Real Name: Richard Swift Current Alias:The Shade Aliases:Mr. Black, Louie, Dicky Identity:Secret Alignment:Neutral Affiliation:formerly Injustice Society Base Of Operations: Opal City
There once was an English gentleman named Richard Swift, a young man in the year 1838. One night in London, Swift was trapped amidst an unexplained mystical tragedy, which killed 104 people. The most immediate of effects upon him was the permanent loss of all memory before the incident; fortunately, a carriage appeared and took him in. The gentleman who had picked him up gave him the name Piers Ludlow, and offered to help him re-encounter his past. Accepting his "kindness", Swift was taken to Ludlow's house and was taken to a house the next evening. However, the whole affair was a setup; the whole Ludlow family was in fact a band of killers and swindlers, and they had perpetuated a scheme many times over: to kill one of their wealthy, reclusive business partners and have a vagrant killed in his vicinity to give the impression of a failed robbery/homicide. However, when they intended to repeat the scheme with Swift as the scapegoat, he reflexively unleashed his shadows, killing all the present Ludlows. Only a young pair of twins, absent from the excursion, survived. The following evening Swift met one of his true friends prior to the incident: the author Charles Dickens.
For the following decades, Swift lived a relatively normal life, one which changed when Rupert Ludlow, one of the surviving twins, appeared and ambushed him along with a band of hired killers, informing his of the murderous intent of the family and of its exponential growth. Though grievously injured, Swift still managed to kill Ludlow, (by then he had already discovered his immortality). Afterward, he left England and started a career as an adventurer/assassin/observer on life, which spanned whole continents and led him to many adventures. While traveling, he met Brian Savage (Scalphunter) and visited Opal City for the first time. He established himself in Opal, acquiring real estate and generally living well, even encountering Oscar Wilde, although he never quit the adventuring life, ensuring he would always have a considerable fortune waiting for him. However, during his journeys, he also met a similar immortal born of the same incident and bearing his same powers: a dwarf by the name of Culp, who would become his mortal adversary.
During all of the Shade's escapades, he had been pursued quite actively by the Ludlows, whom he abated with little remorse, killing dozens of the family before meeting Marguerite Croft, a young lady, with whom he fell in love and established with in Paris during the thirties. Unfortunately, she proved to be a Ludlow, and again tried to kill Shade by poisoning. The immortal washed away the toxin and killed his love upon learning she would again try to kill him, leaving him with a sense of general depression and the feeling he could never love again. Because of this and the death of Brian Savage, he resumed his activities as an assassin.
The Jousting Begins...[]
During World War II, he left America to defend his country from the bombing raids, and fought Culp again. A bomb blast, falling on top of them, sent Culp into Shade's body. Unaware of this, Shade returned to America and to Keystone City. This was the time of the Golden Age of Heroes, and of them all he chose one as his adversary: Jay Garrick, the first Flash. For him, it was little more than a game, posing as a gimmicky villain (influenced by Culp) to get away with his truly important crimes unnoticed, and felt genuinely disappointed with the retirement of Garrick. This lasted until another "superhero", the Spider, came along. Shade, feeling curiosity as for the Spider's motives, discovered he was in fact a criminal, getting rid of the competition, and a Ludlow by birth. Shade defended Keystone by killing the Spider and rescuing Flash and his wife from a murder attempt. When asked as to his own motives, he responded he truly enjoyed Garrick for his wit and humor, and that he already had a city to love and devote to (he protected Opal from harm several times, even saving Starman from a murder attempt and avoiding to commit even a single crime within its limits).
During the sixties, he briefly teamed up with Dr. Fate to take down what was apparently one of Culp's criminal ventures, a mystic organization of madmen, the Wise Fools, who wished to repeat the ritual that created him by apparently summoning a wild, uncontrolled bubble of shadow (actually Culp's shadow, separated from Shade by Culp). Unaware that Culp's consciousness was actually within Shade, he and Dr. Fate destroyed the Wise Fools operation and threw the bubble into an empty dimension (where it continued to immensely grow in power and size), unaware that Culp had foreseen all of it and that it was only a step in a much larger plan, one which almost culminated in the destruction of Opal City.
