Cotati (Marvel)

The Cotati are an alien species that features in Marvel Comics.

History

Origin

The Cotati were an intelligent sapient plant based species native to the planet Hala. They were one of two species that developed on that world with the other being the humanoid Kree. Their evolutionary origins lay with algae with them developing into a more complex form that were at a near parity with the Kree. The meat eating Kree considered all plants beneath their notice whilst the Cotati felt the humanoids frantic and unstable barbarians. Both races were technologically primitive and lived on their world in isolation but during the Kree Zero Year they were discovered by another alien race. Their world was visited by the Skrulls who during the reign of Emperor Dorrek were a peaceful race that found no one else advanced as them. Thus, they came to Hala looking to elevate a species with their technology but had found both the Cotati and the Kree. Representatives were to be taken from both races that were to put through a trial to determine which would be worthy of the Skrulls gifts. The Cotati accepted as though they sensed arrogance in the Skrulls they sensed no deceit and wished to elevate themselves. A group of Kree similarly accepted for their own motivations and were taken to an uninhabited planetoid for the trial with this being Earth's Moon where they were left for a year to create a great act. Both were building in the Blue Area of the Moon where the Cotati created a garden filled with plants whilst the Kree constructed a great city. The returning Skrulls were impressed at the blue city but judged the creation of a garden on the lifeless planetoid to be a greater feat with the Cotati chosen as the victors. The Kree, however, did not accept defeat and during night time they attacked the Cotati where they killed the plant based beings. With their opposition killed, the Kree then proceeded to attack the pacifistic Skrulls who were murdered with their technology pilfered whilst the blue skinned returned to their home world. (Avengers v1 #133) Upon their return, they struck out against the remaining Cotati and it was believed that their race was destroyed. Though their ancestors were killed, in their dying moments they sprouted seedlings that landed in the soil and creating a new generation of their kind. As the Kree studied the Skrullian spacecraft, the seedlings continued to mature until they could move under their own power whereupon they began to conceal their existence. Afterwards, they focused their evolution from movement to their mind where they began to root themselves to the ground. In the following years, the Cotati began to encounter more pacifistic Kree that shared in the plant-races views and formed an alliance with them becoming the Priests of Pama. (Avengers v1 #134)

Later on, the species were central to a prophecy relating to that of the Celestial Madonna who was said to be the perfect human that would mate with the perfect Cotati. Their union would result in the birth of the perfect child called the Celestial Messiah who was said to have a role in galactic affairs. Two humans were identified with this potential with one being Brandt and the other was Heather Douglas both of whom were raised by the Priests of Pama for the role of Celestial Madonna. Their empathic talents were nurtured where ultimately the one who became known as Mantis was said to be the perfect human. Later on, the eldest of the Cotati came to merge with the deceased remains of the Swordsman. He then revealed the cosmic destiny to Mantis who at first refused to believe his words but after communing with one of the tree-like Cotati she learnt he spoke the truth. She then came to agree to marry him as she and the Cotati Swordsman departed to begin the next stage of their lives. (Giant-Size Avengers v1 #4)

On a world on the fringe of the Kree empire, a Cotati came to merge with the planet and grew to massive proportions where he was tended to by the Priests of Pama. Years later, the Phalanx came to conquer the Kree empire with the mind of the Cotati working alongside an Elder of the Universe to reach the mind of the new Protector of the Universe Phyla-Vell. The Cotati and the Elder were instrumental in helping her in coming to terms with her nature so that she could better battle the techno-organic foe rampaging across space. However, an attack by the Phalanx forces led to the Cotati being critically wounded but he urged Phyla-Vell to continue on her mission so that he could save everyone. (Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar v1 #1)

Empyre

On Earth, the Cotati grove in the Vietnam highlands was discovered by Alchemax who intended to harvest them for use by the company. By this point, the Cotati Swordsman had merged with the ancient grove there and had attained peace until the corporation's employees cut the trees down. This left the Swordsman in incredible pain as he returned to his humanoid form and he killed the Alchemax employees. The experience showed the Celestial Messiah Quoi that the meat races were violent and only a threat to them. (Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1 #1) Materials developed by the first race were then provided to the Cotati who used it to craft their weapons for the coming war. (Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four v1 #1) Resolved to end all animal life, the Cotati and went about to create a Death Blossom for the purpose of enhancing their magic to control plant-life on an entire world. Their experiments began in the Kral system that was a Skrull colony where they succeeded in growing the seed which allowed them to massacre the people on the world. However, their activity was discovered by the Skrull fleet who proceeded to respond and took horrific measures that involved the destruction of the world. However, by this point, the Cotati had departed and taken residence on a Kree world where they continued to grow the Death Blossom and faced growing success. By this point, the Skrull and Kree had learnt of the intentions of the Cotati and the threat posed by them. Thus, factions within both empires were considering to end their long hostility to one another and become allies against a common threat. Upon learning of this, the Cotati engaged in a game of espionage where they attempted to prevent this alliance from forming. Their operative was responsible for eliminating two leading figures involved in these talks with these being the Kree Bel-Dann and the Skrull Raksor. Despite eliminating the two, the Alliance between the Kree and Skrulls formed which rallied under the hybrid royal Hulkling. In response, the Cotati sought to recruit allies of their own and used telepathic dreams to influence the Avengers into aiding them. (Empyre v1 #2)

