Groot is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel
Comics.
Created by Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and Dick Ayers, the character first appeared in Tales
to Astonish #13.
An extraterrestrial, sentient tree-like creature, Groot originally appeared as an invader that
intended to capture humans for experimentation.
The character was reconfigured into a heroic, noble being in 2006, and appeared in the crossover
comic book storyline "Annihilation: Conquest".
He went on to star in its spin-off series, Guardians of the Galaxy, joining the team
of the same name.
Groot has been featured in a variety of associated Marvel merchandise, including a feature in
the Ultimate Spider-Man series and also played a very brief role in the Uncanny X-Men series.
animated television series, toys, and trading cards.
Vin Diesel portrays Groot in the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy via voice acting and
performance capture.
Publication history Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish
vol. 1 #13, and was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers.
He appeared next in "(Where Monsters Dwell #6)" in 1970, which reprinted his original
appearance from Tales to Astonish.
He appeared again 16 years later, in The Incredible Hulk Annual #5, alongside five other monsters
from Marvel's anthology horror comics of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Twenty-one years later, in Sensational Spider-Man #-1, Groot was featured in a nightmare that
the young Peter Parker had.
Groot reappeared in 2006 in the 6 issue limited series Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, and
appeared in the Annihilation: Conquest and Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord limited
series.
Groot went on to join the Guardians of the Galaxy in the series of the same name, and
remained a fixture of the title until its cancellation with issue #25 in 2010.
He appeared in its follow-up, the limited series The Thanos Imperative, and, alongside
fellow Guardian Rocket Raccoon, Groot starred in backup features in Annihilators #1-4 and
Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4.
Groot appeared in issues #6-8 of Avengers Assemble as a member of the Guardians.
He is one of the stars of Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, a part of the Marvel NOW!
relaunch.
Fictional character biography Groot is an extraterrestrial plant monster
who initially came to Earth seeking humans to capture and study.
However he was seemingly destroyed by termites used by Leslie Evans.
Xemnu made a duplicate of Groot that was used to fight Hulk, however the Hulk destroyed
the duplicate.
Through unknown means, he was later captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and assigned to their Paranormal
Containment Unit, nicknamed the Howling Commandos.
Groot Groot is a Flora Colossus from Planet X, the
capital of the branch worlds.
The Flora Colossi are tree-like beings whose language is almost impossible to understand
due to the stiffness of their larynxes, causing their speech to sound like they are repeating
the phrase "I am Groot".
The Flora Colossi are ruled over by the "Arbor Masters" and teach the children of the species
with "Photonic Knowledge", which is the collected knowledge of the Arbor Masters of the generations
and is absorbed through photosynthesis; this is a highly advanced education method, making
the Flora Colossi geniuses.
Planet X's biome is managed by "Maintenance Mammals" which are small squirrel-like beings.
The Flora Colossus sapling that would come to be known as "Groot" came from an "Enobled
Sap-line" and gifted with a tremendous grasp of quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering.
Groot did not get along with his fellow saplings but instead preferred the company of the "Maintenance
Mammals", which the other saplings treated with prejudice.
After Groot killed another sapling to defend a maintenance mammal it was brutalising, he
was exiled by the "Arbor Masters".
Groot played a part in Annihilation Conquest, at which time he may be the last remaining
member of his race and was under arrest by the Kree for an unknown reason.
He earned his freedom by joining Star-Lord's strike force where he formed a bond with Rocket
Raccoon, who has the ability to understand Groot's language.
Groot seemingly died buying his team some time to escape the battle.
However, he survived as a sprig offshoot.
In time, he regenerated his body from the twig, growing back to full size, and participated
in an assault on the Babel Spire.
When the original plan of laying explosives in the Spire failed, Groot was forced to sprout
inside the Spire, growing to colossal size and filling a large portion of the building.
Mantis was able to remix his sap in a way as to make it extremely flammable, and again
Groot sacrificed his life for his friends, igniting himself, the resulting fire destroying
the Babel Spire.
A cutting of Groot was kept by Rocket Raccoon, though, and he was able to regrow.
He then joined the new Guardians of the Galaxy, and began regrowing under the care of Mantis.
During his time with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Groot took part in all of the team's
missions acting as its "muscle", taking on threats like the Badoon, Blastaar, the Negative
Zone forces, The Shi'Ar, The Magus and The Cancerverse.
During the battle with the Badoon, a rising threat in the galaxy, Groot aided the team
by destroying a first generation Badoon "Monster", a giant mechanoid made from the corpses of
the Badoon's fallen enemies.
Next, Groot played a pivotal part in the War of Kings, a war between The Shi'Ar and The
Inhuman/Kree where at the end of the war the Inhuman King of the Kree, Black Bolt, detonated
his ultimate weapon — The Terrigen-Bomb.
