High Evolutionary is a geneticist who sought to create a perfect species out of what he viewed as lower life forms, and build his own utopia. Founding his own research company OrgoCorp as a front for his genetic engineering experiments, he was responsible for the creation of numerous lifeforms across the galaxy. With the intent to form a flawless civilization evolved from animals for Counter-Earth, High Evolutionary abducted and illegally evolved creatures such as Rocket through bionic means, but the raccoon provided him the key information for developing Humanimals. High Evolutionary still planned to dispose of Rocket and his fellow subjects, but Rocket managed to escape and maul High Evolutionary's face, forcing him to wear a prosthetic face mask and cybernetic implants.
Many years later, High Evolutionary sought to acquire Rocket for his genius intellect to improve his experiments, as he deemed his current Humanimals to be imperfect and slated them to planetary destruction. This put him and his company into conflict with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who defeated him, liberated his test subjects and mortally wounded him, though Rocket chose to spare his life. Due to Arête Laboratories self-destructing, Drax the Destroyer carried High Evolutionary to safety and Rocket Raccoon imprisoned him on Knowhere for his crimes.
Over hundreds of years, High Evolutionary analyzed species of the whole galaxy and saw them all as flawed, taking it upon himself to create a perfect society in his vision. Establishing OrgoCorp as a front for his research, High Evolutionary was presented as a visionary who seeks to improve the lives across the whole galaxy, hiding the true nature of his experiments. Over the course of his life, High Evolutionary created a number of original species, such as the Xeronians, the Ani-Men and the Sovereign; however, none of his creations satisfied him in full.
In the 1980s,[4] High Evolutionary visited Earth, deeply admiring humanity's culture but despising their violence and bigotry, abducting lifeforms from Earth to serve his research purposes, such as taking raccoons from North America. Having chosen them as a blueprint for his own utopia, he conducted all kinds of research, using lower life forms of Earth, such as rabbits, otters, and walruses as his test subjects, seeking to turn them into higher life forms. However, the majority of his experiments did not bring the results he anticipated, as the creatures he engineered lacked in qualities he viewed necessary for his utopia, either becoming violent after being forcefully evolved or lacking the ability to be truly intelligent and creative.[1]
One of the subjects that High Evolutionary experimented on was a raccoon, labeled as 89P13 of Batch 89. High Evolutionary noticed that P13 is showing an increased brain development, which piqued his interest. High Evolutionary brought P13 to see the skies of Counter-Earth, a utopia he strives to create, something that he never did for other subjects. High Evolutionary then brought P13 to the test chamber, showing him a device he created to forcefully speed thousands of years of evolution on the subject.
High Evolutionary experimenting on a turtle
He then ordered his subordinates to bring a turtle to showcase an example of his project's development, although the creature that the turtle turned into was incredibly violent. High Evolutionary remarked that he engineered the creatures to be peaceful but for some unknown reasons, it did not work as he lamented that the violent ones would not have any place in his perfect world. Suddenly, P13 pointed out at the various flaws of his project, which deeply confused High Evolutionary, as he did not expect P13 to come up with something on his own, rather than just mimicking.[1]
Having confirmed P13's accuracy, High Evolutionary forcefully extracted him from his confinement and brought him to witness the revised version of the project. High Evolutionary aggressively questioned P13 about how he had identified the flaws, expressing genuine astonishment at his intelligence. When P13 inquired about joining Batch 89 in the new world, High Evolutionary disclosed that Batch 89 was never meant to inhabit the new world.
High Evolutionary ordered P13 to undergo brain removal surgery for study purposes and commanded the rest of Batch 89 to be incinerated. Anticipating P13's attempt to escape with Batch 89, High Evolutionary killed Lylla. He taunted P13's grief and attempted to return him to the cage. However, P13 retaliated fiercely, severely disfiguring High Evolutionary's face. This incident led High Evolutionary to wear a prosthetic mask and undergo multiple cybernetic enhancements, granting him special powers to defend himself.
