Gruekiller

For the DYOS contributor, see User:Gruekiller.

Gruekiller
Gruekiller in his second incarnation, ca. At Plot's End.
First appearance	DRAW Your Own Story 11
No. appearances	~120
Created by	Gruekiller
Profile
Nickname(s)	GK, Grue
Aliases	Sacred Warrior
Species	Human (?)
Gender	Male
Date of birth	6 November 1991
Date of death	12 August 2010 (regenerated)
Age	33
Address	None
Occupation	Adventurer Vigilante Thrillseeker
Family	Unnamed mother (deceased)
Starsign	Scorpio (♏)
Religion	N/A
Nationality	Coruscanti American Transatlasian (former)

Gruekiller is an adventurer from the former United States, who battles evil throughout the universe in the name of justice and cheap thrills. Although he has some chaotic proclivities, he usually has good intentions, acting in the name of justice, or at least his own notion of it. Introduced in DRAW Your Own Story 11, his ad-hoc attempt to fix his internet mutated into a space adventure in which he liberated the planet Avalon from the alien Crinoor with the help of his bosom buddy Master Shake and an assassin named Valerie. In At Plot's End, he aims to defeat Transatlasian dictator Bowie, his former mentor, and purge the universe of a dangerous artifact.

Biography

Gruekiller as a young child, during the events of the Enclave uprising.

Gruekiller's original appearance was dark-haired, with a messy, short coif that featured a trademark "cow lick" at the back. He was shorter, and wore glasses to correct his vision. Details of his life prior to DYOS are fuzzy, largely gleaned from conversations with other characters in which he alludes to past deeds.

Gruekiller was born in the United States of America some time before the Enclave toppled that nation's government during the Troubles. He was left behind by his mother at an unknown location to remain safe during the chaos. At some point he was taken under the wing of Bowie, the mysterious dictator of Transatlasia, who trained him as a soldier and heir apparent. However, Gruekiller ultimately broke with Bowie's plans for world domination, defecting from Transatlasia along with Bowie's coveted battle suit. The two have been bitter enemies ever since.

Gruekiller befriended Master Shake circa shenanigans in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the two traveled together for some years prior to DYOS XI. During this period, Grue laid waste to large portions of the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw as a stunt against the country's dictatorial government. The junta retaliated with a bounty on his head for 64 million American dollars. He also knew a woman named Mary, whom he has been avoiding.

First incarnation (DYOS 11)

Gruekiller on Avalon.

Early in DYOS 11, Gruekiller's Internet stopped working, seemingly hampered by tampering from some outside party. This prompted him and Master Shake to voyage to Ethiopia, in an attempt to find a way to fix it. What, if any, reason Gruekiller had for believing that such a far-flung journey would help him fix the Internet is unclear, aside from a vague remark about Ethiopia having lots of ancient artifacts.

Pursuing the Burmese bounty, a masked assassin tried to kill Gruekiller as he waited to board a trans-Atlantic flight. When unmasked, the assassin was revealed to be a young woman named Valerie. Gruekiller agreed to spare her in exchange for her services as the team medic. En route to Ethiopia, their Republic Airlines flight was intercepted by an unmarked Eurofighter flown by a German-speaking pilot, demanding Gruekiller's surrender. Employing Samurai-styled power armor, Gruekiller destroyed the fighter, to Valerie's surprise.

Upon their arrival in Ethiopia, the party was ambushed by Nazis who had apparently sent the Eurofighter, but they were swiftly routed. Grue discovered he had been lured into a trap by Pul Wat Aa: there was no Internet-curing artifact, and the Ethiopian venture was a convoluted scheme to kill him. However, the Hacker was scared off by a couple of crossbow bolts and the two never crossed paths again.

That adventure a bust, Gruekiller commandeered a shuttlecraft from Addis Ababa Spaceport and headed for space instead. The party was intercepted in orbit by Bowie's flagship, the TSC Dauntless. Bowie demanded that Gruekiller return the suit of armor, which Grue refused; devising a risky spur-of-the-moment plan, Gruekiller disabled some of the Dauntless's turrets and escaped to hyperspace. Arriving in the vicinity of the planet Avalon, the party inadvertently ran afoul of the Crinoor blockade and crash-landed on the planet surface, encountering its human inhabitants.

Discovering the planet rich in Ununpentium, Gruekiller embraced the local's belief he was a "Sacred Warrior" and agreed to fight the Crinoor in exchange for mineral rights, successfully routing Admiral Kluth and destroying the garrison fleet. Though initially riding high off of his victory, he soon regretted his greed and dishonesty towards the Avalonians, and wandered up to the surface to question himself.

Duel with Bowie

Gruekiller regenerates.

While contemplating his actions, Gruekiller was again accosted by Bowie, who had somehow followed his trail to Avalon. Once again refusing to surrender the power armor, Gruekiller engaged in a sword duel to the death. Completely outclassed, he was maimed and ultimately impaled. Gloating over his foe, Bowie reclaimed power armor and left Gruekiller on the hillside, apparently dead.

Found by Valerie on death's door, he attempted to confess his feelings before seeming to expire. Moments later, his wounds healed, and his missing hand regrew. He was overtaken in an explosion of golden light as his body regenerated on a cellular level in a fashion suggesting that he wasn't entirely human after all.

Second Incarnation (DYOS 12)

Bloodied, but not broken, in his new incarnation.

Following his defeat and near-death, Gruekiller lapsed into a brief coma, awakening in a New Damascus hospital with a totally different appearance, including light hair, a taller build, and no need for glasses. A relieved—but no less peeved—Val welcomed him back with a firm slug to the face. Donning a new outfit including an old military coat, he confided that the power suit was a sinister alien artifact, and that Bowie intended to use it for world domination. Learning the Dauntless was trapped in the system by Avalonian EMP defences, he recommitted to retrieving the armor by any means necessary.

Trivia

• The striking resemblance between Gruekiller's first incarnation and CFCMAN (plain shirt, dark hair, and square-rimmed glasses) has been noted on numerous occasions, both in and out of character. In one comic by Thorvald of Lym, CFCMAN's attempt to impress a babe is cut short when a colleague corrects her, stating she's confused his (limited) exploits with those of "Grad Cooler".
• In Alternate 2011, Gruekiller remains Bowie's protégé while Valerie fights in the Transatlasian resistance.
• Per word of God, Gruekiller is gay.

See also

• Master Shake
• Valerie
• Bowie