Name

Current Alias

Aliases

I've been credibly told I'm gonna be the only one who survivesthe end of this universe, the only one who passes on intothenext one. And man, I gotta say...I really just wanna be akid first.

The Early Years[]

Before Franklin's birth, thecosmic radiation affectedSusan Richards' body in such a way as to give her serious difficulties in giving birth. For unknown reasons, soon before she was to give birth to Franklin, Susan Richards' blood cells were observed to be carrying a strange form of energy that threatened the lives of both herself and the baby. Presumably, this energy effect is linked with Susan Richards' super-human powers over energy that enable her to become invisible and to create invisible force fields.^[19]

With Franklin's birth imminent,Reed Richards and his teammates, theHuman Torch and theThing, journeyed into the anti-matter dimension called theNegative Zone to find the only means known to Mister Fantastic of saving his wife and unborn son: theCosmic Control Rod wielded byAnnihilus, one of its most dangerous inhabitants. Mister Fantastic succeeded in obtaining the Rod and drained energy from it into a special container, which he and his two colleagues then brought to their own dimension. Reed Richards succeeded in using the energy from the Rod in bringing the energy in his wife's blood under control, and she safely gave birth to a healthy son.^[19] The infant was named Franklin Benjamin Richards in honor of his late grandfather,Franklin Storm, and the Richards' best friend, Benjamin J. Grimm.^[1] In his early years, the sorceressAgatha Harkness acted as Franklin's nanny and protector.^[32]

The cosmic radiation that had given Reed and Susan Richards their superhuman powers also resulted in affecting the genetic structure of their son: Franklin was born amutant. Unlike most superhuman mutants, whose unusual powers do not emerge until the mutant reaches puberty, Franklin began manifesting his super-human powers at a very early age. The very first indication of his powers was shown when the Frightful Four had beaten the Fantastic Four; as a toddler, Franklin Richards used this power to wake up the Thing and this allowed the Fantastic Four to achieve victory.^[33] In the normal course of events, Franklin's psionic powers would presumably increasingly emerge as he grew older until they reach their full, vast potential when he achieved maturity. However, this normal process was ruined by Annihilus, who, during a later conflict with the Fantastic Four, placed Franklin within a machine that triggered the release of his full psionic potential. Franklin was too young and inexperienced to control the vast energies building up within him, and Reed Richards feared that his son would be unable to prevent himself from releasing enough psionic energy to destroy all life on Earth. Unable to find another means of dealing with the problem in the short space of time left before disaster would strike, Reed was forced to use a device that rendered Franklin comatose, and thus unable to project psionic energy.^[34]

Months later, while the robot Ultron-7 was attacking the Fantastic Four and other super-human beings, energy radiating from the robot affected Franklin's mind and caused him to unwittingly release great psionic energies which overpowered and defeatedUltron. Franklin was thus awakened from his coma, and his psionic powers were apparently now back at the level at which they were before Annihilus subjected him to his machine.^[35][36]

Later, Franklin used his powers to age himself into adulthood within a very brief space of time (in this form he became known as Avatar). Although his psyche remained that of a child, Franklin could now make full use of his psionic potential. Realizing he still lacked the emotional maturity to control his vast powers, Franklin transformed himself back into a child, imposing psychic "dampers" in his mind so he could not use his full powers until he achieved the necessary psychological maturity.^[3]

When theVenom symbiote escaped from theBaxter Building with the help ofKristoff Vernard, the symbiote tried to possess Franklin, but Franklin was able to reject the symbiote thanks to his father andSpider-Man's help.^[37]

Power Pack[]

However, Franklin manifested the power to foresee events from alternate futures in his dreams.^[38] Unknown to his parents, Franklin became a member ofPower Pack, a team of children possessing superhuman powers. He then took the "super hero" name Tattletale due to his ability to foresee the future.^[21] In one adventure involving Power Pack, Franklin even journeyed through outer space to the throne world of the alienSnarks and back to Earth. Franklin's "dream" power has also continued to evolve in other ways.^[9]

The Fantastic Force[]