Unbeknownst to High Evolutionary, P13 survived as an intergalactic criminal named Rocket Raccoon for years. Consequently, High Evolutionary was never able to create another being as intelligent as Rocket.[1]
Later Experimentations[]
Completion of Counter-Earth[]
Due to Rocket's aid in improving the evolution process of lower lifeforms so that the newly evolved Humanimals are peaceful and not violent anymore, High Evolutionary was able to complete his process of creating a society fully comprised of such Humanimals, while discarding and killing all previous experimentation subjects as these were seen as flawed and merely a step in High Evolutionary’s pursuit. The High Evolutionary then released all Humanimals to live on Counter-Earth, the promised utopia for them.[1]
Plans for a Restart[]
Frustrated by the persistence of crime and violence in what was considered a utopian society on Counter-Earth, High Evolutionary grew disillusioned with his creation. He resolved to establish a new colony, aiming to eradicate Counter-Earth and its inhabitants, who were no longer deemed perfect in his eyes. High Evolutionary initiated experiments on children, giving rise to a new race called the Star Children, intended to populate the new colony. Additionally, he created the Hell Spawn, a formidable force meant to protect the new settlement from any threats.[1]
Pursuit of 89P13[]
Alliance with the Sovereign[]
High Evolutionary discovered that Rocket, now operating as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, was still alive. Eager to capture Rocket and extract his brain to create a genuinely intelligent species, High Evolutionary commanded Ayesha to prematurely release her creation, Adam Warlock, from the Birth Pod. Adam was sent to Knowhere with the mission to capture Rocket. However, during the encounter, Nebula inflicted a severe stab wound on Adam, causing him significant injuries and leading to the failure of his mission. Rocket was also gravely injured during the confrontation.[1]
Meeting with the Sovereign[]
High Evolutionary approached Ayesha and Adam Warlock, questioning them about Rocket. When Recorder Vim denied having him, Ayesha confronted High Evolutionary, emphasizing the Guardians' power. In response, High Evolutionary dismissed her worth, analyzing Ayesha while recounting his creation of the Sovereign as an aesthetic experiment and criticizing their inflated egos. He taunted Adam for his incompetence, asserting that there was something inherently wrong with him beyond his premature release from the Birth Pod, despite Ayesha's defense.
Upon confrontation, High Evolutionary used his powers to immobilize Adam, chastising Ayesha for not informing him of Rocket's survival. He threatened to obliterate the entire Sovereign civilization, claiming it to be his right as their creator if Rocket was not brought to him. To coerce Ayesha into compliance, he tortured Adam, forcing her submission. Ayesha eventually agreed, prompting High Evolutionary to release Adam.
As he left the room with his Recorders, Theel and Vim, Theel questioned High Evolutionary's trust in the Sovereign. High Evolutionary dismissed them, revealing that the Sovereign were merely a contingency plan. He had anticipated the Guardians of the Galaxy's moves and calculated his response accordingly.[1]
The High Evolutionary patiently awaited the arrival of Star-Lord and Groot at his base. Initially ignoring their presence, he gestured for silence with a raised hand. However, when Star-Lord focused on Theel, whose cybernetic implant held the key to Rocket's kill switch, High Evolutionary shifted his attention to the Guardians. He detailed his past with Earth, Rocket, and his mission to "perfect" the universe. Star-Lord challenged his perspective, pointing out Counter-Earth's imperfections.
At that moment, War Pig confirmed Rocket's capture. High Evolutionary swiftly incapacitated Star-Lord and Groot with his powers before initiating his plan. He prepared his laboratory, a massive spaceship, to launch into space in search of a planet for his envisioned "new colony." Simultaneously, he obliterated Counter-Earth, with Ayesha and the Humanimals on it.
