History
The man who eventually became the Dark Raider was the Reed Richards of Earth-944. His life mirrored that of his Earth-616 counterpart, wherein he became leader of his realities Fantastic Four as Mister Fantastic. However, events took a different turn in this reality during the Fantastic Four's first battle with the world devourer known as Galactus. On Earth-616, the Watcher sent the Human Torch to the Worldship of Galactus to collect the Ultimate Nullifier,[1] which was ultimately used to force Galactus to retreat.[2] However, on Earth-944, the Watcher sent Mister Fantastic instead. This caused the downfall of the Fantastic Four as (while the Torch would have intuitively taken the Nullifier without a second thought) Reed began going through various devices to try and find one that satisfied his scientific curiosity. Because of this, the rest of the Fantastic Four were slain by Galactus.[3]
While Reed was still away, Aron the Rogue Watcher of Earth-616—posing as Earth's Watcher—tricked the Fantastic Four of Earth-616 to briefly battle Galactus. When they failed, they were teleported away and Galactus consumed the Earth. Meanwhile, one of the various weapons on the Worldship exploded in Reed's face, causing a horizontal scar across his face.[4] When Reed finally returned to Earth, he was horrified to find that he failed and that everyone on Earth was now dead. Accepting full blame for what happened, Reed went insane and decided that as punishment, he had to travel across the multiverse and kill every version of himself he found amid the various realities. He developed the identity of the costumed identity of the Dark Raider in order to carry out his deadly mission.[5]
Recorded realities where he killed past counterparts include Earth-68994, Earth-89946, and Earth-94689.[6] When he came to Earth-49487, he arrived just as that reality's Fantastic Four and Avengers were locked in a battle with the Fantastic Four of Earth-616. At the time, the Fantastic Four of Earth-616 were searching for their leader, who was missing and presumed dead at the time. In the ensuing confusion, the Dark Raider slew Earth-49487's Mister Fantastic and Invisible Girl before teleporting away.[7]
He later appeared on Earth-616, where he was unaware that his counterpart in this reality was still believed to be deceased or missing. This led to a battle with the Fantastic Four as well as their allies Black Panther, Psi-Lord, Huntara, Devlor, and Vibraxas. It was during this battle that the Dark Raider revealed his identity and his motivations. He then threatened to destroy reality with the Ultimate Nullifier. He was stopped when Psi-Lord and the Invisible Woman linked their minds to transfer Sue's evil Malice persona into the Dark Raider's mind, stunning him long enough for Psi-Lord to recover the Ultimate Nullifier. At which point Aron (still posing as the Watcher) appeared and seemingly slew the Dark Raider before collecting the Nullifier and teleporting away.[5]
Aron kept the Dark Raider as a prisoner for a time, where Richards mocked Aron for his slowly crumbling schemes.[8][9][10] Later, after the Fantastic Four exposed Aron, he teleported the Invisible Woman into the heart of the Negative Zone and unleashed the former Dark Raider upon her. After a brutal struggle, Reed was sent plummeting into the Annihilation Barrier of the Zone where he was seemingly slain.[11] Sue was later rescued from the Negative Zone,[12] and both the Fantastic Four and Fantastic Force stopped Aron's mad schemes.[13]Attributes
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Powers
See Also
- 12 appearance(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
- 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
- 1 mention(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
- 5 image(s) of Reed Richards (Earth-944)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Fantastic Four #49
- ↑ Fantastic Four #50
- ↑ Fantastic Four #390
- ↑ Fantastic Four #391: Aron was exposed as posing as the Watcher in Fantastic Four #398
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fantastic Four #392
- ↑ Fantastic Four #389
- ↑ Fantastic Four #387: The Mister Fantastic of Earth-616 was believed to had died in Fantastic Four #381 but turned up alive in Fantastic Four #407
- ↑ Fantastic Four #396
- ↑ Fantastic Four #397
- ↑ Fantastic Four #398
- ↑ Fantastic Four #399
- ↑ Fantastic Force #7
- ↑ Fantastic Four #400
- ↑ FF: Fifty Fantastic Years #1
- ↑ FF: Fifty Fantastic Years Vol 1 1