If his new Disney+ series I am Groot does anything, it shows that few characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are as beloved as Groot. Making his on-screen debut in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, the sentient extra-terrestrial tree being has come a long way from his comic book origin in 1960.
Many fans have mixed emotions about the character being reincarnated into a baby, and a sassy teen, but fans can all agree Groot is one of the cutest and strongest characters in the Guardians of the Galaxy. Outside of being cute, however, there's a ton of mystery to this character that many fans might not know, even if they watch his escapades on Disney+.
10 He's as Old As The Trees
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Groot debuted in Tales To Astonish #13 in 1960 in a story by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby. Groot was never meant to be a beloved hero, but instead was a villain coming from a race of space trees.
It was fifteen years before Groot showed up in the comics again. Eventually, he was brought back to fight the Hulk, and he, along with other silver-aged monsters, came back to terrorize a young Peter Parker in The Sensational Spider-Man #1. The character's origins remain roughly the same, but he has come a long way from his roots as just another Flora Colossus.
9 He Originally Wanted To Invade Earth
The Flora Colossi are a race of tree-beings who are native to Planet X. Planet X is generally maintained by maintenance mammals, but in their introduction, Groot wanted to capture humans to study them.
While fans know that Groot has a small vocabulary, a few other characters can understand the language, but in his introduction, even on the title page, he spoke regular words that it's clear humanity understood. The term "Groot" also means big in Dutch, which makes it more confusing when fans realize Groot's race is also referred to as "Groot", and it isn't just his name.
8 Roots That Stem From Royalty
According to the character's official Marvel profile, Groot's entire name and title is "Groot (His Divine Majesty King Groot the 23rd, Monarch Of Planet x, Custodian of The Branch Worlds, Ruler of All He Shades, Flora Colossus)."
Marvel does explore this a bit in Earth-TRN517, which is where its Contest of Champions game is held, but other than a few lines expressing his "ennobled sap lineage" and the Annihilators #1 implying he might be a pretender, there's been little exploration on this royal lineage in mainline Marvel entries. There's nothing to outright dismiss Groot's claim though, so many take his word at face value.
7 He Has Some Complex Relationships
Given that few understand Groot's language, it's only natural his relationships with other characters are surface-level team-ups and friendships. However, there have been a few times when present-day Groot has interacted with characters outside the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy. Jean Grey can read Groot's mind, and in 2016 this was elaborated on again.
In both comics, Groot shares a great deal of emotion with Jean and declares his love and vow to protect humanity because of people like her and the friends he's made along the way. Groot also combined with the symbiote known as Venom, which had a far less heartwarming implication for the villain turned beloved hero.
6 He's Switched Sides More Than Once
Viewers know that Groot was locked up during the original Guardians of the Galaxy, and now he fights alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes to protect the planet and multiverse, but few fans know that Groot has fought against and under S.H.I.E.L.D as well. In Keith Giffen and Eduardo Francisco's Nick Fury's Howling Commandos #2, Groot fights alongside Marvel monsters under Nick Fury's capture.
Fury captures Groot and convinces him to protect Earth, and ultimately the group defends the planet against Merlin. This storyline has yet to hit the screens, but it's a far cry from the character's origins of being an invader himself in the '60s.
5 His Soft Spot Landed Him in Exile
Rocket Raccoon and Groot have some of the best on-screen moments of all time. In the pages of Marvel Comics, the pair have even more chemistry during their wild adventures, but that friendship is part of why Groot had to leave Planet-X. The Flora Colossi don't take fondly to mammals and view them as lesser species.
Groot has gotten into fights over the treatment of other living beings, and he's become an outcast from his home world because of it. Groot once killed another sapling because of how it was treating one of the maintenance mammals, and ultimately a group of rulers on the planet named the "Arbor Masters" forced him to leave.
4 Groot Is Highly Intelligent
While many think Groot is dumb due to his lack of advanced communication, few know how intelligent the giant tree actually is. While the Guardians might not believe it, Groot's race is one of the smartest in space.
The Flora transfer what's known as "Photonic Knowledge" through photosynthesis, and it's all shared and passed down from the Arbor Masters. Groot, specifically being from a particularly important sap-line, is even smarter than the average Flora Colossi. Groot knows about advanced engineering that's incomprehensible to most and helped Maximus the Mad come up with a way to unmake reality.
3 He Has Incredible Powers
In addition to his intelligence and brute strength, Groot's regenerative abilities are unmatched, especially in the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. While fans have already seen Groot come back to life from just a splinter's worth of wood before, in Avengers: Secret Wars that regenerative ability happened at such an insane rate that he grew to the gigantic proportions that he was in his debut almost instantly, and destroyed an entire castle.
Groot is nearly invulnerable to most things, and his wood is so strong that simple fires can't take him out. In addition to this, Groot has the ability to control plants via psychokinesis which makes him even more of a behemoth than most fans might be aware of.
2 His Original Weakness Was Shockingly Predictable
Groot's powers have yet to fully be explored either in comics or in the MCU, leaving plenty of room for speculation on his true potential. While the films imply his movie counterpart grows slower than in the comics, nothing is as disappointing as his true weakness. Groot's ultimate enemy is a biologist known as Leslie Evans, who creates a breed of termites just to destroy the space invader.
While the termites were made specifically for Groot, and it's suspected regular bugs couldn't deal any real damage, it is astonishing to think fans might not have ever gotten the dancing little twig because he was taken out by bugs.
1 He Might Be The Last Of His Kind
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Multiple Marvel Comics and media state that Groot is the last of his kind. Some sources say it was natural, and 2017's Marvel Animated Universe says the Flora Colossi were wiped out by Ronan. Multiple sources say that Groot has the World Pod within himself and could restore his race, but as it currently stands, the MCU and the 2020 Guardians of the Galaxy comics only imply he's the last one.
The comics have shown entire forests of Groots, but the MCU references him possibly being another tree race known as the Cotati, meaning it's unclear where the exile storyline might actually go. In any case, viewers hope to see more of the tree in future Marvel projects.