Mister Fantastic

Reed Richards - Mister Fantastic

Mister Fantastic (real name: Dr. Reed Nathaniel Richards) is the husband of Susan Richards and the leader of the Fantastic Four.

Characteristics

Reed Richards gained the power of elasticity from irradiation by cosmic rays. He has the ability to convert his entire body into a highly malleable state at will, allowing him to stretch, deform, and reform himself into virtually any shape. Richards has been observed as being able to use his stretching form in a variety of offensive and defensive manners, such as compressing himself into a ball and ricocheting into enemies, flattening himself into a trampoline or a parachute to catch a falling teammate, or inflating himself into a life raft to aid in a water rescue. He can willfully reduce his body's cohesion until he reaches a fluid state, which can flow through minute openings or into tiny pipes. Reed is also able to shape his hands into hammer and mace style weapons, and concentrate his mass into his fists to increase their density and effectiveness as weapons.

Having an elastic-like texture allows Reed protection from damage. He can be punched with incredible force, flattened, squished, and still re-form or survive without any form of significant injury.

Reed's control over his shape has been developed to such a point that he has been able to radically alter his facial features and his entire physical form to pass among human and non-humans unnoticed and unrecognized. He has even molded himself into the shapes of inanimate objects, such as a mailbox. He rarely uses his powers in such an undignified fashion. However, he appears to have no qualms about stretching out his ears, taking the shape of a dinosaur, becoming a human trampoline, or inflating his hands into pool toys to entertain his children.

Mister Fantastic's strength comes more from the powers of his mind than the powers of his body; indeed, he once told Spider-Man that he considers his stretching powers to be expendable compared to his intellect. Some stories have implied that his intellect may have been boosted by his powers, as he once visited an alternate universe where his other self-had never been exposed to cosmic rays and was notably less intelligent than him, though purely human versions of Reed that are as or even more intelligent than himself have been shown, particularly among the Council of Reeds. Tony Stark has commented that Reed's ability to make his brain physically larger (via his elastic powers) gives him an advantage, though this seems to be meant more as a joke. That said, scenes from the same issue show Reed "inflating" his skull as he calculates the power output of Tony's Repulsor-battery heart implant.

A visionary theoretician and an inspired machine smith, he has made breakthroughs in such varied fields as space travel, time travel, extra-dimensional travel, biochemistry, robotics, computers, synthetic polymers, communications, mutations, transportation, holography, energy generation, and spectral analysis, among others. However, he is never afraid to admit when others have greater expertise in certain fields than him.

Appearances

• "Send Up a Flare!" (No Lines)
• "Both Alike In Dignity..."
• "Clan and Family..."

Production Background

Reed Richards begins explaining his motivations...

... Reed Richards explains his motivations.

Born in Central City, California, Reed Richards is the son of Evelyn and Nathaniel Richards. Nathaniel was a scientific genius, and Reed inherited a similar level of intellect and interests. A child prodigy with special aptitude in mathematics, physics, and mechanics, Reed Richards was taking college-level courses when he was fourteen. He attended such prestigious universities as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University, and the fictional Empire State University. By the age of twenty, he had several degrees in the sciences under his belt. It was at Empire State University that he met Benjamin J. Grimm. Reed had already begun designing a starship capable of traveling in hyperspace. Sharing his plans with his new roommate, Grimm jokingly volunteered to pilot the craft.

Also while at ESU, he met a brilliant fellow student, Victor Von Doom. In Richards, Doom met the first person who could match him intellectually; regarding Richards as his ultimate rival, Doom became increasingly jealous of Richards. Determined to prove he was better, Doom conducted reckless experiments which eventually scarred his face and would lead him to become Dr. Doom.

During the summer months, Reed rented a room in a boarding house owned by the aunt of a young woman named Susan Storm, who was an undergraduate student at the time. Reed fell in love with Sue instantly and began courting her. Ultimately, Reed was too distracted from his work on his dissertation due to his romance with Sue and decided that the best thing for the both of them was to move out of Marygay's home.

Moving on to Harvard, Reed earned PhDs in Physics and Electrical Engineering while working as a military scientist. He also worked in communications for the Army and was involved in the Sin-Cong Conflict. Three years later, in his mid-twenties, Reed used his inheritance, along with government funding, to finance his research. Determined to go to Mars and beyond, Richards based the fateful project in Central City. Susan Storm moved into the area, and within a short time, found herself engaged to Reed. Reed's old college roommate, Ben Grimm, now a successful test pilot and astronaut, was indeed slated to pilot the craft.

All seemed well; however, when the government threatened to cut funding and cancel the project, Reed, Ben, Sue, and Sue's younger brother Johnny, agreed to sneak aboard the starship and take it up immediately. They knew they had not completed all the testing that had been planned, but Reed was confident they would be safe. Ben was initially skeptical about the unknown effects of radiation, while Reed theorized that their ship's shielding would be adequate to protect them.

It was on Reed's initiative that the fateful mission which had Susan Storm, Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm accompanying him into space took place. When their ship passed through the Van Allen belt they found their cockpit bombarded with nearly lethal doses of cosmic radiation. Reed had neglected to account for the abnormal radiation levels in the belt's atmosphere. The cosmic rays wreaked havoc on the starship's insufficient shielding and they were forced to return to Earth immediately. When they crash-landed they found that their bodies were changed dramatically. Reed's body was elastic and he could reshape any portion of his body at will. At his suggestion, they decided to use their new abilities to serve mankind as the Fantastic Four. Reed was chosen to lead the group, under the name "Mr. Fantastic". He later told his daughter, by way of a bedtime story, that the reason he suggested they become adventurers and gave them such outlandish costumes and names as "Mister Fantastic" and "The Thing" was that he knew they would likely be hated and feared for their powers without such an over-the-top public image.

See Also

• Mister Fantastic at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia