Guradians of the Galaxy

Team Name
Guardians of the Galaxy

Base of Operations
Mobile; formerly Knowhere

Current Members
Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Cosmo, Agent Venom, Captain Marvel (Danvers)

Former Members
Bug, Iron Man, Jack Flag, Major Victory (Vance Astro), Mantis, Phyla-Vell, Moondragon, Adam Warlock
 
Other Members (Honorary, Reserve, etc.)
Angela 

Other Info
In the 31st Century, in an alternate future (Earth-691), a group of diverse superhumans and extraterrestrial adventurers formed a team known as the "Guardians of the Galaxy" to fight the Badoon race--who had conquered the multiple solar systems. The founding members of the team were Vance Astro (Major Victory), Charlie-27, Yondu, and Martinex. The Guardians became dedicated to guarding of the Milky Way Galaxy from any force that threatened the safety of its various people. At times, these future Guardians of the Galaxy have encountered, and even teamed up with, citizens of our current reality (Earth-616) including, Captain America, Spider-Man, Thing, Thor, the Defenders, and the Avengers. (To learn about the timelines, race, characters, and/or teams above, just click on their highlighted names. Also, these future Guardians of the Galaxy can be seen in the first picture posted above.)

In the modern day Earth-616 timeline, after the Annihilation Wave and the Phalanx invasion of Ultron, Star-Lord saw a need for a proactive strike team to protect the universe form violent attacks. Therefore, he asked Mantis to telepathically influence Adam Warlock, Phyla-Vell, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Gamora to join his team. On the recommendation of their ally, Nova, the team established a base on the space station known as Knowhere--the base possessed a teleportation system with near-universal range. An intelligent, telepathic dog named Cosmo was Knowhere's Chief of Security and assisted the team in plotting courses for the trouble-spots in the universe. (Click the highlighted names above to learn about the team, race, characters, and/or place. Note: Beware of the VERY revealing outfits on Gamora and Ultron's bio pages--block images if possible--and a revealing outfit worn by one in the background of Mantis' bio page.)

During the team's first outing, to close a fissure within the fabric of reality, they ended up destroying a Templeship belonging to the Universal Church of Truth. Then, while attempting to prevent another fissure disturbance, the team discovered a massive rock, metal, and organic matter, frozen solid. Before the heroes could piece together the puzzle of what they had discovered, they were attack by unknown aliens that had begun thawing from the frozen ice. During the battle, an amnesia-ridden Major Victory thawed from one of the ice blocks. Adam Warlock incinerated the mass as his teammates retreated back to Knowhere with the disoriented Major Victory. Afterward, Major Victory tells the heroes that he is part of an team called the Guardians of the Galaxy from the future. As they had yet to give themselves a name, the team adopted the "Guardians of the Galaxy" name for their own. (To learn about the Avengers Mansion, click on its highlighted name above.) 

Later on, when the team learned that Star-Lord had Mantis telepathically coerce them into joining the team, they disbanded--each member splitting off onto their own missions. Adam Warlock and Gamora went to find out more about the Universal Church of Truth; Drax and Phyla-Vell went looking for Drax's missing friend Cammi; Star-Lord left to respond to a request for help from the Kree; and Rocket decided to continue the team's original mission. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the character and/or race. Note: Beware of the revealing outfit worn by one on Cammi's bio page.)

Eventually, Rocket Raccoon took it in his own hands to reform the Guardians of the Galaxy and lead them himself. He began recruiting others to join him. Eventually, the team consisted of all of its original members, with additions such as Groot, Major Victory, Bug, Jack Flag, and Moondragon. And when Star-Lord rejoined the team, he became leader once again. This  new team prepared for the coming war between the Shi'ar, and their new Emperor Vulcan, and the Inhumans/Kree led by Blackbolt. At the end of the war, however, the Inhuman King of the Kree, Blackbolt, detonated the Terrigen-Bomb which punched a hole in space/time known as The Fault--a doorway to a universe analogous to our own where there is no death (aka the Cancerverse). The first creature to come through was a giant squid that instinctively attacked the Inhuman city of Attilan. The Guardians of the Galaxy engaged in a long battle against him which ultimately resulted in the he resurrection of Thanos, and the death of some of the Guardians, including Star-Lord and Nova who sacrificed their lives to keep Thanos in the Cancerverse. The survivors hailed Peter and Nova as heroes and a statue was erected in their honor on Kree-Lar. (To learn about the above highlighted event, races, characters, and/or places, just click on their their names. Also, the third picture posted above is of the team when Rocket Raccoon led the team.)

It was later revealed that Star-Lord had actually managed to escape from the Cancerverse. He soon returned to a recreated Guardians of the Galaxy team. The team had learned that Thanos had managed to get a Cosmic Cube from the United States Army and used it to escape to Moord--the homeland of the Badoon. Therefore, they went to the Avengers Tower and informed the Avengers about the situation. So, the two teams joined forces to battle against Thanos and the Badoon. However, after Thanos had apparently killed the Elders of the Universe, he became one with the Cosmic Cube and killed the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy as well. But, in reality, they all had just been sent to the Cancerverse along with the Elders of the Universe. Once there, Iron Man (Tony Stark) found that Thanos' weapon wasn't actually a Cosmic Cube--it had defects. Therefore, they bargained with the Collector, in exchange of a weapon capable of deactivating the "Cube" and returned to Earth. Back on Earth, the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, along with the Elders of the Universe, defeated Thanos. The Elders then took Thanos to punish him for his actions. Afterwards, Star-Lord personally offered Iron Man a spot on the team, which he gladly accepted for a short time. (Click on the highlighted names above to learn about the item, places, teams, and/or characters. Also, Iron Man as part of the team is shown in the fourth picture posted.)

Later on, King Jason of the Spartoi Empire alerted his son, Star-Lord, that a Galactic Council had decided that Earth was too dangerous and should be left alone. Knowing that such a decree would draw Earth's enemies to the planet, the Guardians of the Galaxy rushed to Earth to protect it. And as expected, the team discovered a Badoon ship heading to attack Earth; however, they were able to defeat them. As they continued to guard Earth, the Guardians intercepted Angela heading towards Earth. Believing her to be a threat, the Guardians fought her as well. However, when they discovered that she was actually one of the numerous beings who were pulled from realm of Heaven to this dimension after the space-time continuum was broken, they let her go. (To learn about character and/or people, just click on the highlighted names above.)

More recently, two of Earth's heroes, Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) and Agent Venom (Flash Thompson) have joined the Guardians of the Galaxy. (To learn about the characters above, just click on their names. Note: Beware of the very skin-tight outfit worn by Captain Marvel on her bio page. Also, Captain Marvel and Agent Venom are shown as part of the team in the fifth picture posted above.)

To learn more about both Guardians of the Galaxy teams (Earth 616 and Earth 691), click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Guardians_of_the_Galaxy.