Gardener (Marvel)
The Gardener is a male cosmic being who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Ord Zyonz
Over 5 billion years ago, the Gardener encountered another Elder named the Obliterator on an unidentified world where the two came to learn of their similar nature as immortal beings. Over the next billion years, the Obliterator came to encounter others similar to them where they became the Elders of the Universe. Afterwards, they would learn of the existence of Galactus and that he was a survivor of the previous universe. The Elders would resolve to destroy him so that they could replace him as the oldest beings in existence. (Silver Surfer v3 #6)
Long ago, he was noted to had travelled to the Darkforce Dimension where he became curious on whether life could flourish in this realm. Thus, he planted a seed to see whether it would grow but other affairs came to take his attention and he forgot about the matter. Unknown to him, the seed sprouted to form the Tree of Shadows that was discovered by the primitive Shi'ar where it became the Prime Raptor of the Fraternity of Raptors. (Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk v1 #3)
The Gardener
He travelled to Earth's lunar planetoid where he was at the Blue Area of the Moon and used the air to help cultivate a garden. Whilst among the trees, he came to witness the Stranger arriving on the Moon but ignored his activities and instead remained in hiding. In reality, the Gardener knew that the Stranger had come to seek the gem within his possession. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #55) By this point, the Stranger had Infinity Gem of Power and sought to collect all six known Infinity Gems, where he had sensed the Gardener's Infinity Gem of Time. The Gardener recognized as an interstellar traveler in search of something and stayed hidden from him, masking the power emanations that had drawn the Stranger. Adam Warlock brought Spider-Man -- who had been trapped in an unsealed rocket and launched into space -- to the Blue Area of the Moon to recover. There the Stranger attacked Warlock in an effort to steal Warlock's Soul Gem. Warlock and Spider-Man fought the Stranger in return, but both heroes were defeated. Observing Spider-Man's defeat at the Stranger's hands, the Gardener directed a tree to cushion his fall, though Spider-Man was still stunned unconscious. Upon Spider-Man's recovery, the Gardener introduced himself and explained his garden's origins and his limited knowledge of the Stranger, but then stayed hidden when Spider-Man returned to battle the Stranger. As the Stranger attempted to slay Spider-Man, the Gardener decided he could not let another die in his stead, and he directed his vegetation and even the rocks and soil around it to attack the Stranger; the Stranger sensed the Gardener's telepathic voice, which was attempting to deny him. As the Stranger fought back, the Gardener sensed the pain of his creations which was transmitted to him as well, but he chose to risk his life in defiance. After the Stranger unwittingly freed Warlock while trying to blast Spider-Man, the Gardener directed Warlock to join the Soul Gem's power to the Gardener's gem's if they were to have any hope of surviving battle with the Stranger. They did so, with both drawing from the garden's life force, and they pained the Stranger sufficiently that he decided he did not have time for protracted combat and chose to depart to deal with an urgent situation on Earth. His garden having died due to its life force's expenditure, the Gardener determined this gem had been corrupted by the battle, claiming that it could no longer support life and was only good as a weapon now. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #55)
Infinity Countdown
After the rebirth of the Multiverse, the Gardener joined the other Elders of the Universe at the site of the Battlerealm where they participated in a contest of champions on who would get the formation of Iso-8. Ord thus selected champions for the game but they lost the match and he was eliminated from the contest. (Contest of Champions v1 #6)
Whilst tending to his garden, Ord was visited by the Asgardian trickster Loki who was in a search for the Infinity Stones. He highlighted the fact that every garden that Zyonz had seeded had been defiled and destroyed by animal races upon colonisation of a world. During their discussion, the Gardener became unbalanced at the realisation of Loki's words and confessed that he knew not where the Infinity Gems had gone. However, he became more fixated on the idea of removing the threat posed by flesh-based races to plant life and looked to take a more violent approach to rectifying the problem where he decided to use the Flora Colossi to accomplish this goal. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #10) He thus went in search of the roaming Flora Colossus known as Groot where he tracked him to the orbiting mega-city on the Stohlad Ring. Upon seeing him being accompanied by Rocket Raccoon, he attempted to kill Groot's friend but the two fled where the Flora Colossus ensured Rocket managed to escape on a ship. The Gardener then destroyed Groot's body and used it as part of the building blocks for his plan to bring balance to the universe. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #9) From the broken pieces of Groot, he managed to grow a vicious grove of Flora Colossi who confiscated a ship investigating a distress call to the planet. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #4) As they matured, the Gardener directed them to a populated world where he once seeded it with plant life but had now become overrun with cities and developments. (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1 #6)
At some point, he visited the living planet of Euphoria where he was amazed by the beautiful garden-like surface of the world. He came to consider what the universe would be like if they spread this garden across the cosmos. However, Euphoria could not as she was fixed on her living world and unable to leave it. Despite this, the Gardener offered her a solution and had a cosmic union to produce a legacy in the form of a child named Entea. She was a living plant born of her mother and she remained a seed that was within the Gardener's care. (Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda v1 #4) Still suffering from space madness, the Gardener came upon Earth's Moon after the world it orbited was removed during the contest between the Grandmaster and the Challenger. Upon arriving on the lunar body, he decided to change the barren landscape and planted the seed to grow underneath the surface. The seed came to hatch and grow a large plant organism that continued to develop even after the Earth returned. Agents of Wakanda Gorilla-Man and Broo came to uncover the creature that attacked them where it kept them imprisoned in cocoons. This attracted their teammates with the Black Panther T'Challa investigating the loss of his operatives and them battling the plant monster. (Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda v1 #3)
Overview
Personality and attributes
It was said that all he cared about was his garden and living in peace. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #55)
He formed a cosmic union with the living planet of Euphoria thus creating a plant-like child named Entea. Entea could form roots that could encompass an entire world and fed on cosmic energy. (Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda v1 #4)
Powers and abilities
He was known to be capable of telepathically communicating with others. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #55)
The Gardener had the power of controlling plant life allowing it to grow rapidly through his power. He could manipulate it where he could direct them to attack enemies or to save people. Such was his power was that he could grow a garden in barren lands so long as oxygen was present to allow the plants to flourish. (Marvel Team-Up v1 #55)
Notes
- The Gardener was created by Bill Mantlo and John Byrne where he made his first appearance in Marvel Team-Up v1 #55 (March, 1977).
Appearances
- Marvel Team-Up v1: (1977)
- Contest of Champions v1:
- All-New Guardians of the Galaxy v1:
- Infinity Countdown v1:
- Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk v1:
- Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda v1: (2019)
External Links
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