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    Guardians of the Galaxy

    Team » Guardians of the Galaxy appears in 1116 issues.

    The first published Guardians of the Galaxy was a team of freedom fighters in the 31st century. The name was later used for the team Star-Lord formed to deal with galactic-level threats in present day. The present day team's name was influenced by a member of the 31st century team who had time traveled to the present.

    Short summary describing this team.

    Guardians of the Galaxy last edited by SlamAdams on 02/21/24 04:56PM View full history

    Current Members

    • Star-Lord
    • Gamora
    • Drax the Destroyer
    • Mantis
    • Nebula
    • Rocket Raccoon

    Origin

    In the 31st Century, the Guardians of the Galaxy are freedom fighters formed by a diverse group of beings. The home reality of the Guardians of the Galaxy has been designated Earth-691. The founding members are Vance Astro (later Major Victory), Charlie-27, Yondu and Martinex. The team was founded to fight the Badoon race, who had conquered the Sol system and the Alpha Centauri system among others. The Guardians became the leading force of the resistance movement against the Badoon.

    Creation

    The original Guardians of the Galaxy were created by writer, Arnold Drake, and artist, Gene Colan, in their first appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes vol 1 #18 (1/1969). Mike Esposito was the inker for this debut. Drake and Colan created the founding members being from the 31st Century reality called Earth-691.

    After the cosmic Annihilation series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, a group of established cosmic heroes were brought together by Abnett and Lanning as the Guardians of the Galaxy in the present day reality called Earth-616. This version of the team officially earned their name in Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 #1 (7/2008). This premiere issue was written by Abnett and Lanning and drawn by Paul Pelletier (pencils) and Rick Magyar (inks).

    Earth-691 Guardians of the Galaxy

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    During the reign of the Badoon in the 31st Century, Badoon soldiers occupied planets such as Earth as they continued their oppression. The Guardians of the Galaxy staged a rebellion on Earth aided by Captain America and the Thing who traveled from the 20th Century to the 31st Century. Several months later, the Guardians traveled to the 20th Century to gain information on a failed Badoon invasion that occurred in that time period.

    While on this mission, the Guardians met 20th Century heroes, the Defenders, and team-up to fight a mutated eel. The Defenders returned with the Guardians to the 31st Century to fight the Badoon empire. The Guardians are later joined by Starhawk. Both teams worked together to eventually defeat the Badoon's oppressive regime.

    The Defenders returned to their own time period while the Guardians and other surviving rebels of the war rebuilt their civilization. The Guardians eventually left Earth as space explorers and adventurers and recruited Nikki along the way. During these adventures, the Guardians learned that the Silver Surfer prevented the Badoon invasion of Earth in the 20th Century. They also learned about Starhawk's other half, Aleta.

    The Guardians aided by Thor from the 20th Century encountered one of their greatest foes, Korvac, which led to a significant story arc known as the Korvac Saga. The Guardians had followed Korvac to the 20th Century and fought side by side with that era's mightiest heroes, the Avengers, against Korvac. The Guardians were all granted honorary Avengers membership after this event.

    After staying in the 20th Century for some time, the Guardians continued to have various adventures with other heroes such as the Thing and Spider-Man. Vance Astro even met his younger self (actually parallel counterpart) and inadvertently unleashed young Vance's own latent psychic abilities.

    This results in young Vance Astrovik in walking a path different from Vance Astro. Young Vance grows up to be Justice of the New Warriors and later the Avengers. The Guardians eventually returned to their own time period and decide to embark on a quest to recover Captain America's lost shield. This quest for the shield sets the stage for significant events in the lives of the Guardians. After finding Captain America's shield, Vance Astro was able to safely remove his life-preserving suit and change into a different uniform. Vance changed his name as well to Major Victory.

    The group also acquired a few more members such as Firelord, Replica, Hollywood (Earth-691 Wonder Man), Talon and Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara from Earth-616). Martinex took a leave of absence from the group to form the Galactic Guardians in an effort to expand the Guardians operations. He recruited Firelord, Replica, Mainframe (Earth-691 Vision), Spirit of Vengeance, Hollywood and Phoenix IX.

    The Galactic Guardians completed several missions before Martinex eventually returned to the Guardians of the Galaxy. By the end of this series, Starhawk, Firelord, Replica, Talon and Yellowjacket had left the group for their own reasons and the remaining Guardians embarked on another mission in the past.

    The series ended with the group composed of Charlie-27, Nikki, Major Victory, Martinex, Aleta, Yondu and Hollywood. The Guardians make their most recent appearance with this lineup in New Warriors vol 1 #68. No sign of the Guardians has been seen since until Major Victory and Starhawk suddenly appears in the second volume of the Guardians of the Galaxy series. No indication as to the whereabouts of the other Guardians.

