Collector (Marvel)
The Collector is a cosmic supervillain who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Taneleer Tivan was a male extraterrestrial being who was one of the Elders of the Universe where he was married to Matani Tivan. (Silver Surfer v3 #3) His fellow Elders roamed the continuum in search of games to play with the Collector simply wanting to study simple creatures in the universe where he dwelt alone on a world with his wife and daughter Carina Tivan in tranquillity. During this time, he was cursed with the gift of prophecy and witnessed the rise of a great force of destruction that was more powerful than the Elders with this being Thanos. Unable to fight this foe, he decided preserve other races so that they would survive this impending destruction and began taking samplings for his collection. (Avengers v1 #174) Around 3 billion years ago, his wife Matani grew tired of their endless existence and desired to die with this being a source of great tragedy to the Collector. (Silver Surfer v3 #3)
Tivan was noted to had an interest in acquiring Plodex variations for his collection that were kept in a state of suspended animation. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
The Collector came to Earth many times, collecting artifacts throughout the centuries. He built in a museum in a subterranean complex in Canada, where he held a number of giant monsters, including Fin Fang Foom, Tragg, Groot, Taboo, Grottu, Droom, Vandoom, Gargantus, Rommbu, and Grogg. The Mole Man came to the facility and released the creatures, who went on a rampage, although most were subsequently captured and taken to the Monster Isle. (Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl v1 #1) During his time on Earth, he developed an interest in acquiring the planet's super-powered beings leading to the capture of supervillains whereupon he turned his attention to its superheroes. (Avengers v1 #28)
The Collector
The Collector next worked with the Beetle, and he captured the Wasp of the Avengers for his collection. Hank Pym came to her rescue at the Collector's lair but also got captured. Pym escaped and freed the other Avengers. They rescued the Wasp and forced the Collector to escape with the Beetle using a time machine. (Avengers v1 #28) He kidnapped the Avengers again with the help of Thor after he made him drink a potion of obedience. The Collector tried to make Pym regain his huge size for his collection by having Thor create a thunderstorm, but Goliath's condition did change. To further his collection he looked at Captain America with the Cosmic Viewer, but he was on a mission, far away. He considered the Hulk, but he was in Asgard. He then spotted Iron Man and a battle ensued, where Iron Man almost died. However, the rest of the Avengers are rescued by the Wasp, who has managed to grow again. The Collector pulled out a huge robot, which throws Hawkeye at its control panel, causing it to attack anything that moves. It grabbed the Collector, who disappeared, then the robot started destroying the whole ship. Goliath manages to grow and defeat the robot. Thor's mind clears right before the hit that would have killed Iron Man. Thor went back and rescued the other Avengers from the rapidly falling Collector's Ship and they escape before it exploded. (Avengers v1 #51)
The Collector could not kidnap the Freak so he kidnapped Pepper Potts. The Collector offered to swap the Hogans for the Solar Sword and transports Stark to the Dark Dimension. Attacked by Shadow Demons, Iron Man is rescued by Val-Larr, the Sword's wielder, who explained that it is Luminia's only hope against the spreading darkness. Iron Man attacks and takes the Solar Sword, even though Shar-Khan is attacking Luminia. He gives the sword to the Collector, who reneges on the deal and traps Iron Man too. However the abundance of solar particles in the ship overloads the sword; before it can go nova, the Collector and Iron Man return it to Val-Larr, who uses it to defeat Shar-Khan. The Collector brings the three back to Earth. (Iron Man v1 #26) The Collector tries to kidnap the Avengers again. He tricked them while on their downtime to travel to Rutland, Vermont during Halloween due to Mantis vision. At a party, they met Tom Fagan and agreed to be in the parade to stake out the area. Fagan was the Collector in disguise who captured Thor, Captain America, Iron Man and the Black Panther for his collection. Mantis and the Swordsman find the real Tom Fagan, who is tied up, and learn of the Collector and his plans. Tom distracted the Collector with an army of party goers, the Avengers managed to free their comrades in the confusion. But the Collector was able to escape again. (Avengers v1 #119)
Hulk
The Collector hired Captain Horatio Cutlass and his pirate band to capture the Hulk. But when they fail he uses the captured Man-Thing to attack the Hulk. As the Hulk battled the Man-Thing, the Collector to blasted a strange man with the Philosopher's stone, reverting him into his true form namely as the Glob. With the Glob now under his control, the Collector ordered him to attack the Hulk as well. The Hulk is easily overpowered by the two much monsters, who manage to defeat him by shoving his face into the Man-Thing's mire-made body until he passes out from lack of oxygen. With the Hulk defeated, he orders the pirates to carry the Hulk back to his base in order to be added to his collection. (Incredible Hulk v1 #197) Taken to the Collector's ship, the Hulk is placed inside one of his habitats and is shackled with a device that prevents him from escaping. He is put on display in a swamp-like environment with both the Glob and Man-Thing. In "payment" for helping the Collector capture the Hulk, Captain Cutlass and his pirates are returned to the miniature ship in a bottle they have been prisoners in for hundreds of years since the Collector first captured them. The Collector had captured and enslaved many beings from Earth and other worlds from various points in history and has made them all his slaves for his own personal museum. He showed Banner around his ship and offered to cure him of being the Hulk. Deciding that he has nothing to hold him on Earth, Banner accepts. When the Man-Thing and Glob manage to escape from their cells it set off an alarm. Hearing the Collector refer to the people he has captured as merely "exhibits", Banner changes his mind and when the Glob and Man-Thing arrive on the scene, sends an army of various creatures. They all free the ship as the Collector fled to repair his ship and prevent his captives from escaping. The Glob follows after him and seemingly kills him, stopping his efforts to stop them. As the captors escape outside, the many years of captivity catch up with them as they begin to rapidly age once outside of the ship. (Incredible Hulk v1 #198)
