Herupa Hando Hu was one of the original Guardians of the Universe, born on the planet Maltus over five billion years ago. These Maltusians left their home world millions of years ago when they chose to undertake the commitment of protecting the universe. They relocated to the planet Oa and established themselves as the self-appointed Guardians of the Universe. With his brothers, Herupa was instrumental in the establishment of the Manhunter robot squads as well as their successors, the Green Lantern Corps.

Herupa was one of twenty-two Guardians who survived the Anti-Monitor's assault on Oa. This attack forced the surviving Guardians to rethink their purpose in the universe. Herupa believed that their race had grown stagnant and that it was time to evolve. He initiated a plan to reunite the Oans with their female Maltusian counterparts, the Zamarons. A contingency of Zamarons were invited to Oa to attend a large meeting which also included every member of the Green Lantern Corps. A Zamaron leader named Nadia Safir opposed this plan of unification and Herupa challenged her to a trial by combat. Nadia agreed that should he win, the Oans and the Zamarons would leave this world to settle down in an unknown, uncharted section of the universe. Herupa won the trial and Nadia agreed to become his consort. Twenty-two Guardians paired off with twenty-two Zamarons and left Oa, seemingly forever.

A few years later, Herupa and Nadia returned. Herupa knew that the next stage of human evolution would begin on Earth. He selected a group of Earth mortals to serve as the Chosen - those who would lead humanity into the next millennium . Opposing this plan were the Guardians' former agents, the Manhunters.

Some years later, the universal embodiment of Fear Parallax took hold of one of the Green Lantern Corps' most prized officers -Hal Jordan. Consumed by Parallax's evil, he absorbed the energy of the Central Power Battery on Oa. The Guardians, weak and dying, channeled their remaining energy into the creation of a single power ring, which was then given to the Earth human Kyle Rayner . Herupa Handu Ho and the remaining Guardians perished during this "Emerald Twilight".

• The Guardians are living reservoirs of cosmic energy. Herupa has the ability to manipulate the emotional spectrum of energy that is willpower. The Guardians formerly called this power the "Glow". Herupa generates this ability naturally and it is capable of all of the same effects as a Green Lantern power ring. This includes the ability to absorb and project great expenditures of energy as well as the power to create hard-light energy constructs.
• Like all Guardians, Herupa ceased to physically age after a certain point in his life.He was virtually immortal and had lived for billions of years at the time of his death. Herupa has a greater understanding of the nature of the universe than normal mortals. This intuitive insight enables his brethren and he to predict the coming of major changes to the cosmos and to detect alterations in the very pattern of life itself. Herupa possesses the telepathic ability to transmit and receive impressions with other living organisms. He can maintain contact with any member of the Green Lantern Corps regardless of distance. Herupa can move and operate other objects using only the power of his mind. Though the Guardians seldom demonstrate such an ability, there appears to be no limit to the amount of mass or volume that they can affect.