Nova

Richard Rider, empowered by the the energy source known as the Nova Force he is the last survivor of the Xandarian Starcorps going by the title Nova Prime.

History

Teenage underachiever Rich Rider outside an ice cream parlor one day was struck by a mysterious energy discharge leaving him temporarily comatose. This energy came from an orbiting Centurian's ship who was in pursuit of a warlord named Zorr. This beam passed on Rhomann Dey's powers, infusing them into Rider. Richard woke up believing he had dreamed up the information sent to him during his coma only to realize it was all true, Nova then appointed himself the title Centurian Nova Prime, fending off Zor with the help of his predecessor.

He soon became a heroic figure in the New York area, battling an array of foes. He even befriended various superheroes of the city and joined the, then Defenders for a day. His life continued after this, struggling through studies and balancing a double existence. His family knowledgeable of his identity were fully supportive.

Later accessing the Nova Prime Starship he was able to learn more of the Nova Force, Xandarians and pilot the ship to Zandar. Forming the Champions he would end up at war with the Skrulls for a year of war.At the end of the war the Xandarian's believed the Nova Force and all it's power was needed for their worlds defense, Rider was stripped of the Nova Force and returned to Earth.

Lacking his powers Rider ends up becoming antisocial and angry until Night Thrasher throws him off a roof, Rider's powers re-activate as Night Thrasher had believed they would. The New Warriors were then formed. A new Sphinx would warp reality having joined a premiere team of that dimension like he always wanted. He then aids to restore things as they should be and continued his run as a New Warrior, later even developing an on and off again relation ship with Namorita.

Nova's powers were again taken from him by a Xandarian Nova Corpsman, Garthan Saal who was driven mad. Forces joined together and Saal was defeated, Rider's powers were returned and he was assigned to the Terran Sector as protector of Earth. Given a new modified Xandarian issue uniform with increased powers. Once more in a series of turns he would end up in an alternate universe only to return again. Then he would end up in a battle helping the Starcorps, be declared as disobeying orders and stripped once more of his powers, forced to live an ordinary life again. When his replacement Earth sector guardian sacrificed his life to protect Earth - Rider once more had his powers returned.

Crime-fighting and playing hero once more he would get involved with a woman named Ginger. This took a tragic turn and he would accidentally kill Ginger's abusive husband. With aid of She Hulk he would be exonerated. His relationship with Namorita would also fall through afterwords as he shunned her when she began undergoing mutations.

Nova's powers began to act up and with help from Reed Richards he was depowered, rejoined the New Warriors under Speedballs insistence and tried his run with becoming a celebrity. He was finally able to reach celebrity status with the others but quit after season one, called away to Xandar.

During the Annihilation wave the entire population of Xandarian's was wiped out and nearly all the Nova Corps as well, the only surviving member was Rider, who would reluctantly become the host body for the entire Nova Force and the Xandarian Worldmind. Trying to keep up with the Nova Corps duties by himself and fast becoming overwhelmed he ends up crash landing on Earth again after shorting out one of his mission travels.

Personality

Originally he was a high school loser with the self imposed mentality to fit, though bright he didn't excel at anything, he was prone to being depressive and constantly cursed himself for having bad luck. Once he became Nova his personality shifted, suddenly he was confident, bold and outgoing. Seeing himself as something impressive and powerful, which he was or is. Nova possesses a good sense of humor and a practical mind, he's proven to himself and others capable, intelligent and tactful. He knows when to fight and when to run at times others due to his age amongst the Nova Centurions claim he is brash, and reckless even appearing flippant, sarcastic and uncaring at times, and possesses a lurking temper.

He enjoys glory, recognition and the ladies as much as the next guy and has even shown to be rather picky when it comes to females . Some part of him still wants to be recognized as a hero and at times this breaks through his exterior even if he has already acquired it. Despite some of his misgivings Rider does understand loyalty and responsibility.

Powers

• Nova Force: Rider is the host of the vast energy reservoir known as the Nova Force. It grants him varying degrees of powers which he can increase beyond their usual levels, yet tapping too far into it can undermine his mental and emotional stability.
• Superhuman Strength - Nova can easily lift in excess of 100tons.
• Superhuman Speed - He can run several hundred miles per hour.
• Superhuman Durability & Stamina - He is highly resistant to damage, practically invulnerable able to withstand a blast that was capable of destroying an entire planet while channeling the Nova Force..
• Superhuman Agility & Reflexes - His agility, coordination and reflexes are beyond human standard, into the league of enhanced.
• Accelerated Self-Healing - He does sustain damage but has shown if he channels the Nova Force he can rapidly heal injury.
• Flight - He can hurtle himself through the air at speeds of faster than light but while within atmosphere tends to remain in the supersonic speeds.
• Energy Generation & Projection- Focusing the Nova Force he can project extremely powerful gravimetic pulses, beams and blasts. He can project from specific parts of his body or all of it. He can even create a powerful electromagnetic discharge that will nullify gravity and open up Star Gates.

