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Waverider (comics)
Encyclopedia
Waverider is a fictional superhero
in the DC Comics
universe
, a time travel
er who was merged with the time stream
. Waverider first appeared in Armageddon 2001
#1 (May 1991) and was created by Archie Goodwin
and Dan Jurgens
.
, who destroyed all of the Earth's superheroes. Matthew Ryder, a scientist
, who remembered the time he was a child and was saved by a superhero from a collapsing building, decided to fight back at Monarch's dictatorship. Matthew discovered that Monarch may have been a former hero, so Matthew built a time machine
to travel back to the past to find out which hero would become Monarch. Unlike previous test subjects who had died when they tried the time machine, Matthew survived. However, he was merged with the time stream and was given numerous powers, two of them being to travel through time at his own free will and to predict a person's future. With his new powers and appearance, Matthew took up the superhero name, Waverider.
Making his way into the year 1991, Waverider predicted the futures of numerous heroes, however none of them turned out to be Monarch. When Waverider accidentally came into contact with Captain Atom
, the interaction of their powers resulted in a massive amount of temporal energy being unleashed. This created an opening in the quantum field which allowed Monarch, who had been monitoring Waverider's actions the whole time, to travel back in time to ensure his own existence. When Monarch later killed Dove, her partner Hawk
became enraged and beat Monarch and unmasked him, only to see that Monarch was Hawk himself.
, a group that contained time traveling beings who protected the time stream. Despite the Linear Men's policy of non-intervention in the timeline- to the point that the previously actively-interfering Waverider was discouraged from preventing Superman
's death during his first battle with Doomsday
-, Waverider came to Superman's aid when he discovered that Doomsday had returned to life and was now working with the Cyborg Superman
. Recognizing the danger of Doomsday's existence, Waverider showed Superman a detailed vision of the past to explain the circumstances of Doomsday's origin as a genetically-engineered being capable of evolving to overcome anything that proved capable of killing him, as well as discovering that Doomsday's hatred of Superman was due to Doomsday's traumatic origins on Krypton
leaving him with a deeply-rooted hatred of Kryptonians. The two heroes seemingly defeated the monster by taking him to the end of time, where the imprisoned Doomsday was destroyed by entropy
as the universe itself collapsed.
Later, during Zero Hour, Waverider was subsequently killed by Extant, who had evolved from Monarch. However, the human Matthew Ryder was still alive and was soon contacted by Metron
, who told Matthew that he had to become Waverider and that he was the only one who could use time travel to save the universe. Matthew was then transformed into a new version of Waverider and took over the role his previous self did, helping a select group of heroes defeat Extant and Parallax
's effort to recreate time according to their own design by triggering their own Big Bang with the aid of Damage
.
, had rebuilt their father's sphere of Suspendium, which was able to let them travel in time. Although they were able to open a gateway in the past, they ultimately had to suspend their experiment. Right before shutting down the machine, they saw Waverider in the timestream, but failed to recognize him. Later, Waverider was seen talking with the dying Time Commander, one of the former time traveling villains he tried to recruit in his efforts to save the timeline. Skeets
, infected and controlled by Mister Mind, then arrived and killed the Time Commander. He then asked Waverider where and "when" Rip Hunter
was in the time stream. When Waverider refused to tell, Skeets brutally tortured Waverider and later implied that he killed him and was wearing his skin.
, Despero
, Ultra-Humanite
, and Degaton had intended on finding Rip and killing him, so then the time stream would no longer be guarded. Black Beetle took his allies to a destroyed Vanishing Point
and revealed that Rip and the Linear Men were never in agreement about how to handle time and that Rip, tired of the Linear Men's interference, locked them away in a cell at Vanishing Point. The four villains then found the cell and tore it open, seeing an alive Matthew Ryder and Liri Lee in it. Black Beetle asks the Linear Men to help bring Waverider back to life. But Supernova
prevents Black Beetle from dystopia and he sends the Time Stealers back to the present, although Black Beetle escapes and Linear Men go with him. They then teleport through time to search for Waverider's corpse in the Earth's future desolate wasteland. After Black Beetle finds Waverider's corpse, he double-crosses them, revealing his plan to use Waverider's power to become invulnerable. Black Beetle attempts to fuse with Waverider's corpse's power but is thwarted by Supernova. Instead, Liri fuses with Waverider's corpse to become Linear Woman, after which Black Beetle escapes. Rip and the rest of the Time Masters arrive however Linear Woman refuses to agree with Rip's rules of time travel and teleports herself and Matthew through the timestream.
