History
The Cotati evolved on the planet Hala, alongside the Kree. The Cotati were a pacifistic race whereas the Kree were warlike barbarians. Due to these cultural differences, the two races had little to no interaction with each other.[3]
Conflict with the Kree[]
About a million years ago, the Skrulls arrived on Hala. At that point, the Skrulls were a peaceful race and wished to share their knowledge and technology in exchange for loyalty. To avoid any dissension between the two races regarding which would represent Hala, the Skrulls proposed a test: They would take seventeen Cotati and seventeen Kree. The race that accomplished the most in that time would win.
Primitive Cotati
Seventeen Kree were dropped on the dark side of Earth's Moon for a year, while the Cotati were dropped on another planetoid. Over the course of the year, the Cotati grew a beautiful garden by using their mental powers to search out ancient seeds and water. Meanwhile, the Kree built an entire city on the Blue Area of the Moon. Angered by their city losing to a simple garden, the Kree led by Morag ambushed and killed the Cotati on Hala.[4]
Priests of Pama[]
As the Cotati died, they dropped seed pods into the ground. Over time and unbeknownst to the Kree, these seeds reached full maturity and uprooted themselves. To better conceal their existence, the Cotati hid in the basement of an abandoned Kree building. Over the centuries, the Cotati relinquished their mobility, believing it would lead to further conflicts with the Kree.
In the Kree year 476, the Cotati and a group of Kree pacifists entered into an agreement where the Cotati would teach the pacifists their knowledge of telepathy in exchange for protection. A century later, these pacifists became known as the Priests of Pama. The Kree Empire grew to despise the Priests and had them exiled. Through the machinations of the Cotati, the Priests were permitted to travel to inhabited planets in groups of two. The Priests secretly took the Cotati with them, planting them throughout the known universe, which included Earth,[5] and Zenn-La.[6]
1,000,000 BC[]
The Cotati arrived to the African region known as Wakanda on Earth to invade it. Black Panther, the champion of Wakanda, was tasked with dealing with these creatures.[7]
The Celestial Madonna[]
A prophecy soon arose which stated that the perfect human, the Celestial Madonna, would mate with the perfect Cotati, the Eldest Cotati, to give birth to the perfect child, the Celestial Messiah. After Mantis and the Avengers buried the body of Swordsman inside the priest's temple the Cotati elder possessed Swordsman's body in order to mate with Mantis.[8]
The Celestial Messiah[]
After Mantis gave birth to the pod that would become the Celestial Messiah,[9] the Cotati decided they were more fit to raise the child and stripped Mantis off her powers and stole away the pod.[10] The Cotati went to a pyramid on Earth, having allied themselves with Kang the Conqueror. They ordered Mantis and her allies, the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer, to cease her quest of retrieving her son. When they refused Kang and the Priests of Pama attacked the heroes, Mantis was able to overpower the Priests and confront the High Cotati thanks to her training. The Cotati fled to their chosen realm of pure thought pursued by Mantis who once again left her physical body behind.[11]
Mantis was seemingly able to retrieve her son as she spent roughly a year raising her son, Sequoia in Connecticut, before sending him to the Cotati's new homeworld Tamal.[12]
Silver Surfer[]
When Mantis was attacked by the Elders of the Universe, she sent a telepathic cry for help to the Cotati of Zenn-La, who then contacted Shalla-Bal to help Mantis.[6]
When Reptyl planned to capture Silver Surfer to use him as a energy source, one of the Cotati aboard his ship told the other members about this. The Cotati discussed whether to help the Silver Surfer or not, but eventually decided to help him, and manipulated Clumsy Foulup who started the events which lead to the rescue of the Silver Surfer.[13]
When the Silver Surfer was involved in the second Kree-Skrull War, the Cotati, wanting to befriend the Silver Surfer, told to Shalla Bal about the Skrull Nenora who had disguised herself as a high Kree Imperial.[14] After Shalla Bal finally found out that Nenora was actually a Skrull,[15] Nenora drugged Shalla in order to keep her disguise a secret, but the Cotati were able to use their mental powers to free Shalla from the drugs' influence.[16]
When a imposter disguised as the Contemplator tried to seize the Kree Empire, Clumsy Foulup and some white-skinned Kree soldiers sought the help of the Cotati who agreed to help them. When the imposter tried to use his mental powers to take over the Supreme Intelligence, the Cotati used their own mental powers to drive the imposter mad and take control of the Supreme Intelligence to make Clumsy the new emperor of the Kree.[17]
Celestial Quest[]
Mantis and the Avengers went to Tamal in order to protect Quoi from Thanos, and were welcomed by many Cotati, including "Swordsman".[18] However, despite their protection Raptra managed to kidnap Quoi. This angered the Cotati collective who accused the Avengers for their failure and assaulted them. Luckily, the Avengers managed to escape.[19]
Annihilation: Conquest[]
An unnamed Cotati who dwelt with the Priests of Pama on a Kree planet began assisting Phyla-Vell after she acquired the Quantum Bands which had been corrupted by Annihilus. The Cotati was eventually slayed during the onslaught brought by the Phalanx and Super-Adaptoid.[20]
Starbrand & Nightmask[]
After the destruction of Hala, Kree-Pama seemingly became the homeworld for both Kree and Cotati. Trrunk was a Cotati living on Kree-Pama who received the powers of Justice after the White Event, but was killed alongside Nightmask by the Starbrand.[21]
Empyre[]
Under the influence of his father, the Cotati Swordsman,[22] Quoi became convinced that animal life was the root of evil in the universe. The Celestial Messiah led his people into abandoning their peaceful ways to take revenge for the slaughter of their ancestors and take over the entire universe. They first started experimenting with a power-enhancing flower called the Death Blossom in the Skrulls' Kral System, but escaped before the Skrulls destroyed the system using a star-detonating device called the Pyre.[23] The Cotati continued cutting a swathe through Skrull and Kree territory alike, and the two warring empires agreed to put aside their differences and unite, becoming the Kree/Skrull Alliance.[24]
