Origin
Crystallia Amaquelin (more commonly known as Crystal) is the second child born to the Inhuman couple Quelin and Ambur, and the younger sister of Medusa. Their father Quelin was the brother of Rynda, who was the queen of Inhumans, and therefore Crystal is considered to be a member of the royal family. Like other Inhumans, Crystal was exposed to the Terrigen Mists at a young age, which in her case gave her limited power over the four classical elements of fire, earth, air, and water.
Creation
Crystal was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby in 1965 when they created the race of Inhumans. She made her debut in Fantastic Four vol. 1 #45, as did many of the primary Inhuman characters. Her character was initially conceived as a potential love interest for Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four.
Character Evolution
When Crystal was a young child, war broke out among Inhuman factions, and she and her helpers were forced to flee from the Inhuman’s capital city of Attilan. After Crystal had grown to adulthood she searched for her sister Medusa, who had lost her memory while on Earth. Crystal finally located her sister in New York, though at first Medusa mistook Crystal and her fellow Inhumans for enemies. Medusa’s memory was restored and she was returned to Attilan. During her time in New York, Crystal met Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) of the Fantastic Four and began a romantic relationship with him.
Major Story Arcs
Fantastic Four
The Inhumans did not approve of Crystal dating a human and brought her back to Attilan to keep her away from Johnny Storm. But after a battle between the Inhuman king Black Bolt and his renegade brother, Maximus, Attilan was heavily damaged, and the decision was made to split up the royal family while the city was rebuilt. Crystal was allowed to rejoin Johnny Storm back on Earth. She stayed with him at the Fantastic Four’s headquarters and helped the team battle enemies like Blastaar, though an overprotective Johnny Storm tried to keep her out of active participation as much as possible.
Johnny’s sister and the Fantastic Four’s only female member, the Invisible Woman, gave birth to her first child and withdrew from active duty. Crystal made herself a Fantastic Four costume and offered to be the Invisible Woman’s replacement. The leader of the team, Mister Fantastic, was initially skeptical, but Crystal proved her worth by thwarting several attacks on the team by the Wizard. It is amazing that is was Crystal who effectively defeated the Wizard. This was an astounding accomplishment for one who had never fought this foe before and also due to Crystal’s fairly young age. What is even more amazing is that Sue Storm was not able to defeat the Wizard until FF 301, some 220 issues after Crystal’s win in FF 81. Mr. Fantastic treated Crystal with considerable respect and some think that he treated her better than he did his own wife, as he was often overprotective of the Invisible Girl back in the Silver Age. Crystal was made an official member and served actively with the Fantastic Four, helping them defeat archenemies like the Mole Man and Doctor Doom. During the battle with the Mole Man, Crystal was temporarily blinded, though her eyesight was later restored.
Crystal was then kidnapped by Maximus, who had usurped the Inhuman’s throne, and brought back to Attilan. Maximus was once again defeated by Black Bolt with the help of the Fantastic Four, who had made the journey to Attilan to rescue Crystal. She remained in Attilan for a short time since Black Bolt had suffered an injury during a radiation experiment, and Crystal’s elemental powers were needed to keep him alive until a permanent cure was found. After Black Bolt was cured she rejoined the Fantastic Four on Earth, but later collapsed while on duty. Mister Fantastic ran a series of tests and determined that Crystal was slowly being killed by pollutants in the Earth’s atmosphere. Reluctantly, Crystal resigned from the team and returned to Attilan, despite Johnny Storm’s protests.
Quicksilver
On her way back, she became a part of Diablo‘s plan and then crossed paths with the mutant known as Quicksilver, who had been wounded. She brought him back to Attilan and nursed him back to health, which kindled a romance between the two. When Johnny Storm learned of this, he fought with Quicksilver and then ended his relationship with Crystal.
Crystal and Quicksilver eventually married, marking the first-ever human and Inhuman marriage, and had a child named Luna. Despite the fact that both of her parents were superhuman, Luna was born as a baseline human with no special powers. When the Kree attacked the Inhumans, Crystal was with the Quicksilver. She arrived in the Himalayas to find the city gone. She asked Lockjaw to teleport but there but finds it out of his reach. As time went by, their marriage deteriorated, due to Quicksilver’s temper and Crystal’s affair with a civilian neighbor of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch. Crystal left Quicksilver with Luna and Marilla (Luna’s nanny) and returned to the Fantastic Four. Crystal wanted to start a new relationship with Johnny once again, but by then, he was already married. Crystal returned to Attilan to deal with a problem that Medusa and Black Bolt were having with their child, and she and Quicksilver re-established their relationship.
