Starmora

Starmora is the het ship between Peter Quill and Gamora from the Marvel Cinematic Universe fandom.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Gamora met Quill on Xandar when she was looking for the Orb. She waited for Quill to finish his meeting with the Broker. After he got out of the shop, Gamora asked him what happened. Quill complained that the Broker backed out of a deal on him, claiming to hate a man without integrity. He introduced himself afterwards, and Gamora told him he had the bearing of a man of honor. When Quill became completely distracted with bragging about himself and throwing the orb up and down in his hand, Gamora suddenly grabbed the Orb and ran away. Gamora and Quill became engaged in a fight which was also being intervened by Rocket and Groot. Suddenly, the Nova Corps appeared and arrested them for endangerment to life and the destruction of property.

Following the arrest, Gamora and Quill alongside Rocket and Groot were imprisoned in The Kyln, High Security Prison. Quill tried to ask Gamora about the orb, however Gamora refused to tell him. When Drax planned to kill Gamora due to her links to Ronan, Quill stopped him, claiming that killing Gamora wouldn't be the best way. Drax was confused because he learned of Quill as the man Gamora attempted to kill. Quill shrugged it off, saying that Gamora was hardly the first woman to try and do that to him. Quill assured Drax that Gamora was indeed betraying Ronan. Later on, Quill explained that he stopped Drax from killing Gamora because she knew where to sell the Orb.

After they completed their escape from The Kyln and headed to Knowhere, Quill tried to persuade Gamora to trust him a little bit. Gamora asked Quill how much he trusted her, to which he replied that he would trust her a lot more if she told him what the Orb was. However, Gamora claimed not to know about it due to her distrust of them.

On Knowhere, while waiting for to meet the Collector, Gamora and Quill had a conversation. Quill claimed to have specialty on negotiation tactics, naming Gamora's tactics as 'stab, stab, those are my terms'. Gamora smiled at the comment, stating that her father did not stress on diplomacy. Quill questioning whether the father she mentioned was Thanos prompted Gamora to tell him about the story of her past with Thanos, but she cut it off by asking Quill instead about the Walkman. Quill, in turn, answered by explaining its link with his mother and further described the Walkman as something to be listened to, adding that she could also dance with it. Gamora dismissed the idea of dancing due to the fact that she was a warrior and an assassin. This made Quill compare Gamora to a 'legend' called "Footloose" on Earth about teaching a city to dance, then he put the Walkman headphones onto her head. Gamora listened to the music and remarked that the melody was pleasant. Quill held her hand and leaned in to kiss her, but Gamora put a knife to his throat, claiming that she was not 'some starry-eyed waif' to succumb to his 'pelvic sorcery'.

Due to a massive explosion that was caused by Carina grabbing the Power Stone, Gamora tried to go to Xandar but instead became engaged in a fight with Nebula. She was floating in space after Nebula blew up her ship. After Quill watched Gamora's body floating in the atmosphere, he decided to save her. His decision left him no choice but to call Yondu and told him his location. He held Gamora's body and took off his mask. Although Rocket reminded Quill that he would die immediately, Quill proceeded to put his mask onto Gamora's head, allowing her to breathe. Yondu's ship arrived and took them, then Gamora regained her consciousness. When Gamora asked Quill what happened, Quill elaborated all the details. He told her that he had seen her out there and he did not know what came over him, but he could not let her die, that he found something inside of himself which he bragged as 'something incredibly heroic'. Gamora sighed at his bragging and asked about the Orb instead. To her dismay, Quill replied that Nebula got the Orb.

On Yondu's ship, Yondu beat Quill for betraying him and stealing his money. Gamora, witnessing this, told him to stop and tried to convince him to get the Orb back from Xandar to prevent the murder of billions of people. Yondu remarked that Gamora had been filling Quill's head with 'sentiment'. Eventually, Yondu agreed to help them, then Gamora and Quill reunited with Rocket, Groot, and Drax. When Quill and Rocket got into an argument about stopping Ronan due to the high possibility of getting killed, Gamora told Quill that she has lived most of her life surrounded by her enemies, and she would be grateful to die among her friends. They joined in Battle of Xandar and when Quill shot dozens of Sakaarans with the guns of the ship, Gamora hinted at Quill's previous statements by comparing themselves to Kevin Bacon.

Confronting Ronan, Quill challenged him to a dance-off. He even tried to get Gamora to join the dance, but she refused. After the Power Stone was freed thanks to Rocket and Drax destroying Ronan's Cosmi-Rod, Quill grabbed the stone and it began to destroy him. Gamora came to Quill's aid and ask him to take her hand, which made Quill hallucinate about his dying mother. Gamora asked once again, snapping him out of his hallucination. Quill, with tears in his eyes, took Gamora's hand, causing her to also be affected by the energy of the Power Stone.