-like hair and yellow skin with a black outline along the back of his body. Waverider can also fly at lightspeed, can fire quantum
energy blasts, and also has intangibility and can turn invisible.
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
in the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
universe
DC Universe
The DC Universe is the shared universe where most of the comic stories published by DC Comics take place. The fictional characters Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman are well-known superheroes from this universe. Note that in context, "DC Universe" is usually used to refer to the main DC continuity...
, a time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
er who was merged with the time stream
Time stream
Time Stream is the normal passage or flow of time and its historical developments, within a given dimension of reality. The concept of the time stream, and the ability to travel within and around it, are the fundamentals of a genre of science fiction....
. Waverider first appeared in Armageddon 2001
Armageddon 2001
"Armageddon 2001" was a 1991 crossover event storyline published by DC Comics. It ran through a self titled, two issue limited series and most of the annuals DC published that year from May through October...
#1 (May 1991) and was created by Archie Goodwin
Archie Goodwin (comics)
Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
and Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens
Dan Jurgens is an American comic book writer and artist. He is best known for creating the superhero Booster Gold, and for his lengthy runs on the Superman titles Adventures of Superman and Superman , particularly during The Death of Superman storyline...
.
Armageddon 2001
In the year 2030, the world had been ruled by a villain named MonarchMonarch (comics)
Monarch is the name of three fictional DC Comics supervillains. The first Monarch is Hank Hall, formerly Hawk, who later renames himself Extant for the Zero Hour crossover. The second Monarch is Nathaniel Adam, a U.S. Army Captain. The third Monarch is Captain Atom, a former superhero...
, who destroyed all of the Earth's superheroes. Matthew Ryder, a scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, who remembered the time he was a child and was saved by a superhero from a collapsing building, decided to fight back at Monarch's dictatorship. Matthew discovered that Monarch may have been a former hero, so Matthew built a time machine
Time Machine
A time machine is a fictional/hypothetical device used to achieve time travel. The term may also refer to:-Novels and films:* The Time Machine, an 1895 novel by H. G...
to travel back to the past to find out which hero would become Monarch. Unlike previous test subjects who had died when they tried the time machine, Matthew survived. However, he was merged with the time stream and was given numerous powers, two of them being to travel through time at his own free will and to predict a person's future. With his new powers and appearance, Matthew took up the superhero name, Waverider.
Making his way into the year 1991, Waverider predicted the futures of numerous heroes, however none of them turned out to be Monarch. When Waverider accidentally came into contact with Captain Atom
Captain Atom
Captain Atom is a fictional comic book superhero that has existed in three basic incarnations. Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko, he first appeared in Space Adventures #33 . Captain Atom was created for Charlton Comics but was later acquired by DC Comics and revised for...
, the interaction of their powers resulted in a massive amount of temporal energy being unleashed. This created an opening in the quantum field which allowed Monarch, who had been monitoring Waverider's actions the whole time, to travel back in time to ensure his own existence. When Monarch later killed Dove, her partner Hawk
Hank Hall
Hank Hall is a fictional character in the DC Comics universe who first appeared in Showcase #75 as Hawk of Hawk and Dove. He later became the supervillain Monarch in the crossover event limited series Armageddon 2001...
became enraged and beat Monarch and unmasked him, only to see that Monarch was Hawk himself.
Post-Armageddon
Soon, Waverider and various heroes he gathered defeated a demonic being called Abraxis. Later, while Waverider was traveling through the time stream, he encountered himself as Matthew Ryder, who was from the year 2030, although Matthew was still a regular human and he had not become Waverider since Monarch's future reign had been erased. Following this, the two of them joined the Linear MenLinear Men
The Linear Men are fictional characters, a fictional superhero team in the DC Comics universe. They first appeared in Adventures of Superman #476 .-Fictional history:...
, a group that contained time traveling beings who protected the time stream. Despite the Linear Men's policy of non-intervention in the timeline- to the point that the previously actively-interfering Waverider was discouraged from preventing Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
's death during his first battle with Doomsday
Doomsday (comics)
Doomsday is a fictional character, a supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Superman: The Man of Steel #18 , and was created by writer-artist Dan Jurgens. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Doomsday as #46...
-, Waverider came to Superman's aid when he discovered that Doomsday had returned to life and was now working with the Cyborg Superman
Hank Henshaw
Hank Henshaw is a fictional supervillain featured in the DC Comics universe. While originally featured primarily as an enemy of Superman, recent years have repositioned him as one of the main enemies of the Green Lantern Corps...
. Recognizing the danger of Doomsday's existence, Waverider showed Superman a detailed vision of the past to explain the circumstances of Doomsday's origin as a genetically-engineered being capable of evolving to overcome anything that proved capable of killing him, as well as discovering that Doomsday's hatred of Superman was due to Doomsday's traumatic origins on Krypton
Krypton (comics)
Krypton is a fictional planet in the DC Comics universe, and the native world of the super-heroes Superman and, in some tellings, Supergirl and Krypto the Superdog. Krypton has been portrayed consistently as having been destroyed just after Superman's flight from the planet, with exact details of...
leaving him with a deeply-rooted hatred of Kryptonians. The two heroes seemingly defeated the monster by taking him to the end of time, where the imprisoned Doomsday was destroyed by entropy
Entropy
Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...
as the universe itself collapsed.
Later, during Zero Hour, Waverider was subsequently killed by Extant, who had evolved from Monarch. However, the human Matthew Ryder was still alive and was soon contacted by Metron
Metron (comics)
Metron is a character created by Jack Kirby for his Fourth World series in DC Comics. He was "based on Leonard Nimoy as Spock", and designed as a character who "would frequently change sides [between New Genesis and Apokolips]"...
, who told Matthew that he had to become Waverider and that he was the only one who could use time travel to save the universe. Matthew was then transformed into a new version of Waverider and took over the role his previous self did, helping a select group of heroes defeat Extant and Parallax
Parallax (comics)
Parallax is a fictional comic book supervillain in the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Ron Marz and artist Darryl Banks for Green Lantern vol...
's effort to recreate time according to their own design by triggering their own Big Bang with the aid of Damage
Damage (comics)
Damage is a DC Comics superhero who first appeared in a comic book of the same name during the Zero Hour crisis. He is the son of the original Atom Al Pratt. He has been a member of the Titans, the Freedom Fighters, and Justice Society of America....
.
Death
Junior and Georgia, two descendants of the villain Doctor SivanaDoctor Sivana
Doctor Thaddeus Bodog Sivana is a fictional comic book supervillain. Created by Bill Parker and C. C. Beck, he first appeared opposite superhero Captain Marvel in Whiz Comics #2 by Fawcett Comics...
, had rebuilt their father's sphere of Suspendium, which was able to let them travel in time. Although they were able to open a gateway in the past, they ultimately had to suspend their experiment. Right before shutting down the machine, they saw Waverider in the timestream, but failed to recognize him. Later, Waverider was seen talking with the dying Time Commander, one of the former time traveling villains he tried to recruit in his efforts to save the timeline. Skeets
Skeets
Skeets is a fictional artificial intelligence robot from the future in the . Usually seen as a companion to Booster Gold, he co-stars in the limited series 52 and the subsequent Booster Gold vol...
