brutal response:
    Ronan: No… I WILL CURE IT! [smashes the Nova officer's skull with the Cosmi-Rod]
  • While reporting to Thanos, Ronan dismissively refers to Quill as "some primitive", implying that Ronan doesn't think especially highly of humans, either.
  • And finally, he despises the Skrulls just like the rest of his people.
• Fascist, but Inefficient: Ronan's leadership only ends up making enemies out of his own forces. As far back as Captain Marvel, he looks down on other Kree battalions and units that he's unwilling to cooperate or compromise with them, and any who fail to contain the Kree's enemies will end up becoming collateral damage to Orbital Bombardment, meaning lot Kree have died because of him.
• Felony Misdemeanor: He went rogue because his people and the people of Xandar were going to sign a peace treaty after a millennium of conflict.
• Flat "What": Ronan's reaction to Quill's dance-off challenge. He doesn't say it like an evil alien overlord, as you'd expect him to sound, but like a normal human who's been genuinely caught off guard.
  Ronan: What are you doing?
  Star-Lord: Dance-off, bro! Me and you!
• Foil: To Drax. Both of them are proud and fearsome warriors who seek revenge on those who are responsible for the deaths of their family (Ronan wants to eradicate the Xandarians for killing his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, while Drax wants to kill Ronan for slaughtering his wife and daughter), along with a shared hatred for Thanos. However, Drax relies mainly on his physical strength in combat, while Ronan is a trained military veteran who knows how to fight, and he beats the crap out of Drax without breaking a sweat. When it comes to personality, Drax is open to the opinions of others and can be concerned about the safety of those around him, while Ronan does not even care about what others think of him or if anyone who supports him is in danger. Drax is also able to exact his vengeance by killing Ronan, which in turn prevents Ronan from completing his mission.
• Former Regime Personnel: While the Kree Empire doesn't collapse, Ronan broke away from its official command structure upon the Supreme Intelligence's removal from power to become a rogue agent and terrorist and strike at the Nova Empire on his own.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Outside of Korath the Pursuer, the rest of the Kree Empire treats him with disdain, due to his callous orbital Mad Bomber battle strategies. It's telling that they refuse to associate themselves with the man when he begins going on his genocidal rampage in Guardians of the Galaxy (though they do put a bounty on the titular group after they kill him).
• Freudian Excuse: His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all killed in the Kree/Xandarian war. He brings it up twice as a reason for his hatred towards the Xandarians.
• The Fundamentalist: Ronan adheres to "the ancient laws" of the Kree with incredible fervor. He even refers to the impending destruction of Xandar as his victims' "salvation".
• General Ripper: Even in his days with the Kree Empire, his favorite approach was to blow them all up and let the Kree gods sort them out.
• Genre Blind: In the end, Ronan is defeated because he doesn't realize he's in a comedy. He takes himself and his Roaring Rampage of Revenge way too seriously, which allows him to easily be distracted by Peter doing something ridiculous and silly, long enough for the rest of the team to counterattack.
• Green and Mean: Back when he was the Grand Accuser, he and the rest of the Accuser Corps had green uniforms.
• Hated by All: Even by the standards of the Kree Empire, it's rather apparent that nobody likes Ronan. Lesser powers such as Xandar are justifiably terrified of him due to his horrific acts of terrorism against their people, while those more powerful such as Thanos consider Ronan to be little more than an ineffectual Psychopathic Manchild with no redeeming characteristics. Not even the Kree themselves are willing to show Ronan any respect (Korath the Pursuer notwithstanding), with Yon-Rogg expressing disgust at his willingness to carpet-bomb Earth's surface despite their being several Kree agents still on it.
• Healing Factor: While never directly touched upon in the films, the Kree in the MCU are confirmed to have regenerative capabilities. This goes a long way to help explain why he's just so damn resilient.
• The Heavy: Ronan is the most prominent villain and main mover of the plot in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, although Thanos is a more powerful force of evil.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: He attempts to harness and use the energy of the Power Stone to obliterate Xandar, only for the Guardians to harness and use the energy of the Power Stone to obliterate him.
• Hypocrite:
  • In Captain Marvel, Ronan claims to believe in the Empire's credo of "for the good of all Kree". In practice, he's fine with carpet bombing a planet that has several Kree officers on it, and abandons his fellow Kree without turning an eye when the going gets rough.
  • For all Ronan's insistence that he's acting for "Kree justice" and that he follows the ancient laws of his people, in practice, he doesn't give a damn about loyalty to anything but himself, deserting from the Kree Empire the instant they make a decision that he doesn't agree with.
• I Can Rule Alone: Ronan's deal with Thanos falls through when Ronan decides that, rather than give the Infinity Stone to Thanos in return for the destruction of Xandar, he can keep the stone, destroy Xandar on his own, and then take down Thanos for good measure.
• It's All About Me: He personally hates Xandarians so he sees himself as justified in annihilating the entire race. Further considerations don't really enter into his reasoning. In fact, he's willing to kill off his own people as collateral. The reveal in The Marvels that the Kree Empire had all but collapsed by that point only emphasises Ronan's selfishness; rather than help his people rebuild their ruined homeworld, he embarked on a personal crusade and sneered that (what was left of) his government was shameless for forsaking a war that they couldn't possibly sustain.
