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ohfugecannada · 8 months ago

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Groot’s many backstories

So earlier I saw this post by @alastorgould where he over some of the many versions of Rocket’s backstories, eventually writing his own take on it that combined elements of all of them. It’s a pretty good summary of Rocket’s past and it’s many incarnations in the comics, cartoons and MCU etc and I highly recommend you check it out along with his rocket and halfworld related art/fics.

Anyway, It inspired to make my own post going over some of the backstories/incarnations of my personal favourite gotg character: Groot. Because A) as mentioned, he’s my fave, and imo one of the more underrated Guardians members out of the core 5, and B) Groot actually has quite a few takes on his backstory already through not only multiple retcons in the 616 comics continuity but also through several multi-media adaptations of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. And I thought it would be fun to share some of them with you all.

Obviously, this isn’t gonna cover every single piece of media Groot has been in/has had his backstory mentioned etc. But I did my research and tried my best to cover a good chunk of the most notable continuities and adaptations.

Also, I haven’t read the entirety of every comic Groot is in ever (I.E. the latest gotg Grootfall/Grootrise story arc) so forgive me if I get a few details wrong. If there are any die hard gotg/Groot comic readers out there, feel free to politely and respectfully correct me on a few things.

The Comics

In the main marvel 616 comics there have been at least 3 different versions of Groot’s backstory and origins. 4 if you count his very first incarnation…

Tales to astonish #13 (+ other King Groot appearances)

King Groot is the giant tree like ruler of Planet-X, and an alien invader who lands on earth to kidnap the humans from a small town in order to take them back to his home planet and experiment on them. Conventional weapons used by the towns military don’t work as this groot is immune to fire and explosives. But thanks to the quick thinking of protagonist human scientist Leslie Evens, king groot is taken down by genetically bred super termites. He seemingly dies in this story but later makes appearances in comics like the Howling Commandos, aiding the team. Most commonly being seen as an inhabitant of Monster Isle. There was a time where it was thought the groot on the guardians of the galaxy was the same groot as king groot (mainly the annihilation: conquest series), but this was later retconned as a different Groot impersonating King Groot. Which brings us to…

Guardians of the Galaxy #14 (2013)/Annihilators #1 and 2 (2012)

Groot was a flora colossus sapling who along with his fellow saplings (also all called groot) were looked after by a group of elder flora colossus called the Arbor Masters. This groot was different from the others as he often brefirended the maintenance mammals; small intelligent mammal like beings who most other flora colossus looked down on as inferior. One day, another group of flora colossai were bulling a squirrel-like maintenance mammal and groot steps in to defend it. After one of the more violent flora colossus nearly kills the mammal, groot snaps and tears the other colossus apart. Presumably killing him. This catches the attention of the Arbor masters, who then have groot banished from the planet via a space ship.

This groot would later go on to impersonate king Groot and join the team that would become the Guardians of the galaxy, in Annihilation Conquest: Starlord #1, where he’d first meet his teammate and future bff Rocket Raccoon. The way he was written in annihilation conquest made it seem like he was the same character as King Groot, but this was later retconned in Annihilators #1 and 2 as well as Guardians of the Galaxy #14.

Groot vol.1 (2015)

My personal favourite comic origin for groot. (Also literally the best version of Groot in any media ever dont @ me)

Groot is born on Planet X, where the flora colossus are towering giants who regularly kidnap beings from other planets to preform experiments on them. Groot is disturbed and appalled by the actions of his people but feels powerless to do anything… until one night where he discovers a little human girl, Hannah, being held prisoner in one of the holding pods and decides to help her escape.

After teleporting Hannah away back to Earth, Groot remains behind and destroys the teleportation pad, presumably cutting the flora colossus off from earth, and he is banished by his elders. Groot then wanders the universe for a while, taking in all its wonders and sights, before being thrown in a kree prison where he meets Rocket for the first time. Rocket can’t understand Groot at first, but over the course of months sharing a cell with him, does. After this the two form a fast friendship and break out of prison, becoming bounty hunters/criminals and eventually joining the Guardians.

