Parliament of Trees
The Parliament of Trees are a group that feature in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
Origin
The Parliament of Trees was a group of plant based elemental beings that represented all the plants on the planet Earth. Long ago, Earth consisted of a number of elemental planes that included the Parliament of Stones, the Parliament of Waves, the Parliament of Vapours and the Parliament of Flames. (Swamp Thing v2 #158) At creation's beginning, the forest lords and their master Sila seeded the planets with the potential for life. One of the worlds seeded was Earth where the Green gained dominance on that planet. (Swamp Thing v2 #104) The emergence of a less crystalline intelligence within the earth elementals form within the hard rock that became a part of the Green. (Swamp Thing v2 #150) The formation of the Parliament came within a grove that would become known as Eden with a time displaced Swamp Thing coming into this era to plant the seeds for Yggdrasil. (Swamp Thing v2 #89) With their formation, the Parliament of Trees came to represent the spirit of the woods, marshes and all that grew on the earth. They then divorced themselves from the Parliament of Stones creating a division between the governors of the earth. This resulted in a one billion year old chasm between the Parliament of Trees and the Parliament of Stones. (Swamp Thing v2 #150)
Over the centuries, they had created circumstances that brought the rise of a new swamp elemental. In prehistoric Africa, the elementals were called the Great Urls whilst in old China people referred to them as Ghost Hiding in the Rushes. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
Long ago, a meteor crashed on the Earth bringing to it extraterrestrial life in the form of fungus that arrived from a world that was destroyed within the solar system. At this time, the reigning elemental was Matanago who had ambitions to build his own powerbase and sought to use the alien life as a means of building his own parliament. It was decided though that as the current protector that he would attempt to bond with this life and then return to the Parliament of Trees with this new knowledge. However, he became subsumed by the alien intelligence of the Grey and became an emissary of the fungal mind. Both the Green and the Grey decided to share the world leading to peace between the two sides with Matanago's previous ambitions seemingly being suppressed as he remained with the Parliament of Trees to observe events. After many years, a chance occurred when a new race of man arrived with these being different from the ones that stayed with the Parliament who were accustomed to the Green's harmony. These humans had a more destructive impulse in them and to prevent this from spreading out into the world the Parliament kept them contained within a garden in order to protect the old race of man from this corruption. However, Matanago desired these destructive instincts to be unleashed and thus war was fought between the Green and the Grey. Thus, life's balance was disrupted and mass extinctions began to occur with an attack that forced the Parliament of Trees to abandon their original home. In this time, many of their number were lost either by being absorbed by the Grey or trapped as prisoners during their great migration where they came to settle in the Amazon. The continued war came to weaken both sides and the Parliament of Trees decided to seek a means of halting it as it brought the world close to death. Thus, a compromise was reached were they allowed the new race of man to exterminate the old whilst those green elementals lost to the Grey were left to their fate. This sated the desires of Matanago thus bringing peace to the world as the Grey went into a slumber. (Swamp Thing v2 #104)
Around 300 years ago, in England a man by the name of Alf Oldland was killed by Stuart Fisby in fires whereupon he arose as Jack-in-the-Green. In 1905, they had manipulated events to turn a human scientist named Alex Olsen into a swamp elemental in an accident that saw the death of his wife. Albert Hollerer was a German pilot in December, 1942 where he crashed and died in the flames whereupon he arose as Stille Nacht, Hellige Nacht. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
Many years ago, the Parliament looked to create a new champion but the process was not complete thus creating a failed plant elemental who called himself Solomon Grundy. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
The modern reigning plant elemental named Swamp Thing who was formerly Alec Holland became aware of the existence of the Parliament of Trees from the magical user named John Constantine. Constantine gave the plant elemental instructions to seek them out where he came upon their grove. Upon meeting them, the Parliament informed Swamp Thing about his history and advised him to avoid power and anger. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
