He was born Norrin Radd on the planet Zenn-La, part of an extremely long-lived and technologically advanced humanoid race which had created a worldwide utopia devoid of crime, disease, hunger, poverty, and want of any kind. His father named him after revered scientist Norrin Konn, the man responsible for raising Zenn-La from barbarism to utopia. Norrin Radd's mother Elmar, ill-suited to this stifling environment, eventually killed herself. Urged on by his atypically ambitious father Jartran, Norrin was raised as a grimly intellectual youth, encouraged to seek knowledge, advancement and achievement rather than the aimless hedonism which had come to dominate Zenn-Lavian society; however, a disgraced Jartran would later commit suicide himself after he was accused of idea theft. Despite his lifelong lover Shalla-Bal, Norrin grew into a restless soul who longed for challenge and struggle, immersing himself in histories of Zenn-La's adventurous ancient past. Norrin's life changed forever when a menacing alien spacecraft pierced Zenn-La's long-neglected defense systems. transforming Radd into a silver-skinned, cosmic-powered super-being patterned after an adolescent fantasy plucked from Norrin's memories. Known thereafter as the Silver Surfer because of the silvery flying board he rode, Radd departed Zenn-La with Galactus.
