THE FALLEN ONE
(of Earth-Cosmic Ghost Rider)

Real Name: Norrin Radd

Identity/Class: Extradimensional/alternate reality (Earth-Cosmic Ghost Rider) Zenn-Lavian mutate

Occupation: Adventurer;
   formerly Herald of Galactus

Group Membership: None;
   formerly the Defenders (see comments)

Affiliations: Annihilation Wave

Enemies: Thanos, Thanos (of Earth-616);
   formerly the Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Silver Surfer

Base of Operations: None

First Appearance: Thanos II#15 (March, 2018)

Powers/Abilities: The Fallen One possessed all powers of his Reality-616 counterpart granted to him by the Power Cosmic. These include energy projection and manipulation, unassisted interstellar flight and protection against exposure to deep space, cosmic self-sustenance and lack of conventional aging. Like the previous Fallen One, also a former Herald of Galactus, Norrin was at some point empowered by the Black Matter, which granted him an even greater strength and durability, to the point where even direct hits from the Hulk had zero effect on him. Living for millions of years, the Fallen One had eventually become worthy of Mjolnir, gaining all powers associated with it, such as the ability to summon and project lightning and summon the Mjolnir itself at will.

Height: 6'4" (by approximation) (see comments)
Weight: 225 lbs.(by approximation) (see comments)
Eyes: Purple
Hair: None

History: (Thanos II#17 (fb)) - The early history of Norrin Radd mirrored closely that of his Earth-616 counterpart. A native of the planet Zenn-La, he offered his service as a Herald to Galactus in exchange for his planet and his people being spared from the World Devourer's hunger. After many years in service of Galactus, the Silver Surfer betrayed him on the planet Earth and was punished by Galactus by being trapped on that world. He spend his time there becoming a hero, eventually joining a group of adventurers known as the Defenders.

(Thanos II#16 (fb) - BTS) - Silver Surfer was eventually able to return to the stars and at some point became the Herald of Galactus once again. As Thanos the Mad Titan grew stronger and stronger, he killed everyone on Earth and Asgard and eventually moved onto the cosmic beings, including Galactus himself. Galactus was only able to escape the Mad Titan's wrath thanks to the help of the Silver Surfer, whom Galactus believed had now perished. Galactus then took on the Ghost Rider (Francis "Frank" Castle) as his new Herald and continued to oppose Thanos for centuries before eventually dying at his hands. The Rider then joined forces with Thanos.

(Thanos II#17 (fb) ) - In that time, Norrin Radd had found himself fallen as well. Adopting the title of "the Fallen One," he battled with gods and sought redemption inside the shattered gates of Asgard, where he found the Mjolnir but was unable to lift it.

(Thanos II#16 (fb) - BTS) - Over millions and millions of years, King Thanos had eradicated almost every living being in existence. Avoiding the Mad Titan, Norrin had been working on becoming worthy and eventually was able to lift Mjolnir and wield its power. From the Negative Zone, he gathered Annihilus' Annihilation Wave to bring it against Thanos. Aware of the impending battle with the Fallen One, King Thanos had the Rider use the broken Time Gem to retrieve a younger version of himself from millions of years ago in Reality-616.

(Thanos II#15) - The Fallen One and his Annihilation Wave attacked the palace of King Thanos, who had prepared for the confrontation by arming himself with the Twilight Sword.

(Thanos II#16) - As the Annihilation Wave swarmed King Thanos, the Rider and the younger Thanos from Reality-616, the Fallen One attacked them with the energies of the Power Cosmic. Eventually, Frank Castle used his Ghost Rider powers to summon a large Hellfire explosion, burning away the entire Annihilation Wave. The Fallen One then hit King Thanos with a massive blast and revealed he had the powers of Mjolnir at his disposal.

(Thanos II#17) - The Fallen One used Mjolnir to attack all three of his opponents with a combination of kinetic and lightning attacks. The Rider attacked him with his own Power Cosmic but Norrin used Mjolnir to shatter the Rider's body, ending the existence of the man who had already died in a sense millions of years ago. However, the battle had damaged King Thanos' castle, enabling the escape of his prisoner, Hulk, whom the Mad Titan had kept as his immortal dog. The Hulk attacked the Fallen One but his punches had no effect on him. Norrin appealed to his old friend, causing him to turn into his Bruce Banner form as the younger Thanos entered the room. The Fallen One prepared to face him but both he and Bruce were then stabbed with the Twilight Sword by the older Thanos. Bruce died instantly while Norrin proceeded to receive a beating from both versions of Thanos, which eventually ended with his head being slammed onto Mjolnir's handle, killing him.

(Thanos II#18) - With the deaths of the Hulk, the Fallen One and the Rider, the two versions of Thanos remained the only living beings in existence. However, the younger Thanos became disgusted with the future self and, determined to never become him, charged the broken Time Gem on the Fallen One's corpse to return back to his time in Reality-616.

Comments: Created by Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw.

   Norrin's physical stats are approximated from his reality-616 counterpart.

    I'm told Donny Cates defined Earth-666 as the home reality of Cosmic Ghost Rider...I don't know if he doesn't know there was already a reality of that designation or if he just thought it would be fun to place him in that reality. However, the origin of Cosmic Ghost Rider shows him on a straightforward alternate Earth with standard versions of heroes and villains, as opposed to being a world of monsters, demons, vampires, werewolves, etc. as the previously designated Earth-666 is. It doesn't fit at all. --Snood

   We're told he was a member of his reality's Defenders, but it's not confirmed who else was. However, he calls the Hulk an "old friend" so it's likely that he was a Defender in this timeline just as he was in 616. - Loki

    This profile was completed 5/01/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by HBK123.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Fallen One should not be confused with:

Annihilation Wave

The horde of Annihilus was gathered by the Fallen One to attack King Thanos but was completely burned by the Rider with a large blast of Hellfire.




--Thanos II#15

images: (without ads)
Thanos II#15, p20, pan1 (The Fallen One, main image)
Thanos II#16, p20, pan1 (The Fallen One, headshot)
Thanos II#17, p6, pan1 (The Fallen One using Mjolnir)
Thanos II#16, p20, pan1 (The Fallen One using Power Cosmic)
Thanos II#15, p20, pan1 (Annihilation Wave)

Appearances:
Thanos II#15 (March, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Geoff Shaw (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Thanos II#16 (April, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Geoff Shaw (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Thanos II#17 (May, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Geoff Shaw (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Thanos II#18 (June, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Geoff Shaw (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Cosmic Ghost Rider I#1 (September, 2018) - Donny Cates (writer), Dylan Burnett (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Thanos Legacy I#1 (November, 2018) - "Thanos Legacy" - Donny Cates (writer), Brian Level (pencils, inks), Jordan D. White (editor)
Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History I#1 (May, 2019) - Paul Scheer, Nick Giovannetti (writers), Gerardo Sandoval (pencils), Victor Nava (inks), Darren Shan (editor)
Guardians of the Galaxy V#12 (February, 2020) - Donny Cates (writer), Geoff Shaw (pencils), David Curiel (inks), Darren Shan (editor)

First Posted: 09/07/2021
Last updated: 09/06/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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