Skills

Nova is a capable unarmed combatant, coached by the Nova Corps, Andrew Chord, Night Thrasher and Drax the Destroyer, he is extremely well-versed in Xandarian hand-to-hand techniques possessing direct access to the Worldmind. He has through experience become a war veteran in his own right, acquiring military combat, strategy and tactics during the Xandar-Skrull war and the Annihilation Wave conflicts.

Beyond this his education level is limited, he is a dropped out of school only to pick it back up then go to college later, on and off spending time as a weightlifter and even for a while having been a college baseball player and a short order cook. Through travel he has become knowledgeable in space, the stars and general astronomical knowledge, alien anthropology as well as some dabbling in various alien languages.

Boons

• Experienced Explorer- Rider is experienced with worlds and travel beyond our own. Namely space exploration but at several points he has been subject to alternate realities. This gives him a wider view of the galaxies, dimensions and beyond. Granting him a basic understanding of exploration and coping with culture shock.

• Reality TV Celebrity - Thanks to Night Thrashers reality TV show, Nova for a brief time was a Television Celebrity, this still follows him somewhat but not to the extent it did the other New Warriors. As ever he is one to play off the attentions of course.

• Worldmind - Rider is host to a Class G collective A.I. created to govern and maintain all of Xandarian culture it contains all knowledge of the lost Xandarian people, from arts, science, history, technology, philosophy and the bio-template of the entire Xandarian people. Rider can access and telepathically communicate with the Worldmind (others can do so with the Nova helmet), visuals can also be displayed to him, it often contacts him when he is not wanting it's help, getting advice, insights, instructions and recommendations offered him. It helps out to balance him out and maintain some level of self-control when tapping the Nova Forces considerable powers. It also downloads profiles of enemies, detects nearby energy surges, can assume control of Rider when he is asleep, access other computer systems, analyze attackers, detect approaching super-humans with energy based powers, hack into satellites and protect Rider from telepathic and psychic intrusion with psi-shields.

• Xandarian Starcorps Uniform - Modified by the Worldmind to maintain his powers the altered costume will help regulate and contain Riders energies by absorbing them, it possesses adrenal inhibitors, neural pacifiers and endorphin boosters that moderate moods as needed. It also possesses the ability to accelerate his self-healing. Like past models the helmet retains a cloth like consistency when not worn and a metallic when in use. It can project an illumination beam and will also seal to protect him, containing a six hour air supply. The helmet possesses a various range of sensory abilities, a HUD display and the ability to pick up and transmit radio.

Flaws

• Deserving of More - Rider has always felt as Nova he was capable of and deserved more, always believing himself something more than just a New Warrior he tried to gain acknowledgment from the more renowned teams but it never came. This even pushed him on towards becoming a celebrity which he achieved for a year, due to this he will at times try to outshine others and present himself to the spotlight, hopefully to gain recognition from the Justice League or a similar famous group.

• Power Induced Emotional & Mental Instability - The Nova Force is taxing, in the past it has driven others mad, with the Worldmind Rider has been able to stave off the effects when using too much of his power but it is not absolute, exerting too much use of the Nova Force can push him beyond his limits and place him into a dangerous area, one that requires mental recuperation from otherwise he will have a breakdown or snap. It's also been displayed through out his past that if he is devoid of his powers he becomes quite manic depressive, with them his confidence is bolstered and he feels like he is something, without them he falls apart.

• Survivors Guilt - He is carrying the destruction of the Xandarians on his shoulders. It has him in a constant state of emotional anguish that he keeps suppressed and tries to divert, generally through acting out in unconventional ways, yet with the Nova Force being hosted by his body he cannot get too carried away with his emotions or things go haywire.

Trivia

• Unknown to Richard the Worldmind has been re-creating the Nova Corps in other parts of the galaxy and beyond.

Logs including Richard Rider/Nova

• 2010-08-18: Diamondheads Are Not a Girl's Best Friend A night out for She-Hulk is interrupted by Nova and two of the three remaining Terrible Trio, Diamondhead and Condor.
• 2010-08-22: Mechanical Marionette - Central Park in late summer. Carol and Jen are jogging and discussing legal matters. Richard is girl-watching. Laura is people-watching. Melody is taking a stroll after work. And Zatanna is just enjoying the park. Then a magical mechanical menace appears and starts terrorizing, and an impromptu super-team assembles to handle the crisis. Emitting by Ms. Marvel

• 2010-08-27: Temporary, I'm On Vacation: Exiting work Jen Walters finds an un-expected visitor, Richard Rider; whom ends up taking her out to dinner for a casual night.