Gardeners or Ex Nihilii were a species created by the Builders to create life, while the Alephs destroyed unworthy preexisting life and the Abyssi judged the work.[3] These systems were deemed archaic by the Builders, who then introduced newer Builder systems (Starbrands, Nightmasks, Justices, Ciphers, etc.) when they created the newuniversal structure.[4]
Only Ex Nihilo continued making Gardens. The Ex Nihilii of Earth-616 later rebelled against the Builders during the Builder War.[4] However, the Builders were trying to prevent the incursions from collapsing the Multiverse.[5][6] The Ex Nihilii of Earth-616 decided to join Sunspot's Multiversal Avengers to investigate the incursions themselves.[7]
The race is presumably extinct as the Gardeners that remained with the Builders and the Gardeners of the Multiversal Avengers were both wiped out by the Beyonders.[8][2]
History
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The Gardeners are creatures created by the Builders to help them shape the universe. A Gardener is always accompanied by an Abyss, who is in charge of judging their work. An Aleph carries the eggs of a Gardener and an Abyss until it finds a suitable environment to let them create life.[3]
After the creation of the newuniversal structure, the Builders recalled all the Gardeners and forbade them from harvesting worlds. The Gardeners were relegated to being servants to those who created them and their Abyss counterparts died as they had no work to judge.[4]
Infinity[]
Somehow, one Gardener, Ex Nihilo was not recalled and this meant his sister Abyss survived.[4] He flung Origin Bombs at the Earth to evolve it and make it sentient.[9][10] The creatures that emerged on Earth realized that Earth was the "multiversal fracture point,"[11] as the Multiverse at the time was dying from the incursions.[12] They sent a message to the Builders in the space.[13]
The Builders already knew about the incursions, as the effects of the incursions had collapsed their structures in the Superflow.[14] The Builders vowed to destroy all Earths in the Multiverse, since Earth was the "axis point" of the incursions, to save all universes from the early death of the Multiverse.[6]
In the process, the Builders conquered and destroyed numerous planets.[15] A resistance composed by the Galactic Council and the Avengers opposed the Builders, though the Builders had the upper hand.[16] The Builders ordered Gardeners such as Jerran Ko to comment suicide should they lose and poison entire planets.[17] Ex Nihilo was confused by these actions as this went against everything he knew about the Builders and Gardeners.[18]
When the Builders left a Gardener named Ex Nihila behind, they told her to make her death "mean something."[19] Abandoned, Ex Nihila betrayed her masters and the rest of the Ex Nihilii joined her. Resentful for how the Builders had degraded them, the Gardeners helped Ex Nihilo and Abyss wake up the comatose Captain Universe, who then turned the tide of the conflict to favor the Avengers.[20]
After the defeat of the Builders and Alephs, the Gardeners returned to their work of growing life in worlds and repairing the damage done by the Builder War.[21]
Time Runs Out[]
Due to the contraction of the Multiverse, the universe was decaying. The Ex Nihilii attempted to fix it but they could not. When the coalescing center of this decay focused on a single point, the Earth, the Gardeners and Abyssi returned to Earth to investigate.[22] Once on Earth, the Gardeners were able to see its whole system and find that the planet had scars. They were offered by Bobby da Costa a one-way trip to investigate the origin of this decay by using A.I.M. technology and travel across the Multiverse.[23]
The Multiversal Avengers traveled across numerous universes, navigating the map left by the Mapmakers. After one last jump across universes that cost Nightmask's life, the Avengers found themselves face to face with a fissure in time and space. From it, two Beyonders emerged and demanded the heroes to fall back. Upon denying their request, the Avengers faced the Beyonders. In an attempt to reprogram one of the Beyonders, Abyss and the Ex Nihili sacrificed themselves.[2]Powers and Abilities
Powers
Organic Creation/Manipulation: The Gardeners can transform organic life through direct contact or through "origin bombs" that carry communal viruses programmed to re-map genetic codes within a ten mile effect radius
- Chlorokinesis: Gardeners can mentally control plant life including its movement and growth
World Killer: Gardeners can "kill" a world by committing suicide and in the act creating an expanding sphere of decay that spreads throughout the world, spreading death and disease and turning it into a plague world.[17]
Pyrokinesis/Fire Breath: Gardeners can released blasts of flame from their mouths
Advanced Longevity: All Gardeners have advanced lifespans
Adaptability: Gardeners are capable of surviving in any environmentHabitat
Habitat
Gravity
Atmosphere
Miscellaneous
Type of Government
Level of Technology
Representatives
Notes
- Gardners, alongside Abyssi and Alephs, are considered older Builder systems compared to Starbrands, Nightmasks, and other products of a White Event.[24][22] It was because of these newer systems that the Gardeners were recalled.[4]
- The Builders classify both created races like Gardeners and Abyssi, as well as ascended individuals like Starbrands and Nightmasks, as "sentient systems" and "tools" of the Builders.[25]
- In one alternate reality, the Gardeners are red and have circles on their chests instead of omega symbols.[6]
See Also
- 23 appearance(s) of Gardeners
- 4 minor appearance(s) of Gardeners
- 1 mention(s) of Gardeners
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Gardeners
- 11 image(s) of Gardeners
- 6 representative(s) of Gardeners
Links and References
References
- ā New Avengers (Vol. 3) #27
- ā 2.0 2.1 2.2 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #32
- ā 3.0 3.1 Avengers (Vol. 5) #2
- ā 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Avengers (Vol. 5) #20
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #21
- ā 6.0 6.1 6.2 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #11
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #35ā36
- ā New Avengers (Vol. 3) #30
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #1ā3
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #8ā9
- ā Avengers (Vol. 3) #14
- ā New Avengers (Vol. 3) #2
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #15
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #7
- ā Infinity #1
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #18
- ā 17.0 17.1 Infinity #2
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #19
- ā Infinity #3
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #20ā21
- ā Infinity #6
- ā 22.0 22.1 Avengers (Vol. 5) #35
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #36
- ā Avengers (Vol. 5) #8
- ā Captain Marvel (Vol. 7) #16