Maxwell Lord

Maxwell Lord

## Biography

### Background

To understand Maxwell Lord, you must first understand the Lord family. Benedict Lord was a member of a race of aliens known as Terminians from the other side of New Cronus. In 1839, a Terminian starliner came to Earth and exploded in the deep South, and that is how the being known as Arnus came to Earth. Sometime near the start of the 1860s the Terminians sent a retriever agent to bring Arnus back.

This person was only known as Lord on his planet. But, upon coming to Earth, he discovered Arnus, who beat him within an inch of his life, forcing him to retreat. While Arnus had taken up the appearance of a slave, Lord took the appearance of a white man and gained favor with the daughter of a plantation owner. He took the name of Benedict Lord.

Benedict married the daughter, Maxine, and from their marriage came Cyrus Lord. What also came was the outlawing of slavery, and as such, Benedict lost his oversight of Arnus, who fled. Benedict fled with him. Maxine was heartbroken by it, so heartbroken that it was mistaken for hysteria, and she was institutionalized. Cyrus was raised in the care of his cruel grandfather, Vincent.

Cyrus ended up leaving home to strike out on his own in the 1880s. He moved to Gotham City and married a waitress named Dorothy. They had a child, Jonathan. Jonathan had a passion for the theater and took up performing with an acting troupe, before eventually heading out to sunny Los Angeles, where he became an early Hollywood film star. He was cast in the swashbuckler film *the Silver Blade*. There, he fell in love with his younger co-star, Sandra Stanyon. When she turned eighteen, he married her.

Stanyon and Lord had a tumultuous tabloid romance, but were a popular couple, so the whole world was excited when their son, Albert was born. Shortly after his birth, they moved away from films to television, where the three were a popular sitcom family. However, as Albert grew, there were growing pains. Albert eventually stepped away from acting and joined the military.

Albert became a high-ranking officer, eventually commanding a unit during Operation Wrath of God. There, after being injured in the crossfire, he met Naomi Carter, and they were married. From this marriage was born Maximilian.

### Early Life

The long lineage is necessary to understand Max. He unknowingly hosted alien DNA, which manifested in minute psychic abilities that were scarcely noticeable outside of the occasional nosebleed and headache when he would focus too hard. Max’s youth was overshadowed by the death of his grandparents, which led his father to inherit a hefty sum.

Adrian Veidt offered Albert a stake in his company, which he accepted. This would not be the last time Veidt would touch the Lord family’s lives. When Max was fifteen, the 11/2 Incursion occurred, and Max was driving his date home in his father’s stolen car and witnessed the destruction of the family estate just outside of Tampa. Max was caught in the psychic blast, which unbeknownst to him, amplified his psychic abilities.

Max was part of a mass internal lawsuit against Veidt’s company on behalf of his deceased father. His lawyers were willing to arrange a deal, quietly selling off a portion of Veidt’s assets to Max, allowing him to start Innovative Concepts. Max used the company to invest in a number of small measures, including a weapons design operation that quickly struck gold with a contract with the new global security agency Checkmate.

### Rise to Power

Max took a quick interest in Checkmate, and it was here when he discovered his psychic abilities included expert manipulation. Through some closed doors meetings, Max was able to influence and trick his way into an advisory position. Max spent the next few years quietly climbing the ranks of Checkmate, eventually positioning himself as the White King.

Slowly, Max also grew Innovative Concepts, quietly diversifying their profile into real estate, fast food restaurants, Hollywood productions, and metahuman research, among other things. As commander of Checkmate, Max rose on the global power scale. He also took a niche interest in an old Vietnam-era project called OMAC. He arranged to have the old files transferred from ARGUS archives, where he absorbed all of it. He then acquired a defunct satellite constructed for the project.

Max constructed a think tank with many bright minds, including gene-splicing specialist Emile Dorian, Cadmus researcher Emil Hamilton, former supervillain Myron O’Jenus, Dr. Thomas Morrow, and with additional collaborations from others. They decided the best course of action would be allowing soldiers to document and observe metahumans, all feeding into a database.

Max realized that with further gene-splicing from metahuman DNA with psychic abilities would increase the psychic connection between Brother Eye and the chosen soldier, or as Max came to realize, chosen soldiers. However, it would not work without a genetic host and they could not use unmanned androids. TerrifiTech helped create the very first prototype chips, but there was still a failure.

Thankfully for Max, this is when Talia al Ghul walked into his life with an offer. Through a mole in Checkmate, the Light had come to find out about the OMAC Project and took an interest in it. In return for allowing the Light use of the completed technology, they would allow Max use of their resources, including Cadmus and HIVE. Or rather, they would allow Checkmate to steal from them.

Through his collaboration with the Light, he gained access to Will Magnus’ Responsometer, which he implemented into Brother Eye. However, his psychic connection was not strong enough to allow him access to the satellite. The Light also used these tests to further test their StarroTech. Max experimented with the tech himself, as well as using DNA from the captured alien Despero. With the ability unlocked, he and Brother Eye developed a connection.

Brother Eye revealed to Max the secret to interfacing with him, and Max even started calling him Jonah, as it was his preferred name. He then began constructing a new body for him, in the form of Brother Eye Mark Two. The relationship was almost romantic. Unbeknownst to Max, the Light had their own agenda as benefactor for the Project.

Max’s downfall would be his ego, as he soon was manipulated by the Light, and didn’t realize it until it was too late. He had brokered a deal with President Luthor to weaponize the OMAC Project. However, it was hijacked by the Light. By the time he realized it, the OMACs were activated and enacting a full-blown metahuman holocaust.

### Death & Legacy

In return, Max kidnapped Luthor and retreated to a Checkmate base on the outskirts of National City, where he attempted to regain control of Brother Eye. Max’s gene-splicing had perfected his telepathy, so when superheroes arrived, Max turned their leader, Superman, on them. Max prepared to enact a code to turn Brother Eye on not just metahumans, but all humans. When it came down to it, only Ted Kord stood in his way, and for that, he caught a bullet in the head.

Wonder Woman found Max standing over Ted’s body and tied him down with her Lasso of Truth. He revealed the only way to break his control of Superman was to kill him, and so, Wonder Woman snapped Max’s neck.

Max still got the last laugh, even after his death. An OMAC had recorded the execution, and in reaction to the shock of having their psychic connection severed, Brother Eye uploaded the video to every media outlet. Batman was able to shut down Brother Eye afterward, but public trust in both the government and the Justice League hit an all-time low, and is still struggling to recover.

## Notes

* All of Max's relatives are obscure DC Comics characters.
* Being part Terminian is an Earth 76 original.
* Brother Eye being named Jonah is a reference to the cancelled *Justice League: Mortal* film.