Mister Fantastic

Mr. Fantastic
Real Name	Reed Richards
First Appearance	The Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #1 (Nov. 1961)
Creators	Stan Lee, Jack Kirby
Team Affiliations	Future Foundation, Fantastic Four, Avengers, Defenders, Illuminati
Aliases	Invincible Man, Reed Benjamin
Base of Operations	New York, USA
Powers	Extreme superhuman elasticity, malleability, and endurance, Resistance to most physical assaults and electricity, Virtual immunity to psychic powers
Skills and Abilities	Supergenius-level intellect, Leadership Experience, Fighting Experience
Paraphenalia	Countless inventions

Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards) is a superhero in the Marvel Universe and the leader of the Fantastic Four. He has the ability to extend his body at extreme lengths.

Origin

A brilliant scientist, Reed Richards convinced his friends to test an experimental rocketship.  When they arrive in space, they find themselves bombarded with cosmic rays that cause their ship to crash back to Earth.  Upon getting their bearings, the four friends discover that the rays have given them super-powers.  Reed discovers he can stretch his body like elastic and decides lead the friends as a team of explorers and superheroes the Fantastic Four as Mister Fantastic.

Biography

Early life

Reed Richards was born in Central City, California and the son of Nathaniel and Evelyn Richards. Reed’s father was a brilliant scientific genius and a trait that Reed inherited. Evelyn died when Reed was seven, leaving Nathaniel as his soul guardian. Reed excelled in mathematics, physics, and mechanics and was enrolled in college by the age of 14. He went to multiple colleges including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University, and Empire State University. While attending EMU he met and became a roommate of Ben Grimm. They became great friends and Reed shared his dream of building a spaceship himself. After EMU, Reed continued to go to school at Columbia University, and he rented an apartment from Sue Storm's Aunt. Sue quickly fell in love with Reed. Reed, also met Victor Von Doom, while attending Columbia University.

Doom loved that Reed could rival his intellect. Eventually Doom became jealous of Reed and began conducting reckless experiments that scarred his face. Reed next enrolled at Harvard and earned his P.H.D. in physics and a mastery in mechanical, aerospace and electrical engineering, chemistry and all levels of human and alien biology by the age of 22. After he was done with school he used his inheritance and government funding to finance his project. He began building his spaceship in Central City. Sue Storm would move to this same area and eventually found herself dating Reed again. Reed would ask Ben to pilot the ship for him. The government denied the flight into space so Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny decided to sneak onto the ship and they took the ship into outer space. Reed miscalculated and forgot the abnormality of the radiation from the cosmic radiation. The rays destroyed the ship and they crash-landed back on earth. After the crash Reed found out that he could stretch his body like elastic at will. Reed adopts the name Mr. Fantastic and convinces the four of them to use their powers for good.

Powers & Abilities

Mr. Fantastic has a hyper-elastic body that can stretch to incredible lengths without any harm to himself. Not only can stretch his body, but he can reshape it into almost any basic shape, and can even bounce high into the air by reshaping himself into a living rubber ball. He possesses a form of invulnerability due to his elasticity as he can stretch to absorb the force of most physical impacts.

Abilities

• Genius level intellect: Dr. Richards is one of the most intelligent beings on the planet. Reed 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 any 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. He has often been stated to be the smartest man on Earth, and possesses a photographic memory.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Although the Fantastic Four have numerous devices, crafts, and weapons, there are some items that Reed Richards carries with him at all times:

• Fantasti-Flare: Launches a fiery "4" symbol into the sky that is used during combat situations to let other members of the group know their location.
• Fantastic Four Uniforms: Like all the Fantastic Four's costumes and the rest of Reed's wardrobe, his suit is made of "unstable molecules". This means that the suit is attuned to his powers, which is why Reed's costume stretches with him. The costume also insulates them from electrical assaults. In addition, the team's uniforms are also, in essence, wearable computers. Their costumes have a complete data processing and telemetry system woven into the material of the uniform on a molecular level. This forms a network with the entire team, providing a constant, real-time uplink of everyone's physical condition as well as their location and current situation. The suit is capable of displaying data and touch-pad controls on the gauntlets. Its sensors can track all of the team's uniforms and provide a picture of their immediate vicinity. The suit has an intricate scanner system which can detect things around the wearer, from how many people are in the next room to what dimension or planet they are on. Reed can also up-link the bodysuit to any computer by stretching his fingertips to filament size and plugging them in to an I/O data-port. With this, Reed can establish a fairly comprehensive database of any computer's cybernetic protocols and encryption algorithms.
• Universal Translator: Reed has a Universal Translator that can decipher and interpret languages, both alien and terrestrial, into the native language of the user.
• Memorium Device: This device allowed the Fantastic Four to look through the memories of individuals.

Transportation

• Fantasticar