Valeria Richards

Superherobox|

caption=Valeria Richards.
Art by Alan Davis.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Valeria Richards
real_name=Valeria Richards (Valeria Von Doom in a past incarnation)
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut=as Valeria Von Doom, "Fantastic Four" v3 #15 (August 1999)
as Valeria Richards, "Fantastic Four" v3 #54 (June 2002)
creators=Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
status= about 3-4 years old
alliances=Fantastic Four
previous_alliances=
aliases=Marvel Girl, Valeria Von Doom
relatives=Mister Fantastic (father); Invisible Woman (mother); Doctor Doom (father in a past incarnation; self-appointed godfather); Human Torch (maternal uncle); Franklin Richards (older brother); Nathaniel Richards (paternal grandfather)
powers=
*(Valeria Richards) genius-level intelligence
*(Marvel Girl) Superhuman strength, invisibility, ability to time travel and create force fields, energy blasts, and genius-level intelligence.|

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 original 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.

Fictional character biography

Valeria von Doom first appeared during the run of Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca on "Fantastic Four", suddenly materializing 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.

While 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, changing 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 supervillains' 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 was revealed that the infant Valeria has already manifested her superhuman intellect, but is concealing this from everyone in order to preserve the family dynamic. ["Fantastic Four" #558]

Powers and abilities

As Marvel Girl, Valeria Richards 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 could also use this manipulation 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 from them; nevertheless, it is possible that her apparent strength and durability were actually simply subtle applications 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.

Reborn as Valeria Richards, Valeria is currently a toddler. 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 in "Fantastic Four: The Wedding" she is seen to complete a Rubik's Cube with her father saying that she will be playing chess by the time she is two. However, as she is only a child, it is possible that she may manifest superhuman abilities in the future. It was recently revealed that she is, in fact, already incredibly intelligent, nearly at the level of Reed. However, she is hiding her intelligence from her family as she has calculated that at this point, it would cause far too much of a divide between her family. Although Sue would be proud of her, it would alienate Valeria from her, and after eighty-two months, it would inadvertedly drive a wedge between Reed and Franklin, who she said would become estranged from the family. [Fantastic Four #558]

In "Marvel Knights 4", in a recent adventure, Johnny Storm traveled 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.

References

External links

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* - Marvel Database Project