NEVILLE ALCOTT

NEVILLE ALCOTT
A senior intelligence officer at MI6, Neville has served as Ninjak’s
handler, as well as liaison to G.A.T.E. and Unity.
ENEMIES: The Shadow Seven, the Immortal Enemy, Livewire
KNOWN ALLIES: Ninjak, Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, the Eternal Warrior
BASE OF OPERATIONS: MI6 Headquarters, Vauxhall Cross
FIRST APPEARANCE: X-O MANOWAR #8
CAPABILITIES: Highly Intelligent; Extensive Intelligence Assets and Training

HISTORY: Alcott’s connection Colin King, and even Angelina

to Ninjak goes back to the Alcott, was simply gone.
superspy’s earliest days in Years later, Colin King, now
MI6. Alcott took over as Colin the agent known as Ninjak,

King’s handler following the
death of his first training
agent, Angelina Alcott,
apparently at the hands of
e
would help put Alcott in place
in the leadership of MI6 and
Alcott would meet the deadly
superspy for what he believed

fil
the acolytes of the Undead to be the first time.
Monk. Working with King, In this position, he has
the two of them located and played a vital role in respond-
planned the infiltration of the ing to superpowered threats
Monk’s remote monastery. around the world. When Live-
Both men had loved Angelina wire went rogue, Alcott was
and both wanted revenge on forced to put his friendship
her killers. with Ninjak aside to hunt the
When King disappeared, fugitive down. n
Alcott followed, but his own
encounter with the Undead RECOMMENDED READING:
e
Monk left his memory altered. NINJAK VOL. 2:
All recollection of the mission, THE SHADOW WARS TPB
pl
THE ALPHA
THE ALPHA
A
m

virtually immortal being with powerful psionic abilities, seemingly bent

on conquest.
REAL NAME: Unknown
ALIASES: Stormbringer; the Beast
ENEMIES: The Brotherhood of Cuth, The Lantern-Eyed Monks, H.A.R.D. Corps
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Hainan, People’s Republic of China
FIRST APPEARANCE: HARBINGER RENEGADE #6
Sa

CAPABILITIES: Telepathy; Telekinesis; Life-Force Absorption; Superhuman

Strength; Superhuman Durability; Virtual Immortality
HISTORY: In the 11th century,
a child drew the attention of
the Knights of Cuth for his
apparent superhuman abilities.
Reviled as a fierce demon,
capable of warping the minds
of his enemies, this child
nearly destroyed the armies
sent to kill him.
Years later, in Salerno,
Italy, the Knights of Cuth
once again confronted this
“demon,” but he managed to
escape to Antioch, Turkey,
where he seized a castle. A
protracted siege managed to
pierce the fortifications, allow-
ing Sir Gerald of Catalonia
to confront and capture the
Beast. In the centuries since,
the imprisoned Beast was
delivered to the keeping of
a monastery of the Lantern-
Eyed Monks in Hainan.
In the present day, Alex-
ander Solomon sought the
creature, now known as “the
Alpha” to bring about open
conflict between humans
and psiots. After learning
the Alpha’s location from the
Bleeding Monk, Solomon fed sault, the Alpha seized control RECOMMENDED READING:
OMEN false intelligence about of the minds of several H.A.R.D. HARBINGER RENEGADE VOL. 2:
his own whereabouts, leading Corps team members, forcing MASSACRE TPB
them directly to the Alpha’s the survivors to retreat. The
prison. Freed by the team’s as- Alpha remains at large. n

1 VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 1
ARCHER & ARMSTRONG

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2 THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION

 now as Armstrong. However, with fellow superhero Faith

ARCHER & ARMSTRONG .

upon meeting his target, the
naive young Archer realizes
he’s not an immortal demon,
A rmstrong is an immortal hedonist who’s partied and brawled his way
through the last ten millennia. Archer is a naive teenage combat just a drunk and irresponsible
savant raised by a malicious secret society to kill Armstrong. Despite that, lout, and that it is his parents
they’ve become the best of friends and inseparable partners. who are evil. The two team up
and work together to stop the
REAL NAMES: Obadiah Archer and Aram Anni-Padda Archers from reassembling and
ALIASES: Prodigal (Archer); He Who Is Not To Be Named (Armstrong) reactivating the Boon. They
ENEMIES: The Sect; Nauka Traveling Circus; Bacchus; The Lizard King; succeed, but not soon enough
General Redacted to stop Archer’s parents from
KNOWN ALLIES: Mary-Maria Archer; Andromeda; Gub Gub; Eternal Warrior; briefly activating the device, ac-
Ivar, Timewalker; Faith Herbert; Quantum and Woody cidentally killing the Geomancer
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Mobile and themselves, as the Boon
Herbert, Archer has helped
Armstrong tackle his many
problems– including going
spelunking inside his magic
satchel for a lost keepsake,
fighting a vengeful party god he
forgot was imprisoned inside
said satchel, encountering an
entire circus spliced with his
DNA, and reconnecting with
Armstrong’s immortal wife
(whom he also forgot about). n
RECOMMENDED READING:

