Valeria Richards is the second child of Dr. Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four.[6] Due to her parents being exposed to cosmic radiation and being conceived in the Negative Zone,[6] it caused her birth to be traumatic.[7] Thanks to her "Uncle"[8] Doctor Doom, she was saved through a combination of science and magic. Allowed to name her because of this, Doom chose "Valeria," the name of his old flame.[9] Despite the enmity between Doom and Reed, Valeria has a very close relationship with Doom.[8][10][11] Like her father, she developed a genius-level intellect,[12] and she later gave herself the alias Brainstorm.[1] Her intelligence is contrasted with the vast imagination possessed by her brother, Franklin.[13]
History
Valeria Richards, the second child of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, had a difficult and circuitous entry into the world. Conceived in the Negative Zone, when the unborn infant approached term she began to emit bursts of deadly radiation that threatened both mother and child. Despite bringing in fellow scientists and radiation experts Bruce Banner, Michael Morbius, Walter Langkowski, and Otto Octavius, Reed Richards was unable to save his daughter, who appeared to be stillborn.
Appearances can be deceiving. Franklin Richards, the couple's first child, felt a deep loss over the sister he would have had. Unconsciously guided by Omniversal Guardian Roma, he secretly used his vast psionic powers to travel back in time and save his sister, taking her from her native reality (Earth-616) and sending her "someplace else" - an alternate future where she was raised by another Invisible Woman who had married a heroic Doctor Doom after the death of her first husband. It's unclear whether this timeline's Invisible Woman somehow gave birth to Valeria, or if she was delivered to her new family as a newborn infant; whatever the case, they raised her as their own, and she grew up considering Dr. Doom to be her father. Roma, who had her own plans for the child, apparently kept a watchful eye on Valeria, ensuring her well-being.[citation needed]
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Valeria von Doom in Earth-99315
Among Valeria's friends as she grew up were Caledonia, a member of Roma's interdimensional Corps and her future's Fantastic Four, and Lancer, her father's mutant bodyguard; her stepbrother, whom she nicknamed Sparky, would annoy their mother by using his powers to go "time-dancing". As she grew older and her powers and adventurous streak began to emerge, Dr. Doom designed armor for her protection, and she took on the title "Marvel Girl". When she was twelve, she was formally invested as Doom's heir in the throne room of the Baxter Building; not long after this, her father and her uncles Ben and Johnny (the Thing (Benjamin Grimm) and Human Torch (Johnny Storm)) died saving the world. Subsequently, while visiting the Blue Area of the Moon to see Alicia Masters' memorial statue for the fallen heroes, both Valeria and Franklin briefly communicated with a temporally displaced echo of Earth-616's Reed, Ben and Johnny.[citation needed]
When the Fantastic Four of Earth-616 were in Paris, Valeria "time-danced" (apparently accidentally) into the modern-day Pier Four, encountering the younger Franklin and his babysitters Caledonia and Alyssa Moy. When the interdimensional hunter Bounty attacked, seeking to arrest Caledonia, Valeria immediately came to Caledonia's aid; but the battle was interrupted by the arrival of the Bacchäe, warrior women working for the Amazon Hippolyta. Wanting to pay back the Fantastic Four for an earlier encounter, the Bacchäe kidnapped everyone present and took them to face their mistress and her lord, the Olympian god Pluto. Caledonia dueled with the Amazonian queen, while Marvel Girl tried to lead everyone else to safety; when Caledonia defeated his champion, the vengeful Pluto sent her to Tartarus. Marvel Girl and the others pursued, using the teleportation abilities of Franklin's pet, Puppy, arriving in the Olympian underworld after a side trip to the Asgardian Hel and an encounter with Hela. They freed Caledonia and together battled past the combined forces of Tartarus, until Marvel Girl confronted Pluto himself and demanded he let them go in peace. Though not initially inclined to do so, the Lord of Hades changed his tune when the Fantastic Four arrived, accompanied by Hercules and Persephone, Pluto's wife.[citation needed]
At first Susan Richards found it difficult to accept Valeria; the implication she would one day marry Doom shook her, and Valeria's presence brought back painful memories of the child Sue believed had died. Hearing her "mother" reject her, Valeria ran away. She roamed the streets for several hours, eventually stumbling upon the Absorbing Man, Titania, and a mind-controlled She-Hulk battling the police. Marvel Girl tried to stop them single-handedly, but was outmatched by the combined might of her opponents. When the Thing and Bounty arrived, they too were swiftly placed under mind-control. Arriving to see Valeria in peril, the Invisible Woman accepted her daughter and dealt painful retribution to her attackers. Valeria helped Reed identify the microbial nanites which had been used to brainwash their friends, and the search for a cure brought the group into conflict with the Mad Thinker, whose carefully laid plans were disrupted because he had not factored in Marvel Girl's presence. Later, after a magical attack left Alyssa Moy in a coma, Valeria was instrumental in identifying Selene and the Hellfire Club as being linked to the assault. She, Franklin, and Caledonia were next used as hostages by another magical foe, Jihad, to force the Fantastic Four to recover four mystic items for him.[citation needed]