Later, claiming that Franklin's presence in this timeline would lead to destruction, Reed Richards' father,Nathaniel, abducted the child into the future (in fact, Nathaniel had learned about the Fantastic Four's forthcoming disappearance upon defeatingOnslaught, although he did not know about Onslaught himself). Nathaniel raised Franklin for years in the future, training him to be a warrior and to master his super-human powers. The adolescent Franklin journeyed back in time, arriving in the Fantastic Four's headquarters mere moments after Nathaniel had abducted him as a child.^[39] The teenage Franklin called himselfPsi-Lord, and wielded vast psionic powers, although they remained far short of his full potential. For a long period, Reed Richards was held captive by an enemy known as Hyperstorm. During this period, Franklin founded the Fantastic Force, a new super hero team to carry on his father's work of protecting humanity.^[40] Finally, however, Psi-Lord somehow was removed from the Fantastic Four's time and was replaced by the child Franklin, as he had been at the time that Nathaniel had abducted him.^[41] Nathaniel claimed thatHyperstorm must have arranged the substitution, and that the Psi-Lord version of Franklin no longer existed in the Fantastic Four's timeline. Ironically, according to Nathaniel Richards, Hyperstorm is the son of the Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers of yet another alternate future.^[41]

Onslaught[]

The malevolent entity Onslaught captured Franklin in order to manipulate the child's latent ability to reshape reality. Ultimately, the Fantastic Four and many of theAvengers dove into Onslaught's energy form in order to disrupt it; when theX-Men then launched a full assault on Onslaught, he was seemingly destroyed. The general public believed that the Fantastic Four and many of the Avengers had perished as well.^[42] However, Franklin, who remained safely on Earth, had unconsciously used his vast psionic powers to create a"pocket" universe in another reality, to which he transported the vanished heroes. There, the Fantastic Four and the missing Avengers led radically different lives with no memories of their pasts in their native universe.^[42]

The Daydreamers[]

With his parents gone, Franklin was taken in by the X-Men. He became close with two other mutant boys,Artie Maddicks andLeech.^[43] Franklin subsequently embarked on a journey through other alternate realities with the swamp creature called theMan-Thing, the other-dimensional talking waterfowlHoward the Duck, the alienTana Nile, Artie, and Leech. Franklin's companions finally realized that Franklin himself had created these worlds with his psionic powers.^[44]

Counter-Earth[]

Franklin was soon approached by the CelestialAshema, who showed Franklin that his parents (and Earth's other heroes) were alive. Franklin had subconsciously shunted them into a new reality, another Earth which resided in the blue globe Franklin had been carrying with him since Onslaught. Ashema forced Franklin to make a choice: one of the worlds had to die. Literally fleeing from this awful choice, Franklin plummeted over a cliff, nearly dying. To resurrect him, Ashema melded with Franklin's consciousness, acquiring his human perspective on life and death. Through Franklin, a compromise was struck: both worlds could live, but Earth's heroes had to leave Franklin’s creation and return to their own world.^[25] Franklin's alternate Earth was later transported to our Solar System byDoctor Doom and placed in orbit on the far side of the Sun, where it was named Counter-Earth.^[45]

Valeria[]

Reunited with his family, Franklin moved intoPier Four, the Fantastic Four’s new waterfront headquarters.^[46] Franklin got a pet, a dog-like creature named Puppy who seemed a younger, smaller twin to theInhumans'Lockjaw, and a new caretaker, the dimensionally displacedCaledonia. Franklin also acquired a sister when the time-dancingValeria von Doom (the claimed daughter of Susan Richards) joined the family. Franklin’s time at Pier Four proved brief, however; when catastrophe loomed, Reed and Sue sent Franklin, Puppy, and Caledonia to Haven, a school located on the far side of the universe, where they were soon joined by Valeria.^[47] When Franklin dreamed of Valeria’s death at the hand of the cosmic forceAbraxas, he and Valeria returned to Earth. When Abraxas did appear, Valeria and Franklin combined their powers to resurrect the only being capable of stopping Abraxas:Galactus. Franklin learned that Valeria was the sister he had sent elsewhere, and he exhausted his remaining powers to restore her to his mother’s womb as an infant.^[48]

An Ordinary Human[]

In the wake of Mr. Fantastic's activation of theUltimate Nullifier to destroy Abraxas, Franklin lost all of his powers in the process of reformingGalactus and thus became a normal child.^[49] After Valeria’s birth, Franklin felt ignored and unloved, and his attempts to regain his parents' attention inadvertently led to the creation of the mathematical menaceModulus.^[50]

