Waverider (character)

This article is about the DC Comics character. For other characters, see Waverider (disambiguation).

Waverider (Matthew Ryder) is a superhero appearing in media published by DC Comics universe. He was created by Archie Goodwin and Dan Jurgens, with the first version of the character, Matthew Ryder, first appearing in Armageddon 2001 #1 (May 1991).^[1] A second version of the character is a Hypertime-line counterpart and partner of the original, who became Waverider after his superpowered doppelgänger's death during the storyline Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! (September 1994).

Waverider
The Matthew Ryder incarnation of Waverider as depicted in Superman: Legacy of Superman #1 (February 1993). Art by Arthur Adams.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Armageddon 2001 #1 (May 1991)
Created by	Archie Goodwin Dan Jurgens
In-story information
Alter ego	Matthew Ryder
Team affiliations	Linear Men Justice League
Abilities	Time travel Can access a person's aura and see their past and possible future Quantum energy blasts Lightspeed flight Invisibility Intangibility

A third version of the character first appeared in Convergence: Booster Gold #2 (July 2015) as a reborn older version of the pre-Flashpoint Booster Gold (also created by Jurgens). After his transformation, he is instrumental to saving the multiverse in Convergence #8. His powers are the same as the original Waverider, but his knowledge and history are Booster Gold's.

Fictional character biography

Matthew Ryder is a scientist from a post-apocalyptic 2030 led by the villain Monarch. He builds a time machine to travel to the past and prevent his rule, but is fused with the timestream, gaining the ability to travel through time.^[2][3][4]

Making his way into the year 1991, Waverider predicts the futures of numerous heroes in his search for Monarch. However, when he encounters Captain Atom, their energies interact to create a temporal wave that enables Monarch to travel back in time and kill Dove.^[5]

Post-Armageddon

Waverider and various heroes who he gathered defeated a demonic being called Abraxis.^[6] Later, while Waverider was traveling through the time stream, he encountered an alternate timeline doppelgänger of himself, who was still a regular human (since Monarch's future reign had been erased). Following this, both Matthew Ryders join the Linear Men, with the powerless Ryder becoming their leader. Despite the Linear Men's policy of non-intervention in the timeline, Waverider helps Superman defeat Doomsday by transporting him to the end of time, where he is destroyed by entropy.^[7]

In Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!, Waverider is killed by Extant and succeeded by his present-day self.^[8] In 52, Mister Mind kills the second Waverider using Booster Gold's robot Skeets.^[9][10]

Successors

Linear Woman

Waverider's successor is Liri Lee, a member of the Linear Men who gained his powers after fusing with his corpse and became Linear Woman.^[11]

Booster Gold

In Convergence, Booster Gold becomes a new Waverider after Rip Hunter takes him into the timestream to save him from dying due to the effects of excessive time travel.^[12]

Powers and abilities

Waverider can time-travel at will, and is capable of accessing the time stream and monitoring it. He can also access a person's aura to view their past and future, fly at the speed of light, fire quantum energy blasts, and become invisible and intangible.

In other media

• The Matthew Ryder incarnation of Waverider makes non-speaking cameo appearances in Justice League Unlimited as a member of the Justice League.
• The Matthew Ryder incarnation of Waverider appears as a character summon in Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.^[13]
• The Matthew Ryder incarnation of Waverider received an action figure in Mattel's Justice League Unlimited toy line in early 2006.