Recorder #127 (Rocket & Groot characters; Guardians of the Galaxy: Steal the Galaxy novel)

recorder-127-gotg-face RECORDER #127

Real Name: Recorder #127

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Rigellian) android (Recorder) - see comments

Occupation: Recorder of data

Group Membership: Recorders of Rigel/Rigellian Intergalactic Survey

Affiliations: Gamora, Groot, Recorder #336, Roamer, Rocket (Raccoon), Uatu the Watcher;
he was protected at some point by the Nova Corps (notably Lolet Clawdi, Grekan Yaer), Kree Sentry#212

Enemies: Badoon (notably Commander Droook), Imperial Guard (Arach, Crusher, Dragoon, Ebon, Warstar 34), Kree (notably Captain Yon-Dar, Sharnor the Accuser), Kree Sentry#212, Nova Corps (notably Lolet Clawdi, Grekan Yaer), Timely, Incorporated (notably Arnok Gruntgrill, Odus Hanxchamp, Una Ren (as Pama Harnon), Sledly Rarnak, Blint Wivvers, Xorb Xorbux, Zania Orbal (as Alandra Meramati)), Universal Church of Truth (notably Cardinal Navorth, Zania Orbal, and various Black Knights, Cardinals and Crusaders);
formerly Roamer;
indirectly Annihilus

Known Relatives: He considers other Recorders as his siblings, while the Rigellians are the creators of the Recorders.

Aliases: Recorder #127 of the Rigellian Intergalactic Survey

Base of Operations: Unrevealed; likely mobile throughout the known universe;
    formerly mobile aboard the White Stripe (Rocket's jumpship);
    formerly Leery's, Divetown, Lumina, Xarth III;
    formerly Timely, Inc.'s corporate headquarters on Alpha Centauri (see comments);
    formerly numerous worlds and locations throughout the universe (presumably including Adrinax, Arborus, Chandilar, the Fault, God's Fall, Gulf at the Brink, Hala, Horus IV, Huj, Krul, Kn'kn, Kymellia, Kodaba, Maklu, Xandar, the free-floating asteroid cluster from which evolved the Sidri, and almost certainly numerous others; however, it is also possible that he acquired extensive data on some of these world without actually traveling to them)
    formerly the matter forges of Rigel (place of creation)

First Appearance: Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy (2017; see comments)

Powers/Abilities:
(Per Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9) - Like other Recorders, Recorder #127 is a humanoid-shaped android constructed from some extraterrestrial ferrous alloy and designed for information-gathering and analysis.

Recorders' information-gathering instrumentation is located in their head components, and is analogous to eye and ear placement on humanoid beings. The eyes of the Recorder takes in data across the whole electromagnetic spectrum (radio to gamma rays), not simply the visual portion of the spectrum. Their auditory units are vastly superhuman; they can register sounds from .3 to 150 deciBel (see comments). Recorder#127 possesses pico-processors, the olfactory register of which covers almost 90 mega-cubits of data space.

The sampling rate for average events is every .01 seconds; for relatively more interesting events it is .001 seconds.

Recorders' computer fluid resolution data/pico-processing system fills the entire chest cavity and has 40 terabytes (trillions of bytes; see comments) of information storage capacity Recorder units are equipped with vocoders permitting them to communicate verbally, and are able to understand and speak over 11,000 languages spoken throughout the Milky Way galaxy (covering at least 96,000 cultures) and others explored by the Rigellians.

Recorder #127 had relatively advanced emotional capacity, including both a sense of humor as well as sexual attraction to certain females (notably Gamora). He could, at will, suspend his literal speech protocols, allowing him to speak in a more informal and "human" fashion. It could also halt of suspend expositional protocol and/or activate dissembling mode, when he wished to avoid the whole truth.

Recorder#127 equated his data storage as comparable to the "Wikipedias" (it tailored its comments to human cultural references for the reader) of 96,000 cultures, including data that they did not even know about themselves, and it was all instantly accessible.

Recorder#127 can appreciate the breath nuance -- like breeze whispering through a tree -- that gave variation to Groot's speech, which otherwise seemed to be repitriion of the phrase "I am Groot," to most others.

