Origin
An Amazon by birth, unknown circumstances led Grace Choi to be abandoned in man’s world, where she was horrifically abused in a child prostitution ring before eventually makes her escape. She found herself blessed with incredible strength and physical resilience as she grew older and settled into the fringes of the metahuman community where she worked such jobs as a bouncer for underground metahuman clubs.
Creation
Grace Choi was created by Judd Winick and Tom Raney as part of a successful relaunch of the Outsiders ongoing series featuring an Outsiders team run by Roy Harper and Nightwing.
Major Story Arcs
Role Call
For further details: Brothers in Blood
Grace Choi worked as a bouncer for a Metropolis metahuman club called Chaney’s when Roy Harper approached her about a new team he was putting together in the wake of Donna Troy‘s death and the disbanding of the Titans. While Grace and Roy did have a good history, she was still a tough sell on the team. Superhero work was not her thing, and what she did now paid well. In the end, all it took was Roy offering her three times as much pay and she became an Outsider.
The bluntness of Grace’s behavior put some other members of the team off at first, but she was quick to form bonds with her teammates. She supported Thunder when Thunder’s father, Black Lightning, refused to accept his daughter’s decision to be a superhero. She taught Indigo less than polite words. She stood up for Shift when Metamorpho came to reabsorb the wayward replica. Also, she quickly fell into a casual sex relationship with Roy Harper.
Devil’s Work
For further details: Devil’s Work and Five by Five
Grace and the Outsiders stumbled upon the rise of a new Sabbac, Ishamel Gregor. The crimeboss slaughtered a bus full of people as part of a ritual to transfer the demonic powers of Sabbac from the previous bearer Timothy Karnes to him. Grace fought him immediately after his transformation and was horribly burned by his hellfire breath..
Grace’s resilience and regenerative abilities allowed her to quickly recover and take part in the Outsiders’ next fight against Sabbac, where she got a measure of revenge by clawing her nails up his face.
Most Wanted
For further details: Most Wanted
In the process of the Outsiders taking apart a large arms deal in New York, Grace happened upon a back room where children were being held prisoner. All of them had familiar brands on their lower backs. It was the same as the one she had upon hers from when she was a prisoner of the same child prostitution ring. Apparently, the same ring had come to New York and was probably run by the same man Grace remembered, Tanner.
Grace convinced Roy this was something the Outsiders had to deal with, and in turn, Roy convinced the rest of the team, even though it was something none of them had experience with before. John Walsh ended up helping the team investigate, and Grace was finally brought face to face with Tanner again. She brutally beats him and stops just short of beating him to death, changing her mind about killing the man. Nothing that she did now was going to change what had happened to her.
The Insiders
For further details: the Insiders and Infinite Crisis
Grace and the Outsiders were devastated by the betrayal and death of Indigo, who fell victim to a malevolent Brainiac program inside her. Grace spent a night out drinking with Thunder mourning Indigo and remembering how people getting killed around her was one of the reasons she never wanted in on the superhero business.
The Outsiders were clued into the formation of the Secret Society of Super-Villains after encountering the unlikely team-up of Sabbac with the Fearsome Five. Grace riled up Roy about not being cut out to lead the Outsiders, provoking him to go after the new organization of villains hard. Grace played possum, allowing herself to be capture and questioned by some villains including the Rogues, while Roy watched her back in a Deathstroke disguise. Once she was taken to one of the Society’s secret bases, the rest of the Outsiders closed in on Grace’s location, and they destroyed the project the organization was trying so hard to quietly work on.
In the Amazons Attack series, the rogue sect of Amazons called the Bana are trying to recruit Grace. According to the Bana, Grace is already a member of the Bana by blood.
One Year Later
One year later, Grace Choi and the rest of the Outsiders are believed dead until they are forced out of hiding trying to stop a plan formulated by Doctor Sivana. Soon after that her and the rest of the Outsiders are captured by Checkmate to be used as a strike force on Oolong Island to stop Chang Tzu. The attack is successful, but Nightwing and Captain Boomerang are captured and need to be busted out by Batman, who takes control of the team soon after.
Powers
Super Strength, Stamina, Healing, Invulnerability, Divine Powers, Longevity.
In Other Media
TV
Black Lightning
Grace appears as a supporting character in season one of Black Lightning, played by Chantal Thuy. She is the bartender of the Ruby Red Lipstick lesbian bar, and first meets Anissa Pierce while the latter was researching genetic mutations in the local library.
It is eventually revealed that Grace has the ability to shapeshift, into other genders and even into other species. She has only taken on three forms: An old man, a young girl, and a leopard. During the course of the series, Grace has been able to not only have better control over her powers but her powers begin to evolve, allowing her retain her abilities in human form. As a vigilante and member of the Black Lightning team, Grace uses her surname “Wylde” as her vigilante identity, along with a new shape-shifted disguised form to go along with the alias.