An impending Chaos Wave heralded the return of Dr. Doom from Counter-Earth and led to Valeria confronting this evil, younger version of the man she considered her father; however, when events conspired to trap Reed Richards within Doom's armor while Doom was apparently killed, it began to look like Valeria's future was coming true, but that Richards was her true father. For their own safety, Valeria and Franklin were sent under the care of Caledonia to Haven, a school for gifted children on the other side of the universe; in their absence, Richards was freed from Doom's armor, while Doom himself was found to have survived, once more calling into question Valeria's future timeline.[citation needed]
The two children returned from Haven shortly before the arrival of Abraxas, a cosmic being who sought the Ultimate Nullifier and dominion over the multiverse; while the Fantastic Four sought the Nullifier in other realities, Abraxas targeted Valeria as a temporal anomaly. Franklin and Roma whisked her away, but Abraxas soon tracked them down, seemingly killing Roma and taking the Nullifier. As Abraxas appeared about to claim victory, Roma's plan came to fruition; Franklin and Valeria combined their powers to resurrect Galactus, the one being who could seize the Nullifier from Abraxas. Galactus gave the device to Mr. Fantastic, who activated it, obliterating Abraxas and reset reality. This depleted Franklin's cosmic powers, and Valeria reverted to an unborn child within Sue's womb.[14]
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Doctor Doom revealing Valeria to Reed Richards
Sue soon came to term, but her life was again threatened by bursts of radiation from the child within her. With Mr. Fantastic captured by the Hidden Ones, the Human Torch desperately sought the aid of Dr. Doom; Doom successfully used a combination of science and sorcery to safely deliver the infant, and in return was allowed to name her. He chose Valeria, after his childhood love, but even at this juncture, love was far from Doom's mind. Holding the newborn in his arms, he took the opportunity to weave an enchantment, turning Valeria into his familiar, enabling him to see through her eyes and use her as a focus for spell casting. A few months later, after he sacrificed Valeria's namesake in return for greater magical abilities, Doom launched an assault. As Franklin was literally sent to Hell, Valeria spoke her first word: "Doom". The villain taunted his foes through the young girl's mouth, and when the Fantastic Four flew to Latveria to confront him, he easily overcame them, teleporting Valeria into his arms. With the assistance of Doctor Strange, Reed eventually managed to turn the tables and recover his children, leaving Doom trapped in Hell and his link to Valeria seemingly broken.
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Baby Valeria
Due to the numerous super-villain attacks on the Baxter Building, Child Welfare questioned the safety of Franklin and Val. After much reluctance, Reed and Sue decided to give up their children to Welfare. However, an initial condition was that a "dummy" safe-house was to be set up, and a press release to be announced that the children had already been moved. The decision to actually move Franklin and Valeria was rescinded after the safehouse that they were to be placed in was reduced to a crater (along with everything within a half-mile radius). It is uncertain exactly which of the FF's enemies carried out the attack, or why (there is speculation that Reed carried out the attack himself to allow him and Sue to keep the kids), but it was enough to convince Child Welfare.
A few months following the Civil War, Valeria's intelligence took a quantum leap, increasing to a level that would match her father's in only a matter of time. Val decided to keep her new abilities a secret, feeling the dynamic of her family would be altered for the worst. She was helped to embrace her new nature by her nanny Tabitha Deneuve, who was secretly a future version of Val's own mother.[15] She ultimately came clean to her family, and even started working with her father in his lab.[16]
Dark Reign[]
Franklin found himself along with his sister under siege by Norman Osborn, Venom and a high number of H.A.M.M.E.R. agents. The siblings were on their own due to their father's experiment which left him unreachable and the other members of the Fantastic Four stranded in alternate realities.[17]
Valeria managed to separate Osborn from the rest of the H.A.M.M.E.R. agents by using a bureaucratic technicality and by having them underestimate her. Osborn is led into a room where he faced Franklin who was wearing a Spider-Man mask and called him a villain. Osborn then chased the Richards children down a hall, getting ready to shoot them.[18]
The Fantastic Four had resurfaced by this point with an angry Invisible Woman telling Osborn "Step away from the children". Angry, he snapped that she should try to make him. Sue obliges by smashing him against a wall by using one of her invisible force fields. Osborn retaliated by summoning his H.A.M.M.E.R. agents and Venom. None, however, manage to pass through Sue's invisible force field barrier.[19]
Mr. Fantastic informed Osborn to leave the Baxter Building and not to come back, dismissing him. Infuriated, he attempted to shoot Reed, only to be shot by Franklin in turn. Although all are shocked, none understand how Franklin managed to shoot Norman since Franklin was only wielding a toy gun (both Johnny and Ben examine the gun once it was shot), hinting that perhaps some of Franklin's reality altering abilities have resurfaced.[19]
The Three[]
As her intelligence grew vastly, Valeria was met in the Baxter Building by a strange invader, that she of course realized was her brother Franklin from the future. He warned her of a pending crisis known as the 'War of the Four Cities' and that to save their father "All hope lies in Doom." Valeria discovered the portal her father secretly created and goes through it, finding The Council, a collection of many alternate reality versions of her father. They are being destroyed by the Celestials and three of them manage to escape through with Valeria to her home.