Swamp Thing entered the Green and sought an audience with the Parliament of Trees, hoping they would consider their rejection of him as premature when he revealed his journey across space. They rejected the very concept because no Earth Elemental had ever left Earth, and were unconvinced that he was actually Swamp Thing, believing, like the rest of the world, that he was dead. They touched minds and saw he was telling the truth, but revealed that in his absence they'd created the soul of a new Earth Elemental, and that having two elementals operating outside of the Parliament would throw the natural world into chaos. Because he had the right of prior status they told him to destroy the Sprout's soul. Swamp Thing rebuffed them, telling them that he was different from them,and that since he had decided to withdraw from society the Sprout could serve as their new champion, and left the Green. (Swamp Thing v2 #65) Swamp Thing entered the Green to ask the Parliament about Sprout. They resented his presence and his ability to pierce their minds, but they let go a single thought which was Slaughter Swamp. Swamp Thing traveled to Slaughter Swamp, where Sprout had taken possession of Solomon Grundy. Grundy violently rejected the Sprout being in his mind and attacked Swamp Thing, reducing him to pulp. Swamp Thing was unable to fight back because his powers were again jammed by a disturbance in the magnetic field. Grundy bathed himself in toxins at the Pulp plant, forcing Sprout to exit his body. John Constantine revived Swamp Thing’s body, and he puzzled over the identity of whoever was altering Swamp Thing’s powers. John told him that the Parliament wanted his mind, and the existence of two elementals wandering Earth upset the balance of things, so they probably wanted him dead. (Swamp Thing v2 #67)
The Parliament would discover the destroyed bodies of Bog Venus, Saint Columba, Ghost Hiding in the Rushes and Kettle-Hole Devil, and realized their sacred line of succession had been destroyed by the Renegade Swamp Thing. They realized nature was still at war with itself because of two plant elementals walking the world, and continued their machinations to engineer the birth of a new Swamp Thing for Sprout to inhabit. The Parliament failed to make Sunderland Corp. worker Alden Hollandaise a plant elemental thanks to the interference of John Constantine, who didn’t want to see a heartless and corrupt businessman as the new representative of the Green. The Parliament awoke Swamp Knucker, a prehistoric dinosaur plant elemental, and sent it out into the world to kill Swamp Thing. (Swamp Thing v2 #72)
The attempt to kill Swamp Thing with the Swamp Knucker failed with th Parliament continuing their attempts to engineer an accident to create a new plant elemental continued to be wild and out of control. Wild Thing attacked Abigail Arcane in one the synchronistic events, and Swamp Thing destroyed him, releasing the minds of Bog Venus, Saint Columba, Kettle Hole Devil and Ghost Hiding in the Rushes. They initially attacked him, but Swamp Thing brokered a peace by telling them of the Greens on other planets and other galaxies. They left Earth for the stars to pursue their own individuality, and to escape the consequences of the Green’s civil war on Earth. (Swamp Thing v2 #74)
The actions of the Swamp Thing drew the attention of other forces of magic including the Word. The Word travelled to meet with the Parliament and offered an end to hostilities if they convinced their Erl-King to end his plan to eradicating the human race. The Parliament conferred and refused the offer stating that they had sided with the Swamp Thing's decision. In response, the Word proceed with destroying the Parliament of Trees which he did with ease. (Swamp Thing v2 #167)
During the Brightest Day, the power of the White Lantern created a large forest in Star City with a single tree serving as the foundation of the Parliament of Trees. The dark energy of Nekron had corrupted the swamp elemental of the Green causing it to manifest as a twisted Black Lantern which sought to destroy the tree. (Brightest Day v1 #23)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different timeline of events. Long ago, there were six kingdoms formed from life that governed the natural and unnatural world with these including the Green, Red, Rot, Grey. Divided and the Metal. (Swamp Thing: Futures End v1 #1) Many worlds were said to develop such forces leading to the creation of totems that derived themselves from the Seed Planet that was at the center of the Life Web. (Animal Man v2 #26) It was said that the Parliament of Trees were created long ago during the dawn of humanity when the Lords of Order conducted a ritual that convened and infused the natural forces of the world who gathered to form the Parliaments of Life. (Justice League Dark v2 #20)
In the 10th century, a grave threat was faced by the world with the rise of a being known as the Frost King. The danger posed by the individual led to the swamp elemental of the era looking to gather a group of champions to stop this threat. Thus, he gathered the Amazon Queen Hippolyta and the Viking Prince where they travelled to Egypt to meet with the wizard. They came to convince him to free his fallen champion Black Adam from his imprisonment to aid in the quest. (Justice League: Endless Winter v1 #1) They travelled to the Arctic Circle in Greenland where they confronted their foe but despite their numbers they were unable to defeat their foe. This saw the champion of the Green being killed by the Frost King but his death allowed his comrades to escape. (Aquaman v1 #66)
