For the Marvel supervillain his brother Eros and his adopted daughter Gamora, Thanos has no shortage of family drama. Whether testing his chosen children for strength or committing genocide just to wipe out his errant offspring - as in 2013's Infinity - Thanos possesses a great concern for his own legacy. And while this is especially apparent in some of his descendants' actions, particularly Nebula's, there remains a forgotten member of Thanos' family whose existence contradicts this aspect to his character.
While fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have come to understand Nebula as Thanos' adopted daughter, in the comics, their familial relationship is much different. In Nova #1, written by Erik Larsen, (pencils by Joe Bennett, inks by Armando Dumuthy, letters by Chris E., colors by Steve Oliff) Nebula swears to take revenge on destroying the planet in characteristic fashion. Her father only survived because he had been off-world at the time of Galactus' planetary reckoning.
Nebula reveals the fate of her father at the hands of Xandar's Nova Corps after becoming enraged at the news of Nova's rebirth as a human, Rich Rider. The previous Nova Prime, Rhomann Dey, had killed Zorr when he attacked Xandar. With Zorr as her father, Thanos is Nebula's biological grandfather, instead of father, breaking a previously established storyline from Avengers #257.
Not much remains that can be extracted about Zorr and Thanos' relationship. While he physically resembles Thanos, it is also possible that he could be his son-in-law, having married an unknown daughter of Thanos. Given that Zorr was defeated by Nova Prime, his story ended before much more could be extrapolated about his character's relationship with Nebula. That said, like Thanos, Zorr seems to be fond of destroying planets, seeing that he decimated Xandar before he himself died.
It is safe to say that Nebula's relationship with her family is complicated. After all, Thanos's poor treatment of his own granddaughter drove her to steal the Infinity Gauntlet from him in Jim Starlin's Infinity Gauntlet storyline. But her vowing to take revenge on Nova Prime for her father's death hints that her relationship with Zorr may have been better than that with her grandfather. The exact details remain a mystery, but it's fascinating to understand just how far back Thanos' life extends before he entered the MCU or even Marvel Comics spotlight, and how many surprises may still be in store in the backstory of the Mad Titan.