    Earth-616 Guardians of the Galaxy

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    The Guardians of the Galaxy of the mainstream Marvel reality has recently been formed after the events of the Annihilation Conquest. The previous lineup is Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Quasar (Phyla), Gamora, Starlord, Mantis, Groot, and Rocket Raccoon. After a Skrull infiltration of their headquarters on Knowhere, it was revealed to the Guardians that Mantis had been asked by Peter Quill to use her mind-control powers on the team's members in order to help the team function better.

    As a result of this news Phyla together with Drax go in search of Moondragon, Warlock accompanied by Gamora leaves the group and Star-lord also leaves which in turn brought Mantis & Groot to have been moved to active status & the team is lead by Rocket Raccoon.

    War of Kings

    Upon learning of the upcoming war between the Shi'ar Empire, with their new Emperor Vulcan, and the Kree, now led by the Inhumans and their King Black Bolt. All of the Guardians reunite and are joined by Moondragon and Jack Flag who returns with Star-lord from the Negative Zone.

    The Guardians split into two teams in an attempt to talk the Inhumans and the Shi'ar out of the War of Kings, but both were unsuccessful. This led to both attacking the Guardians on Knowhere. During the skirmish, the Guardian's prisoner, Starhawk, is able to escape. She (having changed genders because of time travel) takes several of the Guardians to her future to show them the dangers the war will have on the universe.

    Meeting the Future

    The 616 Universe Guardians meet their future counterparts
    The 616 Universe Guardians meet their future counterparts

    Starhawk's future is a bleak one. As a result of the War of Kings, a massive, expanding fissure is opened known as the Fault. The Guardians meet the future Guardians (similar to the 691 Guardians, composed of Starhawk, Martinex, Charlie-27, Yondu and Vance Astro) who live in a small bubble of a universe since the Fault has consumed their universe. They are all that remains besides the Badoon, who have taken over the remainder of the universe.

    Starhawk explains that the Fault is caused by Black Bolt and had brought them there to prove the damage she had earlier claimed. With their time machine destroyed, the only hope is to send a message back to the past to warn the other Guardians. The Badoon attack and they make a plan to send their message. The Badoon had enslaved the Celestials and made them into what they called the 'Celestial Engine' which protects the remainder of the universe from the Fault. They planned to relay a message to one of the Celestials who could then send the message to Knowhere.

    They are able to relay their message and this causes the Celestials to break their alignment. The 691 Guardians say their goodbyes and the others wonder if this is truly the end, for this future has nothing left to save. Instead of being obliterated, this causes the 616 Guardians to be sent adrift in time. It also causes them to age strangely, with the exception of Jack Flag, who seems to be fading from existence.

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    They arrive in another distant future with a new set of Guardians (Killraven, Charlie-27, Nikki, Hollywood and Starhawk). This future is extremely similar to War of the Worlds, and the Guardians protect and supply the survivors from the extermination of Martian invaders. Starhawk is sent the information on what is happening from the other versions of himself. With this information, they are able to form a plan to return the Guardians to their own time and a way for the future Guardians to defeat the Martians.

    Hollywood had spoken of the advanced weaponry of the Avengers located under the mansion, but the Martian Command Node was blocking the entrance like a force field. Since Jack Flag was diluted, this gave him the ability to pass through it. Once inside, the future Guardians had all the weapons they needed to defeat Earth's attackers. But before the other Guardians could use the time machine, they slipped through time once again.

    Return of the Magus

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    The team fell through several alternate futures before arriving at one ruled by the Magus and the Universal Church of Truth. While being attacked by the followers of the Church, they were rescued by an unlikely ally: Kang the Conqueror. He took them to limbo, where he had an army of Starhawk's from destroyed realities assisting him. He explained that Adam Warlock would become the Magus and all possible futures were becoming Magus futures. He gave Starlord a Cosmic Cube and sent them back to their own time, moments before Adam's transformation.

    They arrive at the right time, but it is too late. In order to stop the expansion of the Fault, Adam had overlapped time with an unused future, the one in which he became the Magus. Once transformed, all the Guardians engaged him, to which the Magus seemed to have no problem in handling all of them. Starlord was able to turn Magus back into Adam Warlock, but only briefly. At Adam's request, the only was to stop the Magus was to kill him, which Starlord regrettably did.

    The battle was costly and Adam was not the only member of the team to be lost. In battle with the Magus, several other members lost their lives fighting him, including Mantis, Cosmo, Major Victory, Gamora, and Phyla. They returned to Knowhere, having paid a high price for their victory. Magus, however, survived the battle. He faked his own death at the hands of Starlord to by time for his plan to create the Fault. He also faked the deaths of Mantis, Cosmo, Major Victory, Gamora, and Phyla. While trying to escape, Phyla unwittingly opens a cocoon containing Thanos, to take back his rightful place as the Avatar of Death. Thanos kills Phyla but is defeated and captured by the remaining Guardians with the help of the Cosmic Cube.