Using the Death Blossom, Quoi devastated the Alliance fleet in orbit and revealed the Cotati's true intentions which was to purge the universe of all animal life with their conflict against the Kree and Skrulls erupting on Earth. (Empyre v1 #1) As a result, fighting erupted from across the planet with Cotati forces engaging the Kree/Skrull Alliance along with fighting humans as part of their campaign to purge the world of animal life. Attacks against Wakanda were repelled but plant-heavy regions quickly fell to Cotati control. They also made a push to claim the Savage Land located in Antarctica with them pacifying the Man-Thing to serve them. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #1) Due to her ties to the Savage Land's life-force, Shanna the She-Devil came to fall under the Cotati's sway. At Khartoum, the Hatut Zeraze battled Cotati archers whilst the Warriors Three protected Little Asgard from the invaders. In Manhattan, the supervillain known as the Plantman came to ally with the invaders with the goal of wiping out mankind. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #2) A Cotati force also came to land in the ruined island of Genosha where they came under attack from Mutants that were accidentally resurrected as undead beings by the Scarlet Witch. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #1) On the Moon, the forces at the sunward node encountered the Mutant Vulcan who destroyed their section of the garden and alerted the Cotati of the living island of Krakoa. (X-Men v5 #10) At Washington, Captain America attempted to rally the forces of the U.S. military to aid their allies in fighting off the Cotati forces. (Empyre: Captain America v1 #1) At Mexico City, a Cotati ship attempted to harvest humans to be used to fertilise more of their kind. (Empyre: Savage Avengers v1 #1) Meanwhile, the plant-based invaders made a push for Wakanda as they intended to use the Vibranium-rich soil to cultivate a more powerful Death Blossom. (Empyre v1 #3) At the same time, the Cotati were using the Dark Harvest among their Priests of Pama to use an Omni-Wave Projector to send the collective hatred of the Kree/Skrull War into the minds of the Alliance soldiers. This was to get the Alliance to dissolve and cause in-fighting amongst their ranks but this was thwarted by the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile, at the Death Blossom, the Black Panther T'Challa battled the Cotati Swordsman but the tide was turning against the plant race. After being injured, the Swordsman took Quoi hostage and wanted to secure his own safety with this horrifying the other Cotati at seeing the Celestial Messiah being treated by one of their own. Despite this, the Black Panther managed to slay the insane Cotati elder and destroy the Death Blossom. This brought an end to the conflict and the Cotati surrendered to the Alliance with their war having come to an end. (Empire v1 #6) The captive Cotati were shown mercy with Quoi and his people sent through a distant uncharted part of the universe with Thor growing a garden on a barren world for them so that they could live out their years in peace. (Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four v1 #1)

Overview

In appearance, Cotati were humanoid in shape but had green skin and were based on plant matter.

It was said that on the surface they resembled terrestrial plants. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #1) They were noted for having a calcium-based nervous system which meant that they could feel pain. (Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1 #1) Some of their kind could grow to massive proportions and dominate a large area on a planetary surface. (Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar v1 #1)

As true plants, they required only sunlight, water and contact with the soil for nourishment. They had developed two traits that made them different from other plant species such as those on Earth. The first was that their branches had become elementary limbs allowing them to travel but it was at a slow pace. The second trait that they had was the development of intelligent individual minds that were able to communicate telepathically. Their mental powers allowed them to seek out ancient seeds and water. (Avengers v1 #133)

They were capable of re-animating the bodies of creatures of flesh and inhabiting them as vessels for their mind. (Giant-Size Avengers v1 #4)

Cotati were said to be masters of the realm of the mind. (Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar v1 #1) They were able to communicate with one another at the speed of thought making their battle formations very quick to respond. (Empyre v1 #4) No Cotati would ever prevent another of their kind from joining their psychic conclaves. (Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah v1 #1) Following their near extinction, they came to conclude that movement was not in their species best interests and instead devoted their evolution to their minds. Thus, following the centuries, a number of Cotati had lost the power of mobility and became rooted to the ground. (Avengers v1 #134) Like any plant, the Cotati could not kill themselves but when faced with cold, fire or blight they simply retreated in order to adapt and return stronger than before. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #2)

