Public knowledge is the rumors, theories, and gossip going around about your hero. Things that they have said to either the press or other heroes in a non-confidential setting. The facts that have come out or are common knowledge.

Joel Beck is a controversial figure among heroes. Some find him endearing, some find him annoying, most find him to be completely batshit crazy.

For one, Joel, better known around the hero world as Wraith, makes a lot of outlandish claims that have very little proof to back them up, and honestly sound like something straight out of a bad scifi movie. He claims to have Fatal Familial Insomnia, which prevents him from sleeping or losing consciousness. This is a very rare prion disease that, as the name implies, is fatal. Joel claims to have received an experimental treatment for it that slowed the deterioration of his brain and his inevitable descent into utter madness. But the rest of his claims imply he might already be there.

According to him, this experimental treatment made him clairvoyant. He can use psychic abilities to commune with the dead, along with some other weird shit. Joel can often be found talking to himself, claiming that he's speaking to a ghost. Of course, only he can see these "ghosts".

His wildest claim is that he is in cahoots with the literal grim reaper, who is allegedly a pretty cool guy. Ol' Grim hates having to reap innocent souls, and upon discovering Joel and his weird ghost nonsense, gave him his blessing to stop the death of innocent lives whenever he can. The suit he wears was supposedly gifted to him by the reaper and, as long as he wears it, he can not die.

Again, all of these claims have no solid proof other than the ramblings of an already mentally unstable and chronically sleep deprived man. The general consensus is that Joel is merely a mutant with a healing factor who happens to be very good at detective work, crazy as hell, and should definitely see his therapist more often.

Joel is also notoriously violent towards his enemies, has no qualms with killing the bad guy (apparently the reaper gave him the thumbs up), and is overall not well trusted among the hero community. The only reason he isn't in prison is because he's buttered up the cops by doing their work for them.

Literally the only reason people still talk to this guy is because of his amazing detective skills. He has helped police crack over 600 cold cases. This charity work of his also might be why the police turn a blind eye to the rumors of his participation in illegal prize fighting.

Overall, if you have a mystery that needs solving, or a dangerous criminal that needs catching, Joel is your guy. Just be prepared to deal with his...particularities along the way.