Shortly afterwards,Doctor Doom made a pact with theHaazareth Three to gain vast magical power. During Doom's attacks upon the Fantastic Four, Franklin was sucked intoHell by the Haazareth. After the defeat of Doom, his parents rescued him. Franklin had a hard time coping with the traumatic experience of being tormented in Hell. With help from the Thing and Sue, Franklin's mother, he made a complete mental recovery.^[51][52]

Because of the danger of their adventures, Child Welfare questioned the safety of theBaxter Building, due to the numerous super-villain attacks on it.^[53] After much reluctance, Reed and Sue agreed that if necessary, their children could be taken away.^[54] However, an initial condition was that a "dummy" safe house was to be set up, and a press release to be announced that the children had already been moved. It is uncertain exactly which of the FF's enemies carried out the attack, or why (there is speculation that Reed carried out the attack himself in order to allow himself and Sue to keep the children), but it was enough to convince Child Welfare.^[55]

Onslaught Reborn[]

When theScarlet Witch used her powers tode-power countless mutants, includingMagneto andProf. Xavier, the power lost by Magneto and Xavier combined and restored Onslaught (whose consciousness still remained lingering, even after his death), who was now determined to kill Franklin Richards and every hero in existence. Onslaught took control of both theHuman Torch andMister Fantastic in an attempt to get Franklin, but was interrupted by theThing and theInvisible Woman.^[56]

When Franklin fled toCounter-Earth, Onslaught followed him. While the Avengers assessed their new threat which did not exist until Franklin appeared, they took into account what the boy said about Onslaught. However, they were in disbelief that he was the son of Susan Storm and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four as they were not married in their reality. After a brief skirmish, the heroes and villains decided to work together to defeat Onslaught, but it wasRikki "Bucky" Barnes who defeated him, using aFantasti-Car to send them both through theNegative Zone barrier in the Fantastic Four's lab, trapping them. Franklin returned home, Bucky found herself on Earth-616, and Onslaught was last seen floating outsidePrison 42 in the Negative Zone.^[57]

Secret Invasion[]

In the beginning of theSkrull strike on Earth, the SkrullLyja, impersonating Sue Richards, sent the entire Baxter Building into theNegative Zone with Franklin, Valeria, and Johnny Storm inside. Franklin and Valeria teamed up with Johnny and the Thing to fight the Skrulls. Ben Grimm asked the help of theTinkerer, who was an inmate in Prison 42 within the Negative Zone. The Tinkerer refused, seeing no reason to help the people who arrested him as he was taking his grandchildren out for ice cream and sent him to prison without due process. Franklin and Valeria pleaded with the Tinkerer and strongly reminded the old man of his own grandchildren. He was moved to tears, repented and agreed to help, in exchange for his freedom and reunion with his grandchildren.^[58][59]

Facing the news of mutant and anti-mutant riots inSan Francisco, Franklin asked his mother and father why people hate mutants and if that meant they hate him.^[60]

Dark Reign[]

Franklin found himself along with his sister under siege by Norman Osborn, Venom and a high number ofH.A.M.M.E.R. agents. The siblings were on their own due to their father's experiment which left him unreachable and the other members of the Fantastic Four stranded in alternate realities.^[61]

Valeria managed to separate Osborn from the rest of the H.A.M.M.E.R. agents by using a bureaucratic technicality and by having them underestimate her. Osborn was led into a room where he faced Franklin wearing aSpider-Man mask and called him a villain, making him chase them in the building and intending to shoot them down.^[62]

The Fantastic Four had resurfaced by this point, with an angry Invisible Woman telling Osborn "Step away from the children." Angry, he snapped that she should try to make him. Sue obliged by smashing him against a wall using one of her invisible force fields. Osborn retaliated by summoning the H.A.M.M.E.R. agents andVenom. None, however, managed to pass through Sue's barrier.^[63]

Mr. Fantastic informed Osborn to leave the Baxter Building and not to come back, dismissing him. Infuriated, he attempted to shoot Reed, only to be shot by Franklin in turn. Although all were shocked, none understood how Franklin managed to shoot Norman, since Franklin was only wielding two toy guns (both Johnny and Ben examined the guns once they were shot), hinting that perhaps some of Franklin's reality-altering abilities had resurfaced.^[63]

On his birthday, analternate version of himself from the future returned and stated "Rest ... and remember what you are." Moments later, after being put to bed, Franklin created a pocket universe with his restored powers.^[64]

Fear Itself[]

Franklin, against his father's prior wishes, used his reality-warping powers to free Ben Grimm from the possession of an Asgardian warrior general namedAngrir, Breaker of Souls by transforming him back into the Thing.^[65]