They had such fine control over plant-life that they could use microscopic spores as weapons and control the bodies of flesh races like they were puppets. (Empyre: Captain America v1 #2) They could infect other living beings with spores that grew plants within their bodies and eventually turned the person into a Cotati agent. (Empyre: Captain America v1 #1) In fact, when taking over dead humans, the skins of their host turned green as the chlorophyll dyed their flesh as their essence inhabited the body. This tactic was not useful in terms of infiltration as the change was visible and could led to their agent being discovered with ease as even their wizards could not stop the process. (Empyre v1 #4)

Though they lacked animal race customs, they did maintained a purification rite that they called a Rootquest. This involved a cleansing whereby the individual drank from the sacrament and retreated into themselves ring by ring into their tenderest pith. The person was then tested where any frailty was found and burnt out of them. (Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah v1 #1) The Cotati's most sacred custom was a ritual known as the Conclave whereby their questing roots braid and interlaced in order to exchange fungal symbionts. (Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1 #1) The Celestial Messiah were said to be a prophet who were champions of life. (Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1 #1)

Their military's greatest advantage was their numbers with them able to reinforce their lines with magic to grow troops from seeds and cuttings. (Empyre v1 #5)

Certain cuttings could create elixirs that were beyond the medicines of some races. These could produce gamma-aminobutyric acid and their neural architecture could be used to treat a host of degenerative neurological conditions. (Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1 #1)

Cotati command ships were capable of making planetfall where they could situate themselves at populated cities and harvest living beings to create more of their own kind. (Empyre: Savage Avengers v1 #1) Their motherships were capable of taking root on a planet. This allowed it to grow rapidly and extend its roots to attack any enemies within an area. This was part of a self-destruct system whereby it formed a giant seedpod. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #2) Deep within it was a structure that resembled a giant brain which grew a Cotatinaught grown from the collective strength-sap of the doomsday pod. Superstitious Cotati were to refer to such entities as being holy with them being referred to as the broadleaf lords. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #3) Certain powerful Cotati were able to create giants made of plant and stone with these being referred to as a Man of Earth with the creature being large enough to cause an extinction-level seismic event. (Empyre: Captain America v1 #2)

The Cotati had developed an organic teleportation system whereby the plants formed a gateway that allowed them to travel instantly between two locations. (Empyre v1 #2) Individual Cotati could sacrifice their lives in order to form one of their gateways. (Empyre v1 #5)

A creation of the Cotati was the Death Blossom that was a massive flower bud that when activated greatly increased their kinds ability to manipulate plants. (Empyre v1 #1) It was described as a power amplifier for Cotati magic that was grown from a seed until it reached maturity. (Empyre v1 #2)

One of their worlds came to be Tamal where groves of their kind grew on the landscape and formed psychic conclaves for all Cotati to join. (Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah v1 #1)

Members

• Trrunk : a Cotati on Kree-Pama that was selected by the White Event to be the worlds Justice. (Starbrand and Nightmask v1 #4)
• Ventri : a male Cotati who participated in the attack on Earth where he was charged with claiming the Savage Land. (Empyre: Avengers v1 #1)
• Qqoi : a male Cotati science minister part of the attack on Earth where he was in Genosha. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #1)
• Ru'tuh-baga : a male Cotati who was a military captain that led the force at Genosha. (Empyre: X-Men v1 #1)
• Shi Qaanth : a male Cotati revered as a teacher among their kind who had incredible control over plant life. (Empyre: Captain America v1 #1)
• Swordsman :
• Sequoia :

Notes

• The Cotati were created by Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema where they made their first appearance in Avengers v1 #133 (May, 1975).
• In an interview on CBR, writer Al Ewing commented on the use of the Cotati in Empyre, "My memory's a little fried, but I seem to remember there was already talk about the Kree and Skrull Empires getting together to form the Alliance when Dan suggested the Cotati as the threat that would bring them together. I've got a reputation as a continuity-minded guy, but next to Dan I'm a babe in the woods -- he just reached back into his head and pulled these guys out. And in terms of who'd be the perfect foes for the Kree and Skrulls -- with connections to the Avengers and FF -- they're pretty ideal. They were there at the start of the war; it's only right that they should be there now."
• In Empyre Handbook v1 #1 (2020), the Cotati received an entry within the handbook.

In other media

Television

• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Cotati were referenced in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Live Kree or Die". The Supreme Intelligence after being damaged by the Avengers came to recount the collective history of the Kree and listed the encounter with the Cotati.

Appearances

• Avengers v1: (1975)
• Uncanny X-Men v1:
• Fantastic Four v1:
• Avengers: Celestial Quest v1:
• Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar v1:
• Empyre v1: (2020)
• Empyre: Avengers v1: (2020)
• Empyre: X-Men v1: (2020)
• Empyre: Captain America v1: (2020)
• Empyre: Savage Avengers v1: (2020)
• X-Men v5: (2020)
• Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah v1: (2020)
• Lords of Empyre: Swordsman v1: (2020)
• Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four v1: (2020)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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