Crystal (comics)

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Crystal
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Fantastic Four (vol. 1) #45 (December, 1965)
Created by Stan Lee
Jack Kirby
Characteristics
Alter ego Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff
Team
affiliations
Inhumans
Fantastic Four
Avengers
Notable aliases briefly mistaken for the goddess Ixchel
Abilities Fire manipulation,
Air manipulation,
Earth manipulation,
Water manipulation

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 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 is grand-daughter of the villain known as Magneto. Crystal had two affairs during her marriage, though she claimed to still love Quicksilver. Currently their marriage has been annulled and Quicksilver is forbidden to see Luna.

Contents

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 (the Inhumans are especially vulnerable to environmental pollutants).

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 led to even worse consequences.

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, egged on by Maximus the Mad taking credit for Pietro's descent into madness. 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 kidnapped her daughter, causing great damage 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. He also kidnapped Luna and exposed her to the mists, granting her various abillities. Luna had previously been baseline human, thought of by some as an affront to her mutant heritage.

During the events of Silent War, the Inhumans located Quicksilver. He allowed Black Bolt to beat him, in response to his betrayal. Their marriage has now been annulled.

Crystal gets fed up with boyfriend Johnny Storm, as usual, from FF #99, art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.
Crystal gets fed up with boyfriend Johnny Storm, as usual, from FF #99, art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott.

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)

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.


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, and after escaping the Negative Barrier, went on to become the girlfriend of the Human Torch. Crystal was voiced by Kathy Ireland.

Crystal is featured as an NPC in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Kim Mai Guest. She tells the heroes that Medusa went down to Earth to search for the Ultimate Nullifier. Gorgon mentions that Crystal will accompany him and Triton to fight Doom and get Medusa back while the heroes head to the Skrull Homeworld.She is presumably beaten by Doctor Doom along with Gorgon and Triton as she is not heard from for the rest of the game. There is special dialogue between her and Human Torch.

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