History Characters / FantasticFourSupportingCharacters

* CatchPhrase: He will tell you he is the Watcher, and that he is sworn never to interfere.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: To [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Mister Mxyzptlk]]. The two have met, and after his initial excitement of meeting a fellow cosmic prankster, he later discovered that he disliked him, due to Mxy's genuinely malicious pranks as opposed to his (relatively) harmless pranks, and that Mxy lied to him.

* CharacterOverlap: In one issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' from the 90s (the one where Clark Kent and Lois Lane got engaged, oddly enough), it was indicated that Mxy actually ''was'' the Impossible Man, [[http://www.comicscube.com/2013/06/easter-eggs-mxyzptlk-and-impossible-man.html spending some downtime in an alternate universe]] playing with his "four ''Fantastic'' new friends" (the team even makes a LawyerFriendlyCameo).

* TheGrinch: At the end of one story, he admitted that he hates Christmas. On that occasion, he had been visited by the [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Ghost of Christmas Past]]- apparently he'd been looking for [[Franchise/SpiderMan J. Jonah Jameson]], but couldn't find his address.

* DesignerBabies: They were embedded with the collective history of their respective races, especially the Kree-Skrull war at birth, made to hate the other since birth.

* TrueCompanions: With Franklin, Valeria, Wolverine and Spider-Man.

This Creator/MarvelComics character is the Herald of ComicBook/{{Galactus}} the PlanetEater, imbued with the [[AppliedPhlebotinum "Power Cosmic"]]. He is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin silver and rides a surfboard]] through space. Created by Creator/JackKirby in 1966, the Silver Surfer has a somewhat controversial origin as he first appeared in the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' series (during the "Galactus Trilogy") and was thus assumed to have been co-created with series writer Creator/StanLee. However, Lee later admitted that Kirby added the character to the story on his own. Kirby felt that a being like Galactus should have [[MouthOfSauron a special herald to represent him]]. However, the Surfer's origin was concieved by Lee (not Kirby) once the character got his own series.

In the Trilogy, the Surfer finds Earth (despite Uatu TheWatcher's attempt to hide it from him) and signals Galactus to come devour the planet. The Surfer is then knocked out by the Fantastic Four, but is nursed to health by their kind ally, Alicia Masters. This causes him to decide to protect Earth and joins the heroes in opposing his master. Galactus is then forced to swear not to try to eat the Earth when his own greatest weapon is pointed at him. However, Galactus punishes the Surfer by sealing him within Earth's atmosphere, unable to return to space. The Surfer then becomes a [[TheDrifter wandering hero]]. He also helped to found the superhero group ComicBook/TheDefenders.

The character proved popular enough to receive his own series (twice). In the first, it was revealed that he was originally Norrin Radd, a [[HumanAliens man from the planet Zenn-La]]. He became Galactus' herald in exchange for his sparing Zenn-La from being eaten. However, Galactus decided to [[TheStoic seal away the Surfer's emotions]] after transforming him, to keep them from interfering with his mission, until Alicia reawakened them. In the second series, the Surfer was freed to return to space, where most of his new adventures took place.

The Surfer is still popular and occasionally shows up in other Marvel series. Despite his cosmic level of power and having a soul so pure that ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}, Marvel's stand-in for (the Christian version of) {{Satan}}, tried many times to corrupt him, he has become more worldly, DependingOnTheWriter.

A [[http://marvel.com/news/story/21338/nycc_2013_all-new_marvel_now_silver_surfer new comic]] series by Dan Slott launched in 2014. It involves the Surfer traveling the spaceways with an earth girl named Dawn Greenwood, whose fate becomes entwined with his.

Then there was [[Creator/DonnyCates Donny Cates's]] more recent miniseries with him coming out of his run using the character: [[https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Silver_Surfer:_Black_Vol_1_5 Silver Surfer Black]]. Where Norin gets sent to the start of the universe to battle cosmic forces and the darkness within himself. Emerging alive, but now a darkened non-silver version of himself.

* YouDidntAsk: Turns out her father is fellow Unparalleled Sidearm, which the Fantastic Four didn't knew until she mentioned it.

* TheGhost: They're always juuuust off-panel, usually only showing their hands at most. We ''finally'' see them on-panel in a tie-in issue with ''ComicBook/CivilWar.''

* BareYourMidriff: Her default outfit shows her well-toned abs.

* NamesTheSame: [[invoked]] as Nathaniel Richards of one particular 31st-century Earth. The future Nathaniel is a descendant of Reed's father and named for him, though is better known as an [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] foe and sometimes ally, under one of his various time-traveling personas, which include [[IHaveManyNames Kang, Immortus, Rama-Tut, the Scarlet Centurion, and Iron Lad]].

* FaceHeelTurm: In ''ComicBook/{{Incoming}}'', as soon as Valeria removed his inhibitor chip, H.E.R.B.I.E. betrayed the Fantastic Four and joined ComicBook/MachineMan's gestating robot revolution, but not before giving them a profane TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on their treatment of him over the years.

* HeelFaceTurn: In ''ComicBook/{{Incoming}}'', as soon as Valeria removed his inhibitor chip, H.E.R.B.I.E. betrayed the Fantastic Four and joined ComicBook/MachineMan's gestating robot revolution, but not before giving them a profane TheReasonYouSuckSpeech on their treatment of him over the years.

* RobotBuddy

** In ''Comicbook/OriginalSin'' #0, new Nova Sam Alexander asks Iron Man and Captain America why Uatu watches everything. After a beat, Cap admits that they have no idea. Nova later learns that Uatu is looking for a world where his father (who was the cause of the Watcher's "no-interference" policy) was right.

* ShipTease: With Comicbook/SheHulk during Byrne's run. The two clearly had the hots for each other, and were very open and colorful in their flirtations, they never managed to take their relationship to the next level. Lampshaded in Comicbook/{{FF}} when the two, after years apart, try to go on a date together and spend the whole night wondering why they didn't manage to make it work beforehand -- [[WeirdnessMagnet only for the answer to crash right into their laps]]. They decide to be JustFriends for the time being, though the attraction is still clearly there.
* StumbledIntoThePlot: How he first became a part of the FF-family. Originally just Johnny's college roommate, Wyatt tagged along with the team on a trip to the [[Comicbook/BlackPanther mysterious African nation of Wakanda]] where they first met King T'challa. Despite having no powers to speak of, Wyatt managed to hold his own against the Wakandan forces and managed to help the four escape.
* TokenMinority: Wyatt was the sole non-white cast member of the ''Fantastic Four'' and ''ComicBook/SensationalSheHulk'' books.

** He’s also been this to Reed’s half-siblings Huntara, Arthur, Joanna Jeffers and possibly Kristoff Vernard. Joanna notes Reed is in fact [[ParentalFavoritism the only one of his children he would at least ocasionally come back to]].

* RapunzelHair: Her black hair seems to reach her ankles.

* PlotTriggeringDeath: [[spoiler:At the beginning of ComicBook/OriginalSin, with ComicBook/NickFury as his killer]].

* {{Voluntary Shapeshift|ing}}er: A really powerful one. To the point that he resembles a RealityWarper, and can travel through space unaided. Oddly, the one thing he apparently can't do is change colors -- all of his transformations are still some shade and combination of green and purple.

A street gang that Ben was part of in his youth. Portrayed as mostly harmless and maybe even with their hearts in the right place, they taunt Ben relentlessly for being the one that made it out and made good with his life, albeit by turning into a rocky creature in the process.

* TheGhost: They're always juuuust off-panel, usually only showing their hands at most.

* CuteMachines: H.E.R.B.I.E. from ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978'' wasn't seen this way initially, as he was a none-too-badass ReplacementScrappy for the Human Torch. However, time passed, and he's been homaged - and every new version of HERBIE is so freaking adorable, most recently the ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' incarnation.

* BadassMustache: He had a very nice mustache.

* BadassBeard: Has a goatee and is just as smart as his son.

** In one issue of ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' from the 90s (the one where Clark Kent and Lois Lane got engaged, oddly enough), it was indicated that Mxy actually ''was'' the Impossible Man, [[http://www.comicscube.com/2013/06/easter-eggs-mxyzptlk-and-impossible-man.html spending some downtime in an alternate universe]] playing with his "four ''Fantastic'' new friends" (the team even makes a LawyerFriendlyCameo).