After downloading the extensive level of music in Recorder#336's database, #127 tended to break into song frequently, to the annoyance of those around him.

He was consistently distracted by Rocket's disconcertingly human hands as well as the attractive physical form of Gamora, whom he found to be the most aesthetically pleasing female he had ever recorded.

Height: Presumably 6'
Weight: Presumably 275 lbs.
Eyes: Presumably solid white (no visible irides or pupils)
Hair: None

History:

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#9: Recorders / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy (fb) - BTS) - Each of the approximately 500 identical Recorder units were constructed on the manufacturing satellite / matter forges orbiting Rigel-3, and were built of some extraterrestrial ferrous alloy.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - Recorder#127 spent much of his time in deep space, voyaging between destinations on behalf of the Rigellians. Sometimes voyages lasted decades. With little to do during such travels, he enjoyed meditative reflection and self-discovery.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the planet Krul, gathering extreme detail regarding -- among other things -- its underworld hierarchy.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point the Recorder compiled a list of everything the manufacturer Triplanet Metals, Inc. had ever constructed.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder learned why the oath "Trigon's bones" was common in one galaxy and not another (see comments).

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Six: Hide and Souk (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the Shi'ar throneworld, Chandilar, compiling data on -- among other things -- its sunrise and the various weather patterns that accompany it as various times of the year, and its perfumed air.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the planet Adrinax, gathering extreme detail regarding -- among other things -- the specific observable nature of its sunset. .

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - Over time, the Recorder gained complete detail on the legal systems of 1800 cultures, including the extremely complex Code of Law practiced and prosecuted by the Nova Corps of Xandar.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the planet Kymellia, gathering extreme detail regarding -- among other things -- the husbandry of its native hopping shrew.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder learned the best psionic defense against Kt'kn.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder leaned how to say "Cheers' in Kodabak (and presumably almost every other language).

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder learned the details of the popular woodland forms of the planet Arborus, at least those pictured on their deck of cards (which were apparently attractive to the Flora Colossi of Planet X).

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Six: Hide and Souk (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the Kree world Hala, compiling data on -- among other things -- its nitrogen-sweet aura/atmosphere.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Six: Hide and Souk (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the world of the Sidri, compiling data on -- among other things -- its chilly, antiseptic vacuum.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Six: Hide and Souk (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the planet Huj, compiling data on -- among other things -- the pungent yet complex base notes of the swamps of Huj.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Nine: Meanwhile (In an Adjufarian hostelry called Pandubundy's) (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder traveled to and recorded to Maklu, compiling data on -- among others things -- Makluan brash-metal and the fortifications at Maklu.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Four: Cleaning Up (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to and recorded the Cascades at God's Fall.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Four: Cleaning Up (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to and recorded the Fault.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Four: Cleaning Up (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder (presumably) traveled to the planet Horus IV (or another world of the Horusians), compiling data on -- among other things -- their sun-ball sphere. .

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-One: Truth or Dare) - Timely, Incorporated, a corporation based on Alpha Centauri, conceived Project-616, in which they would gather all information on the universe, specifically the universe of the Reality-616: This datamap of all creation would allow them to understand the fundamental nature of everything and comprehend the known galaxy (see comments) down to a pico-molecular level, granting them virtual omnipotence and the ability to manipulate reality.

However, those involved were told that the Project would just enable them to precision-market and audience-tailor their billions of products like never before. They would know and understand everything, and they would dominate the galaxy and secure their position for eternity as an entity more powerful than any species.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Initial speculations to gather the needed information was three millennia.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS) - After decades of work and little progress...

