Norrin Radd (Earth-691)

The Keeper
Name	Norrin Radd
Current Alias	The Keeper
Aliases	Silver Surfer, Protector of the Universe, Silver Savage, Skyrider, Sentinel of the Spaceways, Silverado, Chrome Dome
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Guardians of the Galaxy, formerly Heralds of Galactus
Relatives	Jartran Radd (father, deceased), Elmar Radd (mother, deceased), Fennan Radd (half-brother, deceased)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′4″ (1.93 m)
Weight	225 lbs (102.06 kg)
Eyes	Irises: White
Hair	No Hair At All
Unusual Features	His whole body is sheathed in silver.
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Zenn-Lavian transformed into an Intergalactic Herald by Galactus
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-691
Place of Birth	Somewhere on Zenn-La,, the Milky Way Galaxy.
Personal Information
Identity	Public
Citizenship	Zenn-Lavian
Occupation	Eon's Protector of the Universe, spacefaring adventurer, explorer Formerly would-be world conqueror, minion of Gaea, Earthbound adventurer, scholar, sometimes mistakenly regarded as a messianic figure
Base of Operations	Mobile throughout the known universe Formerly Earth and Galactus' World-Ship
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Jim Valentino
First	Silver Surfer Annual #4 (May, 1991)
First	Silver Surfer Annual #4 (May, 1991)

History

His origin is the same as the original Silver Surfer, he offered himself to become Galactus' herald to spare his homeworld. He still turned against his former master, was bound to Earth, "won a pardon from the world devourer", and left Earth to later return to find Earth being attacked by Martians. in a War of the Worlds. He ended up fighting alongside Franklin Richards, Captain America, and Dr. Doom against the Martian invaders. Eon had convinced him that it was Earth's Destiny to be conquered, and he left Earth, wracked with guilt, unable to accept his offer. Centuries later, he finally accepted Eon's offer to wear the Quantum Bands, as Protector of the Universe.

While working for Eon, he was sent to Earth to defend it from Galactus once again. He first found Thor (Dargo Ktor), who mistook him for an enemy at first, "but soon came to realize that our cause was the same." Meanwhile, the other former herald Firelord had intercepted a distress signal that was sent to Radd that his homeworld, Zenn-La, was about to explode, and to his credit sought him out to warn him. Firelord found him in time to help Thor and Radd, and defend Earth from Galactus and his new herald, Nova. They combined their powers into one shot, aimed at the planet eater, "but reacting instantly, Nova intercepted the blast -- and was killed!" Apparently Radd was close to Nova, but so was Galactus, who was given pause by her demise. He reabsorbed her cosmic power, making her closer to him in death than life, and vowed to never take a herald again. With the immediate threat mitigated, Firelord told Radd of his message, and they went to his home world, Zenn-La, only to watch it exploded into cosmic dust.

Radd as the Surfer, once again

After a short mourning period, he placed the blame on Galactus for all the anguish he had felt in his life, and sought out to enact retribution on him. He attacked him, with both the quantum bands and the power cosmic at his command, but still he was picked off like an insect. It was at this point, that with "righteous fury which had welled in him since the death of Nova," Galactus destroyed his board. Galactus then used his awesome power to strip Radd of his Power Cosmic and his silver sheath, then flung him to edge of the Universe where a Watcher named Aron saved him by removing him from Eternity and the universe, allowing himself and the Quantum Bands to escape the detection of Eon for so long. Aron taught him how to use the Bands to their fullest and convinced him that Power Cosmic was still inside him. "With conviction came acceptance. With acceptance came awareness." With this power he re-sheathed his body in silver. He now rededicated his life to foiling the world-eater wherever he threatened sentient life. He then re-entered the universe, to first save a world "beyond the Pleiades," Mainframe's world.

They raced to stop Galactus, and found Firelord doing the same, as a Protector of the Universe. Radd used his powers to remove the city from the world that Galactus was targeting, while the Guardians and Firelord tried, in vain to stop Galactus. Just as Firelord was about to be destroyed, The Keeper (Radd) stepped in, to confront Galactus for the last time. They battled, and right as the final blow was about to be dealt to the world-eater, Eon stopped him. He then reminded Radd that "it is not the world-eater that you seek to kill, but his killing that you wish to end," and to help Galactus to his feet. Eon then fed Galactus, satisfying his hunger for a time, and he convinced Radd to join him once again, not as his herald, but as his equal, to stop him from feeding on worlds inhabited by sentient life. As he left with his new partner, he formed his surfboard once again.

