Hyperstorm

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Hyperstorm

Image:Hyperstorm.jpg
Hyperstorm

Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four #406 (November 1995)
Created by Tom DeFalco
Paul Ryan
Dan Bulanadi
Characteristics
Alter ego Jonathan Reed Richards
Affiliations Zarrko the Tomorrow Man
Abilities Control over the four fundamental forces of the universe and thus over all matter and energy, creating force fields, telepathy, teleportation, telekinesis

Hyperstorm is a fictional supervillain from the Marvel comics universe. Also known as Jonathan Reed Richards, Hyperstorm is both the future descendant and enemy of the Fantastic Four.

Contents

[edit] Fictional character biography

The Fantastic Four first encountered him when Reed Richards and Doctor Doom were ripped out of the timestream by Hyperstorm and ended up in his future, after which he sent Reed thousands of years into the past and kept the crippled Doom as his tortured prisoner. The rest of the Fantastic Four managed to track down Reed and then together travel back into Hyperstorm's timeline to confront him. His real name and parentage was revealed in Fantastic Four #414 by Nathaniel Richards, who had through extensive time travelling learned who Hyperstorm really was. Hyperstorm was born as the son of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers in an alternate version of the Days of Future Past timeline. The point of divergence between his particular timeline and the original DoFP timeline must be assumed to be Franklin Richards surviving the attack by sentinels instead of perishing, as seen in Uncanny X-Men #141. Once grownup, Hyperstorm used his vast powers to destroy all opposition in his timeline and gradually became corrupted by such unparalleled powers and became a heartless tyrant set on nothing less than complete universal domination and blind obedience to his will. In time he had conquered great portions of the known universe, and purposed to extend his dominion to other timelines as well.

[edit] Powers and abilities

Hyperstorm possesses virtually infinite psionic power which he can draw endlessly from hyperspace, from which (in the Marvel Universe) the primordial energies creating the fundamental forces of the universe, strong force, electromagnetism, the weak force and gravity flow into our plane of reality. Controlling the four fundamental forces should theoretically allow him to restructure, create or destroy matter at will down to subatomic level, as well as creating electromagnetic fields and electrical currents, making matter radioactive, manipulating gravity, causing nuclear detonations, emit enormous energy blasts, use his psionic powers to increase his physical strength and generally accomplishing nearly anything he sets his mind to. He has also displayed telepathic abilities, both as Hyperstorm (Fantastic Four Unlimited #12) and as his otherworld counterpart David Richards (Exiles #59). For the latter, his powers has been described as an amalgam of the powers of Professor X, Magneto, and The Phoenix Force. He can also teleport through hyperspace from one place in the universe to another, possibly at immeasurable distances. He has been seen to counter the Invisible Woman's forcefield with one of his own making, unsurprisingly since she draws her power from one of the higher planes of hyperspace, though highly limited compared to Hyperstorm's own hyperpowers. He is also telekinetic, considering the fact that both his parents, as well as his grandmother Jean Grey, had telekinetic powers. His power level has generally been compared to that of cosmic entities rather than that of other omega-level mutants. Hyperstorm may be the most powerful mutant witnessed to date.

He is also an extraordinary genius, seemingly possessing his grandfather Reed Richards' scientific genius, and has been able to create devices such as a time machine, a brain disarrator which he employed on Doctor Doom to disrupt any chance of him forming coherent thoughts, and his nigh unstoppable mechanical juggernauts known as the Destructoids. He also outsmarted Reed and his father Nathaniel Richards, and also Doctor Doom, though Reed eventually bested Hyperstorm by tricking him into making an appearance before a very hungry Galactus. Galactus quickly began feeding on Hyperstorm's energies and continued to use him as an endless supply of raw energy, which he normally obtains by consuming planets. Hyperstorm was apparently powerless to stop Galactus. It is known that Galactus has since then returned to his normal habits and dimension, since Galactus has appeared in later stories, but Hyperstorm's current whereabouts in his own future and in the 616 timeline remains to be seen.

[edit] Other versions

The reality-hopping team known as the Exiles encountered a younger alternate timeline analogue of Hyperstorm called 'David Richards' instead of Jonathan, though it seems that they are otherwise genetically identical and has the same powers. In yet another variation of DoFP, Franklin and Rachel instead had a daughter, Dream Summers. In Fantastic Five #4, the Fantastic Four of the MC2 universe battled Hyperstorm (or possibly another similar counterpart to the one who showed up in the 616 continuity) a confrontation which ended with Psi-lord (Franklin Richards) stalemating Hyperstorm in power and, after a very even fight, putting his would-be son into a coma while only barely surviving himself. This battle seems highly dubious since Hyperstorm, for all his appearent scientific genius, had obviously not understood that such a fight could create a possible grandfather paradox which might threaten his own existence, considering that Hyperstorm hadn't even been born at the juncture of the fight. However, this Hyperstorm might have originated on a different Earth than the one on which MC2 takes place, in which case the possibility of creating a paradox would not come into play. An alternate explanation is that in the Marvel Universe, altering the events of the past leads to the creation of a separate timeline in which those events were not altered.

[edit] Family tree

Franklin Richards (father), Rachel Summers (mother),
Invisible Woman (paternal grandmother), Mister Fantastic (paternal grandfather),
Jean Grey (maternal grandmother), Scott Summers (maternal grandfather),
Nathaniel Richards (paternal great-grandfather), Human Torch (paternal granduncle),
Alex Summers (maternal granduncle), Gabriel Summers (maternal granduncle),
Valeria Richards (alternate reality paternal aunt), Dream Summers (alternate reality sister),
Madelyne Pryor (clone of maternal grandmother), Cable (maternal uncle), Stryfe (uncle's clone),
Tyler Dayspring (adoptive cousin), Nate Grey (alternate reality maternal uncle)