Character(s) Honest Steve's Honest Ste-character collection

[Honest steve]

Thomas Maddox

ignore this. :)

Basic Info

Name

Thomas Maddox​

Codename

The Knight Errant​

Age

36​

Race

Human (Magically enhanced)​

Pronouns

He/Him​

Sexuality

Hetrosexual​

Setting

Superhero​

Play-By

Kauls from comic Klaus by Grant Morrison​

Hair

Long, black, graying​

Eyes

Blue​

Facial hair & Scars

Yes​

Piercings & Tattoos

No​

Other

ANSWER​

Abilities

His powers revolve around the powerful and large Greatsword he wields. Created when Tommy made contact with a strange alien magical artefact that reacted to something within Tommy to form a large sword for him to wield. This process was a two-way transformation as Tommy was imbued with the same cosmic energies and it empowered him in a few useful ways.

His altered physiology has improved his muscles to grant him the power to lift well over fifteen tons and punch things really hard. When you’re waving around a large and heavy blade this is a very useful ability, which is why he can wield a weapon that others require two hands with only one. His enhanced leg muscles help him maintain balance with his large blade and gives him the incredible power to jump higher than most. It comes in handy more often than you’d think.

The Greatsword is a large straight-bladed, double-edged sword made from an alien glowing teal metal that appears to be extremely durable. It has a mental connection to Tommy that allows him to summon the blade to his hand provided he has the mental strength to do so. It comes with a nifty non-lethal attack in the form of a concussive wave of energy that emanates from the sharp edges of the blade at Tommy’s command.

(Note, I may add to this. Not to make it too overpowered, but since coming up with this character, I've thought of bunch of cool stuff I'd like to write him doing.)

Quick overview

A life-long fan of a British superhero team, thanks to a magic great-sword, he fulfilled his life-long ambition to join them and discovered their corruption. After having exposed his former employers for their failings, he comes to America to make a fresh start as the Knight Errant.

Background

it all started when...

Thomas Maddox, or Tommy, had always wanted to join the Royal Knight Corp. They were Great Britain’s official superhero team. He had always been a fan, but his world centred around them on his tenth birthday. He’d been in London during the Great Insanity Riot caused by the supervillain Mr Punch. After his father was caught under the influence of Mr Punch’s power and joined the riot, Tommy wandered around the city looking for him, instead, he found the supervillain of the hour. Needing to beat one child to death to complete a ritual, Mr Punch thought Tommy would make adequate practice but before he strike down the child, the blow was blocked by the arrival of the Lord Knight. Tommy watched as the Knights fought and defeated Mr Punch and ended the riots.

In the aftermath, Tommy grew obsessed with them. They become something of a comfort, especially after his parent’s marriage fell apart. He wasn’t sure when it became his goal but at some point, he made it his life goal to join their ranks and become one of the Royal Knights. No one took him seriously when he mentioned it though. They thought it was just the fantasies of a child with an overactive imagination. They thought he’d grow out of it and get a job in construction or plumbing, like a proper trade. That was everyone except one person.

Grant was his mother’s uncle who lived on a farm on the outskirts of town. He saw in Tommy’s eyes the conviction that everyone else mistook for childish arrogance. In Tommy, he saw goodness and bravery that, if fostered, could form the foundations of a great man. He believed that determination and worthiness would make him the perfect Knight. And he should know, he had been one of them as a younger man.

This fact blew young Tommy’s mind, and he was delighted when Grant told him he planned on training him to help him achieve his life’s goal, so for the next couple of years after school, Tommy would attend come to his farm to do his homework and train. Though his mother was unaware of what they were doing, she was happy for the help looking after her son after his father moved back to London with his younger girlfriend. Training took the form of being taught sword fighting, beating obstacle courses and helping around the farm. It was unconventional, but it helped Tommy become a fit and strong lad. The training ended when he was fifteen and taught him he had all he had to offer. Plus a recent stroke meant he had to take it easier and felt that the pair of them deserves to relax a little, especially before Tommy can qualify for the Knights proper.

It took some years before they accepted him for recruitment. In the meantime, he moved to London and became a Fire Fighter. After several years and some lobbying on his behalf from Grant but he was approved for their initiation process. The process came in three parts. The first was a physical test which Tommy flew through on a rocket surfboard (should go without saying not literally, but this a weird world they live in). The second involved written tests, something he only just scraped by on.

