Richards, Reed

[Reed Richards]

REEDKRISTOFFRICHARDS

Name: Reed Kristoff Richards
Nickname(s): Reed [codename: Mr. Fantastic]
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Birthday: Nov 13
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Job: Scientist
Powers: Mister Fantastic possesses the ability to convert the mass of his entire body into a highly malleable state at will. In such a state, he can stretch, deform, expand, or compress his entire body or parts thereof into any contiguous shape he can imagine. He can extend his limbs, torso, or neck to great distances: the maximum length he can distend before his body segments become painful is about 1,500 feet.

(Although he can extend discrete body parts, such as a single finger, an ear, or an eye, he seldom if ever isolates such parts in his elongations.) He can also extend his body in two directions, creating a canopy, parachute, or sheath, its thickness determined by the extent of its distention. He has compressed his body into the shape of a solid sphere, a cylinder, a cube, a toroid, and a rectangular prism: he can assume the shape of any solid that he can envision clearly, of a volume no greater than 1.7 cubic feet (a sphere about 18 inches in diameter). He can generate thin-walled shapes that enclose great volumes of space.

Mister Fantastic can flatten himself to the thickness of an average sheet of typing paper (.0035 inch) or narrow himself to a diameter small enough to pass through the eye of a #10 beading needle (about .045 x .06 inches). How his body's respiration and circulatory systems function at these distorted extremes is as yet unknown. Mister Fantastic can alter his form in a matter of seconds, often much less (depending on the complexity of the shape), and revert to his normal humanoid shape within a similar time. The greater the distance he stretches or the more extended the size of the object he becomes, the weaker his overall strength becomes.

Due to the great malleability and elasticity of his molecular structure, Mister Fantastic is able to absorb the impact of any type of man-made ballistic projectile by deforming his body along the path of the projectile's trajectory at the point of initial impact. After his body absorbs the kinetic energy of a ballistic projectile's impact, he can expel the object back along its trajectory by flexing like a trampoline if he is adequately braced. He can enclose and absorb the energy of a large explosive, on the order of 8 to 12 pounds of TNT (excluding exotic, high density explosives). Such shocks to his system are physically exhausting.

Mister Fantastic's transformation to a malleable state is reflexive and nearly instantaneous: if he was at his normal form and taken unaware by machine gun fire, his body would still absorb the bullets' impact through radical deformation. Mister Fantastic's skin is virtually impervious to laceration or punctures unless he wilfully relaxes his reflexive control over small areas of his body. In that case, scalpels and ordinary needles can penetrate his skin.

More Specific:

Gifted superhuman powers by cosmic rays bombarding his body. Mister Fantastic represents the element of water.

Hyper-Intelligence: Mister Fantastic’s natural mental abilities were greatly augmented by the Cosmic Rays that gave him his powers.

Plasticity: Mister Fantastic possesses the ability to convert the mass of his entire body into a highly malleable state at will. How his body's respiration and circulatory systems function at these distorted extremes is as yet unknown. Mister Fantastic can alter his form in a matter of seconds, often much less (depending on the complexity of the shape), and revert to his normal humanoid shape within a similar time. The greater the distance he stretches or the more extended the size of the object he becomes, the weaker his overall strength becomes. Mister Fantastic's transformation to a malleable state is reflexive and nearly instantaneous: if he was at his normal form and taken unaware by machine gun fire, his body would still absorb the bullets' impact through radical deformation. Mister Fantastic's skin is virtually impervious to laceration or punctures unless he willfully relaxes his reflexive control over small areas of his body. In that case, scalpels and ordinary needles can penetrate his skin.
Dense Flesh
Due to the great malleability and elasticity of his molecular structure, Mister Fantastic is able to absorb the impact of any type of man-made ballistic projectile by deforming his body along the path of the projectile's trajectory at the point of initial impact.
Contain Explosions – Mister Fantastic may use his elastic form to contain explosions by enveloping them and allowing their force to expand him. He can enclose and absorb the energy of a large explosive, on the order of 8 to 12 pounds of TNT (excluding exotic, high density explosives). Such shocks to his system are physically exhausting.
Redirect Projectiles – After his body absorbs the kinetic energy of a ballistic projectile's impact, Mister Fantastic can expel the object back along its trajectory by flexing his body like a trampoline if he is adequately braced.
Elongation
Mister Fantastic can extend his limbs, torso, or neck to great distances: the maximum length he can distend before his body segments become painful is about 1,500 feet. (Although he can extend discrete body parts, such as a single finger, an ear, or an eye, he seldom if ever isolates such parts in his elongations.)
Grappling – Mister Fantastic may restrain opponents very efficiently by using his elastic form to entangle them.
Movement - Mister Fantastic can move at great speeds by stretching to his destination.
Shape Changing
Mister Fantastic can stretch, deform, expand, or compress his entire body or parts thereof into any contiguous shape he can imagine for a variety of uses:
Imitation – Mister Fantastic may alter his basic physical features, allowing him to take on the appearance of any other man with similar hair and skin tone. One time, Mister Fantastic actually increased his size and mass density, in effect bulking his body to "Thing"-like proportions while increasing his strength to the same levels as well.
Canopy, Parachute or Sheath - Mister Fantastic can extend his body in two directions, creating a canopy, parachute, or sheath, its thickness determined by the extent of its distention.
Gliding - Mister Fantastic can transform himself into aerodynamic shapes such as parachutes or hang-gliders. In this form he can support an additional 1000 pounds (enough to hold the rest of Fantastic Four).
Cushion – Mister Fantastic may form his elastic form into a trampoline and other cushion-like objects, allowing him to safely catch falling people and objects.
Sling Shot – Mister Fantastic may use his elastic form as a slingshot to hurl objects with great force.
Geometric Shapes - Mister Fantastic has compressed his body into the shape of a solid sphere, a cylinder, a cube, a toroid, and a rectangular prism: he can assume the shape of any solid that he can envision clearly, of a volume no greater than 1.7 cubic feet (a sphere about 18 inches in diameter). He can generate thin-walled shapes that enclose great volumes of space.
Fist Weapons – Mister Fantastic may form his fists into large hammers, maces…etc, which improve his physical effectiveness in hand-to-hand combat.
Bouncing Ball - Mister Fantastic can transform himself into any of a number of resilient shapes, such as balls or springs that allow him to leap or bounce great distances.
Two-Dimensionality - Mister Fantastic can flatten himself to the thickness of an average sheet of typing paper (.0035 inch) or narrow himself to a diameter small enough to pass through the eye of a #10 beading needle (about .045 x .06 inches).
Infiltration - Mister Fantastic can lower his body’s cohesion to such an extent that he can actually flow through minute openings.
Open Locks – Mister Fantastic may form his fingers into various types of keys, allowing him to open most forms of mechanical locks.
Wind Generation – Mister Fantastic may form his hands into fans, allowing him to generate wind by twirling them at great speeds.
Semi-Solid Liquid State - Mister Fantastic can willfully reduce his body into an almost liquid state in order to flow out of small cracks or passages.

Scientific Genius-Level Intellect: Dr. Richards possesses a mastery of electrical, mechanical and aerospace engineering, electronics, chemistry, all levels of physics, and human and alien biology. A visionary theoretician and inspired machine smith, he has made breakthroughs in such varied fields as space travel, time travel, extra-dimensional travel, biochemistry, robotics, computers, synthetic polymers, communications, mutations, transportation, holography, energy generation, spectral analysis and more.

He is one of the few people on Earth to be an expert on other dimensions and the methods by which to travel to and through them. Reed’s patents are so valuable that he is able to bankroll the Fantastic Four, Inc., without much undue financial stress. Not only has Reed proven himself to be a genius in virtually every science native to Earth, he has shown himself to be more knowledgeable than even some of the most highly advanced alien civilizations in the known universe as well.

Hypnotism: Mister Fantastic is trained in hypnosis.
Position: Superhero

Play by: Ioan Gruffudd
Height: 6'
Weight: 180
Body Type: Slender/athletic
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Tattoos and Piercings: none

Likes: Math, Chemistry, Sue, Variables, Discovery
Dislikes: Not knowing the answer, asking for help, Being distracted from his latest project, running out of surfaces to write on, people erasing his blackboard
Strengths: Intellect, agility, being optimistic
Weaknesses: Obsessive, easily distracted, relating life to math
Fears: Losing Sue, Failure, Not being able to save the planet
Personality:Reed is an intellectual who prefers to examine foes and if possible negotiate with them before actually fighting them. He is often intrigued by the scientific implications of a problem, so much so that he almost forgets there is a problem in the first place. As Ben once put it, if an alien stubbed his toe, Reed would want to spend ten years studying it. Reed is an extremely likable fellow who keeps a pleasant smile on his face.

However, he does occasionally lapse into depression over long-standing unsolved problems, most notably Ben’s inability to return to human form. Reed is a humanitarian who will try to prevent any intelligent being from suffering. This can lead him to do controversial things that fly in the face of all apparent logic.

Family: Nathaniel (father), Evelyn (mother, deceased), Susan Storm (wife), Johnny Storm (brother-in-law), Cassandra (stepmother, deceased), Immortus (father's descendant, AKA Immortus, Kang, Rama-Tut)
Pets: none
History: Reed Richards, the only son of wealthy physicist Nathaniel Richards and his wife Evelyn, was a child prodigy with special aptitude in mathematics, physics, and mechanics. Evelyn Richards died when Reed was seven. Nathaniel Richards encouraged and guided young Reed in his scientific studies, and Reed was taking college-level courses by the time he was fourteen. Richards attended several universities, among them California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, Harvard University, and State University in Hegeman, New York State.

