RICHARD RIDER
The man, the myth, the loser. My favourite hero and two+ year obsession for reasons I could not tell you if i tried.
Background: He was born into middle class suburban america and spent his first 17 years not really doing much other than failing at school and not being diagnosed with adhd. He lived with his parents and younger brother who he loves a lot & would be a shame if anything happened to. After a particularly bad day at school his then girlfriend took him out on a date, where he recieved the powers of a dying spaceman from the distant planet of Xandar. This power is later referred to as the Nova Force. It gives him super strenght, allows him to fly, ("run on electrons") and puts a small piece of the Xandarian worldmind into his mind, containing the secret that a major villain of his would later need. Later his skillset would evolve to include gravimetric blasts and opening stargates. Between 1976 and 2006 he was an Earth based hero, before permamently ending up in space following the Annihilation war.
Associated with: Mostly goes solo, but has been a member of the New Warriors (1990-2004) was/is technically an Avenger, though by the time he was asked to join he didn't live on Earth anymore. He's also been associated with multiple members of the Guardians of the Galaxy since before the formation of the team. He was only an offical member of it between 2020 and 2023.
Personality: I'd call him very emotionally driven. From a young age his father told him that he shouldn't ask for help, that he needs to be able to handle responsibility alone. This combined with the extremely high standards that the Xandarians set for him, requiring him to even be willing to give his life for them at the drop of a hat, lead to a sense that It's all up to him. This was made even worse when he became the last surviving member of the Nova Corps, carrying the literal legacy of an entire planet in the shape of The Worldmind, (an intelligence made up of the minds of all dead Xandarians who ever lived) as well as the full Nova Force.
Since he wasn't good at much else other than being a superhero, he becomes very insecure without his powers. His self worth is extremely poor, to the point of being willing to run into any danger on his own if there is a chance of him saving someone else's life in the process.
However, his recklessness doesn't only come from self loathing, he is also impulsive and easy to anger by nature, going as far as for example attacking (an at the time reformed) Magneto unprompted because he happened to be stressed about other recent happenings.
He is also a card carrying bisexual disaster and a freak. He's like a weird shiny bug to me.
