Invisible Knight

Context

This character is an original creation. We often call these “homemades” or “homebrewed” – think home cooking or craft beer.

Many of these characters were created to take part in tabletop role-playing game sessions. Others were invented as a creative writing exercise, often as part of a community event.

This specific character was created for the 2015 DC Heroes list Halloween contest.

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Background

Powers & Abilities

A skilled armed combatant, Christopher is mainly familiar with archaic and WWII era weaponry. But he has worked to get up to date with advances since his disappearance.

His main armaments are a bracelet he inherited from his father, and a battle axe and armour of Atlantean origin which he found in Heraspos.

The bracelet allows him to separate his mind from his body so that it may travel alone. He’s had years of practice with it, and is quite comfortable travelling this way. Before learning of the bracelet’s abilities, he had recurrent dreams which took him to Heraspos.

This led him to later suspect the artifact has some kind of link to the city, though he’s yet to determine it.

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The Glimmer Armour is composed of an unknown metal which is both light and yet sturdy. Whether through natural aspects of the mysterious metal or some kind of enchantment, the armour can make just itself, or itself and it’s wearer, invisible.

This only works under normal light, so other forms of vision that can somehow work in the dark are unaffected. He often wears the armour invisibly in public.

The axe is capable of tearing a rip in the air when used in a certain way, which permits the wielder and anyone close by to see through solid matter directly ahead of the temporary breach. The breach only lingers a few seconds. Repeated slashes can maintain the view, or briefly allow views through further materials.

There’s a cumulative limit, so it’d be pushed to see through more than a couple of walls. It doesn’t work on cold iron, but is covered by the Glimmer Armour’s enchantment. So carries it strapped to his back in public without drawing attention.

He knows a little bit of many languages from his travels, but only enough to get across the general meaning, and is in no way fluent in any. While extremely fit and strong, Chris is unaccustomed to the pollutants of modern society, so can sometimes get short of breath in highly industrialised regions.

History

Born around the turn of the 20^th century to a single mother, Christopher knew little of his father until turning 18 and inheriting a bracelet the man had left. Shortly afterwards he began experiencing dreams of a fantastical ghostly city.

The dreams became frequent, and he actually came to know the city’s streets better than those of his home town. One day while daydreaming he learned the bracelet allowed him to send his mind wandering, and realised it must have a link to the city of his dreams.

It would only consciously allow him to travel under his own direction though, so he couldn’t simply focus on a city whose location he had no clue of.

Becoming obsessed with the city, and the possibility it may lead to his father, Chris travelled the world in search of lost civilisations. An adventurer, soldier-of-fortune, or occasional amateur archaeologist, he spent over a decade searching for lost cities, and finding a few, among other unbelievable oddities.

His adventures brought him into frequent conflict with Maximilian Drexler, an occultist and member of the Thule Society and leading Nazi. Drexler was obsessed with the Ghost City of Heraspos, believed to be a lost colony of Atlantis. When Chris got a look at Drexler’s notes he recognised it as the city from his dreams.

The Ghost City

Clues from Drexler’s notes led Chris to the site of the lost city, though he had to wait a few days as it was only accessible on All Hallows’ Eve every couple of decades. Drexler and his goons arrived as the city appeared, but Chris managed to lose them due to his familiarity with the streets.

Finding anything useful was difficult at night while avoiding the Thule force, but Chris stumbled across an enchanted suit of armour and battle axe of Atlantean design, and a few ancient records he was able to roughly decipher. He couldn’t avoid the Thule for long though, and was soon cornered by Drexler and his men.

Then the sun rose, and with the passing of All Hallows’ Eve they found themselves trapped in the city. As the ghosts that called it home returned from their brief sojourn in the outer world. The ensuing chaos gave Chris the opportunity to escape the Thule Society as they were slaughtered.

He evaded the city’s residents until it manifested in the real world the next night. Venturing out, he learned 20 years had passed during the day he’d been away. Quickly returning to the city, he sought out its library, to scavenge what he could in hopes of discovering a way back to his own time.

Unfortunately he learned Drexler still lived, having acquired his own arsenal from the ruins. After also venturing out, Drexler learned of the fall of the Nazis, and had similar ideas of looting the city. They fell to fighting, ending up trapped among the ghosts for another day.

Drexler hounded Chris, determined to punish him for foiling his plans. They were still fighting as dawn of the third day approached, but Drexler shoved Chris back into the city as he fled, promising to be wait for him next time Heraspos manifested.

Having only a day to prepare, compared to Drexler’s decades, Chris ignored his exhaustion and lack of sleep to plan. Learning his armour allowed him to make himself invisible, Chris reluctantly decided to suppress his dislike of running, and chose a stealthy response.

New World

Drexler – now in a colourful costume and calling himself Baron Occult – proved true to his word. He was ready with a small army of thugs when Heraspos appeared. Chris had little trouble sneaking past them as they ransacked the city.

Ignoring the urge to interfere with their plans, he stayed hidden, taking some solace that Drexler would be limited in his looting as he also searched the city for his prey.

Slowly learning to adapt to the new world in which he found himself, Chris stumbled into using his Atlantean artifacts to fight super-criminals, and was briefly a member of the Shadowpact. They helped him establish himself in the modern world, and battle Baron Occult as he tried using looted treasures in his latest maniacal scheme.

Adopting the costumed identity of the Invisible Knight, Chris found it a suitable substitute for the adventurous lifestyle he’d known. He’s mainly focusing on foiling Drexler’s plans, and stopping him for good, but has also begun researching what’s now known about Atlantis.

Description

While not exactly a hulking brute, Chris is extremely physically fit, and can appear vaguely brutish when concentrating. He dresses casually in plain clothes, but often has his armour on over them, invisible until he wants it to appear.

The armour, when not hidden, is a shiny, blue-tinted, steel, with a full face mask.

Personality

Fearless and somewhat obsessive, Chris is a kind of old-fashioned hero of the hit first, think later, type, though he’s smart enough when he takes the time to exercise his mind.

He dislikes backing down to any threat, but won’t stupidly face overwhelming odds. He’ll simply get irritable until he gets the chance to face the threat again on his own terms. He doesn’t like abandoning grudges, unless convinced he was wrong to develop the grudge in the first place.

Obsessed for so long with finding Heraspos, Chris is now somewhat lost. Adventuring is all he knows, and fighting all he feels he’s any good at, so he’s become focussed on his shared enmity with Drexler.

Finding Heraspos as it was put paid to his last hope of learning anything about his father, which had become a secondary concern by that point. He’d grown less interested in a father who’d shown little concern for him, what remaining curiosity he has mainly about his own link to Heraspos and Atlantis.

While he hasn’t abandoned all hope of finding answers, the urge doesn’t drive him as strongly as it once did.

Quotes

Drexler: “You shall never stop the glorious Reich.”
Kane: “Wasn’t planning on. Just gonna stop you.”

“I never called you stupid. Out loud.”

Marvel Universe History

Replace the Shadowpact with some iteration of the Defenders and you’re good to go.

Drexler could have played a role in the Thule Society’s involvement with Fear Itself, drawing the Invisible Knight into the story, and Atlantis has become more involved in the wider world in both continuities during the last century.

By Gareth Lewis.

Helper(s): Dr. Peter S. Piispanen for the Magic DC Character Creation System.

Writeup completed on the 31^st of October, 2015.