Editing Guardians of the Universe (section)

==History==

===Background===
The Guardians evolved on the planet Maltus, being among the first intelligent life forms in the universe. At this time, they were tall, grayish-blue humanoids with black hair, who roughly resembled humans except for their skin color. They became scientists and thinkers, experimenting on the worlds around them. One experiment led to the creation of a new species, the [[Psion (comics)|Psions]]. In a pivotal moment, billions of years ago, a Maltusian named [[Krona (DC Comics)|Krona]] used time-bending technology to observe the beginning of the Universe. However, this experiment, and later attempts to stop it, unleashed disaster upon all existence. Originally, the experiment splintered the Universe into the [[Multiverse (DC Comics)|Multiverse]] and created the evil Anti-Matter Universe of [[Qward]].<ref name="dc-ency"/> Following the retroactive destruction of the Multiverse, it was revealed that Krona flooded the beginning of the Universe with [[entropy]] causing it "to be born old".

Feeling responsible for this, the Maltusians relocated to the planet Oa (at "the center of the Universe") and took on the mantle of the Guardians. Their goal was simple: combat evil and create an orderly universe. They acted quickly on that goal. During this period, the conditions of Oa caused them to evolve once again: they now lost half of their height, with white hair and larger heads. They now act as the leaders of the [[Green Lantern Corps]], an interstellar police force which patrols the universe.<ref name=Guide>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Korte |first3=Steve |last4=Manning |first4=Matt |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |last6=Wilson |first6=Sven |title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe |date=2016 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-5357-0 |page=132}}</ref>

===Consequences===
Desiring to bring order, peace and harmony to all the universe, they created a mechanized police force composed of powerful, self-aware androids known as [[Manhunters (DC Comics)|Manhunters]]. These Manhunters, resembling uniformed, blue-skinned humanoids, operated as cosmic police officers, much like the later Green Lanterns. They protected civilization and maintained peace in the Universe for millions of years, patrolling 3600 sectors into which the cosmos had been divided.

One day, the Manhunters collectively changed their directives and set out on a campaign to eradicate all organic life. Starting with Sector 666, they killed the people they had been created to protect, eradicating almost all life in the entire sector before the Guardians stopped them. Most Manhunters were decommissioned after the massacre of Sector 666, but the ones that escaped became the sworn enemies of their former masters and remained so until modern times.

The Manhunter rebellion caused the Guardians to split into groups with different goals. The [[Controllers (DC Comics)|Controllers]] believe the only way to protect the Universe is to control it. The Zamarons, consisting entirely of female Oans, felt no need to involve themselves in the universe's problems. Over the years, both groups evolved to look dissimilar to the Guardians. Other groups also left the Guardians; one such group settled on Earth, becoming the source of [[leprechaun]] legends.<ref>''Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale ''</ref> The [[Apokolips]] campaign{{clarify|date=November 2014}} ended in a truce, with the Guardians forced to abandon a soldier ([[Raker Qarrigat]]) to [[Darkseid]]. Fearing dissension, they ordered all records of the Campaign expunged.

Survivors of the massacre of Sector 666 – beings labelled demons – banded together to form a nation called the Empire of Tears, which opposed the Guardians’ efforts and philosophy. They used dark magic to create a galaxy-spanning realm of chaos and evil. The Guardians eventually defeated the Empire and imprisoned its leaders, the Five Inversions, on the bleak world of Ysmault. The Guardians decided that magic was chaotic and posed a threat to the balance they desired to achieve. They labored to destroy sources of magic and suppress or imprison its users throughout the Universe. They succeeded in compacting much of the chaotic magic energy of the Cosmos and imprisoning it inside a star; part of it eventually escaped to become the Starheart used by [[Alan Scott]].

