Lord Lee Geddy
| Lord Geddy | |
| |
| Margrave of Niagra | |
| Creator: | David 2/BattlerockX |
|---|---|
| First Appearance: | Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight |
| Game: | City of Heroes |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Lee Geddy |
| Known Aliases: | Shadowborn Lord |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | ' |
| Height: | ' |
| Weight: | ' |
| Eye Color: | ' |
| Hair Color: | silver |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American/Canadian |
| Occupation: | CEO of the Rocinante Group |
| Place of Birth: | Canada |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Relatives: | (unnamed) Wife, Hank Geddy (son) |
| Appearances | |
| Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight, City of Comic Creators Compendium, Guardians of the Dawn GRADUATION | |
| Known Powers | |
| ' | |
| Known Abilities | |
| ' | |
| Equipment | |
| ' | |
| ' | |
Lord Lee Geddy is a character in the City of Heroes MMO. He was the leader of the second incarnation of the organizaiton known as Shadowborn but currently serves in a much greater capacity as the "Voice of Paragon City" in the Bilderburg Alliance. His first appearance was in "Guardians of the Dawn Spotlight" Issue #5 (2009).
Character History
Early Years
Lee Geddy inherited the obscure family title Margrave of Niagra upon the death of his father. The title itself is meaningless in current Candadian government other than affording him the luxury of being referred to as Lord Geddy, but its true strength was in the estate, for it was the responsibility of the Margrave of Niagra to raise an army in the unlikely event that the Americans would invade through Niagra.
Although laughable in notion, the title and responsibility gave the Geddy family the justification and the authority to spy on the United States.
Lord Geddy transformed the the family's responsibility into a think-tank organization called the Rocinante Group, which specialized in a then-new form of business called "information brokerage". By 1985, the Rocinante Group became the premiere source of private intelligence for North America, tracking in everything from financial markets to government operations. It was during this time that he married an American woman, giving him joint Canadian-US citizenship, as well as giving him a son, Henry "Hank" Geddy.
Creation of Shadowborn
Because of America's obsession in fighting the War on Drugs, and specifically the illegal substance known as Superadine, the Rocinante Group became one of the founding supporters behind the covert government operation known as "Shadowborn", providing essential business information about major corporations involved in illegal activities.
In the 1990's, Lord Geddy's advisors informed him that Shadowborn was on the verge of being privately disavowed by the U.S. Government for their numerous questionable activities. Knowing that the fall of Shadowborn was inevitable, Lord Geddy instituted a contingency program that ensured that the organization would survive using its own resources.
In the 2000's, his son, an officer in the Air Force, joined the US space program. In April of 2007, he was the mission specialist of the Space Shuttle Cygnus when it encountered a dimensional tear during re-entry. The shuttle exploded over the Midwest, with debris scattered between Kansas and Oklahoma, and it was believed that all lives were lost. But Hank somehow managed to survive, albeit changed.
Following the dismantling of the original Shadowborn organization by US Marshalls, Lord Geddy employed the second phase of his contingency plan, creating a new Shadowborn organization that would utilize most of the old group's networking infrastructure but run entirely under its own finances.
By the time his second incarnation of Shadowborn was in place, he had already moved the Rocinante Group's corporate headquarters to Perez Park, not far from the first incarnation's last known location.
Encounters with the Guardians of the Dawn
Lord Geddy was responsible for several of the actions taken against the Guardians of the Dawn, whom he considered to be a thorn in his organization's activities.
He was responsible for the false accusation that Midnight Arachnia was a spy for Arachnos. This included the media blitz on PNN by Garry Becker calling for her arrest, and the temporary appointment of Edward Vance as a special federal prosecutor so she could be charged with treason. Although his plans were eventually exposed, neither the organization nor Geddy himself were implicated.
Geddy was instrumental in getting Captain Paragonna suspended from the Paragon City Police Department as well as her removal from the Guardians. This was initially done to try to either disband the Guardians or to place them in receivership. Although this plan failed in that leadership of the Guardians was then given to Maximus Rex, Geddy's mechanization kept Stevie Walker-Rodgers officially out of the Guardians until after their "disbanding".
