Name: Norrin Radd (The Silver Surfer)
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 225 lbs.
Description: As Norrin Radd, blue eyes and bald with black eyebrows. As Silver Surfer, completely silver and bald.
Occupation: Spacefaring adventurer and explorer; former would-be world conqueror, minion of Gaea, Earthbound adventurer, herald of Galactus, scholar; sometimes mistakenly regarded as a messianic figure.
Known Residence: Space.
Powers and Abilities: The Silver Surfer wields the Power Cosmic, granting him superhuman strength, endurance, and senses and the ability to absorb and manipulate the universe’s ambient energy. The Surfer can navigate through interstellar space and hyperspace, which he can enter after exceeding the speed of light. He has proven capable of time travel on several occasions, even able to make others time-travel with him.
The Surfer sustains himself by converting matter into energy; does not require food, water, air, or sleep (although he occasionally enters a sleep-like meditation in order to dream); and can survive within nearly any known natural environment, including deep space, hyperspace, and within black holes and stars. The Surfer can project energy in various forms for offensive and defensive use, including bolts of cosmic force powerful enough to destroy entire planets, and create black holes. He can utilize the Power Cosmic to augment his superhuman strength to indeterminate levels. The Surfer can heal living organisms, though he cannot raise the dead, and he has proven capable of revitalizing and evolving organic life on a planet-wide scale. He can cast illusions, create inter-dimensional portals to other locations including micro-verses, phase through solid matter, and exercise some level of control over the Astral Plane.
His senses enable him to detect objects and concentrations of energy light years away and to perceive matter and energy in subatomic detail, including life energies of living beings. The Surfer can even see through time, and with concentration he can achieve limited perception of past and future events in his general vicinity. He has demonstrated telepathic ability, including mind-reading on occasion, and has proven to be able to influence human emotion and sensation.
The Surfer’s board is composed of a nearly impervious, cosmically powered silvery material that is similar to his own skin. The board is mentally linked to the Surfer and moves in response to his mental commands even when he is not in physical contact with it. The board is nearly indestructible, but on those rare occasions when it has been damaged or destroyed, the Surfer has proven able to repair it, or even recreate it, with little effort. The Surfer can attack opponents remotely by directing the board against them, and the board is capable of absorbing and imprisoning other beings, at least temporarily.
Norrin Radd also possesses some knowledge of the advanced alien technology of the planet Zenn-La.
History: Before becoming the Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd lived on the planet Zenn-La. Zenn-La’s ancient and advanced civilization had lost the will to explore, leaving Radd yearning for adventure. When Galactus comes to Zenn-La to feed, Radd bargains with Galactus saying if Zenn-La and his lover Shalla-Bal could be spared, he would become Galactus’ herald and seek out planets for him to feed on. Galactus agrees, imbuing Radd with a small amount of the Power Cosmic, turning him into the Silver Surfer. The Surfer’s original plan was to lead Galactus to uninhabited planets, but Galactus twists Radd’s soul to prevent this kind of thinking.
After serving Galactus for some time, the Surfer eventually summons Galactus to Earth. While on Earth, the Surfer meets the Fantastic Four who touch the Surfer with their nobility and will to live. This causes the Surfer to rebel against Galactus, who alongside Earth’s heroes, is finally driven off. As he leaves he confines the Surfer to Earth with an invisible barrier. While on Earth many villains like Dr. Doom and Mephisto, attempt to steal the Surfers power or his soul. He resists and teams up with the Hulk, Namor and Dr. Strange to form a group called The Defenders.
Eventually the Surfer’s overwhelming desire to leave Earth causes him to finally break through Galactus’ invisible barrier and head back to Zenn-La. When he arrives he discovers Zenn-La has been ravaged by Galactus. The Surfer’s lover Shalla-Bal gets kidnapped by Mephisto and taken back to Earth, causing the Surfer to return to Earth, inside the invisible barrier once again. Before being defeated, Mephisto sends Shalla-Bal back to Zenn-La, but not before the Surfer could imbue her with a small portion of his power so that she could revitalize their damaged homeworld.