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Timely, Inc. agents subsequently conceived the Rigellian solution, gathering Rigellian Recorders and using the vast amount of data they had collected to expedite the data gathering, which resulted in a new speculation of six years being needed.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616 (fb) - BTS) - Agents associated with Project 616 abducted as many Recorders as they could find, copied their memories, and then sent them out again, reprogrammed.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Rigellian Recorder unit 127 observed the totality of the datacore of Project-616, which caused a data overload, making him unable to remember the project or what he had learned from the project.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile (fb) - BTS) - Recorder unit 127 escaped Alpha Centauri and fled.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Six: Meanwhile) - Timely, Incorporated's executives reviewed Project-616 -- which was stuck at 87%, while they needed at least 96% to implement the program -- and ultimately concluded that they needed to ideally recover Recorder#127 or at least to destroy him, so that no others could gain the totality of their project from him. To clandestinely recover Recorder#127, they enlisted Roamer, a retired Galadorian Spaceknight. To aid him in is mission, they supplied him with an Interpolation Inserter, which would insert him at the right place in time and space to effect the greatest dramatic consequences.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Eleven: Meanwhile (ten days earlier in the Negative Zone) - BTS) - Having learned of the potential of Project-616, Annihilus enlisted Gamora to retrieve Recorder#127.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seventeen: Meanwhile, Meanwhile (five days earlier on Carnassia) - BTS) - Gamora -- slaughtering his defenders -- forced an Interdite hermit, the last surviving member of the Order of the Divine Oraclites to tell her where she could find the Recorder. She most likely slew the Interdite thereafter.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Two: Meanwhile (Precisely now on the Kree battleship Pride of Pama) (fb) - BTS - The Interdite apparently predicted that Gamora could find the Recorder in the Kree Pride of Pama ship and in what sector of space.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Two: A Spot of Brother (fb) - BTS) - Recorder #127 hid underneath the bandstand at Leery's a bar in Dive-Town, Lumina, planet Xarth III

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter One: Last Orders) - Recorder#127 was present at Leery's as Rocket and Groot arrived (while the Guardians of the Galaxy were on something of a sabbatical), followed soon after by the arrival of some Badoon.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Two: A Spot of Brother) - Commander Droook questioned Rocket about the Recorder, of whom he knew nothing. After one of the Badoon War Brotherhood's sensors detected the Recorder, #127 tried to flee. As the Badoon fired a blast to incapacitate the Recorder while preserving his memory banks, the Galadorian Spaceknight Roamer appeared, taking the blast instead, partially deflecting it into Rocket's drink, destroying it...and pushing Rocket (and Groot) into joining the conflict against the Badoon.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Three: Throwdown) - As the struggle escalated, Recorder #127 introduced himself to Rocket and noted that he was in a great deal of trouble, but that his memory had been damaged and he did not know why he was in trouble. Rocket pledged his and Groot's support/protection.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Four: Exit Strategy) - After the Recorder suspended his speech functions due to protestations of his complaints of initial options, Rocket blasted a whole in the ground, though which he, Groot, and Recorder #127 dropped eight meters into the midst of the pit-fight ring.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Five: Let the Games Begin) - After the Recorder informed Rocket and Groot that the pit levels were fitted with jamming fields that prevented the firing of energy weapons, Groot protected the Recorder between battering gladiators. After appreciating that their charges could still be detonated if destroyed, they used them to take out numerous pit-beasts and escape the ring, bringing the Recorder with them. The trio ultimately escaped back up to the surface and departed in Rocket and Groot's spacecraft, the White Stripe, escaping pursuing Droook and his forces and later their Badoon ships -- as well as Nova Corps forces -- in the process, dropping their zunk fruit cargo on the Badoon and then igniting their faster-than-light drive on the edge of Xarth III's atmosphere.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Seven: Resume Narrative Mode) - Traveling at faster-than-light in the White Stripe, the Recorder examined his memory banks and found them 87% full, but appreciated multiple blanks, which disturbed him greatly. He considered that Rocket and Groot were likely aiding him for perceived financial reward. After the Recorder demonstrated his vast knowledge repositiories and analytical abilities, the ship dropped out of hyperspace as they approached Knowhere, only to be confronted by the Nova Corps.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Two: Meanwhile (Precisely now on the Kree battleship Pride of Pama) (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Gamora told the Badoon where they could find the Recorder, knowing that they would attack/distract the Kree and allow her to board the Pride of Pama undetected.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Eight: Cut to the Chase - BTS) - Nova Centurion Grekan Yaer led the pursuit of the White Stripe, during which Rocket led him into an asteroid belt, allowed Yaer to catch him with a tractor beam, and then slingshot him into an asteroid, destroying his ship.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Nine: The Rest is Silence - BTS) - Yaer captured the White Stripe under his own power and brought it aboard the Nova Corps heavy cruiser.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Ten: Xandar) - In a Xandarian interview room with Rocket and Groot, with interrogration by Yaer and Lolet Clawdi, Recorder#127 used his knowledge of Xandar's laws to show that there had not been numerous violations of the Nova Corps Code of Conduct, and the trio were excused.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twelve: Our Al Capone Moment) - The Recorder provided guidance to repair the White Stripe, but before he could effect repairs of the faster-than-light drive, Yaer confronted them with a new violation, lack of insurance, at which point Roamer arrived and blasted Yaer out of the way.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirteen: A Sudden Surprise Twist) - Realizing he was inappropriately foreshadowing, the Recorder skipped ahead.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Fourteen: In Which There are No Sudden Surprise Twists Whatsoever <Dissembling Mode Activated>) - Rocket and Groot engaged Roamer, who noted that he wanted the Recorder, and Yaer, Clawdi, and seven other Nova Corps officers soon engaged Roamer as well. The White Stripe was destroyed in the ensuing conflict. The Recorder, Groot, and Rocket eventually boarded a K-class Nova Corps prowl cruiser, and the Recorder used Nova protocol on treatment of prisoners to convince the ship's control center to take them off planet to protect them. However, the ship was subsequently captured by the Kree Pride of Pama battlecruiser, under the command of Sharnor the Accuser.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Fifteen: In Which We are Accused <Dissembling Mode Activated>) - Sharnor brought the captured trio to the Chamber of Examination, providing instructions for Sentry#212 to prevent their escape: the Recorder must be preserved, but Groot and Rocket were expendable. With Sharnor and Captain Yon-Dar presiding, the trio were questioned about Project 616 and punished with the Psyche-Agonizertron -- with progressively increasing intensity -- when they could not provide any answers.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Sixteen: Meanwhile (20 minutes earlier on Alpha Centauri) - BTS) - Roamer informed Timely Incorporated's Senior Vice Executive President (Special Projects) Odus Hanxchamp that the Badoon and Nova Corps were also seeking Recorder#127, and the executive board currectly suspected that they must have a corporate spy.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Eighteen: Live Kree or Die) - Pressured by Sharnor for information on Project 616, the Recorder speculated that it related to Universe 616, which was the reality/dimension in which they lived. In an effort to further speculate, the Recorder convinced Sharnor to share what she knew, and she informed him that it was the key to universal/reality control, and that he held the missing component of the Project. After she further shared that Timely, Incorporated was behind the Project, the Recorder detailed the danger of an interstellar megacorporation like Timely having that level of power.