Geddy was also responsible for the creation of a short-lived artificial being similar to Omega Shift, which used a copy of the tech suit covertly worn by Galatea Powers to attack Police Chief Clayton and nearly kill him. The attack was meant to frame Galatea, but Omega Shift's investigation cleared her of any involvement.
His most successful action, though, was being able to orchestrate the events that allowed his son to join the Guardians as StarCygnus. Although he was unaware that Hank Geddy was merged with aspects of the otherworld demigod Alor, Geddy was able to arrange for President Obama to visit Paragon City and to be attacked by members of the Fifth Column. This allowed StarCygnus to make the on-camera "save" and get the President's praise. This staged action ensured his son would be recruited into the Guardians, and thus he would have an insider that could provide Shadowborn with their secrets.
Following the defeat of Alor and his son's incarceration by Vanguard, Geddy worked feverishly in getting all charges dropped, but the incident was considered "too severe" to avoid a conviction and incarceration.
Connections to the Bilderburg Alliance
Lord Geddy was long aware of the ultra-secret global organization known as the Bilderburg Alliance. Although his family's duties as Margrave of Niagara were not considered "essential enough" to be offered membership, he believed that by creating a business based on information brokerage, it would get their attention. To some extent it did, although in a passive way.
Andrew Wentworth, the CEO of Wentworth's Fine Consignment, arranged to have Simon Barrister offer his services as a facilitator to Lord Geddy. Initially this was done on the idea that Barrister would destroy the Guardians for Geddy, but covertly Barrister was there to get information about his nephew, Alex Wentworth, and then sell the rest of the information on the Black Market as a diversion. This was done outside of Geddy's knowledge, although he would later be blamed by MidKnight X when Barrister was later apprehended in Europe.
After the failed attempt on Alex's life by Agent Blue, Geddy learned that the elder Wentworth engineered the assimilation of all Shadowborn operations by the Alliance. Although he got his longtime wish, it was done at the cost of control of his network. He then went into seclusion for fear of personal retribution from MidKnight X.
Return and Ascension
During his absence, fellow Alliance member Malcolm Rochspare assumed the daily operations of the Rocinante Group, officially serving as Chief Legal Council. Miss Maple continued to serve as Geddy's eyes and ears, though, updating Geddy of Rochspare's activities. Then, in 2014, Rochspare attempted a takeover. Unable to stop him by any other means and shut off from contacting Geddy, Miss Maple was forced to assault Rochspare before the managing board could vote on the takeover bid.
The incident, though, was reason enough for the Bilderburg Alliance to press for Geddy's return to Paragon City. With the unexpected departure of his friend and mentor Andrew Wentworth from the Alliance, Geddy was offered the super-secret position of "Voice of Paragon City", which was Andrew Wentworth's previous position within the Alliance. They also arranged for his son to be granted parole.
Having been told he must abandon any of the previous "Shadowborn" operations as part of his higher position within the organization, Geddy was instructed to get a "proxy", someone who could act in his stead but without any connection to him or the Alliance. This was the similar role Geddy had with the elder Wentworth.
Geddy reached out to Lexie Lothora, the CEO of LexieTech Incorporated, the daughter of the famed shipping businessman Leland Lothora, who had resumed full control of her own business. She accepted his informal "offer" in the hopes that one day she will get the recognition she feels she deserves.
Powers and Abilities
Although he possesses no super-human abilities, Lord Geddy has been known to be very persuasive. Some might even call it a superpower.
Although his actual power rests with his skills as an administrator and a collector of information that he can use to "get things done".
Personality
Lord Geddy is always seen as calm and rational. He does not act out of anger. His actions are measured and methodical.
He considers family important, but he does not make this public. His wife and son both understand this.
His relationship with longtime secretary Miss Maple is one-sided. He is well aware of her longtime affection for him, but has never thought about using it to his advantage or to cheat on his wife. He values her unending loyalty, especially when she acted to save control of his operations at the cost of her freedom.
Related Information
According to the author, the character's likeness is based on James Coburn's character George Kaplan in the 1991 movie "Hudson Hawk", and his name is in reference to Geddy Lee, lead singer of the rock group Rush.