, infected and controlled by Mister Mind, then arrived and killed the Time Commander. He then asked Waverider where and "when" Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter is a DC Comics character who first appeared in Showcase #20 . Following three more appearances in Showcase , Rip Hunter was given his own series, which ran for 29 issues . He later starred in the six-issue Time Masters series , written by Bob Wayne and Lewis Shiner...
was in the time stream. When Waverider refused to tell, Skeets brutally tortured Waverider and later implied that he killed him and was wearing his skin.
Linear Woman
Black BeetleBlack Beetle (comics)
Black Beetle is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics.-Publication history:Black Beetle first appeared in Booster Gold vol. 2 #5, and was created by Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens, Norm Rapmund, Matthew Sturges and Carlo Barberi...
, Despero
Despero
Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Justice League of America #1 Despero...
, Ultra-Humanite
Ultra-Humanite
The Ultra-Humanite is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Action Comics #13 , and was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster...
, and Degaton had intended on finding Rip and killing him, so then the time stream would no longer be guarded. Black Beetle took his allies to a destroyed Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point
Vanishing Point is a 1971 American action-road movie directed by Richard C. Sarafian; starring Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, and Dean Jagger....
and revealed that Rip and the Linear Men were never in agreement about how to handle time and that Rip, tired of the Linear Men's interference, locked them away in a cell at Vanishing Point. The four villains then found the cell and tore it open, seeing an alive Matthew Ryder and Liri Lee in it. Black Beetle asks the Linear Men to help bring Waverider back to life. But Supernova
Supernova (comics)
Supernova is an identity used by three characters in the , all related to the Carter bloodline. The first appearance of this character was in the weekly DC Comics series 52 where the mystery of his true identity and purpose was one of the recurring themes of the series.-52:The character of...
prevents Black Beetle from dystopia and he sends the Time Stealers back to the present, although Black Beetle escapes and Linear Men go with him. They then teleport through time to search for Waverider's corpse in the Earth's future desolate wasteland. After Black Beetle finds Waverider's corpse, he double-crosses them, revealing his plan to use Waverider's power to become invulnerable. Black Beetle attempts to fuse with Waverider's corpse's power but is thwarted by Supernova. Instead, Liri fuses with Waverider's corpse to become Linear Woman, after which Black Beetle escapes. Rip and the rest of the Time Masters arrive however Linear Woman refuses to agree with Rip's rules of time travel and teleports herself and Matthew through the timestream.
Powers and abilities
Waverider can time travel at any time he wants and is always capable of accessing the time stream and monitoring it. He can also access a person's aura and predict their future at any time in their life just by touching them. When he first received his powers, his entire appearance had been transformed from a normal looking man into a being with fireFire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
-like hair and yellow skin with a black outline along the back of his body. Waverider can also fly at lightspeed, can fire quantum
Quantum
In physics, a quantum is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a physical property may be "quantized," referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization". This means that the magnitude can take on only certain discrete...
energy blasts, and also has intangibility and can turn invisible.
Television
- Waverider appeared in the animated series Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
as a member of the super-sized Justice League. He had no speaking appearances and only made very brief cameos in a few episodes, most notably in "Initiation", "Hunter's Moon", and "Divided We Fall." Hawk and DoveHawk and DoveHawk and Dove is the moniker given to two superheroes when they team up to fight crime. Hawk and Dove describes each character's attitude or approach to fighting crime. The hawk represents aggression, and the dove representing pacifism.-Hank and Don Hall:...
(Hank and Don Hall) were also members of the Justice League, which led to speculation that the Armageddon 2001 storyline would be adapted; however, the producers of the show had revealed that Waverider was included simply because he was visually striking, and to play with fans' expectations.
Toys
- Despite limited screen time, Waverider made his action figure debut in MattelMattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
's Justice League Unlimited toy lineDC Superheroes: Justice League Unlimited (toy)DC Universe: Justice League Unlimited Fan Collection is an action figure line based on the highly popular Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series. Though it was based on the show, the line has continued well beyond it, and has been re-branded in 2008, as a Target exclusive...
in the spring of 2006.