===Modern history===
[[Image:Oa armour.jpg|left|thumb|Oa's defensive systems]]The Guardians were almost wiped out in the events of ''[[Emerald Twilight]]'', the only survivor being [[Ganthet]]. They sacrificed themselves to create one final power ring, a power ring perhaps more powerful than all others before it. Oa was itself destroyed in a battle between Parallax and [[Kyle Rayner]], but rebuilt in the events of "Legacy" as the final wish of Hal Jordan's former power ring. The Guardians have since been restored when Kyle Rayner, as [[Ion (DC Comics)|Ion]], recharged the Central Power Battery. Rayner lost his power and role as Ion but this sacrifice released all the Guardian's life forces from the dormancy in his ring. The Immortals first appeared as children but aged quickly and many seem to have returned to the identities they had before they created Kyle Rayner's power ring. Unlike before, however, the Guardians are male and female, rather than just male. While Kyle had made them children in order for them to grow up and become less cold than their predecessors, this had not worked. Instead, the Guardians were as cold and manipulative as they were before the ''Emerald Twilight'', with the exception of Ganthet and [[Sayd]]. Also, one of them, Lianna, seemed to have reverted to the original Maltusian appearance in the process. Many of the Guardians revived by Kyle Rayner seemed to have disappeared, as only a handful now appear in the current Green Lantern issues, while dozens were revived by Kyle Rayner. Female Guardians appear in flashbacks to Hal Jordan's rookie days as a Green Lantern. Whether this is an oversight or a result of the events of ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' has not been explained. With their revival, they began to rebuild the [[Green Lantern Corps]] using veterans to train the new ring-bearers. Alongside this experiment, the Guardians refortified Oa by creating a planet-wide armor and defensive system to prevent successful attacks against them. The ''[[Sinestro Corps War]]'' forces them to rewrite the Book of Oa and to add ten new laws.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cowsill |first1=Alan |last2=Irvine |first2=Alex |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=McAvennie |first4=Michael |last5=Wallace |first5=Daniel |title=DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle |date=2019 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1-4654-8578-6 |page=314}}</ref> To date, four of the ten have been revealed.<ref name="gl23">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #23 (September 2007)</ref> They also expelled Ganthet and Sayd from their rank, because of the discovery that they were in a romantic relationship with each other. Another reason for their expulsion was their quotation from the forbidden chapter of the Book of Oa, which has [[Abin Sur]]'s discovery of the prophecy The ''[[Blackest Night]]''.

In the aftermath of the War, both Ganthet and Sayd have evolved into two new beings on a paradise-like planet Odym, where they are harnessing the blue energy spectrum of hope and creating blue power rings and batteries, planning to create another intergalactic police force to be able to aid the Guardians and the Green Lantern Corps against the ''Blackest Night''. The rank of the Guardians has weakened, as well; while there were originally twelve of them as Head Guardians, there are now six of them, after Ganthet and Sayd left Oa, and one Guardian died after a battle with [[Superman-Prime]]—this Guardian willfully "detonated" himself in an unsuccessful, last-ditch effort to destroy the insane Kryptonian (who wished to destroy the Universe in his own right).<ref name="gl25">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #25 (December 2007)</ref> A female Guardian has been left scarred by the [[Anti-Monitor]], and the exposure to his antimatter energy reveals to have had dire consequences. Her fellow Guardians were unaware of the changes within her, either physical or behavioral (she is far more militant than is normal for the Guardians).<ref name="gl27">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #27 (January 2008)</ref><ref name="Ref_">''Final Crisis: Rise of the Red Lanterns'' #1 (October 2008)</ref> In the ''Origins and Omens'' backup stories running through several DC releases in February 2009, she is given the official name of Scar.<ref name="Ref_a">''Adventure Comics'' (vol. 2) #0 (April 2009)</ref> Scar killed one of her fellow guardians in the beginning of the Blackest Night, and is later revealed that she has since died after the Anti-Monitor's attack, and functions as an undead instead of an immortal.<ref name="Ref_b">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #44 (September 2009)</ref> Another guardian was killed by Nekron, as a sacrifice to summon the Entity on Earth.

The Guardians seemed extremely displeased with the appearance of the other corps. While they "tolerated" the existence of the [[Star Sapphire (comics)|Star Sapphires]], they made it clear that they were going to exterminate the [[Red Lantern Corps]]. They also made a deal with [[Larfleeze]] of the Orange Lantern Corps some time ago, which resulted in the Vega System being out of Green Lantern jurisdiction. However, they seem to show particular displeasure with the [[Blue Lantern Corps]], going so far as to attempt to forcibly remove the blue ring acquired by [[Hal Jordan]], and when that didn't work, attempting to hold him on Oa until such time as it could be removed. With the ultimatum delivered by Larfleeze, the current wielder of the orange power of [[avarice]], Scar proposed lifting the ban on the Vega System as well as having the Guardians leave Oa to get involved in the conflict personally.<ref name="gl38">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #38 (February 2009)</ref><ref name="gl39">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #39 (April 2009)</ref>

