Quicksilver (comics) - Fictional Character Biography

Fictional Character Biography

The character first appears with his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the title X-Men. The siblings are mutants, with Pietro possessing superhuman speed and Wanda able to control probability. The pair are recruited by their father Magneto after he saves Wanda from a mob after she accidentally causes a house to burst into fire. Quicksilver stays with her to protect her. After several brief appearances in the title X-Men where the X-Men realize they are not evil, they depart when Magneto and his lackey the Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity the Stranger. They then travel back to Europe. Pietro and his sister reform and are recruited by Avenger Iron Man to join superhero team the Avengers, after they discover they are advertising for new members and want to get support for themselves.

Together with leader Captain America and former villain Hawkeye, the four become the second generation of Avengers, and are later dubbed "Cap's Kooky Quartet". Quicksilver first thought he should be leader, though he is captured by the Mole Man on the first mission. He is rescued by the Avengers, who defeat the Minotaur without him, and would sometimes quarrel with the other members. The Scarlet Witch becomes close friends with Hawkeye and both become loyal members of the team until Wanda is accidentally shot on a mission against Magneto. Quicksilver then flees from the Avengers with his wounded sister. The pair accompany Magneto back to his mid-Atlantic base, where the character captures the X-Men and Pietro skirmishes with the X-Man Cyclops. After a solo appearance by Quicksilver in the title The Amazing Spider-Man, the twins finally realize that Magneto is the true villain. Pietro and Wanda reappear in the title X-Men and are then kidnapped along with several other mutants by the robot Sentinels, and are subsequently freed by the X-Men.

The character reappears in the title Avengers, and advises the team that Wanda has been kidnapped and taken to another dimension by the warlord Arkon. After Wanda is rescued, Pietro and his sister rejoin the team. During one mission Quicksilver is wounded by a Sentinel and in the title Fantastic Four is found by Crystal, a member of the Inhumans. Crystal nurses Pietro back to health, and the pair are eventually married. In the title Giant-Size Avengers Pietro and Wanda also meet Robert Frank - formerly World War II hero the Whizzer - who was present at Mount Wundagore (the birthplace of the siblings) with his wife at the time of their birth. Frank briefly joins the Avengers, believing Pietro and Wanda to be his children. The Scarlet Witch also becomes romantically involved with her Avengers teammate the android Vision. Although Pietro initially disapproves, the character eventually gives his blessing to their marriage, featured in Giant-Size Avengers.

Quicksilver features with the Inhumans and Fantastic Four against the villain the Sphinx in a Fantastic Four annual, and the siblings' origin is explored in the title Avengers when gypsy Django Maximoff kidnaps Pietro and Wanda and returns to Mount Wundagore in the country of Transia, where they were born. After a battle with the Avengers against the Elder God Chthon, the siblings learn from Bova, one of the New Men created by the character the High Evolutionary, that they are the children of Maximoff, and not Robert Frank. Quicksilver then returns to Attilan (city of the Inhumans) and in the title Fantastic Four is revealed to have had a daughter (Luna) with Crystal.

During the limited series title Vision and the Scarlet Witch, Magneto forces Bova to reveal the truth about his missing children, who are revealed to be Pietro and Wanda. After their mother Magda dies in childbirth, the children are given by the High Evolutionary to Django Maximoff to raise as his own. Pietro and Wanda reject Magneto when told. The character makes several appearances in the second limited series Vision and the Scarlet Witch, and his marriage to Crystal is also strained when she has an affair. In a West Coast Avengers annual Crystal's uncle Maximus the Mad (also brother of Inhuman king Black Bolt) uses technology to cause Quicksilver to become psychotic.

Quicksilver battles the West Coast Avengers and in an X-Factor annual is captured by the Inhumans and cured of his condition. In an effort to repent for his actions, Pietro appears in Avengers West Coast and aids the team against Magneto and the villain Immortus, who has captured Wanda. Although successful, Pietro refuses to return to Crystal and in the title X-Factor joins a revised version of the now U.S. government-sponsored superhero team. The character and Crystal are reunited during the storyline Bloodties when the Avengers, X-Factor and X-Men team to stop a group of mutant terrorists who kidnap their daughter Luna, and are responsible for a civil war on the island nation of Genosha. After dealing with the threat, Quicksilver learns of Crystal's relationship with Avenger the Black Knight and leaves, also resigning from X-Factor.

The character also features in a self-titled limited series, with Quicksilver taking daughter Luna and travelling to Mt. Wundergore, aiding the High Evolutionary and his Knights of Wundagore against villains Exodus and the Man Beast. Quicksilver uses the experimental Isotope E to augment his powers, allowing him to move at greater supersonic speeds. A future version of Pietro called "Nestor" appears and reveals that his powers are not speed but rather temporal based. Quicksilver also rejoins a reformed Avengers in the third volume of the series and features briefly in the second volume of Heroes for Hire.