Origin
Isaiah King was raised in the deep south of the United States. Society was segregated at the time. Isaiah’s parents were forced from their homes because they were terrorized by a cross that was burnt in their front yard. Isaiah harbored the fears caused by racism. Isaiah then fathered a family of his own. His wife was Mary King. That had two sons; Jackson and Malcolm. Isaiah was an active man in his community. He marched with civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King. Isaiah’s natural telepathic abilities made him a prime candidate to become a member of Wildstorms’ first super powered team; Team One.
Isaiah’s obligation to Team One caused him to take an extreme action. He led his family to believe that he was dead so that he could devote all of his efforts into being a member of Team One.Team One was a group of super powered individuals who were tasked with protecting the Earth from the Daemonites. Isaiah King was considered a “low level” telepath while serving on Team One. Team One’s first mission was to battle the super-powered villains “Slaughterhouse” Smith and the Daemonite Lord, Helspont. After the battle, Team One was disbanded.
Next, the United Nations created the orbital space station called Monitor One.The station was manned by a talented crew that consisted of scientists, technicians,and military personnel. Isaiah went on to become an astronaut and was a member of Monitor One’s crew. Monitor One was meant to protect the Earth from threats from the Earth and threats from other worlds. While on a mission, Monitor One was bombarded with radiation from an uncharted comet.
The results were catastrophic. Many aboard Monitor One suffered horrible deaths. The survivors of the comets’ radiation (which became known as the “Comet Effect”), became a team of super-villains called the Warguard. Isaiah the leader of the Warguard, sought to take over the Earth; mainly using his vastly augmented psychic power to enslave or render everyone on the planet into catatonia. But Stormwatch prevented Despot from controlling the minds and thoughts of everyone on the planet, Isiah and his cohorts having been placed into cryogenic stasis by the United Nations. The Warguard would be released after all other options to protect the Earth had been exhausted.
Major Story Arcs
Wildstorm Rising
During “Wildstorm Rising”, Despot was set free, along with the Warguard. to help battle the Daemonites. The decision to release Despot proved to be a costly mistake. Despot and the Warguard could not be controlled and once released, they traveled to the moon to implement their carry out their own plans. A damaged Spartan was rebuilt to join the Stormwatch team. Their next mission was to capture Despot. The mission failed and as a result Strafe joined his father’s Warguard. Diva was killed to be used as Despotâs puppet. Spartan took her place as leader.
Stormwatchâs only plan to defeat Despot was to lure him into Skywatch and crash it in Death Valley. Battalion was being brought from the past by Timespan to witness the devastation. Battallion hounded Timespan for answers. He soon recieved them as the Warguard showed up and then fell lifelessly from the sky. Despot had disabled the Warguard and crashed Skywatch into Death Valley.
Battalion met up with the new Stormwatch team. Stormwatch searched the Skywatch’s wreckage. They were looking for devices Link and Spartan had constructed that would protect them from Despotâs mind control. Battion had been thought dead for about a year. So when he arrived in the present Stormwatch thought he was some sort of trap set by Despot. When they realized he was real and just displaced in time, they went on with their mission and Battalion joined them after trying to figure out what had happened. Stormwatchâs efforts were for nothing though, because Despot was in control of the fight. Without revealing himself he dropped the entire team and sent Strafe to battle Battalion.
Battalion defeated Strafe only to come face to face with his father; Despot. Despot revealed that he wanted to rid the world of free will. He reflected on his childhood. He told Battlion of the horrors committed against him because of his race. Despot believed that he could eliminate such atrocities and any other by mind controlling the planet. Battalion then decided to try a new tactic. He allowed Despot into his mind to see the love that he still had for him in spite of all the atrocities he had committed .Battalion’s plan failed but right before Despot killed him, Timespan sent him back into the past.
After Battalion disappeared into the past, no one was left conscious to stop Despot. Despot then proceeded to wiping the minds of everyone on the planet. To Despot’s surprise, he was attacked from behind by none other than Battalion. Back before his fight with Flashpoint he had been modifying his suit to be able to teleport. When it seemed like he had died in , he had really gone to where Skywatch would land and spent all that time honing his psionic powers for his showdown with his father. He was still outmatched though.
Not only was Despot a more powerful telepath, but he controlled all the fallen SPBs, both Stormwatch and WarGuard, and turned them against Battalion. Battalion was able to defeat all of his mind-controlled enemies. Despot then focused his attention on Battalion. Despot attacked him with his own mind, tormenting him with his failures and weaknesses. Despot attempted to break his son, but Battalion turned the attack against him. Battalion entered into Despotâs mind and overload him with all his fears and inadequacies.
And In The End…
At the end Despot was on his knees. Despot apologized to Battalion for all that he had done. The battle appeared to be over, but Bendix teleported onto the scene and shot Despot in the head. This only enraged Despot. Before Despot could attack, Bendix, Battalion and the now-freed Stormwatch members were teleported to the new Stormwatch HQ. Despot found them quickly. were the only two who’s minds Despot could not control. Battalion and Spartan engaged Despot until they came up with a plan to stop him for good. Spartan sacrificed himself to defeat Despot once and for all by triggering an internal plasmite overload that wiped out the cities power supply. Flash incinerating them both in an instant.
Powers and Abilities
Isiah showed minor psionic powers even before the comet’s radiation activated his latent potential, having the limited ability to read minds and influence brain engrams with his thoughts back on Team One. After becoming Despot he was elevated into an incredibly powerful mentalist, having been stated that the “Comet Effect” increased his natural psychokinetic abilities “one thousand fold”. Being remade into an incredibly able telepath and telekinetic, often said to be the most powerful psychic in the Wildstorm Universe. Despot’s telepathy can re-animate the dead, as was demonstrated when he mind controlled Diva’s corpse. He could even warp the personas of certain minds in order to unleash their darkest side of themselves, as he’d done with his son Strafe. Despot’s also able to control/wipe multiple minds at once enabling him to manipulate the actions of others or leave them in a brain dead state.
His telekinesis gained and magnified upon transforming was described as being “world shaking”. Able to unleash powerful psi blasts, deploy powerful force fields that enable space survival. Even having enough fine enough motor-control of his tk to stop bullets in mid flight with a thought. Due to taking the full brunt of the Comets radiation, Despot not only underwent a psychological but physiological change as well. His mental abilities only rivaled by his physical resilience; such as a increase in strength, speed, durability, reflexes and stamina. His physical strength level is well above the 100 ton mark showing he could effortlessly lift a mountain sized chunk of rock and toss it into outer space. Despite his impressive bulk Isiah was also dexterous for a man of particular size and muscle mass, easily able to intercept the superhumanly adept bio-android Spartan with relative ease, and fast enough to stop bullets with his mind as they leave the barrel.