Quicksilver (comics)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"I look like something out of a... a comic book!"
"I was the fastest living creature on the planet. So fast I was a blur to human eyes. Bullets couldn't touch me. I could run up the sides of tall buildings. Snatch an arrow out of the air. I was a machine built for speed. Zero to sixty in seven seconds. A top speed of almost 220 miles per hour. Adapted to withstand the accelerated impact of my feet hitting the ground thirty times per second. My bones could absorb shocks that would shatter those of ordinary men. My tendons had the resilience of high tension steel. My body metabolized food so efficiently there was virtually no waste. I never carried an ounce of excess fat. My brain processed information at five times the speed of the average college graduate, data leaping from synapse to synapse, giving me split-second reactions, allowing me to out-think twenty opponents at once. I was more alive than ordinary mortals could ever imagine. I could run across the surface of water. I could outrun a hurricane. I was like the wind. Like a bolt of lightning. I was superb. I was perfection. I was... Quicksilver."
—Pietro Maximoff, Son of M

Quicksilver is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. He first appeared in"X-Men" vol. 1 #4 (March, 1964). The son of the gypsy woman Magda and the supervillain Magneto, Pietro Maximoff and his twin sister Wanda were born on Wundergore Mountain in the fictional country of Transia. Marvel's resident speedster, Quicksilver has been a prominent member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Avengers, and X-Factor.

Making his debut in as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants along with his twin sister, Wanda, Pietro Maximoff quickly discovers that a life of crime is not for him. When Magneto, the Brotherhood's leader and father of the Maximoff twins, is abducted by the Stranger, Pietro and Wanda quit the Brotherhood and return home to Transia. Reformation on their mind, the pair learn that The Avengers are looking for new members and are subsequently recruited by Iron Man after Pietro talks Wanda into moving to the United States.

Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and former criminal Hawkeye become the second generation of Avengers along with team leader Captain America (comics). Dubbed "Cap's Kooky Quartet", the new Avengers have difficulty measuring up to the original heroes until battles against Kang the Conqueror and Dr. Doom give the team much-needed credibility. Unfortunately the team chemistry is shaken after the Scarlet Witch is wounded in battle with Magneto at a UN assembly, which, combined with Pietro's general distrust of humanity, prompts the twins to leave the Avengers and rejoin the Brotherhood.

It was revealed that this was a ploy by Magneto, using his powers to control the American soldier's gun's at the assembly and graze Wand's temple, not only causing Quicksilver to rejoin Magneto, but for Wanda to have temporary memory loss, thus preventing her from talking her brother out of it. Eventually, one thing led to another, and soon, after a battle between the Brotherhood, and the X-Men&Avengers, Pietro and Wanda were forced to leave Magneto to his seeming death. Long story short, both Pietro and Wanda eventually rejoined the Avengers...

...And eventually, Pietro left the team again. Saved from a Sentinel attack by Crystal of the The Inhumans, The Avengers, and Fantastic Four, she brought him back to the home of the Inhumans to rest and recuperate, and they eventually got married, and even had a baby. (Though the two eventually got divorced.) Since then, Pietro as Quicksilver has rejoined the Avengers on and off, (along with a stint in X-Factor,). Due to the generally derided Avengers Disassembled storyline, Wanda had caused mass chaos and and was seen as a threat. To sum up, it was decided by Xavier and the X-Men to kill her. Pietro, overhearing this, pleaded Wanda to take immediate action. And so... she ended up warping reality, causing the whole House of M event.

After losing his powers, gaining a set of new ones, (time travel related,) going crazy, losing his new powers, regaining his old ones, and becoming sane again, Quicksilver is now a hero once more. After serving with the now defunct Mighty Avengers team, Pietro is now an instructor at the Avengers academy, teaching a new generation of heroes.

His name derived from the archaic word "quicksilver," which meant mercury (in the sense of the metallic element Hg that's liquid at room temperature). This name, in turn, derives from the fact that mercury looks silvery but moves as though it's alive ("quick").