During the attack from the Rot, the Parliament was destroyed but not before they helped transform Alec Holland into their champion the Swamp Thing. Following Sethe's defeat, Swamp Thing had drew upon their essence in the hope that they could be restored and briefly joined them in the swamp to restore his wounded body. (Swamp Thing v5 #10)
Holland had stopped communing with the Parliament after he grew tired of their unfathomable politics and growing paranoia. As a result, they were displeased with the fact that he had been ignoring them. (Swamp Thing v6 #1) Holland's friend Matt Cable later usurped the power of the Swamp Thing and left Alec for dead but he was saved by the Parliament of Trees. They brought him back but were unable to strip Cable of his power and demanded that Holland rectify the problem. (Swamp Thing v6 #5)
It was said that the Green was unhappy with the lenience Alec Holland showed to mankind. Thus, they decided to steer the life of Poison Ivy to turn her into a war-like Avatar of the Green that was subject to their more direct influence. (Damage v2 #6)
Afterwards, the goddess Hecate sought to purge the world of magic and begin anew leading to her activating her Witch-Marks that she placed in specific people to destroy sites of power. This saw Black Orchid falling under the control of the god who sent her to raze the Parliament of Trees whilst its guardian was away helping the Justice League Dark. (Justice League Dark v2 #4)
The chaos that occurred disrupted the balance among the Parliaments of Life who began to war with one another for control over the natural world. This resulted in the Justice League Dark looking to convene the guardians of the different kingdoms in order to enact the ritual in an attempt to bring balance to the world once again. (Justice League Dark v2 #20)
Later on, the Green came to find a new avatar in a man named Levi Kamei who lived in anguish for his role with his family in India. At the time, he worked for Prescot Industries who were looking to acquire a stretch of jungle in Kaziranga. Levi wanted to sell it and allow them to progress though his father as well as the tribal council opposed the sale. However, Kamei forged the signatures and sold the land leading to an argument with his family. Ultimately, his father was killed by Prescot Industries when the people went out to protest against the tearing down of the jungle. The anguish and conflict he felt made Levi Kamei into the new swamp elemental. (The Swamp Thing v1 #7)
Overview
In appearance, the Parliament of Trees were a community of plant elementals who tired of active existence and the distractions of the world, and took root in a grove in Brazil. These elementals gave up everyday speech and mobility, communicating through one unified mind. This communal mind exists in the dimension of the Green, home of the life force of all plant life on Earth. The Parliament was founded and led by Yggdrasil, oldest of the plant elementals, and almost every plant elemental that ever lived has gone on to join the Parliament. Humans were forbidden to stand before the Parliament unless invited. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
Existing with the Green was where plant-based life could live and die and live again. The Green is an eternal paradise for plants that consisted of multiple organisms. It offered every plant eternal communion with another preventing them from being alone. (Swamp Thing v3 #2)
As elemental protectors, the champions of the Green were protectors of the world’s bio-force and heirs to a consciousness that stretched back to the beginnings of life on the planet. (Swamp Thing v2 #68) At their full potential, they were capable of a great deal of power available to them that could only be limited by their human imagination. An elemental was able to regrow their bodies, transport themselves effortlessly through the Green, alter their physical forms, animate any form of wood and even manipulate insect-life through scents. Such was their power that each of the swamp elementals were stated to be indestructible. (Swamp Thing v2 #47) They were described as beings that were eternal. (Swamp Thing v6 #1) A swamp elemental was considered a necessary creation for the world. When they had grown too old and wise for the world, they left the corporeal world for that of the Green where they joined the rest of the Parliament. Each of those that joined the Parliament of Trees were considered the ancestors of future swamp elementals. The intelligence of the collective Parliament of Trees was ancient and their memories bottomless with so much knowledge available to them. (Swamp Thing v2 #47) Members found human communication to be so limiting compared to the means they spoke through the Green. (Swamp Thing v3 #2) It was said that there was no death for their kind as once their earthly wanderings came to an end then they were rewarded with a tranquil communion with the elders. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
