The Gardener (Ord Zyonz) is one of the unique cosmic entities in Marvel Comics, best known as a peaceful yet incredibly powerful member of the Elders of the Universe.
Unlike his fellow Elders—such as The Collector or The Grandmaster, who are obsessed with hoarding or gaming—the Gardener’s sole purpose in life is to find barren or devastated worlds and transform them into breathtaking, peaceful gardens.
The Gardener made his debut in March 1977 in the pages of Marvel Team-Up #55.
He was created by renowned writer Bill Mantlo and co-created/designed by legendary artist John Byrne, with inks by Dave Hunt.
His first story takes place on the Blue Area of the Moon. Spider-Man and Adam Warlock encounter him peacefully tending to a lush, miraculous garden in the vacuum of space. The peace is disrupted when the cosmic entity known as The Stranger attacks to steal Adam Warlock's Soul Gem.
Long before Marvel officially established the concept of the "Infinity Stones" or the Infinity Gauntlet, the Gardener was already using them. In his first appearance, he wielded a mysterious gemstone purely to accelerate plant growth and keep his flora in eternal bloom. This stone was later revealed to be the Soul Gem. He eventually lost it, but later acquired the Time Gem, using it to freeze plants at the absolute apex of their beauty.
One of the most famous and dark anecdotes involving the Gardener occurred during the legendary Thanos Quest storyline (1.1.14). Thanos tracks down the Gardener to steal his Time Gem. Even though the Gardener is a pacifist and wants no part in cosmic wars, he refuses to hand it over. Thanos uses the Power Gem to amplify the Gardener's own manipulation over his plants. The power becomes so overwhelmed that the plants grow out of control, bursting out of the Gardener's body and seemingly tearing him apart from the inside out.
In later Marvel lore, the Gardener’s botanical experiments tied directly into the Guardians of the Galaxy mythos. He is recognized as the creator of the Flora colossi, the hyper-intelligent, tree-like alien species to which Groot belongs. At one point, the Gardener was poisoned and driven insane by Loki, causing him to use his cosmic powers to grow a vicious, weaponized army of Flora colossi, until Groot managed to restore his sanity.
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