At around two hundred years of age, the Shade has a long, long history. His near two centuries of life are woven in a tapestry of life and death, love and tragedy, heroism and villainy. But it wasn't always shadows and darkness for Shade. 'Round about at the end of the 18th century, he was born like many other young boys in London, England. His was a relatively well-to-do family. His parents gave him the name Richard Swift. Swift speaks little about his life before the incident in which he gained his powers. What he will admit to is being something of a "dapper rake" — not at all evil, but definitely mischievous. A Charles Dickens character made real. And in fact, he did apparently mingle with such great literary minds as Charles Dickens, having befriended Dickens in the author's youth. It's a distinct possibility that Swift inspired characters and events in several of Dickens's stories.
Swift's life took a turn for the weird one pitch black night in 1838, in Tiger Bay. "A bad, dark part of London," as he would later call it. On this darkest of nights, Richard Swift stumbled into something that he never expected. A dark ritual was occurring. Whether he was intentionally targeted, forced into the ritual, or whether he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time is unclear.
Swift was one of many victims of that night, actually. Though others were not so lucky. A grand total of one hundred and four lives were snuffed out in a single shot by whatever unknown dark ritual took place. And if Swift knows exactly what it was, he will not speak of it; whatever transpired "hurts to this day to recall." Or perhaps he doesn't remember.
After the ritual was completed — or perhaps he interrupted it — Swift ended up in a daze, his clothing reduced to tatters, wandering London's most dangerous area. He was rich, he was vulnerable…and he made an easy target. However, luckily for him, there came to his aid a handful of strangers. A man by the name of Piers Ludlow took him in, treated him like a favored guest in their home. He was grateful for their assistance, and promised to return the favor as soon as he was able. However, though he was treated well and the whole family seemed nothing more than kindhearted people, something always bothered him about the lot of them. But he could never quite put his finger on it.
Swift recovered quickly while in the Ludlows' care, treated as a valued guest, but did not regain his memory. But they soon decided to use him for a nefarious purpose. Sinclair Ludlow, Piers's son, had killed his father's business partner, in a brutal, bloody murder. To keep Sinclair from taking the blame, the Ludlows decided to kill Swift and place him at the scene to frame him for the crime. Out of instinct, Swift's shadow powers surfaced, and the resulting emergence of his powers killed all but two of the Ludlow children.
He soon learned that this wasn't a one-time incident. Somehow obtaining a cane that assisted him in channeling his shadowy powers through some unknown means — the "Nightstick" — Swift began to further refine and learn about his powers. But even he didn't learn the true extent of his powers until some time later.
And the Ludlows did not forget him, either.
In the year 1865, Swift came face to face with a piece of his past. Rupert Ludlow, still carrying the anger for the death of his family, hired hitmen to kill Swift. When they finally caught up with him, they caught him unawares…and he was shot. He was still in the process of learning about his shadowy, supernatural gifts. However, just because he couldn't be killed (which he did not then know) did not men he could not be injured. The pain was incredible. Halfway between shock and agony, Rupert Ludlow made the mistake of standing over Swift to gloat.
It would be a fatal mistake.
As before when his life was in danger, Swift reacted, and killed Rupert with a "shard" of darkness. This was not the first time his powers had instinctively activated to save his life. Nor would it be the last.
Swift began to travel around the world; having long ago realized he no longer aged, he decided that he would see the world, since he apparently had infinite time in which to do so. From eastern Europe to the Far East, Swift visited many places. And always tailing him were the Ludlows…and his own past as well. In his years, he killed many a Ludlow, until he was numb to the sight of death.
The first time he visited America was in the 1870s. He soon took a liking to Opal City, where he met Brian Savage, known as the Scalphunter. It was an unlikely friendship…however the two grew to become the greatest of friends.
Swift went on a variety of adventures after that, among them being hired to save a man's sister from a hypnotist named Lune (he did so by killing Lune and the man's entire circus troupe). However, the murder of his friend Brian Savage in 1899 put an end to the era of casual friendships for Swift.
Tragedy reared its ugly head yet again for Swift during World War I. During the war, Swift chose to assist Canada. Under the alias of Louie Fox, he met and fell for a beautiful woman named Marguerite Croft. Unfortunately for him, she turned out to be yet another of the Ludlow clan, set out to trap and kill him. Her weapon of choice? Poison. It, of course, failed. Enraged as he'd never been before — and broken-hearted — Swift killed her. This was a woman that he had given his heart to…she knew it. And she betrayed him. Already disillusioned with mankind, he only grew more jaded, deciding that amorality was far safer. After all, his body would heal. But, as he'd learned, his heart could be broken as easily as any other man.
