Gary Niceguy

Gary Niceguy is a net.hero turned net.villain turned net.hero created by Amabel Holland.
Alter Ego:	None
Aliases:	Curtis Niceguy, Smart Alec, Golden Lad
Primary Writer:	Amabel Holland
Status:	Member of the LNH (Classic Team), former member of Teenfactor, former minion of Daisy Dukes
Usability:	Usable with permission

History

Gary Niceguy was the son of Sarcastic Lad, conceived during his trip to the moon with Master Blaster. As moon people aged at an accelerated rate, he came to Loonivearth as a teenager. He wanted to join the LNH as his father's sidekick, under the name Smart Alec, but was turned down and had to work with Golden Man instead. Over time he came to reluctantly admire Golden Man and wanted to follow in his footsteps, taking the name Golden Lad. But he'd also met a woman who made that a lot more difficult for him: Madelyne Frost, alias Daisy Dukes. They started an affair, and she sought to lure him down the path of evil.

When Jennifer Frost took over Teenfactor, she brought in Golden Lad as a new member, unaware that he was involved with her sister. He soon left the team and joined Daisy Dukes's band of minions, who impersonated a net.hero team. Under her tutelage he did terrible things, until her plots were cut short by her death.

Any hope of Gary returning to net.herodom was gone. He tried going back to the moon, but found it stifling, so instead he became a successful talk-show host. Many years later, while he was interviewing another retired net.hero, Alicia Avenue, the Bhigghrehenghuyhs invaded Net.ropolis. They went back into battle against the invaders; though they accomplished very little, it felt good. Gary decided to seek redemption by rejoining the LNH.

Net.Heroes on Parade

Gary and Alicia then joined a band of net.heroes and fellow travelers who had set out to solve the mystery of a stone creature that had stolen Michette Duclos's mystic lunchbox. They found that it was one of a race of demons called the Terrible Ones, who had blackmailed Dennis William Marker to serve them by capturing his wife, Wendy. Groundswell led some of the net.heroes into the underground labyrinth of the Terrible Ones to confront them, while Gary stayed behind and to keep watch over Wendy. But he impulsively charged into battle to save Groundswell, leaving Wendy behind. When he returned, he found that she was dead.

He became stricken with guilt and convinced it was impossible to return to truly being a hero. When confronting Dennis for a final time, he offered up his own life in exchange for Michette's. Dennis instead chose to forgive both Gary and himself for their sins, giving Gary a chance at life and redemption he wasn't sure he deserved. But he resolved to keep on living.

Shortly afterwards, Gary went into battle alongside the mobster Jimmy the Fish, who kicked the bucket. He broke the news to his wife, Melissa. Both grief-stricken and isolated, they began an ill-starred affair. He was busy, ah, consoling her when the LNHQ was attacked by a superpowered revenant and ignored the alert as the revenant steamrollered the Legion and very nearly captured Michette. The revenant had killed a substitute receptionist; even though she'd died before the call went out, he held himself responsible. He was consumed by guilt, putting a strain on his budding relationship with Melissa.

And then he came to her apartment and found her dead. Waiting for him there was the revenant's creator: Chatillon. He made an offer to Gary: let Chatillon take Michette's lunchbox, and he would resurrect both Melissa and Maddie. Gary took the deal. But he found little joy in it; Melissa had come back completely soulless and empty. Instead, he took up with Alicia, who had also taken the deal.

Personality

When he was younger he was highly sarcastic, attempting to emulate his father. Later on he mellowed out a lot, but he is still dangerously reckless, partially because of his guilt. Obsessed with redemption and becoming a hero to the point it makes things worse.

Powers and Abilities

Originally he had control over the Golden Aura, similar to Golden Man. More recently his powers seem to have diminished to only super-strength, flight, and more-or-less invulnerability.

Appearance

<probably in there somewhere>

Relationships

Sarcastic Lad was his father, who he wanted to become a hero to impress but who barely acknowledge him. His mother was the Queen of the Moon Amazons, she died shortly before he returned to earth. Madelyne Frost was the love of his life, who was terrible for him; she died as well. He then was drawn to Alicia as someone who was messed up in similar ways; she's still alive as far as we know.

Appearances

• Golden Man and Smart Alec
• Golden Man: Life and Death
• Frost and Teenfactor #1-8
• OPUS #1
• Journey Into Irrelevancy #4 (mention), 22-23
• Net.heroes on Parade #1-26 (revised, canonical versions in TEBs #1-7)