• It's Personal: While he shares his people's hate and distrust for the Skrulls, his hatred for Xandar is deeply personal.
• Jerkass: In addition to being a genocidal murderer, Ronan is also just an asshole as seen by his taunting of Drax and his blunt, abrasive demeanor with everyone else. It's clear that Thanos doesn't like him on a personal level and wouldn't work with him if he could avoid it. Captain Marvel shows this isn't a new trend; Ronan has no qualms about laying waste to an entire planet that, as far as he knows, has several loyal Kree still on it, and he departs without a hint of concern for the fates of his erstwhile comrades.
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner: Ronan is an extremely ruthless, tyrannical ex-Accuser of the Kree Empire, willing to kill Xandarians because they are a disease to his people.
• The Juggernaut: He stood up to a beating from Drax with barely a twitch and withstood a missile launch, being rammed with the Milano, and the crash of the Dark Aster without any more than his armor getting burnt. In the end, it takes an Infinity Stone (a weapon that, keep in mind, Ronan was going to use to wipe out a planet) to kill Ronan.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Captain Marvel shows that while he was always a violent and bigoted nationalist, he was much more reasonable and a lot of his cruelty was more him following standard procedure than wanton sadism. By the time of Guardians of the Galaxy, he's a frothing, genocidal monster who kills for the sheer joy of it and his loyalty to the Kree has degenerated into mindless fanaticism.
• Karmic Death: Ronan sought to burn Xandar with the Power Stone. Moments later, he's killed with the exact amount of overwhelming power he wanted to bring in Xandar.
• Kick the Dog: Ronan is a rather cruel being, to say the least.
  • He orders that the Kyln be "cleansed" so that the Nova Corps would be unable to discover his search for the Orb.
  • His comment towards Drax after defeating him on Knowhere.
    Ronan: I don't recall killing your family. I doubt I'll remember killing you, either.
  • While choking Drax on the bridge of the Dark Aster, he has another one.
    Ronan: I was mistaken; I do remember your family. Their screams were pitiful.
• Knight Templar: Ronan views himself as being in judgment of the Xandarians and all who oppose him. To Ronan, destroying Xandar, murdering everyone on the planet, and obliterating the Xandarian culture isn't genocide, it's curing a disease.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • In Captain Marvel, after Carol Danvers tears one of his ships to pieces, Ronan wisely orders his remaining ships to return to Kree space, although he's clearly taken an interest in Carol.
  • In Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan heeds Nebula's advice of not further anger Thanos after killing the Other and his initial failure of retrieving the Orb. Averted once he actually gets his hands on it, where Ronan promptly gets Drunk on the Dark Side and threatens to destroy Thanos and his army, even while Korath is desperately begging him not to do so.
• Lack of Empathy: Even by Kree standards, he's brutal towards others, Kree included. As an Accuser, he treated carpet-bombing civilizations as just a day at the office, and once he went rogue, he wrote off his own government as shameless for abandoning a war the Kree's ruined economy couldn't sustain, he callously informed Drax that he didn't even remember killing his family and mockingly doubted he'd remember killing Drax either.
• Large and in Charge: He's played by 6'4" Lee Pace and is the main villain of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.
• Large Ham: An enormous one, to Asgardian levels. To quote Lee Pace's description of his own performance:
  Lee Pace: I kept looking over at James Gunn saying, "Is it too much? Am I over the top? Pull me back whenever you're ready!" and he was just like, "More, more!"
• Lightning Bruiser: As a Kree, Ronan is fast enough to dodge Drax's attacks and tank the latter's hits before turning the table on the warrior.
• Marquee Alter Ego: Unlike the comic, this Ronan wears traditional warpaint in Guardians of the Galaxy instead of a mask. Even when he was the Grand Accuser, his uniform lacks a mask.
• Mirror Character: To Loki. Both of them are members of a blue-skinned race who end up becoming The Heavy to Thanos while answering to The Other, use a weapon embedded with an Infinity Stone in their respective campaigns, as well as having a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits as their primary oppositions. Despite their mutual fear of Thanos, Loki showed no signs of attempting to betray Thanos and he ended up surviving his fight against the Avengers. Ronan, however, chooses to turn his back on his overlord and ended up getting killed by the Guardians of the Galaxy. Also, while Loki simply wanted conquer the Earth due to his outstanding belief that he deserved a world to rule over, Ronan is an Omnicidal Maniac who wants to destroy Xandar because of his racist hatred towards the planet's species.
• Moral Myopia: Ronan wants to destroy Xandar to avenge the deaths of his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and further ancestors who died fighting the Xandarians. When he pays any thought to the countless innocents he slaughtered including Drax's family, Ronan's proud of his good work.
• Moral Sociopathy: Ronan sincerely believes half of the things he does genuinely are what Kree law dictates.
• Motive Rant: He delivers one to a captive Nova officer, during his Establishing Character Moment.
  Ronan: They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father, and his father, and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!
  Nova officer: You can't do this! Our governments signed a peace treaty!
  Ronan: My government knows no shame. You Xandarians and your culture are a disease.
  Nova officer: You will never rule Xandar.
  Ronan: No… I WILL CURE IT!
• Movie Superheroes Wear Black: Super Villain in this case but the fact remains that his outfit in Guardians of the Galaxy is black as opposed to the traditional green from the comics. Even his previous green uniform in Captain Marvel is pretty muted in color.