Realizing the threat they pose and making the connections to what her brother warned her of, Valeria secretly went to get Doctor Doom's assistance, only to find him in a state of brain damage (from the World War Hulks story arc). She made a deal with Doom - help her save her father and she would help restore his intelligence.
Around this time, Reed brought Valeria and a group of other gifted youngsters together to help solve the problems of the world - which would be known as the Future Foundation. But even their great minds could not solve the problem of the invading Annihilation Wave and they could not close the portal to the Negative Zone. In order to close it, the Human Torch sacrificed himself. This caused much anger in Valeria, who began coming up with plans to kill Annihilus.
After speaking with her grandfather Nathaniel, they introduced the induction of Doom in to the Foundation, much to the dismay of the remaining members of the Fantastic Four. Along with many other great villainous minds, they began to form their plan to stop the Council from their devious plans.
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Future Foundation[]
Due the presence of Reed Richards of alternate universes, Mr. Fantastic made an alliance with many villains such as Mad Thinker, AIM, Wizard, Diablo and High Evolutionary to plan how to stop them. Then they lead the battle to High Evolutionary's city where one of the Richards escaped with Doctor Doom and the other two were captured by the Kree army. After returning to Baxter Building, Richards reunited other heroes to fight the Inhumans in Attilan, but at the time they where preparing to go to the rooftop, a Kree invasion started. Reed used Iron Man's armor and Sue's power to create a force field around Manhattan, at the same time the Cult of the Negative Zone opened the portal to the Negative Zone after Spider-Man failed to stop them, the portal revealed a living Johnny Storm with an enslaved Annihilus.[20]
Then Johnny gathered the team by drawing with fire the symbolical "4" at the sky above the Baxter Building. Reed, Sue, Ben and Peter boarded one of the Annihilation Wave's ships controlled by Johnny, who used the rest of the ships to battle the Kree army until the Inhumans asked to finish them by their own hand.[21] Meanwhile the other heroes on Earth where dealing with the scraps of the battle which could damage the Earth, Reed and Sue summons Galactus, who completely destroys the Kree army. That moment, the Mad Celestials appeared to destroy this universe. Although the team tried to use the Hub (a weapon of mass destruction created by the Reeds), they couldn't defeat the Mad Celestials. Then, a future version of Franklin and Valeria appeared as part of Nathaniel Richards's plan.[22] The Future Franklin used his power to heal Galactus and destroy the Mad Celestials, saving the day.[23] Later, the Baxter Building was easily rebuilt, Mr. Fantastic showed a new secondary headquarters called Foundation and new costumes were given to the members of the Future Foundation, also with the new additions of the future Franklin and Valeria.[24]
Later on during the "Death of the Invisible Woman" arc; it is revealed that Valeria has already been exhibiting her genius-level intellect through a conversation she has with her nanny, Tabitha Deneuve. Tabitha in reality is the future self of Sue. When the Baxter Building is under attack and Sue tries to protect Valeria and Tabitha, she is unaware that Tabitha was the one that set off the attack. Sue is knocked out by Tabitha's more powerful force field powers. When Tabitha is about to escape, Valeria follows her and asks her why she's doing this. And that's when Valeria reveals to everyone that Tabitha was Sue from the future.
After reviewing the events of what happened when Future Sue attacked, Reed watches video footage of Valeria and before the team goes off to fight the team of future super powered individuals, he exclaims to Valeria that he needs to speak to her. Later it is seen that Valeria has let her intelligence loose full force. Sue finds highly advanced books in Valeria's book stand. Along with that, Valeria is seen following in her father's steps by creating some highly advanced inventions.
Through some means the Invisible Woman "vanishes" and as a result Valeria and Franklin go to seek help from the mutant detective agency X-Factor Investigations. While there explaining the situation and showing her superior intellect, Valeria reminds many of the members of a young Layla Miller, and freaks out Darwin. They bring the group to the Baxter Building where half got into a fight with the Thing to provide a distraction, and the other half get the needed information.