The Avengers
Later, the Inhumans were attacked by the alien Brethren, and Crystal sought out the Avengers for their help. Shortly thereafter she joined them, moving into the Avengers Mansion with Luna and Luna’s nanny Marilla. During her tenure with the Avengers, Crystal developed a crush on teammate Dane Whitman (the Black Knight), although she soon reconciled with Quicksilver yet again.
Bloodties
During Crystal’s time with the Avengers, Magneto‘s Acolytes attacked and kidnapped her daughter, Luna, causing great damage the Avengers mansion in the process. Luna ended up in Genosha under the control of Fabian Cortez and then Exodus. The Avengers teamed up with the X-Men for a rescue mission and managed to retrieve Luna safely.
Onslaught
Crystal was among the Avengers who seemingly sacrificed themselves to end the menace called Onslaught. Actually, they were transported to a different reality created by Franklin Richards, and Crystal was restored when the heroes returned. Crystal and Quicksilver have reunited once again and helped rebuild the Avengers. Crystal then returned to Attilan to raise Luna, though she still assisted the Avengers on certain missions.
Crystal was on hand during the Inhumans’ emigration from the moon to the recently-raised continent of Atlantis. At this point, her relationship with Quicksilver was no longer strained, although the two would still spend large amounts of time apart.
More recently, the Inhumans were captured by the alien Kree, the original creators of the Inhumans. The Kree judge and warrior Ronan the Accuser hoped to use the Inhuman Royal Family to assassinate the leader of the enemy Shi’ar Empire, the Empress Lilandra. Black Bolt then fought Ronan in single combat and soundly defeated him. The Inhumans, shocked at their leader’s behavior, turned away from Black Bolt, deposing him by decree and exiling him. The Royal Family then returned to Earth as monarchs with no people.
Crystal rejoined the Royal Family upon their return to Earth. However, they were all met with a wave of xenophobia as every nation rejected the Family’s appeals for sanctuary. In fact, the only nation offering the Inhumans a place in its lands was Latveria, ruled by the villain Doctor Doom, and the Inhumans reluctantly accepted.
Decimation
After the events of House of M, Crystal was reunited with her de-powered husband Quicksilver, who then stole the Terrigen Mists from Attilan in an attempt to use it to restore the de-powered mutants. Quicksilver also kidnapped their daughter Luna and exposed her to the Mists, granting her various abilities. Luna had previously been baseline human, thought of by some as an affront to her mutant heritage. After the Inhumans hunted down Quicksilver to repay him for his betrayal, a furious Crystal gave Black Bolt permission to administer a harsh beating to her wayward husband. She then declared her marriage to Quicksilver officially annulled according to Inhuman law.
Secret Invasion
Crystal and her sister Medusa were called by Iron Man to a meeting where he revealed that Black Bolt had been replaced by a shape-shifting alien Skrull. When the Skrulls invaded Attilan, Crystal used her abilities to defeat a Skrull who possessed the combined powers of Colossus and Wolverine, and then a Skrull who was an amalgam of Captain America and Spider-Man. But the Skrull onslaught proved too strong for the Inhumans to withstand, so the Royal Family fled into Kree space, seeking an alliance against the invading Skrulls. Ronan the Accuser welcomed the alliance, but only if Crystal became his bride. Medusa agreed to his terms, much to Crystal’s chagrin.
War of Kings
Crystal’s marriage to Ronan the Accuser of the Kree was a move designed to bring the Inhumans and the Kree together. Though at first she was opposed it, after Black Bolt usurped the Kree throne, Crystal seemingly warmed to the idea of the marriage. After the sneak attack by the Shi’ar in War of Kings #1, Crystal took a very proactive role in aiding those injured during the attacks and has become known as the “People’s Princess” among the Kree.
Crystal’s marriage to Ronan proceeded, even following Black Bolt’s decision to usurp the throne of the Kree. She came to accept the idea of the marriage, defending it to her sister-in-law Polaris as a matter of statecraft (though there were indications that Ronan wished for more). The wedding proceedings were interrupted by the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, who attacked as part of Emperor Vulcan‘s invasion of the Kree Imperium. Ronan was beaten nearly to death in the attack. While visiting Ronan in recuperation, Crystal inadvertently helped rally the Kree people when she showed compassion towards a ward filled with injured Kree commoners. Thanks to Polaris, these acts of kindness were broadcast over the Kree networks, solidifying Crystal’s popularity among the Kree.
At wars end, both Vulcan and Black Bolt were believed dead in an explosion that opened a rip in space-time known as the Fault and Medusa took over as ruler of the Kree Empire.