The Parliament served as an endpoint for the plant elementals where they became rooted in the grove. (Swamp Thing v2 #47) Within the Green, they operated as a kind of governing body that consisted of these retired elementals. Though plants were said to be immortal, the Parliament of Trees were not immortal and could be killed. (Swamp Thing v3 #2) The Parliament performed a service in that they monitored the Green and ensured it remained stable. As such, whilst the Avatar fought for them, it was the Parliament of Trees that managed the Green where they ensured that it did not run wild. Without their influence, there existed the threat of spawning an offshoot consciousness such as the Kreuzblutter that consumed everything within its path. (Swamp Thing v5 #32)
It had started as trees but in time they became no different from humans as they imitated human government, behaviour and even shortcomings. They were noted for having questionable tactics but that their cause was just. Within the Green, the inhabitants claimed that there was no such thing as morality as this was a human concept and instead played the roles that were assigned to them. (Swamp Thing v3 #2) It was divided between the Inner Parliament and the Outer Parliament. The Inner Parliament consisted of the 'founders' and had access to ancient memories that were not shared with the younger members of the Outer Parliament. (Swamp Thing v2 #104) Some of the elementals in the Parliament had become so rooted that they had forgotten the capacity for human speech and instead conversed through the Green. (Swamp Thing v2 #47) Each of the Parliament of Trees were locked together into a ground mind. (Swamp Thing v2 #80) Among the lineage of rulers in the Parliament were the Erl-Kings. (Swamp Thing v2 #80) Another grouping within the Parliament was the Spirit of the Grass that operated as ever-present spies who served as eyes for the Green. It had existed for eons where they watched and was divided into a number of chapters around the globe. In time, they developed the strategy of influencing mankind by dictating where livestock herds migrated and thus causing humans to move with the animals. (Swamp Thing v3 #2) During times of crisis, problems that arose were resolved in committee whereby members of the Parliament gathered and their champion could take part in it. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
A law held by avatars of the Green was the invocation of the Sanctuarium Folium Viride (Sanctuary of the Green Leaf) where people could evoke it in order to request the protection of the Parliament. (Swamp Thing v5 #21)
Members
- Yggdrasil : the tree of life who was first of the assemblage who formed the Parliament of Trees with him guiding the Green and watching as life took foothold in the world. He was the only one of the founding trinity that was able to speak in words. (Swamp Thing v2 #89)
- Eyam : third born created from lightning and water who was first to take shape of a dissimilar life form thus fulfilling the need to expand their experience by assuming another consciousness and was first to explore untethered the oceans. He was one of the trinity that founded the Parliament who sat among the assemblage but his mind, however, retained only primitive thoughts and was incapable of speech. (Swamp Thing v2 #89)
- Tuuru : the second twig that was the tree of visions and knowledge created by Yggdrasil to ease his loneliness who sat in the assemblage that founded the Parliament. He was capable of higher thought with his mind not patterned after other life thus making his brain his own making with him speaking not in words but in images. Tuuru was able to project prophecies of the future with the truth determined by the visions he gave to others. (Swamp Thing v2 #89)
- Matango : a former founder who was the 13th of their number until he fell to the Grey and joined them. (Swamp Thing v2 #104)
- Bog Venus : a woman who lived a hundred thousand years before the Great Flood of Noah who was a practiced healing magic with her being killed whilst attempting to flee a volcanic avalanche only to arise as the Green’s protector. In time, she came to join the elders in the Parliament of Trees as one among the chosen. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
- Kettle Hole Devil : a male who in the second decade of the century was a union activist and wage slave for a brewery outside of Chicago with him being killed by thugs who threw his body into a vat of fermenting hops only for him to arise as the Green’s protector where he took his vengeance against his killers. In time, he came to join the elders in the Parliament of Trees as one among the chosen. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
- Saint Columbia : a male in the second century A.D. who was exiled from his clan due to his crippling deformity with him being hung and his remains thrown into the bog as a sacrifice to the sun god Bel only for him to arise as a champion of the Green worshipped by his believers. In time, he came to join the elders in the Parliament of Trees as one among the chosen. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