The Future Foundation[]

When Franklin created a pocket universe, a mysterious imaginary friend appeared who advised him and helped him to use his powers. Not long afterwards, the Human Torch seemingly died at the hands of Annihilus to save his family. The Fantastic Four disbanded and became the Future Foundation. Devastated by his uncle's death, Franklin was approached bySpider-Man, who told Franklin about his own dead uncle,Uncle Ben.^[66]

Due to the threat of theInterdimensional Council of Reeds, Mr. Fantastic made an alliance with many villains, such as the Mad Thinker, A.I.M., the Wizard, Diablo, and the High Evolutionary, in order to plan how to stop them. They took the battle to the High Evolutionary's city, where one of theReeds escaped with Doctor Doom and the other two were captured by the Kree army. After returning to theBaxter Building, Richards reunited other heroes to fight the Inhumans in Attilan, but at the time they were preparing to go at the rooftop, a Kree invasion started. Reed used Iron Man's armor and Sue's invisibility power to create a force field around Manhattan; at the same time, theCult of the Negative Zone opened the portal to theNegative Zone afterSpider-Man failed to stop them, and the portal revealed a living Johnny Storm with an enslaved Annihilus.^[6]

Johnny gathered the team together, drawing with fire the symbolic "4" in the sky above the Baxter Building. Reed, Sue, Ben, and Peter boarded one of the Annihilation Wave's ships controlled by Johnny, who used the rest of the ships to battle the Kree army until the Inhumans asked to finish them by their own hand.^[67] Meanwhile, the other heroes on Earth were dealing with the scraps of the battle which could damage Earth. Reed and Sue summoned Galactus, who destroyed the Kree army. At that moment, theMad Celestials appeared to destroy this universe. Although the team tried to use the Hub (a weapon of mass destruction created by the Reeds), they could not defeat the Mad Celestials. However, future versions ofFranklin andValeria appeared as part ofNathaniel Richards's plan.^[68] Future Franklin used his powers to heal Galactus and destroy the Mad Celestials, saving the day.^[69] Later, the Baxter Building was rebuilt and Mr. Fantastic showed a new secondary headquarters calledFoundation and new costumes were given to the members of the Future Foundation, also with the new additions of the future Franklin and Valeria, with the Franklins getting the number 5 on their costumes.^[7]

Multiversal Collapse[]

With the Multiverse coming to its inevitable end, caused by theincursions, theIlluminati tried to find numerous ways to save Earth-616 from its destruction. One of their ideas consisted of using a machine to access and harness the full measure of Franklin's latent powers to create a pocket universe that the inhabitants of Earth could be relocated to. The plan did not succeed.^[70] Following the incident, Sue informed Reed that Franklin was under the impression that he "disappointed" his father; Reed replied, "I should never have done that. I should never have asked."^[71]

When it was realized the Multiverse was truly doomed, Franklin and the Future Foundation began constructing vessels that would allow a small number of humans to survive.^[72] As the final incursion betweenEarth-616 andEarth-1610 took place, Franklin's father, Reed, gathered every person he could upon thelife raft, including members of the Future Foundation, Franklin, and the rest of his family. When the vessel approached the central point of the incursion, it suffered a hull breach that led to the deaths of Franklin, his family minus his father Reed, and the members of the Future Foundation aboard.^[17]

Eight years later, Reed gained the omnipotent power of theBeyonders from theMolecule Man after stripping them from Doctor Doom. With his new powers, Reed brought his family, including Franklin, and the Future Foundation back to life. Franklin and his family then began helping his father and the Molecule Man restore theMultiverse, while also creating entirely new realities.^[18]

De-powerment[]

Years into the Future Foundation's multiversal adventures, Franklin became depleted of his ability to create entirely new realities. At this moment, the team was confronted by an abstract entity called theGriever at the End of All Things who repudiated their mission of creating new universes. She caused the collapse of the hundreds of universes charted by the Future Foundation, forcing the team to make a final stand. The Fantastic Four were reunited when Mister Fantastic tricked the Griever into giving them the chance to summon the remaining members of the Fantastic Four for backup. In addition to teleporting Ben and Johnny, Reed also brought every super hero who had ever been part of the team at one point in order to defeat the new foe.^[2] After the Griever was driven away, the Future Foundation continued their multiversal travels, but Reed, Sue, Franklin and Valeria returned with Ben and Johnny to Earth, where only months had passed since the Foundation's years-long journey.^[73]

