- Batman. The Last Monitor. Duke Thomas. Signal. Every hero of 52 worlds. Every villain of two multiverses. They're all dead. But I'm not. As darkness consumes all...I am done running. There is no fear left. Or hope. There is only the dark and the monsters it hides. And me, left to hunt them through the Dark Multiverse. The Final Knight.
- — The Final Knight src
When Barbatos and his Dragons of the Bat attacked the multiverse, Duke Thomas hoped to save it. First he fled into it, trying to outrun their "Deathwave", but when he failed, he returned home and reunited the Justice League. The new League defeated the Dragons, at the cost of their lives, leaving Duke to be the Final Knight as the Deathwave collapsed everything around him.
History
Duke Thomas was once a sidekick to Batman, training under him to become a protector of Gotham City. He would be the final pupil of Batman, however, as the hero was used by the dark dragon Barbatos as an entry point into the multiverse. As Barbatos turned Batman into his vessel and the Justice League into his dragons, Duke watched his world collapse around him. Knowing his own world was without saving, Duke decided to flee into the multiverse, hoping to save at least one world from Barbatos's "Deathwave".
For two years, Duke outran the wave, doing everything he could to stop the wave or save the other 51 worlds, failing all the same. During this time, he discovered his powers to see visions of the past, and stole armor that allowed him to more freely traverse these worlds. When the 51st world collapsed, Duke, now called the "Last Monitor", had nowhere to go but back to his home. When he arrived on "Earth-Metal", Duke encountered his former teacher and his monstrous allies. He attempted to fight them, but would have lost had his old friend Nightwing not saved him. Duke followed Nightwing back to his lair in the Justice League Watchtower, where the world's last heroes, like Hawkgirl and The Flash hid. Despite knowing the Deathwave was coming, Duke gathered the heroes into a new Justice League, hoping for one final victory for good, before the end of everything.
After freeing a dragon of their own from the Batman Who Laughs, the Justice League faced off against the Dragons of the Bat. Duke's teammates gave their lives to stop the monstrous army, leaving him alone to battle his former teacher, now a monster called the Dragon of the End. Despite the Dragon's incredible power, Duke managed to survive its attacks long enough to teleport inside it, where Batman's original body laid dormant. Duke cut the tethers between Batman and the rest of his new body, killing him, leaving Duke as the last being alive while the Deathwave collapsed around him.
In the multiverse's last moments, Duke crafted the Dragon's skin into a new armor, and took Nightwing's Parall-Axe. Now calling himself The Final Knight, he watched as existence crumbled around him, and used his teleportation belt one final time. He traveled into the Dark Multiverse, where he encountered an observer named Tempus Fuginaut. Enraged that the being watched his world die and did nothing, the Final Knight knocked him out, before leaving into the Dark Multiverse once more, as the lone hero of countless twisted worlds.[1]
The Metal War
Journey into the Multiverse
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Retrocognition: Duke can see visions of the past, the way things used to be.
Abilities
- Leadership: Duke rallied the tired heroes of Earth into one final battle against Barbatos, and devised their strategy to battle him.
Weaknesses
- Power Instability: He has little control over his visions, and without wearing power-repressing goggles it can be difficult for him to see the present at all.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Monitor Armor: At some point, Duke stole armor that allowed him to traverse the multiverse. It was later augmented with the hide of the Dragon of the End.
- Teleportation: Duke's armor allows him to teleport both within one universe and between different ones.
- Energy Projection: The armor can project energy strong enough to stun Kryptothrax.
- Superhuman Durability
- Power-Suppressing Goggles: Based on technology from his multiverse's counterpart to Earth 10, the goggles allow Duke to see the world as it really is, as opposed to only visions of the past.
- Power-Chord
Weapons
- Parall-Axe: Taken from Nightwing, the Parall-Axe is a hybrid of an axe and guitar, forged from ingots made of the last Power Rings.
Notes
- In an alternate timeline born after the destruction of the Infinite Frontier, The Final Knight dies fighting Batwoman.[2]
Related
- 7 Appearances of Duke Thomas (Earth-Metal)
- 9 Images featuring Duke Thomas (Earth-Metal)
- 2 Quotations by or about Duke Thomas (Earth-Metal)
- Character Gallery: Duke Thomas (Earth-Metal)
Footnotes
Batman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category. |
Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |