Groot

"I am Groot!"

- Groot

Groot is a sentient tree-like individual and frequent accomplice of intergalactic criminal Rocket Raccoon. Together, the pair joined the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Early Life
Groot is a hyper-intelligent tree-like organism from the species Flora colossus native to the planet X. While he possesses great human level intellect, Groot's robust and heavyweight physiology causes the organs of his acoustic generation to become stiff and inflexible, rendering the limits of his speech to the phrase, "I am Groot."

Deals at the Hub
Groot was the frequent partner-in-crime of Rocket Raccoon. One of their adventures saw them travel to The Hub, where the duo rescued a family of sentient Scalluscs from the Stygian crime-lord Zade Scraggot, who was planning on harvesting the shells of the hapless snail-like creatures to use as tiles for his bathroom. Groot and Rocket had originally been hired by Sqqd'li, under the orders of his employer, the crime-lord Zade Scraggot to acquire the Scalluscs for Scraggot, but upon learning the nature of their cargo and their intended fate, and that the Scalluscs could out-pay Scraggot, Groot and Rocket chose to rescue them from the crime-lord instead.

Guardians of the Galaxy
Sometime later, the pair was captured by the Nova Corps on Xandar and brought to the Kyln. There, the pair joined up with fellow prisoners Peter Quill, Gamora, and Drax to make their escape, becoming the Guardians of the Galaxy. One of Groot's actions was particularly frustrating to Rocket when, as Rocket was discussing the escape plan to Quill and Gamora, Groot initiated the escape attempt without warning.

Sacrifice
"We are Groot."

- Groot, making his sacrifice During the battle with Ronan, Groot sacrifices himself by forming his body into a protective crash sphere to save the other Guardians, allowing them to survive a crash from low orbit, but shattering him in the process. Rocket retrieves and plants a pre-arranged cutting from his body, which slowly begins to grow into a new body.

Personality
Groot is usually very gentle and warm, displaying kindness towards innocent life. However, he can also be merciless and brutal towards his enemies, especially if they threaten his friends.

Abilities

 * Regeneration - Groot has the power to regenerate his entire form if a living twig of himself remains after destruction. In the combat his body can immediately heal the damage sustained to his body, which, in combination with his rapid growth, makes him difficult to kill.
 * Great Strength - Groot is capable of great feats of strength from breaking sturdy metal items to fighting other super-strong opponents to flailing around ten armored warriors with comparative ease.
 * Elasticity - Groot can extend any part of his body to make himself longer, can make himself taller, and can extend his fingers and arms.
 * Bio-Luminancent Spores - Groot is able to emit spores that are bio-luminous and provided light for the others as they walked.

Relationships

 * Guardians of the Galaxy - Teammates
 * Star-Lord - Leader
 * Drax the Destroyer
 * Rocket Raccoon - Best Friend
 * Gamora
 * Ronan the Accuser - Enemy
 * Thanos - Enemy
 * Nebula - Enemy

Trivia

 * In the comics, Groot was the first alien to visit Earth as depicted in the mainstream Marvel Universe chronology.
 * Groot first appeared in Tales to Astonish 13, cover-dated November, 1960, and was written by Stan Lee and drawn by the legendary Jack Kirby-- A full year before the duo officially started the Marvel Universe with the release of Fantastic Four #1 in November 1961.
 * Fourth only to Thor, Captain America and the original Human Torch, Groot is one of the oldest Marvel superheros to be depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Behind the Scenes

 * Vin Diesel's involvment with Marvel Studios began as just an internet prank he began by posting on Facebook that Marvel had "requested a meeting" with him. Eventually Marvel Studios actually contacted him and he was cast as Groot.
 * James Gunn provided the motion capture for Groot when he dances in the pre-credits scene.