* FunWithAcronyms: '''H'''umanoid '''E'''xperimental '''R'''obot, '''B'''-type, '''I'''ntegrated '''E'''lectronics

* TheMole: The first incarnation of HERBIE was [[BodySurf taken over]] by a villain named Doctor Sun, who tried to take out the Fantastic Four within the Baxter Building. When he eventually left HERBIE to take over the building's computers, it [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed itself]] to destroy them both.

* SitcomArchnemesis: To Ben Grimm. They spend a lot of their time pranking and taunting him. Unlike most Marvel examples, it's not BullyingADragon... mostly, and Ben'd never do anything horrible to them.

* AlliterativeName: '''S'''ilver '''S'''urfer.
* AmplifierArtifact: The surfboard lets him fly farther and generally be stronger than without it, though (depending on continuity) it isn't the source of his powers. Mostly he uses it to accelerate FTL without exhausting too much of his own power.
* AntiHero: While stuck on Earth in the 60s, he had these moments, often fighting with fellow heroes due to generally being pissed off, as opposed to [[LetsYouAndHimFight the usual mistaken-identity excuse]].
* AntiVillain: Started off as this and arguably returned to it when he briefly became a herald of Galactus again.
* AppropriatedAppellation: The Board's name, Toomie. It comes from Dawn Greenwood mishearing Norrin using his catchphrase "To me, my Board". She thought Toomie was the Board's name, so now, that is its name.
* ArchEnemy: ComicBook/{{Thanos}} and ComicBook/{{Mephisto}}; at least, they come closest. ComicBook/{{Galactus}} is a debatable example too. All three are far, far more powerful than him though, so its not your standard ArchEnemy situation and he rarely fights them directly or on his own, and would quickly lose if he tried.
* AstralProjection: Usually comes into play when Surfer is facing off against Mephisto.
* BadassBoast: Rare, but the Surfer has delivered a few over the years.
--> '''Silver Surfer''': Your ability to manipulate power is formidable. That I will admit. But I AM power.
** Recently Surfer has become fond of more deadpan trash talk to remind people that he's one of the strongest heroes in the universe.
-->'''Nova''': Surfer! The Revengers are the enemies' big guns.
-->'''Silver Surfer:''' Interesting.
-->''Surfer takes down the Revengers versions of Thor and Iron Man with one attack each.''
-->'''Silver Surfer:''' When we next have a quiet moment, Richard Rider, we can discuss the definition of the term.
* BadassCrew: ComicBook/TheDefenders and, on occasion, the God Squad.
* BaldOfAwesome: ''Silver'' bald of awesome in this case even.
* BarrierWarrior: The Surfer can create energy shields to defend himself and his allies.
* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: And talk in space, too. Justified since he doesn't actually need to breathe or use sound to communicate; [[AWizardDidIt Power Cosmic]], remember?
* BerserkButton: ''Did not'' like being a Herald of Galactus so anytime Galactus [[InconvenientSummons summons]] him as his most reliable herald during a crisis is one of the few times he gets extremely angry and needs to be talked down.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Yes, he's [[IncorruptiblePurePureness incorruptible]], but remember his Power Cosmic? If he wanted to, he could ''[[RealityWarper disintegrate reality]].'' Really, does ''that'' sound like the sort of guy you'd want mad at you?
* {{Brainwashed}}: During [[spoiler:ComicBook/PlanetHulk]] Surfer is weakened by a wormhole, [=brainwashed=], and has a RestrainingBolt placed on him in order to have him fight in gladiatorial battles.
* BullyingADragon: Because he looks inhuman (and possibly because he nearly let Galactus eat Earth), in the early days people kept trying to attack him, and generally insulting him. Apparently, the fact that he's a borderline RealityWarper (and EXTREMELY dangerous when angered) never occurred to them.
* ChromeChampion: Quite possibly the TropeCodifier.
* ColorCharacter: '''Silver''' Surfer.
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Frequently wears one of these as a disguise during his [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] series, much like [[ComicBook/FantasticFour the Thing]].
* CoolBoard: It flies, is faster than light and can even be used as a weapon or shield. Plus, it is controlled via his mind. Yup, cool indeed. In his 2016 solo it becomes a kind of NonHumanSidekick, capable of silently expressing its thoughts using the reflection of whoever is looking at it.
