Crystalia Amaquelin MaximoffCrystal

A princess and sister to Queen Medusa of the Inhumans, Crystal is a noble and compassionate member of the royal family; while she controls elemental substances, she only does so to protect her family and others from harm. When she’s not fighting alongside Earth’s heroes, like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, she takes her role as a royal seriously and works for the betterment of her people.

Royal Princess

Crystal was born as Crystalia Amaquelin into the Royal Family of the Inhumans, a sub-species of humanity from the city Attilan who were diverged through Kree experiments. The Inhumans are a hidden race preoccupied with genetics; they developed the Terrigen Mists, a mutagenic compound routinely exposed to many Inhuman children to unlock their potential for superhuman abilities—Crystal among them. Her parents are Quelin and Ambur, and she is sister to Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans.

While others in the Royal Family eagerly embraced a warrior heritage, Crystal preferred more peaceful pursuits and never took to her battle training. Though when Crystal and her family were exiled to Earth and Medusa went missing, Crystal helped find her sister and later became a close ally of the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

Elemental

Crystal can animate and manipulate the four basic elemental substances: earth, air, fire, and water—either individually or in various combinations.

Due to generations of eugenics, most Inhumans, including Crystal, are slightly superior to regular humans in strength, reaction time, stamina, resistance to injury, speed, and natural lifespan. Most Inhumans have a biological vulnerability to human pollutants though, and Crystal shares this weakness. When necessary, Crystal periodically ingests a serum developed by Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four that allows her to tolerate environmental impurities. Originally requiring daily ingestion, this later extended to weekly and then longer.

Inhuman In Danger

Maximus, while brother-in-law to Crystal through Medusa’s marriage to Blackagar Boltagon, is typically an enemy, as he often tries to claim Attilan’s throne from Black Bolt.

The Frightful Four are the villainous counterparts of the Fantastic Four and include Madam Medusa, Gorgon’s royal relative whose memories have been lost.

When the Inhumans enacted a political marriage between Crystal and the Kree ruler, Ronan, the Shi’ar Emperor Vulcan made a bid to conquer the Kree and a massive war erupted between the two races known as the Kree-Shi’ar war.

Crystal Clear

Crystal is a member of the Royal Family of the Inhumans. She finds her closest allies in her sister Queen Medusa, King Black Bolt, and cousins Triton, Karnak, and Gorgon.

Lockjaw is an escort and companion to the Royal Family of the Inhumans and has been since Crystal was a young child. He is highly protective of her, as well as her daughter Luna, Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four, and Black Bolt. Lockjaw serves as unofficial transportation, teleporting from 10 feet to 24,000 miles, as well as inter-dimensionally and even across time on rare occasion.

The Fantastic Four fight alongside Inhumans when they are in need, and Crystal has even joined their ranks, filling in for Sue Richards. Additionally, Quicksilver is Crystal’s first husband and they have a daughter together named Luna.

The Avengers allow Crystal to join their ranks of powered people to fight against Thane Ector’s Brethren, Proctor’s Gatherers and the Kree Starforce during the Kree-Shi’ar war.

Ronan the Accuser is a Kree ruler who allied with the Inhumans to oppose the Skrulls in exchange for Crystal’s hand in marriage. Ronan is Crystal’s second husband.

The Chronicles

When Crystal’s sister Medusa disappeared during a revolt by the Alpha Primitives (the Inhumans’ slaves), Crystal angrily, but futilely, attacked their leader—her cousin Maximus. As such, she and the Royal Family (including Lockjaw) accepted exile and searched the globe for Medusa for many months. During this time, Crystal grew even more withdrawn, particularly after being branded a witch and attacked by human villagers. The Royal Family ultimately found Medusa and returned to Attilan with the aid of the Fantastic Four, but not before a passionate romance blossomed between Crystal and Johnny Storm, the young Human Torch, drawing her out of her shell.

Crystal eventually moved to New York where she became part of the Four’s extended family, helping the team for months by manning monitors, routing communications equipment, and aiding the pregnant Sue Richards. It was only after she observed Sue’s delivery that Crystal declared she wished to be part of the team in Sue’s place, donning a Fantastic Four uniform. Reed was dubious, as Crystal had not been active with the team, but she quickly proved herself while fighting the Wizard and served as a full-fledged member of the Fantastic Four against foes such as Doctor Doom, the Mole Man, and the Skrulls of Kral. The modern world’s atmospheric pollutants were slowly poisoning Crystal, however, and she was forced to return to Attilan. Then she was briefly captured by Diablo and aided him in the South American country of Terra Verde, believing herself to be the goddess Ixchel until the Four freed her.

