Planet of Origin: Zenn-La, the thirs planet orbiting the star Deneb in the Milky Way galaxy, approximately 3,000 light years from Earth.
Zenn-Lavians are peaceful humanoids which developed an highly advanced technologicla and spiritual civilisation.
A million years ago, Zenn-La was home to a barbaric and violent polytheistic civilisation. Ten thousands years ago, desperate to preserve what was left of their race, the Zenn-Lavians turned to science to rebuild their world. That was the start of a Golden Age of Reason during which they overcame war, poverty, crime, disease, want and old age, as their lifespans increased to thousands of years. They sent space missions to explore most of the local group of galaxies but , non-expansionnists and sdentary, they soon withdrew to their homeworld and grew apathetic and indulgent in their utopia, with all of their needs cared for by machines.
When the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus, came to consume Zenn-La, one man, Norrin Radd, made a pact to become his herald in return for Zenn-La's safety. Radd was transformed into the being known as the Silver Surfer and left his homeworld for the stars.
In 1947, an entity known as the Other came to Zenn-La and completely erased all signs of life and civilization from the planet while putting Galactus and the Surfer who were in the same star system, catatonic. In an uncharacteristic act of compassion, Galactus recreated everything, restoring the people and the entire world exactly as it was. No one, including the Surfer, was aware of what had transpired.
In 1966, after decades of service to Galactus, the Silver Surfer was exiled and imprisoned on Earth. As the Surfer had betrayed his master, Galactus felt he was no longer obligated to keep his vow. He returned to Zenn-La and announced his intention to consume the planet. In another remarkable allowance, Galactus allowed twenty-four hours for the Zenn-Lavians to flee the doomed world, though only about 500 individuals would survive. Galactus then stripped the planet bare of the energies he craved, leaving behind a barren and devastated wasteland. Months later, the Zenn-Lavians deemed it safe to return, and set up refugee camps to live in. They blamed the Silver Surfer for what happened, and a deep resentment festered in them. The Surfer gave a female Zenn-Lavian a portion of his power cosmic, which allowed her to slowly restore life-sustaining properties to the planet, including abundant regeneration of plant life.
In 1988, Zenn-La suffered an invasion attempt by the Skrulls and, later, by the Kree. The Surfer, now self-appointed protector of his homeworld, made an agreement that he would stay neutral in their conflict if neither power would attack Zenn-La. The Surfer was tricked into defending the Skrulls from the Badoon, who, he later found out, had allied with the Kree. This drew Zenn-La into the war. In 1989, The Skrulls declared a temporary truce with the Kree, which brought back peace to Zenn-La.
In 1991, the Zenn-Lavians were approached by the Great One, a massive, technologically-augmented brain. Through telepathic communication, the Great One informed the Zenn-Lavians that he had to power to transform the entire planet into psionic energies, protecting them forever with his mind. He would not force such a gift upon any race, however, and it was the Zenn-Lavians choice to accept it or not. Realizing that the Silver Surfer could not protect them against every threat, the people of Zenn-La agreed almost unanimously to accept the Great One's offer and removed it from physical space and changing it into a simulation inside of its brain. The Surfer discovered this and infiltrated the simulation.
Though the Surfer tried to communicate with the Great One, it attacked him and the Surfer was eventually forced to fight back. During the fight, part of the Great One's brain was permanently and fatally damaged and fell into coma. With his cosmic power and the fuel of a nearby red star, and what was left of the Great One's power, the Surfer was able to restore the planets left in the Great One's mind to their previous places. Angered by the loss of their sanctuary, the Zenn-Lavians were bakc in the physical universe but rejected the Surfer.
Source: Marvel Universe, Silver Surfer #1, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.