* CuttingTheKnot: This trope was responsible for finally freeing the Surfer from Earth permanently; Ben Grimm suggesting that the Surfer try leaving Earth ''without'' using his board. To the Surfer, the very thought of travelling without his board is so unthinkable that both he and Reed Richards were stunned that there was a simple solution to the exile all this time and neither of them ever realized it. To put it to the test, the Four transported the Surfer in their spacecraft off the planet with his board left back on the ground and they discovered that was indeed all they needed to do. As for the board, The Surfer simply remotely converted it to a mass of energy unaffected by the barrier and called it to him to be reassembled as the board back in space.
* DecompositeCharacter: There are two unrelated version of the Silver Surfer in the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel universe. On one side we have the "Silver Wings" in the ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'', who work for Gah Lak Tus. They have his appearance and powers, but are largely just fight drones and do not seem to have a will of their own (so, no betrayal here). And, in ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'', we met the Silver Searcher, with a similar personality to the Surfer, except that he used to work for the Psycho Man.
* DependingOnTheWriter: Reportedly, this was one of the bigger divisions between Lee and Kirby: Kirby preferred the idea of the Surfer as a weird and inhuman SufficientlyAdvancedAlien, while Lee wrote him as a deeply emotional and kindhearted sort. As Kirby was technically the Surfer's true creator, this rubbed him the wrong way.
* DoctorWhomage: During the Slott/Allred run, he is depicted as basically the Marvel Universe version of [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]], complete with hero-worshipping contemporary-Earth everywoman companion.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: As a part of his FullFrontalAssault-ness. Weirdly, he doesn't seem to have any toes, his feet being shaped like boots.
* EnergyAbsorption: To a very high degree. Goes as far as depowering people; he can also redirect it.
* EvenMoreOmnipotent: Whenever the Silver Surfer rebels against his creator, Galactus, Galactus just [[NoSell No Sells]] his attacks or strips him of his power. Or when any being he bequeathed with the Power Cosmic tries the same, for that matter. Galactus is able to take back their powers at will or override any actions they attempt to take.
* EyeBeams: Sometimes the Surfer uses healing eye beams instead of HealingHands.
* FadSuper: It's downplayed to the point a lot of people don't even realize it, but the idea of a cosmic-powered surfboard rider has at least something to do with the fact that surfing was hugely popular during the 60s. The complete lack of [[TotallyRadical surfer slang]] or other SurferDude characteristics, combined with his stories focusing on being either an outsider on earth or cosmic adventuring, helped him survive the usual fate of the FadSuper.
* FlyingBrick: A strange example since he normally flies via his surfboard and while he is super strong, he doesn't engage in fisticuffs as often as other bricks.
* FlyingFirepower: As a former herald of ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, Norrin Radd is nigh-omnipotent. On his own, he can fly at warp speeds and fire devastatingly powerful energy blasts. But that's only the ''tip'' of the [[RealityWarper iceberg.]]
* ForgotAboutHisPowers: The Power Cosmic allows Silver Surfer to manipulate both matter and energy, time and space, and often times he simply chooses to solve a problem by hitting it with cosmic blasts. When someone like Doctor Doom stole his powers, he froze tropical islands, drained London of its power, resurrected dinosaurs, and killed the Fantastic Four (only to resurrect them on a whim).
* FullFrontalAssault: Silver Surfer is always naked, although he doesn't possess any visible genitals. A planet-devouring cosmic entity probably doesn't see any need to give his servants the ability to procreate sexually. Certain artists will occasionally give him a silvery Speedo, but that's it.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: When he is pissed off.
* AGodAmI: When ComicBook/{{Cable}} went into this territory it was Surfer who had to beat him out of it.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Mephisto finds being in his presence painful due to his IncorruptiblePurePureness.
* GreenLanternRing: The Power Cosmic, which allows him to do... pretty much anything, really.
* HealingHands: Surfer can use the Power Cosmic to heal through contact. Healing very extensive injuries on someone can leave him weakened for a while afterwards, though.
* [[IAmNotAGun I Am Not The Herald Of Galactus]]: His defining characteristic is his determination to assert himself as something more than Galactus' slave.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: You didn't think that surfboard was just for riding on, did you?
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Mephisto once hurt himself by trying to take him over because he is so pure and good.
* IntangibleMan: One of his many powers is phasing through solid matter.
