Grey (DC)

The Grey is a concept that features in DC Comics.

History

Origin

The Grey was the collective intelligence of a fungal consciousness that derived and thrived itself on a particular frequency. Its source came at the beginning of creation when the master of the forest lords known as Sila seeded the planets with the potential for life. Within the Sol system, the seeds took root on three different worlds that included Earth, Jupiter and another world that was destroyed. On this third doomed planet, there evolved the fungal intelligence whilst on Earth there evolved plants that formed its own consciousness known as the Green. The Parliament of Trees was formed and charged with the duty of protecting the Green where they selected an elemental to serve as a guardian for its generation. However, from the destroyed third world of the solar system came a meteor that brought a portion of the Grey's fungal life to the planet Earth. This came during the time of the thirteenth elemental guardian and Matango later volunteered to be overtaken by The Grey in order to learn more from it on behalf of the Parliament of Trees. However, the Grey held a simple drive to spread, consume and break down its hosts which matched Matango's own desire for power. Thus, the two formed their own collective consciousness on Earth that worked in opposition to The Green.

For a time, there was relative peace between The Green and the Grey though this changed during the dawn of man. At this time, humanity developed the potential for destruction that saw Matango tempt them with the fruit from Tuuru that was the Tree of Knowledge. This chain of events resulted in a war between the two life forces of The Green and The Grey that weakened both sides. Ultimately, the Parliament of Trees was forced to abandon the Garden of Iden to the ice and snow where it relocated to Brazil. At the same time, Matango remained dormant for eons whilst the fungi continued to coexist with flora as a result of a compromise. This changed when Swamp Thing escaped from the Claw of Aelkhünd and fathered a human plant elemental. This led to Matango growing agitated and he sent emissaries from The Grey to capture Swamp Thing's human daughter Tefé.

Upon realizing the danger, Swamp Thing began reviving those that had been trapped during the time of the Great Migration at the hands of The Grey in order to assemble them in opposition to Matango.

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of history was created with a different series 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) It was said that they 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) Long ago, a figure who came to be known as Miki became the Avatar of the Grey. However, centuries ago, the individual decided to abandon their duty and instead look to enjoy life. They began to swamp their consciousness into the minds of human hosts with this being done as far back as the 16th century. Thus, the Avatar led the fungal kingdom care for itself and refused to perform their duties among the kingdoms. (Swamp Thing v5 #31)

The natural order was disturbed following the rise of the Parliament of Flowers with the various kingdoms battling one another for supremacy. In a desperate move to stop this, the Justice League Dark sought to gather the champions in order to convene the Parliaments of Life once again. (Justice League Dark v2 #20)

Overview

In appearance, the Grey was a primal elemental force that represented the mycos of the world and thus all fungal life on Earth. (Swamp Thing v5 #31)

An Avatar of the Grey was similar to the role performed among the other kingdoms with them being charged with watching over fungal life on the planet. This nature meant that they preferred darkness, dampness and spores being their domain as opposed to seeds, light and water that was the case in the Green. Unlike the other kingdoms, there was no Parliament nor a place for prior Avatars of the Grey with it instead being said to be a lonely existence that lacked the collective experience such as those in the Green. (Swamp Thing v5 #31) They could create duplicates of themselves or form replicas of people from their memory. (Swamp Thing: Futures End v1 #1)

Members

• Matango :
• Miki : originally a male Avatar of the Grey who abandoned their duty ages ago and instead went through a plethora of host bodies with the modern one being female who went by the name of Miki. (Swamp Thing v5 #31)

Notes

• The Grey were created by Steve Bissette and Pat Broderick where it made its first appearance in Swamp Thing Annual v2 #4 (November, 1988).

Appearances

• Swamp Thing Annual V2 #4: (1988)
• Swamp Thing v5:
• Swamp Thing: Future's End v1:
• Justice League Dark v2: (2020)

External Link

• DC Wiki Entry

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