The Human Tree appeared as a muscular young man with tan white skin and curly chestnut-brown hair. He had the ability to turn parts of his body into tree-like branches, sometimes complete with foliage, whose size and shape he could control at will; the branches had warm, dark brown bark and deep green leaves. To better facilitate the use of these powers, he usually forewent wearing a shirt. (COMIC: Red Riding Hood)
Powers & abilities
The Human Tree's primary power was to turn parts of his body, mostly his arms, into tree-like branches which he could continue to move like real arms, using them to boost his abilities in a fight. He seemed to have some kind of super-strength and increased resilience to go with this. (COMIC: Red Riding Hood)
The Human Tree was among the heroes who responded to Robot Madison's call when she gathered all the superheroes she could to defend New York City from the alien robot known as the Cosmic Solution. He was part of the initial charge against the robot, though this charge proved counter-productive when the heroes realised the Solution grew in size with every impact it absorbed. After it grew properly gigantic, the Human Tree was seen trying to hold its feet down and trip it by growing his hands and fingers into tangles of roots, without much success. In the end, the robot left Earth of its own accord when it was called off by another agent of the Cosmic Order. (COMIC: Journey Out Of Misery)
Behind the scenes
In the DeviantArt description of a 2017 sketch of the character, the Human Tree's creator Paul Hoppe revealed that he actually invented the Human Tree as a child, removed from the wider The Cosmic Beholder universe, and only later decided to introduce him into his ongoing series. He also disclosed that the character was inspired by the Spider-Man villains Sandman and Hydroman as they appeared in various 1980s comics.