* IntriguedByHumanity: In many stories he refers to Earth as his adopted home.
* MonsterModesty: Norrin ran around in silver underwear in his earlier appearances. He has now been reduced to NonhumansLackAttributes although the occasional artist might slap a pair of undies on every now and then.
* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: With his Cosmic Awareness, the Surfer can sense major events throughout the galaxy just before they happen. On a smaller scale, the power has been used to find hidden doors, detect weaknesses in beings like Gladiator, and assist in guiding the Surfer though the galaxy.
* TheNeedless: He doesn't require any sort of sustenance (such as air or food) in order to live.
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], given the undefined nature of the Power Cosmic and the various power boosts the Surfer has received over the years.
* NighInvulnerability: From punches by Class 100 character to black holes, he has survived a considerable amount of damage unharmed.
* NudeColoredClothes: During UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} he wore nothing but a pair of underwear that was the same color as his skin. These days, he's usually [[FullFrontalAssault completely naked]], but the underwear still shows up from time to time.
* PerfectPacifistPeople: Zenn-La was such a society when Galactus arrived.
* PhysicalGod: Allthough he, like his master, often suffers {{The Worf Effect}}, he is (or should be) one of the most powerful characters of the Marvel Universe, if not comic books in general.
* PowerCreepPowerSeep: Just like his master, he has fallen victim to this a lot. Especially his vast speed is often glossed over.
* PsychicPowers: Telepathy, Empathy, Telekinesis, others.
* PullingThemselvesTogether: In the rare event that the Surfer's body is cut into pieces, he can reconstitute himself in seconds.
* RealityWarping: He doesn't use them that often, though, at least compared to his other powers.
* RedemptionDemotion: Averted. When he went from a villain to a hero, he continued to be quite powerful.
* RepeatIndexIndex: Has the Silver Surfer mentioned that he has the Power Cosmic? Because he does.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: The Surfer's Cosmic Awareness allows him to detect powerful energy concentrations "anywhere in the cosmos." Combined with his SuperSenses and ability to teleport to any dimension he has previously visited, it is almost impossible to hide from the Surfer.
--> '''Silver Surfer''': Fools. Eyes that can track a single dust mote across the space ways will certainly have no difficulty tracing the path of a Troyjan battle cruiser.
* SeeksAnothersResurrection: At some point after Frankie Raye's death, the Surfer came upon a young girl that resembled her in Nevada named Frances Hyatt, and imbued her with a portion of Frankie's soul in an apparent attempt to have some part of her live on. Years later an incident causes her to [[FusionDance be united with]] Nova's Power Cosmic, and she has reluctantly become Supernova.
* ShapeShifting: One of his many powers, though he rarely uses it. In the 2012 Defenders series he's introduced having spent some time as snowfall. There he's treated less like a silver coated man and more like [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay the T-1000]].
* ShoutOut:
** A musical one, no less - he's the alien in the Music/JoeSatriani album title and song ''Surfing With The Alien''.
** Ron Marz returned the favor by naming the planet Shalla-Bal relocated to "Planet Satriani."
* SilverHasMysticPowers: Subverted by the Silver Surfer. He does look shiny and can easily survive in the vacuum of space or walk across stars, but this isn't anything inherent to his outer shell, instead coming from the Power Cosmic bestowed on him by his former master Galactus. The Devourer of Worlds has had many other servants with identical abilities to the Surfer, but most of them weren't even silvery.
* SkySurfing: Space-surfing, natch.
* SpaceIsAnOcean: [[IncrediblyLamePun And he rides the waves.]]
* SpeedBlitz: The Surfer once disabled six Ergon starships in a matter of seconds in order to protect the Impossible Man.
* StatusQuoIsGod: After many decades being on his own, during the events of ComicBook/{{Annihilation}}, he returns to being ComicBook/{{Galactus}}' herald.
** [[spoiler:After a recent Thor storyline, the Surfer at the request of Galactus is now stationed on Earth... again.]]
* StoryBreakerPower: He's extremely difficult to harm and strong enough to destroy planets. Consequently he doesn't show up a whole lot.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: Zenn-Lavians are a highly advanced society. Advanced enough to combine mysticism and technology to remove and replace another planet's culture with their own as a form of colonization.
* SummonToHand: Along with his catch phrase "To me, my board!"
* SuperheroesInSpace: Once his exhile on Earth was lifted, he took to superheroing in space.
