Parliament of Trees

Alec Holland attempts to escape the Parliament of Trees from Swamp Thing v5 #27.

The Parliament of Trees are a group that feature in DC Comics.

History

Origin

Swamp Thing meets the Parliament in Swamp Thing v2 #47.

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)

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)

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 events of 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)

The New 52

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)

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)

Overview

The Green in Swamp Thing v2 #104.

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)

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)

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. (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)

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 :
• 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 Veeds :
• 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)

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).

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 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 #47:
• Swamp Thing v5 #27:

External Links

• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.