The Guardians of the Universe, commonly known as the Little Blue Men, had spent their lives wishing to "maintain peace in the universe."
Some might think they resembled Marvel's Watchers next door, since both were little people with oversized heads. But in truth, they were more like the Elders Of The Universe—the Grandmaster, the Collector, and that lot.
At least in terms of seniority, they were quite similar.
Their original homeworld was called Maltus. That planet gave birth to the first intelligent life in the DC Universe. Though they were collectively called Maltusians, they later split into three different races.
The Oans were all male, the Guardians before their limbs atrophied. Another race consisted entirely of deep-blue-skinned women: the Zamarons, who coexisted with the Oans and later became the Star Sapphires. Finally, there were the pink-skinned Controllers, both male and female.
They had clearly been one race, so why had they become different peoples? That required a look at their history.
A billion years ago, the Maltusians had all lived happily in their home star system. Their technology was advanced, their lives were comfortable, and everyone was busy exploring the newborn universe. They were carefree beyond measure.
But one day, an astronaut on an exploratory mission encountered a strange being that called itself human. He had white skin and golden hair, called himself Huron, and claimed he could introduce the Maltusians to an incredibly useful source of energy—the Emotional Spectrum.
After witnessing the "miracles" he performed with Power Rings of every color, everyone's hearts burned with excitement. They followed Huron's instructions and captured the first Emotional Entity: Ion.
They locked Ion inside a massive tank, extracted the Emotional Energy from its body, and used that energy to alter themselves.
That was when things became amazing. Ion's energy level had been