N-Y

• Naked on Arrival: Ronan is first introduced this way because he was bathing in the blood of Xandarians.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: He is Ronan the Accuser, and the mention of his name brings fear to Xandarians.
• Near-Villain Victory: The mission to stop him is actually a failure. Thousands of Nova Corps men and ships are lost, the Dark Aster makes planetfall (albeit on a one-way trip) and causes catastrophic damage both by itself and the ships that plowed into the city before it landed, and Ronan stands with his weapon at the ready to stab it to the ground and eliminate all organic life on the entire planet. The only thing that impedes him is his own Evil Gloating and Quill coming up with a last-ditch distraction that gives Rocket enough time to jury-rig a weapon to destroy his warhammer.
• Neck Lift: Easily lifts Drax (who's massive) by the throat with one hand.
• Never My Fault: Ronan refuses to take any responsibility for losing the Orb to Gamora when he's summoned to appear before Thanos. The Other lampshades this, though Ronan kills him after having enough of him.
• New Era Speech: Ronan starts a pretty hammy one in front of a fearful Xandarian crowd during the climax of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. He gets interrupted by Quill challenging him to a dance-off.
• Nigh-Invulnerable: Getting punched repeatedly by Drax? Psssht. Getting shot with an improvised BFG? An annoyance. Getting hit by a small starship? A minor inconvenience. Going down with his own ship? A slightly bigger inconvenience. It takes the power of the Infinity Stone, which can destroy a planet, to put him down for good. Even then, it took a few seconds for the stone's power to destroy Ronan, which is a further testament to how tough the guy is; every other victim of the stone, except Quill, was disintegrated almost instantly.
• No-Sell: Exactly one of Drax's blows makes Ronan react. Everything else just doesn't faze him. He then goes on to take a missile to the chest and walks away with dented armor, is rammed by a starship and knocked out for only a minute, and survives his own starship crash-landing with no protection. It takes a concerted discharge from the Infinity Stone to finally destroy him.
• No True Scotsman: Ronan is sickened that his government would sign a peace treaty with Xandar, proudly proclaiming that unlike them, he follows the ancient laws of the Kree and punishes those who don't.
  Ronan: My government knows no shame. You Xandarians and your culture are a disease.
• Not So Similar: Most of the galaxy sees Thanos and Ronan as interchangeable with the exception of Thanos being more powerful. However, while Ronan conquers for revenge, glory, and out of hatred, Thanos sees his actions as Necessarily Evil to ensure stability in the galaxy. However, Endgame reveals that despite Thanos explicitly stating that Ronan's obsession clouds his judgment, both of them might not be too different after all.
• Not So Stoic: Ronan is genuinely baffled when Quill challenges him to a dance-off. His reaction is the only four words in the entire Guardians of the Galaxy that he delivers non-hammily, though he quickly recovers.
  Ronan: What are you doing? ...What are you doing?!?
• Obliviously Evil: Unlike most MCU villains, he believes himself to be the most righteous person in this story, but really, he's a genocidal tyrant, an oppressor who can't look at himself in the mirror.
• Obviously Evil: The black armor, intimidating presence, theatrical brutality, and references to "cleansing" his enemies? Yeah, Ronan's pretty bad.
• Offing the Annoyance: When he got tired of being castigated by the Other instead of being answered by Thanos, Ronan casually snapped the Other's neck to end the emissary's ranting.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • After seeing Captain Marvel tear through his bombs like they were nothing, a visibly horrified Ronan was quick to call for his forces to retreat.
  • This is the reaction Ronan has upon witnessing that the Guardians are able to harness the volatile energy of the Power Stone together.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Ronan's pact with Thanos centers around the Mad Titan destroying Xandar for the Kree renegade. Once he gets his hands on the Power Stone, Ronan's more than happy to do the deed himself. Avengers: Infinity War implicitly confirms that Ronan took part in at least one Thanos's planetary cullings during his service to the Mad Titan; it's explicitly mentioned that Drax's homeworld was decimated by Thanos's forces, and it had already been established that Ronan personally murdered Drax's wife and daughter.
