Throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, there have been many characters who have developed from criminals to heroes (some good examples are Peter Quill, Yondu, and Rocket Raccoon). However, no one has been a more prominent example of turning over a new leaf than Nebula.
Having been raised and robotically engineered by the villain Thanos, she was introduced as a ruthless assassin who was seeking to destroy her adopted sister Gamora. Over time, however, she slowly tapped into her better nature and became one of the good guys in some unexpected ways. Nebula even saved the day on a few occasions, be it immediately or in the long run.
Saving Rocket From Taserface
This act happened before Nebula officially started her road to redemption, and was anything but intentional. Having been captured by Taserface and the other Ravagers after they rebel against their captain Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, Rocket openly mocked the new leader’s ridiculous name.
Taserface would have killed the raccoon creature if Nebula had not intervened. However, she did not act out of compassion; she wanted to have Taserface turn Rocket in for the bounty recently placed on his head and get a cut for herself.
Standing up to Thanos on Titan
While the battle on Titan did not end in victory for the Avengers in Infinity War, Nebula put in a great effort towards trying to defeat Thanos. The warlord had put her through so much physical and emotional pain throughout her life; this was her chance to finally stand up for herself.
She contacted the Guardians of the Galaxy to head to the planet Titan in order to fight Thanos and even crashed a spacecraft into the villain in an attempt to take him out.
Revealing the Location of The Garden
In the immediate aftermath of Thanos achieving his goal and wiping out half of the universe, the Avengers were determined to make him pay for it at the beginning of Endgame. However, none of them had any idea where Thanos had gone after The Snap.
This is where Nebula came in; she revealed that when Thanos was making her cybernetic modifications, he would talk about a planet known as The Garden where he planned to retire after his mission was complete. While the Avengers’ trip there ended up being futile, Nebula did give them a chance at revenge.
Acting as an Avenger after The Snap
After The Snap turned several Avengers into dust in Infinity War, Nebula stepped up as a replacement during the following five years. She teamed up with Rocket and Captain Marvel, and they acted as peacekeepers on other planets dealing with the aftermath, while Black Widow and War Machine kept an eye on Earth.
While the time jump didn’t go into specific missions that she went on, it was good to know that Nebula was trying to help put the universe back together after such a devastating event.
Sharing the location of the Soul Stone
A major plot of Endgame was the remaining Avengers going back in time in order to find the Infinity Stones and reverse The Snap. In order to get started, they needed to determine the past location of each Stone.
Nebula provided vital information on where to find the Soul Stone; she learned it from Gamora, who had to reveal it to Thanos in order to save Nebula’s life. Without knowing this important detail, the team would have not been able to complete their mission.
Helping defeat Ego
This was Nebula’s first true step on the path towards being considered a hero. In Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2, she was able to put aside her hostility towards Gamora and helped the Guardians of the Galaxy stop Ego from destroying the universe.
This included using her cybernetics to power the lasers that the Guardians needed to fight off the incoming Sovereign fleet. She also saved Gamora from a fatal fall as Ego’s Planet started to fall apart.
Fighting in the final battle against Thanos
When The Snap was reversed and all of the Avengers returned, the final battle with Thanos acted as the action-packed climax of Endgame. Nebula was in the thick of it, fighting off the onslaught of Thanos’ minions.
She joined up with Captain Marvel and the rest of the female Avengers as they aimed to get the Infinity Stones back to their appropriate times and out of reach for Thanos to use. In the aftermath of Thanos’ defeat, she went back into space with Thor and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Retrieving the Power Stone
During the “Time Heist” of Endgame, the Avengers traveled back in time in order to get a second chance to use the Infinity Stones. On this mission, Gamora paired up with War Machine to get the Power Stone on the planet Morag.
While War Machine incapacitated the past version of Star-Lord so that he couldn’t get the Stone, Nebula used her robotic arm to break through the protective force field and grab the stone. This gave the heroes one more important part to reverse the damage Thanos did.
Killing her past self to save Gamora
In Endgame, the present Nebula had to face a past version of herself, due to the Avenger’s use of time travel. The past version of Nebula got the current version of the Infinity Gauntlet with all of the Infinity Stones and was planning on handing it over to Thanos.
The past version of Gamora joined the side of the Avengers and tried to convince past Nebula that she could change. When this version prepared to shoot Gamora, current Nebula made the difficult decision to kill her past self in order to save her sister.
Saving Tony Stark after Titan
In the final battle of Endgame, it was Iron Man who was responsible for the ultimate defeat of Thanos and his forces. However, had he been completely alone after the battle on Titan, this vital moment may not have happened; he most likely would have succumbed to his injuries from the fight with Thanos or gone crazy in the solitude of space.
Fortunately, Tony had Nebula at his side on the journey back to Earth. She treated his severe wounds and helped him keep his sanity with her company.