As his father Reed was unable to fix his power loss, Franklin began to doubt his father's intentions. Around this time,Charles Xavier had established a new mutant-only nation inKrakoa, and his desire to have Franklin join them became a point of contention between the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.^[74] When Franklin attempted to visit Krakoa, he was intercepted by Doctor Doom, who took him to the hidden mutant territoryDoom Island and offered to fix his powers.^[75] With Reed's reluctant blessing, Franklin agreed to undergo a procedure to restore his powers. However, when the X-Men's intervention in Doom Island prompted Victor to unleash hisLatviathans,^[76] Franklin interrupted the procedure to stop the murderous robots, and his powers remained broken.^[77] With the Fantastic Four and the X-Men setting aside their differences, Franklin became a citizen of Krakoa.^[77] He would regularly visit the mutant nation and immerse himself in mutant culture.^[78]

During the Fantastic Four's confrontation against the unstoppable alienCormorant, Franklin used the last remains of his powers in an attempt to stop the enemy, but failed. When Franklin attempted to use a KrakoanGateway, he was unable to pass through.^[26] When the Fantastic Four came in the possession of theForever Gate, a programmable doorway into every point in space and time, Franklin attempted to use it to travel to Krakoa. He was interrupted telepathically by Xavier, who informed Franklin of the discovery that his mutant status had been a result of his powers subconsciously altering his anatomy in a cellular level. With his powers gone, Franklin was no longer a mutant, and his acceptance into Krakoa was revoked.^[79] While in reality, Franklin consciously placed new mental blocks on himself, so that he would only be able to access his powers one day a year, and would only remember he had his powers that same day. With that, Franklin had himself, and everyone else, believe that he was never a mutant, and no longer had his powers.^[16]

Despite somewhat hurt feelings at the belief of the loss of his mutant identity, Franklin attended theHellfire Gala with his family, displaying friendship withKate Pryde.^[80]

Along with the rest of the Fantastic Four's children and theBaxter Building, Reed Richards sent Franklin exactly one year into the future in a desperate ploy to defeat invaders from theNegative Zone, whose forces were sent six months into the past on the opposite side of the Sun.^[81] After a year passed, which for the children was just a moment, Franklin and the others finally returned and were reunited with their families. As the Fantastic Four had moved on from the Baxter Building, the entire family translocated to theFantastic Farmhouse inBenson,Arizona where the children began attending a new school.^[82]

"Immortal, God, and Omega-Level Mutant"[]

Franklin possesses vast telepathic powers, tremendous telekinetic powers, the ability to fire enormously powerful energy blasts, and the ability to rearrange the molecular structure of matter and energy. His powers are so great that he has been able to create pocket universes, and his abilities have been described as equal to theCelestials.^[83][84] For comparison purposes, a single Celestial is the embodiment of energies comparable to theBig Bang itself and powerful enough to reverberate throughout the entireuniverse.^[85] In fact, Franklin's ultimate potential is so colossal that it allowed his elder self to create wholemultiverses.^[15] Franklin's powers came from him being amutant, and he was considered anOmega-level mutant;^{[12][14][15][16]} once stated to be evenbeyond Omega classification.^[13] Even when Franklin was a little boy,Galactus feared Franklin and once fled Earth to avoid a confrontation with him.^[20] Galactus himself has stated that Franklin is the most powerful mutant ever born.^[15] He was also regarded as a threat by the Celestials, who recognized his ability to distort reality and shape the universe.^[13]

Franklin and Valeria combined proved powerful enough to capture and restore the very essence of Galactus that was hidden in the heart of Eternity, effectively resurrecting him.^[49] By combining the abilities of his present and future selves, Franklin was able to empower and control a previously defeated Galactus to destroy twoMad Celestials.^[69] Also, during the same battle the adult Franklin Richards was able to withstand attacks from the Mad Celestials and even destroyed one of them. In fact, only an extremely fed Galactus^[86] and Reed Richards with the Universal Entropy Gun^[87] were capable of performing this feat, while even theUltimate Nullifier was unable to destroy one Mad Celestial (though it could be attributed to the wielder's weak mind).^[88] Moreover, he was even able to cause damage in the nefarious entityMephisto, whose raw power was vastly boosted by evil energies and was incredibly beyond its normal levels.^[89] In addition, an adult version of Franklin was once described as "the great enemy of the omniversal order".^[90]

