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NIGHTHAWK

Other Earth's Greatest Detective

What if Nighthawk had never left the Squadron?

This is the Silver-Age Darkwinged Detective, his fearsome image balanced by a noble heart and loving family.

Character history:
Kyle Richmond was born into the class of the idle rich. He had everything -- looks, intelligence, money, a body most women would die for, and many men would kill for. As one might imagine, Kyle quickly became bored. Bored by the empty lifestyle of moneyed youth, bored by the bubbleheaded trophies he was encouraged to date, bored by vacuous companions whose idea of adventure was yachting without their crews.

So Kyle Richmond travelled. Around the world he went, learning anything and everything he could discover. When he returned, years later, he had a maturity that made him ever farther beyond the people he had known, and a purpose -- to use his vast knowledge and wealth to better the world around him. He had seen crushing tyranny and unimaginable poverty in his travels, and he vowed to do something about it. And yet his greatest trials would come to him from within his own family. His father had gone deeply into debt with the local gangsters, and couldn't repay them. He would lose the business. When Kyle turned up with enough money to pay the debt, the gangsters arbitrarily doubled the debt -- they'd been ordered to ruin and take over the business for their own organization's purposes. Kyle refused to pay another penny.

His parents and brother were killed the next day; only his phenomenal skills saved him. Enraged, he swore to end the 'epidemic of organized crime,' to hunt the vermin who sickened society like a...like a...nighthawk!

Inspired by a pulp magazine and a swiftly winging bird that very night, Kyle Richmond donned his legendary costume for the first time and brought justice to the Cosmopolis underworld. He had dabbled in criminology; now he dove into it with a vengeance, his dedication soon making him Other-Earth's greatest detective. It also made him a friend; on an early case, he met up with Cosmopolis' most famous immigrant, the mighty Hyperion. The power of the Last Eternal and the genius of the Darkwinged Detective turned out to be an unbeatable combination. The rest...well, the rest is in fact history.

Tactics:
Nighthawk is a tactical creature; he always thinks in terms of tactical advantage or vulnerability. His genius is such that he can often know what his opponent will do before even the villain knows. He usually thinks this way in terms of where and when a criminal will strike, but even in a battle this uncanny ability will manifest in amazing ways. In game terms, the Narrator may wish to give Nighthawk's player an 'Ingenious Inspiration' along the lines of the 'Intellectual Inspiration' ability described for Reed Richards in the FF Roster Book.

Squadron City | Squadron Sinister | Tao of Hypertime

 ===    /  "Everybody's got something inside them, some kind
  O   (/)  of power that makes them unique. I knew what mine
 ===  /    was. I knew it all along." -Barry Allen

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