Nova (Richard Rider)

Randomly chosen to become a member of the Nova Corps until the Annihilation Wave destroyed them all, leaving him imbued with their combined power and guided by the super-intelligent Worldmind computer, Richard Rider wages a one-man battle for justice as Nova.

Chosen at random by the dying Xandarian Rhomann Dey to receive his Nova Corps powers, teenager Richard Rider found himself thrust into the role of superhero, a role he grasped with relish. He battled foes such as Dey's nemesis Zorr, the avian criminal Condor, the amnesiac Powerhouse (actually a Xandarian sent to locate the missing Dey), his uncle's murderer and member of the Maggia, Photon, and the mysterious Sphinx. The latter eventually kidnapped Nova and several others, using Dey's spaceship to transport them all to Xandar.

Learning that Xandar was threatened by the Skrull Empire, Nova and his fellows (bar the Sphinx, who had returned to Earth, and Doctor Sun, who teleported to an unknown location) pledged their aid; the Skrulls were eventually driven off with the help of the Galadorian Spaceknight, Rom. Homesick for Earth, Richard agreed to give up his powers, which were needed to help rebuild war-ravaged Xandar's defenses, and returned home a normal human once more, or so it seemed.

Months later Richard was tracked down by Night Thrasher, who believed Richard's powers were merely dormant and wished to recruit Nova for his prospective hero team. To test the theory, Night Thrasher dropped Richard off a roof; luckily for both of them, Night Thrasher was correct, and the adrenaline rush reawoke Richard's abilities. Alongside several other teenage heroes he founded the New Warriors, and also resumed his solo career. He fought alongside the New Warriors for years, including encounters with Nova's old foe the Sphinx and a brief stint during which the Warriors worked with Cable and X-Force. He was eventually hunted down by Super-Nova, the Xandarian who held the rest of the Nova-Force inside his body and had been driven mad by it. The two of them, aided by the New Warriors and Galactus' Xandarian heralds Firelord and Air-Walker, ended up setting off protocols that led to Xandar's resurrection. The StarCorps was reinstated, and Rider was appointed Centurion Prime and assigned to guard earth's sector of space.

Returning to Earth, Rider was confronted with dual lives as Centurion Prime and a member of the New Warriors. He also encountered another Nova from an alternate timeline named Nova 0:0. Nova 0:0 attacked Rider to prepare him for defending his Earth from the force that had destroyed Nova 0:0's Earth, the Deathstorm. After stopping the Deathstorm and saving Earth, Rider was replaced as Centurion Prime for Earth's sector of space by Garthan Saal, the former Super-Nova, after failing to follow orders at a crucial time. When Saal sacrificed himself to save earth from the Dire Wraith queen Volx, he passed his powers back to Rider. He continued to fight alongside the New Warriors until the team broke up, reformed, and broke up again. He agreed to come back as part of the New Warriors reality TV show, and travelled the U.S. with the team, fighting menaces that'd taken up residence in communities that didn't have resident heroes.

The team fought several criminals who'd escaped the Raft during the massive prison break that led to the reestablishing of the Avengers, before being recalled to Xandar alongside the rest of the Nova Corps to deal with the threat of the Annihilation Wave. Rider was the only StarCorps member to survive the Wave's surprise attack, and has become the bearer of the entire Nova-Force, as well as the Xandarian Worldmind, the living computers that contain the entire record of Xandarian civilization as well as the minds of all its deceased members.

Nova then came into contact with Drax who taught him how to better control the Nova Force and how to kill. Realizing his new leadership abilities, Nova created the United Front, an army opposed to Annihilus. Several beings joined the United Front alongside Nova including Silver Surfer, Ronan, Gamora, Phyla-Vell, Moondragon, the Spaceknights, Blastaar, Stardust, Firelord, Red Shift, Super-Skrull, Star-Lord, and others. Alongside these beings Nova was able to squash Annihilus's forces and kill Annihilus.