e
FIRST APPEARANCE: ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #1 siphons off their life force and
CAPABILITIES: Archer – Master Martial Artist, Marksmanship, Instantaneous infuses it into Archer’s beloved
Skill Recall; Armstrong – Super Strength, Regenerative Healing, Immortality. sister, Mary-Maria.
The accidental death of the
A&A: THE ADVENTURES OF
ARCHER & ARMSTRONG VOL. 1:
IN THE BAG TPB

fil
HISTORY: Archer and that destroys the city, siphon- Geomancer leads to a con-
Armstrong are an adven- ing off the life force of count- frontation and then a team-up
turing duo who often find less people and channeling with Armstrong’s brother Gilad,
themselves battling the Sect, it into the nearby Armstrong. the Eternal Warrior. The three
an evil coalition of secret soci- Since then, Armstrong has work together to find the new
eties. From fighting dinosaurs wandered the Earth, Geomancer and stop the
and flying saucers to dealing coming afoul again reality-destroying
with a city-wide frat party, and again of the DID YOU machinations of
these two traveling trouble- conspiratorial the Null. Since
KNOW…
makers have proven that
– even if they don’t always
Sect, which
aims to steal
e Armstrong has
then, they’ve
traveled back to
collected a bottle of
see eye to eye – no force can the secret of the Faraway to
wine for every year he
stand in their way so long as endless life from free Armstrong’s
has been alive.
they stick together. the freewheeling other brother Ivar;
pl
Born in the ancient city of immortal. been caught up in
Ur, Armstrong is one of three In the modern day, the middle of a Sect Civil
brothers and mighty champi- Congresswoman Thelma and War, with Archer managing
ons of the ancient civilization. Reverend Joseph Archer – to take control of most of the
On their greatest adventure, secret leaders of the Dominion organization (though he’d later
the Anni-Paddas travel to the branch of the Sect – abduct a disband the part under his
m

mysterious Faraway to retrieve gifted young child and adopt control); and have even gone
a mystic device known as him into their large family. looking for Archer’s biological
the Boon, but the youngest of Renamed Obadiah Archer, the parents in Hollywood inside the
them, Gilad, dies in the attempt. young man spends his youth lair of the Lizard King, leader of
On their return, the eldest, training alongside his 21 foster the celebrity-abducting Church
Ivar, activates the Boon in an siblings to kill the Dominion’s of Retrology.
attempt to return Gilad to life. ultimate enemy: He Who Is Not Most recently, in addition to
Sa

What follows is a cataclysm to Be Named, better known beginning a budding romance

FRIENDS AND FOES

GUB GUB CONGRESSWOMAN AND ANDROMEDA BACCHUS MARY-MARIA ARCHER

HIDEOUS REVEREND ARCHER
SCIENCE EXPERIMENT ARCHER’S
A once ordinary man ADOPTIVE PARENTS
genetically spliced with One-time leaders of the
Armstrong’s DNA. Dominion. Their spirits were
imbued into Mary-Maria by
the activation of the Boon.
ARMSTRONG’S IMMORTAL GREEK ARCHER’S
ESTRANGED WIFE PARTY “GOD” ADOPTIVE SISTER
A 6,000-year-old immortal Armstrong’s greatest A master assassin and
Greek “goddess.” nemesis he forgot inside his leader of the Sisters of
endless magic satchel for Perpetual Darkness.
3,000 years.

THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 3

ARMOR HUNTERS
HISTORY: The Armor Hunters
are an elite fighting force of
aliens recruited to combat
the growing menace repre-
sented by the spread of the
sentient X-O Manowar armors
throughout the universe.
Based on the planet Gennin,
squads of hunters traversed with Unity when they
the universe purging planets came to Earth to destroy
infected by the X-O armors. the armor wielded by
The Hunters’ main force even- Aric of Dacia. n
tually fell to the combined
onslaught of their quarry. The RECOMMENDED
last surviving team, led by READING:
Primary Reebo, fell in combat ARMOR HUNTERS TPB

TEAM MEMBERS

e
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PRIMARY REEBO QUARTZ HELIX LILT
MERCENARY ZEALOT MINERALOID ALIEN LIVING ADAPTIVE DATA DRAGON ALIEN
Leader of the last Last remaining Able to shift from A winged creature
remaining squad of member of a race corporeal to an energy with a corrosive GIN-GR
Armor Hunters; killed
by Aric of Dacia.
exterminated by the
armors; currently a
e
based form
at will; currently a
breath; killed by
Bloodshot.
SENTIENT SPACECRAFT
Recruited from a race of giant self-aware
prisoner of G.A.T.E. prisoner of G.A.T.E. robots; currently working with G.A.T.E.
pl
ARMORINES
ARMORINES
A
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n elite military fighting force armed with high-tech armor suits

originally designed by billionaire industrialist Philip Zahn to combat the
perceived threat of X-O Manowar.
REAL NAMES: Gunnery Sergeant Harold Lewis (Gold Leader); Staff Sergeant
Michael Sirot (Number One); James Earl Williams (Number Two); Grissom
(Number Three); Antonio Cordova (Number Four)
GROUP AFFILIATION: Work under the command of G.A.T.E.
Sa

KNOWN ALLIES: X-O Manowar

FIRST APPEARANCE: X-O MANOWAR #30
CAPABILITIES: Varies by model including: Flight; Exoskeleton Enhanced
Strength; Ion Cannons; Optical Camouflage; Size Manipulation
HISTORY: Inspired by X-O When Zahn’s plan failed,
Manowar, the Armorine armor he was imprisoned, and the
was created by billionaire Armorines program was ceded
industrialist Phillip Zahn as to the Department of Defense.
a next-generation weapons Since then, the Armorines
package to revolutionize the have been reconstituted as
face of warfare. When G.A.T.E. a professional military team.
consented to a U.N. inspection They have fought side by side
of the X-O Manowar armor, Zahn with X-O Manowar on multiple
saw a chance to unveil his new occasions, including against
fighting force. He planned to use the bizarre alien menace
his Armorines to overcome and known as the Torment. n
execute X-O Manowar during
the inspection, demonstrating RECOMMENDED READING:
the potency of his technology to X-O MANOWAR VOL. 8:
the world market. ENTER ARMORINES TPB

4 VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION

 BARON SAMEDI
BARON SAMEDI
T he Voodoo ruler of the dead, Baron Samedi is a cunning and untrust-
worthy negotiator – as dangerous an ally as he is an enemy.
KNOWN ALLIES: Known to work with anyone that will aid his agenda.
ENEMIES: Master Darque; The Brethren
BASE OF OPERATIONS: The Deadside
GROUP AFFILIATION: The Voodoo Loa
FIRST APPEARANCE: SHADOWMAN #5
CAPABILITIES: Control of the Dead; Possession; Dimensional Travel

HISTORY: A member of the Master Darque, Samedi

Voodoo pantheon, Baron sought Shadowman’s help
Samedi is an overlord of to protect both the living

the afterlife realm known
as the Deadside. Like the
other Loa, Samedi is capable
of possessing – or “riding”
e
and the dead from total
annihilation. Samedi, along
with the other Loa, later
turned to Punk Mambo when

– mortals, allowing him to
meddle in the affairs of the
living or simply enjoy the
earthly pleasures of the living
world. While he is notorious
for making bargains that
benefit him in unexpected
ways, circumstance has
made him an occasional ally
of both Shadowman and
Punk Mambo.
When the Deadside was
threatened by a marauding
pl
BLEEDING MONK
A
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fil
a villain known as Azaire
threatened to destroy the
Voodoo pantheon. Shrewd
and self-serving, Baron
Samedi remains an enigmatic
figure whose desires can turn
him from friend to foe at a
moment’s notice. n
RECOMMENDED READING:
SHADOWMAN (2018) VOL. 1:
e
FEAR OF THE DARK TPB
BLEEDING MONK

n ancient psiot whose perceptions span space and time, the Bleeding
Monk advised Toyo Harada for decades.
REAL NAME: Kyros
GROUP AFFILIATION: The Lantern-Eyed Monks; the Harbinger Foundation (formerly)
KNOWN ALLIES: Toyo Harada
FIRST APPEARANCE: HARBINGER #1
CAPABILITIES: Precognition; Remote Viewing; Unaffected by Time
Sa