Attributes

Powers

Invulnerability: Radd's silvery "skin" was designed to easily withstand the rigors of deep-space travel, and thus far, it has proven to be virtually indestructible. In fact, his entire body was made highly resistant to injury and he is thus almost invulnerable to most types of physical harm. The Silver Surfer can withstand the crushing pressures of a black hole and can easily withstand great extremes in temperature. He is unaffected by the friction associated with atmospheric re-entry, and has withstood plunges into stars and even supernovae. He also routinely weathers the stresses associated with high-speed travel through space and hyperspace.

Godlike Strength: The Surfer possesses almost limitless superhuman strength, though the exact magnitude remains vague. He can lift (press) far in excess of 100 tons effortlessly and can also use the Power Cosmic to increase his strength to incalculable levels.

Godlike Stamina: He has highly enhanced musculature generates virtually no fatigue toxins, granting him nearly inexhaustible physical stamina. However, his does require sleep on occasion, due to his brain's biological need to dream.

Matter Control: The Silver Surfer can rearrange matter to create other objects of importance by rearranging molecules. He can also change the state of matter, such as changing solids into gas. Matter transmutation helps the Surfer escape traps and prisons and can also be used to make an enemies weapons inactive.

Energy Absorption: The Surfer's skin is designed to absorb various energies from beta particles to light. He is constantly being charged from hundreds of nearby stars and energies from distant galaxies. He can change this absorption into reflection if he chooses. The Surfer has also absorbed so much energy from a sun before, that he turned into a living bomb.

Energy Manipulation: The Surfer can use energy to create force fields and shields. He can solidify energy to imprison enemies. He can manipulate the energies around him to make space travel possible for beings around him that can not survive in space.

Hyperspace Travel: By exceeding 99% of the speed of light (186,000 miles per second), the Silver Surfer can shift himself into hyperspace, a dimension in which velocity is not limited by the speed of light

Telepathy: The Surfer has shown the ability to read minds and sometimes needs to make a conscious effort not to. He prefers to speak rather than read a person's thoughts.

Cosmic Self-Sustenance: The Silver Surfer does not need to eat or breathe since he absorbs life-maintaining cosmic energy directly through his skin.

The Power Cosmic: Radd possesses the Power Cosmic which was granted to him by Galactus. These were temporarily taken from him by Galactus, but were restored by the Watcher, through an awakening of the powers inside of him.

Essentially, the Power Cosmic gives Radd mastery over the four fundamental forces of the universe:

• Electromagnetism
• Manipulation of Gravity
• Ability to store and discharge nuclear force
• Ability to control to an unknown level matter of any kind; in fact, he was able to restore his Cosmic Surfboard

Cosmic Senses: His senses were enhanced by Galactus, which allow him far-ranging vision (in space he can see people clearly over a light year away), the ability to see sub-atomic particles, superhuman hearing, the ability to detect fields, traces, and concentrations of energy and discern their natures.

Abilities

As Norrin Radd, he was a scientist, a dreamer, and something of a philosopher. Skills which he sometimes finds quite useful. He is however, is only an average hand-to-hand combatant, depending almost entirely upon his cosmic powers in battle. He is also capable of astro-navigation, and is very skilled at space travel using his board, including navigating through black holes and space warps. When traveling to a dimension such as the Microverse, the Surfer's body seems to adapt to the correct size automatically.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

The Quantum Bands and his Cosmic Surfboard

Transportation

Cosmic Surfboard

Notes

• For some reason, since he has been known as The Keeper, Radd has had a red cloak about him.

See Also

• 11 appearance(s) of Norrin Radd (Earth-691)
• 4 minor appearance(s) of Norrin Radd (Earth-691)
• 4 mention(s) of Norrin Radd (Earth-691)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Norrin Radd (Earth-691)
• 6 image(s) of Norrin Radd (Earth-691)