And the third involved interacting with the Albion Artefacts. It was from these magical objects the Knights of the RKC gained their powers. They were empowered and channelled for great magic that bonded with the user’s soul and enthused them with the magic they drew from the universe around them. From the name and the structure of the knights (and due to heavy hinting from the British government) one would think the artefacts are related to Merlin and legend of Camelot, but truth is they come from a race of space gods the British government accidentally made contact with in the 1960s.

This was considered the most important of the tasks and even to this day, no one is sure why what happened next happened. Grant believed it was due to Tommy’s own kind nature, whilst the boffins working for the Knight Program believed Tommy may have had fae/alien ancestry, but the moment he touched his artefact, it responded more strongly than any before. A white light engulfed the training complex and the artefact, a small normal-enough sword, transformed into a large Greatsword. The bonding process was usually a long and exhausting process that was supposed to take place over a series of weeks, but for Tommy, it happened there on the spot as the weapons immediately latched onto him. The RKC really had little choice but to accept Tommy into their ranks, after all, he already had their powers, it would have been foolish not to welcome him aboard.

He had achieved his dream and for a while it was great. He was officially a superhero and it was everything he ever wanted. He got to defend his home and enjoy the sense of comradery with his fellow Knights. He helped fight off a giant invasion, lead the charge against the tin soldiers of Doctor Imperial and proved to be the perfect distraction whilst the team leader snuck around to defeat the supervillain with little resistance, proved invaluable against rebellion in the alternate universe invasion from the HuMechs and even got his own back against Mr Punch he tried to spark the Second Great Insanity Riot.

But all good things must come to an end and the end began with a fight against the Church of Rust. Tommy received evidence from an anonymous fan that a fellow knight had killed an innocent man he believed was having an affair with his wife. Tommy grew angry when the team commander refused to the Knight. He tried to complain to the higher-ups, but they proved uninterested in dealing with this matter. They knew the UK government was looking to cut their budget to save money and feared this kind of bad press would give them the confidence to do so. Instead, they did something much worse. They framed the dead man as a cultist and ruined the lives of his family to protect his own.

Tommy, disgusted with what happened, decided to go to the press but was unaware he was being monitored by the RKC. On the way to meet with a journalist friend of his, he was ambushed by his fellow Knights on the motorway, though they were no Knights he’d seen before. The fight between them was brutal but he survived and fought off the attack. He learned that the RKC had framed him as being a disciple of Mr Punch who had actually killed the innocent in the raid and tried to frame the man himself. Now on the run for crimes he didn’t commit, he went underground and hid for a couple of months, trying to find a way to clear his name. His own ally was Grant who used up his remaining contacts and favours to help Tommy stay hidden, but it was during this time Grant died from a stroke. Tommy was completely alone.

With little to lose, he planned on raiding the RKC’s headquarters and hoped on finding exonerating evidence there, however, he was forced to reveal himself before he could do that. Days before his planned attack, the HuMechs returned in force and completely captured London. Most of the Royal Knights were defeated and civilians were beginning to be converted into HuMechs when Tommy attacked. Wielding his magic Greatsword, he liberated the first conversion camp and freed the imprisoned Knights, hoping their love of country would guide them into doing the right thing. He snuck and fought his way aboard the HuMech’s Mothership where he defeated the HuMech’s Machine Lord and used their command systems to force the invading cyborgs to return to their home reality.

In the aftermath, Tommy was a hero and the world was more willing to listen to his story. He exposed the RKC’s corruption and crimes. It was quite the scandal and the Prime Minister promised a full inquiry. Tommy was offered to return to the Corp and even a potential leadership position, but for Tommy the Royal Knight Corp had been ruined. Especially after further reports came out about other crimes that had been covered up, such as stealing from crime scenes and protection rackets. For Tommy, the RKC wasn’t something that could be salvaged and when it became clear the government weren’t willing to let go of it, he left.

Not just the Corp but the whole country. He travelled for a year, going across the world to meet new people and help out wherever he (and his magic greatsword) could help out. He met other heroes of different nationalities and learned a lot from them. Eventually, he settled in America, seeing a city that could use someone else like him, but by this point, he’d gained a new title. He was no longer the Greatsword Knight of the Royal Knight Corp, he was simply the Knight-Errant.
​

More to follow. Maybe.