Korvac Saga
Contest of Champions
He later came to learn that a Plodex was present on Earth and sought to acquire one for his collection as their heyday was eons ago. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
The Collector appeared on Earth at the home of Sam Alexander who operated as the hero Nova and intended to acquire the Black Vortex that was in his safekeeping. However, Nova fled into space with the Collector in pursuit but he was forced to withdraw when Sam had escaped onto the Flying Fortress that was commanded by Mr. Knife. (Nova v5 #28) Captain Victoria of the Spartax Royal Guard later met with the Collector at his base in order to acquire the amber body of her father J-Son who was the former emperor of Spartax that was to be put on trial for war crimes. (Legendary Star-Lord v1 #12)
New Contest of Champions
After the Multiverse was restored following the Secret Wars, the Collector waged a Contest of Champions against his fellow Elder the Grandmaster. This saw both sides selecting champions that fought in the Multiversal site of the Battlerealm. The Collector selected the Maestro to serve as his Summoner that operated his team. (Contest of Champions v2 #2)
He was responsible for capturing the entire abandoned realm of Old Asgard to acquire a Mjolnir that landed on it from Battleworld. The Collector wished to have the hammer for himself but none of his servants or robots were able to survive touching it with he himself unable to lift it. He later used ancient magical spell books and even technology but none succeeded. Thor Odinson later sought out the realm eternal and ended up a captive of the Collectors collection. (Unworthy Thor v1 #2)
Overview
Personality and attributes
He spent a lifetime secretly collecting the greatest prizes of all in the universe. (Avengers v1 #28) One of the reasons he collected beings was said due to a vision he saw of the future which showed that a being called Thanos would be born in the future who would bring about universal death. Thus, he claimed that he collected individuals as a sampling in order to preserve others from the destruction of the universe. (Avengers v1 #174)
Taneleer believed that the first rule of collecting was that when chance presented itself then one should not let it pass by as it may not come again. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
Tivan tended to resent being forced to utilise his cosmic power. (Avengers v1 #174)
He was shown to have had a daughter named Carina. (Avengers v1 #174)
Powers and abilities
As a wielder of cosmic power, he had a great deal of superhuman abilities. One of his powers was the ability to glimpse visions of the future. (Avengers v1 #174)
Due to his status as Elder of the Universe, the Collector's body is immune to cell deterioration and cannot be damaged through piercing, illness or anything similar. His will to live is strong enough than he can regenerate any lost part of his body. It had been proven that the destruction of most of his molecules can stop regeneration and kill him. (Avengers v1 #174) A special arrangement between Grandmaster and Death itself was necessary to return him to life. (Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions v1 #3)
The Collector typically appears as an average elderly humanoid. In times past, however, he has unleashed his second "true" form, a physically imposing powerhouse demonstrating feats of superhuman strength, invulnerability, and cosmic energy manipulation for defense, offensive discharges, matter manipulation, and so on. (Avengers v1 #339)
He was known to use some of the living beings in his collection as his agents and forced their compliance through an obedience potion. (Avengers v1 #28)
Tivan was also served by agents called Gatherers who sought out unique items and species to be safeguarded for the collection. (Howard the Duck v5 #1)
Among the contents of his collection included:
- Energy Creatures of Erdile : a race of energy beings. (Avengers v1 #174)
- Djinn : obtained from a lamp won from Ali Babba allowing the Collector to summon a multi-headed Djinn to perform his bidding. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
- Pearl of Great Price : a giant clamp-shell that could be used to trap people and could sprout legs to attack its quarry. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
For combat, he had a suit of etherion-made armour that could camouflage transmissions from its outer shell. The outer shell of heavy armour could be ejected leaving a more sleeker form underneath it. He was known to own a trans-temporal transporter allowing him to meet beings from across time. (Marvel Team-Up Annual v1 #7)
Another one of his galleries in the museum was the Dodecahedra that contained objects of various shapes each of which was a tesseract device that contained a pocket universe. It was within these that the Collector kept objects too large for exhibit in the museum proper. (Astonishing Thor v1 #2)
A new castle that he had constructed was a remote location that contained a series of mines with some detonating to organics whilst another operated magnetically with rumours that a number were operated by fifth-dimensional imps. A mixture of artificial intelligences and manned personnel operated the guns as well as sentries. The inside of the vault was said to had been a work of art with the security being highly sophisticated. Entire wings were on gimbals that moved walls and sections around that made teleportation on-board difficult. It was also said that there was some kind of extra-dimensional security that guarded the collection with rumours that they plunged intruders into their deepest, darkest fears. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #2)
On Earth, he established a massive museum located beneath Canada. Inside this immense abode, he held a menagerie of various strange, and monstrous creatures that have plagued Earth in the past. Over the span of years, the Collector had captured these gargantuans one at a time and placed them within this private zoo. (Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl v1 #1)
Notes
- The Collector was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck where he made his first appearance in v1 Avengers #28 (May, 1966).