It was at State University that Reed Richards first met two of the most important individuals in his life. He was assigned to room with a foreign student, a scientific genius named Victor Von Doom. The imperious Von Doom took an immediate dislike to Richards, and decided to take other quarters. As Doctor Doom, Von Doom would later become Richards' greatest rival and enemy. Richards instead gained as his roommate former high school football star Benjamin J. Grimm, who became Richards' closest friend. Richards was already intending to build a starship for interstellar travel. When he told this ambition to Grimm, Grimm jokingly said that he would pilot the starship for Richards.

While attending Columbia University Richards rented living quarters at the Manhattan boarding house owned by the aunt of a young girl named Susan Storm. Three years before Reed Richards tested his starship, his father mysteriously disappeared. In fact, Nathaniel Richards had devised a time machine which he had used to attempt to journey into the future of his own world.

However, the machine actually transported him to an alternate Earth with a history considerably different from our own; Reed Richards would be reunited with him while visiting this alternate Earth years later. But before Nathaniel Richards left his own time line, he made arrangements that left two billion dollars to his son. Reed Richards spent most of this money on his project to build and launch his starship. This project, based in Central City, California, received further funding from the federal government.

Reed Richards recruited his old friend Ben Grimm, who had become a successful test pilot and astronaut, to pilot the starship. Susan Storm, joined Richards in California. Richards and Storm were engaged to be married. Shortly before the starship was to be launched, Richards used his scientific knowledge to defeat the extraterrestrial being Gormuu, who had intended to conquer Earth. Richards' encounter with Gormuu strengthened his resolve to finish the starship, which he saw as a first step in making it possible for mankind to defend itself from extraterrestrial threats.

However, the federal government then threatened to withdraw its funding from the project. Richards decided to take the starship on a test flight himself before the funding was withdrawn. Grimm was opposed to the idea, warning that the starship's shielding might prove inadequate protection from intense radiation storms. Nevertheless, Grimm was persuaded to serve as co-pilot, and Susan Storm and her brother Johnny accompanied Richards. The four friends stole onto the launch facility, entered the starship, and blasted off. They intended to travel through hyperspace in the ship to another solar system and back. However, unknown to Richards, a solar flare caused Earth's Van Allen radiation belts to be filled temporarily with unprecedented, ultra-high levels of cosmic radiation. Since the ship was designed to shield against ordinary levels of radiation, the cabin volume was subjected to intense cosmic ray bombardment, which irradiated the four passengers and wrought havoc on the ship's controls.

Once back on Earth, the four passengers discovered that the cosmic radiation had triggered mutagenic changes in their bodies. Reed Richards discovered that he could become malleable and elongate his body at will. Richards convinced the three others that the four of them should use their newfound powers for the good of humanity as members of a team he named the Fantastic Four. Richards, who became the team's leader, named himself Mister Fantastic, while Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, and Johnny Storm were named: the Thing, the Invisible Girl (later Invisible Woman), and the Human Torch, respectively. The profits from Richards' patents and royalties funded the team's activities.

Under Richards' leadership the Fantastic Four has become one of Earth's most honored teams of superhuman adventurers, and has saved the world from conquest or destruction many times. Richards eventually married Susan Storm.

Role Play Sample: Ramsay was preparing his classroom for the start of the next lesson. They were going to divine by fire. This was one of his least favorite forms of divination but was often accurate. Even though many of his students didn't seem to have a clue as to what they were doing in the previous lesson, he doubted even they could screw this up. He set a small cauldron of fire on each table and enchanted it so that the fire would burn and yet remain contained so as to minimalize the chance of it spreading or burning everyone.

"Due to the importance of fire in society from the earliest of times, it is quite likely that pyromancy was one of the earlier forms of divination. It is said that in Greek society, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens, regularly practiced pyromancy. It is also possible that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire and the forge, practiced pyromancy. In ancient China, pyromancy was practiced in the Neolithic period and Shāng and Zhōu dynasties in the form of burning or heating oracle bones -- usually the scapulae (shoulder blades) of oxen or turtle shells -- to produce cracks which were then read as portents.

Pyromancy is a delicate art and is not to be confused with Pyrokinesis. If you were hoping you would be learning to shoot fireballs at unsuspecting rivals, I suggest you ask Professor Flitwick to touch on that. Pyromancy is divination through the observation of smoke and flame. I will be giving you each a container of herbs leaves and salt to toss into the flame. I want you to take out your quill and parchment and write down what you see, we will work on the interpretations afterward.

Are there any questions? If not, you may begin." He didn't bother waiting for more students. His time was valuable and if they couldn't be bothered with showing up, he would be taking away house points, simple as that. He grabbed two bowls of the herbal mixture and set them in front of the students. If there was no participation this time, he would hand out very unpleasant detentions.

Name: Anything works for me
Age: Old enough to drink
Contact Info: PM
Experience: Long enough