After defeating Ronan, Quill fooled Yondu by handing him a Troll doll instead of the Power Stone, and he remarked that Yondu would be so irritated when he found out. Gamora reminded Quill of Yondu's attempt to kill him, but he responded by saying that Yondu was the only family he had. Gamora disagreed with the notion, implying that the Guardians of the Galaxy was his family too. They continued their journey as Guardians of the Galaxy, with Gamora telling him they would follow his lead and calling him Star-Lord.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
After the Guardians of the Galaxy became well known, they were hired by the Sovereign to defend Anulax Batteries. During the battle, Quill and Gamora got into a little argument where Quill was questioning her choice to use guns, remarking her thing was swords. Following the battle, they were thanked by the High Priestess Ayesha, whom Quill flirted with by discussing natural reproduction. Noticing that Gamora stared at him, Quill quickly tried to change his answer, but she interrupted him to remind the High Priestess of the payment they promised. Following the Guardians' escape from the Sovereign, Quill complained about the High Priestess bringing up about his father. Gamora replied by saying she understood of Quill's sensitivity about it, but Quill denied the 'sensitivity' she mentioned. Quill then apologized for 'seeming to flirt' with the High Priestess, claiming that he was not. Gamora stated her nonchalance about the topic but Quill voiced that he felt like she cared and apologized once more. Drax told Quill that Gamora was not his match due to her reluctance to dance and conversely, his love of dancing. However, Quill seemed to ignore Drax's remark.

Following Quill's reunion with Ego, his father, they discussed Quill's history near a campfire the group set up. After Ego left, Gamora immediately looked to Quill's direction, with Quill expressing his skepticism. They took a walk and mentioned about the story of David Hasselhoff he once told her when he was drunk. Gamora admitted that she loved the story, although Quill, in contrast, claimed to hate it. With her hopes of discovering whether Ego was Quill's 'Hasselhoff' or not, Gamora persuaded Quill to go to Ego's planet, planning to kill him if he turned out to be evil.

On Ego's ship, Drax and Quill had a conversation about Mantis' antennas and, subsequently, her ability to emphatize. To demonstrate this, Mantis touched Quill's hand and revealed his love toward Gamora, which was labeled by Drax as Quill's 'deepest, darkest secret'. Gamora was startled and Quill tried to deny it and hide his embarrassment, stealing glances at Gamora. Mantis walked over to Gamora to touch her, but Gamora grabbed her wrist and threatened to break her jaw if she did it.

Gamora had her suspicions of Ego when she found Mantis withholding what she wanted to say to Drax, possibly about Ego, after she interrupted her. Later, Quill tried to get Gamora in a dance, which she initially refused. Quill again told her about stories related to Earth, this time about Sam Cooke. Gamora eventually agreed to dance and seemed to enjoy it with a smile apparent on her face. Quill brought up about Drax's initial claims that Gamora was not a dancer, and she threatened to kill him if he ever disclosed the dance to anyone. Quill tried to make Gamora admit about her feelings, naming it as an 'unspoken thing', but she denied, which made him compare their relationship to yet again another Earth reference, the Cheers TV Show. He kept insisting about his claims, which caused Gamora to let go of the dance and change the topic to her suspicions about Ego's planet. They got into an argument, with Quill feeling it was unfair of Gamora to discard his joy despite of her being the one who prompted him to come. Quill pointed out that he finally found his family, which disappointed Gamora. Gamora remarked that she thought Quill had already found his family, and it left a guilt present on Quill's face.

When Quill was being attacked by Ego, Gamora alongisde the other Guardians came to his rescue. Gamora helped Quill up, reminding him of what she had warned him about, to his irritation. She added that she came back after all, and Quill cited the 'unspoken thing' as the reason, which she again denied. Following the attacks of the Omnicrafts sent by Sovereign, Gamora was terribly concerned about Quill's whereabouts, and was reluctant to leave without him. They managed to kill Ego and Quill escaped in the cost of Yondu's life. After Yondu's funeral, Gamora looked up at Quill and he looked back down at her curiously, asking about the matter. Gamora hinted her reciprocation of his feelings, saying it was "some unspoken thing". They looked at each other, then Gamora wrapped her arms around Quill's waist and he around her shoulders.

Avengers: Infinity War
The Statesman, the Asgardian ship sent a distress signal which was being answered by the Guardians. Gamora got in a minor argument with Quill, with her being concerned about helping people and the latter gushing over their possible reward, although he tried to assure Gamora that it was merely to please Rocket. They arrived at the Statesman and brought Thor who was the only survivor. The team was fascinated with Thor's physique, including Gamora, much to Quill's dismay. Quill was especially uncomfortable with Gamora touching Thor's muscles, which he commanded her to stop.

After Thor woke up and discovered about Gamora being Thanos' daughter, he walked in front of her, seemingly to threaten her. Quill managed to calm him down by assuring him that Gamora shared his hatred for Thanos. Thor sympathized with Gamora and comforted her, placing his hand on Gamora's shoulder, which irritated Quill. In response to Thor's words of sympathy, Quill tried to make a point that he too understood Gamora's feelings and even hinted his 'superiority' by commenting that having to kill a father was harder than to kill a sister and that he, unlike Thor, didn't lose an eye. Quill's displeasure with Thor also prompted him to imitate the latter.