HISTORY: Over two thousand bleeding wound that somehow

years ago, a philosopher
named Kyros traveled with
Alexander the Great’s armies.
Kyros spent years meditating
and learning from a mysterious
master, known as the Naked
Lover of Wisdom, to unlock
his latent psiot abilities. In
the ages that followed, Kyros
attracted followers possessing
strange abilities like himself.
Eventually, he and his stu-
dents, known as the Lantern-
Eyed Monks, attracted too
much attention, drawing the
ire of the Chinese emperor in
the 18th century. The emperor’s
soldiers slew Kyros’s students
and left him with an endlessly
does not kill him. It was this
moment that unlocked his
precognitive perception.
Centuries later, the Bleed-
ing Monk was sought out by
Toyo Harada. With the Monk’s
guidance, Harada built his
global empire. But the two
would split over the fated
destiny of Peter Stanchek, the
one psiot with the ability to
oppose Harada. When Peter
rebelled the Monk left Harada,
telling him his purpose was
only to make a new age possi-
ble, not to control it. n
RECOMMENDED READING:
HARBINGER VOL. 6: OMEGAS TPB

THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 5

BLOODSHOT

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6 THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION

 named Magic from one of the resulted in Jessie rapidly aging
BLOODSHOT nanite-infused killers.
After surviving a P.R.S.
to adolescence. Following a
confrontation with the P.R.S.

Infused with cutting-edge nanotechnology, Bloodshot was designed by

his former masters at private military contractor Project Rising Spirit to
be a nearly unstoppable killing machine. But after defying his program-
triggered nanite outbreak
in New York, Ray and Magic
settled down to raise their
successor organization OMEN
and their nanite-powered
weapon named Rampage, Ray
ming and escaping his captors, he now strives to be a hero and a man. newborn daughter, Jessie. was reunited with Magic and
But Ray was forced to become their daughter. n
REAL NAME: Ray Garrison
Bloodshot again when the
KNOWN ALLIES: Unity; Bloodhound; Bloodshot Squad: MI6; Neville Alcott
nanites he carried threatened RECOMMENDED READING:
ENEMIES: Project Rising Spirit; Rampage; Toyo Harada; OMEN
to kill his daughter. To save BLOODSHOT SALVATION VOL. 1:
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Mobile
her, Ray made a deal with the THE BOOK OF REVENGE TPB
FIRST APPEARANCE: BLOODSHOT #1
voodoo loa Baron Samedi that
CAPABILITIES: Nanite-Enhanced Strength, Speed, and Endurance;
Accelerated Healing; Alter Appearance; Machine Interface and Control;
Comprehensive Military Training
FAMILY AND FRIENDS

e
HISTORY: Project Rising Spirit’s ots imprisoned there. This led to
program to create the ultimate the Harbinger Wars confronta-
nanite-powered soldier tion in Nevada between Blood-

stretches back decades.
Their most recent subject,
the man that believes himself
to be Ray Garrison, is their
greatest success and worst
failure. Breaking free from the
military contractor’s control,
Bloodshot has set out to right
wrongs and be a hero on his
own terms.
Beginning at the
fil
shot, the Harbinger Renegades,
and Toyo Harada’s Harbinger
Foundation. The fight in Las
Vegas ended with Bloodshot in
Harada’s hands until the newly
MAGIC JESSIE
reactivated H.A.R.D. Corps broke
RAY’S TRUE LOVE NANITE-INFUSED CHILD
him out. Bloodshot briefly led A survivor of abuse Bloodshot and Magic’s
the H.A.R.D. Corps team, agree- and the mother of Ray’s daughter rapidly aged by exposure
ing to work with P.R.S. against daughter, Jessie. to the extra-dimensional energies
Harada in exchange for Ray
e
Garrison’s full personnel
of the Deadside.

height of WWI, files.

the Bloodshot DID When P.R.S.
program has YOU KNOW… again tried
pl
steadily Bloodshot’s nanites make to regain
refined its him extraordinarily durable control of
technology in though not inexhaustible, their errant
every major as he requires a steady super-soldier,
BLOODHOUND DIANE FESTIVAL
conflict. It was supply of protein to Bloodshot
FIRST ENHANCEMENT SUBJECT FBI PROFILER
the develop- power them. vanished. He A very good boy A special agent who investigated
m

ment of artificial resurfaced to technologically enhanced for the nanite-powered murderers in