Groot vol.2 (2023)

One of the most recent and drastically different origins presented in the comics so far.

In this miniseries, Planet-X is a lush forest covered planet and the flora colossus, unlike the other comic origins, are a benevolent and peaceful race of sentient plants ruled over by a giant matriarch tree called Granopy. She looks after and tells stories to a child groot and his two friends Tweeg and Gleef.

One day their forest gets burnt by a gang of mercenaries known as The Spoilers, led by an evil Flora colossus named Agz, and the three get kidnapped. But are freed by a young Mar-vel. Together the four of them, along with an Alpha Centurion hunter called Yondar, fight against the Spoilers and save Planet X. As of writing this, the Grootfall/grootrise arc, which references this miniseries, has only just wrapped up. So It’s not clear if this story is supposed to be a prequel to the 2015 Groot origin or if it’s a full on retcon of it. (Im gonna assume the latter, given how different Flora Colossai are in this compared to the previous origins. Unless Flora Collossus society/planet X as a whole really went down hill after Groot grew up, somehow going from the peaceful forest utopia we see in vol. 2 to the desolate wasteland ruled by an evil king groot in tales to astonish/groot number 6 but I digress) so it’s up in the air for now if/how they connect to each-other…

Origins in other media

As a Marvel multi-media franchise, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and by extension Groot, have had a number of different adaptations and interpretations across various non-comic book mediums including movies, games, tv shows etc. so let’s take a look at four of the most famous ones.

MCU

Weirdly enough, despite this version of Groot (and his son Groot ii aka baby groot) being the most widely known by general audiences thanks to the popularity of the MCU, MCU Groot is the most mysterious when it comes to his origin story. We never get any implications or mentions of it in the entire gotg franchise (outside of a mention of Planet X in the nova police lineup scene in vol.1). The closest we get is an idea James Gunn had planned for a short film about how Groot and Rocket met and a few very brief mentions about it in interviews. In the tweet about the short film idea, James explains Groot was caged up at an intergalactic zoo housing exotic alien creatures and was treated like an animal. Until a worker at the zoo, a robot/cyborg named Tibus Lark, became attached to Groot and helped him escape, becoming his closest friend. Until they found themselves in a hole/prison where Lark and groot would meet Rocket. Being mortally injured, Tibus would explain his and Groot’s story to Rocket before entrusting Groot with Rocket and dying. Rocket would then use the robotic parts of Lark’s body to build his big gun seen in the first gotg and break out of the pit with Groot. Beginning their criminal partnership and (dysfunctional) friendship.

Gotg Disney XD cartoon season 1

In the Disney XD cartoon, Groot grew up on an idyllic and serene Planet X ruled by his father(?), both coming from a long line of flora colossus spanning billions of years who, along with all life on Planet X, all grew from an object known as the world pod. A source of power that exists within groot. Shortly after a day of battle training with his father, the Kree and their leader Ronan invade the planet to mine it of its resources. Dispute the protest of its natives, the planet is burnt to ashes, leaving groot the lone survivor. He’s then taken by the kree and experimented on, along with other kidnapped Earth animals. This is where he meets a newly anthro-ified Rocket, and the two break out together and eventually join the guardians.

Gotg Telltale Game

Like the MCU version, we unfortunately don’t get a look into his backstory, but what we do know from the alternate story path where Rocket stays with Quill and Groot goes with Mantis when the team break up is he is the last of his kind and empathises with mantis greatly because of it.