En route back to Attilan, Crystal rescued and tended a wounded Quicksilver. A whirlwind romance ensued, and by the time Quicksilver had recovered, they were engaged. Despite their wedding ceremony being interrupted by the robotic menace Ultron, Crystal and Quicksilver married and settled down in Attilan—the only Inhuman marriage to a non-Inhuman. Even before the wedding, though, some signs of future problems began to show. Quicksilver angrily denounced his sister, Scarlet Witch, for her romance with the android Vision, even as he announced his own engagement. Quicksilver also failed to invite his sister and their Avengers teammates to his wedding. Crystal and Pietro were still very happy together, especially after Crystal gave birth to their daughter, Luna.

Serious tensions arose when Pietro wanted to expose Luna to the Terrigen Mists rather than have her remain an ordinary girl, but Crystal opposed it; Pietro ultimately relented and allowed Luna to remain normal after coming to believe (via a scheme concocted by Karnak and Gorgon) that Lockjaw’s animal appearance was the result of Terrigen mutation.

Quicksilver then immersed himself in his role as commander of the Inhuman militia, desperately trying to prove his worth to Crystal’s family, but ignoring his wife in doing so. The lonely and bored Crystal began an affair with human real estate salesman Norman Webster. By this time, the subversive Maximus had secretly begun using his mental powers to influence various Attilan citizens, increasing and shaping Quicksilver’s natural instability. Maximus’ mental power may have also influenced Crystal’s behavior during this period. When Pietro learned of Crystal’s infidelity, he went mad and fled Attilan, abandoning his wife and family. Crystal was still attracted to Norman, but agreed to respect her family’s wishes and not see him until after her divorce was finalized.

The insane Quicksilver subsequently attacked the Avengers and Fantastic Four, and Crystal visited him after he was stopped by the Four. At the Thing’s invitation, she then rejoined the FF, which proved exceedingly uncomfortable as she and the recently married Johnny Storm still shared an attraction.

Crystal defied her family and finally contacted Norman, but he rejected Crystal, feeling abandoned and ignored himself. With the Four, Crystal opposed Diablo, Doctor Doom, Fasaud and other menaces as Quicksilver returned to Attilan, now free of Maximus’ control. The Royal Family ordered Crystal home and she reluctantly agreed, knowing that she and Johnny could become a problem.

Pietro eventually recovered from his breakdowns, and he agreed to try to reach an understanding with Crystal. After Quicksilver left Attilan to work with X-Factor, Crystal followed him to Earth, joining the Avengers as they battled Thane Ector’s Brethren. With Luna and nanny Marilla in tow, Crystal moved into Avengers Mansion, aiding the team against Proctor’s Gatherers and battling the Kree Starforce during the Kree-Shi’ar war. During this time, Crystal brought an element of sweetness and compassion to the troubled Avengers team, bonding with the emotionally disabled Vision and supporting Captain America’s efforts to curb the team’s growing ruthlessness.

Despite their doubts, Crystal and Quicksilver began meeting on weekends in hopes of rekindling their marriage, but the Black Knight (Dane Whitman) had begun to take a romantic interest in Crystal—something she noticed after he nearly died saving Luna from the Starjammer Raza. This triggered Crystal’s own feelings, and she slowly came to reciprocate Dane’s emotions; however, not wanting to complicate her marriage, she remained silent for months, neither acting on nor expressing her feelings to anyone. Fellow Avenger Sersi sought a relationship with Dane, but Quicksilver told Crystal that Sersi and Dane were psychically bonded against Dane’s will, so Crystal and Dane finally shared a late-night kiss. Still, despite her own desires, Crystal never shared a similar moment with Dane again.

