Ted Grant is a boxer. Growing up in the 30’s, he didn’t have the fastest jab or the strongest cross, but goddamn if he couldn’t take a punch. It was that grit that kept him in the gym working the bag, or in the ring working his opponents the same way every single night. It was the grit that let him sneer at Star City’s mob toughs, and it was probably the same grit that got him turned into a cat.

As clashes between Order and Chaos go, this was a blessedly small one, taking place over only a few blocks of Star City, and Ted was foolish enough to walk into the center of it. Decades later, he still isn’t sure what he was thinking, except that he probably wasn’t, going for his mean hook on a Lord of Chaos. He spent the next few hours mewling and hiding as Fate, a Lord of Order, concluded his business with the villain.

After being restored by Fate (and being sternly reminded that he was lucky to not be so much steaming, desiccated flesh), Ted returned to his life as a heavyweight boxer. Under his managers Flint and Skinner, Ted became one of the most respected boxers in the state. That is, until Flint and Skinner began taking money under the table from mob bookies to tamper with Ted’s opponents for a huge return. Ted found out and took a fall to get back at them.

Ted and his managers were gunned down along with a passerby on a summer evening in 1941 by an unknown shooter. As Flint and Skinner bled and died around him, Ted found himself miraculously restored, and now on the run from the law for the deaths of his managers. As the sole survivor in a field of corpses, he was the natural suspect.

Ted took up the mantle of Wildcat out of necessity -- to clear his name and discover the nature of his mysterious abilities. Even after bringing his manager’s true killers to justice, Ted’s nights as Wildcat continued, until the specter of the war drew the attention of every masked avenger in the country.

Ted was one of the founding members of the JSA and learned from fellow member Doctor Fate the nature of his abilities: he was cursed, just as he was the day he turned into a cat. Fate had only altered the nature of the curse: no longer a feline form, but a cat’s longevity, for good or ill.

At first, Ted thought he had nine lives. Yet, his adventures with the Justice Society brought him beyond the veil and back again over a dozen times by the war’s end. Further examination with Fate proved that he could have up to nine lives. Ted’s soul, at the mystic intersection of animal and man, had incredible regenerative properties. In just a month he could build up another life’s worth of energy.

In the early 50’s as the need for the JSA’s overwatch dried up, Ted Grant attended a local boxing match in Long Island to witness the fighting prowess of an apparent octogenarian. The man felled opponent after opponent, round after round. Even once the day’s slate of fights was over, the old man showed no signs of fatigue. He welcomed spectators into the ring to test their mettle.

All night, men came and dropped. When Ted finally stepped into the ring, the old man’s blows floored him, in one of the few matches Ted had lost in a decade. In tribute to Ted’s heroic actions during the war, the man agreed to reveal his method and its cost.

The man, an italian immigrant, claimed to have invented the technique himself. He called it the Atlas Method, because it could give one ‘the bearing of a Greek god’. By using portions of the soul, the body could be trained beyond the limits of normal man. One could even use the technique in battle, at terrible cost to one’s lifeforce. He claimed he was only fifty five, yet developed the body of an ancient old man with overuse that continued to this day.

After a half decade of training, Ted found himself the sole remaining practitioner of the method. His teacher died looking almost one hundred and fifty while Ted retained the sharp jaw and cut body of his early thirties. It was undeniable that the old man’s training with Ted was what killed him, pushing his body far beyond what any normal competitor would demand. Ted found bizarre peace in it. He died as he lived, pursuing the physical heights of humanity, and searching for the greatest battles the world had to offer.

Ted spent the next several decades bouncing around the globe, seeking tutelage in all manner of martial arts, and competing wherever possible. He took on a variety of names as the years grew long: Tom Katzenberg, Pete Anthers, Yamaneko the Grappler, and a half dozen more title winning names, leaving little time leftover for nights as Wildcat between them.

That changed with the Atlantean Invasion and formation of the Justice League. Wildcat was quick to join, finding himself teammate, mentor, and sparring partner to a new generation of heroes, and some of the greatest fighters they had to offer. He served with the League for its full tenure before Despero’s attack.

Despero was like Ted. A big man looking to test his strength against the roughest and toughest there was. It was fitting that Ted arrived when he did, secreting himself away into the alien despots ship as he began to slink away. Fighting alone and to the sheer limit of his power, Ted was able to match Despero in three minutes of combat as the others raced to catch the ship. By the end of his bout, Ted was able to eject Despero into the upper atmosphere, and crumple to the ground. Ted lay broken in the ship's bay. He was truly lucky, for the first time in decades, that he wasn’t dead.

Ignorant of galactic navigation as he was, Ted spent the next four years bouncing around all corners of the cosmos, busting the heads of every kind of alien he can get his hands on, searching for a way home. A way to rejoin the Justice League that he knows will be there to welcome him, that must still be searching for him.

Until one week ago, when Ted Grant emerged through a mysterious portal at the former site of the Hall of Justice.

I’ve had success before by combining badass normals with supernatural powers, so why not try it again? This time instead of a hellfire powered cowboy, we’ve got an old war hero exploring the highs and lows of Charles Atlas superpowers while giving the phrase “stamina freak” new meaning.

After his jaunt in space, Ted has a new reality to adjust to. Without a Justice League, and with the remnants of the Justice Society dying or dead, Ted’s support network is gone, leaving him with nothing but a chip on his shoulder from his humbling by Despero. Ted’s journey will see him wander across the world entire, connecting with heroes old and new, to fight and to reminisce. Ted still wants to the be the best, but increasingly wonders what the best place for that is. The ring, or the streets? The Earth, or the stars?

I’ve structured this character for maximum interactivity, his concept is compatible with just about anything. After four years away, I was thinking one of Ted’s first stops would to the various Supermen, to test his mettle and theirs now that the title has changed hands.