Gotg Eidos Game

Through conversations with Groot (with Rocket, and later in the game Mantis, translating for Quill), and a few parts of rocket’s conversations, we learn that Groot’s father was the king of Taluhnia (the original native name of Planet X) as well as the other branch worlds. Groot himself wanted to be a forest caretaker so he could care for the plants of Taluhina. In contrast, his father and the arbor masters were corrupt and favoured the needs of the few over the many, and enslaved the sapient animals on Taluhnia. With some saplings even hurting these mammals for fun. Groot however, preferred thier company over the others of his kind due to how nice and smart they were, comparing them to rocket in his convo with Quill and Mantis.

Unfortunately, however, they along with the rest of Taluhnia, would perish after the Chitari would test an experimental doomsday device on the planet. After the planets destruction, the other branch worlds would mobilise an attack, but they were no match for the Chitari and were destroyed as well. Fortunately, groot was able to regrow himself into a smaller sapling form. Making him, as far as he knows, the only survivor. In his smaller form, he would eventually be sold to the collector, but would later be stolen by rocket who raided the whole place while drunk. It’s kind of a mix of the maintenance mammal stuff from the gotg issue 14 story and the general flora Collossus are corrupt stuff from that and groot issue 6, with the alien race wipe out the flora colossus part from the cartoon (though swapping out the Kree for the Chitari this time).

…And that’s it for the most famous Groot origins! Again, this doesn’t include every incarnation of Groot ever, but I think I covered my bases with the most notable continuities. Maybe I’ll have a go at writing my own take on the origin at some point, but for now, I just hope you all enjoyed learning about Groot’s different pasts as much as I did researching them…

Also let me know if there are other, more obscure versions of Groot and his backstory I missed here. I’m always down to learning more Groot lore.

#marvel #marvel cinematic universe #mcu #Disney #comics #marvel comics #gotg #groot #rocket raccoon #Peter quill #star lord #disney xd #eidos montreal #Groot comics #gotg comics #guardians of the galaxy

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raccoonfallsharder · 4 months ago

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ᯓ⋆｡°✩ practice

for a nonnie who asks the important questions main masterlist | oneshot masterlist

spice | no use of y/n | gn reader | oneshot | word count: 1,684.

you're not quite as good as rocket when it comes to braiding. luckily, he's a kind and benevolent soul who just wants to give you the chance to improve. or, you accidentally seduce rocket. he intentionally seduces you back. WARNINGS: general suggestiveness, lil bit of pining on your part. eidos-rocket is a bossy little shit and calls you buttercup x2. this is pure lighthearted fun & doesn’t delve into the inner workings of rocket’s trust-issues and angst.

brave nonnie asked, do you have any headcanons for Eidos Rocket with an S/O? and the answer is too many and also why am i like this.

initial ask | the beard | rocket smells like eidos-rocket-headcanons | main masterlist | oneshot masterlist

“Hey.”

You’d looked up, startled that he was talking to you. You’d been curled up on the mustard-yellow sofa, catching up on one of drax’s favorite dramas on a holopad, and you’d been careful not to look up when Rocket had entered the space and plopped down on the couch across from you. The fact that he’d been out here at all — willing to share space with you — had seemed like something of a miracle, and you’d had to fight every instinct to not steal surreptitious glances out of your periphery. He’d been in a suit — broad shoulders and a narrow waist, the plume of his tail as ridiculously thick and fluffy as always — carefully rebraiding his beard.

“How’s this look?”

You’d hesitated, squinting one eye and screwing up the corner of your mouth. “You look good,” you’d admitted, and he’d preened.

“Got a hot date,” he’d informed you smugly, and it had made something in your belly plummet low. It hadn’t even been anything new — Rocket had been going out as long as you’d known him, whenever the Milano had docked somewhere that had allowed for it. Still, the prospect of dealing with him the next day, after he’d thoroughly enjoyed yet another apparently-meaningless one-night-stand? The idea of watching him smirk smugly for hours while he accused everyone else of needing to get laid? It had made your vagus nerve twist miserably. You’d wished you could roll your eyes at yourself without him misinterpreting the look.

You’ve got to get over this stupid crush of yours.