• Universal-Scale Psionic Reality Manipulation: Franklin Richards is an Omega Level Mutant, whose main power is to manipulate reality on a pocket universal scale with his imagination and thoughts.^[83] Franklin can use his "unlimited"^[16] reality-warping powers create a pocket universe, create life doubles of someone, bring back the dead, tap into and manipulate cosmic energy and forces, and even create entire planets at will. After regaining his powers from a temporary loss, the first thing Franklin did with his powers was to create another pocket universe.^[64] However, he was stated to be aUniversal Shaper by theCelestials,^[13] a title granting to its holders the ability of reconfiguring and manipulating theuniverse.^[91][92] In fact, Franklin is able to conceive and shape main universes, though he neededReed Richards andMolecule Man, who possessed the powers of theBeyonders, to create them.^[18]
  • Magic: According toDoctor Doom, those who warp reality have a spark of magic within them.^[93]
  • Fundamental Forces Manipulation: Franklin has displayed the ability to manipulate the four fundamental forces and laws of the universe on a potentially cosmic scale. In effect, Franklin proved able to channel and manipulate the energies coming from theNexus of All Realities, to the point of even producing a replica of it.^[94] The Nexus was described as not only the point of convergence, but as the source of all universes and dimensions.^[95] He is capable of creating or nullifying black holes, stabilizing or reversing entropy, and modifying the speed of light or the flow of time. He can rewrite quantum mechanics to change probability, redefine space-time geometry to bend or fold dimensions, and even override the laws of thermodynamics to sustain energy indefinitely.^{[citation needed]}
  • Energy Construct Creation: Through his vast reality-warping ability, He is able to create anything he sees in his mind. Franklin uses this ability to make anything he can imagine and manipulate it as he sees fit. Franklin can channel this energy offensively to create weapons or blasts of energy or defensively to create force fields to protect those he loves.^{[citation needed]}
  • Matter Manipulation: Franklin has also demonstrated the ability to rearrange the molecular structure of matter and energy, even up to a cosmic scale. Under the guidance of his older self, he once for example stabilized a sun.^{[citation needed][96]} Once he even turned the assault of hostile Celestials into harmless flowers.^{[citation needed][97]}
  • Teleportation: Franklin is able to teleport anywhere in the known Multiverse.^[98]
    • Time Traveling(latent): Franklin was able to time travel to the past to meet his past self.^{[citation needed]}
  • Duplication: After being irradiated by a meteor, Franklin briefly showed the power to duplicate.^[99]
  • Gestalt Merge: Franklin was able to merge with other beings, such as his sister, into a double conscious being.^[99]
• Telepathy: Franklin is a powerful telepath, who is able to read minds and project his own thoughts into the minds of others on a virtually unlimited radius. His notable abilities include:
  • Illusions: Ability to create realistic telepathic illusions and cause people to experience events which are not actually occurring.
  • Telepathic Cloak: Can mask his presence from being detected by others. He can extend these defenses to others around him as well.
  • Mind Link: Ability to develop a mental link with any person which remains as a connection to that individual.
  • Telepathic Camouflage: Ability to mask himself, and other people's presence from those around him. Can telepathically disguise himself, making his appearance to those around him quite different (Changing the appearance of clothing, as well as more detailed disguising.).
  • Mind Control: Ability to control the minds of others just by trying.
  • Mind Possession: Ability to possess the mind of another, and use that being's body as his own.
  • Mind Alteration: Ability to alter the minds of others by force of will.
  • Mental Amnesia: Ability to cause loss of particular memories, and amnesia in another person or even in a group of people.
  • Psionic Shield: Ability to erect a psychic shield for protection of himself and of others' minds.
  • Psionic Blasts: Can project psionic force bolts which have no physical effects but which can affect a victim's mind so as to cause the victim pain or unconsciousness and can even kill an adversary.
  • Astral Plane Connection: His immensepsionic potential means that his mind can reach into the Astral Plane, manipulate it, or even impose his will upon it.^[18][92]
    • Astral Projection: He has the ability to astrally travel and communicate astrally with others at will. He can also place himself in a trance-like state while remaining fully conscious. While he is in this trance, he can project an intangible ghost-like image of himself to another location, through which he can see and hear what goes on at the location. What Franklin has called the “dreams” he has while in this state are not truly dreams, but his conscious awareness of the environment into which he has projected his “dream-self.”^{[citation needed]}
  • Mental Detection: Can sense the presence of other superhuman mutants within a small but as yet undefined radius of himself by perceiving the distinctive mental radiations emitted by such a being.
  • Mind Transferal: Able to transfer both his mind and powers into other host bodies should his own physical body be somehow killed.
• Telekinesis: Possesses telekinetic abilities enabling him to levitate and manipulate living beings, inanimate objects, and to some extent energy psionically. This also enables him to fly.^{[citation needed]}
  • Energy Projection: Ability to fire enormously powerful energy blasts which he generates from his body's extrasensory potential. These were able to temporarily destroy the demon lordMephisto within its own realm.^[100]
• PrecognitiveDreams: Franklin possess powerful precognitive abilities, which manifest themselves in his dreams, enabling him to envision possible future events. Although there are countless possible futures, Franklin foresees the most probable future path, and therefore his predictions usually come true. Franklin seemingly cannot foresee events more than roughly a few days in the future. Franklin's precognitive power developed to the point at which he could see images of future events when conscious.^{[citation needed]}
• Psionic Resistance: Franklin has shown on numerous occasions to possess impressive psionic resistance against telepathic intrusions and psychic assaults. Even as a child, he displayed a remarkable resistance to a psionic Celestial attack.^{[citation needed][101]} His psychic resistance is even strong enough to hide his Omega-level powers from even powerful telepaths like Charles Xavier.^[16]
• Superhuman Durability: Even as a child, he has displayed a remarkable resistance to damage. Even though he was knocked unconscious, he managed to survive a direct Celestial assault with minimal damage.^{[citation needed][102][103]}
• Flight: Franklin is able to fly under his own power; his top speed is unknown.^[74]