The Guardians accepted Scar's proposal and left Oa with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to confront Larfleeze in the Vega System. The Guardians also decided to see how Jordan's blue ring would function with his green one during battles.<ref name="gl40">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #40 (April 2009)</ref> After the Agent Orange's defeat, the Guardians negotiated with Larfleeze once more to continue to keep the orange light of avarice contained. The Agent Orange later launched an attack on Odym, seeking to possess the powers of the Blue Lantern Corps, presumably being swayed by Scar.<ref name="gl41">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #41 (May 2009)</ref><ref name="gl42">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #42 (June 2009)</ref>

During the ''Blackest Night'', the Guardians finally realized that Ganthet and Sayd were correct in their interpretation of the prophecy discovered by Abin Sur. However, Scar killed a Guardian and bound the rest to prevent them from interfering. She later sent a number of black power rings to the Green Lantern Corps' memorial, reviving the deceased members of the Corps as undead Black Lanterns. She also weakened Oa's planetary defenses for an attack from the [[Black Lantern Corps]].<ref name="bn1">''Blackest Night'' #1 (July 2009)</ref> When a group of Green Lanterns found their way into the Guardians' chamber, they found it empty, with no sign of Scar or her captives.<ref name="glc40">''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 2) #40 (September 2009)</ref> Scar had taken her captives to the dead planet of Ryut, home of the Black Lantern's Central Power Battery.<ref name="gl46">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #46 (September 2009)</ref> Scar teleported herself, the Guardians, and the Black Lantern Central Power Battery to Earth, directly on top of [[Black Hand (comics)|Black Hand]]'s home, and Black Hand summoned [[Nekron]] to [[Coast City]].<ref name="bn4">''Blackest Night'' #4 (December 2009)</ref> In the midst of the battle, Nekron killed a Guardian and Black Hand used his blood and organs to raise "The Trespasser" from the ground, holding a white figure. Ganthet revealed the entity to be the living embodiment of life in the universe. It seemed Earth was where life first began, a fact the Guardians did their best to hide, to keep the entity safe from harm and exploitation, redirecting that danger towards themselves by informing the majority of the universe that life began on their planet of Oa (despite the fact that the Oans were in fact born on the planet Maltus).<ref name="bn7">''Blackest Night'' #7 (February 2010)</ref>

During the ''[[War of the Green Lanterns]]'' storyline, the Guardians had been discussing the various events occurring, ranging from Hal Jordan's allegiance with the New Guardians to the revolt of the Alpha Lanterns and so on.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #63 (March 2011)</ref> The group is then later confronted by [[Krona (comics)|Krona]], who reveals his plan to control emotions. As a result, he had the Ion, the Predator, Butcher, Ophidian, Ion, Adara, and Proselyte inhabit the six Guardians as hosts and placed Parallax back within the Green Central Power Battery to subjugate the Green Lantern Corps under his control.<ref name="gl64"/> The Guardians are freed from Krona's emotional control by Hal Jordan, who kills Krona using his ultimate power. The rings from the other corps return to their former wielders. However, the Guardians expel them from Oa. The Guardians believe Hal to be the most dangerous of the Green Lantern Corps; therefore, the Guardians wrongfully discharge him from the Corps, much to the Green Lantern Corps' chagrin.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 4) #67 (July 2011)</ref> Afterward, the Guardians of the Universe allow Sinestro to become a Green Lantern once more. However, the Green Lantern Corps learn from empathy Lantern Meadlux that the Guardians are afraid of Hal Jordan, fearing that what happened to Krona would eventually happen to them if Jordan was allowed to continue as a Green Lantern.<ref>''War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath'' #1 (July 2011)</ref> Later, when the Green Lantern Corps are in disagreement and attempt to kill Sinestro, the Corps break into the sciencells, but the Corps discover that the Guardians have in captivity Sinestro and are trying to remove Sinestro's green ring, but the ring will not be removed. Later, the Green Lantern Corps were in a meeting by the Guardians, where they chose to continue the fight and that any intrusion would incite a mutiny. The other Green Lantern Corps are in agreement.<ref>''War of the Green Lanterns: Aftermath'' #2 (August 2011)</ref>

