Crystal is a fictional character, a superhero in Marvel Comics' universe. She is a member of the Inhumans and a younger sister of Medusa.
| Crystal | |
|---|---|
| File:Crysalclear.jpg Crystal. Art by Pasqual Ferry. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #45 (December, 1965) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff |
| Team affiliations | Inhumans Fantastic Four Avengers |
| Abilities | Fire manipulation, Air manipulation, Earth manipulation, Water manipulation |
Crystal possesses the power to manipulate the classic four elements. Originally, she was a girlfriend of the Human Torch, then the girlfriend of the Avenger The Sentry. She later married Quicksilver. They have a daughter, Luna, who, via her father, is grand-daughter of the villain known as Magneto.
Fictional character biography
Crystal's first encounters with the outside world were via the Fantastic Four. They and the Inhumans clashed several times and eventually, she fell in love with the Human Torch. Their romance was blocked by a literal barrier, as the Inhuman's city was encased in a dome of Negative Zone energy.
Crystal would later leave the city for careers with the Fantastic Four and Avengers. During a time when the Inhumans lived on the moon, Crystal defied the power structure of her society and fled with many Inhumans to an isolated part of earth. They were there to help Medusa, their queen, give birth in secret. Crystal used her powers to eliminate the pollution from a wide area around their hideout, a mistake which would soon come back to haunt all of them.
Quicksilver and Crystal have had a rocky marriage. Pietro has always had a quick temper and Crystal had once had an affair with a real estate agent named Norman Webster. She and the Human Torch still had feelings for each other during his supposed marriage to Alicia Masters (later revealed to be a skrull named Lyja merely pretending to be Alicia). She also developed feelings for Dane Whitman, the Black Knight but nothing physical came from it. These reasons have caused them to separate several times, despite Maximus the Mad taking credit for causing Pietro's descent into madness, and Crystal's affair. One such reconciliation attempt occurred in a small town, in a rented cabin, where Crystal had to urge Quicksilver to 'go slow'. Unfortunately, even this was affected by outside forces.
During Crystal's time with the Avengers, Magneto's Acolytes affected her daughter personally, causing much destruction to the mansion. Luna ended up in Genosha, under the control of the Acolytes. The Avengers teamed up with the X-Men and managed to recover her safely.
After the events of House of M Crystal was reunited with her depowered husband, only for him to steal the Terrigen Mist from Attilan, in an attempt to use it to restore the depowered mutants. Luna is exposed also, granting her various abillities.
Powers
Crystal possesses the ability to mentally manipulate the Greeks' four basic elements of nature: fire, water, earth, and air. She does so by means of a psionic interaction with the substances on a molecular level. By controlling oxygen molecules she can cause fire to spontaneously ignite or she can douse any oxidizing flame by depriving it of oxygen. She can join hydrogen and oxygen molecules to create rain, summoning these molecules from a volume of atmosphere within a radius of approximately two miles. She can control the movement of water by manipulating surface tension, divining water from the ground and causing it to flow in designated directions. The observed maximum volume of water she can control is approximately 2,000 cubic feet (about 15,000 gallons). Thus, she cannot change the course of rivers or cause the sea to part. She can control the various substances that make up common bedrock (earth: iron, granite, shale, limestone, etc.), creating seismic tremors of up to 6.7 on the Richter scale (greater if tectonic plate fault lines are nearby) by causing a sudden shifting of the earth. The observed maximum volume she can affect at once is 1.8 x 10" cubic feet (approximately 1/800 of a cubic mile). She can also control oxygen atoms and oxygen-containing molecules to create atmospheric disturbances of various kinds. By intermingling air with earth she can cause a duststorm, air with water a typhoon, and air with fire a firestorm. She is able to create a wind of tornado intensity.
Limitations: Crystal can sustain a certain elemental phenomenon for approximately one hour before her mind begins to tire. She can also create any number of effects in succession for about forty-five minutes before mental fatigue impairs her performance.
Crystal also has the physiology of an average Inhuman, so all her bodily functions are higher than a normal human's. Inhumans are superior to humans in strength, reaction time, stamina, resistance to injury and speed, but unable to stand the pollution, such as smog, that normal humans can. (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition)
Alternate versions
Ultimate Crystal
Crystal appeared in the Ultimate Marvel Universe within the Ultimate Fantastic Four, Annual #1 story "Inhuman". In this story she is being forced to marry Black Bolt's brother, Maximus, whom she doesn't like. She flirts with Johnny Storm during the issue, but ultimately leaves with the other Inhumans when they go to their new city. She later appears in UFF #30 talking to Sue, who wants her to ask Black Bolt for help with a parasite that is eating Johnny that could kill everyone on Earth. Crystal replies that Black Bolt wouldn't help, even if they were at risk, suggesting the Inhumans have moved to the Moon.
Appearances in other Media
Fantastic Four (90's animated series)
Crystal, along with the other Inhumans, made their animated debut in the second season of the Fantastic Four animated series in the three-part "Inhumans Saga" episode. Crystal was voiced by Kathy Ireland.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007 film)
On the Internet some people said that the date Johnny Storm (Human Torch) had for Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and Sue Richards (Invisible Woman) wedding at the end of the movie was Crystal, though it was, in fact, Frankie Raye.
Video Games
Crystal is featured as an NPC in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. In the game, she appears during act four. She is voiced by Kim Mai Guest.
External links
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