Realm of Kings
Crystal spent much of her time by her husband’s side as he healed. Over time, true feelings developed between Crystal and Ronan. Crystal would question her family’s motives as rulers of the Kree and fight for Kree rights for her husband against her sister. Crystal would be the only one to stand up to Medusa and question her when she allowed Maximus to plan an Alpha Primitive revolt to bolster Kree opinions of the Inhumans.
The Universal Inhumans
Black Bolt found his way from the Fault and planned to return his family to Earth to meet up with the other four Inhuman races. Crystal was given the choice to join them or remain on Hala with her Kree husband Ronan. She chose Ronan, further demonstrating that her love for him was now genuine.
Personal Data
- Height: 5′ 11″
- Weight: 140 lbs
- Eyes: Blue
- Hair: Strawberry Blonde
- Unusual Features: A distinctive black stripe/circle pattern runs horizontally through Crystal’s hair at about ear level.
Status
- Citizenship: Attilan
- Place of Birth: Island of Attilan, Atlantic Ocean
- Marital Status: Married
- Occupations: Princess of the Inhumans, Kree, and Shi’ar; adventurer, royal advisor, former member of the Fantastic Four
- Known Relatives: Quelin (father), Ambur (mother), Medusa (sister), Quicksilver (first husband, marriage annulled), Ronan the Accuser (current husband), Luna (daughter), Black Bolt (cousin and brother-in-law), Maximus (cousin), Karnak, Gorgon, Triton (second cousins), Ahura (nephew), Polaris (sister-in-law), Scarlet Witch (sister-in-law), Magneto (father-in-law)
Powers and Abilities
Crystal possesses genetically superior Inhuman physiology, which has been enhanced and mutated by exposure to the Terrigen Mists. She has the ability to mentally manipulate the four basic elements of nature (as defined by the classical Greeks): fire, water, earth, and air. She does so by means of a psionic interaction with the substances on a molecular level. By controlling oxygen molecules she can cause fire to spontaneously ignite or she can douse any oxidizing flame by depriving it of oxygen. She can join hydrogen and oxygen molecules to create rain, summoning these molecules from a volume of atmosphere within a radius of approximately two miles. She can control the movement of water by manipulating surface tension, divining water from the ground and causing it to flow in designated directions. The observed maximum volume of water she can control is approximately 2,000 cubic feet (about 15,000 gallons). Thus, she cannot change the course of rivers or cause the sea to part. She can control the various substances that make up common bedrock (earth: iron, granite, shale, limestone, etc.), creating seismic tremors of up to 6.7 on the Richter scale (greater if tectonic plate fault lines are nearby) by causing a sudden shifting of the earth. The observed maximum volume she can affect at once is 1.8 x 10″ cubic feet (approximately 1/800 of a cubic mile). She can also control oxygen atoms and oxygen-containing molecules to create atmospheric disturbances of various kinds. By intermingling air with earth she can cause a dust storm, air with water a typhoon, and air with fire a firestorm. She is able to create a wind of tornado intensity. She is also skillful in hand to hand combat to some extent.
Limitations: Crystal can sustain a certain elemental phenomenon for approximately one hour before her mind begins to tire. She can also create any number of effects in succession for about forty-five minutes before mental fatigue impairs her performance.
Crystal also has the physiology of an average Inhuman, so all her bodily functions are higher than a normal human’s. Inhumans are superior to humans in strength, reaction time, stamina, resistance to injury and speed. However, Inhumans’ immune systems are weaker than that of an average human, and Crystal is unable to stand the pollution, such as smog, that normal humans can unless she takes a weekly dose of a serum created by Reed Richards and Henry Pym that immunizes her against these adverse effects.
Crystal’s clothing, created by Inhuman scientists, is made of an unknown material that is resistant to heat, cold, and flame.
Alternate Universes
Earth-1610
The Ultimate version of Crystal was introduced in Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1, along with the Ultimate Inhumans. She initially appeared to be a damsel in distress to the Human Torch so he tried to rescue her, but Crystal then revealed her elemental powers and took care of the problem herself. After their encounter with the Fantastic Four, the Inhumans moved to the moon. Later, when the Human Torch was infected by a creature that was killing him, the Invisible Girl went to Crystal for help, but instead Crystal said goodbye to the Human Torch.
Earth-98
In this reality, Crystal was happily married to the Human Torch and became a full-time member of the Fantastic Four.
Earth-398
The Earth-398 reality was created when a longtime Avengers enemy, the sorceress Morgan Le Fay, stole an Asgardian artifact of great power and used it to transform reality into a medieval society, with herself as its queen. She bewitched the Avengers and made them into her personal bodyguards, called the Queen’s Vengeance. Crystal became known as ‘Elementelle’ and was a member of the Queen’s Vengeance. Eventually the Scarlet Witch figured out what had happened and freed the other Avengers from Le Fay’s mind control, who then defeated the sorceress and restored reality to normal.
