Fictional history
Each Elder of the Universe is the last survivor of an otherwise extinct race. Each discovered that they had potentially infinite lifespans, dependent on maintaining the will to live. The Elders are known for their personal obsessions (such as collecting, contests of strategy or strength, and various fields of study), each of which they pursue fanatically. While the characters are not truly cosmic entities, all have achieved some cosmic level of power and knowledge related to their particular pursuit.
The Grandmaster and his fellow Elders take an interest in Earth. The Collector has two separate encounters with the Avengers, the second ending with his murder by Korvac. The Grandmaster tricks Death into playing a contest involving many of Earth's heroes, which he deliberately loses to resurrect the Collector. The Grandmaster usurps control of Death's realm; in response, Death prevents the Elders from entering her realm, which effectively makes them immortal.
A group of eleven Elders meet on Ego the Living Planet (who is also regarded as an Elder) in an effort to kill the cosmic entity Galactus, which would cause the concepts Eternity and Death to become unbalanced and end the universe. The Elders believe since they are now immortal, they would be the only beings to survive and would be supreme beings in the new universe. The plan is thwarted by Galactus' heralds, Silver Surfer and Nova. Galactus captures and consumes five of the Elders (Champion, Collector, Gardener, Grandmaster, and Runner). Three other Elders (Astronomer, Possessor, and Trader) are sucked into a black hole and transported to another universe. The Contemplator and Obliterator avoid the wrath of Galactus and plot revenge.
The three Elders in the mystical realm conspire with the In-Betweener to restore him in exchange for being returned to their home reality. The In-Betweener attempts to kill Galactus, but discovers that he cannot do so. When he announces his intention to hurl Galactus into the black hole instead, the three Elders, who wanted to rescue the Elders from within Galactus, threaten him with the Infinity Gems to stop him. The In-Betweener responds by summoning Death and forcing her to negate them despite her vow. As a result, the Astronomer, the Trader, and the Possessor are apparently disintegrated. The ship carrying Galactus is thrown into the black hole and passes through to the mystical realm, where Master Order and Lord Chaos force the Elders within Galactus out of his body.
The five Elders who were consumed by Galactus (Champion, Collector, Gardener, Grandmaster, and Runner) are targeted by Thanos because they possess the Infinity Gems. Thanos humiliates each in turn and captures the Gems.
The Grandmaster reappears and creates a new version of the Squadron Sinister. Via the Wellspring of Power—an interdimensional source of superhuman abilities—the Grandmaster increases the powers of the Squadron Sinister, who battle the Thunderbolts. The Grandmaster is defeated by Helmut Zemo, and the Squadron Sinister scatter and escape.
After Battleworld is destroyed in "Secret Wars", the Elders examine the planet's remains, and find them to be teeming with Power Primordial in the form of an "Iso-Sphere". Their inability to come to a mutually beneficial agreement regarding ownership of the Iso-Sphere prompts the Elders into holding a winner-takes-all Contest of Champions, which all but the Grandmaster and Collector are eventually eliminated from.
During the "No Surrender" arc, it was revealed that one Elder of the Universe originally went by the name of Grandmaster before being defeated by En Dwi Gast and banished from the Earth-616 reality. After the multiverse was restored, this Elder of the Universe returned as the Challenger.
Powers and abilities
Each Elder of the Universe possesses a fraction of the Power Primordial, remnants of the primordial energies of the Big Bang. The Power Primordial can be used to produce a wide range of effects, including augmentation of physical attributes (strength, durability, speed), molecular restructuring, creation of force fields, teleportation and numerous other abilities. Some Elders have incorporated this power into their singular obsessions and developed its potential in themselves (i.e. Champion, Runner) while others have to varying degrees mixed that power with tools or resources their obsessions afforded them (i.e. Contemplator, Grandmaster, Obliterator) or even largely ignored it as irrelevant or detrimental to their pursuits (i.e. Gardener, Collector).
Each Elder has developed skills related to their particular field of interest over a lifespan measured in billions of years. In their particular fields (i.e. Grandmaster in strategy, Caregiver in medicine), they have essentially unrivaled superhuman levels of talent and expertise.