The Silver Surfer eventually gets through the invisible barrier around Earth again, and makes peace with Galactus by saving his newest herald from the Skrulls, ending his long exile on Earth. He immediately returns to Shalla-Bal, but comes to find her as empress of the rejuvenated Zenn-La and unable to be romantically involved with him.
Surfer repeatedly battles cosmic menaces, some of whom want to destroy Galactus, and one specific menace that goes by the name Thanos. Thanos helps the Surfer learn how Galactus had twisted his soul, causing him to convince Galactus to restore it. After he does, the Surfer is stricken with overwhelming grief for all that he had done. He returns to Zenn-La to find the planet had vanished, eventually learning the planet he had returned to before was a reproduction created by Galactus, so that the Surfer would have a home to return to. He loses his capacity for emotion again and returns to Earth. After helping save the Earth a few more times, the Surfer declares Earth his adoptive home. He leaves Earth to wander the cosmos, promising to return if the Earth ever needed him.
During his travels, the Surfer is captured via portal by Sakaar Empire and is left weakened and vulnerable by the ordeal. The Surfer is subdued and fitted with an obedience disc to insure the Surfer would do as he’s told. Fighting as a gladiator, the Surfer is forced to fight the Hulk, who eventually breaks the Surfer’s obedience disc. This allows the Surfer to regain his powers and free the Hulk and the other slaves, breaking their discs as well.
During the Annihilation events, the Surfer once again becomes the Herald of Galactus to help save the universe from Annihilus. Annihilus captures the Surfer and Galactus and gives them to Thanos, but Drax the Destroyer frees the Surfer, who then frees Galactus, who goes on a rampage destroying over half of the Annihilation Wave. Annihilus is defeated and the Surfer leads Galactus to more planets, one of which leads him into conflict with Richard Rider (Nova), who pleads for the Surfer to ask Galactus to give the inhabitants enough time to flee. In the end Nova finds a parasite feeding off Galactus’ power, who is promptly taken care of and Galactus allows the delay in feeding.
Silver Surfer brings Galactus to feed on the Sakaar Empire homeworld he was once enslaved on, but is opposed by the Hulk’s son Skaar, and becomes enslaved again. The ordeal ends with Skaar’s mother sacrificing her soul and the worlds “Old Power” in order to feed Galactus. This causes Galactus to become addicted to the “Old Power”, searching for other planets that contain it.
This leads Galactus to Earth, where the Surfer and Galactus take on Thor and the Asgardians. After this battle, the Surfer leaves his post as Herald in order to guard an Asgarian artifact. Galactus “tethers” the Surfer to Asgard’s location in Oklahoma, causing the Surfer to weaken the further he gets from Asgard. During the Fear Itself event, the Surfer helps free New Atlantis from Attuma.
In the newest Silver Surfer series, Surfer is again able to surf the cosmic waves and meets and an Earthling named Dawn Greenwood who was abducted and needs to return home. A lot of bizarre adventures ensue and you can check out the newest series today!
Where to find Silver Surfer!
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #48 (1966)
Recommended Comics: Silver Surfer #1 (1969 Origin Story), Fantastic Four #48-50 “The Coming of Galactus”, Silver Surfer #1-10 “Galactus vs. The Elders”, Silver Surfer: Judgment Day, Pretty much all of volume 2, Green Lanter/Silver Surfer, Carnage Cosmic, What If? #49.
Other Media: TV: Appeared in Fantastic Four cartoon. Appeared in The Marvel Action Hour (1994). Has his own solo animated series on FOX in 1998. Appears in The Super Hero Squad Show. Film: Appears in FOX’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer film. Video Games: Silver Surfer (NES 1990), appeared as evil clone Surfers in Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems (SNES 1996), bonus character in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, video game adaptation of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, playable in multiple Marvel Superhero Squad games, has a cameo in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds in Zero’s ending, playable in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, playable in Gazillion’s f2p online ARPG Marvel Heroes.