• Psycho for Hire: He was clearly enjoying his task to kill half the populations of many planets under Thanos (Drax even said he laughed when killing his wife and daughter) even though he was ordered by Thanos to do so.
• Psychopathic Manchild: According to Thanos, Ronan has the demeanor of a "pouty child", and he even takes offense to it in a rather childish way. ("YOU CALL ME BOY!") Too bad he has also a hellish lust for revenge against an entire planet and kills people wherever he goes.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the unquestioned leader of his faction and also the most powerful.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: His black armor features red markings.
• Religion of Evil: It's not fleshed out very much, but Ronan's comments imply that he adheres to a pretty brutal belief system (at the climax, he demands that the Xandarians renounce their "paltry gods" and that his impending genocide is their "salvation").
• The Remnant: He's a remnant of the the Kree regime once headed by the Supreme Intelligence, having lost both its leader and homeworld in a civil war caused by Carol Danvers. Without the Empire's backing, Ronan has to rely on Sakaaran mercenaries and Thanos's resources to carry out his crusade.
• Revenge Before Reason: The Marvels reveals that, following the demise of the Supreme Intelligence, the Kree Empire fell into a civil war that devastated Hala and broke their power, leaving them unable to sustain their past wars of expansion. Despite this, Ronan evidently expected their conflict with Xandar and the Nova Empire to continue regardless, and when it didn't, he forsook his own people and set off on a genocidal crusade.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Ronan hates Xandar and its people after what they did to his people, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather. When the Kree Empire decides to make peace with the Nova Empire, he becomes a renegade and starts to kill every Xandarian he can find along with those who stand in his way.
• Rogue Agent: Ronan deserted after the Kree Empire signed the peace treaty with the Nova Corps, and they consider him a terrorist. But given that much of the Kree population also opposes the peace treaty, they're at least hesitant to openly condemn his galaxy-wide rampage. It's implied that some of the Kree government actually agrees with him. Then again, Captain Marvel shows most Kree actually don’t like him, especially because he indiscriminately carpet bombs planets. He becomes one to Thanos as well. The Marvels reveals the Kree Empire fell into a state of civil war, meaning Ronan’s faction was only one out of several.
• Sadist: He has no problem with committing genocidal destruction. Drax also comments that Ronan laughed as he murdered Drax's family, and Ronan's frequent Evil Gloating thoroughly demonstrates the pleasure he takes in his genocidal campaign.
• Sanity Slippage: While still a genocidal sociopath, Captain Marvel depicts him as being calmer and more collected than the deranged psychopath in Guardians of the Galaxy, but still a complete, callous jerkass to his Kree subordinates.
• Saved by Canon: His appearance in Captain Marvel takes place about two decades before his original appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, so he obviously has to survive the former.
• Slasher Smile: He sports a wide one when he sees Quill being overwhelmed by the Infinity Stone's power. It disappears quickly when the other Guardians join Quill and they use its power to destroy Ronan.
• The Sociopath: While he's hinted to have cared for his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, his actions clearly show his status as a low-functioning sociopath. Killing families is forgettable for him, he bathes in Xandarian blood regularly, and will Kick the Dog just because. Back in the day, he was more calm and rational about it, but he still had no qualms about bombing the hell out of innocent people in the name of Kree imperialism, even if Kree soldiers are caught in the crossfire.
• Sociopathic Soldier: Ronan was just as much of a monster in service to the Kree as he is while working for Thanos, leading his fellow Accusers in bombing planets back to the Stone Age. The only difference is that in those days, he had the backing of his government. Once he forsook his loyalty to the Empire, he set off on a galaxy-wide rampage.