    As Sharnor noted how the Kree would extract the information and complete the Project themselves, they were then attacked by the Badoon. Assuming the Recorder to have summoned the Badoon, Sharnor prepared to use the Psyche-Agonizertron on him again, but Groot immobilized her hand and then Groot and Rocket maneuvered Sharnor onto of the device's platform and used it to incapacitate her instead.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Eighteen: Live Kree or Die (fb) - BTS) - Aware of what Groot was planning, the Recorder kept Sharnor talking to facilitate this.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Two: Meanwhile (Precisely now on the Kree battleship Pride of Pama) - As the Kree and Badoon battled, Gamora boarded the Pride of Pama undetected and began making her way to where she had been told she would find him.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Nineteen: Batter Up) - As the Recorder, Rocket, and Groot exited the Chamber of Examination, Groot used Sharnor's power hammer against Sentry#212, and when it threatened either Rocket or Groot, the Recorder got in the way, as it had been instructed that it must not harm the Recorder. After the Recorder and Sentry were knocked off a walkway far above massive engines, the Sentry -- it's propulsion systems damaged by Groot's assault -- sacrificed itself to ensure the Recorder still held onto the walkway.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty: Deadliest) - Saved from falling by Gamora, the Recorder considered her to be the most strikingly beautiful female humanoid he had ever recorded.