    The Thanos Imperative

    Team-leader Starlord's seemingly last moments
    Team-leader Starlord's seemingly last moments

    After the Magus detonates a multitude of the Church's planets to open the Fault, the Guardians and Thanos form an uneasy alliance. They all travel to the Cancerverse, the Fault-connected universe currently invading theirs under the leadership of a corrupted Captain Mar-Vell. The Guardians show off their might by defeating the Defenders of the Realm, corrupted versions of the most powerful heroes of Earth, but the Cancerverse is void of Death and they regenerate. Thanos is able to kill them since he is the Avatar of Death. They then join together with the Machine Resistance and learn the true goal of Lord Mar-Vell: turn their universe into another Cancerverse.

    They learn of the Necropsy Site where Death was originally killed, but Thanos seemingly betrays the team, offering himself to Mar-Vell while the Guardians have their hands full with the Revengers. As he is being killed, Death appears and destroys him. After this, she begins the destruction of the Cancerverse. The Guardians are teleported away in the nick of time, but Starlord along with Nova remains behind to ensure Thanos does not escape, sacrificing themselves for the greater good of the universe. When all is said and done, the team has lost Adam Warlock, Phyla Vell, Drax and their leader, Peter Quill, the Starlord.

    Guardians of Earth

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    Back from the Cancerverse, Peter Quill is riding with the Guardians of the Galaxy again. He is sidetracked when his dad, J’son, informs Peter that Earth has been put on a “Off Limits” list. It is meant to protect the planet, but Quill knows that is just going to put a target on it. The Guardians take it upon themselves to protect it, entering into a partnership with Iron Man. First, they take on the Badoon, and then they face off against Angela, who ends up joining the team after proving she wasn’t a threat.

    The Shi’ar also decided to invade Earth. They came to take custody of a younger version of Jean Grey, pulled from earlier in the timeline, to face trial for crimes she hasn't committed yet as the Dark Phoenix. Kitty Pryde and the other time-lost original 5 X-Men join the Guardians, along with the Starjammers, to take on the Imperial Guard. They rescue Jean, who escaped captivity on her own and brought the X-Men home.

    Once back to Earth, Agent Venom is named Avengers liaison to the team. Angry that the new ruling on Earth isn’t having the desired effect, J’Son arranges the Guardians to be split up. Luckily, Quill is saved by Captain Marvel. Together, they reunite the team and out J’Son as a murderer. In response, the Spartax Empire voted for a new leader: Peter Quill.

    Black Vortex

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    Quill ran from his political responsibilities, but he couldn’t keep a low profile because J’son sent hitmen, the Slaughter Squad, after him. He was saved by his new girlfriend, Kitty Pryde, and they discovered in J’son’s possession the Black Vortex, a mirror that allows users to reach their cosmic potential. Uneasy with the idea of J’son keeping it, Quill steals it so the Guardians and the X-Men could protect it together.

    Unfortunately, they weren’t able to grab it before the Slaughter Squad amped up their power. The teams considered using it on their own so they could match power, but Kitty disagreed fearing the power would corrupt them. Gamora, Beast, and Angel submitted to it, giving them the edge they needed to escape the hitmen, but they also abandoned their teams when they tried destroying the mirror.

    The Vortex continued to exchange hands. Ronan the Accuser stole it from Gamora and used it to fight her and her X-Men cohorts. J’son stole it from Ronan, destroying Hala in the process, and allowed his ally, Thane, to use it. With his new powers, he was able to encase Spartax in amber. The Guardians stole it back yet again. Kitty submitted to it, using her cosmic phasing to move Spartax from the amber.

    That is when Gara, the original user of the Vortex, came to collect it, first giving anyone a chance to undo their cosmic makeover, which all the Guardians agreed to.

    Emperor Quill and Back to Earth

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    After the multiverse was fixed, Quill stopped avoiding his political responsibilities on Spartax, naming Kitty, now his fiancé, the new Star-Lord and putting Rocket in charge of the team. They also picked up a new member: The Fantastic Four’s The Thing.

    The Guardians came to Quill’s defense when Hala the Accuser showed up on Spartax to charge Quill with the destruction of the Kree homeworld, Hala. The Guardians defeated Hala, but Quill’s political rivals used this as an opportunity to remove him from office. So, Quill escapes with the Guardians as a fugitive.

    Captain Marvel requested the help of the Guardians during Civil War II. Their spaceship was damaged in the process, and they were stranded on Earth. Tensions ran high when they found out Thanos was also being imprisoned on Earth, and Quill was pressured into revealing how he, Drax, and Thanos made it out of the Cancerverse. Because it meant Nova had sacrificed his life to open a portal out of the Cancerverse and that Quill kept it a secret that Thanos escaped too, the team disbanded, escaping Earth together but going their separate ways once in space.

    Infinity Gems

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    After a while, Gamora convinced the team to reunite as thieves for The Grandmaster and The Collector. She believed the Soul Gem still had a piece of her soul that she wanted back, and the Elders of the Universe had the information to find it. They also went to Earth looking for reinforcements but only recruited Ant-Man. They were briefly members of Nova Corps, helping them protect the Power Gem. They eventually crossed paths with Kang and Adam Warlock, who were already in possession of the Soul Gem. A fight ensued and Drax prevented Gamora from using the Soul Gem after feeling its powers. Feeling betrayed, Gamora abandoned her team.

    On her own, Gamora betrays her team. She kills Thanos, prompting Doctor Strange to bring everyone who possesses an Infinity Gem together in Central Park, including the Guardians, who have the Power Gem. Their gem proves to be fake, as Gamora shows up with the gem on the hilt of her sword. Quickly she kills Quill (who is saved by Strange), bonds with the missing piece of her soul, and dispatches all her challengers (including nearby Avengers) by combining pairs of them into single individuals and trapping them in a pocket dimension for Devondra, the Soul-Eater inside the Soul Gem, to consume.

    However, Loki is sent to Warp World without being combined with anyone and retains his memory of their home world. He is able to rouse the warped heroes and some un-warped heroes to fight back against Gamora, eventually returning them all to their home reality. Emma Frost even goes as far as to wipe their memories.

    In the aftermath, Drax was purged of his destroyer personality, living happily as Arthur Douglas in a preserved Warp World. Gamora was teleported away by Adam Warlock before anyone could punish her so that she may redeem herself. Quill, Rocket, and Groot were left to their own devices.

    Final Gauntlet

    Still hurt over Gamora’s betrayal, Quill is wandering space, drunk, with Groot, who is now able to speak. However, Rocket is inexplicably missing. While being questioned by a Nova Corpsman over a missing Knowhere, they hear that a “Thanos meeting” has been attacked.

    Cosmic Ghost Rider quit the team almost immediately
    Cosmic Ghost Rider quit the team almost immediately

    The “Thanos meeting” was a reading of the last will and testament of Thanos. Instead, Thanos revealed he implanted his consciousness in another body in case he died, his “Final Gauntlet.” The reading was attacked by a weaponized Knowhere controlled by the Black Order. They stole Thanos’ body and opened up a rift in space and time with a black hole gun. Many of the heroes in attendance were pulled through.

    Beta Ray Bill and alternate reality versions of Phyla-Vell and Moondragon (brought to this world during Warp World drama) are rescued by Quill and Groot and reveal the prevailing theory of Gamora being the Final Gauntlet. The team agrees to protect Gamora, so they head for Halfworld with Groot taking command.

    Their reunion with Gamora was short-lived when Nova crash-landed. He had been attacked by the Dark Guardians, other survivors from the Thanos Meeting bent on killing Gamora before she could become the new Thanos. They followed Nova and were able to snatch Gamora from the Guardians.

    The Guardians catch up to the Dark Guardians, but they had been played by Starfox, who turned out to be the Final Gauntlet. He was taken by the Black Order to Hela, who had reconstructed Thanos’ body and planned to transfer Thanos’ consciousness from Starfox back to his original body. The two teams combined into one super Guardians team to stop the transfer. Gamora kills Starfox, but Thanos’ body awakens with pure instinct. That’s when they use the black hole gun on Thanos body, destroying it yet again.

    In the wake of this, Quill pitches to the new roster that they should stay together.

    Faithless

    At Rocket's bedside
    At Rocket's bedside

    The Guardians were having some much needed R and R when they received a distress call from J’son. He said the Nova Corps was wiped out by a version of the Universal Church from the future and now Spartax is at war and losing. The distress call ends with J’son seemingly attacked. The Guardians go to investigate but most of them are brainwashed into believers by J’son, the brainwashed new patriarch. Moondragon and Groot were able to escape, and they asked Rocket for help. The problem is, Rocket was dying, the reason he abandoned the Guardians in the first place.

    Before they could take the fight to the Universal Church, Rocket takes them for one more recruit: a young Magus, reborn during the Infinity Wars. When they confront the Church, they are attacked by an army of Drax clones, created by the Church. When Rocket freed everyone from the faith-generator that powers the Church, the generator grabbed all the Drax clones, leaving just one.

