Rikki Barnes

Rebecca "Rikki" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in

Rikki Barnes was first introduced in the Heroes Reborn series of books. She is native to this world that was created by

The Secret Empire wanted to shut down the experiment, but Professor Power, the mastermind behind the experiment who was pretending to be a politics teacher at the school, refused to shut the experiment down, thus allowing the entire school to riot. He intended to kill Rikki, but she managed to escape and fight off the super-villain and his wolfman henchman. The Young Avengers arrived to assist Rikki and the police with crowd control to defuse the situation. John realized the students were brainwashed to follow Desmond Daniels, who was himself an innocent pawn, and it was actually another student, Matt Surman, who was inciting the riot. Rikki got Desmond to calm the rioters, while John confronted Matt. Matt shot John and Rikki; Rikki's uniform protected her, but John was not so lucky and his wounds proved to be fatal. Rikki later visited John's grave back in their home town of Philadelphia. She didn't blame Matt for the murder, since it was a result of the brainwashing from the Secret Empire. It was then that Captain America arrived and spoke to her for the first time. He said Barnes was a great name and that she shouldn't let this affect her duty because she'd make Steve Rogers proud. She asked if it was him that gave her the Nomad costume which he replies that he had not, and assumed that she had made it herself. Meanwhile, Black Widow who had been watching the two interact, smiled, suggesting it had been her that had given the costume to Rikki.

Rikki began a new life as Nomad in the

This story introduced the character to Anya Corazon, which paved the way for McKeever and Baldeon to use these characters as the core of a new team and series Young Allies.^[4][5]

During the team's first mission, Rikki and Araña are captured by a team of teenaged supervillains who call themselves the

After her death — and owing to Reed Richards and Molecule Man reordering the Multiverse — a surprised Rikki found herself reborn into other realities; mostly as the partner of alternative versions of Captain America.[10] In one of them, where Steve Rogers was killed before he could become Captain America, as Becky Barnes, she became Peggy Carter's partner after the latter took Roger's place in the Super Soldier Program. However, an atomic bomb triggered by the Red Skull in New Jersey killed them both, only for them to find themselves back alive in yet another reality, where they joined the Exiles fighting the Tribunal, a band of rogue Watchers. During this time, Rikki establishes a relationship with Valkyrie.^[11]

Rikki later dies under unrecorded circumstances, to be reincarnated into yet another reality where she is in a relationship with Toni Ho until they are killed by The Maker one week after her mental reawakening.^[10]

Future Foundation

Rikki is next seen in space as a prisoner on the planet L'ar Gath Five in the main Marvel Universe. She is sprung from captivity by the Future Foundation while they are seeking to reassemble the scattered remains of Molecule Man, one part of which Rikki had accidentally contacted.^[12] There she confronts the Maker once more, and upon meeting Foundation member Julie Power, the two develop a romantic attraction to each other.^[13]

Other versions

What if?: Age of Ultron

A middle-age version of Rikki appears in the future world of issue 3. As this came out after Onslaught Unleashed, this suggests that the character may return to life in the main Marvel Universe, which is later realized in the Future Foundation series (see above).

Exiles Vol. 3

In Exiles Vol. 3, after romancing Rikki's "Becky Barnes" reincarnation, Valkyrie encounters an alternate version of Becky who serves as a member of the pirate crew of Benjamin "Blackbeard" Grimm, both flirting with one another before Valkyrie is reunited with Rikki.^[11] While later trapped in a vision by rogue Watchers, Rikki sees a reality where she is unhappily married to a man.^[11][14]

Powers and abilities

Rikki is a natural athlete who was trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America. She is a gifted fighter, marksman and acrobat with the familiarity with technological devices of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Due to the special circumstances of her creation, which was influenced by Franklin Richard's idolization of both Captain America and his own mother,^[13] Rikki is repeatedly reincarnated into another reality after death, with her full memory of her past lives as well as selected injuries and scars and her trademark equipment.

Weapons and equipment

As Bucky she wore a bulletproof costume modeled after the original Bucky. She also made use of a vibranium-photonic energy shield along with vibranium soled boots that allowed her to run up walls, move silently, leap greater distances and land from great heights. She also wielded a pistol.

As Nomad, she made use of much of the same equipment with a new costume based on the Nomad identity once worn by Steve Rogers. She retains the vibranium-photonic shield and now uses throwing discs used by previous Nomads. It is possible she still possesses the vibranium soled boots, though she no longer used the pistol in that new identity. With her subsequent rebirth, she has returned to using her old gear.

Collected editions

References