intelligence systems
and implanted memory
technology in the 90s that
unlocked the full potential of
the program. Now, they could
implant false memories and
Sa
aid MI6 and the trench warfare in WWI. Colorado and uncovered the P.R.S.
Eternal Warrior against plan to unleash a nanite plague.
the Immortal Enemy. In that
fight Bloodshot was deployed
to protect the Geomancer,
Kay McHenry. Bloodshot was

fully fabricated identities into not able to keep the Immortal

their ultimate weapons to
motivate them to succeed no
matter the cost.
When a P.R.S. scientist
named Emmanuel Kuretich
discovered his employer was
using Bloodshot to target and
capture psiot children to ex-
periment on and exploit their
abilities, he turned against
them. When the time was
right, Kuretich struck, breaking thing he’d done in the service
Bloodshot free from P.R.S.
control and releasing all of his
false memories at once.
The now independent Blood- ordinary people into mass
shot struck back at his former
masters, attacking their secret
Nevada facility and setting
loose the Generation Zero psi-
Enemy from killing Kay, who
used her dying breath to
purge Bloodshot’s nanites
from his system, restoring to
him his lost humanity.
In the short time he’d
known Kay, Bloodshot had
come to care for her deeply.
Now an ordinary man, Ray
struggled with both her loss
and the memories of every-
of P.R.S. Ray was forced to
reclaim his nanites when he
discovered they were turning
killers. In the course of this BLOODSHOT SQUAD
VETERAN NANOTECH SOLDIERS
hunt, Ray found himself car-
Tank Man, Quiet Man, Cold Man, and Viet Man are Ray’s
ing for someone again when surviving Project: Bloodshot Predecessors.
he rescued a young woman

THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 7

BRITANNIA
HISTORY: In the year 60 A.D.,
during the reign of Nero, the
Roman legionary Antonius
Axia serves as the world’s first
detective. Trained in the art of
detection by the Codex, sacred
writings held in secret by the
Vestal Virgins of Rome, Axia
uses his skills in deduction
and training in the ways of the
mind to solve mysteries that
confound his fellow Romans.
In an era ruled by superstition,
the detectioner faces menaces
that defy reason and would
take a lesser mind past the
brink of madness.
Long hailed as the hero of
the battle of Tigranocerta,
fil
Antonius Axia was a natural
choice when Rubria, chief of the
Vestal Virgins, needed someone
to rescue one of her young
charges. The young woman had
been captured and was soon to
be sacrificed by followers of a
dark Etruscan god of the under-
world named Orkus. Antonius
e saved the young Vestal from
her fate, but his encounter in
the cave of Orkus left his mind
fractured, either from the power
of the demonic entity or per-
pl
haps merely because of toxic
fumes that naturally seeped
from the walls of the cave.
Whatever the cause, Rubria had
her Vestals heal the man, and
set about training him for her
m
own purposes.
Six years later, Antonius
had established a formidable
reputation as an investigator.
Formidable enough that Nero
called for him and demanded
that he and his manservant,
Sa
Bran, undertake a mission to
the remote stretches of the
ROMANS AND BARBARIANS
ANTONIUS AXIA BRAN ACHILLIA RUBRIA
THE DETECTIONER LOYAL MANSERVANT GLADIATRIX CHIEF VESTAL MAD EMPEROR
Hero of the Roman le- A Briton and slave who A slave whose work Guardian of the sacred A power-crazed despot
gions trained in secret aids Antonius in his alongside Antonius fire of Rome, she using the detectioner’s
arts of deduction and cases. has won her freedom, works in secret to unique skills to ferret
psychology. and his heart. undermine Nero. out threats.
8 VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION
empire in Britannia to solve the
mysterious disappearances of
Roman soldiers on the frontier.
There, Antonius and Bran un-
covered another cult of Orkus
that had taken hold among the
legionaries. Though the cult
was rooted out, Antonius’s en-
counters in the wilds with the
powers of the druids and what
appeared to be Orkus himself
left him questioning how many
of these fantastic visions were
real and how many merely
visions of drug-addled minds.
e
These questions would arise
again when, back in Rome, the
sons and daughters of nobility
began to die under mysterious
circumstances, apparently
claimed by angry Roman gods.
With the help of Achillia, a
slave woman condemned to die
in the arena who had instead
thrived there as one of its
deadliest gladiators, Antonius
uncovered the plot. A vengeful
slave woman named Elissa
had been drugging the young
nobles into believing they were
seeing the gods before using
their vision-addled state to
take their lives one by one.
Antonius and Achillia would
then be called on by Nero to
travel to Egypt to retrieve the
standards of a lost legion–a
loss that threatened the
emperor’s reign. The two
succeeded, but that did little to
gain the trust of the mad em-
peror, whose insanity Rubria’s
visions now lead her to believe
will soon destroy Rome. n
RECOMMENDED READING:
BRITANNIA TPB
NERO ORKUS
CHTHONIC DEITY
An Etruscan god that
Antonius does not be-
lieve exists but plagues
him nevertheless.