    Moondragon forced everyone’s collective memory of Drax into the clone’s body, transforming him into the Drax they all knew. Rocket also re-engineered the ship to travel back to the time it came from. With the threat ended, the team was able to get Rocket to a hospital where he can finally be healed, thus reuniting the team once again.

    Two Guardian Teams

    Guardians divided
    Guardians divided

    Nova sought out the Guardians when Olympians from Earth were plaguing the universe. They were reborn after being exterminated by Nyx. Gamora turned him down for all the Guardians, but Quill and Rocket snuck away to join the fight anyway. They planned on using a black hole bomb on their ship, but the plan went south rather quickly. The gods were able to steal the black hole bomb and disable the timer forcing Quill to choose to manually set it off, killing himself in the process. Gamora took the news of Quill’s death pretty badly and as a result the Guardians split into two teams.

    Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Moondragon (of the original universe) took a job as Blackjack O’Hare’s new crew. Rocket, Noh-Varr, Hercules (rescued from the Olympians) and the alternate universe’s Phylla and Moondragon were still following Nova, who was short-handed after the loss of the Nova Corps. They came to blows at a casino. Blackjack’s team was hired to protect it, while Nova’s team was investigating an emergency alert. However, it ended in an uneasy truth, with both versions of Moondragon combining into one person.

    Empyre

    Detective Rocket
    Detective Rocket

    After the attempted Cotati invasion of Earth, the Kree and Skrulls entered an alliance under leader, Hulkling. This resulted in a Meeting of Galactic Powers attended by Nova, as Nova Prime, and Noh-Var as ambassador of the Utopian Kree. The Guardians accompanied them as backup.

    Over the course of the meeting, two ambassadors wind up dead with all evidence pointing to Noh-Varr. Rocket is chosen as an impartial investigator. Rocket determined the Badoon ambassador was not who she said she was. She revealed herself to be the Profiteer, an arms-dealer who profits off war. She intended to turn them all against each other, however, she was reminded that the cosmic economy is fragile and none of them could afford her weapons. So, she decided to spare their lives for now.

    Return of Star-Lord

    Guardians stand together
    Guardians stand together

    The Guardians were fighting a symbiote dragon related to King in Black, when Star-Lord manifests in front of them using his new powers as the new Master of the Sun. The Master of the Sun was a former mentor from Quill's past that he believed was an implanted memory, but after he was sucked into the black hole, he mentored with new warriors eventually developing real powers. With the symbiote taken care of, Quill could sense that the Olympians also escaped from the black hole.

    The Olympians wasted no time showing up for revenge, and quickly blasted Quill's ship out of the sky, seemingly killing Rocket, Groot, Hercules, and Noh-Var. However, Noh-Var was able to extend his pocket battlefield to save Herc and Rocket. Once safely on the ground, Prince of Power was able use the power stone, which he had secretly been in possession of, on Groot's corpse bringing him back from the dead (and reverting him back to his "I Am Groot" vocabulary). Together, they are able to turn the tide of the battle. Combining the powers of the Master of the Sun, The Moondragon, and Kree Utopian technology, they created a black hole powerful enough to trap the Olympians in a sun-less universe.

    When the dust settled, Super-Skrull showed up with an armada in case the Guardians failed to stop the Olympians. He also brought news that the Galactic Council wanted to end the Guardians of the Galaxy but had no resources to fund a new Nova Corps. So, with Nova's leadership, the Guardians of the Galaxy became the new official peacekeepers of the universe.

    Major Expansion

    Expanded Roster
    Expanded Roster

    According to Nova, the Guardians are not the new Nova Corps, they are the Avengers of Space. They go where they are needed, and they do not take instructions from the Galactic Council. However, Super-Skrull is aiding them in an official capacity as Ops Command. They are also joined by the combined Quasars (Vaughn and Kincaid).

    As the new peacekeepers, they are now fighting on multiple fronts. Half the team was investigating a Skrull cult on the fringes of space prophesizing the return of an ancient deity. The other half were defending the home planet of the Kree-Skrull Alliance from The Progenitors.

    Dr. Doom took advantage of the Progenitor invasion to hit the Alliance when it was wounded. He showed up to take Hulkling's birthright in order to fix an imbalance in reality that he had sensed. Something big was coming. He was besting the Guardians in every attempt until a play to his narcissism gave Moondragon the opportunity to hit back psychically. With Doom pacified for the moment, Star-Lord made a deal with Doom, who honors his words, to help the Guardians with the imbalance he sensed.

    Around this time, the second team reported back that the rimworld they found the cult on was actually Ego, the Living Planet, who admitted to being the herald for whatever deity the cult had been worshipping. Their blood ritual turned Ego into a giant black egg, which hatched ten days later revealing a planet sized Dormammu.

