Wade

Biodata

Power Progression

Background

Wade lived through the age when sunlight still reached Senegal. Centuries later, he served as a major pillar of the Sun Church and taught Golas, a student in whom he placed considerable hope 51.

His break with the Church’s leadership followed Golas’s cruel experiments and the royal family’s support for them. Michelit Winter and the royal family protected Golas, preventing Wade from acting freely despite his demigod status. Disgusted, Wade withdrew and concealed his identity for centuries, leaving several safeguards behind 51.

In the Outer City, Wade worked as a Survey Corps captain. He intended to select and train courageous new Beyonders rather than depend on the established forces, whose comfortable lives he believed had eroded their fighting spirit 36.

He also fell in love with Leila Aaron, who shared his longing for a sunlit world. Their relationship remained restrained: Wade felt implicated in the suffering represented by the Night Demons and believed that someone burdened by his sins did not deserve her 51.

Appearance

• Human form: A rugged, broad, square-faced man with thick eyebrows, a full beard, thinning hair, and a middle-aged appearance 18 51.
• Build: Well over six feet tall, with a muscular physique 32 33.
• Voice: Deep, resonant, and readily recognizable 21 28.
• Trembling Black Hole form: His facial features disappear into a hollow, rotating black vortex, while a pitch-black substance envelops his body 33 46.
• Dark Moon Demon Wolf form: An enormous wolf-like body; at his successful advancement, his coloration is dark red on one side and golden yellow on the other, with one gold pupil and one red pupil 60 61.

Personality

Wade usually treats junior officers with patience and understated warmth. He listens to Joey’s explanations without interruption, offers refreshments during questioning, and shares practical knowledge of the supernatural world. His hospitality distinguishes acquaintances from friends: “Tea is for guests, wine is for friends” 15 18.

His composure conceals considerable cunning and ruthlessness. He feigns weakness to draw Wayne into combat and cauterizes his own poisoned wounds with burning gunpowder without flinching. He also prepares safeguards against attempts to exploit his powers 32 51.

Leila’s death exposes the limits of his professed duty. Although he insists that he has not abandoned his faith, he follows the Necromancer Sect to uncover her intentions and ultimately prioritizes recovering her soul over opening a route to safety. Joey becomes alarmed when Wade appears willing to let a mass-sacrifice scheme proceed 35 50 53.

His final actions nevertheless fulfill his responsibility toward Joey. He refuses to abandon him in the collapsing land and spends his remaining strength purifying him and securing his escape 64.

Abilities & Skills

Light and Lightning

• Controls elements through the Light pathway’s Punisher abilities, including localized lightning strikes 18 25.
• Uses prayer to unleash numerous blue electrical arcs against Wayne 28.
• Releases lightning while traveling beyond the Great Fog, keeping surrounding beasts away 35.
• His displayed lightning abilities are initially suppressed by 0-013’s prohibition on supernatural powers 28.

Trembling Black Hole

• Absorbs matter and devours elemental energy, defending against both magical attacks and close-range strikes 51.
• Produces a vortex-like face whose direct observation can arrest thought and leave an observer helpless 33.
• Exerts invisible force to drag opponents toward him and seize them at a distance 33.
• During his rampage, drains energy and blood from his surroundings, endangering allies as well as enemies 33.
• Withstands Golas’s repeated attacks without moving from his position 47.
• Handles dark-matter insects intended to counter his power without being immediately harmed. When the substance later changes, he expels it with an energy burst 49 51.

Dawn Knight and Angel Form

• Advances by fusing Golas’s and Michelit’s Beyonder Characteristics 61.
• Fires the fur of his enormous demonic-wolf body as a dense barrage of steel-like needles, forcing Yvon to dodge 61.
• Carries Maimaiti into battle against the descended Defiler 61.
• Uses holy light to purge the Defiler’s influence from Joey. This final expenditure causes his giant body to shrink and costs him his life 64.

Combat and Supernatural Awareness

• Continues fighting through severe wounds and poison, relying on a potion-enhanced physique even when active abilities are prohibited 32.
• Uses hand-to-hand combat, feints, and accurate revolver fire against Wayne 32.
• Detects Joey observing him remotely through Spirit Vision; his returning gaze leaves Joey bleeding from an eye 45.
• Recognizes the onset of 0-013’s mental assimilation and instructs Joey to repeat his own name to preserve his identity 26.

