Groot

Groot (also known as the Monarch of Planet X) is a fictional character who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers, the character first appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November 1960). An extraterrestrial, sentient tree-like creature, Groot originally appeared as an invader who 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 animated television series, toys, and trading cards. He is set to appear in the 2014 live-action film Guardians of the Galaxy.

Publication history
Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish vol. 1 #13 (November 1960), and was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers. He appeared again, 16 years later, in The Incredible Hulk Annual #5 (November 1976), alongside five of the other monsters from the early Tales to Astonish issues. 21 years later, in Sensational Spider-Man #-1 (July 1997), 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 (Mar-Jun 2011) and Annihilators: Earthfall #1-4 (Sept-Dec 2011).

Groot appeared in issues #6-8 of Avengers Assemble as a member of the Guardians. He will star in 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 played a part in Annihilation: Conquest, at which time he may be the last remaining member of his race. 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 (or as Groot would have it "Groot and Branches"), 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, 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, Blackbolt, 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 creatures 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 fast. He then accompanied the Guardians to the capital planet of the Universal Church of Truth (U.C.T.) 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.

Groot is travelling with Rocket Raccoon after the disbandment of the Guardians of the Galaxy. He briefly applied for the position of nanny for Luke Cage's child, but Squirrel Girl was chosen instead.

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. 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 has yet to be determined whether Maximus' claim is true or merely another manifestation of his madness, though Groot did genuinely seem to be assisting Maximus with highly-advanced engineering.

Television

 * Groot (along with the other Guardians of the Galaxy) 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. Michael Clarke Duncan's voice work was completed shortly before his untimely death in September 3, 2012 and the episode was dedicated in memory of him. 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. By the end of the episode, two irises briefly open up as Groot quotes "I am Groot" and Spider-Man quotes "He is Groot."

Film

 * Groot is set to appear in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy, which is scheduled for an August 1, 2014 release.

Toys

 * A Groot action figure was included with the Guardians of the Galaxy pack in 2011 part of the Marvel Universe toyline.