Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, is awakened from a long sleep by Hoggish Greedly, who happens to be drilling above her resting chamber. Realizing that the damage is extensive, Gaia sends five magic rings, four with the power to control an element of nature and one controlling the element of Heart, to five chosen youths across the globe: Kwame from Africa, Wheeler from North America, Linka from the Soviet Union (changed to Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union's collapse), Gi from Asia, and Ma-Ti from South America.



These five are dubbed the Planeteers and are tasked with defending the Earth from the greatest of disasters and making efforts to educate mankind to keep others from happening. Gaia uses her "Planet Vision" to discover where the most devastating destruction is occurring and sends the Planeteers to help solve the problem. The Planeteers use transportation (usually a flying machine called a Geo-Cruiser) based on solar power to avoid causing pollution themselves.



In situations that the Planeteers cannot resolve alone, they can combine their powers to summon Captain Planet, a magical entity who possesses all of their powers magnified, symbolizing the premise that the combined efforts of a team are stronger than its individual parts. Captain Planet only appears in his Captain Planet garb. These are not clothes but elements of the Earth that are integral to his composition. He is able to rearrange his molecular structure to transform himself into the various powers and elements of nature. Captain Planet's outfit does not represent a specific culture.[citation needed] He has a grass-green proto-mullet, crystal skin, earthy brown eyes, a fire-red chest, gloves, and boots, and a sun-yellow globe insignia.



In a manner similar to the mid 1950s–1986 incarnation of Superman, Captain Planet has superhuman powers, and seems to gain more proportionate to whatever the situation requires. Nevertheless, he is weakened by pollutants which sap his ...