THE DARQUES
T win siblings Nicodemo and Sandria Darque were trained in the arts of
necromancy from a young age. A falling out set Nicodemo on the course
to wipe out all of existence, and Sandria on the path to stop him.
REAL NAMES: Nicodemo Darque; Sandria Darque
ENEMIES: Shadowman; Ninjak
KNOWN ALLIES: The Brethren (Master Darque)
BASE OF OPERATIONS: The Deadside
FIRST APPEARANCE: SHADOWMAN #1 (Master Daqrque), SHADOWMAN #0
(Sandria)
CAPABILITIES: Necromancy; Dimensional Travel
HISTORY: Nicodemo and
Sandria Darque were born in
Louisiana in 1812. Their mother
died in childbirth, leaving the
twins to be raised alone by
their sorcerer father. He trained
them with a single purpose: to
help him open the gates to the
mystic realm known as Lyce-
um. However, when they began
the ritual on their 18th birthday,
Sandria and Nicodemo discov-
ered that their father’s plan
all along had been to sacrifice
his children in order to travel
to Lyceum. To save Sandria,
Nicodemo killed their father
and siphoned off his power.
Leaving their father’s home
pl
in ruins, the twins became
traveling mystics, doling out
small blessings and curses for
a profit. During this time, Nico-
demo developed a disdain for
the wider world and life itself.
m
This terrified Sandria, driving
her to flee from her brother. It
was then she met and fell in
love with a man named Marius
Boniface. When the jealous
Nicodemo finally tracked them
down, Sandria was giving
Sa
birth to Marius’s child. To save
her love, Sandria sacrificed
their child to bind the Shadow
Loa to Marius, cursing him and
his descendants to becoming
the Shadowman.
Spurned by his sister, Nico-
demo then resolved to seek
out the power of Lyceum for
himself. A century later, now
known as Master Darque, he
discovered that the pathway
to Lyceum lay through his
nemesis, the Shadowman. In
a final climactic battle with
Josiah Boniface, descendant
of Marius, Nicodemo used the
power of the Shadowman to
cross into the celestial realm.
Years later, Nicodemo
attempted to return at last to
THE DARQUES
his home dimension, leaving
e
Lyceum little more than
blood and ashes in his wake.
But the intervention of the
newly appointed Shadow-
fil
man, Jack Boniface, left
him trapped in the Dead-
side, halfway between the
realms of the living and the
dead. Eventually, Nicodemo
succeeded in capturing and
chaining the Shadowman
to his will, binding Jack to
the mission of retrieving the
e
scattered mystical artifacts
of the library of Lyceum and
destroying them.
Leaving Jack to this work,
Nicodemo set upon a new
scheme. With his necroman-
tic powers, Darque attempted
to subvert the power of a new
Geomancer and set in motion
a cataclysm that would con-
sume the world. Thwarted by
another Geomancer, Tama,
Nicodemo was left trapped
in the form of a twisted tree.
It was then Sandria emerged
to end her brother’s life for
good. With the aid of Ninjak
and the assassins of the
Shadow Seven, Nicodemo
was left little more than
scattered bones.
Sandria recovered Nicode-
mo’s bones, but fearing what
would happen if they fell into
the wrong hands, Jack Boni-
face pursued her to her secret
lair in Scotland. During their
struggle, Sandria unbound
Jack from the Shadow Loa,
but he managed to trap her in
a pocket dimension, alongside
Nicodemo’s remains. Jack
then delivered that pocket
dimension to the hands of
Baron Samedi. n
RECOMMENDED READING:
SHADOWMAN (2018) VOL. 3:
RAG AND BONE TPB
THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 9
DIVINITY

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10 VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION

 where his efforts to create a free of the illusion and

DIVINITY .
paradise on Earth attracted a
group of devotees – led by a
convinced the maddened
Kazmir that he could do so

