Grendel after being repaired in modern times
Grendel was a foe faced in Pre-Splice history.
Description[]
Past
Made to look like a cross between a person and a dragon, Grendel was unmistakably robotic, with fabric-covered internals bridging the gap between plates of painted metal. Her face display used advanced technology to show her expression, which was ironically most often flat and baleful. Unlike Nhiloids, her movements were fluid and lifelike. Speaking with a cold, hollow digitized voice, everything about her made it clear to any observer she was no friend to the weak and needful.
Present
Grendel's body has been repaired with modern materials, comprised of a mixture of metals, plastics and fabrics. Her base design has not changed, with the exception of a window into her volatile yet powerful chest reactor.
History[]
Past
Made somewhere in the middle of his career as a supervillain, Grendel was Dr. Nhilus' top enforcer and bodyguard. Despite a cunning intelligence and capable working knowledge of the doctor's interests, she herself held no fascination with the Sciences, looking only to find something worthy of her might. Coming up against militaries and police forces failed to satisfy her. No matter how devastating their weapons, hers were more advanced. No matter how strong the body, the individuals were frail and easily broken. Nhilus' plans were able to proceed, but she remained unsatisfied.
It was only upon coming up against Jacent Danger that Grendel found the challenge she sought for so long. In a single individual was speed, power, discipline and an unyielding desire to triumph. Most of their battles ended in a draw, with Jacent finding some way to incapacitate her or escape, but as they continued clashing, it became more and more apparent that Grendel was the superior fighter, forcing Jacent to be resourceful.
Their final battle occurred on Nhilus' space station. Grendel had wanted it to be a climactic fight to the death, but a plasma vent opened and burned her, allowing Jacent to escape, locking her in the room in order to face his arch-foe for the very last time and bring the doomsday project to an end. It was thought she was destroyed on atmospheric re-entry and rested at the bottom of the ocean, however it was revealed much later that she survived the incident. When the Automa launched their assault on the surface to separate pre-splice and post-splice humanity, it is implied that Grendel handled putting down the pre-splice resistance, ruthlessly murdering anyone who stood in the way. However it seems that the Automa did not find her an agreeable party after burying pre-splice cities, as she was imprisoned in a specialized gear slave named Jailer sometime afterward.
Present
Her bloodlust perhaps quenched by the extermination of pre-splice humanity, Grendel spend centuries trapped within Jailer. Over this long stretch of time, she patiently learned the ins and outs of its behavioral algorithms, learning how to manipulate it subtly from within. Upon learning of Jacent's reawakening, she used these methods to communicate and coordinate with the members of Authoritus, primarily Actima, to solve each other's problems: Actima would infect Jacent with the Skin Plague, forcing him to search for a cure underneath Locksmouth, and in return Grendel would destroy Natalie's resistance force as they attempted to stop Authoritus from gaining the power of the Crown.
When Jailer attacked Widget for attempting to break the rules of the Automa, Jacent defended his newfound friend and the conflict escalated until he destroyed Jailer completely, freeing Grendel. From this point, she reneged on the promises she had made to Authoritus, enacting a completely different plan all her own. Her body was broken from centuries of abuse and neglect, leaving her without so much as the ability to speak. However, being aware of Jacent's psychological makeup, she staged re-enactments that would trigger his post-traumatic memories of their many previous fights, confusing and infuriating Jacent and escalating the violence to a fever pitch.
Their battle destroyed an entire mothballed carnival before Osoth, freshly resurrected by Actima, raced to possess Jacent and destroy Echelon. Grendel pushed him out of the way, seemingly crushed by Osoth, before erupting from the empress and annihilating her core, killing her instantly. In this moment, Jacent realized something important about his robotic foe, and conceded the fight to her. The idea of being denied this violence enraged her so much that she blew a fuse, instantly shutting down.
Later, she was recovered and reactivated by Mixer, who sought to use her to nullify the threat that Jacent posed to their plans to eradicate the Inked. Grendel did not trust Mixer or her allies to leave her unaltered and demanded they bring in an unwitting third party to handle the repairs. Mixer's group kidnapped Lorna Grayswift, who crafted Grendel's new parts under duress and with no idea what they were actually for. Merely by replacing her old technology with new materials and incarnations of her old components, her performance was enhanced significantly. Ever since receiving these upgrades, Grendel has welcomed any and all chances to fight Jacent just as she did in the past.
Personality[]
Grendel has no friends or foes, no ambitions or allies. For her, the immediate delight of wanton destruction is the only goal, and she will formulate schemes only far enough to reach this end. Perhaps because of her creator's misanthropy, her pleasure center appears to be focused entirely around extreme violence and suffering, and as a result she has an inhuman capacity for cruelty for its own sake and to escalate conflicts. Unlike other villains who will hurt innocents to further their plans or take vengeance, she does this to provoke a more frenzied reaction from those she battles, especially Jacent, who holds a particular acrimony for the suffering of the innocent.
This lack of ego or ambitions creates an asymmetrical dynamic. She considers everyone around her to be a selection of toys to play with, and navigates their psychology and circumstances in order to make her next play session more fun than the last. This can be an unexpected mercy, as she will retreat from a fight in which she believes the opponent is unable to muster more violence in that moment, however the looming threat of losing control and murdering them increases the more thrilled she becomes. Even for the most powerful heroes, to face her is a manic tightrope walk where the penalty is annihilation.