Gardner Grayle (New Earth)

Real Name: Gardner Grayle Nicknames: No known nicknames Former Aliases: Shining Knight Other Current Aliases: No other known current aliases

Status
Occupation: Protector Legal Status: Legal status unknown Identity: Secret Marital Status: Marital status unknown Group Affiliation: Atomic Knights, formerly Seven Soldiers of Victory, Forgotten Heroes, Outsiders Base of Operations: S.T.A.R. Labs, Alexandria, Virginia

Origin
Origin of character unknown.

Place of Birth: Place of birth unknown Known Relatives: No known relatives First Appearance: Strange Adventures 117 (1960)

Early History
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.

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. 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.

Characteristics
Height: 6'1" Weight: 189 lbs (86 kg) Eyes: Blue Hair: Red Unusual Features: No unusual features

Powers
Known Powers: No known powers. Known Abilities: No known abilities. Strength Level: Strength level unknown

Miscellaneous
Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons.