The character's origin story relates that Arthur Douglas was a human whose family was attacked and killed by the supervillain Thanos.

Needing a champion to combat Thanos, the being known as Kronos took Arthur's spirit and placed it in a powerful new body, and Drax the Destroyer was born.

Drax's powers included enhanced strength and resilience, flight, and the ability to project energy blasts from his hands.

Drax has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including animated television series, action figures, and video games.

I brain-damaged him and made him into the Hulk, because Marvel didn't have a dumb green thing at the time, and I thought they should.

"[2] Drax first appeared in The Invincible Iron Man #55 (February 1973), and was created by Jim Starlin with the help of writer Mike Friedrich.

4 #4–7 (2007) and the 2008 "Annihilation: Conquest" storyline, he was featured as a team member in the 2008 relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy, and appeared in the 25 issue series of the same name.

[3] While driving through a desert with his wife and daughter, Arthur Douglas' car is attacked by a spaceship piloted by Thanos, who thinks the humans have seen him.

[4] His daughter, Heather, survives the crash and is adopted by Thanos' father, Mentor, and raised on Titan.

[5] Needing a champion to combat the threat from Thanos, Mentor and his father Kronos capture Douglas' spirit and place it in a powerful new body.

[11][12] Alongside Captain Marvel, Drax battles ISAAC, Stellarax, Lord Gaea, Elysius, and Chaos.

[15] Eventually, they come upon the planet Ba-Banis, a world of humanoid aliens caught in a vast civil war.

[17] When Thanos is resurrected by Mistress Death, Kronos reanimates the Destroyer and grants him increased physical power.

Alongside a multitude of other heroes, Drax helps battle Thanos and Nebula for possession of the Infinity Gauntlet.

[25] In the course of this struggle, Drax is transported to the Microverse with Genis, where, for a time, he finds acceptance and happiness on the planet K'ai.

[29] Surviving Annihilus' attack on the intergalactic prison known as the Kyln, Drax and Cammi team up with the last member of the Xandarian Nova Corps, Richard Rider.

[31] During a doomed battle between the Annihilation Wave and the United Front, Drax stays behind to fight off the invaders while Nova and the rest of the group (including Cammi) finish the evacuation.

[41][42] Drax's initial incarnation's powers included superhuman strength, stamina and resistance to physical injury as well the ability to project concussive blasts of cosmic energy from his hands.

[44] After his resurrection, his physical capabilities are greatly enhanced beyond their original levels but he suffered severe mental disability in his new incarnation.

[45] He could also heal at an accelerated rate and had senses sharp enough to tell humans from aliens by smell,[46] root out a Skrull in disguise, and detect when energy weapons were about to go off.

[47] Drax the Destroyer appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by Dave Bautista.

[56] Additionally, Bautista reprises his role in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)[57] while an alternate timeline version of Drax appears in the Disney+ animated series What If...?, voiced by Fred Tatasciore.