Desperate to deliver his homeworld from certain destruction, Norrin Radd struck a deal with the fundamental force of nature known as Galactus: As the world-devourer's herald, he would search the galaxy for his master's sustenance. Eventually breaking his bonds, the Silver Surfer now soars the cosmic waves unshackled as the Lone Sentinel of the Spaceways!

Real name: Norrin Radd
Occupation: Adventurer
Group affiliation: Defenders
Base of operations: Mobile, formerly the Planet Zenn-La in the Deneb system of the Milky Way galaxy
First appearance: Fantastic Four (Vol. 1) #48 (1966)

Height: 6'4"
Weight: Unknown
Eye color: White
Hair color: None

Powers: As keeper of the Power Cosmic, the Silver Surfer can generate powerful force blasts, rearrange molecules and endow himself with superhuman strength. Further, his Cosmic Awareness allows him to feel energy at work around him.

Weapons: The Silver Surfer cruises the cosmos on a construct of unknown material that resembles an Earthly surfboard. Created by Galactus, the board is covered with the same silvery glaze as the Surfer's body, rendering it impervious to virtually all forms of physical damage. Few forces, short of the world-devourer's vast cosmic powers, can affect it at all. Psionically linked with the Surfer's mind, the construct apparently taps ambient cosmic energy in much the same manner as Radd himself. Although the Surfer conceivably could fly without it, the board enables him to do so without expending his own energy.

History: Norrin Radd was a member of an extremely long-lived race of humanoid aliens who had achieved a virtual utopia. Disease, poverty, war and all other social ills had been eradicated, allowing the Zenn-Lavians to live in idle hedonism. Radd, however, grew discontented with this life. The Zenn-Lavians' false sense of security was shattered when their planet-wide warning system sounded for the first time, heralding the arrival of an alien craft of inestimable power. In a climate of global emergency, Radd implored the Council of Scientists to furnish him with a spacecraft so he could rendezvous with the invading ship and discuss peace. The vessel was prepared, and Radd set out to save the world.

Radd's ship was taken aboard alien craft, where he came face-to-face with Galactus, a fundamental force of nature on an endless search for sustenance. Only by ending a planet's existence could Galactus satiate his ceaseless hunger...and the world-devourer had come to Zenn-La to feed. He meant no malice, but had been searching too long for a suitable planet to begin anew. Galactus then mused that if he had a herald who could locate suitable worlds for him to consume, the life-energies of populated planets such as Zenn-La would be spared. In exchange for his homeworld's safety, Radd volunteered for the duty.

Galactus evolved his new herald into a being suitable to the task, atomically restructuring Radd's body and granting him a fraction of his cosmic power. Covered in a flexible silvery substance capable of withstanding the rigors of space and equipped with a star-faring vehicle resembling an Earthly surfboard, the newly christened Silver Surfer set out immediately to find his master a suitable planet.

As the Silver Surfer, Radd served Galactus, scouring space for planets with an abundance of life-energy. As a galaxy-cruising protector endowed with superhuman strength, he is able to control and direct cosmic energy with enough force to level a city. After visiting Earth, the Surfer finally betrayed Galactus and refused to supply his master's world-devouring appetite. His punishment was confinement to that planet. While earthbound, the Silver Surfer joined the loose-knit team of heroes known as the Defenders -- grudgingly fighting the good fight alongside Dr. Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts; Namor, the Sub-Mariner; and the Hulk, a green-skinned engine of destruction. Always gazing skyward, the Surfer hoped to return to his homeworld, Zenn-La, and his lover, Shala-Bal.

The Silver Surfer escaped his exile on Earth with the aid of elastic inventor Reed Richards of the fabled Fantastic Four, the greatest team of superhuman adventurers ever assembled. He reached home only to learn that Galactus had exacted the ultimate revenge for his subordinate's betrayal by devastating Zenn-La. For reasons unknown, Galactus allowed the Zenn-Lavians to evacuate the planet. When they returned, they found it barely capable of sustaining their existence. Horrified by this revelation and the knowledge that the demon Mephisto had abducted Shala-Bal, the Surfer returned to Earth in pursuit of his lover -- knowing he would be confined once again by Galactus' exile barrier. With the Surfer detained, Mephisto used his ethereal abilities to return Shala-Bal to Zenn-La. Unable to follow, the Surfer endowed her with enough of his cosmic energy to restore the barren planet.

The exile barrier has since been broken, allowing Radd to soar the spaceways as a universal protector. However, circumstances beyond his control have conspired once again to tie him to his adopted homeworld. The original four Defenders reluctantly reunited when their first foe, the techno-wizard Yandroth, resurfaced to menace the world. Though the heroes defeated his plan, Yandroth used his sorcery to levy a deathbed curse upon their heads, binding them to come together in times of crisis.