Real Name-- Pietro Maximoff

Class-- mutant

Nationality-- European

Affiliations-- member of the Avengers; former leader of the Knights of Wundagore; former member of X-Factor, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants; one-time leader of the Zodiac; member of the Inhuman Royal Family, husband of Crystal, father of Luna, brother of Scarlet Witch, son of Magneto

Scale of Operations-- worldwide; formerly Wundagore Mountain and the city of Attilan

Occupation-- adventurer, wanderer, former cabinet official of Genosha, former overseer of Wundagore

Powers-- Pietro is a mutant who possesses the superhuman capacity to think and move at superhuman speeds. His musculature, skin, and metabolism are all adapted towards the rigors of high-speed running, and he possesses superhuman strength primarily in his lower body as part of his body's adaptations for running. Similarly, his reaction time is about five times faster than a normal human's and the speed at which his brain processes information is heightened to a level commensurate with his bodily speed.

Pietro has used his powers of acceleration for various feats. He has plucked an arrow out of the air from a standing start, dodged machine gun fire, created cyclone-like gusts of wind capable to knock a man off his feet, ran up the side of a building and across a body of water, and even flew for short distances.

The full extent of his boosted power levels since being exposed to Isotope E remains unrevealed.

History-- Pietro Maximoff is the son of the mutant called Magneto and the gypsy Magda. Just prior to his birth, his mother fled from his father, terrified of his bizarre powers he suddenly manifested and his intentions of world domination. Seeking refuge in the scientific citadel of Wundagore in the Balkan Mountains of the tiny nation of Transia, Magda was taken in by Bova, a woman evolved from a cow by the master of genetic acceleration, the High Evolutionary. Magda gave birth to twins, a body and a girl, with Bova as her midwife. Still afraid, Magda left Bova her children and walked away to perish. Bova was relieved when several nights later, an American couple vacationing in Europe, Robert and Madeline Frank, also came to Wundagore seeking midwife assistance. Bova intended to award the couple the days-old twins to raise along with their own newborn. Unfortunately, the couple's child was stillborn, and Madeline died in childbirth. Frank fled from Wundagore upon hearing of his wife's death, nearly insane with grief. Bova then presented the twins to her master, the High Evolutionary, who agreed to find foster parents for them.

The High Evolutionary found Django and Marya Maximoff, a gypsy couple camped nearly who had lost their own twin children, Ana and Mateo, during World War II. They cared for the children as their own. As adolescents, Pietro and his sister Wanda discovered that they had peculiar talents. When Django began to steal food to feed his starving family, enraged villagers attacked the gypsy camp. Using his phenomenal speed, Pietro fled from the camp with his sister. The next few years, Wanda and Pietro wandered central Europe, living off the land.

One day, Wanda accidentally caused a house to burst into flames with her uncontrollable hex powers, and was chased by superstitious townspeople. Despite Pietro's attempt to defend her, the pair were soon overpowered. They were about to by lynched when Magneto came to the rescue. Unaware that he was their natural father, Magneto impressed them into service in his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, costumed them, and named them Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. For months they served Magneto out of a sense of obligation and fear of retaliation if they left him.

When the extraterrestrial Stranger transported Magneto from Earth, the siblings left the Brotherhood and soon petitioned for membership in the hero team Avengers. They served with the Avengers for many years. They separated from the team only once, when Magneto manipulated Pietro and his sister into joining with him once again, but they soon realized the deception left. They both rejoined the Avengers during a conflict with the extradimensional Arkon.

Eventually, Wanda began to become romantically involved with the Vision, Pietro condemned her relationship with a pseudo-human android, causing their first major rift. The rift was later mended, some time after Wanda married the Vision, when the telepath Moondragon permanently altered Pietro's prejudice toward the Vision in a self-righteous employment of her powers.

Pietro left the Avenges while the group was engaged in battle with the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots. Sustaining injuries in battle, Pietro was taken to medical care by Crystal, member of the Inhumans, and whose dimension-spanning companion Lockjaw happened upon the scene of the battle. Months passed before Pietro was well enough to contact his companions to tell them of his circumstances. In the meantime, Pietro became romantically involved with his rescuer Crystal, and the two married after a brief courtship. The wedding, held in the Inhuman city of Attilan, was attended by the Inhuamns, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four.

When the Avengers encountered the Whizzer which led Pietro and Wanda to believe he and Miss America were their true biological parents. Months later, however, after being mystically abducted by Django Maximoff and freed by Avengers, Wanda and Pietro took a leave of absence from the team to investigate the secrets regarding their childhood origins. Returning to Wundagore Mountain, they met Bova and learned the truth of their parentage.