However, as High Evolutionary and Vim turned their backs, Star-Lord and Groot used a grenade to create a wall of debris behind them. High Evolutionary attempted to clear the debris with his powers but was too late. The Guardians managed to tackle Theel out of the ship, removing his implant to save Rocket. Later, High Evolutionary captured the remaining Guardians, Nebula, Drax the Destroyer, and Mantis, who had escaped Counter-Earth's destruction. He contacted Quill, discovering that he had escaped and Rocket was alive. Confiscating Nebula's communication device, he demanded Star-Lord hand over Rocket in exchange for their lives, destroying the device as Star-Lord resorted to name-calling in frustration.[1]
High Evolutionary demands the Hell Spawn to be released
"Release the Hell Spawn! All of them!" "Sir, the Hell Spawn were created solely to defend the new colony!" "Do it now! Get me 89P13 and kill everyone in the head of that dead god!"
After the call, High Evolutionary called out recorder Vim for failing to capture Rocket, which Vim responded by suggesting they just cease their conflict with the Guardians and move to their next colony. High Evolutionary refused, however, claiming that the Star Children weren't creative enough to survive and that was why he needed Rocket, so he could study his brain and figure out how to give his experiments more creativity.
The Guardians later showed up to attack his laboratories, resulting in High Evolutionary mocking their attempts to attack him. Much to his horror, however, the Celestial head-located colony of Knowhere, piloted by Kraglin Obfonteri, appeared through a jump point. The High Evolutionary then ordered his crew to stand back and unleash the Hell Spawns to attack Knowhere and bring Rocket to him. He also ordered Mantis, Drax, and Nebula to be killed by the Abilisks in his ship, in spite of Vim's warnings regarding how tactically poor his decisions were.
As the ship crumbled due to the battle, Vim suggested to evacuate while they can, before the Controller revealed the Guardians managed to infiltrate the ship. The High Evolutionary ordered his guards to investigate if Rocket was with them, resulting in Vim calling him out over his obsession with Rocket and pleading him to stop "for God's sake". High Evolutionary then angrily shouted there were no gods, so he had to step in. Realizing his madness, Vim held High Evolutionary at gun point in an attempt at mutiny, only for the High Evolutionary to use his powers to kill them and destroy the control center. He then ordered the ship's personnel to kill the intruders and bring Rocket to him.[1]
Final Standoff with 89P13[]
High Evolutionary is defeated by the Guardians
"You! You thought you could escape me?! No! You think you have some worth in and of yourself without me?! No! You are an abomination! Nothing more than a step on my path, you freakish little monster! How dare you think you are more, 89P13?!!" "The name's Rocket. Rocket Raccoon."
High Evolutionary tracked down Rocket to the kennels where his captured animals were being held captive. Unhinged, High Evolutionary attacked Rocket using his telekinesis, dehumanizingly ranting that he was nothing but just one of his experiments. However, Rocket managed to resist High Evolutionary's attacks with his Gravity Boots, reasserted his identity as Rocket Raccoon instead of 89P13, and shot High Evolutionary at point-blank range with a dual-barrel cannon. Before he could retaliate, High Evolutionary was ambushed by the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, with each team member dealing a strike until Gamora thrust a sword through High Evolutionary's stomach.
With his prosthetic mask beginning to untether from his face, Gamora peeled it off completely to reveal his grotesque appearance. Instead of killing him straight away out of vengeance at the urging of Drax the Destroyer, Rocket showed mercy and decided to spare his life, but not before rescuing all the trapped animals and children on the ship. During the evacuation of High Evolutionary's captive subjects to Knowhere, Drax shouldered High Evolutionary on his back, saving his life from the exploding laboratory, but bringing him into the custody of Knowhere and the Guardians for his many crimes.[1][5]
Imprisoned on Knowhere[]
High Evolutionary is imprisoned in Knowhere
Following his defeat at the hands of the Guardians of the Galaxy and being saved by Drax the Destroyer, High Evolutionary was imprisoned on Knowhere for his crimes and villainous deeds.[3] While being prepared to be locked up, High Evolutionary was visited by Rocket Raccoon. Rather than saying anything to his former test subject, High Evolutionary just silently lamented on his own failures and patched the remains of his own prosthetic mask back over his face. Disgusted at his tormentor's lack of remorse, Rocket simply locked the cell with lasers and left the High Evolutionary behind.[6]
High Evolutionary presented himself at first look as a harbinger of the perfect society and species, seemingly appeared to be a noble and knowledgeable being who wants to create a perfect world with the perfect species, devoid of any evil, where all beings will live in peace by enhancing lower lifeforms and perfecting them. He believed that his work no matter how inhumane or cruel was necessary in order to create a perfect universe. He even founded the intergalactic bioengineering company OrgoCorp as a front to hide his cruel experimentation and to provide funds for his plans. As shown from the screen monitors in the Orgosphere, employees at OrgoCorp supported the High Evolutionary's "noble cause" and see him as a savior. His creations which lived in Counter-Earth also sees him as a god and put faith and trust in him, trusting that he will bring them to the promised utopia, as they even had toys for their children based on the High Evolutionary.
