Unknown to everyone, the robotic cult known as the Manhunters (whom the Justice League believed had been destroyed years before) had found a sphere that Harbinger had used to store all the information she had gathered about the universe after the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Because of it, they knew the secret identities of Earth's heroes, and had planted their agents (including androids, mind-controlled humans and willing human agents) close to them (in other words, many of the supporting characters featured in the heroes' own comic titles were revealed to be Manhunters).

On finding out about the search for The Chosen, the Manhunters decided to prevent it, and had their agents reveal themselves and attack Earth’s heroes.

The Heroes managed to gather most of the Chosen, but two were killed over the course of the series, one (Terra of the Teen Titans) was already dead before it started, and one was senile.

Another Chosen, a white supremacist from South Africa named Janwillem Kroef, eventually left the group because it contained non-white members.