“Cool,” you’d said aloud, weakly. “Have fun.”

He’d been the one who’d ended up rolling his eyes — still at your expense — and you’d decided to live vicariously through his disdainful expression. "The beard okay?” he’d asked, persistent.

You’d leaned forward, hinging at the waist to see better. It had looked a bit asymmetrical — like one side had been braided a little more tightly than the other — and once you’d begun studying it, you’d been able to see a few threads of glossy fur that had crimped up and escaped between the beads. You’d gestured with your own hands to your chin.

“It’s not quite as neat as it usually is,” you’d admitted, and to be honest, it had given you a frisson of concern. He’d always been obsessive about his fur: brushing out his tail with quick deft fingers whenever he thought there might be a bit of debris in it, making sure his goggles didn’t damage the soft velvet pile at the base of his ears. Distractedly finger-combing the ruff at his throat and cheeks throughout the day, probably without even realizing it. He’d been particularly meticulous about the goatee — intentional in a way that had immediately endeared him even further to you. He’d always kept the silky-looking beard immaculate, and you can’t remember ever seeing even a hair out of place on it, outside of the occasional firefight — and even that had been rare.

His lip had curled in something between a snarl and a grimace. “Mirror in my room got broken in that last tangle with the Badoon,” he’d admitted. “I’ve been trying to do it without seeing.” He’d begun loosening the little braid, about to make another attempt.

You’d hesitated, then cautiously set aside the holopad. “Let me?”

You’d braced yourself for some loud, derisive comment, already wincing — but he’d been silent. When you’d dared to look across at him, he’d been sizing you up, one eye half-squinted and both of them dark and inscrutable.

“Okaaay,” he’d said slowly. “Yeah, okay.” A scowl and a dismissive wave of one clawed hand. “Don’t flark it up.”

You’d risen cautiously, keeping your eyes on his chin — afraid you’d lose your nerve if you’d looked anywhere else. Without thinking, you’d gently nudged his knees apart with your own, and dropped down between them. The foam pad on the floor had given you a little bit of protection from the duranium plating underneath, but you hadn’t bothered trying to get comfortable. Instead, you’d focused on sliding your hands between his own, gently loosening them from where they’d gone still in his beard. You’d slid the beads aside and placed them carefully in his palm, trying to ignore the heated-leather of his hand brushing your fingertips. Then you’d gently — almost reverently — unlaced the braid. The strands had been so silky and glossy, cool as water flowing over your fingers. This close, you’d been able to smell him: the gingery scent of burnt everbloom, a whiff of iron. Something like cedar and black pepper.

Oh, you’d thought, trying not to pout. He's going to make his date drool.

You try not to be the jealous sort but, it had seemed so unfair. You’d gotten butterflies just because he’d been willing to tolerate your presence enough to be in the same room with you. Meanwhile, he’d seemed unmoved by you in any way — vacillating only between a distant acceptance of your occasional accidental displays of affection and admiration, and utter, debilitating annoyance.

Debilitating for you, anyway.

It hadn’t been that you hadn’t wanted him to go out — not exactly. You’d wanted him to have fun, to be happy, to enjoy people and drinks and whatever. You’d only wished that the prospect of him spending the night with someone else hadn’t made your heart turn over so forlornly in your chest.

The stupid organ had thought it was an abandoned kitten at a shelter, mewing for a home.

God, you’d thought suddenly. What if he brings his date back to get laid?

You’d released a miserable little sigh without meaning to, your breath fanning gently over the silk of his beard and his mouth. You’d seen his lips part over a brief flash of sharp teeth — then close and tighten — and you’d tried to ignore the knot of misery in your belly while you’d smoothed the strands into three sections, stroking them until they’d been sleek as satin ribbon. Tenderly — careful not to pull — you’d begun to weave the sections together, nice and even.