• Socketed Equipment: As he obtains the Infinity Stone inside the Orb, he is able to insert it into his warhammer, allowing it to amplify his powers.
• The Starscream: Betrays Thanos after he finds out what the Orb actually is.
• The Stoic: Ronan is generally completely serious and straight-faced. Doesn't stop him from being an incredibly Large Ham, though.
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: Even after he abandoned his loyalty to the Kree Empire, Ronan continued to wear his uniform (albeit changing the green color scheme to a black and red one) and refer to himself as an Accuser.
• Strong and Skilled: Not only is he incredibly strong, but he has the fighting skills to make good use of his incredible strength. His fight with Drax pretty much consists of Ronan effortlessly countering and dodging his attacks and ending the fight with a one-handed body slam.
• Suddenly Shouting: Not as much as Rocket, but he has his moments.
  Nova officer: You will never rule Xandar.
  Ronan: No… I WILL CURE IT! [smashes the Nova officer's skull with the Cosmi-Rod]
• Super-Strength: Even before getting the Power Stone, he tosses Drax about like a ragdoll.
• Super-Toughness: Aforementioned nigh-invulnerability aside, Ronan managed the impressive feat of keeping hold of the Power Stone long enough to imbed it in his warhammer without killing himself in the process.
• Tautological Templar: As far as he's concerned, he's acting "For the Good of the Kree" and so anything he does, no matter how horrible it is, is justified by default. Even if it means disregarding the Kree's peace treaty, and directly assaulting Xandar.
• Team Killer: Ronan kills the Other for annoying him during their argument.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: He and Thanos don't get along at all. In the two conversations they have on screen, both feature Thanos making violent death threats and Ronan openly expressing his distaste for the Mad Titan. The only reason they're working together at all is because Ronan depends on Thanos's backing for his army and Thanos relies on Ronan finding the Orb for him. In the end, Ronan betrays and announces his intention to kill Thanos as soon as he has the Power Stone.
• This Cannot Be!: Ronan is in shock when he sees the Guardians harnessing the Infinity Stone's power.
  Ronan: [horrified] You're mortal! HOW?!
• This Means Warpaint: He applies this in his very first scene in Guardians of the Galaxy just before starting his private war against the Xandarians.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Ronan was brutal, heartless, and had no qualms with wiping out innocent lives while he served the Kree Empire, but in those days, he was much calmer and more reasonable, as well as loyal to the Empire. By the time Ronan started working for Thanos, sometime after Hala was unable to support life following a devastating civil war, he became a rabid fanatic with no loyalty to his own fallen government or his new employer.
• Touch of Death: After he obtains the Orb, he can disintegrate objects by touching them with his warhammer.
• The Unfettered: Ronan will go to any lengths to see Xandar destroyed, and he's very single-minded in his pursuit. He's willing to abandon his own government, throw in with Thanos, kill scores of people to keep his mission a secret, betray the most powerful being in the universe, and order his troops to make kamikaze runs, all for the sake of wiping out the Xandarian people.
• The Unfought: In Captain Marvel, the closest Ronan comes to confronting the title character is staring her down from the observation deck of his warship, before choosing to flee.