On the way to Knowhere, Gamora asked Quill to promise to kill her if she got captured by Thanos. She told him that she knew of something Thanos did not know, but refused to tell Quill to keep him away from danger. When Quill took Gamora's request lightly, she covered his mouth with her hand, stressing that she was serious. When Gamora asked him to swear to her on his mother, he ultimately agreed. The two embraced each other and kissed, but they were being interrupted by Drax who had been watching them for awhile.

At Knowhere, Thanos grabbed Gamora and planned to take her after her failed attempt to kill him. Quill confronted Thanos, threatening to kill him unless he let Gamora go. He still managed to throw insults at Thanos, also dismissing Thanos' calling him as Gamora's boyfriend, naming himself as 'Titan-killing long term booty call'. However, he was taken aback when Gamora reminded him of his promise. Though he moved his aim to Gamora, he was reluctant to kill her. Thanos mocked Gamora's expectation of Quill and shoved Gamora toward Quill's gun, commanding him to kill her. Gamora and Quill confessed their love for each other, and he finally pulled the trigger. But instead, a stream of bubbles came out due to Thanos changing it using the Reality Stone. Thanos remarked his impression with Quill and he teleported with Gamora.

When Quill and the Guardians met Tony, Peter, and Strange, he asked them about Gamora's wherabouts, each team falsely believing the other to be working for Thanos. Eventually, Quill revealed that he was not with Thanos and was there to kill him, also adding that Thanos 'took his girl'.

With the Guardians teaming up with Tony, Peter, and Strange, they arranged a plan and then attempted to battle Thanos on Titan. After series of attacks toward Thanos, Mantis managed to hold him. Quill approached the half-conscious Thanos and demanded him the location of Gamora. Mantis revealed about Thanos' anguish and mourning as a response, which made Nebula conclude that Thanos was mourning Gamora's sacrifice on Vormir. Quill was in denial and demanded Thanos to tell him he did not do what Nebula said, but this made Thanos to sorrowfully confirm it instead. Quill teared up and began attacking Thanos in the face while shouting at him angrily, which broke Mantis' control over Thanos and ruined the plan.

Avengers: Endgame
The 2014 version of Gamora managed to go on time travel with Thanos to the present time and encountered Quill. Quill was astonished to see her as he thought that Gamora had died, unaware that she was not the Gamora he knew. He touched her hair, telling her that he thought he had lost her; but Gamora grabbed his hand off her hair and kicked him twice while warning him not to touch her, making him fall as she wiped her face with disgust. Gamora expressed her disbelief that Quill was the one she would end up with. Nebula responded by telling her that her choice had been Quill or a tree.

In the end of the movie, Quill was searching for Gamora on a screen before closing it as Thor walks in.

Quotes
"I saw you out there. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't let you die. I found something inside of myself. Something incredibly heroic. I mean, not to brag, but objectively..."

- Quill, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Behind the Scenes
"Yes, of course. If he loves her. He tends to do what she says a lot. I did like that emotional beat between Star-Lord and Gamora, because in the Guardians world, she's the Abbott to his Costello. He's such a humorous character that lives off of telling everyone that he doesn't take anything seriously. And she's the exact opposite: She's uptight, she's grumpy. So we get to see this kind of levity but also this sincere and genuine commitment that they have for each other that we haven't seen in the other movies. I love the fact that James Gunn has always protected Gamora and Quill's relationship. But I thought it was really wonderful for audiences to see [in Infinity War] that the show that they put on [when other people are around] is not really what happens behind closed doors. That they really love each other, that they really listen to each other. That he actually is capable of making a promise and keeping it."

- Zoe Saldana

Trivia

 * The first song Quill made Gamora listen to was Fooled Around and Fell in Love by Elvis Bishop.
 * The song playing during Quill and Gamora's dance on Ego's planet was Bring It On Home to Me by Sam Cooke.

Fanon
Starmora is the main ship of Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Fans like the dynamic due to the conflicting personalities of the duo. They also have some similarities as both have lost their families. Gamora had lived her life as an assassin with notable trust issues with people, that's why it became a defining moment when Quill gained her trust and, eventually, love. Quill, on the other side, was a player. Gamora, keeping Quill at arm's length, allowed the relationship to grow unhurriedly. Although his flirtations with Gamora was shallow, Quill's feelings subsequently developed and deepened for her. While Quill taught Gamora to enjoy more things in life, Gamora taught Quill to grow up. Fans are very touched by the way Quill was willing to sacrifice Gamora for the greater good. Though most fans are unhappy with how Quill ruined the plan to kill Thanos due to being enraged upon learning Gamora's death, some defended him, calling it rational when taking his losses, and his initial will to sacrifice Gamora, into account.

Fandom
FAN FICTION