Aliases : List of other names by which the character is known.
Base of Operations : Primary location for the character.
Tag : shade
Important Plots : None.
Journal(s) : times_past, jla_extras2
Status : Played

Powers and Abilities : Shade is at present one of the best, if not the ultimate, channeler of the power of the Darklands, a quasi-sentient, extra-dimensional mass of malleable darkness which he can channel to various effects, both as an absence of light and a solid substance: he can summon and control "demons" from there, summon and dispel shields and areas of complete darkness, create all kinds of constructs out of shadows (in a similar manner to a Green Lantern, with the exception of the color of the constructs), transport himself and others through it over massive distances, and can, if necessary, use it as a last-ditch prison dimension.

Eventually, his experience with the shadows allows him to create corridors through time (the most dramatic instance being when he sends Jack Knight's spaceship from a point in space in late twentieth century to the neighborhood of Xanthu in the Legion of Super-Heroes' era and from there to Krypton, several decades before its destruction). These powers have also granted Shade agelessness and immortality. Overall, his powers are formidable to the point that Dr. Fate once remarked that even The Spectre would have serious difficulty dealing with him, possibly due to the origin of his powers (the former realm of a divine entity on par with God). He is heavily resistant to damage, as seen when a demolition bomb falls on him, leaving him only slightly dazed.

His only weakness (if it can be called such) is the fact that if he loses his shadow, he becomes vulnerable. However, this can only occur if a survivor from the same event in 1838 drains him of it, or in the event of a light strong enough to completely surround him, to the point that he is unable to cast a shadow.

History : The Shade is a comic book character developed in the 1940s for National Comics. Debuted as a villain, the Shade was best known for fighting against two generations of superheroes, most notably the Golden Age and Silver Age versions of the Flash. He eventually became a mentor for Jack Knight, the son of the Golden Age Starman Ted Knight, a character the Shade had also fought.

Though initially portrayed in the Golden Age comics as a thief with a cane that could manipulate shadows, the character was reinvented in 1994 as a morally ambiguous Victorian era immortal who gained the ability to manipulate shadows and his immortality from an unexplained mystical event.

The Shade 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 decades thereafter, 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 tried to kill Shade by poisoning him. Shade survived the toxins, and was forced to kill Marguerite when she confessed that though she loved him, she would make more attempts on his life due to loyalty to her family. This left Shade 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.

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 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 not committing even a single crime within its limits).

Divergences : Notes on the character's departures from main DCU canon.

Disclaimer - unless otherwise noted, all characters are property of DC Comics, used here only for roleplaying purposes.