    After Rocket and Groot arrived, the Recorder convinced them to cease arguing over his possession and focus on their collective surival.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-One: This is What a Space War Looks Like) - The Kree Pride of Pama battled the Badoon Brotherhood of War evenly.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Two: Meanwhile (Precisely now on the Kree battleship Pride of Pama)) - After Gamora revealed how and why she was there, the Rocket, Groot, and Gamora fought their way past Kree forces as the Recorder cowered and marveled at Gamora's form and prowess, after which it donned the helm of a fallen Kree and connected to the Kree command level.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Three: Fry Kreedom) - After the quartet reached the Xandarian cruiser, the Recorder identified a brief window of opening of the Kree shields and escaped the ship, after which Rocket convinced the ship to yield control to him, and he navigated an exit amongst the various Kree and Badoon fighter ships.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Four: The Events of the Next Ten Seconds) - Having caused a massive explosion by blasting an ejected drive compartment, Rocket fled and used their shields to ride the wave to escape.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Five: Meanwhile (Three Hours Later on Adjufar) (fb) - BTS) - The group traveled to the planet Adjufar.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Five: Meanwhile (Three Hours Later on Adjufar) - BTS / Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Seven: Retail Therapy - BTS) - Part of a Shi'ar Imperial Guard contingent that also include Crusher, Warstar 34, and Dragoon, Ebon spotted Rocket and Groot in Adjufar City, and identified them as wanted for various crimes.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Six: Hide and Souk) - Rocket and Groot departed to seek out business and information, and when Gamora noted that it was just him and her, the Recorder felt an odd rushing sensation to his nether extremities. She suggested they find a bar.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Seven: Retail Therapy - BTS) - Rocket and Groot traveled to Pip's Palace, where Pip the Troll warned them that the Imperial Guard was closing on them.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Eight: Souk and Destroy - BTS) - Ebon convinced her leader, Crusher, that they needed to capture the Recorder -- of some great unspecified value and known to be traveling with Rocket and Groot -- for the benefit of the Shi'ar Empire.

    Returning to the Xandarian cruiseship with the plan of departing, Rocket and Groot had to head back into town to locate Gamora and the Recorder.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Twenty-Nine: Meanwhile (In an Adjufarian hostelry called Pandubundy's)) - Gamora and the Recorder entered Pandubundy's where he found the limbless Recorder#336, now serving as a high-tech iPod/music-player. Though 127 wished to liberate her from her current state, she convinced him to instead download her recordings of the events she had witnessed. Feeling somewhat light-headed, #127 appreciated that he was approaching the limits of his data storage capacity. #336 then informed him to take care of himself and she shared her recent recording of Gamora trying to arrange transport to the Negative Zone.

    Recorder#127 subsequently confronted Gamora about her intents to sell him to someone in the Negative Zone, which he presumed to be Annihilus. He convinced her of the danger of delivering whatever knowledge/power he possessed to the likes of Annihilus, but as they prepared to depart and locate Rocket and Groot, Roamer then materialized before them.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty: Which Contains a Certain Amount of Disagreeable Violence) - Ebon arrived at Pandubundy's, leading to a three-way battle with herself, Gamora, and Roamer, in which Roamer blasted a hole in Gamora's abdomen, distressing the Recorder with her seemingly imminent demist. When Roamer grabbed the Recorder and prepared to depart, the Recorder struck Roamer, merely surprising him, after which Crusher, Warstar, and 16 battletroopers of the Metal Wing cadre arrived, further escalating the conflict.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-One: Dead or Alive) - In the ensuing chaos, Groot picked up the healing Gamora, and they, Rocket, and the Recorder fled back to the Xandarian cruiser and fled, heading to Alpha Centauri.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Two: Meanwhile (Ten minutes later on Alpha Centauri) - BTS) - After Timely's Arnok Gruntgrill checked on and confirmed Project 616's lack of progress, Roamer confronted him regarding the Interpolation Inserter and how he consistently entered points of maximal conflict that interfered with the success of his mission. Gruntgrill assured Roamer that the device was inserting him into those points because it was his destiny to be a hero.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Three: Just Another Day on Alpha Centauri (fb) - BTS) - Via the downloads from Recorder#336, Recorder#127 began breaking into song -- from numerous different alien races -- much to the irritation of his associates. He was told to shut up 68 times.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Three: Just Another Day on Alpha Centauri) - Via Rynebian tech-cloaker/Slig disguiser device, causing those who observed them to see what they expected to see, the Recorder's allies brought him into the headquarters of Timely, Inc.

