QuickSilver
Real name: Pietro Maximoff
Other aliases: None known
Identity: Publicly known
Occupation: (current) Adventurer, (former) Terrorist, officer of the
Inhumans militia, United States government operative
Legal status: Former citizen of Transia, naturalized citizen of the
United States, citizen (by marriage) of Attilan
Place of birth: Wundagore Mountain, Transia (in Eastern Europe)
Marital status: Married
Known relatives: Magneto (father), Magda (last name unrevealed, mother,
presumed deceased), Django Maximoff (adoptive father), Marya Maximoff
(adoptive mother, deceased), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch, sister),
Crystal (wife), Luna (daughter), Medusa (sister-in-law), Black Bolt,
Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Maximus (cousins by marriage), Vision (former
brother-in-law)
Base of operations: (current) a castle on the Hudson River in upstate
New York that is owned by the High Evolutionary; (former) Transia;
Avengers Mansion, Manhattan; Avengers Compound, Palos Verdes,
California; X-Factor headquarters, Washington D. C.
Group affiliation:(current) Avengers, unofficial member of the Royal
Family of the Inhumans, (former) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants I, X-Factor
II
First appearance: X-MEN (first series) #4
History: Pietro Maximoff is the son of the mutant called Magneto and his
wife, the gypsy named Magda. Just prior to Pietro's birth, Magda fled
from Magneto, terrified of the bizarre powers he suddenly manifested and
his intentions of world domination. Seeking refuge in the scientific
citadel of Wundagore in the Balkan Mountains of the tiny European nation
of Transia, Magda was taken in by Bova, a humanoid cow evolved by the
genetic engineer called the High Evolutionary. Magda gave birth to
twins, a boy and a girl, with Bova as her midwife, and named them Wanda
and Pietro. Still afraid that her husband might find her and learn of
the children, Magda left Bova a note explaining her fears and walked
into the frozen mountain wilderness to perish.
Feeling that it was not right to raise two seemingly normal babies amid
the evolved animal-men of Wundagore, Bova was relieved when, several
nights later, an American couple, Robert and Madeline Frank, also came
to Wundagore seeking assistance. The Franks were former super heroes
active during World War II known as the Whizzer and Miss America;
Madeline was now pregnant and about to give birth. Bova intended to give
the couple the days-old twins to raise along with their own newborn.
Unfortunately, the couple's child was stillborn and Madeline died from
complications in giving birth. Bova presented Robert Frank with the
twins, claiming they were his own natural children, in the hope that it
would assuage his grief. Instead, Frank fled from Wundagore upon hearing
of his wife's death, nearly insane with grief. (Years later, the
children would come to believe for a time that Frank was their natural
father.)
Bova then presented the twins to her master, the High Evolutionary, who
agreed to find foster human parents for them. He chose Django and Marya
Maximoff, a gypsy couple camped nearby who had lost their own twin
children, Ana and Mateo, during World War II. The Maximoffs accepted the
strange gifts from the High Evolutionary and cared for the children as
if they were their own. (Years later, the aging Django would mistakenly
believe that Wanda and Pietro were his natural children Ana and Mateo.)
As adolescents, Wanda and Pietro discovered that they had unusual
superhuman abilities. When Django began to steal food to feed his
starving family, enraged villagers attacked the gypsy camp. Using his
phenomenal speed, Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. The
circumstances of their separation from their family were so traumatic
that not until well into adulthood could they remember anything but the
barest details of their childhood. For the next few years Wanda and
Pietro wandered central Europe, living off the land.
One day, Wanda accidentally caused a house to burst into flame through
her hex powers, which she could not yet control. Superstitious
townspeople began chasing her, thinking she was a witch. Despite
Pietro's attempt to defend her, they were soon overpowered and were
about to become victims of mob violence when Magneto came to their
rescue. Unaware that he was their natural father, Magneto pressed them
into service in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, costumed them, and
named them the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. For months they served
Magneto out of a sense of obligation and fear of his reprisal. As
members of the Brotherhood, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch aided
Magneto in his terrorist campaigns against humanity and helped him
combat the original members of the X-Men. Magneto did not realize Wanda
and Pietro were his children, nor did they know he was their father.
When the Brotherhood was defeated by the overwhelming powers of the
alien Stranger, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch quit the Brotherhood;
the Stranger transported Magneto away from Earth, and Quicksilver and
the Scarlet Witch returned to Transia.
Avengers, a world-renowned team of super heroes. They were inducted
along with Hawkeye to take the place of the charter members, who wished
to take a leave of absence. Although the hot-tempered Quicksilver and
Hawkeye often both rebelled against his orders, Avengers leader Captain
America molded them into valuable team members.
Humanity's suspicion of mutants still rankled Quicksilver, and he
briefly rejoined Magneto after the latter returned to Earth, compelling
his sister to come with him. Months after the X-Men and Avengers
defeated Magneto, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch resumed their
membership in the Avengers.