Not long after the birth of his and Crystal's child, Luna, Pietro was confronted by Magneto who wanted to investigate his grandchild's birth. Pietro denounced Magneto for his callous treatment of them when they were members of this Brotherhood and refused to believe he and amended his megalomaniacal ways. Eventually, however, when Magneto appeared to be reforming, Pietro relented in his resentment for his natural father.

Pietro had also volunteered his services to the head of the Inhuman's small militia and became an officer. During his period of service, however, the Inhuman had no call for military activity. His neglect of his wife led her to become involved with another man. Learning of her infidelity, Pietro refused toforgive her and fled Attilan, vowing vengeance. He later tried unsuccessfully to frame the Avengers for treason, using the opportunity to attack theAvengers alongside the android Zodiac. He relented only after the Vision asked him if he was willing to orphan Wanda's infant children.

Pietro later allied with the Hungarian government and assisted them in the development of techniques to create super-powered individuals. He proclaimed to believe fully in mutant supremacy and intended to rule the world as its self-proclaimed King of Mutants. He again tried to capture his Avengers teammates, but they escaped.

Distraught and addled, Pietro was accosted by the original X-Factor, who were posing as mutant-hunters at the time. X-Factor helped restore Pietro to the Inhumans, whereupon it was discovered that his criminal insanity had been artificially inflicted by Maximus the Mad, who had been influencing Pietro's actions since he split with Crystal. Maximus was defeated and Pietro remained with the Inhumans.

He secretly renewed alliance with Avengers and publicly pretended to rejoin Magneto in order to watch over and influence his sister, Wanda, who had at the time gone mad and rejoined Magneto's service. With Avengers, he helped free Wanda from exploitation by Magneto and Immortus, restoring her to sanity. Pietro then remained alongside the Avengers for another long tenure, remaining estranged from Crystal and the Inhumans.

Pietro was later contacted by the government agent Valerie Cooper to join a new government-sponsored mutant group calledX-Factor. He served with X-Factor throughout its public existence. At one point, during psychotherapy with Doc Samson, Pietro explained how his prickly personality stems largely from his frustration at dealing with a world where almost everyone and everything seems slow or stupid or both. When X-Factor was dropped from government sponsorship and forced to operate underground, Pietro left.

When the Avengers were attacked by the alien Brethren, Pietro returned to aid the Avengers and found Crystal had also joined the team at the same time. Pietro refused to join the team since Crystral remained with them, although he later rejoinedwhile participating in the rescue of his daughter Luna from Magneto's former Acolyte, Fabian Cortez, and his rival, Exodus. Pietro was gravely injured by Exodus and saved by the Avenger Black Knight, who by then was entertaining romantic intentions with Crystal. Recovering from his injuries at the Avengers Mansion, Pietro tried to win back Crystal. Ultimately, however, he began to repair his relationship with Crystal only after the Black Knight left Avengers.

Soon afterward, Crystal and the other Avengers seemingly sacrificed themselves to stop the psychic menace of Onslaught. Pietro remained alongside the mutant heroes of the X-Men for a while before professing to track down other former Avengers. Instead, however, Pietro refused to join or to continue any form of the Avengers in retaliation from the government's anti-mutant legislation introduced in the wake of Onslaught.

Again confronting Exodus and Magneto's Acolytes, Pietro joined the High Evolutionary in repelling their attack on Wundagore. Pietro was asked to become the leader of a small band of the Evolutionary's Knights of Wundagore, animals that the geneticist had endowed with human intelligence and humanoid-like forms. Pietro accepted and exhibited an adeptness at leading the Knights in battles against injustice, although he soon left in order to find his true self.

When the heroes who were believed dead returned to Earth, Pietro and Crystal were reunited. Both helped the Avenges reassemble and accepted the status of reserve members. Pietro would return to assist the Avengers on occasional missions.

Not long afterward, Magneto was given control of the island nation of Genosha. Investigating his father's activities, Pietro was captured by resistance forces and would have been killed if not for the intervention of the X-Men Rogue and the former Acolyte Amelia Voght. After Magneto crushed the resistance, Pietro was ready to storm off when Voght teleported him to a Genoshan camp for those mutants infected with the Legacy Virus. Horrified, Pietro chose to stay in Genosha and act as his father's conscience, to remind him that both mutants and humans have to right not to be persecuted. He accepted a cabinet-level position in Magneto's new regime. This was all according to Magneto's plan, as he hoped to make Pietro into a loyal and subservient son.

During his time with Magneto, Pietro was exposed to the mutagenic Isotope E, which boosted his powers to unforeseen levels. However, Pietro could no longer stomach his father's ruthless methods after witnessing him in battle against a Genoshan Resistance. He briefly warned the X-Men about Magneto and rejoined the Avengers.