    Via disguising as themselves as a janitorial crew, the group progressively investigated Timely's facilities

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Four: Cleaning Up) - Keeping his cap pulled down to avoid detection, the Recorder awkwardly and poorly used role-playing dialog. When another janitorial group assigned to their detail threatened their cover, Rocket, Gamora, and Groot either slew or just battered them enough to get blood within the elevator. They subsequently headed to gather information from the mailroom.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Five: You've Got Mail) - After Groot found the minutes of a recent meeting addressed to Senior Vice Executive President (Special Projects) Odus Hanxchamp, the Recorder reviewed them in entirety and found a mentioned of a special projects clearance-only meeting to discuss Project 616. They also found a box containing the deceased Recorder#489, with a "sustain" boot-system bolted to the side of his head to preserve his memory files energetically.

    After Roamer arrived and the group battled anew, Rocket used the tag of the Recorder parcel to override security blockades, and the group dove down the mailchute to the parcel's intended destination.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Six: Meanwhile (3,995 floors higher up) - BTS) - A Shi'ar warcruiser appeared outside Timely Inc.'s corporate office and a group of Imperial Guardsmen (Arach, Dragoon, Ebon, Warstar 34), joined by 40 Metal Wing warriors entered the building in pursuit of the group they had encountered on Adjufar. They ultimately sought to claim Project 616 for the Shi'ar.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Seven: Meanwhile (8,087 floors lower down)) - After the group landed roughly in sub-basement 86, Arnok Gruntgrill came down to check on the project, and the Recorder's allies coerced Gruntgrill to gain them access to the secure room containing Project 616.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Eight: Meanwhile (8,087 floors higher up)) - An immense Nova Corps heavy cruiser arrived outside of Timely Inc., and Grekan Yaer announced that they were also pursuing the fugitives associated with the Recorder #127. They ultimately agreed to let the Shi'ar take the Recorder and they would take the fugitives Gamora, Groot, and Rocket.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Nine: Project 616) - Seeing the near infinite data within, the Recorder realized he was needed to complete it. After confirming the extent of Project 616, the Recorder asked Rocket to destroy him, but Rocket refused to murder his friend.

    Roamer then appeared, and as Gamora battled him, security chief Xorb Xorbux arrived and subdued Gamora and took custody of the Recorder, but then the Kree arrived...

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty: Danger in the Workplace) - Teleporting into the boardroom from the nearby Pride of Pama, Sharnor the Accuser insisted that the Recorder was hers (and the Kree's), after which Timely, Inc. member Pama Harnon (actually named Una-Ren) revealed she had confirmed the Recorder's presence to Sharnor.

    The Badoon then arrived, and Commander Droook demanded the delivery of the Recorder or they would obliterate the entire landmass on which the building stood.

    And then forty immense Templeships of the Universal Church of Truth (UCT) arrived and teleported in hosts of Crusaders, led by Cardinals, to assault the facility and everyone in it.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-One: Truth or Dare) - Realizing that completing Project 616 would allow its controller to eliminate all of the gathered threats, Gruntgrill instructed Roamer to connect the Recorder to the Datacore. The Recorder sought to convince Roamer to be the hero he was meant to be.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Two: This is What the -Tik!- Flark is Going on Up There - BTS) - As, the battles in the upper floors escalated, various factions made their way down toward Project 616.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Three: One with Anything) - Forced into the cage that would lower him into the Datacore, the Recorder appealed to Roamer again to no obvious effect. When the Recorder began nervously singing, Rocket silenced him. As the Recorder said his apparent farewells to Rocket and Groot, Rocket's eye movements revealed Gamora to have escaped captivity. As the Recorder attempted to distract security head Xorb Xorbux, he was instead punched in the face and knocked to the ground.

    The cage was then lowered into the Datacore, which then began to steadily raise, reaching 91% and showing the potential to reach 100%.

    As Gamora assaulted UCT forces, Rocket and Groot sought to recover the Recorder, and Roamer assaulted the UCT's Cardinal Navorth, protecting the pair from his attack. As the Datacore reached 97%, Groot tried to pull the cage back up until he was stabbed in the chest by Allandra Meramati, whom Rocket then shot. Nonetheless, Groot fell forward, into the Datacore.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Four: Watched) - Initially feeling peace in the pink void, the Recorder began to feel and see and know everything, at which point he sensed Uatu the Watcher. Feeling his databanks exploding and melting, the Recorder realized that his form could not handle this level of knowledge and power, and Uatu advised him to depose the power to someone who could.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Five: Great Power, Great Responsibility) - The Recorder deposed the power to Groot and then advised him to fix this mess, after which Groot transported away all of those who had invaded the Timely, Inc. building, after which he restored the damaged building, restored all those slain in the recent conflict, and then not only dispersed the Datacore but made it so that no one could ever re-create it again (if anyone ever thought of trying to recreate the datamap in pursuit of power, they would instantly forget how to do it).

    When the chain holding the cage broke, Roamer reappeared -- via triggering the interpolator -- and rescued them. Roamer resolved to become a hero again.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Forty-Six: Tails to Astonish) - The Recorder summoned the arc fleets of Rigel to collect and repair him, to download his data and reformat him, and to recover his dormant brethren in the Core below, and he bade farewell to Gamora, Groot, Roamer, and Rocket.

    The Recorder then flashed forward, having recorded and now detailing what happened to most of the participants of the Project 616 adventure in the many years since its conclusion; all of these events occurred in the alternate Reality-17721; many of them may have also occurred in Reality-616, but that would have to be decided on a case by case basis.

Comments: Created by Dan Abnett.
In the Acknowledgments section, Dan thanked Stuart Moore, Jeff Youngquist, Axel Alonso, Dan Buckley, Sarah Brunstad, and James Gunn for their support in this project.
He also noted "fist-bumps to <our own> Ronald Byrd for continuity-fu."

The very first reference to a number has the Recorder identifying himself as 172...but every reference thereafter is 127, so 172 must have been a mistake. The Recorder was likely flustered by the Badoon and Spaceknight assault.

My DC knowledge is not so strong, but I recall "Trigon's Bones" as an expletive/invocation from Raven of the Teen Titans, with Trigon being Raven's dad. A brief search confirms that.

Recorder#127 regularly broke the fourth wall, speaking to the reader repeatedly, specifically identifying the reader as human and even making fun of his or her eyebrows...he was also creeped out by Rocket's disconcertingly human hands.

The Timothy and Leery's bar are clearly homage to Timothy Leery. I'll discuss him in a bit in the profiles for the Timothy and for Leery's bar, which will be written after this profile but will have been posted to the Appendix before this profile.

I'm pretty certain Project 616 was intended to enable control of the entire 616-universe, which is insane, as even the Recorders haven't been everywhere in the universe, but some references refer to it controlling the/a galaxy...which is still insanely large, but is a little more feasible.

The units and descriptions for superhuman hearing ranges noted in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe for beings such as Daredevil, the Recorders, etc. has been called into question. This is not an area of medicine in which I was trained, and so I honestly have no idea how to resolve it.

As it hard to believe that the Recorder did not know that the proper adjective for raccoons is procyonine, I would think it simply used the term raccoonoid because it was more obvious/reader-friendly.

40 terabytes was an insane amount of data capacity back in 1982, when the original handbooks came out. I'm pretty sure the Recorder detailed his data storage capacity in this story, I just missed it in my reviews; however, I am certain it is orders of magnitude greater than 40 terabytes.

(Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy Chapter Thirty-Four: Cleaning Up (fb) - BTS) - At some point, the Recorder may have traveled to the living planet known as Ego or otherwise recorded Ego's toothbrush...or his waterpick...or, most likely, he was just joking.

In-continuity?

People question whether novels should be in-continuity. They should when they work hard to fit seamlessly in-continuity and they add to the rich texture of the "Marvel Universe." In any case, characters in such stories as novels, games, etc. that don't contradict -616 continuity are considered "fringe characters." They fit into existing continuity, but are not definitively part of it until they are confirmed to be so in a story, handbook, etc.
They sure fit in better than a lot of stuff by certain writers...you know who you are...and we know who you are...
Not only that, but the story specifically references the universe in which they dwelled to be Reality-616...however, the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies refer to their mainstream reality as -616 also...

Counterpoint by Donald Campbell:

As much as I liked this novel, there were some elements that bothered me. For example, Alpha Centauri is described as a "cosmic hubworld (that governs) almost thirty systems and trillions of lives." This definitely does NOT sound the like 616 Alpha Centauri system where the Centaurians are usually depicted as only having a "bow-and-arrow" level technology, the Alpha Centaurians (assuming they are not nearly extinct) are focused on desperately trying to keep their homeworld habitable, and the Centurii from Centuri-Six (which may or may not actually be part of the Alpha Centauri system) were all kidnapped by slavers. And yes, I hold this opinion despite the fact that, in Annihilators#1/2, Abnett and Lanning established that Rocket Raccoon had worked for six months as a mail clerk at the Alpha Centauri offices of the Customer Services Division of Timely Inc. Also, while the Timely offices were aboard an orbiting ship in that comic, in this novel they are on the planet Alpha Centauri...which is also wrong/inconsistent with the Marvel Comics universe.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the novel but I don't think it was meant to be canon and I don't think that it should be treated as being "in continuity." And I would REALLY like some writer to finally get around to explaining the current status quo in the 616 Alpha Centauri star system. I mean, what level of technology do the Centaurians actually possess? What do the Centaurians actually call their race? What is their name for the planet known to Terrans as Centauri-IV? Can Alpha Centaurians still live on Arima or was the planet left too dehydrated after Sub-Mariner I#18? Is Centuri-Six actually in orbit around Proxima Centauri?

Personally, due to the Alpha Centauri discontinuity, I would prefer it if Recorder #127 were as incorrect in his statement that he existed in "Universe 616" as some characters from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness were when they assigned the number "616" to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Reality-199999). However, that's just my opinion.

Me again:
    Valid point on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the difference is that the novel is not clearly a different reality or part of a different Multiverse than the comics Reality-616 as the cosmic hierarchy, (Uatu the Watcher, Galactus, etc.) etc., is the same. Additionally, this story goes to great lengths to fit solidly with Reality-616's continuity, alien races, etc.
           On that note, the movies call this reality Earth-616, but the comics call this reality Earth-199999. There two realities are in different multiverses, so it makes you wonder if the former a local name, within the larger/latter multiverse number.
    The Alpha Centauri discrepancy is certainly significant, but bigger issues than that happened consistently in Bendis' and other writers stories that are considered Reality-616.

Further, Alpha Centauri is an Earth designation...is it that much of a stretch that there is another world/system in the virtually infinite universe that has a star designated the translation/equivalent of Alpha Centauri?
OR maybe it was due to the reality-altering Secret Wars?
OR maybe there is something weird and unusual that we've never even heard of?

    As you note, -616 stories have contradictions within the Alpha Centauri system, but they're not excluded...as well as there having been relatively recent -616 continuity comics that reference Rocket's past with the Alpha Centauri offices of Timely Inc.
    Timely Incorporated may have offices on an orbiting ship, but the office on Alpha Centauri is presumably the main office. Maybe they moved portions or entire buildings. They have the technology...they can rebuild it...
    Anyway...the bottom line is that this story and all the characters in it are fringe characters until confirmed one way or another.
--Snood

Earth-17721 Following the dispersal of Project 616, those involved did various things; some of which may parallel Reality-616's history. Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot. Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket and Groot: Steal this Galaxy (2017)

This profile was completed 08/30/2022, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25^th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Recorder #127 should be distinguished from:

other Recorders

images: (without ads)
The first page of each chapter has the face image shown at the top of this profile.
Here is a full-body image of a Recorder from the OHoMU Recorders profile...they are all pretty similar in appearance

Appearances:
Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket Raccoon & Groot -- Steal the Galaxy prose novel (2017) - by Dan Abnett (see comments)

First posted: 09/27/2026
Last updated: 09/09/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and � 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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