• Power Tampering: Franklin used his powers to alter his genes, memory and powers themselves, making it appear to everyone, including himself, as if his powers depleted through overuse until he "lost them completely." While doing so, he also currently presents himself as a (de-powered) human mutate, like his parents, creating the narrative of him masking as a mutant through the subconscious use of his powers, which also prevented him from using the Krakoan gates, as they did not recognize him as a mutant genetically.^{[49][2][26][79]} He can currently access his powers and memory of his own tampering of them only for one day a year and can remove these limitations at will, but currently does not want to as he wants to enjoy a normal life as a teenager first.^[16]

• Fantastic Four Uniforms:

• Franklin's age, which is the subject of much controversy within the Marvel Comicssliding timescale, has never been fully stated, although often joked about or hinted at.^[64]
  • Franklin was 5 years old duringOnslaught'sactions.^[42]
  • Franklin was 7 during the events ofSecret Invasion: Fantastic Four #2.
  • Franklin's 8th birthday was celebrated in4 #1.
  • Tom Brevoort has stated that, in the real world year of 2014, he was 8 years old.^[105]
• Ben Grimm andAlicia Masters are Franklin's godparents.^{[citation needed]}
• While on Krakoa, Franklin expelled less energy, making his power loss slower than normal at the time. Krakoa has been known to react to mutant energies, because Franklin hid his powers under the pretense of a power loss, it is unknown why this occurred.^[77][16]
• Franklin Richards is destined to survive theend of his universe and pass on to thenext to become its iteration of theDevourer of Worlds, likeGalactus andOmnimax before him.^[29] TheOne Below All (possessingBruce Banner) confirmed that this is his intended destiny in apossible future, calling him the "appointed prince."^[30] TheGriever at the End of All Things had a feeling that she would see Franklin Richards at the end of the universe.^[106]
  • The One Below All states thatMister Immortal is Franklin's "backup" in case Franklin could not make it.^[107]
• Franklin started dyeing his hair black after his powers began to wane (to the satisfaction ofJohnny Storm, who thought there were too many blondes in their family).^[27] While inThought Space where thoughts can become reality, he made his hair permanently black.^[28]

• WhileSpider-Man has been believed to be Franklin's favorite super hero, he secretly favors whom he andLeech consider the strongest one that they know, theInvisible Woman.^[108]
• Franklin is a fan of theDazzler andLila Cheney.^[26]
• Originally, there were major plans for Franklin's involvement in the Krakoan Era, but the retcon that stripped him of his mutant status derailed those plans, andX-Men editorJordan D. White did not approve of the change, but had no power over it as Franklin is foremost a Fantastic Four character, which fell under the purview ofDan Slott at the time.^[109]

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