Friend or Foe?[]
From then on in, little was seen of the Shade until Jack Knight became the new Starman after the death of his brother David,who then apparently found an enemy in Shade when he kidnapped his father, the elderly scientist and retired Starman Ted Knight on the orders of the decrepit, senile Mist, who wished for a final showdown. Shade later betrayed the Mist by allying himself with the O'Dare Family, a clan of police officers who assisted Jack in memory of their father, once a brave, fearless cop who often assisted the elder Starman. Shade, with the O'Dares, assaulted the Mist's hideout and rescued Ted Knight. Out of the O'Dares, he befriended the family's "black sheep", Matt O'Dare
Having returned to the United States and effectively retired, Shade took an interest in Jack Knight and offered to mentor the man who helped save Opal City from constant peril, both of mystical origin and that from beyond the stars.Though many in Opal were distrustful of the Shade, he slowly won the trust of many in the city though Culp, furious at how the Shade had rejected evil, finally assumed full control over Shade's body. Gathering an army of villains who Jack Knight had battled over the course of the young Starman's career, Culp (in Shade's body) cast a spell that allowed him to trap everyone inside Opal City using the shadow powers he possessed and began to destroy the entire city before Starman and the Shade (who ultimately expelled Culp from his body) opposed him. Ironically it would be the Shade's former ally the Golden Age Mist who would kill Culp, as Mist sold his soul to Neron to restore his mind (nearly gone due to alzheimers) in exchange for his killing the Shade. However, Ted Knight would sacrifice his life to save Shade and Opal City from Mist's final rampage...
The End?[]
With Ted Knight's death, as well as the death of Matt O'Dare (who was killed by his own brother Barry during Culp's Grand Guignol, having been persuaded to the villianous midgit's side), a ripple ran through the heroes of Opal City's lives.Many would retire and leave Opal City for greener and safer pastures ,this number including Jack Knight. But, Opal City was not left without a protector. Now fully embracing the life of a hero, The Shade now protects Opal City and its denizens from those who wish its harm or subjugation.
No one can hide from shadows, after all...
Role Playing Stats
NAME:Richard Swift AGE:Nearly 200 years old STRENGTHS: Experience and control over the occult,Literary minded,Expansive knowledge of politics,business,and botany.Fencer. Strategist. WEAKNESSES: Magic of various occult principles, Severe degrees of light/fire/solar based attacks/tactics
__________________ STATS
STRENGTH:Incredible
AGILITY:Fantastic
ENDURANCE:Monstrous
REASON:Fantastic
INTUITION:Unearthly
PSYCHE:Unearthly
SPEED:Typical
POPULARITY: Typical
______________________ DICE
PHYSICAL ATTACK: Excellent Ex 20 (1d20)
PHYSICAL DEFENSE: Sensational Sn 60 (6d10)
ENERGY ATTACK: See Below
ENERGY DEFENSE: Sensational Sn 60 (6d10)
PSYCHIC ATTACK: Unearthly Un 100 (1d100)
PSYCHIC DEFENSE: Unearthly Un 100 (1d100)
__________________ OTHER ABILITIES: Darkness Manipulation: ability to control darkness. His powers were revealed to be a connection to the Shadowlands (or Dark Zone), a dimension of primordial, quasi-sentient darkness which Shade can channel for various effects. Darkness Teleportation: ability to travel great distances in short amounts of time, by traveling between Earth and the Dark Zone. Darkness Constructs: ability to create solid constructs out of shadows. Shadowland Demon Control: ability to summon and command demonic creatures from the Dark Zone. Darkness Projection: ability to project darkness. Darkness Force-field: ability to surround himself with a force field. Immortal
