This page is for the newest Ray, Lucien Gates.
For the first Ray, “Happy” Terrill, see the Neon page.
For the second Ray, Ray Terrill, see the The Ray page.
For the third Ray, see the Stan Silver page.
Origin
Lucien Gates is a Korean American life guard and ladies man. His best friend is fellow life guard, Darius Williams, and his girlfriend is Chanti.
During a controversial solar energy test in the Arizona Desert, a particle beam of experimental light was accidentally fired. This beam of light hit Lucien Gates from over 200 miles away and transformed him into The Ray. His first experience with his powers led him all the way to Seattle in a matter of moments.
Creation
Lucien Gates was created by The Ray writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti.
Character Evolution
Lucien did have a wardrobe problem at first. Any piece of clothing that he donned burned up almost instantly. As time passed Lucien learned more and more ways of using his power which included altering the way that he reflected light. This new found power allowed him to alter his appearance and give people the impression that he is wearing a costume although he is still naked. He can also use this power to change his physical appearance, eliminating the need for a secret identity.
Lucien’s parents, who are new-aged hippie vegetarians, taught Lucien how to use yoga and meditation to control his powers. They said that these methods would help him focus and control his “inner light”.
Major Story Arcs
The Ray
Following the gaining of his powers, Lucien must juggle being a superhero, working as a lifeguard, and spending time with his girlfriend. As a superhero, Lucien battles various threats to his city, many of them being creatures that were either mutated or created by the solar energy beam that gave him his powers. As Lucien adjusts to using his powers, he gains better control of them, and realizes that he can distort light into giving him a different appearance. Seeking Chanti’s parents’ approval, Lucien uses this ability to fool them into believing he’s Indian. Chanti then later pulls Lucien aside to tell him that she just wanted him to be himself, and because he lied to her parents, she wanted to break up.
Later in the night, Lucien deals with gigantic flying manta rays that came out of some sort of rift caused by the solar beam. Metallic insect-like creatures later begin to attack the city, even attacking Darius and abducting Chanti, causing Lucien to save his loved ones. Lucien chases down one of the metallic creatures that is now flying away with Chanti, and forms a sword made of hard light with which he cuts open the creature, thus saving Chanti. Lucien catches the free falling, unconscious Chanti, and brings her to nearby paramedics. As she’s getting medical attention, Lucien notices the creatures flying back up into the sky where they came from, noting it as odd and that the whole situation feels staged.
After being told that he can’t go with Chanti, Lucien gets Darius to call her parents and tell them about the situation, and then he flies off to the hospital to make sure Chanti is okay. Seeing for himself that Chanti is fine, he gives her a hug. Lucien tries to apologize, but Chanti’s parents still would not like for him to be around their daughter, noting that he’s “too dangerous.” While trying to convince Chanti’s parents, Lucien is interrupted by a strange man (Thaddeus Filmore) that wants him to partake in his movie, stating that he knows Lucien is The Ray.
Filmore then shows his hidden powers and threatens to kill Chanti and her family. Filmore begins to use his powers to give Chanti’s father a heart attack. To stop him, Lucien assumes his light form and attacks him, taking the fight to the hospital’s parking lot. Realizing that he doesn’t know how to stop this villain, Lucien stops fighting and begins to talk to him, trying to understand him and his motivations. Filmore makes a statement that he created a lot of the monsters that attacked the city. While continuing to listen to what Filmore has to say, the police show up to arrest both Lucien and Filmore, and Lucien tries to talk the situation out but is only met with more violence. Filmore then uses his powers to make the police cars transform into giant robots, which attack Lucien and the officers. Lucien is briefly knocked out by a car explosion until Chanti appears and shoots the villain, and then he realizes that he needs to get up to fight for her.
With Filmore now dying due to the gunshot wound, Lucien tries to convince him to alter reality and fix the damage that he has caused. Realizing that Filmore is unable to be convinced, Lucien tries to use a type of light-based hypnotherapy his parents taught him. Through the hypnotherapy, Lucien tells Filmore “You’re going to go back and erase every bad thing you’ve ever done, back to being a kid and start over. This time you’ll work hard, make your father proud, no one will remember anything that happened except for me. You’ll use film and tell wonderful stories to make the world a better place, make them happy, and the power you have now will be gone forever. Oh, and there’s one thing I want you to do for me…”. This reverses all of the problems caused by Filmore, and gets Lucien a second chance at making a first impression on Chanti’s parents.
After finally making a good impression on Chanti’s parents, Lucien takes her to the premier of a film titled “Ray of Hope”, directed by none other than Thaddeus Filmore. Lucien must leave the after-film Q and A session early after getting reports of a hostage situation, and is wished luck by Chanti. After solving the hostage situation, Lucien is approached by a government agent, and is asked to join a special division of homeland security comprised of people with superhuman abilities. Lucien then reads the card he was given, and in a patriotic fashion, the card states “I WANT YOU”, alluding to Lucien joining Uncle Sam‘s Freedom Fighters. Lucien then happily flies off into the night.
Powers
- Travels at or faster than the speed of light.
- Can alter the way he reflects light.
- Shoots beams of concentrated light out of his hands.
- Can hover in a pool of concentrated light.
- Can form hard light constructs.
- The more light Lucien is exposed to, the more powerful he becomes.
Trivia
- He’s a fan of the actor Shahrukh Khan.