The 1940s saw a turning period for Swift. He had read of the exploits of the costumed superheroes, and wished to alleviate the boredom of living forever. It was then that he donned a costume for the first time. Sort of. A top hat and a mask, more precisely, added to his normal attire. And so it was that "The Shade" was born. He became one of Jay Garrick's main villains.
However, when he wasn't causing trouble for Jay, he was…saving lives?! Indeed, Not only did he foil a plot by Ludlow pseudo-hero the Spider to murder Jay Garrick and his wife, killing the Spider in the process, but he also rescued the Starman of that era from an assassination attempt. To Swift, the heroes weren't an object of hatred. Quite the opposite; Swift enjoyed the "joust" of opposing a super-hero, physically or intellectually. So much so that he joined the Thinker and Fiddler in a plot to freeze Keystone City in time. The city was eventually freed with the intervention of another speedster.
Shade was eventually being recruited into Lex Luthor's Injustice Gang, and later into Grodd's Secret Society. By the time he accepted Grodd's offer, he did so grudgingly, knowing that the attempt was doomed to failure. The group was later taken over by Lex Luthor. He chose a side purely based on whim. He sided against Luthor…and was rewarded by being frozen, along with the others who had opposed Luthor, by Killer Frost. Yet another woman who had betrayed him. But at least he had no emotional involvement. He escaped, and hung up his villain cape, rather tired of being used as a punching bag by both opponents and allies alike.
So it was that he retired from the life of a true supervillain, settling in his beloved Opal City. However, he still made forays into crime, in order to alleviate the boredom, as he used to, and cross swords with the superheroes. Sometimes literally. From then on, The Shade would make his own decision of what part to play in the events of life.
In fact, when he was offered power if he would go into the world and do evil in Neron's name, he refused, for a handful of reasons — he was already wealthy and immortal, and his powers were already as strong as they'd ever be. Also, he noted, he was no longer a villain. With Neron promising Shade would rue the say he refused the offer (and Shade countering that he'd own Paris if he had a "rue" for each time he heard that), Neron departed, leaving Shade to live his life.
For now.
Richard Swift, who became known as the Shade in the early 1800s, is very old and has seen many things over the span of his long lifetime. He considers himself to be an urbane, sophisticated chap, and it's likely few who know him would argue with him, whether they are ally or enemy. Despite the passing of the years, he has lost none of his witty charm…or his dry British humour. Shade is a man of another era, from a time when men were gentlemen. Even though he's living in the modern day now — and has adjusted rather well to it — he still retains that old suave Victorian charm that one so rarely sees in people nowadays.
But there is more to the Shade than just his dapper appearance. Shade is a "sensual" person. Not "sensual" as defined in the colloquially accepted way, but the more literal definition of the word — "devoted to pleasing the senses". He likes things that appeal to his senses — only the finest art, music, food, clothing, and company will do. And with the accumulated wealth of almost two centuries, he certainly can afford many of the very best things that he so loves.
Perhaps it's the gentleman in him, but Shade does not like openly lying to people, especially superheroes. It's not a gentlemanly thing to do, and it's beneath him. For this reason, while he might be very careful with just exactly how much of the truth he tells, he will not openly lie. Lies of omission, however…are another thing.
This may be a side effect of having lived so long, but in his lifetime, Shade has also learned that no one has his interests at heart more than himself. Thus he is not at all stingy about getting exactly what he wants, exactly when he wants it.
Another side-effect of his immortality, Shade has come to regard "right" and "wrong" as arbitrary choices that have no bearing on life. This doesn't mean he's necessarily "bad" — in fact, he has said that he does not believe doing good is an overriding emotion of mankind. But he does believe that there is perhaps a desire not to do bad. "No harm, no foul" would be a good way to describe his feelings on this. He is not "immoral", per se, but "amoral". Meaning that he has no leanings towards either good or evil, but maintains a distance between such choices.
Additionally, Shade has a great disdain for people who have no more sense or skills to simply bash people and things to get something done. He does know that such kinds of "solutions" do have their place. However, they are not with him; that's what underlings are for.
A problem with living potentially forever is that one soon grows bored with a normal existence. To that end, Shade sometimes chooses potentially dangerous hobbies and interests to pass the time. That's one of the reasons he often makes forays into crime — crossing wits with the superheroes is a most enjoyable "joust", and often is the only sport he has.
Another side effect from such a long life is that one sees and hears just about everything in one's time. So if someone's looking for shock value from the Shade, the person is likely to be sorely disappointed. Cotton candy falling from the sky? Gorillas in regal attire taking over the world? Demons appearing and offering more power? Nope, Shade's seen it all. Well, except for the cotton candy falling from the sky. That might be a pleasant surprise….