You’d braided it all the way to the end, to help the beads slide on more smoothly — a wooden one that looked remarkably like Groot, a red sphere, and two black nuts. You’d plucked them like berries from where he’d set them on the cushion at his side. Tying the tail with the tiny clear elastic had been the most difficult part — you’d been so worried about tugging too hard — and then you’d eased the bottom two nuts down to cover the tie before carefully combing out the ends with your fingers, rumpling the loose strands free of the braid. Leaning back, you’d braced your hands on his thighs and eyed your work critically.

“It’s not quite as good as it usually is,” you’d admitted, ribs all tight and guilty on your lungs, “but it’s better than what you had just now.”

When you’d glanced up at the rest of his face, your breath had tangled into a gasp. His eyes had been hot and dark, roving over you. The ghost of surprise had still been gleaming in them, but if he’d been stunned when you’d dropped yourself to your knees between his thighs, that shock — along with the tooth-gritting frustration and confusion and conflict that he’d been silently grappling with since the first mission he’d shared with you — had mostly faded in the wake of something infinitely more focused and intent.

After all, an opportunity had fallen — well, not in his lap so much as directly between his thighs — but he’d never been one to check a free ship for a serial number.

“Well,” he’d said, his voice low and drawling, dripping like half-crystallized maple syrup all over your skin, “maybe you just need more practice, buttercup.”

Which is probably how you find yourself a few cycles later, tucked inside Rocket’s bunk, sprawled over his belly in the curve of his hammock: trying to comb through the satiny threads while his claws prickle against the skin of your shoulderblade.

“Focus,” he says, and snickers when you jolt under the sharp tickle of his claws. He’s leaning back against his other hand and forearm, tilting his chin up while he looks down the sides of his face at you with glinting, teasing eyes.

“You’re distracting me,” you protest, fingers shaking as you try to divide the lengths of silken fur into even sections. Your eyes blur when the leathery pads of his fingers slip delicately under the edge of your tanktop, coasting against your skin. It’s a struggle not to squirm against him — a fight that you must be losing, based on the growing grin in the corner of his mouth.

“You’re distracting me,” he mimics, pitching his voice into something far more whiny than is fair. You scowl. “How are you gonna get better at this if we don’t increase the difficulty-level? C’mon,” he adds, finding that spot next to your spine that always makes you arch when he presses insistently against the muscle, “M’not even using both hands.”

You glower at him, but the look falls apart when he massages his fingers into that spot again. A shudder runs from the nape of your neck to the small of your back — an inhale catching and rattling in your lungs, so sudden you feel it in the back of your throat — and your hips buck against him without your conscious permission. Heat pools in your abdomen and your cheeks, radiant. You wrangle up all your self-control to attempt a glare.

“Aww,” he jeers. “You’re flarkin’ cute when you pout.”

“Be nice.” You try to sound firm — commanding. “I’m the one with the power, here.” To make your point, you tug gently on the silk strands woven between your fingers.

But Rocket just grins at you lazily, whiskey-dark eyes hooded and warm. “That’s a laugh.”

His fingers dive deep into that muscle again, making you gasp and crumple against him. He doesn’t seem to mind that you’ve just pulled harder than intended on the lengthy strands of fur at his chin. Then his hand is coasting up the valley of your spine — claws dancing and teasing, leaving threads of fire and chills in their wake. The hot ribbons of desire in your abdomen suddenly feel braided themselves: twisted together and tightening, beaded with arousal.

“Just ‘cause you’re on top doesn’t mean you’re in charge,” he gloats. “And I got it on good authority that you like it when I’m a little mean.” His hand sweeps up to anchor to the back of your throat: not squeezing, just resting the warm weight of his palm there, fingers collaring the sides of your neck in a way that makes a shiver run the length of your spine again. His grin widens and his eyes grow smoky and heated.

“Now get back to work, buttercup.”

initial ask | the beard | rocket smells like eidos-rocket-headcanons | main masterlist | oneshot masterlist

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