Alternate Versions
- In Infinity Gauntlet v2 (2015), a version of the Collector was shown to had resided on Battleworld with the Star-Lord and Gamora of the Xandar region hoping to starting a bidding war between him and the Grandmaster. Another Collector was shown to reside on Knowhere in Guardians of Knowhere v1 (2015).
In other media
Television
- In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., the Collector made an appearance in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "The Collector" where he was voiced by actor Jeff Bennett. He was shown as a powerful cosmic being able to project energy blasts, teleport, grow in size and move objects with a wave of his hand. The Collector travelled through space to find priceless individuals to be kept in a perfect condition where he utilized a starship to store his collection and used a host of mechanical drones. He arrived on Earth after learning of its many superheroes through its global media such as the Daily Bugle. After arriving, his drones were responsible for abducting large number of heroes but left behind the Hulk and Spider-Man because according to his monitoring of news networks made the two heroes appear as menaces thus meaning they were not worth anything. After capturing numerous heroes, the Collector sought to make his collection priceless by trying to detonate a planetbuster bomb but the Hulk and his allies in S.M.A.S.H. caused it to detonate in the ship after teleporting the captured heroes back to Earth. The Collector himself managed to teleport away at the last minute where he vowed to return and that he would not underestimate the heroes next time
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Collector appeared in the animated television series four part cross-over episode named "Contest of Champions" where he was voiced again by actor Jeff Bennett. He and his older brother, the Grandmaster, hold the eponymous competition to determine the Earth's fate using the planet's heroes and villains. After noticing he lacks confidence due to a history of losing to his brother, Spider-Man helps the Collector find it by teaming up with him to fight the Grandmaster and his army of supervillains. Following the battle, the Collector chooses to retire to prevent further conflict with the Grandmaster.
- In Guardians of the Galaxy, the Collector appeared in the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Tom Kenny. This version visually resembled the Marvel Cinematic Universe incarnation of the character.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Collector made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Thor: The Dark World film, the character made a cameo appearance introducing him to the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he appeared in a mid-credit sequence and was portrayed by actor Benicio del Toro. Sif and Volstagg arrived at his museum with the Aether Infinity Stone where they met the alien being. He was introduced as Taneleer Tivan and as the Collector where he greeted them with respect. He questioned them why they did not keep the Stone in Asgard to which the Asgardians replied by saying that they intended to ensure that not all the Stones resided in one place as they already had the Tesseract. The Collector vowed that it would be safe in his hands and when the pair of Asgardians Taneler simply remarked "One down, five to go."
- In Guardians of the Galaxy, the character returned once again in the movie with actor Benicio del Toro reprising the role. He placed a bounty for the acquisition of the Orb from the ruined planet of Morg to add another Infinity Stone to his collection. Star-Lord decided to accomplish the mission with Gamora taking him to the Collector who resided on the dead Celestial head known as Knowhere. Once there, he explained the origin of the Infinity Stones. However, his servant Carina ended up grabbing the Orb as she intended to use its power to free herself from her master's servitude but ended up killing herself due to the stone's power. The devastation caused during this incident ruined the museum that the Taneleer Tivan had made with a number of the collection escaping from the exhibits.
Video games
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, the Collector appeared as a non-playable villain that orchestrated the Contest. He placed the player as the Summoner against Kang the Conqueror with the two using various beings as combatants against one another.
Appearances
- Avengers v1: (1966)
- Marvel Team-Up Annual v1:
- Silver Surfer v3:
- Hulk v2:
- Howard the Duck v5:
- Contest of Champions v1:
- Unworthy Thor v1:
- All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