    The Last Annihilation

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    The Guardians were regrouping to talk strategy after being separated across light years with Skrull and Kree forces fighting off Dormammu's Mindless One armies. Doom figured out that the planets he was targeting seemed to make a pentagram on a star chart, which could be used as a summoning circle. The fifth planet was determined to be Chitauri Prime, which is not part of the Galactic Council and wouldn't ask for help if they needed it.

    Based on a plan from Doom, a Guardians team heads to Chitauri Prime to defend it only to find it already fallen to Dormammu. With this new revelation, Doom changed his plan on a whim and let loose a number of secret Doombots in his possession to wipe the planet out, to the regret of his Guardians team.

    Meanwhile, untrusting of Doom, Gamora and Nova joined Quasar and their other members on Aerie, the homeworld of the Shi'ar, rather than going with them to Chitauri Prime. It turned out to have the most active Mindless One forces, leading to an appearance from Dormammu himself.

    Thankfully, Doom did have a plan. Using the members of his Guardians squad as cosmic tarot, they sync up and drain the energy from Dormammu, allowing Rocket to regroup with Nova and Gamora with a giant space gun from Krakoa. With enough power drained, Doom teleports his Guardian squad to different battle fronts, including Quill who is sent to Rocket's space gun. By combining Gamora's aim, Quill's element energy, and Nova's Nova Force, they create a bullet able to kill Dormammu.

    With peace throughout the galaxy, the Guardians ponder a much needed vacation.

    Grootfall

    Guardians of Grootspace
    Guardians of Grootspace

    Impressed by the Guardians of the Galaxy’s recent promotion to galactic peacekeepers, Nebula attempted to join and put the probability machine in her head to good use. Its first target was a planet labeled “useless” by the Kree. Groot and Rocket volunteered to investigate, only to find Groot’s dying homeworld. When they found his species’ elder, she passed her gift of cultivation on to Groot, which transformed him into a feral meteoroid sized plant hellbent on terraforming a new species. The Guardians tried to stop him, but they suffered heavy losses, including the death of Moondragon, Phyla, and Hercules.

    After confronting Groot, the Guardians were shipwrecked on a far away and technologically primitive area called The Manifold Territories (or just The Fold). It was home to constant battle between Sectors United, with representatives of many alien cultures, vs a mysterious technopath culture only referred to as The Whitecaps. The battle complicates The Guardians' attempts to evacuate areas before the fall victim to Grootfall. With most of the Fold fallen to Groot, Quill thinks he sees Groot trying to communicate. He convinces the team to stop fighting and try to communicate back, only for them to be swallowed up and presumed dead.

    Dead Guardians return
    Dead Guardians return

    When Hulkling and Wiccan came to investigate the loss of their friends, they found the Guardians embraced by Groot, as everyone who they thought had fallen victim to Groot had been. They were all still growing, waiting to bloom, so the royal couple agreed to run diversion with the Galactic Council. It worked for everyone but The Spartoi, who already had one war party fought off by the Guardians and wanted revenge. The Guardians did their best to distract them, but they had a secret weapon: a ship with an exploding power core. Drax sacrificed himself to steer the ship away, just in the nick of time, as Groot finally bloomed, returning everyone believed wiped out.

    Alternate Realities

    Earth-9997 - Earth X

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    Having accidentally traveled to Earth-9997 from a future nearly identical to that of Earth-691, the Guardians (Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, Starhawk and Yondu) injured Uatu and began interrogating X-51, demanding to know why the world was the way it was. He explained the differences in their histories to The Guardians which prompted them to travel to Earth where they were assaulted by Karnak of the Inhumans.

    Later while seeking out Reed Richards they found themselves in conflict with both The Heralds and the Negative Zone warlords Annihilus and Blastaar but the fight was eventually cut short when they were all arrested by Jack Muldoon, Peter Parker and Luke Cage. Soon afterwards Arno Stark, the Iron Man of 2020 approached Vance with an idea that could turn their war against the Badoon in Humanity's favor but would only help them if Vance would let Arno join The Guardians.

    Towards the end of Paradise X, The Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man 2020 depart for the 31st Century but not before Killraven has a chance to speak with them. It is presumed that Iron Man 2020 activated the Mutant X-Gene within the people of the 31st Century which in turn gave The Guardians of the Galaxy and the rest of Humanity the power to crush the Badoon once and for all.

    Earth 9812 - Avengers: Forever

    In a world where the tyrannical Terran Empire and their all-powerful Galactic Avenger Battalions have conquered the Universe, a group of travelers from the 31st Century who call themselves The Freedom Fighters (Vance Astro, Aleta, Starhawk, Nikki, Yondu and Charlie-27) seek to change the past and free the future.

