Guardians of the Galaxy

"All any of you do is yell at each other. You're not friends." "You're right. We're family. We leave no one behind. Except maybe you."

- Nebula and Drax the Destroyer The Guardians of the Galaxy were a band of former intergalactic outlaws, who have teamed together to protect the Galaxy from planetary threats. They managed to save the planet of Xandar from the Kree warlord Ronan and have been recognized under the Nova Empire. An undetermined time after, they defeated the Abilisk, attracted the unwelcome attentions of Ayesha and her Sovereign race, and defeated the Celestial Ego.

Four years after that, the Guardians joined forces with the Avengers to stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones. Gamora was the first Guardian to be killed when Thanos sacrificed her for the Soul Stone. Despite their best efforts to stop Thanos when the majority of them faced him in battle on Titan alongside Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, they were defeated. Thanos then arrived on Wakanda and defeated Groot and the other heroes effortlessly and completed the Infinity Gauntlet. The only survivors among the Guardians were Rocket Raccoon and Nebula as all the other Guardians were erased from existence when Thanos used the stones to murder half of the universe's population.

The Orb
When Peter Quill, known as Star-Lord stole the Orb, Ronan the Accuser's Sakaarans forces hunted for the Ravager. He used the Milano to escape. Yondu Udonta and the Ravagers went to Morag after the Orb but discovered Quill's treachery and set a bounty on him. Elsewhere in the galaxy, Thanos, The Mad Titan, his lieutenant The Other, and his daughter Nebula met with Ronan the Accuser. Ronan argued with the Other about the Orb, then killed him with his hammer and sent Gamora to retrieve it. On Xandar, Quill tried to sell the Orb to a Xandarian Barterer but he refused after hearing of Ronan. Gamora then launched a sneak attack on Quill but was intercepted by bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The Nova Corps then arrested them.

Escape from the Kyln
The group was sentenced to Kyln Prison Facility where Gamora was endangered by inmates whose families were victims of Ronan. As they tried to kill Gamora, Drax the Destroyer stopped them, scaring the other prisoners away. Drax desired to kill Gamora himself for the death of his family. Quill convinced Drax that by letting Gamora live he would get the chance to exact his vengeance on Ronan as Gamora reveals she had betrayed him. Rocket plotted an escape plan, but Groot initiated it earlier than planned. They were forced to use a makeshift plan to escape from the Kyln with the Orb. They managed to do so successfully.

Skirmish on Knowhere
"But Quill, stopping Ronan, it's impossible. You're asking us to die." "Yeah, I guess I am. I-" "Quill. I have lived most my life surrounded by my enemies, I will be grateful to die among my friends." "You are an honorable man, Quill. I will fight beside you. And in the end, see my wife and daughter again." "I am Groot." "What the hell, I ain't got that long of a life span anyway. Now I'm standing, you all happy? We're all standing up now. Bunch of jackasses standing in a circle."

- Rocket Raccoon, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer and Groot

After their escape, Gamora realized that the Collector knew something about the Orb. So the group traveled to Knowhere, a city inside the severed head of a Celestial. In the city, the Collector said the Orb was one of the Infinity Stones, capable of destroying worlds. The Collector's distraught servant unleashed a blast from the Orb destroying the Collector's Museum. Ronan's forced invade Knowhere thanks to Drax sending a message challenging Ronan. Nebula went after Gamora escaping in an industrial pod with the orb. Rocket and Star-Lord gave chase but Gamora was blown into space and lost the orb to Nebula. Quill sent his coordinates to Yondu Udonta and gave Gamora his helmet until they were saved by the Ravagers. Quill promised the Orb to Yondu if they would help kill Ronan. As the group was reunited, Quill encouraged the group to join him saving Xandar from extinction. The team and the Ravagers planned an ambush on the Kree and the Dark Aster.

Battle of Xandar
"You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

- Star-Lord to Ronan The Ravagers were outnumbered by Ronan forces until the Nova Corps helped to build a force field to contain the Dark Aster. Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer and Groot infiltrated the Dark Aster and fought through the Sakaarans soldiers, killing Korath the Pursuer in the process. Nebula dueled Gamora but was thrown off the ship; she hijacks a Ravager's ship and escaped. The group arrived and attacked Ronan the Accuser with the Hadron Enforcer; he was unphased however and easily overpowered the group until Rocket Raccoon crashed into the ship. As the ship crash landed, Groot sacrificed himself to shield the team. Ronan raised and mocked them calling them failed guardians. Rocket rebuilt the cannon while Quill distracted Ronan allowing Rocket and Drax to destroy the hammer. Quill grabbed the Orb causing a cosmic storm. Before its power could kill him the others joined hands with him allowing Quill to withstand its power while declaring themselves to Ronan that they are the "Guardians of the Galaxy" then blasted Ronan with the stones' energy killing him.

New Life
"What should we do next? Something good, something bad? Bit of both?" "We'll follow your lead, Star-Lord." "A bit of both."

- Peter Quill and Gamora Quill gave Yondu a fake Orb container and gave the real one to the Nova Corps. With their slates cleaned, Nova Corps gave them a rebuilt Milano and told Quill he was only half-human and his other ethnicity was currently unknown. In gratitude for their role in saving Xandar, the Nova Corps expunged their criminal records to allow them a fresh start. A twig retrieved by Rocket began to grow into a new Groot and the Guardians left Xandar.

Battle on Sovereign
"We've been hired to stop an inter-dimensional beast from feeding on those batteries and I'm going to stop it with a sword?"

- Gamora

A few months after defeating Ronan the Accuser and becoming renowned as heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy were hired by Ayesha, the High Priestess of the Sovereign, to defeat the Abilisk, a beast who was slowly devouring her home planet's power source. In exchange, Ayesha promised to release Gamora's adoptive sister Nebula, whom the Sovereign had arrested following the Battle of Xandar, into their custody.

When the Abilisk arrived, the Guardians of the Galaxy got ready to fight as Groot plugged in Star-Lord's music and began dancing while the rest were thrown around by the Abilisk. The Guardians flew around the Abilisk and fired at it but all of their attacks didn't work. Drax then stated to Gamora that he thought that the Abilsk has to be cut through on the inside and proceeded to jump into its mouth. Star-Lord then came up with a real plan to shoot the cut on its neck.

Star-Lord and Rocket Raccoon distracted it by flying above it to give Gamora a shot at its neck. Gamora ran out of ammo so she got out her sword and cut through the Abilisk's neck killing it and releasing Drax.

Escape from the Sovereign Fleet
"You know, they told me that you people were conceited douchebags. But that isn't true at all!"

- Rocket Raccoon to Ayesha

Following the victory over the Abilisk, the Guardians met with High Priestess Ayesha. After a brief conversation, she gave them Nebula. However, Rocket Raccoon decided to take some of the Anulax Batteries for himself, an act the Sovereign considered illegal. The Guardians cuffed Nebula to the ship and headed to Xandar. After Ayesha discovered that Rocket had stolen the batteries from the Sovereign, she sent a fleet of drones after the Guardians for Rocket's actions. The Guardians, realizing they were outnumbered, decided to head for a hyperspace warp, which involved flying through a Quantum Asteroid Field, where the they could enter the Jump Point and escape. Star-Lord and Rocket barely managed to maneuver through the field, while most of the Omnicrafts were destroyed, except for one. Due to an argument between Quill and Rocket regarding who should fly the ship, the Milano was struck by several asteroids and shots fired from the drone.

Drax then put on a spacesuit, garbed a gun, and tethering himself to the ship, flew out into space and successfully shot down the last drone. However, as the Milano flew out of the asteroid field, they were attacked by even more Omnicrafts that went around the field, and the ship was even more heavily damaged. Suddenly, the drones are all destroyed in a single strike by a mysterious figure on another spacecraft.

Separated
"After all these years I found you." "And who the hell are you?" "I figured my rugged good looks would make that obvious. My name is Ego, and I'm your dad, Peter."

- Ego and Peter Quill

The Milano crashed on he planet Berhert. As they all argued about Rocket Raccoon's actions and his fight with Peter Quill, the spacecraft which had saved them landed near them and two figures came out. One of them presented himself as Ego and revealed himself as Quill's father. During the meeting, Ego attempted to make Quill return to his home accompanied by Gamora and Drax while Rocket and Groot guarded on Nebula and repaired the ship. During the flight to Ego's Planet, Quill, Gamora and Drax got to know Mantis, Ego's servant who had emphatic abilities. Arriving at Ego's Plant, Ego explained to the three that he was a Celestial who had created his own planted and in fact it was him. While Quill learned more of his origin and his abilities as a half Celestial, Mantis tried to warn Drax and Gamora about something regarding Ego. When Yondu Udonta and his Ravagers arrived to Berhert to capture the Guardians and to hand them over the Sovereign after being hired by Ayesha, Rocket tried to defeat them alone but failed. Nebula tricked Groot to free her, while Taserface carried out the mutiny against Yondu. Nebula helped them to captured Yondu, Rocket and Groot and they brought the three to the Eclector. Nebula took an M-ship and headed to Ego' Planet to kill Gamora. Yondu, Rocket and Groot were joined by Kraglin Obfonteri and together they killed all of the Ravagers and escaped with the Quadrant to Ego's Planet as well.

As Gamora grew more suspicious towards Ego, Nebula arrived on Ego's Planet and attempted to kill Gamora, who survived and defeated her sister. However, she reached to an uneasy alliance point, and the two explored the planet. Gamora and Nebula discovered thousands of skeleton remains hidden inside the caves of Ego's Planet, and felt that Ego was hiding a secret from them. Mantis revealed to Drax that the skeletons were all Ego's children. Ego reveled to Quill that his purpose in his universe was to "expand" and be the universe. His children meant to help him accomplish that but they failed him. But when Ego reveled he had killed Meredith Quill, Peter started to fight him.

Battle on Ego's Planet
"You shouldn't have killed my mom and squished my Walkman!"

- Peter Quill

Ego used Peter Quill to activate the seedlings, which began to consume every world. In order to rescue Quill, Drax, Gamora, Mantis and Nebula entered the hall just as Rocket Raccoon, Yondu Udonta and Groot arrived. The reunited Guardians reached the core of the planet, where Ego's brain was housed. When Ego prepared to fight them, Mantis, with encouragement from the Guardians, was able to put Ego into a sleeping state, giving them time to prepare to destroy him. However, Omnicrafts of the Sovereign arrived to destroy them.

While the other Guardians fought the drones, Rocket made a bomb out of the stolen Anulax Batteries, and tries to instruct Groot on properly and safely activating the bomb. With Nebula using herself as a power source for their ship, it was able to destroy all the drones, but one dead drone struck Mantis, knocking her out causing Ego to awaken. Groot planted on Ego's brain, while Quill battled Ego with his newfound Celestial powers to allow the other Guardians to escape.

The bomb exploded, killing Ego and causing the planet to disintegrate. Yondu sacrificed himself to save Quill, who comes to realize that Yondu did not deliver him to Ego in order to spare him from the fate of Ego's other progeny and that Yondu was Quill's true "daddy".

Yondu's Funeral
The Guardians retrieved Quill with Udonta's lifeless body from space and brought them onboard. The Guardians then held a funeral for Udonta where Quill gave a eulogy and talked about how he used to tell kids that David Hasselhoff was his dad when in fact Udonta was kind of like Hasselhoff and that he was Quill's dad. They then cremated the body as Rocket called the rest of the Ravagers who gave Udonta a Ravagers Farewell. When the Ravagers arrived, the Guardians watched from their ship and had deep conversations with each other: Rocket coming to a relation about himself, Gamora accepting her feelings for Quill and Drax admitting to Mantis' beauty.

Meeting Thor
"I bid you farewell and good luck, morons. Bye."

- Thor to the Guardians of the Galaxy

The Guardians answered the Asgardian distress call, due to the Attack on the Statesman. However, they arrived too late, as they turned up in the aftermath of the attack, and the ship had already been destroyed by Thanos, but they managed to rescue Thor, who was still alive from the attack. Thor woke up and told the Guardians that Thanos obtained the Power Stone, decimating Xandar in the process, and the Space Stone as well. He suspected Thanos had set course to Knowhere to obtain the Reality Stone. The Guardians agreed to split up, with Rocket and Groot accompanying Thor to Nidavellir, while Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis raced to Knowhere to prevent Thanos from getting the Reality Stone.

Ambush in Knowhere
When Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis arrived on Knowhere, they found Thanos interrogating the Collector, asking about the whereabouts of the Reality Stone. Drax, angered over the deaths of his wife and daughter, tried to attack, but was knocked out by Mantis. However, the sound caught Thanos' attention, which led the Guardians to attack, with Gamora appearing to kill him. However, Thanos reveals that he already had the Reality Stone in his possession, and used the Stone to create an illusion to mislead the Guardians. He then told Gamora that this was his plan all along and held her captive. Star-Lord attempted to get Thanos to let Gamora go, but Gamora reminded him of the promise that he gave her that he would shoot her if Thanos was able to capture her. Star-Lord reluctantly, shot Gamora, only for Thanos to turn the blaster into bubbles, and teleported away with Gamora in an attempt to get her to reveal the Soul Stone location.

Forging the Stormbreaker
While the other Guardians were confronting Thanos on Knowhere, Thor, Rocket, and Groot went to Nidavellir so that the dwarves there could make a new hammer for Thor to use. However, upon arriving there, they were shocked to find out that the star forge had gone quiet, and the Mad Titan had killed off almost all the dwarves save for the blacksmith Eitri, who was left without the use of his hands to prevent him from forging more weapons. However, Thor was able to convince Eitri to help create the Stormbreaker, allowing the weapon to be forged after Thor and Rocket helped return the forge to its former glory, with Thor having to withstand the power of the star in order to enable Eitri to forge the hammer.

Eitri was able to create the Stormbreaker's mold, however, due to the power of the star, Thor was unable to bear its strength, and began to die. Unfortunately, Eitri had misplaced the handle of the weapon, and was struggling to find it before Stormbreaker could cool. But Groot had decided to take out the maul, still hot from the forge, and used his arm as its own customized handle. Even though Thor had been badly burned in the process of forging Stormbreaker with a dying star's energy, he was able to instantly recover when Stormbreaker was finally completed and given to him. Now with his new weapon equipped, Thor, Groot, and Rocket transported to Wakanda to assist the Avengers in the battle by summoning a Bifrost Bridge from Nidavellir.

Battle of Titan
Having failed their objective to prevent Thanos from taking the Reality Stone, the Guardians of the Galaxy eventually arrive on Titan in the Benatar to meet Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man. Originally believing each other to be on Thanos' side, they fought before discovering that Thanos was actually an enemy they had in common. As a result, they decided to team up so that Thanos could be stopped, just as he arrived on Titan to take the Time Stone from Doctor Strange's Eye of Agamotto.

The Guardians, Avengers and Strange managed to effectively compete against Thanos, although even in situations where Thanos could not use the Gauntlet, their assault still proved unable to truly overwhelm Thanos. Only after Nebula distracted Thanos were they able to finally barely overpower him, nearly pulling the Infinity Gauntlet from his arm. But upon Mantis discovering the Mad Titan's feelings and Peter Quill finding out about Gamora's sacrifice in favour of the Soul Stone, Quill began to attack Thanos out of his own fury, only making the situation worse as Mantis' concentration was broken, and Thanos was able to free himself from the other heroes and proceeded to take out the Guardians, knocking out Mantis with a head-butt and throwing her off his head and soon incapacitating Drax, Nebula and Quill with a single shockwave. Thanos wasted no time in unleashing a brutal attack by tearing apart Titan's moon and throwing the pieces at the heroes, which would have killed them had Spider-Man not saved them but the heroes were effectively separated, allowing Thanos to overpower them the point where Strange had no choice but to give up his Time Stone so that the powerful Titan wouldn't kill Iron Man. Even when Quill attempted to stop him, it was in vain as Thanos simply left for Earth. Defeated, the Guardians and Avengers had no choice but to look forward to their eventual fates as Thanos went to Wakanda to seek his final Infinity Stone.

Battle of Wakanda
When Thor, Rocket, and Groot arrive in Wakanda, the Avengers, Dora Milaje, Border Tribe, and the Jabari Tribe were losing the battle to Thanos' Black Order and his horde of Outriders. But with his new weapon, Thor was able to easily overpower the invading army with supporting aid from the two Guardians and the Avengers with their combined forces. They managed to win the battle, only to later face Thanos seeking the Mind Stone himself, who Groot participated in fighting against but was effortlessly defeated.

Deaths
When Thanos later got the Mind Stone from Vision (thus completing the Infinity Gauntlet) and snapped his fingers, almost all of the Guardians suddenly began to crumble into dust and disappear from view, consisting of Quill, Drax, Mantis, and Groot. This in-turn left just two Guardians - Rocket and Nebula, still alive after the fateful finger-snapping.

Rocket Raccoon

 * Name: Subject: 89P13
 * Activity: August 2014 - present
 * Status: Alive
 * Description: A creature resembling a Terran raccoon that was genetically modified by an alien race, giving him human-level intelligence. However, years of repetitive genetic rewrite and abuse resulted in Rocket developing a cynical and vain personality, making him an ideal mercenary and teammate to the other Guardians. After the events of the war against Thanos, Rocket was one of the very few members who survived.

Nebula

 * Name: Nebula
 * Activity: October 2014 ; 2018 - present
 * Status: Alive
 * Description: A Luphomoid assassin and an adopted daughter of the intergalactic warlord, Thanos. She is also the adopted sister of Gamora. She served as the right-hand woman of Ronan the Accuser during his and Thanos' quest to retrieve the Orb. After briefly encountering and fighting her sister again, Nebula assisted her and the other Guardians in stopping the maniac Ego. She then left the team to go and find Thanos in order to kill him, and she nearly succeeded but ended up getting captured. During the war against Thanos, she was able to escape and rejoined the team on Titan, and was one of the few survivors after her father wiped out half of the universe.

Yondu Udonta

 * Name: Yondu Udonta
 * Activity: October 2014
 * Status: Deceased
 * Description: A Centaurian, leader of a faction of the Ravagers and father figure to Peter Quill. When Quill betrayed the Ravagers and stole an Orb for himself, Udonta led the hunt for his former ally. Eventually, Udonta caught up with Quill but was convinced to help in him the war against Ronan the Accuser, who was threatening to use the Orb's power to destroy the planet Xandar. Yondu eventually gave his life to save Quill during Ego's destruction.

Gamora

 * Name: Gamora
 * Activity: August 2014 - 2018
 * Status: Deceased
 * Description: The only known survivor of the Zehoberei race, adopted by the Mad Titan Thanos. Renowned as the 's deadliest assassin, Gamora had a falling out with her father that caused her to rebel against him, thereby making her an enemy of Thanos and his associates. Her fugitive status led to her becoming a member of the Guardians. She is known as the "Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy". Gamora is killed after being used as a sacrifice by her adoptive father, Thanos, to claim the Soul Stone.

Groot

 * Name: Groot
 * Activity: August 2014 (original) ; August 2014 - 2018 (offspring)
 * Status: Deceased (original) ; Deceased (offspring)
 * Description: A sentient tree-like individual and accomplice of Rocket Raccoon. Groot's physiology renders the limits of his speech to the phrase, "I am Groot.", and "We are Groot.", due to having a wooden larynx. Though Groot's vocabulary is only limited to five words, he is usually trying to communicate other meanings. The only way to understand Groot's speech is for someone to translate what he is trying to say, which Rocket and Quill are able to do as they have spent enough time with him. Groot sacrificed himself to save the rest of the team during the Battle of Xandar, and a new Groot was born from his remains. The new Groot is one of the many killed after he is disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers, wiping out half of the universe.

Mantis

 * Name: Mantis
 * Activity: October 2014 - 2018
 * Status: Deceased
 * Description: A young empathic woman raised by the Celestial Ego and recruited as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Since she was a child, Mantis helped ease Ego's neurotic behavior with her powers until the Guardians of the Galaxy came to his planet. After bonding with Drax, she came to care for the Guardians and allied with them to help to prevent Ego from conquering the Galaxy. With her servitude to Ego ended, she became a full-fledged member of the Guardians and accompanied them on further adventures. Mantis is one of the many killed after she is disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers, wiping out half of the universe.

Drax the Destroyer

 * Name: Drax
 * Activity: August 2014 - 2018
 * Status: Deceased
 * Description: An enigma, with his true origin unknown. He is driven only by a burning desire to obtain vengeance against Ronan of the Kree, who killed Drax's wife and daughter. Drax's search for revenge resulted in him joining the Guardians. Drax is one of the many killed after he is disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers, wiping out half of the universe.

Star-Lord

 * Name: Peter Quill
 * Activity: August 2014 - 2018
 * Status: Deceased
 * Description: A human-Celestial hybrid who was kidnapped from Earth by the Yondu Ravager Clan at the age of eight. After living in space for nearly thirty years, Quill became wrapped up in an intergalactic conspiracy that caused him and his former inmates to form the Guardians of the Galaxy, with him becoming their leader. He is also the owner and one of the pilots of the Milano. Quill is one of the many killed after he is disintegrated when Thanos snapped his fingers, wiping out half of the universe.

Allies

 * Taneleer Tivan/The Collector
 * Nova Corps
 * Irani Rael
 * Rhomann Dey
 * Garthan Saal †
 * Ravagers
 * Yondu Ravager Clan
 * Horuz †
 * Kraglin Obfonteri
 * Stakar Ogord's Team
 * Stakar Ravager Clan
 * Stakar Ogord
 * Martinex
 * Charlie-27 Ravager Clan
 * Charlie-27
 * Aleta Ravager Clan
 * Aleta Ogord
 * Mainframe Ravager Clan
 * Mainframe
 * Krugarr Ravager Clan
 * Krugarr
 * Avengers
 * Thor
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Peter Parker/Spider-Man †
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * James Rhodes/War Machine
 * Sam Wilson/Falcon †
 * Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch †
 * Vision †
 * Eitri
 * Doctor Strange †
 * T'Challa/Black Panther †
 * Bucky Barnes/White Wolf †
 * Dora Milaje
 * Okoye
 * Jabari Tribe
 * M'Baku
 * Border Tribe

Enemies

 * Thanos
 * Black Order
 * Cull Obsidian †
 * Proxima Midnight †
 * Chitauri
 * Leviathans
 * Outriders
 * Kree Empire
 * Ronan the Accuser †
 * Korath the Pursuer †
 * Sakaarans
 * Abilisk †
 * Sovereign
 * Ayesha
 * Zylak
 * Taserface's Ravagers
 * Taserface †
 * Retch †
 * Halfnut †
 * Scrote †
 * Gef †
 * Narblik †
 * Brahl †
 * Vorker †
 * Huhtar †
 * Ego †

Trivia

 * In the comics, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a collective of interstellar heroes assembled by Star-Lord to prevent cosmic threats, and located on Knowhere. They took the name from another group of cosmic heroes, based in an alternate future on Earth-691.
 * Following the success of the first film, every media incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy have been specifically based on the MCU version of the team.
 * With the exception of Rocket Raccoon and Nebula, every member of the Guardians of the Galaxy has died following the climax of the Infinity War.