Valeria chose to move to Latveria and reside with Doctor Doom. She planned to turn Doom into a force for good, which seemed to be working. With all the distrust she now had for her father, it seemed like the right choice for the time. When her mother attempted to take her by force from Doom, Sue began to show signs that Malice was returning to her psyche. While she originally refused to return home, she eventually decided that her family needed her.
The Multiversal Collapse[]
When the Multiverse was coming to its inevitable end, Valeria helped her father create a life raft to ensure the survival of humanity after the final incursion.[25] As the final incursion between Earth-616 and Earth-1610 took place, Reed gathered every person he could upon the life raft including members of the Future Foundation, and the rest of his family. When the vessel approached the central point of the incursion, it suffered a hull breach that led to the deaths of Reed's family, including Valeria.[26] Reed eventually gained the omnipotent power of the Beyonders from the Molecule Man after stripping them from Doctor Doom. With his new powers, Reed brought his family back to life. Valeria joined the Future Foundation in their journey to restore the Multiverse, while also creating entirely new realities.[27]
Years into the Future Foundation's multiversal adventures, Franklin became depleted of his ability to create entirely new realities. At this moment the team was confronted by an abstract entity called the Griever at the End of All Things who repudiated their mission of creating new universes. She caused the collapse of the hundreds of universes charted by the Future Foundation, forcing the team to make a final stand. The Fantastic Four were reunited when Mister Fantastic tricked the Griever into giving them the chance to summon the remaining members of the Fantastic Four for backup. In addition to teleporting Ben and Johnny, Reed also brought every superhero who had been part of the team at one point in order to defeat the new foe.[1] After the Griever was driven away, the Future Foundation continued their multiversal travels, but Reed, Sue, Franklin, and Valeria returned with Ben and Johnny to Earth, where only months had passed since the Foundation's years-long journey began.[28]
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Teenaged Valeria
Attributes
 |
Powers
Abilities
Super-Genius Intelligence: Valeria possesses remarkable intelligence even as a child thanks to the cosmic mutation that she inherited from her parents.[5] As a toddler she was seen to complete a Rubik's Cube with her father saying that she will be playing chess by the time she is two.[31] She has claimed that she is smarter than her father.[12]
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Notes
_and_Valeria_Richards_(Earth-616)_from_Fantastic_Four_Vol_7_16_001.jpg){kind=link}
Franklin and Valeria being drawn close in age
- Similar to Franklin, Valeria's age is a subject of controversy. She is frequently drawn older, and sometimes she is drawn close in age to Franklin himself, despite them being born several years (or 34 years in real-life time) apart. In 2014, Tom Brevoort stated on Tumblr that Valeria was three years old,[32][33] while Franklin was eight years old,[34] indicating a difference of five years. However, time is also known to be compressed due to the sliding timescale.
Trivia
- Similar to how Valeria's father, Reed Richards, is known as the "world's smartest man," she has proclaimed herself to be the "world's smartest girl."[2]
- This title is challenged by Moon Girl, the only person who ever solved the Banner B.O.X. When the two of them met, Moon Girl informed Valeria of this fact and that she is smarter than Reed, though Valeria remained unimpressed and replied that she is also smarter than her dad.[35]
- Doctor Doom has a soft spot for Valeria. He placed her under his royal protection.[9] He respects her opinions and cares for her happiness.[36][37] He lets her sleep over at Latveria.[10] He takes her out for ice cream when she asks.[11] Valeria has convinced Reed to help Doom,[38][39] and Doctor Doom is willing to help out Reed for Valeria's sake (and to prove his superiority over Reed).[40] Compared to Reed, Valeria is far more open to Doom's views and she tends to visit him, even in secret.[8][36][41]
- Due to Doctor Doom's outside influence, Valeria's first word was "Doom."[42]
See Also
- 335 appearance(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 6 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 27 minor appearance(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 47 mention(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 197 image(s) of Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 16 quotation(s) by or about Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Valeria Richards (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #6
- ↑ 1939 Daily Bugle #1
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #30
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Fantastic Four: Road Trip #1
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Fantastic Four #254
- ↑ Fantastic Four #267
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #583
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #54
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 New Avengers (Vol. 3) #23
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Loki: Agent of Asgard #6–7
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #573
- ↑ FF #23
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #50
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #558
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #562
- ↑ Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #1–4
- ↑ Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #4
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #5
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #600
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #602
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #603
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #604
- ↑ FF #16
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 5) #42
- ↑ Secret Wars #1
- ↑ Secret Wars #9
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #3
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 7) #4
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 7) #15–16
- ↑ Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1
- ↑ Tom Brevoort's first statement about Valeria's age
- ↑ Tom Brevoort's second statement about Valeria's age
- ↑ New Brevoort Formspring - Tumblr
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 6) #10
- ↑ 36.0 36.1 Fantastic Four (Vol. 5) #3
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ FF #2
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #611
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 7) #7
- ↑ One World Under Doom #2
- ↑ Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #68
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 9