Lifestone Tree

Lifestone Tree
Name	Lifestone Tree
Owners
Previous Owner(s)	Chosen Eight of Fate
Physical Characteristics
Type	Tree
Origin
Reality	Earth-616
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Fabian Nicieza, Mark Bagley
First	Thunderbolts #46 (November, 2000)
First	Thunderbolts #46 (November, 2000)

History

Thousands of years ago, a coalition of alien races joined together to create the Lifestone Tree in the hopes of creating a group of super beings to protect their interests. The Lifestone Tree was comprised of artifacts left over from the Big Bang that various species had collected and brought together on the planet Kree-Lar. Four species known to be involved were the Kree, the Skrulls, the Shi'ar, and the Badoon, but presumably at least four other races participated. The eight beings who were empowered were nicknamed the Guardians of the Galaxy but this would seem to be a bit of a misnomer as the Badoon occupy the Milky Way Galaxy, the Kree occupy the Magellanic Clouds, the Skrulls occupy the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Shi'ar occupy another unnamed galaxy.

It is known that four of the Chosen Eight died in battle, two others died of old age, one retired, and the fate of the eighth is unknown. With the Chosen Eight inactive, the intergalactic peace between the alien species fell apart. The Lifestones were evacuated from Kree-Lar to prevent them from being stolen by space pirates, but the ship carrying them was attacked, causing its warp drive to implode and create a fissure in space. The ravaged ship and the shattered stones entered this fissure and were scattered throughout the galaxy. Due to a spatial anomaly that opened on the fringes of Earth's solar system, many fragments of the Lifestone Tree fell to Earth and empowered a number of beings including the Sphinx, Moonstone, Basilisk, Blue Diamond, Ulysses Bloodstone, Man-Wolf, and Dr. Spectrum.

People empowered by the Lifestone fragments.

The Thunderbolt known as Moonstone would seek out the origins of the Lifestone Tree after she began to receive memories from Ajes'ha, the Kree member of the Chosen Eight. Ajes'ha was the original wielder of the Moonstone and the memories of previous owners appear to be recorded by the moonstone. I.S.A.A.C. eventually helped Karla Sofen purge herself of Ajes'ha's influence. It was later implied that Karla Sofen's predecessor Lloyd Bloch and his Counter-Earth counterpart were driven insane by their Moonstones, although not necessarily due to Ajes'ha's influence.

Chosen Eight of Fate...minus 3

Notes

• When the Kree Supreme Intelligence and I.S.A.A.C. revealed that at least eight Terrans had gained powers by possessing various Lifestone fragments, only three of those stones were mentioned by name. However, the names of most of the other stones are known anyway:
  • The Alpha Stone and the Omega Stone empowered Basil Elks and transformed him into the Basilisk.
  • The Moonstone empowered Lloyd Bloch until Karla Sofen stole it from him.
  • The Bloodgem empowered the prehistoric hunter later known as Ulysses Bloodstone.
  • An enormous diamond that glowed with a strange blue light gave Elton Morrow his powers as the Blue Diamond.
  • The Godstone that John Jameson III found on the Moon transformed him into the Man-Wolf when on Earth and Stargod when in the Other Realm where the gem supposedly originated.
  • The Ka Stone that Anath-Na Mut found in a temple in ancient Egypt turned him into the Sphinx.
  • The Power Prism was a Skrull prisoner who had been transformed into crystalline form before being brought to Earth by the Grandmaster to be used by Kinji Obatu as Doctor Spectrum.
• It's worth noting that at least three of these stones (the Bloodgem, the Godstone and the Power Prism) have origins that seem inconsistent with the idea that they are slivers of gems from the Lifestone Tree. Although various Official Handbook profiles have provided some explanations, so far none of those explanations have appeared in any published stories.
• The Lifestone Tree concept may be connected to Darkhawk, the Fraternity of Raptors, and the Tree of Shadows. During a battle with another version of himself, the Sphinx summoned Moonstone, Basilisk, Ulysses Bloodstone, Starwolf, and Gyre, a member of the Fraternity of Raptors. With the exception of Gyre, the Sphinx and the ones he summoned were all known to be powered by fragments from the Lifestone Tree.
  • It was originally claimed that the Lifestone Tree was created as a collaboration between several alien species for the benefit of the galaxy. This is seemingly inconsistent with the creation of the Fraternity of Raptors, which were said to be created to ensure the supremacy of the Shi'ar Empire.

See Also

• 3 appearance(s) of Lifestone Tree
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Lifestone Tree
• 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Lifestone Tree
• 2 image(s) of Lifestone Tree

Links and References

• Lifestone Tree at the Marvel Appendix