* SuperpowerLottery: The Silver Surfer hit the jackpot. He is easily one of the most powerful of all mainstream superheroes; to reiterate, he possesses Class 100 SuperStrength[[note]]that is, anywhere between lifting 100+ tons, and limitless[[/note]], faster-than-light SuperSpeed, energy blasts, EnergyAbsorption, NighInvulnerability, PsychicPowers, and even a degree of RealityWarping, not to mention Cosmic Awareneness, which basically lets him sense absolutely ''any'' kind of energy, anywhere, and he [[TheNeedless needs neither food, drink, nor air to live]] (he doesn't even need the board to fly; it just lets him fly longer without wasting energy; that and RuleOfCool). Doctor Doom has used his powers to TakeOverTheWorld, defeating every single other Earth-bound Marvel hero who got in his way in the process. Of course, he was the puppet of Galactus for years and was trapped on Earth for some time after he rebelled, and afterward racked up many enemies who are even [[UpToEleven more powerful than him]], so it all evens out.
* SuperSenses: In ''Incredible Hulk #415'', the Surfer could "detect the [[SpaceIsNoisy whistling]] of a meteorite a thousand light years away." Using his "far ranging vision", the Surfer could see Thanos from "more than a light year away" in ''Infinity Gauntlet #3''.
* SuperSpeed: The Surfer searched the entire surface of the Earth in seconds in ''Silver Surfer Annual #5''. In space he regular travels many times faster than the speed of light, too.
* SuperStrength: Even though he rarely uses his fists to fight, he is extremely strong and can additionally amp himself with the Power Cosmic. He once for example took down the Super Skrull with a single punch. And in ComicBook/PlanetHulk, while in a weakened state, he utterly dominated the fight against Hulk (who was also weakened, granted) and his entire Warbound with nothing more than his physical strength.
* SuperWeight: Level 5.
* {{Teleportation}}: Surfer can open portals to teleport himself all over the galaxy.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Sometimes, though especially after Annihilation, he has become more ruthless and discounted this.
* TimeTravel: On pure speed alone, mind you.
* UnbuiltTrope: Surfer's one of the earliest and most iconic examples of a FadSuper, having been created partly due to the fact that surfing was very popular in the 1960s. But this is downplayed to the point of being very easy to miss. The complete lack of [[TotallyRadical surfer slang]] or other SurferDude characteristics, combined with his stories focusing on being either an outsider on earth or cosmic adventuring, make him seem very different from the majority of the trope's later examples (and also probably helped to give him more staying power than most). It's also played with a good deal: he's an alien who never knew anything about surfing (the Human Torch gave him that name) and the board is actually just an extension of himself he uses to fly through space and not technically a surfboard. Even now, it's still rare for a FadSuper to be (initially) unaware of what they were created to cash in on, only seeming like they're following a trend due to coincidence.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: A Japanese {{tokusatsu}} incarnation of Silver Surfer in the vein of ''Series/SpiderManJapan'' was considered by Creator/ToeiCompany to follow ''Series/BattleFeverJ''in 1980 but was dropped in favor of continuing the ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' franchise with ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenziman''.
* WillfullyWeak: He often doesn't want to fight at his best because he is peaceful at heart. Might be one of the explanations for some of his losses.
* TheWorfEffect: Like Galactus, a lot of his cameo/guest appearances often come down to this. Although he doesn't always lose, simply being able to smack around the Silver Surfer is enough to establish a threat. In particular, ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' starts off with him crashing defeated through the roof of the [[ComicBook/DoctorStrange Sanctum Sanctorum]] after encountering Thanos with the full might of Infinity Gauntlet.
* WorthyOpponent:
** Thor, with whom he has clashed several times and still maintains a respectful relationship.
** In the ''ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}''/''ComicBook/{{Galactus}}'' crossover, Surfer was so impressed by Orion's courage, he managed to delay [[GrimReaper the Black Racer]] long enough to allow Mother Box to prevent him from dying. In exchange, Orion saluted Silver Surfer and left, returning the compliment.
* WowingCthulhu: Silver Surfer's OriginStory involves a civilian named Norrin Radd impressing ComicBook/{{Galactus}}, a PlanetEater, with his devotion to his home planet, Zen-Laa. Galactus spares Radd's planet in exchange for him becoming Galactus's herald.