====The New 52====
With Kyle Rayner having rebelled against the Guardians to join the 'New Guardians', a makeshift team consisting of representatives from all seven Corps,<ref>''Green Lantern: New Guardians'' #4 (December 2011)</ref> Hal Jordan's recent expulsion (although he has been forced to assist Sinestro's activities), and the 'recommendations' of the now-emotionless Ganthet,<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #1 (November 2011)</ref> the Guardians are preparing to create the 'Third Army' to replace the Green Lantern Corps. This would involve them recovering the mysterious 'First Lantern' for an undefined role,<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #3 (January 2012)</ref> prompting Sinestro, who learned about this prophecy after touching the Book of the Black, to enlist Hal's aid in stopping this scheme.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #6 (February 2012)</ref>

The Guardians began searching for the Book of the Black by tracking Starstorm, who was one of the last people to have had contact with the Book. When he proves useless to them, the Guardians kill Starstorm without mercy.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #9 (July 2012)</ref> Furthermore, it was revealed that they were the masterminds behind the release of Abysmus, one of Atrocitus' early experiments at creating life by the use of necromancy and shamanic rituals, so he could try to destroy the Red Lantern Corps by poisoning their Central Power Battery.<ref>''Red Lanterns'' (vol. 1) #12 (October 2012)</ref> It is also speculated that they were the masterminds behind the release of Archangel Invictus from Larfleeze's prison and the fall of the Blue Lantern Corps during the Reach invasion in Odym.<ref>''Green Lantern: New Guardians'' (vol. 1) #9, 10, 11, and 12 (July, August, September, and October 2012)</ref> Secretly, they also were pleased with the outcome of the Alpha War which saw the death of all Alpha Lanterns as it kept their hands clean of any involvement as they intended to destroy their Green Lanterns whilst bringing about the rise of the Third Army.<ref>''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 3) #12 (August 2012)</ref>

To do so, the Guardians of the Universe traveled to the Chamber of Shadows, where they had sealed other Oans away for billion of years. As the Guardians open the Chamber, the imprisoned Oans believe that they were finally joining them, but the Guardians clarify that they are there for the First Lantern. The other Oans were stunned by the Guardians (who have become unemotional), telling them that keeping the First Lantern captivity was their objective. The Guardians attack the other Oans, and a Guardian kills the elder Oan named Reegal, as they take the First Lantern, Volthoom that is trapped inside, and seal the other Oans back in the Chamber of Shadows. The Guardians intervene with the Black Lantern, Black Hand, charging him up with enough power to drain Green Lanterns Hal and Sinestro, after learning and finding out that Hal Jordan is wearing a Green Power Ring and becoming a member of the Green Lantern Corps again, which apparently kills them both, as well as the discharge of Hal Jordan once again. The Guardians then use the power of the First Lantern to create the Third Army from their own flesh and will, and so the "Rise of the Third Army" has begun.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) Annual #1 (August 2012)</ref>

The Guardians begin an evil agenda, as they assign John to track down Mogo's dead remains, due to claims that they are moving and trying to reform it. The Guardians then promote [[Guy Gardner (character)|Guy Gardner]] as the 'Sentinel Lantern' and entrust him with guarding a group of ambassadors travelling to a planet for a crucial conference, only to subsequently release Xar, Guy's old enemy, from the Science-Cells. They presume Xar will go after Guy's family on Earth, knowing that Guy will abandon his duty and return to Earth while Xar attacks the ambassadors.<ref>''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 3) #13 (October 2012)</ref> The Guardians' plans have changed after Guy breaks off the attack from the Third Army and survives; the Guardians then frame Guy for failing his duty to protect the ambassadors, who were killed and expel him from the Green Lantern Corps.<ref>''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 3) #14 (November 2012)</ref> Suspicious about the Guardians' agenda, Salaak's began spying on them and discover they had already spread the Third Army across the universe, but the Guardians caught him before he can reveal this information, and imprison Salaak in the Citadel.<ref>''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 3) #15 (December 2012)</ref> The Guardians watches the Third Army spread over the universe, destroying all life and free will. They have told the First Lantern that once the Third Army completes their control over the whole universe, there will be no need for him.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #14 (November 2012)</ref> Later, the Guardians realize they cannot completely control the universe and need more members of the Third Army. They use more of the power of the First Lantern, without realizing that the First Lantern's prison is breaking.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #15 (December 2012)</ref>

