Kirby's original concept (before Stan messed it up, in my opinion) was that the Surfer had never been flesh and blood; he was an artificial construct made of energy from Galactus and his origin had him appearing from Galactus' outstretched hand. Stan went for the more obvious melodramatic breast-beating of Norrin Radd and Zenn-la and all that.

Lots of times, Stan's revisions made the characters more accessible (and more successful) but I really would have liked to see the Surfer as something alien learning about emotions from scratch. It would also have made him a bit menacing and unpredictable, rather than the golden-hearted martyr.