Class-- normal human

Affiliations-- honorary member of the Avengers ; former partner to Captain America , Captain Marvel I ; former ally to the Hulk , Rom ; founder of the Teen Brigade

Scale of Operations-- New York City, worldwide

Occupation-- folk rock singer , sidekick , bodyguard , writer

Powers-- Rick Jones has no discernable superhuman powers, but has displayed on rare occaison the manifestation of humankind's ultimate potential, called the "Destiny Force." The full extent of the Destiny Force has yet to be revealed, but includes control over time, snatching people from other time periods, levitation, and healing oneself.

History-- Richard M. Jones was orphaned as a teen and spent most of his time bounced from one school to the next. He eventually ran away from the state instution he was assigned to and drifted throughout the American Southwest. At one point, he rode a car into the middle of the desert, not knowing it was the test site for a new atomic bomb. Dr. Robert Banner, designer of the gamma bomb, tried to save Jones from exposure during the test but instead found himself irradiated and gained the monstrous alter-ego of the Hulk. Jones felt sorry for Banner, and, being the only one who knew his secret, became the Hulk's companion and ally, often travelling with him.

In New York, Jones organized a group of amateur short-wave radio enthusiasts in forming the Teen Brigade in order to track the Hulk's activities. One such case led the Teen Brigade to search for help from the Fantastic Four but wound up calling several solo heroes to battle the misunderstood Hulk. The heroes decided to form the super-team known as the Avengers, and Jones allied with them, even after the Hulk's departure.

Jones soon returned to help the Hulk, but was later rescued by Captain America as the Hulk entered a less-than-rational phase. Jones was allowed to serve as Captain America's sidekick with a variation of the Bucky costume from Cap's former teen sidekick. Jones stayed with Captain America until there was a misunderstanding between them, due to a supervillain occupying Captain America's brain at the time.

Jones returned to the Southwest again, where he was manipulated by the alien Supreme Intelligence to wear the alien Kree weapons, the Nega-Bands, which would release the Kree hero, Captain Marvel, from imprisonment in the other-dimension, the Negative Zone. Instead, however, Jones found that he would switch places with Captain Marvell. Jones allowed Captain Marvel to share his consciousness in order that Captain Marvel could adventure in our reality. At the same time, Rick Jones began to make a carreer as a folk rock singer. With the help of the Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel was later freed of the Negative Zone and thus the need for Jones' shared consciousness.

Jones soon adventured alongside Captain Marvel again when the hero became involved in the long war between the Kree and the Skrull alien races. At the height of the war, the Supreme Intelligence awakened the latent "Destiny Force" within Jones, allowing him to end a pitched battle of the war by suddenly making all Kree soldiers motionless and transporting his childhood heroes across space and time to fight on his behalf. The feat left Jones extrememly weak, and Captain Marvel bonded with Jones once more in order to save him.

Later, Captain Marvel learned that Jones' body could not contain both life forces simultaneously, and they soon both found a cure, which left Jones able to contain both life forces and gave Mar-Vell even more superhuman powers. As time passed, however, Jones and Captain Marvel overcame the dimension-split between them, existing side-by-side once more, although often they would need to merge in order to maximize Captain Marvel's power. They adventured in this manner for a long while, soon learning of and defeating the Supreme Intelligence's ultimate plans for them-- which was to use their mental link to gain ultimate powers for himself and then destroy Earth. Unfortunately, a previous encounter with the villain Nitro exposed Captain Marvel to a powerful nerve gas, unknowingly giving him cancer and he died within months.

Jones eventually became invoved with the Hulk once more, and later exposed himself to gamma radiation in a rash attempt to turn himself into a version of the Hulk. Instead, he contracted radiation poisoning, which later would flare into cancer. When hostipalized in this condition, Jones met the alien spaceknight Rom, and became involved with Rom's war against the alien shapeshifters, the Dire Wraiths. Jones was later contacted by the near-omnipotent being known as the Beyonder, who offered to grant Jones' wish, which was to be cured of his cancer..

Continuing to seek adventure, Jones continued to involve himself in the Hulk's life, and was inadvertently exposed to gamma radiation, which succeeded this time in transforming Jones into a version of the Hulk. The radiation was drained by the Hulk's archenemy, the Leader, via a pyshic bond in order to restore the Leader's super-intelligence. Jones acted as bodyguard for Dr. Banner for some time until his disappearance at the hands of the Leader.

The Hulk reappeared as Mister Fixit, a Las Vegas "leg breaker," and Jones tried to reacquaint with Banner's life. Jones met Fixit's ex-girlfriend, Marlo Chandler, and the two began dating.

