You can call the Guardians whatever you want to. But to the rest of the galaxy, all the people we've helped crawl out from under you and crap like you...the Guardians are the good guys. Not to brag, but we actually go out of our way to help people. We help people who can't help themselves. 
History
Origins
The Guardians of the Galaxy is a group of heroes who opposed the Phalanx conquest of the Kree system (and many who had opposed Annihilus' incursion into their universe), and banded together in an attempt to prevent any further catastrophes from ever occurring.
On the recommendation of ally Nova, the group established a base of operations at the space station Knowhere, which conveniently possessed a teleportation system with near-universal range. An intelligent, super-powered dog called Cosmo acted as Knowhere's chief of security and worked closely with the new team during their first missions.
After an initial clash with the revitalized Universal Church of Truth, the team's investigation of a mass of "Limbo ice" revealed a semi-amnesiac man who identified himself as Vance Astrovik, a.k.a. Major Victory of the Guardians of the Galaxy of Earth-691. Astro's declaration inspired the as-yet-unnamed team to adopt the "Guardians of the Galaxy" name for their own.[1]
The team then battled the Universal Church of Truth once again, while Astro was attacked aboard Knowhere by his former teammate Starhawk.[2] Matters worsened when the shape-shifting alien Skrulls seemed to infiltrate Knowhere[3][4], and the subsequent revelation that Star-Lord directed Mantis to telepathically coerce the other team members into joining.[5]
War of Kings
Unable to trust each other, the team members split off onto their own missions. Adam Warlock and Gamora went to find out more about the Universal Church of Truth, Drax and Phyla went looking for Drax's missing companion, Star-Lord left to respond to a request for help from the Kree, and Rocket decided to continue the team's original mission.
While Rocket began recruiting new members like Bug, Groot (who was now returned to full size), Mantis, and Major Victory, Star-Lord found that Ronan The Accuser was reconstructing the Phalanx's Babel Spire in an effort to preserve the Kree. Ronan then threw Star-Lord into the Negative Zone before he could be stopped.
In the Negative Zone, Blastaar had taken over as King and planned to invade Earth through 42, the prison created by the Initiative to house anti-registration forces.
Blastaar intended to launch a full scale attack against 42 use Star-Lord as a way in. Defended by Jack Flag and his superhuman crew inside, the unpowered guards fled the prison, locking everyone else in the negative zone behind them.
Star-Lord pleaded with Jack Flag, to help him contact the Guardians for help. Flag directed him to a telepath, who was able to contact Mantis and get the new Guardians to teleport into the Negative Zone, to help fend off Blastaar's attack.
Elsewhere, Drax the Destroyer and Quasar began searching for Drax's missing friend. They found a seer who told them about the impending War of Kings before telling them he knew Heather was at Oblivion.
They traveled to Oblivion, where Drax noticed Phyla was missing her Quantum Bands and believed they may have died. In their confusion, they were quickly ambushed by Maelstrom and Phyla was fed to the Dragon of the Moon. As Drax continued to fight Maelstrom and prevent being the next meal, Wendell Vaughn came to his rescue just as Phyla burst out of the Dragon's belly with a newly resurrected Moondragon. Later it would be revealed that Phyla made a deal with Death while in the belly of the beast that she would become the new avatar of Death if Moondragon could return with her.
They went back to Knowhere, reuniting as one big team and preparing for the coming war between the Shi'ar Empire, with their new Emperor Vulcan, and the Kree, now led by the Inhumans and their King Black Bolt.
Thanos
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The Guardians are back
Months later, Thanos had managed to capture a Cosmic Cube from the U.S. Army on Earth, which he used to escape to Moord, the homeland of the Badoon. The Guardians traveled to Avengers Tower to warn and help the Avengers with the situation.[6]
From Moord, Thanos became one with the Cosmic Cube and killed the Elders of the Universe, then killing the Avengers and Guardians. Instead, he was inadvertently sending them to the Cancerverse, where Tony Stark discovered that Thanos' weapon wasn't actually a Cosmic Cube and that it had defects.[7]
In the Cancerverse, the heroes bargained with the Collector in exchange for a weapon capable of deactivating the "Cube" and returning them to Earth, where they would leave Thanos to the Elders. With the help of the Avengers and the Guardians, Thanos was defeated and punished by the Elders. Enjoying working together, Star-Lord personally offered Iron Man a spot on his team, which he gladly accepted.[8]
Father Issues
J'son, King of Spartax alerted Star-Lord, his son, that a council of galactic empires had decided that Earth was too dangerous and should be left alone. Star-Lord knew that the decree would only aggravate the Earth's enemies and instantly ventured to Earth with the Guardians to make sure it was safe.[9] As expected, they discovered a Badoon ship heading to attack Earth.[10]
After defeating the Badoon and crash landing on Earth, Drax was left badly hurt and Groot was reduced down to a small twig. There, the team was arrested by the galactic police under orders from J'son of Spartax. They were taken to a prison ship and locked in containment cells. Since Groot was a twig, he wasn't arrested, giving him time to grow back to full size and free his companions. The team found their weapons, which had been confiscated and took the Spartax battleship for themselves.[11]
Continuing to guard Earth, the Guardians managed to intercept someone who was heading to Earth, who was discovered to be Angela, one of the numerous beings who were pulled from Heven to this dimension after the space-time continuum was broken.[12] Believing her a threat, the Guardians fought her on the Moon, barely able to finally knock her out.[13] After finding out who she was and that she was not a threat, the Guardians let Angela go to Earth, escorting her there to keep an eye on her.[14]
The Trial of Jean Grey
A group of rogue Shiar soldiers came and attacked the past X-Men, taking the young Jean Grey with them. They were sent by Kallark of the Shi'ar and J'son of Spartax to answer for the crimes that she had not committed yet. Picking up readings of a Shi'ar ship heading for Canada, the Guardians rushed to the scene, but after seeing the looks on the X-Men's faces when they arrived, realized they were too late.[15][16] Together with the X-Men of the past and Kitty Pryde, the Guardians left earth in pursuit of the Shi'ar soldiers and young Jean. While on the trail, their ship was attacked, but they were saved by the Starjammers.[17] The Guardians, the X-Men and the Starjammers managed to arrive to the Chandilar, where they confronted the Imperial Guard. Jean Grey had managed to escape captivity and confronted Gladiator. After defeating the Guard, the heroes left the Shi'ar homeworld. The Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers accompanied the X-Men back to Earth where young Scott Summers decided to travel through space with the Starjammers, leaving his team of X-Men behind.[18]
The Attack of the Spartoi
Captain Marvel Saves Peter Quill
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- Many names have been proposed for the Guardians of the Galaxy, including:
- By Rocket Raccoon: "Ass-Kickers of the Fantastic",[23] "Rocket Raccoon and his Human Hangers-On",[23] "The Annihilators",[23] "Protectors of the Universe",[23] "The Quantum Band",[23] "The Pro-Actives",[23] "The Defenders".[23]
- Presenting himself to a future version of the Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord told them his team was named the "Butt Kickers of the Fantastic", close from Raccoon's first known proposition.[24]
- Cosmo later assembled an even more powerhouse-version of the Guardians of the Galaxy, using the name of Annihilators.
- By Drax the Destroyer: "Drax and his 'coonskin hat" (as a way to make Rocket Raccoon shut up).[23]
- By Cosmo: "The Retrievers",[23] "The K-Nine" (""K" stand[ing] for Knowhere").[23]
- By Groot: "Groot and Branches".[1]
- By Rocket Raccoon: "Ass-Kickers of the Fantastic",[23] "Rocket Raccoon and his Human Hangers-On",[23] "The Annihilators",[23] "Protectors of the Universe",[23] "The Quantum Band",[23] "The Pro-Actives",[23] "The Defenders".[23]
- The Guardians currently live in a nameless ship, which "[they] haven't gotten around to naming yet."[25]
See Also
- 313 appearance(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 41 minor appearance(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 87 mention(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 10 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 476 image(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 36 member(s) of Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
- 6 item(s) used/owned by Guardians of the Galaxy (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #2
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #3
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #4
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #6
- ↑ Avengers Assemble (Vol. 2) #5
- ↑ Avengers Assemble (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ Avengers Assemble (Vol. 2) #8
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #6
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #7
- ↑ All-New X-Men #22.NOW
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #11.NOW
- ↑ All-New X-Men #23
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #13
- ↑ Free Comic Book Day (Vol. 2014) #Guardians of the Galaxy
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #14
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #16
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 3) #17
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 23.8 23.9 Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #1
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) #18
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy Annual (Vol. 3) #1
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