- For other uses of the term "Firestorm" see Firestorm (disambiguation).
- "It was sweet of you to think of me as a damsel in distress, but... I'm not the one who needs rescuing."
- —Valentina Vostok to Leonard Snart[src]
Dr. Valentina Vostok (died 1986), also known as Soviet Firestorm, was a scientist from the Soviet Union and an ally of Vandal Savage in a top-secret government project, "Operation Svarog".
Biography
Working with Vandal Savage
Valentina Vostok began working with Vandal Savage sometime between 1975 and 1986. They began creating their very own version of Firestorm, having had 10 years to research his abilities before Rip Hunter reappeared. The project to create Firestorm was dubbed "Operation Svarog", in honor of an ancient Slavic god of fire.
In 1986, Rip and his team traveled to the Soviet Union to try and find out what Savage had been planning since their last encounter. Ray Palmer approached Valentina as she was leaving for home from Bolshoi Theatre, though he failed to trick into making him the private investor for her research. Valentine was then seduced by Leonard Snart, allowing him to steal the ID card she used to access her research facility.
As the team infiltrated her facility, Valentina interrupted them, revealing that she had been working alongside Savage the whole time and was fully aware of his intentions. She, along with additional forces, then captured Martin Stein, Mick Rory, and Ray Palmer.[1]
Becoming Soviet Firestorm and death
Ray, Mick, and Stein were transported to a Russian gulag prison, where Valentina repeatedly attempted to get Stein to divulge the secrets of Firestorm's creation, as her previous attempts at creating her own nuclear men had been unsuccessful. However, Stein refused to comply, even when Valentina drugged him and threatened to torture and kill his teammates. Later, after spotting a message carved into Stein's arm from Jefferson Jackson, she came to the correct conclusion that two people were necessary to create a stable matrix, and that Stein was one half of the Firestorm that Savage had battled 11 years earlier.
Valentina dies in a nuclear explosion after separating from Stein.
Valentina forcibly merged with Stein, despite his warnings, briefly becoming an unstable version of Firestorm. Rip and the rest of his team later arrived to free their friends and Jackson was able to convince Stein to fight Valentina for control of Firestorm, eventually causing their union to collapse and for Stein to be ejected from the matrix. As Valentina had ignored Stein's advice that she use a quantum splicer when they merged, her body was left completely unstable from all of the nuclear energy that she had absorbed. Valentina subsequently exploded outside of the prison, killing her.[2]
Personality
Valentina is an independent and intelligent woman, but also arrogant, power-hungry and immoral, she is willing to go through any lengths to ensure the success of Operation Svarog and the future of the Soviet Union, disregarding all ethics, Valentina is sadistic and remorseless, having no qualms about torturing or outright killing her victims, in the end, her arrogance and lust for power proved to be her downfall; as she forcibly merged with Martin Stein to become Soviet Firestorm, blinded by the power. Valentina's arrogance ultimately led to her death; due to her refusal to heed Martin's warnings of absorbing such powerful radiation without a quantum splicer.
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Firestorm Matrix: When Valentina merged with Professor Martin Stein, the two created the nuclear-powered composite being, Soviet Firestorm. The Firestorm Matrix is controlled by two individuals, or "halves"; when they achieve physical contact, the Matrix takes over their biology and merges them into a singular being. When the two halves of Firestorm merge, the Matrix has them take on the form of the individual that has the stronger body, in this case Valentine.
- Nucleokinesis: Soviet Firestorm is virtually a living reactor, and as such, creates great amounts of nuclear energy via the numerous atomic reactions constantly occurring in her body. That and her mental capacity to process both fission and fusion, allow Valentina to harness the energy emitting from her or any near source of energy that's near.
- Flight: Soviet Firestorm has so far seen to have at least two methods to achieve flight. The first and most common is when Valentina uses fires nuclear blasts downward at a consistent rate, thereby generating enough force to defy gravity and allow for stable prolusion and gliding. This flight style is her preferred and most practiced choice. The second method is unclear, as Valentina is shown to be able to fly at impressive speeds without the need of energy blasts. How she achieved and accomplished this skill is unknown.
- Nuclear absorption: Soviet Firestorm has shown the ability to not only generate nuclear power, but also contain the energy coming from outside sources by absorbing its output.
- Nuclear pyrokinesis: Due to the nuclear nature of the transmutation of the two bodies, Soviet Firestorm is able to produce nuclear energy in the form of fire from parts of her body. Valentina can use her control over the energy to project it willingly in the form of concussive blasts. These "nuclear blasts" are shown to be quite powerful, able to knock unarmed humans unconscious and are hot enough to burn through solid structures and even cause harm to meta-humans.
- Psychic link: Valentina can hear Stein's disembodied voice while the two of them were merged into Firestorm. Even when they are separated, their link allows them limited communication of sensations or emotions.
- Nucleokinesis: Soviet Firestorm is virtually a living reactor, and as such, creates great amounts of nuclear energy via the numerous atomic reactions constantly occurring in her body. That and her mental capacity to process both fission and fusion, allow Valentina to harness the energy emitting from her or any near source of energy that's near.
Abilities
- Genius-level intellect/Expert scientist/Master physicist: Valentina is a highly intelligent scientist and physicist, having graduated at the top of her class in physics and founded her own version of the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. project. She was even able to eventually figure out that two people were required to merge to successfully create the Firestorm Matrix.
- Skilled markswoman/Firearms: It can be assumed that Valentina has some skill with firearms, as she owns a gun.
Weaknesses
- Arrogance: Valentina had a massive ego to the point that she always believed she was right, never listening when others tried to help or correct her; for example, Valentina's refusal to listen to Martin Stein when merging with him, as Martin warned her that without a quantum splicer, she would be endangering herself and him. In the end, Valentina's arrogance ultimately cost her her life.
- Prolonged separation: Due to now sharing Martin's genetic code, Valentina cannot remain separated from him for a fixed period of time; doing so will result in her vitals becoming dangerously unstable.
- Quantum splicer: Without the quantum splicer, Valentina's body couldn't handle the radiation from her nuclear powers and quickly exploded.
Appearances
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Season 1
Trivia
- Valentina loved ballet, seeing every performance at Bolshoi Theatre.[1]
- Valentina is one the few individuals to become a meta-human without the use of a particle accelerator on either Earth-1 or Earth-2, with the others being Eliza Harmon, Jake Simmons, and the Flashpoint version of Edward Clariss.
- However, since the source of Jay Garrick's superpowers is also unknown, he is a possible fourth exception (though he himself is from Earth-3).
- Additionally, it was revealed that Hath-Set/Vandal Savage, Chay-Ara, and Khufu received their powers of longevity and reincarnation/regeneration not from magic, but rather due to being mutated after exposure to a Thanagarian meteor, which was actually a piece of futuristic technology far more advanced than anything contemporary humanity had created on Earth. Should the three of them be classified as meta-humans, this could raise the total number of meta-humans who acquired their abilities outside of a particle accelerator to nine. Regardless, Valentina remains a member of this rather exclusive group of individuals.[3]
- Valentina is the third person to successfully fuse with Martin Stein as part of the Firestorm Matrix, the previous two being Ronnie Raymond and Jefferson Jackson.
- Her death is similar to Overgirl's in that their bodies both exploded due to an overload of radiation, which ironically granted them their respective powers.
Behind the scenes
- In DC comics, Valentina Vostok is a Soviet Air Force Lieutenant who later becomes the superhero known as Negative Woman. Her first appearance was in DC Showcase #94 (August 1977).