Name: Groot

Superhero Name: Groot

Created By: Keith Giffen, Timothy Green II

Played By: Bradley Cooper

Powers: Regenerative healing power, up to and including regrowing from a single sprig after being ‘killed’, growth to a giant size at will, ability to stretch his limbs and reshape them at will, advanced strength, immunity to most things including gunfire and burning, control of other plants, alleged genius-level intellect.

Mini Bio: Groot is part of a species called Flora colossi – a humanoid plant-like species who, thanks to their advanced education through photosynthesis, are actually incredibly intelligent.

But, this intelligence has led the species to capture humans and other species for scientific purposes. Groot never agreed with this and preferred to spend his time with ‘maintenance mammals’, who were seen as lower species for the Flora colossi.

When Groot saved a maintenance animal from being brutalised and released a kidnapped human, he was exiled from his planet. With nowhere else to go, Groot decided to explore the galaxy.

During these explorations, he was captured by the Kree, and while imprisoned, he met Rocket Raccoon, and soon the two were brought in to help Star Lord to defeat the invading Phalanx army.

The two then joined the Guardians Of The Galaxy, where they helped save the galaxy from Thanos and the Black Vortex, among other threats.

Groot remained at a large size until he was attacked by someone known as The Gardener, who was an Elder Of The Universe. He believed that Groot had been corrupted by the Guardians and had gone too far from his destructive purpose. So The Gardener shattered Groot.

Rocket managed to escape with a splinter of him, planting him as soon as possible so he could regrow his body, but the Gardener had the same idea, only for darker purposes. The Gardener used the splinters to create a forest of twisted Groots, whose collective growth stooped the Guardian’s version of Groot from growing bigger than a sapling.

The Guardians eventually caught up with the Gardener and his army, and Groot used his healing ability to heal the Gardener of the poison infecting his body. In return, the Gardener used his powers to grow Groot to his normal size again.

Since then, Groot has remained at his normal size and has been part of the Guardians team alongside his best friend, Rocket.

Interesting trivia: When Groot speaks, he is not just saying “I am Groot”, he is actually saying any number of things, and he can be understood by those who know him well enough to understand the subtle nuances of his speech.

First Comic Appearance: Annihilation Conquest – Star Lord issue 1 (2007)

Most Common Team Ups: Guardians Of The Galaxy, Rocket Raccoon

Comic Recommendations: Guardians Of The Galaxy (2008) by Dan Abnett, Guardians Of The Galaxy (2016) by Brian Michael Bendis. For specific Groot solo comics, I have a guide here.