D ecades ago, the Soviet Union sent cosmonaut Abram Adams into deep space. wanderer named David Camp much more with his powers
There, an encounter with the Unknown gifted him with godlike powers. – and brought him into conflict than resurrect a dead past,
with the super-team Unity. inspiring him to set off for
REAL NAME: Abram Adams The heroes of Unity barely parts unknown.
ENEMIES: David Camp; Kazmir; The Red Brigade managed to contain the cos- Having found peace,
KNOWN ALLIES: Myshka; Unity; Atom-13; Tagg the Sky Goddess; The Past-Light monaut, who they codenamed Divinity and Myshka settled
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Ugra National Park, Russia “Divinity.” The conflict ended down together in a remote
FIRST APPEARANCE: DIVINITY #1 when Divinity consented to cabin in the Russian wilds.
CAPABILITIES: Reality Warping; Matter Manipulation; Time Manipulation his own confinement. Their peace was inter-
Eventually Myshka, rupted when alien forces
HISTORY: Abram Adams was mission in all ways except now also possessing from the Unknown came to
a cosmonaut who discovered one: he had a secret love, reality-warping abilities, abduct their child. The duo

e
an interstellar domain called Eva, pregnant with his child. returned to Earth using power journeyed to the Unknown,
the Unknown that granted him Forced to choose between siphoned from fellow cosmo- confronting David Camp
reality-altering powers. When his duty and leaving Eva naut, Kazmir. On her return, in his mad scheme to take
he returned to Earth, he was behind, Abram – alongside Myshka attempted to restore control of the vast forces of

fil
treated as a deity by some fellow cosmonauts Valentina the U.S.S.R. as a world power. the Unknown by assassinat-
and a major threat by “Myshka” Volkov and Abram, feeling they should ing a cosmic caretaker called
others. Despite the Kazmir – departed not use their powers to inter- the Observer. Divinity and
impact someone DID YOU Earth in 1960. fere, confronted her and was Myshka foiled Camp’s plan
this powerful KNOW… At the far end able to convince Myshka to and saved the alien realm
could have, the Divinity is one of of the cosmos, end her conquest. from destruction by allowing
former son of the few people to ever the trio awoke Unfortunately, it turned out their child to become the
the state now reach a stalemate from their Kazmir was not dead. He took new Observer. n
only wishes to with Toyo Harada. cryogenic sleep possession of Myshka’s body
protect mankind.
In 1941, Abram
e
years earlier than
expected, having en-
and used their combined pow-
ers to rewrite history, creating
RECOMMENDED READING:
DIVINITY TPB
Adams was abandoned countered an anomalous an alternate reality where
on a Russian citizen’s location they dubbed “the the Soviet Union won
doorstep when he was just Unknown.” While exploring the Cold War. In this
pl
a baby, becoming a ward the phenomenon, for reasons new Stalinverse,
of the state. Raised to be he could hardly explain, Abram was
an exemplar of communist Abram removed his helmet. confined to a
superiority, Abram eventually Exposure to the strange en- mental insti-
joined the Soviet space pro- ergies of the place endowed tution. With
gram, where he was selected him with new cosmic abilities the help
m

and trained for a highly – abilities Abram used to of Ninjak

classified mission to explore abandon the mission and and Toyo
the furthest reaches of the return home alone. Harada,
galaxy. Abram was uniquely Abram landed in Australia Abram
suited to this decades-long over 50 years after he left, broke

FRIENDS AND FOES

Sa

MYSHKA DAVID CAMP KAZMIR

COPILOT TO THE UNKNOWN THE CARTOGRAPHER MAD GOD
Once his adversary, now Abram’s A worshipper of Divinity who has The third cosmonaut to return from the
love and mother of his son. now turned against him. Unknown. Creator of the Stalinverse timeline.

THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 11

DEADSIDE

pl
HISTORY: The Deadside is one
of many nether realms and
outer dimensions separated
from Earth’s mortal plane
by the veil of worlds. This
m
e
in the mortal realm. However,
within its vast stretches, the
Deadside’s environment can
vary widely.
Its native inhabitants are
e
fil
border nearly all the known
worlds. For some, the Dead-
side itself is the afterlife,
their final destination in the
hereafter; for others, it is
medi, the Deadside serves as
a conduit for the supernatu-
ral power of the Shadowman.
It was also used as a font of
harnessed soul energy by the

shadowy realm exists as
a dark mirror of the lands
of the living, with many
locations within the Dead-
side appearing as gloomy
reflections of counterparts
Sa
the souls of the departed,
though beings from many
other realms — and even the
living — can be encountered
there, as the Deadside’s
dim and misty boundaries
merely a waystation on the
path to their final reward;
and to a few, it is a source of
mystical power.
Presided over by powers
like the Voodoo Loa Baron Sa-
necromancer Master Darque
in his schemes to destroy all
existence. n
RECOMMENDED READING:
RAPTURE TPB

NOTABLE INHABITANTS

PALE MISTRESS LORD IVROS JAUNTY EMBER AMY BELU

SOUL SOVEREIGN DESPOT OF THE TRICKSTER SPIRIT DEMON PRISONER DEMON DREAM REMNANT
OF THE SEA SUNDERED PLAIN Once a guide to Assisted Master Friend of Tama the Rules a Deadside
Imprisoned Hwen Leader of a Shadowman in the Darque in collecting Geomancer and inca- realm populated by
Mirage’s soul. Deadside army. Deadside. magical artifacts. pable of telling a lie. “dead dreams.”