• Unknown Rival: His attitude to Drax. Drax calls him out and makes a big dramatic You Killed My Father declaration to him... and Ronan turns and walks away, completely uninterested in fighting him. One Curb-Stomp Battle later that has Ronan only putting a minimum amount of effort into, he flatly makes it clear to Drax that he has no idea who the hell he is, doesn't remember killing his family and still won't remember any of them after he's done with him too.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: By threatening and betraying Thanos, he forced the Mad Titan's hand; Thanos no longer sees it fit to trust his own thralls, causing him to go on a bloodthirsty campaign for the Infinity Stones as shown in the post-credits ending of Avengers: Age of Ultron. While the confrontation with Thanos is inevitable, Ronan's actions only sped up the impending threat the Avengers would face in Infinity War.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Guardians of the Galaxy is light-hearted and fun even by the standards of Marvel films, but whenever Ronan takes the screen the tone shifts dramatically to that of dread and foreboding. His Establishing Character Moment when he literally bathes in the blood of a Xandarian soldier whose skull he crushed shows how great Ronan stands out in an otherwise light-hearted and optimistic film. Guardians of the Galaxy even manages to invoke this against him; when Quill distracts Ronan with an out-of-nowhere "dance-off", Ronan is totally lost and unable to comprehend the goofy antics the Guardians have thrived off up to now, a vulnerability that ultimately lets them destroy him.
• Villain Ball: He never uses the Touch of Death ability, preferring instead to non-lethally blast his opponents several feet away for purposes of gloating.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: During the climax of Captain Marvel (2019), Ronan sees Carol destroy all of his missiles, the fighters deployed to kill her, and one of the big ships. Then as she's prepared to attack Ronan's ship too, he orders a retreat but hopes to come back for her someday.
• Villain Has a Point: During his audience with Thanos, Ronan correctly points out that it was Gamora, not him, who caused the Orb to fall into the hands of the Nova Empire, and their intel has confirmed she meant to betray them the whole time. Yet the Mad Titan summons him and is trying to scapegoat the Accuser.
• Villain Takes an Interest: At the end of Captain Marvel after Ronan witnesses the full power at Carol Danvers' fingertips he orders his men to retreat but notes that he will be back for the weapon. When one of his men asks if he is referring to the power source they came to Earth for, itself an Infinity Stone, Ronan clarifies that he meant Carol Danvers herself.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Despite being a genocidal terrorist, Ronan was popular amongst his people (at least the "purist" Kree). Unsurprising, considering who the Kree are. After Ronan's death, the Guardians are declared criminals by the Kree Empire for killing him. However, this does not mean every Kree liked him, as shown when Yon-Rogg in Captain Marvel, showed his disapproval in his carpet bombing tendencies.
• Vocal Evolution: A retroactive example; in Guardians of the Galaxy, Ronan spoke in a very deep, theatrical voice that became savagely guttural when he emoted, while Captain Marvel (set around 20 years prior to Guardians), he spoke in a softer, calmer tone that didn't have the bombastic quality of his first appearance.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The 2014 versions of Ronan and Korath notably don't appear among the rest of Thanos's forces at the end of Endgame, making it unclear what happened to them. However, Ronan does get a mention by Thanos.
• The Worf Effect: What better way to establish how much of a physical threat Ronan is by defeating Drax, The Big Guy of the Guardians, without breaking a sweat and not being affected by any of his blows.
• Would Hit a Girl: He personally murdered Drax's wife and daughter.
• Would Hurt a Child: He personally murdered Drax's daughter and laughed about it, and it's unlikely that the children of Xandar were going to be spared from his intended genocide. Nova Prime explicitly states that Ronan has been murdering children during his galaxy-wide rampage against the Nova Empire.
• Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: When he finally remembers Drax's family, he starts to gloat to Drax about his family's death. He doesn't finish due to Rocket's ship crashing into him.
• You Have Failed Me: During his communication with Yon-Rogg, he's not happy with his failure to retrieve Carol and letting the Skrulls get away. His passive-aggressive language makes it clear that if he fails, it will not end well for him.
• You Killed My Father: His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were killed during the Kree/Xandarian Wars, which motivates him to try and kill every living being on Xandar. Considering his people were the aggressors in all their wars, they likely brought it on themselves.