    Immortus briefly disguised the time-displaced Avengers who were fighting in The Destiny War as The Guardians to ensure that the presence of Captain America, Wasp, Giant Man, Rick Jones and Hawkeye did not affect that future timeline. On January 1st, 3001, Peter Quill and a small splinter group of his Guardians briefly visited this timeline as they were being flung across the Multiverse.

    What If? AvX

    In this reality, the Guardians of the Galaxy (Star-Lord, Drax, Groot, Rocket Raccoon and Gamora) detected the Phoenix Force coming towards them and after several failed attempts to make contact with it, they attempted to move out of its way but were intercepted and obliterated by it, but not before managing to send out a distress signal to all inhabited worlds in the quadrant including Earth.

    Other Media

    TV

    The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

    The Guardians in EMH
    The Guardians in EMH

    The Guardians of the Galaxy show up in Season 2 Episode 6 "Michael Korvac". The team is lead by Star-Lord (Peter Quill), and consists of Rocket Raccoon, Adam Warlock, Quasar (Phyla-Vel, Captain Marvel's daughter), and Groot.

    Ultimate Spider-Man

    Animated Guardians
    Animated Guardians

    The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode of the same name. The team consists of Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Drax. Nova is revealed to have been a member of the Guardians as well before he returned to Earth and joined S.H.I.E.L.D.'s teenage hero training program.

    Avengers Assemble

    The same Guardians roster shows up in the Avengers Assemble episode "Guardians and Space Knights". The Guardians of the Galaxy are forced to do battle with the Avengers after Iron Man seemingly joins Galactus, with Star-Lord facing Captain America, Gamora facing Hawkeye, Rocket Raccoon facing the Falcon, Drax facing Thor, and Groot facing the Hulk. The Guardians returned in the episode "Widow's Run," where they battled the Avengers after being corrupted by the power of the Infinity Stones.

    Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers

    The Guardians guest-starred in two episodes of the Japanese anime series Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers.

    Guardians of the Galaxy

    A teaser for the animated series
    A teaser for the animated series

    An animated series based on the Guardians called Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy began airing on Disney XD in 2015. The series uses the visual style of the movie but is set in its own continuity, and uses a number of cosmic Marvel characters like Mantis. The first season revolves around the Guardians finding a CryptoCube from Spartax, which is revealed to contain a map to the Cosmic Seed, an ancient weapon capable of creating a new universe.

    Along the way, they encounter various characters and groups like the Nova Corps and the Inhumans, and discover Star-Lord's father is the ruler of Spartax. This leads to a storyline where the Guardians must content with Thanos and prevent an all-out war between Asgard and Spartax from breaking out.

    The second season features a team-up between the Guardians and the Galaxy and the Avengers, and introduces new characters like Adam Warlock. The High Evolutionary features as the primary villain.

    Atypical for a children's animated series, the cartoon is notable for its use of classic pop and rock songs, similar to the live-action movie.

    Rocket & Groot

    Guardian members Rocket and Groot appear in a number of Disney XD animated shorts trying to earn money to buy themselves a new spaceship.

    Films

    Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

    The Guardians in the film
    The Guardians in the film

    Guardians of the Galaxy is a James Gunn directed movie set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    The Guardians of the Galaxy consists of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel). It told the story of their first meeting where they teamed up to protect The Power Stone from falling into the wrong hands. They defeat the Kree extremist, Ronan, and leave the Power Gem in the hands of the Nova Crops. With the Nova Corps' blessing, the team sticks together vowing to do "bit of both" good and bad.

    The movie proved to be a surprise success, and became the highest domestic-grossing film of the summer.

    Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)

    The cast of the sequel
    The cast of the sequel

    James Gunn returns as the director, as does the cast of the original film.

    In the sequel, the Guardians are joined by former enemies Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan), as well as new character Mantis (Pom Klementieff). The team is thrown into drama when Peter's father, Ego, catches up with the team and offers Quill answers to his past and an opportunity to embrace his destiny. Ego's intentions prove to be nefarious, and the team have to fight their way out of his grasp.

    Avengers Infinity War

    Avengers-Guardians mixed roster
    Avengers-Guardians mixed roster

    After Thanos attacked the Asgardian arc, the Guardians answered the distress beacon and saved the lone survivor, Thor. After Thor fills them in, they split up. Thor, Rocket, and Groot head to Nidavellir so Thor can get a new weapon and then to Earth to defend the Mind Stone. The rest of the team head to Knowhere to defend the Reality Stone. They fail, and Gamora is kidnapped and later killed by Thanos. The remaining Guardians head to Thanos' homeworld where they team up with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange to defend the Time Stone.

    Despite the efforts, Thanos retrieves all of the stones and wipes out 50% of life in the universe. Rocket and Nebula are the only Guardians that survive.

