The Collector is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe.

Fictional character biography

Taneleer Tivan was one of the Elders of the Universe and the brother of En Dwi Gast (the Grandmaster). He was an enormously powerful being who wielded the Power Primordial, though at the time of his death his great age made it difficult to summon this power. Left to right, down from the top: The Runner, The Gardener, The Collector, The Champion and The Grandmaster. ... The Grandmaster is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Eons ago, the Collector lived on an unknown world with his wife and child, spending his days in thought and contemplation. He was also blessed, or maybe cursed, with the gift of foresight. One day during his musings, he foresaw the rise of a being who would have enough unimaginable power to pose a threat to the Elders. This being would be named Thanos and would seek universal death. To protect life in the universe, the Collector continued to do what his name implied and created a massive museum of countless life forms to keep them safe from Thanos. He once possessed one of the six Infinity Gems, unaware of its true power, until Thanos took it. This article or section on a comics-related subject may need to be cleaned up and rewritten because it describes a work of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. ... In the fictional universe of Marvel Comics, the Infinity Gems, sometimes referred to as the soul gems early on, are six immensely powerful gems. ...

The Korvac Saga

Continuing to look to the future, the Collector saw another terrible force, this time it would be Korvac the Machine Man, a cyborg monstrosity from the year 3000, taking the form of a man named Michael in 20th century New York. The Avengers were also aware of a new threat but did not know who it was. In an attempt to help protect them, the Collector added some of them to his collection and was probably planning to enlist their aid, when a second group of Avengers appeared and defeated him in combat. Michael Korvac, aka simply Korvac, was also called the Enemy, the Machine God and the Clockwork Lord. ... The Avengers are a superhero team, consisting of many of Marvel Comics most popular heroes. ...

Sensing that his end was at hand, the Collector revealed that having learned of Korvac, he had made his own daughter, Carina, into a living weapon to use against the Machine Man, imbuing her with the Power Cosmic. Just as he was about to tell the heroes who their enemy was, Michael learned of his duplicity and used his cosmic powers to blast the Collector into atoms, proving the prediction of the aged scholar's own end to be correct.

Some time later, the Elder known as the Grandmaster played a game called the Contest of Champions with Death to resurrect his dead brother. Contest of Champions is a 1982 mini-series by Marvel Comics. ... A hawk eating its prey Death is the end of life, the full cessation of vital functions in a biological organism. ...

The Collector also assisted his fellow elders in a plot to kill Galactus, however he was eaten by him. However because the Elders cannot die they caused Galactus to have "cosmic" indigestion and eventually they were freed.

The Collector has re-appeared again in "The Avengers" when they fought Thane-Ector and the brethren, who were noted to have escaped from the Collector's collection. It was then noted later that The Collector had planned all of this, it was at this point he had shown his true form and was noted to be very powerful. Enough to subdue Thane-ector, however he was eventually thwarted by The Avengers.

Other version

The Collector appears in The Avengers: United They Stand #6-7. He chooses to preserve a good population of Earth as he feels it's on the verge of ending. Although The Avengers escape, some citizens on Earth prefer to stay with The Collector.