Why Gamora Was Really Thanos’ Favorite Daughter
Thanos had narcissistic traits, including the belief that his vision was imperative; therefore, the daughter that flattered him best was his favorite.
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In the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy, it first became clear that while Thanos had adopted both Nebula and Gamora as daughters, he had a clear favorite – and the reason lay more in himself than in them. While he had a number of sycophants and hangers on, Thanos had no one that he viewed or treated as an equal, and whether he realized it or not, his favor was lavished specifically on those that he viewed as a reflection of the traits in himself that he appreciated. Since Gamora was most regularly successful in advancing his ideals and vision for the universe going forward, he favored her, equating her successes with love.
Gamora and Nebula change across the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but it is their success rather than their intent that concerns Thanos; he can only appreciate them as a positive reflection on him. Nebula’s changes in the movies focus around her stopping her search for Thanos’ approval, but Gamora’s reflect the increase in her ambition, maintaining her status as the favored child even after she broke with Thanos. Nebula is initially concerned with stopping Gamora, whereas Gamora is concerned with stopping Ronin from destroying a planet – while Thanos does not care about the planet, he is inherently more concerned with how Gamora’s scope of ambition is greater.
Thanos’ ego is on display any time he is seen outside of combat, where, despite supposedly having no particular ambitions as a conqueror, he sits on a throne, and accepts the titles of “Dark Lord” and “Almighty”. This opinion of himself – coupled with his determination to see his ambition carried out – makes him well disposed toward those that exalt him. Gamora is therefore favored because even in opposing him, her ambitions are extremely grand; Thanos devastated races of aliens before Infinity War, and it was by standing up to his armies as a child that Gamora drew his attention to begin with. Thanos better appreciates Gamora, because he feels that her successes reflect upon him, as he raised and trained her.
Conversely, Thanos does not show similar affection for Nebula. Just as Gamora’s successes exalt him, he has no patience for anything less than such success, and his attempts to ‘improve’ Nebula through torturous rebuilding only serve to further his ambition to have his “daughters” be great to the degree that it reflects upon him. Rather than attempting to find tasks that play to Nebula’s skills, Thanos attempts to press her into the mold formed by his ambitions, regardless of whether her failures are caused by a physical or mental failing, or simply being an impossible task. Nebula and Gamora’s story arc was truncated by Gamora’s death, but Thanos’ affection – and torment – were not based on reasonable expectations or real love.
Regardless of what Gamora or Nebula did independently, they would always be set against one another for Thanos’ affection, because that gave him control over them, and meant that their interests were always in furthering his ambitions. Even if Nebula succeeded in a task, Gamora’s scope of ambition – from saving Xandar to killing Thanos himself – showed the kind of drive that he appreciated in himself. Gamora therefore had the status of favorite in an almost unimpeachable way, and he only admitted that he “treated (Nebula) too harshly” when she showed the drive focus her efforts on his murder. If Guardians of the Galaxy showed nothing else, it was that to Thanos, the only worthwhile subject of attention was Thanos.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/gamora-thanos-favorite-daughter-nebula-reason/