Variants

Corpsman Nebula's Ronan

Ronan the Accuser

Species: Kree

Citizenship: Kree Imperial

Affiliation(s): Kree Empire (formerly), Accuser Corps (formerly), Thanos (formerly)

Voiced By: N/A

Appearances: What If...?

A variant of Ronan who betrayed and deposed Thanos and his Black Order.

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• Adaptational Badass: In this universe, he successfully manages to overthrow the Mad Titan himself (without any Infinity Stone to make him more powerful). The Nova Corps are so terrified of the prospect of facing him they lock Xandar down for five years instead of fighting like the Sacred Timeline.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: Rather than being annihilated by the Guardians using the Power Stone, Nebula uses Xandar's shields to crush the Dark Aster with Ronan inside, engulfing him with the ensuing explosion.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Only seen in present day at the ending but his shadow looms over the story and the villains are acting to allow him to invade.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: We don't see him kill Thanos, as we're only treated to a Dead Hat Shot after the act.
• Oh, Crap!: He shoots this reaction before he gets killed when the Dark Aster gets suddenly crushed and destroyed by Xandar's closing shields.
• Out-Gambitted: He schemes with Irani Rael to let her rule over the survivors of Xandar in exchange for letting the shield down. Nebula finds out about the plot and puts in her own contingency to have the shield immediately shut after opening, crushing the Dark Aster and Ronan within.
• The Voiceless: Despite being mentioned often, he doesn't have any lines.

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"People of Xandar, the time has come to rejoice and renounce your paltry gods! Your salvation is at hand!"