However, this was only a façade to hide the true person underneath, a selfish, cruel and heartless egomaniac, who wants to control everything under his name and a psychopathic man who in essence wanted to be seen and treated as a god. High Evolutionary is horrifyingly sadistic, as he experimented on many animals in order to turn them into obedient and "perfect" species, and whenever things don't go according to plan, he not only has them incinerated, but also repeatedly destroyed the entire Counter-Earth as a means of starting over again. He had absolutely no compassion for the lifeforms he created and had no problem with killing them if they didn't meet up to his expectations, such as killing Lylla and the inhabitants of Counter-Earth without a second thought and committing multiple genocides every time his "perfect" society didn't meet his expectations, something that even shocked Gamora at the extent of his actions. Rocket, in his own words even told him that "you just hated things the way they were." He merely saw his creations as nothing other than steps towards creating the perfect society. His experiments were so ghastly that Nebula considered him to be worse than Thanos.
High Evolutionary lacked any form of morality toward the species he uplifted and is extremely condescending towards his creations, using codes to name his creations and not giving them a proper name, showing that he doesn't see them as a true lifeform but just an experiment that can be discarded. When meeting Ayesha and Adam Warlock, he used a stool to stand on to make himself look taller and look down on Ayesha, and then later cruelly tortured Adam Warlock to submission and threatened Ayesha to hunt down Rocket Raccoon with the destruction of the entire Sovereign race. In this regard, it can be seen that the Sovereign, akin to the other creations, were simply viewed as pawns by the High Evolutionary. He was also shown to lack any form of empathy as he was confused and even amused when he found that Rocket sincerely thought he would let him and the rest of Batch 89 be released after he perfected his experiments, and this can be seen as a sadistic act to taunt 89P13. While High Evolutionary claimed wanting to make the perfect universe, he simply wanted to make the world reflect his twisted image of perfection. He is deceptive to his creations, as he lied to Batch 89 and many others about bringing them to utopia where they can all live in peace and harmony, but in fact he only sees them as worthless and flawed beings, unfit to survive and will incinerate them eventually. He sees them as solely disposable and has no qualms in killing them, shown when he doesn’t hesitate to kill Lylla and other members of Batch 89 when they were informed of High Evolutionary's deception.
He is also highly prideful to a fault, exemplified when Rocket figures out how to create Humanimals without turning them violently aggressive, something High Evolutionary failed to do, making him outraged that one of his creations, something he considered lower than him, could figure out something that he couldn’t, leading him to want to extract Rocket's brain for the knowledge while he incinerates the rest. He was so prideful that it can be seen that the High Evolutionary possessed a god complex and a large ego, even being narcissistic to some extent. High Evolutionary sees himself as a god and superior to others, and claims that he was here because there is no god, reflecting that he sees himself as superior and carrying the noble mission of creating the perfect species and a society in peace. He even created a statue reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty on Counter-Earth, only that this statue depicts High Evolutionary holding an infant animal, reflecting his massive ego. He had no qualms in destroying entire civilizations and justified the genocidal actions with his perceived noble and sacred purpose to fulfill. When confronted by Star-Lord on his mission being to conquer the universe, the High Evolutionary simply saw his genocidal actions as steps towards perfecting the universe, but in reality, all he had done was create more suffering to the galaxy, by abducting animals from different parts of the universe and experimenting on them.
High Evolutionary is also feared among his staff and the Sovereign, because of what punishment he can do to them if they fail him in the slightest, as he tortured Adam Warlock for talking back to him and warned Ayesha that he would destroy all of Sovereign should they fail. Due to his near-zealous obsession with 89P13, High Evolutionary was also prone to outbursts of rage where he would scream and viciously attack anyone who angered him, this is shown when he remorselessly murders his crew in a rage attack after their betrayal. This obsession stemmed from the fact that 89P13 held the key to his process of creating new species: the ability to be creative and not simply memorizing things. Out of all his creations and experimentations, only Rocket Raccoon possessed creativity and is capable of original thought, while others merely resorted to memorization as a form of “intelligence." The High Evolutionary couldn’t accept the fact that his creation’s intelligence exceeded his own due to his ego and became extremely fixated with capturing and dissecting Rocket Raccoon to explore his brain and find the key to creating the perfect species, and he was often shown to be on the verge of losing his temper. His obsession and ego grew so large that his own subjects, including Vim, turned against him when he became extremely fixated and focused on capturing his subject and neglecting the larger mission and all of their safety, reflecting that he has even lost the faith of his once loyal subjects due to this irrational obsession. He also lost his temper again by ordering to release Nebula, Drax and Mantis from their cell, giving up on his bargaining power just to see the Guardian trio get eaten alive by Abilisks. This obsession finally became utter hatred and despair as the High Evolutionary's plans to capture Rocket were continuously foiled by the Guardians and their allies, making him incapable of making rational judgement and putting his own safety at risk to capture and dissect Rocket.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
"Your friend once took advantage. I learned my lessons. I aimed some small part of my mental capacity back in my own direction. And now, gravity itself serves my whims."
Artificially Enhanced Physiology/Bionic Enhancement: After having his face entirely scarred and mutilated by Rocket, High Evolutionary started to enhance himself and put mechanical implants around his head to direct parts of his mental capacity to acquire superhuman abilities to protect himself.
Superhuman Durability: High Evolutionary is durable enough to survive Rocket's bullets, punches from Drax the Destroyer, attacks from Star-Lord's Quad Blasters, Mantis' kicks, Nebula's blasts and a stab in the chest from Gamora, though he was extremely injured. He ultimately survived and was carried to safety by Drax the Destroyer.
Gravity Manipulation:
High Evolutionary levitating
High Evolutionary gave himself the power to manipulate gravity in order to properly defend himself. This power allowed him to restrain and control the movements of others. It was potent enough that it could easily restrain Adam Warlock, though he was weakened at the time, and knock out instantly Drax, Mantis and Nebula.
Spatial Pressure Generation: High Evolutionary was able to generate spatial pressure. He used this ability to restrain his foes, such as pushing an immensely powerful being, Adam Warlock into a wall by such a great extent that the wall was crushed by the immense force, though Adam was weakened at the time. He also used this ability on Rocket during his final battle, pressing him onto the ceiling to restrain him.
Telekinesis: Due to his ability to manipulate gravity, High Evolutionary is also able to move things with his mind, such as when he moved debris from his front when Star-Lord threw a detonator that exploded and blocked the Guardians and his guards apart. Later, he used telekinesis to throw 89P13 around to torture him.
Levitation: High Evolutionary is able to levitate a few meters on the ground by decreasing the pull of gravity on his body, becoming weightless.
Energy Projection: High Evolutionary projected an omni-directional blast from his suit, which was capable of destroying Arête Laboratories' control room and killing several scientists including Recorder Vim who ordered him to detach all the damaged sections of the laboratory.
Longevity: High Evolutionary was said to lived for three hundred years since OrgoCorp was founded a few centuries ago. Despite living for a long period of time, he did not age and still retained the appearance of a forty-year-old man.
Abilities[]
Genius-Level Intellect: High Evolutionary is very intelligent, being able to use his knowledge in genetics and engineering to help enhance and evolve lower life forms, turning animals into anthropomorphic humanoid creatures, a feat which is not accomplished by any other.
Master Scientist: To be added
Master Engineer: As a genetic engineer, High Evolutionary is able to modify and enhance lower lifeforms and evolve them genetically. He started off when at the age of twelve when he grafted a face on a genetic copy of his family dog, then he started experimenting on animals and turned them to Halfworlders with cybernetic enhancements and with 89P13's assistance, succeeded in accomplishing a breakthrough in which the evolved animals become peaceful humanoid species known as Humanimals. Finally, after the failure of the Humanimals in creating a utopian society, High Evolutionary experimented on Star Children. In addition, he created the Sovereign, Ani-Men and Xeronians, and also other creatures like Abilisks and the Hell Spawn. He is also able to enhance himself cybernetically, wearing mechanical implants around his head that aided in his combat capabilities through the control of physical forces around him.
Master Tactician: High Evolutionary is able to accurately anticipate and guess the Guardians' plans to save Rocket Raccoon, and he then planned ahead, first ordering Theel to go to Orgosphere and retrieve the important information before the Guardians can, so as to lure the Guardians to Counter-Earth where traps have been set to kill the Guardians. He also worked with the Sovereign to create Adam Warlock, the peak weapon designed to capture 89P13, to Knowhere to retrieve the subject.
Master Businessman: High Evolutionary founded OrgoCorp as a front for his illegal and inhumane research and experimentation, and to provide the funds for his projects.
Marksman: High Evolutionary shot Lylla with a handgun when 89P13 attempted to rescue his friends out from their cells after learning of the High Evolutionary’s deception.
Bilingualism: High Evolutionary is fluent in English and Orbose, even teaching the latter to the Humanimals and Star Children.[7]
High Evolutionary was left without much of the flesh on his face and utterly deformed due to a vicious mauling by Rocket after the latter discovered his true intentions. After Rocket's escape, he began to wear a prosthetic mask modeled after his original undamaged face to conceal his grotesque appearance. Although the face mask was able to perfectly mimic his expressions and lip movements, it stretched unnaturally across his head. During his imprisonment on Knowhere, High Evolutionary kept the damaged mask on his face to cover up his imperfect face.
Handgun: High Evolutionary carried this firearm to check on the cages of Batch 89, knowing that Rocket would do something about his orders to dissect him and kill the rest of the batch. As Rocket escaped his caged and embraced Lylla for the first time, High Evolutionary used the gun to kill her.
Facilities[]
Arête Laboratories: High Evolutionary established this mobile research complex on many artificial planets and eventually on Counter-Earth, as a base of operations. When the High Evolutionary destroyed Counter-Earth and its population of Humanimals, the complex once again transformed into a large spaceship. It was later destroyed by the Guardians of the Galaxy, mainly Kraglin Obfonteri, while all the subjects were evacuated on Knowhere.
Controller † - Creation, Subject, Former Subordinate and Victim
Trivia[]
In the comics, Herbert Edgar Wyndham is a scientist from Earth, who was obsessed with evolution, being inspired by the work of Nathaniel Essex to conduct genetic experiments. After being expelled from Oxford University for his unethical methods, he set up a base on Mount Wundagore, where he would continue his work for decades, later donning a silver and purple armour, being known as the High Evolutionary.
"Wyndham" can be derived from G52 22C848T12F + E16UC22, the coordinates of Ego's Planet in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, using the affine cipher.
Behind the Scenes[]
Chukwudi Iwuji described High Evolutionary as "narcissistic, sociopathic, but very charming. I couldn’t have thought of a better character that uses [a] skill set better to join the MCU with. Because there’s something very Shakespearean about him, there’s something very emotionally dark about him, and he’s a lot of fun on top of all that".[8]
James Gunn has cited the High Evolutionary as one of his favorite Marvel Comics villains despite being a detestable character, feeling him like a "space version" of Dr. Moreau from the 1932 film Island of Lost Souls, a film Gunn is a big fan of.[9]