Cotati soldiers fighting the Alliance on Earth
The Cotati attempted to stop the consolidation of the Alliance, murdering key Alliance sponsors Bel-Dann and Raksor, but the Kree and the Skrull moved faster and appointed Kree/Skrull hybrid Hulkling as their figurehead.[23] After the Cotati converged in the Blue Area of the Moon, foresting it into a garden to plant a Death Blossom, Quoi and Swordsman sent a distress call to the Avengers, using their pacifist pretense to convince the heroes that they were the innocent targets of a genocide by the Alliance.[25] When the Alliance's war fleet arrived at the Moon, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four intercepted them, buying the Cotati enough time for the Death Blossom to bloom. With its power-boosting energies, the Cotati ravaged the Alliance fleet and launched an invasion on Earth.[26] The Cotati stretched the Alliance's and Earth's forces thin by attacking different points in the planet, with their endgame being to invade Wakanda and plant a Death Blossom on its Vibranium-enriched soil, which would span the Cotati's reach to a galactic level.[27]
After the Cotati breached into Wakanda and planted the Death Blossom, Mister Fantastic led a final contingent of Earth's heroes against the invaders, using an armor designed by Iron Man that could disrupt the Cotati's plant-controlling powers. The final battle saw Swordsman hold his own son at sword-point in an attempt to escape, after which he was stabbed by the Black Panther using Hulkling's Star-Sword, and then pushed into the Death Blossom, destroying both. Afterward, the Cotati surrendered.[28] They were rounded up and teleported to a secluded planet in uncharted space, where they would live in peace in a new garden without the ability to pose a threat to anyone.[2]
Alternate Reality Versions[]
Earth X (Earth-9997)[]
Marvel Cinematic Universe (Earth-199999)[]
A Knowhere dispatcher working for the Collector had ordered seven cases of Cotati seeds.[30] When checking Thor, Gamora stated his muscles felt like Cotati metal fibers.[31] It is currently unknown if the Cotati had any previous history with the Kree.
Earth-TRN912[]
The Cotati originated from Hala and shared their talents with a group of pacifist Kree priests. This angered the Supreme Intelligence who ordered the Cotati to be exterminated while the Kree priests be banished. Before their deaths, the Cotati gave their seeds to the priests so they could reborn on another planet. The Cotati and the priests relocated to the remote planet Lamentis where they founded the village of Nok Tamal. When the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived on Lamentis, Groot was shown to be capable of communicating with the Cotati.[32]
Earth-TRN1414[]
Several members of the Cotati species were abducted by a group of Synthetics disguised as Shi'ar and brought to a lab ship near a black hole. There they were implanted by their abductors with Chestbursters to see what kind of Xenomorphs would be born. The experiment was a success as a new variant of Xenomorphs were born out of the Cotati.[33]Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Chlorokinesis: Some Cotati called mages have power to control plant life. This can be amplified through means like the Death Blossom.[23]
- Telepathy: They can gain telepathy by sacrificing the rite of locomotion for uninterrupted meditation.[17]
- Possession: The Cotati are able to inhabit the corpses of various beings,[34] but with the side-effect of turning the corpse's skin green.[22] They can also infect people with their spores, which allows them to control the infected beings.[35]
- Advanced Longevity: Being a plant-based alien race, the Cotati are able to live through many years, since the Elder Cotati was brought to Earth in ancient times.[5]
Abilities
Weaknesses
Habitat
Habitat
Gravity
Atmosphere
Population
Miscellaneous
Type of Government
Level of Technology
Cultural Traits
Representatives
Notes
- At first it was established that the Cotati were unable to move following their massacre from the Kree, but somehow they later regained the ability to move like a man.[18][38]
- At first it seemed that the Cotati were genderless,[8] but during their invasion of Earth one member was identified as a female.[37]
Trivia
See Also
- 56 appearance(s) of Cotati
- 5 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Cotati
- 15 minor appearance(s) of Cotati
- 28 mention(s) of Cotati
- 4 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Cotati
- 41 image(s) of Cotati
- 3 victim(s) killed by Cotati
- 8 representative(s) of Cotati
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Cotati
Links and References
References
- ↑ Incoming #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four #1
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Avengers #133
- ↑ Empyre Handbook #1
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Avengers #134
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #7–8
- ↑ Wakanda #1
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Giant-Size Avengers #4
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ Fantastic Four #323
- ↑ Fantastic Four #325
- ↑ Avengers: Celestial Quest #2
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #12
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #20–30
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #27
- ↑ Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #29
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Silver Surfer (Vol. 3) #31
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Avengers: Celestial Quest #3
- ↑ Avengers: Celestial Quest #5
- ↑ Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar #1
- ↑ Starbrand & Nightmask #2–5
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Empyre #4
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Empyre #2
- ↑ Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling #1
- ↑ Empyre: Avengers #0
- ↑ Empyre #1
- ↑ Empyre #3
- ↑ Empyre #6
- ↑ Universe X #0
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy
- ↑ Avengers: Infinity War
- ↑ Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
- ↑ Aliens vs. Avengers #1
- ↑ Avengers #131
- ↑ Empyre: Captain America #2
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Empyre #2–3
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 Empyre: Avengers #1
- ↑ Starbrand & Nightmask #2
- ↑ Untold Legend of Captain Marvel #1
- ↑ Lords of Empyre: Swordsman #1