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Frankie Raye (Earth-616)

From Marvel Database

Character Template Help
Real Name
Current Alias

Aliases
Human Torch

Identity

Alignment

Affiliation

Relatives
"Thomas Raye" (Phineas T. Horton, stepfather, deceased), Thomas Raymond (Toro, possible biological father)

Universe

Base Of Operations
World-ship of Galactus.

Characteristics
Gender

Height


Eyes
Blue, (White as Nova)

Hair
Red, (Flaming as Nova)

Status
Citizenship

Marital Status

Occupation
Cosmic adventurer, formerly interpreter

Education
Undergraduate degree

Origin
Origin
Chemically- and cosmically-altered human

Place of Birth


Contents

History

Raye's biological father deserted his family when she was young. Her mother married a man she knew as Thomas Raye, an eccentric repairman who worked in his small laboratory as a hobby. Frankie's mother passed away, leaving her in her stepfather's care. Without any other family activities, she helped him in his lab.

When Thomas first learned about the Human Torch (Johnny Storm) of the Fantastic Four, he flew into a rage. Frankie had no way of knowing his secret: his real name was Phineas T. Horton, and he had created the first Human Torch, an android. The government later shut down his research and put the deactivated Torch and his old equipment in a warehouse. Raye went with Horton to the warehouse. While carrying some bottles of chemicals, she fell through some weak planks. The bottles broke. The chemicals doused her and burst into flame.

Raye not only survived the experience, she found that she could generate flame from her own body, like the Human Torch, and even control nearby fires. Horrified, Horton tried to protect her from the alienation that he had seen the first Torch undergo, so he hypnotized her and ordered her to forget the experience and to develop pyrophobia (fear of fire). He also created a transparent suit for her that would suppress her powers and hypnotically ordered her to ignore the suit. Finally, to protect her from his ghosts, he left her to live on her own at the age of fourteen, although he sent a check every month.

For the next few years, Raye lived a relatively normal life. She finished high school and college and got a job as an interpreter. A subconscious compulsion drew her to Johnny Storm despite her pyrophobia, and when they met, they began a relationship[1]. The new Human Torch eventually became aware of her transparent suit, a mystery made even deeper by her insistence that it didn't exist. Reed Richards soon solved the mystery and released her from her hypnotic conditioning[2]. Sue Storm convinced Richards to let her join the team as another Human Torch. She soon learned to control her powers more precisely than Storm, albeit at lower levels.

The arrival of Galactus interrupted Raye's newfound freedom. Despite his oath to spare Earth, Galactus had become weak and felt he had no other option. Raye saw an opportunity to save Earth and to emulate both her fathers by abandoning it: she volunteered to become Galactus' new herald. He agreed to the proposal because it allowed him to keep his oath. Raye received the Power Cosmic and became Nova[3].

Raye now had almost unlimited freedom. Her only duty was to find new worlds for Galactus to consume. Because she guided death to billions of people, and possibly because of her chaotic upbringing, she became inured to the suffering of others. Victims of Galactus during Nova's time as his herald included Tarnax IV, the throne-world of the Skrull. The Silver Surfer became a friend during this period. He saw her falling into the same apathy he himself had experienced when he was Galactus' herald. He showed her a world and asked if she would choose it for her master. When she said yes, he confessed that he had taken her back in time and shown her her own planet: Earth[4].

Her compassion made her useless to Galactus. He replaced her with Morg, and she became the Silver Surfer's companion. Along with several other former heralds, they attempted to remove Morg to protect countless inhabited worlds. In the ensuing battle, Morg killed Nova by blasting her from behind. As punishment, Galactus stripped Morg of his Power Cosmic, and the other heralds finally defeated him. The Silver Surfer entombed Nova's body in a star[5].

Powers and Abilities

Powers

As the Human Torch, Raye had powers identical to Johnny Storm's: she could burst into flame without burning herself; fly; and generate streams, balls, and sheets of fire. She could control the intensity (temperature) of the flames. She could increase or decrease the size and intensity of nearby fires. Given time, she might have discovered other powers or increased her limits.

Her powers were later enhanced exponentially by an infusion of cosmic energies by the world-devourer Galactus. She gained superhuman strength, stamina, durability, agility, and reflexes. She had the ability to manipulate cosmic energy in the form of stellar fire, and which allowed her to project any form of energy possessed by a star, including heat, light, gravity, radio waves and charged particles. She also had the ability to project streams of stellar fire for distances in the hundreds of miles, and to mentally control the flame she projects (for instance, to maintain a sustained ring around a person or object at a fixed distance). She also has the ability to fly at supra-light speeds through interstellar space and traverse hyper-space, and also possesses near-total physical invulnerability. Nova's entire body, particularly her head, is plumed with cosmic energy resembling flames.

.

Abilities

Raye spoke several languages fluently.

Strength level

As Nova, Raye could lift (press) approximately 40 tons; however, she could augment her strength with the Power Cosmic.

Notes

  • A character named Frankie Raye (played by Beau Garrett) appeared in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer as a military officer on the team that captured the Silver Surfer. This character had no apparent super powers.
  • Raye (as Nova) was an occasional character in the 1988 animated series The Silver Surfer. She appeared in episode 3, "The Origin of the Silver Surfer, Part 3"; episode 8, "Antibody"; and episode 13, "The End of Eternity, Part 1." She was also shown in the 1994 Fantastic Four Series in Season 2 episode 8 "When Calls Galactus". The episode was an updated version of her origin, receiving her powers and becoming Nova.

Trivia

  • In Power Pack #58 it is implied that a homeless man with the power to flame on named Mr. Raymond is in fact Frankie Raye's father. Mr. Raymond is also implied to be Thomas Raymond the World War II superhero Toro.

Links

Discover and Discuss

  1. ↑ Fantastic Four #164
  2. ↑ Fantastic Four #238
  3. ↑ Fantastic Four #244
  4. ↑ Silver Surfer, volume 3, #51
  5. ↑ Silver Surfer, volume 3, #75
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