12 VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION

 DOCTOR MIRAGE
DOCTOR MIRAGE
S han Fong-Mirage can talk to the dead, an ability she uses alongside her ghostly
husband Hwen in her career as an occult detective and reality TV star.
REAL NAME: Shan Fong-Mirage
ENEMIES: Linton March; Lord Ivros; Denis de Walt; Master Darque
KNOWN ALLIES: Li Hwen Mirage (ghostly spouse); Shadowman
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Santa Barbara, CA
FIRST APPEARANCE: SHADOWMAN #5
CAPABILITIES: Spirit Channeling; Occult Expertise

HISTORY: Doctor Mirage is an ocean domains named the

expert on all things other- Pale Mistress had imprisoned
worldly, aided by her natural her husband. Shan bargained

ability to commune with the
deceased. With the ghost
of her husband by her side,
she’s making up for lost
e
for Hwen’s release, but while
she was gone, several of
Linton March’s fellow occult-
ists kidnapped her body to

fil
time while also protecting prevent her from breaking the
the Earth from otherworldly binding spell that extended
threats and starring in her all their lives. To make matters
own hit reality TV show about worse, a demon lord named
her exploits as a real-life Ivros was amassing an army
ghost hunter. for his conquest of the liv-
Born with the ing realm. Shan and
power to see, DID Hwen managed
hear, and to defeat both
YOU KNOW…
even speak
with the Doctor Mirage’s costume
threats and
e
finally reunite
spirits of the was designed and warded by in the real
dead, Shan Hwen while he was still alive world.
studied the to protect her from super- Together
pl
occult and natural influences. again, the
parapsychol- lovebirds began
ogy for years to
master her innate
abilities. Which was how she
searching for a way
to give Hwen a corporeal
form. Their research led them to
FRIENDS AND FOES
met paranormal investigator the Vita Secunda scroll, bringing
m

Li Hwen Mirage. Together the
two became world-renowned
investigators and co-stars
of a popular reality TV show
about their adventures, and
eventually, man and wife. But
that all came to a tragic end
Sa
them into conflict with the spirit
of a powerful occultist from
the 1920s called Denis de Walt.
Complicating matters further,
Mirage’s agent was working on
reviving their old TV show, only
with a new co-star to stand

when Hwen drowned in a fight in for her ghostly husband.

THE PRISONER LINTON MARCH
with an interdimensional scav- Ultimately, Shan imprisoned de
FORMER AGENT OF LYCEUM CORRUPT OCCULTIST
enger. Worse yet, Shan found Walt back in the scroll, and the A mystic entity once used A potent mystic augmented
herself unable to even contact couple continues their search by March and his fellows to by the bound souls of his
Hwen’s spirit. for a way to restore Hwen fully extend their lives. former partners.
Shan struggled for years to back to life.
come to term with this loss, When not working her own
until her agent convinced cases, Mirage is often lending
her she needed to take on a a hand to other superheroes
wealthy client named Linton in need of her unique occult
March to save her home from expertise; including joining a
foreclosure. March wanted to team led by Ninjak, battling
hire Mirage to remove a spell literal nightmares with Faith,
binding him to an otherworldly and helping the Eternal Warrior
servant. Mirage agreed, but save the young Geomancer,
only because the creature Tama, from the invading forces
ALEX HUANG DENIS DE WALT
told her doing so would help of Imperatrix Virago. n
HWEN’S DOUBLE EVIL SPIRIT
her locate Hwen’s spirit. Hwen’s TV stand-in; has been An actor and occultist from the
Shan projected her spirit RECOMMENDED READING: mysteriously changed by his 1920s trying to live again.
into the Deadside, where she THE DEATH-DEFYING contact with the supernatural.
discovered that a spirit of the DR. MIRAGE TPB

THE VALIANT UNIVERSE HANDBOOK 2019 EDITION 13