Gardner Grayle, the Atomic Knight, a hero inspired to improve the world after a vision of the future.
History
Pre-Crisis
Gardner Grayle was a sergeant in the army. His platoon was the infamous Platoon 13 and its symbol was a knight. Feverishly opposed to nuclear war, Grayle volunteered for a virtual reality experiment to see how people would react to a post atomic war world. A series of false military start-ups throughout the world leads Superman and S.T.A.R. scientist Marlene Herald to the isolation tank of Gardner Grayle, whose mind has been manufacturing adventures of himself leading a group of Atomic Knights in a post-holocaust world. After a time the project was taken over by Gardner's subconcious. He commanded the computer to shut down and hypnotized all personnal into forgeting the project's existence. Within this experiment, Grayle conjured a fantasy where the adventures of the Atomic Knights were real. His subconcious mind activated nukes around the world, and the catastrophe that Gardner wanted to avoid would become reality if Superman had not intervened on time.[1]
After a mildly successful career as a superhero, Grayle took a job at S.T.A.R. When he received a premonition from the goddess Cassandra, Grayle proceeded to use his new technical know-how to build his atomic armor and he had a brief clash against Wonder Woman[2], and soon after the two heroes joined forces against a common enemy.[3] He then joined the Forgotten Heroes, who contacted Darkseid to enlist his help against the Anti-Monitor.
Post-Crisis
Gardner Grayle was a sergeant in the army. His platoon was the infamous Platoon 13 and its symbol was a knight. Feverishly opposed to nuclear war, Grayle volunteered for a virtual reality experiment to see how people would react to a post atomic war world. Within this experiment, Grayle believed that the adventures of the Atomic Knights were only a dream. After emerging from the experiment, Grayle donned a S.T.A.R. Labs battle suit and declared himself a modern knight in shining armor, briefly becoming the second Shining Knight and serving with the Seven Soldiers of Victory.[4]
After a mildly successful career as a superhero, Grayle took a job at S.T.A.R. When he received a premonition about the nuclear holocaust, Grayle proceeded to get his atomic armor under unknown ways. He then joined the Forgotten Heroes, who contacted Darkseid to enlist his help against the Anti-Monitor.
Afterwards, he joined the Outsiders until its disbanding. The Outsiders would later reform, but were considered fugitives after being framed for the slaughter of a Markovian village (home country to Outsider Geo-Force). First he hunted the team down but was ultimately convinced of their innocence and was able to clear their name to the rest of the world. With the Outsiders, he also fell in love with fellow Outsider Windfall and they were seen together at Geo-Force's wedding. Beyond just his Atomic Knight armor, Gardner also had the power to see the future.
One Year Later
Gardner Grayle became the leader of an underground band of new Atomic Knights operating within the burned-out city of Blüdhaven. There were roughly 125 of these Knights (the main Knights were Grayle, Marene and Doug Herald, Bryndon Smith, and Wayne and Hollis Hobard), working with a group called the Roundtable. The Roundtable had an advanced database which recognized known metahumans, even obscure ones. The Atomic Knights were posing as refugees using advanced cloaking technology, and their Atomic Knight armor had numerous powers including the ability to record complex data and analyze any structures. There was also a Black Baron oppressing the refugees of Blüdhaven, a former pimp and drug dealer who gained metahuman powers after the Blüdhaven destruction, but he was killed by Monolith, or more likely punched into the next state.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Precognition: Gardner Grayle has uncontrollable visions; it only shows facts that may incur the Nuclear Holocaust.
Abilities
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Gardner had at least 3 different armor throughout his career.
- First armor:[4] Powered by atomic fusion, the armor gives: Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Durability, Flight, Ice production. The armor also protects against gases.
- Second armor: Powered by solar energy[2], the armor gives: Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Durability, Enhanced Senses (detect radiation)[3], Energy Projection (energy blasts), Energy Projection (blinding flashes), Invisibility (temporary; Invisibility is extremely exhausting for the energy reserves of the suit) [3], Stasis Ray (paralysis)[2], Energy Absorption, Ice production[2]
- Third armor: [5]Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Durability, Energy Projection (energy blasts), Flight, Energy Absorption
- Shield: Atomic Knight also wears different shields in conjunction with the armors.
Transportation
- Jet Pack (in conjunction with the second armor)
Weapons
- Electrified sword (in conjunction with the first armor)
- Energy pistol (in conjunction with the second armor): Energy Blast
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Trivia
- Gardner lives in a small apartment in Gateway City, he likes Thai food, and the fire engine red color.[4]
Related
- 45 Appearances of Gardner Grayle (New Earth)
- 7 Images featuring Gardner Grayle (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Gardner Grayle (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Gardner Grayle (New Earth)
Footnotes
Atomic Knights member This character is or was a member of the Atomic Knights, in any of their incarnations. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Atomic Knights members" category. |
Outsiders member This character is or was a member of one or more of the teams known as the Outsiders. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outsiders members" category. |
Seven Soldiers of Victory member This character is or was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, or the Seven Soldiers in any of its various incarnations, created during World War II and later, it returned to battle time-traveling, dimension-spanning mysteries and monsters. |