Valeria Richards
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Valeria Richards is a fictional character of Marvel Comics, the daughter of Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) and the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), husband and wife and two members of the superhero team the Fantastic Four. She is the younger sister of Franklin Richards (though because of time travel she has sometimes been older than her brother). Valeria made her first appearance under the name Valeria Von Doom and the code name Marvel Girl.
[edit] History
Valeria Von Doom first appeared during the run of Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca on Fantastic Four, suddenly materialising in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, professing to be from the future, and the daughter of Doctor Doom (Victor Von Doom) and the Invisible Woman. This was, unsurprisingly, very disturbing to the Fantastic Four, but after an initial period of conflict, the Invisible Woman accepted Valeria into the FF's home, and she aided them on several missions.
It was unknown how Doctor Doom and the Invisible Woman would come together in the future, and how Mister Fantastic would be removed from the picture. Things seemed to be coming together when Mister Fantastic became trapped in Doom's armor, and publicly pretended to be the villain, re-marrying Sue and making her his baroness. At this time, Valeria was sent to Haven, a safe house at the end of the universe, for her own protection, but as events proceeded, Reed was freed from the armor, again calling Valeria's future into question.
However Chris Claremont intended to resolve the storyline, he never got the chance, as Jeph Loeb and Carlos Pacheco took over Fantastic Four and brought Valeria back into the title, retconning the character's origins. As it transpired, Valeria was, in fact, the second, unborn child of Reed and Sue Richards, who had been miscarried years before in Fantastic Four v1 #267 (June 1984). Under the guidance of Roma, Franklin had used his powers to save the child, who was taken by Roma, who knew that the girl would serve a great purpose in the future. In the comics themselves, Roma professed to have cared for the girl, but the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe took the opportunity to tie up some loose ends by claiming that Valeria was actually raised in an alternate future as the daughter of Doom and Sue. Loeb and Pacheco brought Valeria back into the book as the FF went up against the cosmic menace of Abraxas, and Valeria fulfilled her purpose by merging her powers with Franklin and recreating Galactus to stop Abraxas. In the restructuring of reality that ensued, Valeria was regressed to a fetus within Sue's womb once again, on the cusp of being born.
As had occurred during the first time she was born, the cosmic rays that gave the Fantastic Four their superpowers made the delivery of Valeria extremely difficult, and because Mister Fantastic was caught up solving a world-threatening crisis, the Human Torch had no choice but to call upon Victor Von Doom for help, as detailed in Fantastic Four v3 #54 (June 2002). Doctor Doom was qualified to deliver the baby because of his vast intelligence and his mystical capabilities, and he successfully delivered the baby through a difficult birth.
As the price for his help, Doctor Doom insisted that he be allowed to name the child. He did so, naming her Valeria after a woman he had loved in the past (ironically, Doctor Doom would also eventually be the murderer of this woman). Unknown to the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom also placed a spell on Valeria, making her his familiar spirit, as revealed in the Unthinkable story arc, Fantastic Four v3 #67-70 and v1 #500 (May-September 2003) by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo. The Fantastic Four were eventually able to free Valeria from Doom's control.
Due to the numerous super villains 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. (It's even possible that the FF themselves carried out the attack and planned for the press release so as to make Child Welfare believe that the children were in more danger away from their parents.)
[edit] Superpowers and abilities
As Marvel Girl, Valeria Von Doom exhibited several superpowers, though the exact extent of her abilities is unknown. She was able to transform into an armored form, with the design of the armor somewhat derivative of Doctor Doom's. She inherited the ability of her mother to project force fields however she did not bend light to do so. (She actually manipulated time and space fields to create these barriers). She also could use this to travel back and forth through time, this ability was known as her Time Dance. She never displayed the ability to turn invisible naturally; however, she is shown using a gadget to turn herself invisible. She also seemed to have enhanced strength and durability, being able to punch hard enough to knock down beings with superstrength, and survive punches by beings with superstrength; nevertheless, it is possible that her apparent strength and durability were actually simply subtle application of her force fields and the defense provided by her armor. In addition, Valeria Von Doom showed an intelligence and aptitude for invention and technology rivaling that of Doctor Doom or Mister Fantastic.
As Valeria Richards, Valeria is only a child. In Fantastic Four v3 #63 (January 2003), she was tested for superpowers by her father, Mister Fantastic, and found to have no superhuman abilities. It is also not known whether she is a genius like her previous incarnation, Valeria Von Doom, or her father, Mister Fantastic. However, as she is only a child, it is possible that she may manifest superhuman abilities in the future.
In Marvel Knights 4, in a recent adventure, Johnny Storm travelled to an alternate future and was saved from Doombots by a grown-up Valeria. She had a superior version of her mother's invisibility powers, allowing her to shield someone's bioelectric aura, kinetic energy, heat energy, and other evidence of their existence.
[edit] External links
- MDP: Valeria_Richards - Marvel Database Project