- Ghost Hiding in the Rushes : a male during the Third Dynasty in China who was a feared sorcerer in court of the Emperor whose fear of him led to the man’s murder. However, the sorcerer left instructions to be cremated and treated with special oils that brought about his emergence as a champion of the Green. An army of life-sized ceramic statues were sent to stop his resurrection but failed to stop him. In time, he came to join the elders in the Parliament of Trees as one among the chosen. (Swamp Thing v2 #68)
- Jack in the Green : once a man named Alfred Oakland who came to be called Green Jack where he became an elemental and referred to as Jack in the Green until the completion of his service with his reward being a slumber within the Parliament. (Swamp Thing Annual v2 #5)
- Bifa : a four legged amphibian who became part of the Green where he served as a messenger between its Inner and Outer Parliaments. (Swamp Thing v2 #104)
- Lady Jane :
- Alex Olsen : He later joined the other swamp elementals in the Parliament of Trees. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
- Albert Hollerer : formerly a German pilot who was shot down into the bog in 1942 where he died in the flames only to rise as a plant elemental where after a decade he joined the Parliament. (Swamp Thing v2 #47)
- Lady Weeds : a female avatar who operated in 1845 who was constantly challenged by rivals seeking to replace her and in an effort to show her strength to the Parliament of Trees she caused the Great Potato Famine to prove a point by targeting the home of the last challenger that fought her. (Swamp Thing Annual v5 #2)
- Wolf :
- Jonah :
- Knoll : male member of the Spirit of the Grass that was part of the North American chapter who met with Tefe Holland as she entered into the Green. He tried to convince her to use her power to destroy humanity and allow plants to reclaim the world. (Swamp Thing v3 #2)
- Kudzu : originally a Japanese samurai named Asano Kanemoto who was left to die by his superior with him being hung upside down on vines by a tree with the Green speaking to him asking him to slay a wayward elemental with it transforming him into their personal assassin. (Swamp Thing v3 #15) He was made their immortal agent with him serving them for 500 years killing numerous foes with him by the modern day being dispatched to eliminate Tefe Holland as she was deemed a traitor to the Green. (Swamp Thing v3 #16)
- Alan Hallman : a scientist working on a formula to repair agricultural crops who was chosen to become the Swamp Thing by the Parliament of Trees thirty years ago but he was subsumed into the Grey and followed Matango. (Swamp Thing v2 103)
- Alec Holland :
- Levi Kamei :
Notes
- The Parliament of Trees were created by Alan Moore and Stan Woch where they made their first appearance in Swamp Thing v2 #47 (April, 1986).
- In Blue Beetle v8 #4 (2006), Diviner was shown to summon Ents with a spell whereby the image of a person who had harmed the Green was used for the creatures to attack.
Alternate Versions
- In Swamp Thing v5 #13 (2012), a potential future was shown whereby Anton Arcane tricked Swamp Thing and Animal Man into the Rot where they became trapped for a year when only a span of hours had passed for them whereupon they were returned to Earth. During their absence on Earth, Arcane sought to bring about Rotworld whereby the Rot had spread and taken over the planet with many of the worlds heroes and villains falling under their control. The Green and the Red had in this time been driven to small isolated pockets that nearly faced complete destruction. Swamp Thing and Animal Man managed to avert this future with the aid of the Parliament of Decay thus preventing this future from coming to pass.
- In Swamp Thing: Green Hell v1 #1 (2022), an alternate version of the Parliament of Trees appeared in the setting of the DC Black Label reality set on an unidentified world in the Multiverse. They would meet with the Parliament of Limbs and Parliament of Decay where the three agreed to bring about the end of huamnity.
In other media
Films
- In Justice League Dark, the Green was mentioned in the animated movie with Swamp Thing referred to as its avatar that protected it from humanity.
- In Batman and Harley Quinn, the Parliament of Trees was mentioned by Swamp Thing in the animated film who said that they were displeased with the actions of dryad Jason Woodrue who had been attempting to kill all human life on Earth. Woodrue also used properties from Swamp Thing's body to allow himself and Poison Ivy to access the Green to travel across distant locations.
Video games
- In Injustice 2, the Parliament and the Green were mentioned in dialogue in the fighting video game.
Appearances
- Swamp Thing v2: (1986)
- Swamp Thing Annual v2:
- Swamp Thing v5:
- Damage v2:
- Justice League Dark v2:
- Justice League: Endless Winter v1:
- The Swamp Thing v1:
External Links
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