Name: Controllers
Universe: Earth-1
First Appearance: Adventure Comics #357

History:
Approximately ten billion years before the atomic age of Earth, an advanced race with vast powers had evolved on the planet Oa. Among them was an individual named Krona, who broke certain taboos to probe the origins of the universe and of life itself. In the process, evil was allegedly unleashed on worlds where it had previously been unknown.

To repair the damage Krona had done, his fellow Oans elected to use their immortal lives and powers to combat evil. Krona was rendered helpless and banished from our universe, and the Oans sought effective ways of combating evil. As their numbers were small, no matter how vast their power, they decided to act through agents. Most of the Oans felt the best method was to work within mortal societies, and thus they developed robots known as Manhunters, which were later replaced by living agents called Green Lanterns. These Oans became the Guardians of the Universe and kept their base of operations on Oa.

Another group disagreed, believing that evil was an infection the Oans had let loose, and that if it became sufficiently serious, it had to be destroyed. When they failed to convince their fellows of this philosophy, they departed Oa to another dimension. There, they developed weapons of awesome power and assigned one to each of their group. Each member would watch over a specific segment of the multiple universes, and if evil got out of control anywhere, would destroy the affected galaxy. They took the name Controllers.

In the latter half of the 30th Century one Controller decided to use his power to conquer his assigned territory, and unleashed a Sun-Eater, which was his weapon. The Sun-Eater menaced Earth and was defeated by the Legion of Super-Heroes at the cost of Ferro Lad's life. The Legionnaires also confronted the Controller, who died of an apparent heart attack that may or may not have been caused by the presence of Ferro Lad's ghost. The Legion was rewarded for their intervention by the other Controllers, who gave them a "Miracle Machine" that could create matter from thought and that later saved the Earth from invasion before being destroyed by Matter-Eater Lad.

Powers:
The personal powers of the Controllers are unknown, but if they are at all similar to their distant relatives, the Guardians (whom they no longer resemble physically through divergently directed evolution), they have substantial abilities to alter matter and energy at will. Their physical prowess appears greater than that of the Guardians, but still not significant.

The only weapon used by the Controllers that we have seen is the Sun-Eater, a gaseous creature capable of consuming entire stars. Other equally powerful but vastly different weapons are believed to exist.