Time Variance Authority

Infobox comics organization


imagesize=
caption=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Thor" vol. 1 #372 (October 1986)
creators=Walt Simonson
Sal Buscema
type=Bureaucracy
business=
organisation=
organization=y
base=
owners=Mobius M. Mobius
employees=Mr. Alternity
Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble
Mr. Orobourous
Mr. Paradox
Mr. Tesseract
fullroster=
cat=agencies
subcat=Marvel Comics
sortkey=PAGENAME|The Time Variance Authority (or TVA) is a fictional organization, a group of timeline monitors in the Marvel Universe. They first appeared in "Thor" vol. 1 #372 (October 1986).

Fictional background

The TVA claims responsibility for monitoring the multiverse and can prune timelines if they're deemed too dangerous to exist. They also take action to prevent other beings from altering the past or future. They were first seen, allowing Justice Peace, a lawman from the future, to travel to the 20th century in order to stop the killer Zaniac. Peace is able to succeed in his mission thanks to the assistance of Thor ["Thor" #372] .

Despite their claims, the TVA's influence over time is not absolute. The scope of their influence is bordered by Alioth in the distant past as well as Kang the Conqueror, the Delubric Consortium, and Revelation at different eras throughout the timescape ["Avengers: Terminatrix Objectives" #3] . There have also been numerous incidents of time travel or reality tampering where the TVA has failed to interfere.

At the End of Time, the last Director of the TVA creates the Time Keepers, the last three beings who exist in the remaining timeline in the universe; however this process also ends up creating the Time Twisters, a trio of beings who imperiled all realities until stopped by Thor and other members of the Avengers.

The TVA are next seen utilizing the law-firm She-Hulk works for on several instances. Jurors for cases are plucked from time soon before they actually die, this is so the effects on the time-stream are minimal. This also establishes the tendencies for time-travelers to go through genetic scrambling, also to minimize the effect on the time-stream. Notably, the scrambling tends to cause similar looks among differing males who undergo the process. ["She-Hulk" vol. 2 #1-#4. ]

Employees

Lower-ranked TVA employees, called chronomonitors, are literally faceless. They are created artificially, using "quantum technology" - the moment a new reality appears, a new faceless agent is created to monitor it, along with the necessary equipment (a personal computer-like device, plus a desk and a chair) to do so.

Cloned managers resemble Mark Gruenwald as well as Tom DeFalco, both longtime Marvel Comics writers. The most frequent recurring manager is Mobius M. Mobius, a Gruenwald clone. ["Fantastic Four Annual" #24.]

On occasion, the TVA hires mercenaries for use in the more dangerous missions, such as Justice Peace and Death's Head. These mercenaries often lose limbs, which the TVA replaces with clunky robotic parts (it is not known why; presumably the TVA would have access to far better technology.) Another example of their seemingly anachronistic technology is a time machine shaped like an old locomotive. Professor Gamble, a pastiche of Doctor Who ["Power Man and Iron Fist" #79] ["Avengers Annual" #22] , is a renegade from the TVA.

Known staff members

*Mr. Alternity ["Fantastic Four Annual" #27] - upper management
*First Secretaryissue
*Professor Justin Alphonse Gamble ["Power Man & Iron Fist" #79] - former employee, resigned and stole one of the time capsules
*He Who Remains ["Thor" #245] - last survivor of the Time Variance Authority, present at the end of time.
*Mobius M. Mobius ["Fantastic Four" #346] - bureaucrat and middle management, attempted to discipline Fantastic Four for violations of the TVA’s laws
*Mr. Orobouros ["She-Hulk" vol. 2 #3] - future clone of Mr. Paradox, ceased to exist when Clockwise used the Retro-Active Cannon on Paradox
*Mr. Paradox ["She-Hulk" vol. 2 #3] - ceased to exist when Clockwise blasted him with the Retro-Active Cannon
*Mr. Tesseract (Junior Management) ["Fantastic Four" #27] - subordinate to Mobius, he was assigned to reconstruct the lost data from Earth-616
*Time Zone Managerissue
*Time Variance Authority Police Department ["Deathlok" vol. 2 #32] - accompanied Justice Peace in effort to capture Goldwulf
**Justice Peace ["Thor" #371] - former freelance agent; he was punished for infractions of time travel; currently a member of the Federal Police and Special Services Units that are based in Brooklynopolis

Notes

See also

* Chronology Protection Agency
* Temporal Integrity Commission - an organization in the Star Trek universe that performs a similar function
* Linear Men - an organization in the DC Comics universe that performs a similar function.

References

* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/tvauthority.htm Unofficial Marvel Appendix entry]