Equipment & Items

• Gemstone-mounted cane — Emits blue light that extinguishes the fire at Joey’s home while Wade recites a prayer 18.
• Revolver — A specially treated weapon used against Wayne. Its shots strike vital points but cannot overcome Wayne’s Living Dead regeneration 32.
• Shining crystal ball — Crushed to initiate his attempted Sequence 3 advancement 58.
• Sealed Artifact 0-013 / Book of Ebola — Temporarily seizes the book to redirect the Gate of the Abyss toward death in an attempt to reach Leila 53.

Relationships

• Joey — Recruit, subordinate, and protégé. Wade introduces him to the Survey Corps, guides his early work, and offers to help him change pathways. Despite Joey’s later distrust of his motives, Wade ultimately dies saving him 18 25 50 64.
• Leila Aaron — Lover. They dream of leaving Senegal, building a cottage, raising children, and filling their courtyard with flowers. After her death, recovering her soul becomes Wade’s overriding goal 33 53 58.
• Golas — Former student and eventual enemy. Wade condemns his experiments, fights him, and ultimately kills him, collecting his demigod Beyonder Characteristic 44 51 52.
• Wayne / Tony Crevi — Enemy turned uneasy collaborator. Wayne blames Wade for Leila’s death, but they cooperate around the Gate of the Abyss. Wade later fulfills Wayne’s final request to save Joey 35 53 58 64.
• Michelit Winter — Longstanding rival who helped protect Golas. Michelit interrupts Wade’s advancement and attempts to exploit his impending mutation to outlast him 51 58.
• Maimaiti — Fellow participant in the conflict surrounding the Gate of the Abyss; later rides Wade into battle against the Defiler 53 58 61.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Recruiting Joey

Wade first questions Joey about Katrin Winter’s disappearance, surprising him with a courteous interview rather than the brutality he expected. After rescuing him from the fire at his home, Wade hears his confession about Keen’s death and his Sequence 9 advancement. He arranges a Psychiatrist’s examination and admits Joey to the Survey Corps once no taint is detected 15 18.

During Charles’s coup, Wade mobilizes the security officers for defense. He later recognizes Joey as a qualified sheriff and permits him to claim a supernatural weapon from storage 21 25.

Earl Aaron’s Estate

Wade brings Joey to investigate the loss of control over 0-013. Within the artifact’s staged drama, Joey discovers him embracing Leila. Wade then continues the mission and confronts Wayne, initially fighting under restrictions on both supernatural abilities and firearms 26 27 32.

After Joey buys him time, Wade reveals his demigod form. His reunion with Leila ends when she is stabbed, provoking a rampage that splits the castle and threatens everyone nearby 33.

The Gate of the Abyss

Wade joins the Necromancer Sect to discover what Leila died trying to accomplish. He follows Wayne beyond the Great Fog and witnesses 0-013 absorb the Gate of the Abyss for transport into the city 35.

At the ruined estate, he fights Golas and survives the dark-matter trap prepared against him. After killing his former student, he allows Wayne to proceed with opening the gate, then seizes 0-013 to seek a road to death and recover Leila 46 49 52 53.

His attempt to advance for that purpose is interrupted by Michelit. Wayne suppresses the resulting mutation, leaving Wade able to fight but dependent on the temporary Decree 58.

Final Battle and Death

Wade eventually completes his Sequence 3 advancement by fusing Golas’s and Michelit’s Characteristics. He attacks Yvon and joins Maimaiti against the Defiler 61.

After Alisa evacuates Senegal’s survivors, Wade finds Joey stranded in the darkness. He carries him to Wayne’s contingency doorway, purifies the Defiler’s corruption from his body, and pushes him through to safety. Left behind as his holy light fades, Wade falls while imagining a reunion with Leila in a sunlit world 64.

Notable Quotes

“Tea is for guests, wine is for friends.” 18

“A world without Leila is darkness to me, even if it’s filled with sunlight.” 53

“You have to keep living. Your life doesn’t belong to you alone.” 64