Seriously injured during the Avengers' battle against the Sentinels,
Quicksilver was taken to medical care by Crystal, a member of the royal
family of the hidden race of Inhumans. Months passed before Quicksilver
was well enough to contact his companions to tell them what had happened
to him. During that time Quicksilver became romantically involved with
Crystal, and the two married after a brief courtship. The wedding, held
in the Inhumans' refuge of Attilan, then located in the Himalayan
Mountains, was attended by the Inhumans, the Avengers, and the Fantastic
Four.
Not long after the birth of his and Crystal's first child, Luna,
Quicksilver learned the truth about his parentage. Magneto had stumbled
upon Bova and learned from her that Magda and Pietro were his children.
Confronting Quicksilver and his sister in Attilan with this revelation,
Magneto apparently hoped to sway his children to rejoin his crusade
against humanity. But Quicksilver denounced Magneto for his callous
treatment of them when they were members of his Brotherhood of Evil
Mutants and refused to believe he had changed his ways.
A man of action, Quicksilver volunteered his services to the head of the
Inhumans' small militia and became an officer. During the period of his
service, however, the Inhumans had no call for military activity.
Quicksilver's neglect of his wife led Crystal to become involved with
another man. Learning of her infidelity, Quicksilver refused to forgive
her and fled Attilan, vowing vengeance on her and all those he perceived
as having wronged him. Unknown to anyone, however, Crystal's malevolent
cousin Maximus was manipulating Quicksilver's mind, fanning
Quicksilver's anger at Crystal into a rage directed against his former
colleagues in the Avengers. Quicksilver framed the Avengers for treason,
thereby turning the federal government against them until they cleared
their names. Quicksilver also led the members of the android version of
the criminal organization Zodiac against the Avengers, fought the
Fantastic Four, and joined forces with various Soviet-era Communist
operatives against the Avengers' West Coast division.
Eventually Maximus' control over Quicksilver's mind lapsed and Pietro
ended his criminal ways. The Inhumans' monarch Black Bolt commanded that
the reluctant Quicksilver reconcile with Crystal. Their initial attempts
failed. Quicksilver joined the Avengers' West Coast branch for a time.
Eventually Crystal took Luna to Earth and joined the Avengers, and
Quicksilver shortly afterwards became a special operative of the United
States government in its new version of X-Factor.
Quicksilver and Crystal again attempted a reconciliation, and this time
they were successful. Quicksilver left X-Factor and again became
affiliated with his wife's team, the Avengers. However, their happiness
was short-lived, because Crystal seemingly perished in the Avengers'
battle against Onslaught. In actuality she, along with other members of
the Avengers, had been transported to an alternate reality. During her
absence, the High Evolutionary asked Quicksilver to become the leader of
a small band of his Knights of Wundagore, animals that the geneticist
had endowed with human intelligence and humanoid-like forms. Quicksilver
accepted and now leads the Knights in battles against injustice.
Quicksilver and Crystal were happily reunited after she and the other
missing Avengers finally returned to their native Earth.
Height: 6'
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Silver
Hair: White
Strength level: Quicksilver possesses superhuman strength primarily in
his lower body as part of his body's adaptations for running. With his
upper body he can lift (press) approximately 1000 pounds. He can leg
press approximately one ton under optimal conditions.
Known superhuman powers: Quicksilver is a mutant who possesses the
superhuman capacity to think and move at great speeds. His entire body
is adapted towards the rigors of high-speed running. His cardiovascular
and respiratory systems are many times more efficient than those of a
normal human being. He metabolizes an estimated 95% of the caloric
energy content of foodstuffs (normal human use is about 25%). The
chemical processes of Quicksilver's musculature are so highly enhanced
that his body does not generate fatigue poisons, the normal by-products
of locomotion, which force the body to rest. Rather, his body constantly
expels waste products during his accelerated respiration through
exhalation. His joints are smoother and lubricated more efficiently than
those of a normal human being. His tendons have the tensile strength of
spring steel. His bones contain unknown materials significantly more
durable than calcium to withstand the dynamic shocks of his feet
touching the ground at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. Quicksilver's
practical reaction time is about five times faster than a normal human's
and the speed at which his brain processes information is heightened to
a level commensurate with his bodily speed, enabling him to perceive his
surroundings while traveling at high velocities. Quicksilver's
lachrymose is more viscous than normal, thus preventing rapid
evaporation and replenishment of surface fluids on his eyeballs under
the influence of high wind velocity to occlude his vision.
Quicksilver has been timed at speeds of up to 175 miles per hour,
approximately three times faster than the fastest land animal, the
cheetah. He has sufficient energy reserves to enable him to run at this
average speed for about four hours, whereupon he must reduce his speed,
replenish his body's store of energy, or do both.
Quicksilver has used his powers of acceleration for various feats. He
has plucked an arrow out of the air from a standing start, after the
arrow left the bow and traveled a distance of about 20 feet. He has
dodged machine gun fire, but presumably he was able to see the path of
the bullets change as his assailant was attempting to track him with a
burst. He has created cyclone-like gusts of wind, which are able to
knock a man off his feet, by racing around in a ten-foot diameter
circle. With a 500-foot approach to gain momentum, Quicksilver can run
approximately 300 feet up the side of a surface with a 90-degree
inclination (such as a building) before gravity overtakes him. With a
100-foot approach to gain momentum, he can run across a body of water
for approximately 1000 feet before beginning to sink.
