Ray Palmer

## Background

### 1979 - 2005: Ray Palmer

Ray Palmer was born & raised in Ivy Town, Connecticut to David & Susan Palmer. He is their second child, the younger brother of Daniel Palmer. Since he was young, Ray was considered a child prodigy & polymath as he was gifted in various areas. His father passed when was a young boy, leaving his mother to raise Ray & his brother alone.

Though close to his brothers, the two had very different interests. Ray was an introvert who liked school & Daniel was an extrovert who liked sports & girls. The one thing they had in common was their love for video games. One night, Daniel began pursuing a pretty girl but her boyfriend arrived. When Daniel didn't back down, the two fought. After one good punch from the boyfriend, Daniel fell & his cracked open. He didn't survive, leaving Raymond alone.

It was rough time for him. He got through it by immersing himself in Arthurian lore, fancying himself as "Sir Galahad" & naming his personal playground in the woods after the legendary Camelot. He also found his desire to become an engineer & inventor after watching *Star Wars* as a child.

At the age of sixteen, he began studying at Ivy University where he earned himself three doctorates. He also left the school married after constantly proposing to his girlfriend Ana for the last year.

After they both graduated, Ray quickly established himself in his field & became wealthy beyond measures with his many inventions. While working as a Physics Professor, he discovered a White Dwarf Star Fragment that had fallen out of the sky. Investigating matter compression, Ray theorized that if he were to grind a lens from this fragment & focus ultraviolet light through it, he could shrink anything struck by the light down to a fraction of its original size. He immediately tried the experiment & found that it worked exactly as he had imagined, but the objects he shrunk became unstable & exploded moments later.

Ray continued working on his research, with the help of his former teacher Al Pratt & girlfriend Felicity Smoak. After successfully testing it on some objects, Ray decided to take a risk & used the shrinking lens on himself. Not only did he not explode but he was able to return to his normal height due to some unknown factor in his genetic makeup. The two developed a belt that would allow Ray to control the size altering. He soon made his own suit & began fighting crime, taking on the name of his mentor... the Atom.

## Romantic Relationships

* Ana Loring: Girlfriend (1997 - 2000); Wife (2000 - 2002)
* Felicity Smoak: On & Off Girlfriend (2003 - 2007)
* Nora Darhk: Girlfriend (2015 - )

## Powers & Abilities

* **Bio-Belt**: Originally, Ray's size/weight controls were located in his belt buckle. However, he later moved them to his gloves for greater accessibility & swifter transitions then had an encephalopathic grid in his mask that allowed him to do it mentally.
	+ ***Size Alteration*:** Ray is able to change his own respective size, able to shrink or grow to whatever size he chooses. The effects still apply to him even after he's taken the suit off. This allows him to infiltrate wherever he wants with a low likelihood of being caught when he's shrunken. His larger heights also proportionately increase his strength & durability. Additionally, Ray can also change the size of other objects around him using his ion cannon.
	+ ***Energy Blasts*:** Ray is able to use the suit's offensive capabilities to replicate meta-human energy blasts, such as electricity projection & hard light blasts, with his suit have an onboard photon and ion cannons. The energy blasts are able to send humans flying through the air, knocking a target unconscious, cracking stone, denting metal, even causing small explosions on impact with harder and thicker surfaces.

* **Genius Level Intellect:** Ray is very intelligent, having an IQ of 140 & multiple PhDs. His intellect made him a self-made man & an indispensable member of various superhero teams. Ray could have applied his intellect to become an M.D. for advanced cardiac surgical procedures.
	+ ***Computer Operation*:** While not on the same level as Oracle or Overwatch, he is a highly competent hacker.
	+ ***Engineering*:** Ray has proven to be highly skilled in engineering, as he was able to design & build the bio-belt using dwarf star alloy as a power source. He has also developed several other gadgets & successful products as the founder of Palmer Technologies, such as nano-bot surgeons & dispersal units, smartwatches, etc. Ray's engineering skills have shown to be on par with Cisco Ramon, who himself is a highly regarded mechanical engineer.
	+ ***Leadership*:** Ray also exhibits leadership potential.
	+ ***Multilingualism*:** Ray is capable of fluently speaking English, Latin & French. He can also do a convincing German accent.
	+ ***Pedagogy***: He has a teaching position at Ivy University.
	+ ***Physics*:** Ray is an adept biochemist.
* **Above Average Human Condition:** Ray is in top physical condition. He regularly engages in moderate exercise to keep his body in top shape & to increase his mobility. He was inspired by Richard Branson, who works out twice a day, which gives him 20 additional hours of productivity a week.
	+ ***Hand to Hand Combat*:** Ray has some experience in unarmed combat, which at first was minimal. He is proven to prefer boxing as his fighting style, though is not as skilled as any professional combatant. In battles, Ray almost always relies on his suit by using his enhanced strength to engage enemies in close combat, a trait that is easily exploited by opponents relying on tactics. Over time though & after training with Team Arrow, He has become more adept in unarmed combat without his exo-suit. He has has developed a proficiency in the martial art judo.
* **Marksmanship:** Ray has become a seasoned marksman throughout the years of using his exoskeleton's ranged weaponry.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** Unknown
* **Strength:** Unknown
* **Speed:** Unknown
* **Occult:** Unknown
* **Weapons:** Unknown
* **Range:** Unknown
* **Strategy:** Unknown
* **Combat:** Unknown
* **TOTAL:** Unknown

## Trivia

* Ray once shrunk himself & hid in a napkin so Nate could sneak him during Nora's lunch time. She told him that he was stupid but the gesture was sweet.
* Constantine likes to call him Raymondo.
* He is best friends with Nate Heywood & Carter Hall.
* Ray & Nate watch Patrick Swayze movies between missions.
* Mick Rory has given him the nicknames Haircut, Boy Scout & Robocop. He also has called him Nate's boyfriend due to the time they spend together.
* He is a licensed minister.
* After the Legends captured Nora Darhk, she was placed in a special holding cell. Various members of the team kept watch but her favorite became Ray. Their interaction led to a mutual affection that came to an end when Nora escaped by subduing a guard after overhearing the members mention her father being dead.
* Nora eventually returned to the headquarters after her father explained HIVE would not accept her. She first ran into Ray, who realized she was there to turn herself in. He begged her to run away again after confessing his true feelings for her. She told him that she was tired running & as they became surrounded by agents, she squeezed his hand one last time before letting the agents take her away.
* Ray once shrunk himself & hid in a napkin so Nate could sneak him in during Nora's lunch time. She told him that he was stupid but the gesture was sweet.
* After Nora was released on "good behavior," her & Ray began dating.
* Ava once said Ray & Nora were her personal version of Ross & Rachel but she thinks they're a much better couple than them.

## Notes

* His relationship with Felicity & Nora are nods to the *Arrowverse.*