    Avengers Endgame

    Thor hitches a ride with the Guardians
    Thor hitches a ride with the Guardians

    After "The Snap," Rocket and Nebula fall in with the Avengers. When Iron Man perfects time travel, they accompany the team on a mission to retrieve the stones from earlier in the timeline. When they successfully bring back the 50% of life Thanos wiped out, the Guardians joined the rest of the Avengers allies to face Thanos, except Gamora. Gamora was killed before the snap and couldn't be brought back. However, a version of Gamora from before the Guardians' formation hitched a ride to the present and is still out there.

    In the clear, the Guardians leave Earth, giving a ride to Thor, who needs time away from Earth to collect himself.

    Thor: Love and Thunder

    Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy are featured as Thor's teammates at the beginning of Thor's fourth movie. The team appeared as they did at the end of Avengers: Endgame, with Nebula replacing the late Gamora and Sean Gunn's Kraglin as a new permanent member.

    They can be seen answering a number of distress signals with Thor and Korg among their ranks, usually adding a bit of theatricality to their live saving. Eventually, Thor goes his separate way after receiving a distress call from fellow Asgardian, Sif. The Guardians are not too broken up about it.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

    In a take off on the often derided Star Wars Holiday Special, writer/director James Gunn pitched a Christmas "Special Presentation" to be featured on the Disney+ streaming service. It aired 11/25/2022.

    The Guardians, now including more of the Ravagers, are introduced as outfitting their new headquarters, Knowhere, which they bought off The Collector. Noticing that Star-Lord has been in a bit of a personal slump, Mantis and Drax decide to head to Earth to find Quill a gift and supplies for an approximate Christmas celebration, like Quill used to have as a kid.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

    Classic costumes
    Classic costumes

    James Gunn and the cast return for the third Guardians movie, the final MCU film for Gunn. After Rocket is injured by Adam Warlock, a secret weapon of The Sovereign, still angry from the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Guardians are forced to search out The High Evolutionary, the scientist that experimented on Rocket in the first place. They found him lording over a Counter-Earth full of humanoid animals, one of his many prototypes for a perfect society. They witnessed him destroying this planet after determining them a failure and decide to band together to save the new Star Children experiments he had ready for his next test.

    In addition to this being James Gunn's final film, both Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista admitted that they were also finished appearing the MCU. The future of the rest of cast is unconfirmed, but Chris Pratt has admitted to being open to continuing. The movie also ends with a "The Legendary Star-Lord will return" instead of the usual "The Guardians of the Galaxy will return." The status quo of the team is very different at the end. Many of the members either left for personal reasons or took on new roles at Knowhere, with new members added to the field team.

    Video Games

    Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)
    Guardians of the Galaxy (2021)
    • Rocket Raccoon appears as a playable character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and the team itself is mentioned.
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in Marvel Heroes.
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in Marvel Avengers Alliance.
    • The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in Disney Infinity 2.0.
    • Telltale Games created an episodic Guardians of the Galaxy video game, with with the first installment launching in Spring 2017. The game follows the Guardians as they discover an enormously powerful artifact after a battle with Thanos.
    • A Guardians of the Galaxy game by Eidos Montreal was unveiled at E3 2021.

    Merchandise

    Guardians figures by Hasbro
    Guardians figures by Hasbro

    In the wake of the film's' surprise success, companies released a large amount of merchandise featuring the Guardians.

    • Hasbro released toy lines for both films, as well as the animated series.
    • The first movie received a Marvel Legends wave consisting of Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Iron Man and Nova, with Groot as the "Build-a-Figure." The second movie was split into two Marvel Legends waves, with half the cast appearing in the Titus "Build-a-Figure" wave and the rest appearing in the Mantis "Build-a-Figure" wave.
    • Funko produced a number of products for both movies.
    • Hot Toys produced figures for both movies.
    • Kotobukiya and Diamond Select released figures and statues for both movies.
    • Lego released kits for both movies.

    Novels

    Rocket Raccoon & Groot: Steal the Galaxy

    No Caption Provided

    These are not the Avengers or the Fantastic Four - in fact, they're barely even famous - but Rocket Raccoon and the faithful Groot are the baddest heroes in the cosmos, and they're on the run across the Marvel Universe! During a spaceport brawl, the infamous pair rescues an android Recorder from a pack of alien Badoons, Everyone in the galaxy, however, including the ruthless Kree Empire and the stalwart Nova Corps, seems to want that Recorder, who's about as sane as a sandwich with no mustard. Join Rocket and Groot on a free-for-all across the stars while they try to save all of existence-again!

    • Written by: Dan Abnett
    • Publisher: Marvel (July 15, 2014)
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