Comics

Video Games

  • Captain America and The Avengers: An Assist Character, Quicksilver gives the player character health items when summoned.
  • X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse: Non-playable, Quicksilver is one of four mutants kidnapped by Apocalypse in his attempt to gain ultimate power.
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Quicksilver is a boss character on the PlayStation 2, PSP and Wii versions of the game.
  • Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet: Quicksilver is a playable character in Episodes 6, 9, and 11.
  • X-Men: Destiny

Western Animation

Quicksilver (comics) provides examples of the following tropes:
  • Always Someone Better: The Flash fulfills this role in Marvel/DC crossovers. Head-to-head, Quicksilver is simply no match for any Speed Force user. To illustrate the point, at one point The Flash is outrunning Quicksilver while running backward.
    • Though Quicksilver is quite delighted when the Flash steps into the Marvelverse where there is no Speed Force, and thus, no Super Speed for him.
  • Anti-Hero
  • Arrow Catch
  • Badass Family: Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and brother-in-law Vision as part of the Avengers. Not to mention his his father.
  • Berserk Button: Hurting Wanda, even accidentally, brings out the bad side of Pietro.
  • Big Brother Instinct
  • Blackmail: Quicksilver beat up and threatened a blackmailer who showed him pictures of Crystal with another man.
  • Blessed with Suck: Super speed isn't always a blessing, especially during dinner with the in-laws. Trying to pace himself to avoid embarrassment, Pietro still managed to eat his entire meal so fast that the entire Inhuman royal family could do nothing but stare in awe.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: The Inhuman scientist Maximus uses his hidden Psychic Powers to manipulate Quicksilver's mind, subtly encouraging the hero into turning against the Avengers.
  • Brother-Sister Team: Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
  • Curb Stomp Battle
  • Deadly Dodging
  • De-Power: Quicksilver was one of the mutants who lost their powers after the events of House of M.
  • Dodge the Bullet
  • Driven to Suicide: Already depressed after losing his powers, Pietro jumps off a roof in Son of M #1 after a humiliating encounter with Spider-Man.
  • Everything's Better with Spinning: Quicksilver can create whirlwinds by running around his opponent at top speed. These whirlwinds are powerful enough to overpower the Human Torch while in flight.
  • Flash Step
  • Freudian Excuse: He's not exactly a bad guy, just kind of a dick. Having a rocky relationship with his father and sister doesn't help, however, and he outright tells a shrink that his main reason for being an impetuous, self-centered prick is the fact that the speed of the world around him is agonizingly slow to him. Picture having to wait in a slow-moving line for hours for something mundane. That's what every single second is like for him.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Pietro's jealousy is one of the reasons Crystal refuses to start their relationship anew. This revelation came just minutes after Pietro slugged Jolen of the Inhumans for placing a flower in Crystal's hair.
  • Heel Face Revolving Door: Quicksilver had a habit of this early in his career, bouncing between the Avengers and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Hyperactive Metabolism: Quicksilver's metabolism is so efficient that he produces very little waste.
  • I Am Not My Father: Pietro purposely took on a teaching role at the Avengers Academy to distance himself from his father.
  • In the Blood: The bouts of insanity seem to be a familiar trait.
  • Inertia Is a Cruel Mistress
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold
  • Luke, I Am Your Father
  • Made of Iron: One of the Required Secondary Powers that prevents Pietro from vibrating himself into jelly every time he uses his powers.
  • Me's a Crowd: In Son of M, Quicksilver could use his temporary time traveling powers to create multiple copies of himself by jumping into the future in 30 second intervals.
  • Mistaken for Gay: When trying to explain to Crystal that he's seeing a psychiatrist.
  • Mundane Utility: Pietro uses his super speed to read books, solve jigsaw puzzles, go shopping, type, and prep salads.
  • My Future Self and Me: Quicksilver gained limited Time Travel powers after exposing himself to the Terrigen Mists, which he only learned about after meeting his future self.
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: House of M and Son Of M. First his attempt to help his sister results in mass depowering of the mutant population. Then his attempts to fix it cause a war to break out between The Inhumans and US military. Also, it turns out that re-powering of mutants with terrigen crystals has horrible side effects.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Magneto received one from half a dozen Quicksilvers in Son of M, many of whom had words for "their" father after the fight.

Quicksilver #3: All I ever wanted to do was please him.
Quicksilver #2: He barely acknowledged my existence.
Quicksilver #1: Have you noticed me now?!

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