The resulting explosion punched a hole in space/time known as The Fault: a doorway to
a universe analogous to our own where there is no death — The Cancerverse.
The first creature to come through was a giant squid that instinctively attacked the Inhuman
city of Attilan.
Groot came up with the idea for a weapon to use on the creature and with the help of the
Inhuman prince, Maximus; using highly advanced quantum science, Groot and Maximus developed
a Feedback Loop, which uncreates the creature's reality and reimposes our own, unmaking the
creature.
Following this attack, Groot fought the Magus, the Avatar of Life and an agent of the Many-Angled
Ones, rulers of the Cancerverse, where he lost his arm in battle.
However, Groot was able to grow that back very quickly.
He then accompanied the Guardians to the capital planet of the Universal Church of Truth where
he helped protect Moondragon from attacking U.C.T.
followers.
He then battled Thanos alongside the Guardians after Thanos woke from death.
Groot then helped the Guardians infiltrate the Cancerverse, taking on the Defenders of
the Realm, the Cancerverse version of the Avengers.
Groot was present during the final battle between Lord Mar-Vell and Thanos.
When the Guardians reformed he joined with Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer
and Gamora, whom Groot counted among his friends.
Powers and abilities Groot can absorb wood as food, with the ability
to rebuild himself and enhance his strength.
He can control trees, using them to attack others, and also appears to be resistant to
fire.
He is able to sprout, dramatically increasing his mass but also severely inhibiting his
movement.
Groot has been seemingly killed on three occasions, each time regrowing from a sprig.
Due to Groot's lineage, coming from an ancient and ennobled sap-line and being the scion
of an elite royal house, Groot has received the finest education from the most gifted
of tutors.
He is highly intelligent and has a tremendous grasp of quasi-dimensional super-positional
engineering.
Maximus the Mad, Black Bolt's brother, asserted that whenever Groot is saying his trademark
"I am Groot!" he has actually been saying any number of things, and his varying inflections
of the sentence are his equivalent of words and sentences.
People who have interacted with Groot are gradually able to decipher the meaning of
the inflections and can carry on full conversations with him as time goes on.
The mature form of Groot's species is robust and heavyweight, which causes the organs of
acoustic generation to become stiff and inflexible.
It is this hardened nature of Groot's larynx that causes people, who are oblivious to the
subtle nuances of his speech, to misinterpret him as merely repeating his name.
It could not be determined whether Maximus' claim was true or merely another manifestation
of his madness, though Groot did genuinely seem to be assisting Maximus with highly advanced
engineering.
Later, in All New X-Men #23, Jean Grey telepathically links with Groot, showing that his thought
processes are indeed complex, and his declaration of "I am Groot!"
usually represents attempts at highly intelligent communication.
Collected editions Rocket Raccoon & Groot collects: the story
from Marvel Preview #7, Incredible Hulk #271, Rocket Raccoon #1–4, Annihilators #1–4,
and Annihilators: Earthfall #1–4.
In other media Television
Groot appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Michael Korvac", voiced by
Troy Baker.
Groot appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Guardians of the Galaxy", voiced by Michael
Clarke Duncan.
Duncan's work in this episode was completed shortly before his untimely death in 2012
from a heart attack and the episode was dedicated in his memory.
Groot is first seen in stick form as he kept saying "I am Groot."
When Spider-Man throws Groot, he grows to full size and defeats Korvac and some of the
Chitauri soldiers.
In "The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy," Groot is with the Guardians of the Galaxy
when they land on Earth to repair their spaceship at the same time when Titus was leading the
Chitauri army into targeting Nova's helmet.
While on Earth, Groot blended in by posing as a tree in front of Aunt May's house.
Groot appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Guardians and Spaceknights" voiced by Kevin
Michael Richardson.
Groot will appear in Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., with Kevin Michael Richardson
reprising the role.
Film
Groot appears in the 2014 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy, voiced
by Vin Diesel.
Although initially simply described as Rocket's hired muscle, he shows a softer side throughout
the film, growing a flower to give to a little girl and saving Drax the Destroyer's life
even after Drax's actions brought Ronan the Accuser's forces to them.
He agrees with Peter Quill's plan to stand up to Ronan, and later seemingly sacrifices
himself to save the rest of the team by enveloping them in a wooden ball grown from himself as
Ronan's ship crashes.
At the film's conclusion, Rocket has recovered a twig from Groot, which is shown to be re-growing
into the adult Groot.
Video games Groot appears as a summon skill for Rocket
Raccoon called 'My Friend Groot', in Marvel Heroes.
Groot appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes with Troy Baker reprising his role.
Groot is a playable character in Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition
Groot is a playable character in the Marvel: Avengers Alliance game on Facebook.
Toys A Groot action figure was included with the
Guardians of the Galaxy pack in 2011 part of the Marvel Universe toyline.
References
External links Groot at the Comic Book DB
Groot at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe