| “ | It's amusing, really. How stupid are you, hmmm? It was so obviously a trap! | „ |
| ~ Theel mocking Quill and Groot. |
Theel, also known as Recorder B2H6, is a major antagonist in the 2023 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the third and final installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.
He is a Recorder, a cybernetic member of OrgoCorp's scientific division who collected the scientific information of the High Evolutionary's unethical experimentations on animals and other lifeforms, and assisted the High Evolutionary in the experiments. Theel is a Motio, a species created by the High Evolutionary to serve as his Recorders.
Theel was portrayed by Nico Santos.
Biography[]
At least 300 years ago, an enigmatic alien geneticist known as the High Evolutionary founded OrgoCorp, an intergalactic bioengineering company that served as the public front of the High Evolutionary's experiments. The High Evolutionary sought to create the "perfect" species, and had already created several species across the galaxy, including the Sovereign, being seen as God by many of them. One of the species created by the High Evolutionary were Motios, who were made to serve as Recorders in OrgoCorp. Theel, a Motio, became a Recorder at some point in time, and alongside fellow Recorder Vim, he served as the High Evolutionary's personal assistant. Theel served the High Evolutionary without question, blindly following his orders.
By the 1980s, the High Evolutionary visited Earth, being fascinated with human society, but disgusted by humans themselves, and thus decided to model his ideal species after 1980s Earth, creating a planet modeled exactly after Earth, known as Counter-Earth, to be the headquarters of his experiments. On Counter-Earth, Theel worked alongside the High Evolutionary as the High Evolutionary retrieved many animals from Earth to use as the basis of his experiments, which involved modifying the animals into sapient lifeforms through genetic alterations and cybernetic enhancements.
Theel assisted the High Evolutionary in the incredibly inhumane experiments, which were akin to torture, traumatizing many of the subjects. However, in the same manner as his master, Theel did not show any empathy for the subjects. Theel helped the High Evolutionary work through 88 batches of test subjects, each of which were declared failures for one reason or another and executed. Theel was especially violent and cruel towards the subjects, commonly threatening to lock them in cages.
Eventually, Theel assisted the High Evolutionary in creating the 89th batch of subjects, which consisted of a raccoon, an otter, a walrus, and a rabbit. After finishing with the last subject, the raccoon, who was dubbed 89P13, Theel got to work helping the High Evolutionary create devices that could quickly evolve animals into sapient humanoids, eliminating the need for cybernetic augmentation. In the meantime, the High Evolutionary found that 89P13 was an incredibly intelligent and creative subject, one who could think and innovate for himself, something that none of the other subjects could do. Between working on the project, Theel would assist the High Evolutionary in tutoring 89P13, finding that 89P13 was quite intelligent.
Eventually, when the evolution chambers were completed, Theel and the other researchers found that there was a critical flaw in the machine's working, as every animal evolved in it would immediately turn feral and mindlessly violent, which resulted in the subjects being incinerated within the chambers, although they were unable to figure out what was going wrong. However, much to the shock of the High Evolutionary and Theel, 89P13 quickly deduced what the problem was and told the High Evolutionary how to fix it. Later, after modifying the devices as advised, the High Evolutionary, accompanied by his Recorders, retrieved 89P13 and showed him the new evolution chambers, which successfully evolved animals into docile, intelligent humanoids. However, the High Evolutionary then ordered that 89P13 and the rest of Batch 89 be executed in the morning, having 89P13 locked away in his cage. 89P13 managed to escape, only to be caught by the High Evolutionary and his security officers, who killed the rest of Batch 89, but 89P13 managed to irreparably scar the High Evolutionary's face in the process, and escaped Counter-Earth.
In the years that followed, Theel remained in the High Evolutionary's service, operating in the High Evolutionary's headquarters on Counter-Earth, a mobile facility known as Arête Laboratories. In the intervening time, the High Evolutionary had created the Humanimals, a species of evolved animals who lived in a society akin to 1980s Earth. While they were supposedly peaceful and docile, they lacked the ability to innovate in the way that 89P13 could, and thus, their society began to stagnate. The High Evolutionary then learned that 89P13, now known as Rocket, was alive and operating as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, currently residing on Knowhere. With that, the High Evolutionary deployed an evolved Sovereign named Adam Warlock to retrieve Rocket.
However, Adam failed, although he still managed to critically wound Rocket. When Adam reported back to Arête Laboratories alongside his mother Ayesha, Theel met them alongside Vim and the High Evolutionary, where Theel placed a stool for the High Evolutionary to stand on, before standing back and watching the High Evolutionary torture Adam using his gravity abilities, threatening to exterminate the Sovereign if they failed again. As the High Evolutionary walked away from the two Sovereign with the Motios, he asked how Rocket could've survived on his own, and Theel commented that Rocket was quite intelligent. The High Evolutionary confirmed that Rocket's brain was powerful, hence why Rocket had to be retrieved, which Theel eagerly supported.
Later, Theel was sent to the Orgoscope, the synthetically-grown space station headquarters of OrgoCorp. As it turns out, Rocket's critical injury could not be treated by his companions, as Rocket's body still contained a killswitch implanted in him during his time on Counter-Earth, which prevented the Guardians of the Galaxy from operating on him or otherwise using lifesaving medical equipment. The Guardians were seeking out the Orgoscope to find the disabling code for the killswitch, which was held in the station's files, but Theel arrived on the station first, downloading the disabling code into his database implant and deleting the code from the station's file. As Theel was leaving the station, he bumped into Star-Lord, true name Peter Quill, who was the current leader of the Guardians. Quill was disguised as a maintenance worker, and did not know what Theel had done, so the two simply kept walking, but not before Quill got a good look at Theel's face and distinctive database implant. Theel left the station and returned to Counter-Earth before the Guardians could discover what became of the disabling code, which resulted in a shootout on the Orgoscope before the Guardians could escape.
The Guardians eventually tracked Theel to Counter-Earth, landing on it and getting help from the Humanimals to find Theel in Arête Laboratories. Quill and fellow Guardian Groot, a tree-like Flora colossus, were allowed to enter Arête Laboratories to meet with the High Evolutionary at the highest level, with Quill proven to be unarmed. In the High Evolutionary's chamber, which overlooked a Counter-Earth cityscape, the High Evolutionary ignored the two and motioned for them to be silent, but Quill then noticed Theel standing by in the chamber and called him out, startling Theel.
Before Quill and Groot could try to grab Theel, the High Evolutionary distracted them by giving them his full attention, explaining his goals and accomplishments, only for Quill to point out the stagnation of the Humanimal society, specifically citing seeing Humanimals selling drugs and assaulting each other in the streets. At the same time, the High Evolutionary was notified that Rocket had been retrieved, and so he decided to simply start over with a new society on a new planet, deciding to exterminate the Humanimals in favor of his newest batch of subjects, the Star Children. The High Evolutionary then restrained Quill and Groot with his gravity powers, and Arête Laboratories began lifting off into space, Counter-Earth beginning to get blasted apart as the facility rose from the ground. As the High Evolutionary began leaving to let his guards kill Quill and Groot, Theel mocked the pair for walking into an obvious trap, but Quill responded that it was a face-off, before Groot revealed an explosive hidden within his chest, which he then threw at the guards, blasting many away and making part of the room collapse, blocking the High Evolutionary off with the debris and trapping Theel on the side that Quill and Groot were on.
Groot then opened up his chest further and revealed an array of blasters hidden within, including Quill's Quad Blasters, before the two quickly killed all the remaining guards in the room, leaving Theel alone. Theel, cornered against a window by Quill, then cowardly fell to his knees and begged for his life, and Quill seemed to oblige, putting away his blasters. Theel began to thank him, but Quill told him not to, before promptly tacking Theel right out the window, keeping hold of him as the two fell off the ascending Arête Laboratories. Theel screamed that Quill had just killed them both, but Groot jumped down as well and grabbed onto Quill, with Groot forming his body into a glider that allowed them to arc towards the ground, where Quill slammed Theel headfirst into the ground as they approached, violently dragging Theel across the ground and killing him with the impact and damage. Once they came to a stop, Quill cut the database implant out of Theel's head, before escaping the planet with the rest of the Guardians to use the disabling switch to save Rocket, leaving Theel's corpse to be destroyed with Counter-Earth.
Appearance[]
As a Motio, Theel externally resembles a human, but has white irises, black sclera, and blue veins visible around his cranium, along with a distinct ridge around the top of his forehead. Additionally, as a Recorder, Theel wears a carefully fitted white uniform with a long coat, and has a cybernetic implant on the right side of his head, visibly protruding from his skin. This implant is what allows Theel to serve as a living database, as it holds all the information that Theel records.
Personality[]
Due to his limited screen time, not much is known about Theel's personality. But from what can be garnered, he is as sadistic, cruel and monstrous as his master, being willing to perform invasive and unethical surgery on Rocket without any anesthesia, abusing him, traumatizing him and leaving him in great pain. He's also abusive to the experiment subjects, as shown when he threw Rocket to the cage, as well as sarcastic and arrogant, as he mocked Star-Lord and Groot for falling into the trap (though Star-Lord said that it's a show-off). Additionally, despite his scientific intelligence, he's displayed stupidity, as Groot activated a grenade and threw it while Theel asked what he was doing, even though it's obvious that Groot is throwing a grenade.
Theel is extremely cowardly compared to his compatriots, as while his fellow Recorder Vim was willing to stand up to her boss alongside some of the Orgocorp staff when she realized how deluded the High Evolutionary truly was, Theel was completely subservient to him and was quick to submit to others, as when he witnessed Peter and Groot killing all the guards, he immediately cowers and begs for undeserved mercy (despite performing unethical and painful experiments on animals with High Evolutionary), desperately thanking him when spared though this would be for naught. Even in his final moments, Theel is manipulative, desperately tries to persuade Peter not to kill him as he tries to convince him his actions would kill them all, to no avail.