During her time with the Avengers, Crystal drove off Proctor’s Anti-Vision, who coveted her, and then aided the team against more Kree invaders and Diablo’s Masters of Alchemy, but things became more complicated after Luna was kidnapped first by Fabian Cortez—and then by Exodus. The X-Men and Avengers came together against the villains, and Crystal and Quicksilver fought side-by-side against them until Dane again saved Luna, and then saved Quicksilver in-turn. Seeing his wife’s affection for Dane, and growing attracted to Crystal again, Pietro rejoined the Avengers. Crystal confessed that she loved both men, but still would proceed no further with Dane until she knew where their relationship could go, though her choice was made for her when Sersi and Dane left Earth’s dimension together. Quicksilver now found himself competing with a memory, and their relationship remained remote despite their mutual Avengers membership.

Crystal aided the earthbound Inhuman Sporr against the female Earth scientist Terrigene (who kidnapped Sporr to study the nature of Terrigen), and soon after aided her husband when his childhood caretaker, Bova, was poisoned. Quicksilver finally asked Crystal to take him back, but she was hesitant given their history. Matters grew more complex when Luna witnessed Iron Man’s murder of Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara). Then, later Space Phantoms claiming to be both a future Luna and her future brother Tuc began appearing, even protecting the young Luna during the battles of the Crossing. The possibility of a future son unsettled Quicksilver, putting more distance between him and Crystal.

While battling the Bloodwraith, Crystal was transported into caverns beneath Attilan, where she discovered that many Alpha Primitives had been exposed to Terrigen Mists. In retrieving the Bloodwraith’s Ebony Blade, Crystal inadvertently fulfilled an Alpha Primitive legend, leading those present to crown Crystal as their ruler; however, she was forced to leave immediately to return to the Avengers. When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four were called upon to sacrifice their own lives to stop the psionic monster Onslaught shortly thereafter, Crystal nobly complied, leaving her husband to mourn her passing.

Crystal and the others were not truly killed, but instead reborn in a pocket universe with no memories of their past lives. There, she once again romanced Johnny Storm, but when they returned to Earth months later, they again abandoned their love life. Her reunion with Quicksilver was interrupted by the Black Knight, who was back on Earth, free of Sersi’s influence, and seeking Crystal’s love. She asked Dane to wait while she sorted out her feelings, saying her family came first. Later, in Attilan, Quicksilver fell under Maximus’ control again, though this time the influence was quickly revealed and dispelled. Crystal ended Maximus’ plots when the Alpha Primitives again recognized her as their rightful ruler and abandoned Maximus.

After Crystal returned to Earth, Dane again sought her out and he and Pietro began fighting for her affections. Angry with both, she returned to Attilan telling them she didn’t want either to come after her, and that if she wanted to talk to them, she would come find them. Despite this, Pietro later brought her the romantic letters he had written her while believing her dead, and though Crystal was moved, she still preferred to remain alone.

After Quicksilver lost his mutant powers, he was denied use of the Terrigenesis process to reclaim them. Mentally manipulated by Maximus, Quicksilver stole the transformative crystals, and took Luna to Earth. After this, the Genetics Council approved Crystal’s request to annul their marriage, and changed Luna’s last name to match her own. After the US government claimed the crystals and refused to return them to the Inhumans, Black Bolt declared war upon Earth. Fearing for her safety during the impending conflict, Quicksilver returned Luna to Crystal.

After this, the Inhumans took Attilan into space, and declared war upon the shape-changing Skrulls for their kidnapping of Black Bolt. Kree ruler Ronan agreed to ally the Kree with the Inhumans against the Skrulls in exchange for Crystal’s hand in marriage. Following Black Bolt’s rescue, Ronan surrendered the Kree throne to the Inhumans.

When the insane Shi’ar emperor Vulcan disrupted the wedding of Ronan and Crystal in his bid to conquer the Kree, a massive war erupted between the two races. Believing peace could be achieved by transforming the galaxy’s residents into Inhumans, Black Bolt weaponized the Terrigen crystals and launched a massive bomb to disburse the Terrigenesis. Disagreeing with the plan, Crystal rendered the crystals inert, but the bomb was detonated during the subsequent battle between Vulcan and Black Bolt, apparently killing both kings. Medusa claimed leadership of the Inhumans, Kree and surrendering Shi’ar. Crystal devoted herself to the betterment of the Kree people, and while working toward that goal, has begun developing true feelings for Ronan, despite their arranged marriage.