The Guardians fool the Green Lanterns into a meeting to paralyse them, so they can reveal the reason behind their plan to replace the Green Lantern Corps with the Third Army. However, they are thwarted by Guy's diversion after he survives his fate at the hands of the Third Army and discovers their involvement with the Third Army. Kilowog then used his oath to cause the Central Power Battery to depower so that he could send distress calls to all the Green Lanterns and warn that the Guardians have turned against their own Corps. The Green Lantern Corps, including Guy Gardner (who rejoined them after finding out their plans), join the New Guardians and Atrocitus' Manhunters that arrive to rebel against the treacherous Guardians. When they are able to destroy the Third Army, Volthoom breaks free by taking the wounded Guardians' energy power and igniting the light, apparently resulting in the destruction of the universe.<ref>''Green Lantern Corps'' (vol. 3) Annual #1 (January 2013)</ref>

The Guardians then wake up imprisoned on the planet Maltus by Volthoom, who restores Ganthet's emotions. It is revealed that when Krona tried to observe the beginnings of the universe, his experiment allowed a vessel to emerge on Oa where inside was a figure in a spacesuit with a bright lantern battery. Calling himself Volthoom, this being had traveled across time and space and it was him who apparently tutored the Maltusians about the power of the Emotional Spectrum and at some point was given the name of The First Lantern. However, during one of Krona's experiments involving the Great Heart, he witnessed the creation of The First Ring, which he attempted to claim for himself, only to be infused with the combined emotional awareness of the Maltusians themselves. He was deemed dangerous and unstable by the nascent Guardians of the Universe who were threatened by his great power. Thus, it was ultimately decided to imprison him within The Chamber of Shadows, a lantern shaped construct built near a black hole, where he was trapped inside for untold millennia. A number of Oans remained behind to ensure that The First Lantern was kept imprisoned and became known as The Hidden Ones, while those that remained embarked on their mission of policing the universe with the Manhunters. The First Lantern's custodians and wardens vowed that he would never be released, due to the dangers he posed. According to Krona, the Guardians were responsible for betraying the First Lantern. His only legacy on Oa was within The Foundry in the area that stored the Power Gauntlet, where an inscription mentions The First Lantern. Volthoom intends to feed off the other Lanterns' emotions to fuel his own emotional powers.<ref name="gl5.17">''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #17 (February 2013)</ref> When Volthoom is slain by Nekron, while Hal Jordan is now a member of the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians are freed, but are then executed by Sinestro for the destruction of Korugar, although he spared one Guardian to Atrocitus. Sinestro spares Ganthet and reunites him with Sayd, but exiles them from Oa. The Malthusians who guarded Volthoom become the new "Templar Guardians".<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #20 (May 2013)</ref> Because they are so out of touch with the current state of the universe, the Templar Guardians appoint Hal as a temporary leader of the Corps while they set out on a voyage of learning.<ref>''Green Lantern'' (vol. 5) #21 (June 2013)</ref>

====DC Rebirth====
Subsequently, in [[DC Rebirth]], while the Green Lantern Corps returned, Ganthet, Sayd, and the Templar Guardians were attacked and abducted by the [[Controllers (DC Comics)|Controllers]].<ref>''Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'' #33 (November 2017)</ref> They wanted to harvest Templar Guardians' power to empower the Controllers.<ref>''Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'' #34 (December 2017)</ref> Four Green Lanterns of the Earth, however, were able to locate the Controllers' base at sector 3001 and attacked.<ref>''Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'' #35 (December 2017)</ref> After the Controllers were defeated and escaped, Ganthet announces that the Templar Guardians will return as the new Guardians of the Universe and will be their legacy.<ref>''Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'' #36 (January 2018)</ref>

The last surviving Guardians then assist the Corps through several incidents involving Zod and the return of the Darkstars. It is during this time the new guardian council delay and second-guess their orders, not wanting to become like their predecessors. However, during The Cyborg Superman's infiltration of the Corps technology and the central power battery, guardian Kada Dal is murdered. Although the Cyborg Superman's plan is stopped by Hal Jordan, it will take some time to purge his influence from the Corps. With Mogo recovering the guardians decide to move the Corps to a New Oa.

Now there are only 5 surviving Guardians: Ganthet, last of the original Guardians, Sayd, last of the reborn Guardians, Rami the renegade guardian, Zalla, and Paalko, last of the Templar guardians.