Jones published a best-selling book regarding his biography as a super-hero's sidekick, gaining national acclaim. This brought him to the attention of Jackie Shorr, a woman who worked at the orphanage where Rick Jones grew up. She approached Jones and claimed to be his mother, eventually convincing him and his friends of the fact. At an opportune moment, however, Shorr drugged Jones and kept him trapped in her basement. When Betty Banner, Banner's wife, and Marlo came to Shorr's house to investigate, Shorr stabbed Marlo to death and the heroes escaped. Distraught, Jones sought help to revive his girlfriend, and was answered via a psychic link with the Leader. The villain used his advanced technology in reviving Marlo, and after several weeks in a coma-like state, she recovered completely. Shortly thereafter, Marlo and Rick were married.

The couple was approached to co-host a TV talk show, "Keeping Up With The Joneses," which was a moderate success. Eventually, however, Marlo decided to separate from Rick, unable to deal with her husband's constant and tumultous adventures with superheroes.

When the Hulk was abducted by the villain Apocalypse and turned into one of his Horsemen, War, the villain Absorbing Man took Jones and Betty Banner to Egypt to talk the Hulk out of this new role. The Absorbing Man and the Juggernaut fought the Hulk, who succeeded in defeating them both. He was about to kill them when Jones tried to stop him. The Hulk swatted Rick aside, and Rick slammed into the wall of a pyramid, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Jones soon became the target of the time-travelling Immortus, who was determined to keep humanity (and especially Avengers) from expanding into space-- a prospect of which would have disasterous prospects in nearly 50% of all the possible multiverses. Jones was struck with a mysterious malady that left him comatose as energy similar to the Destiny Force permeated his cells. The Avengers were forced to seek help from the Supreme Intelligence, at the time a prisoner on the moon. Jones was saved from an assassination attempt by Immortus' counterpart, Kang the Conqueror, and the Supreme Intelligence and the mystic Libra jumpstarted Jones' Destiny Force again, healing his disabled condition and pulling together members of the Avengers from various eras, including a future version of the son of Captain Marvel. Jones and the Avengers eventually learned of Immortus' motives and confronted him and his masters, the Time-Keepers. Ultimately, Jones used his Destiny Force to confront the armies of the Time-Keepers and to destroy their ultimate weapon, the Chrono-cannon. The effort left Jones near death and, to save his life, the future Captain Marvel reluctantly merged his form and life force with that of Jones, similar to the what the original Captain Marvel had done with Jones years earlier.

When Jones returned to earth after the encounter, the present-day Captain Marvel was surprised to find himself automatically taking his future self’s place in the symbiotic relationship with Jones. The present-day Captain Marvel assumed the altered appearance and enhanced powers of his future self in the process, but was still greatly distressed to be trapped in a shared existence with a man he despised. Jones was no happier about it, but the reluctant duo were forced to adjust to their new situation. The experienced adventurer Jones has often served as mentor to the novice hero Captain Marvel.

Marlo had since set up residence in Los Angeles, California, opening a comic book store. Jones returned to Los Angeles as well, hoping to resume their relationship while keeping his situation with Captain Marvel a secret. Soon, however, Marlo discovered his secret and after a period of adjustment, rekindled her romance with her husband.

More recently, Genis' cosmic awareness overwhelmed his mind and Genis was shocked into a catatonic state for almost a month, trapping Jones in the Microverse. When Genis awoke, he had become insane and refused to answer any of Jones' telepathic calls. Genis underwent several months of vigilante justice and a warped sense of duty, after which time he apparently committed suicide. During this time, Jones had tried to find a way out of the Microverse but was thwarted by the cosmic being Entropy, in part because Entropy's "sister" Epiphany had become Jones' associate and confidante.

Entropy resurrected Genis, revealing himself as instigating Genis' madness. Entropy wanted to fulfill its perceived role by destroying his "father," and asked for Genis' help. Genis agreed, and the two somehow succeeded in destroying Eternity by reducing it to a state of entropy. Genis and Entropy brought Rick Jones and Epiphany to join them. Jones convinced Entropy to start a new role for himself, one of creator, and Entropy recreated reality by becoming Eternity. Genis and Jones found themselves thrown back prior to Genis' madness, but despite Genis' best intentions, his cosmic awareness overwhelmed him still.

Genis continues to try to aid humanity with the help of his cosmic awareness, but now Rick Jones has found the ability to keep Genis in check by inducing mind-numbing pain through their mental connection. Even so, Jones feels the pain as well and risks developing brain damage himself. The two have also come to an agreement that they switch places from Microverse to our universe every 24 hours.