Earth-2149
In the Marvel Zombieverse, Crystal, like many other superheroes (including the Inhumans) was shown as having become a zombie.
Earth-295 – Age of Apocalypse
She appears as one of the undead Inhumans created by Death (aka Maximus). She fights Rogue, using her lighting bolts managing to knock her out but Magneto defeats her hurling back her own bolts.
This version has the ability to create electrical discharges.
Other Media
Television
Fantastic Four (1978 animated series)
Crystal, with the other inhumans, appeared in the episode Medusa and the Inhumans. She was voiced by Nancy Wible.
Fantastic Four: The Animated Series
Along with the other Inhumans, Crystal made her animated debut in the three-part Inhumans Saga episodes, and after escaping the Negative Barrier, went on to become the girlfriend of the Human Torch. She is voiced by Kathy Ireland.
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
Crystal and the rest of the Inhumans appears in the episode “Inhuman Nature,” with Crystal voiced by Mary Faber. In this episode, A-Bomb develops a crush on her, and the agents end up aiding the Inhumans against Maximus.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Crystal, along the royal family, makes a cameo appearance in the episode “Agent Web.”
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Crystal made a cameo appearance in the episode “Crystal Blue Persuasion.” She officially meets Star-Lord in the episode “Inhuman Touch,” helping the Guardians against Maximus. She is voiced by Vanessa Marshall.
Avengers Assemble
Crystal makes a cameo appearance the episode “The Inhuman Condition,” where she can be seen as one of the Inhumans taken captive by Ultron. She returns in the Season 5 episode “The Mists of Attilan,” where she greets Black Panther and Ms. Marvel when they arrive in Attilan. She seemingly helps the heroes retrieve a key fragment that once belonged to T’Chanda, a past Black Panther, but it later turns out that “Crystal” is actually Princess Zanda in disguise. The real Crystal is later discovered unconscious in a pit. She was voiced by Stephanie Sheh.
The Inhumans
Crystal will appear as one of the main characters in the live-action Inhumans show, which will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She will be portrayed by Isabelle Cornish.
Video Games
Avengers: Galactic Storm
Crystal made her video game debut as one of the four playable Avengers (alongside Captain America, Thunderstrike and Black Knight) in the Japanese arcade fighting game based on the “Operation: Galactic Storm” story arc. She is the sole playable female Avenger in the game.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006)
Crystal appeared as an NPC in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Kim Mai Guest. She informs the heroes that Medusa went down to Earth to search for the Ultimate Nullifier. After Medusa is discovered to be transformed into one of Doctor Doom’s servants, Gorgon mentions that Crystal will accompany him and Triton to fight Doom and make him change Medusa back while the heroes head to the Skrull Homeworld. She is presumably beaten and transformed by Doctor Doom along with Gorgon and Triton, as she is not heard from for the rest of the game.
Marvel: War of Heroes
Crystal appears in the mobile card game Marvel: War of Heroes. Her cards are:
- [Elementelle] Crystal
- [Elementalist] Crystal
Marvel Avengers Alliance
Crystal is a recruitable character via Special Operation 23: Inhumans
Her bio says: Always more hospitable to outsiders than her sister Medusa, Crystallia Amaquelin has often acted as a liason to the world beyond Attilan. Able to bend the elemental forces of water, earth, fire and air, Crystal has been a valuable asset not only to the Inhuman Royal Family, but also as a member of the Fantastic Four and Avengers
Lego Marvel’s Avengers
Crystal is a playable character in the game. She is voiced by Gwendoline Yeo.
Marvel Future Fight
Crystal is a playable character in the game. She is a blast type.
Her bio in the game says: Like her older sister Medusa, Crystal Amaquelin is an Inhuman that was subjected to the Terrigen Mist as an infant, causing her powers to manifest at a very young age. She has the ability to psionically manipulate the elements of earth, water, wind and fire. With her elemental powers at the ready, Crystal serves as the Inhuman Ambassador, overseeing diplomatic relations and protecting the Inhuman Royal Family at all costs.
She has different uniforms:
- Crystal – Royal Suit
- Crystal – All-New, All-Different
Marvel Avengers Academy
Crystal is a playable character in the game. She was released during the Inhumans Event. She is voiced by Andria Betances
Lego Marvel Superheroes 2
Crystal is a playable character in the game.
Merchandise
- Crystal was the 78th character released as part of The Marvel Classic Figurine Collection.
- Crystal is part of the heroclix game in two version: One with her ´90 avengers costume, and the second in her classic look.
- Crystal is part of the Bowen Design bust collection.