* GroundhogDayLoop: He [[spoiler: and Dawn and everyone from Newhaven]] got stuck in one of those due to an enemy superweapon.

* ImColdSoCold: Justified in the second series, when Frankie Raye, a fire elemental, is fatally injured. Her flame then starts to dwindle before dying out.

* TheMigration: Surfer helps the inhabitants of Newhaven, comprised entirely of refugees from worlds destroyed by Galactus, to do this after [[spoiler: History repeats itself]]. It takes a while.
* MoleInCharge: In the early-nineties run of Silver Surfer, there was a running subplot of a Skrull permanently disguised as a Kree woman who worked her way up the social ladder so eventually she was the right-hand woman to the Supreme Intelligence, and when it got disabled, she was effectively empress. At that point she decided she kinda liked power and did not call off the Kree battlefleets about to engage the Skrull armada.

* SpaceX: In response to Dawn asking him why did the Giraud Expanse aliens speak french, he retorted that the two languages only ''sound'' alike. It's actually [[DistinctionWithoutADifference Space-french]].

* BlindAndTheBeast: This is how she and the Thing started their relationship in the series. There were many times, though, that he worried that the only reason she was with him was because she couldn't see how ugly he was (never mind that she has felt his face, ''knows'' it's rocky, and she is also a ''sculptor'' who has seen fit to use him as a subject a number of times).
** Interestingly Ben's concerns were once inverted when Reed speculated that he was subconsciously resisting attempts to return to his human form because he feared that Alicia would only embrace his rock-like form.
* DeafComposer: Alicia Masters is a blind sculptress. More impressive because she makes lifelike statues based purely on description.
* {{Love Interest|s}}: To the Thing. [[spoiler:Eventually they become HappilyMarried]].
* [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Mad Scientist's Beautiful Step-Daughter]]: Her stepfather is the supervillain known as the Puppet Master. Alicia turns on her stepfather when she realizes that he is mad and power-hungry.
* MissingMom: Her mother Marcia Deaton has appeared in a few flashback tales, but she is long dead. A wicked plot by the Puppet Master/Philip Masters accidentally exposed Marcia (the only woman he loved) to radioactive isotopes. Marcia died of radiation poisoning, leaving Philip heartbroken and feeling guilty.
* MoralityPet: Often serves as this for her stepfather the Puppet Master/Philip Masters, who is otherwise a ruthless villain. According to Philip's origin story, Alicia was not born blind. When Philip was trying to kill his hated rival Jacob Reiss (Alicia's biological father) in an explosion, he did not expect anyone else to get hurt. Alicia was unexpected collateral damage, blinded by the blast. Philip has always felt guilty, and decided to both raise her and treat her as his own daughter. The same story mentions that Alicia was a talented painter before going blind, and Philip was disturbed that Alicia could not follow her passion for art after going blind. Since Philip himself was an amateur sculptor, he taught her how to sculpt instead.
* NiceGirl: Tender, caring, and was the one who explained human emotions to the Silver Surfer.
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She initially aids his father out of obedience in his first scheme against the Fantastic Four, though she immediately senses the "gentle" and "sensitive" spirit of the Thing when she first feels his palpably monstrous face.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Ben and Alicia's status as a romantic couple is constantly on and off. [[spoiler:In the Dan Slott run, they finally marry when she said yes to Ben]].

* RoboRomance: Is in a relationship with Elektro the Living Brain.

!!! '''Notable Aliases:'''

See ComicBook/SilverSurfer