Guardian

Freelancer (Nickname)

Black Driver (Nickname)

Sara Diggle (Daughter)

John Diggle Jr. (Son)

## **History**

### **John Diggle: 1971 - 1998**

J. John Diggle is the oldest child of James and Naomi Diggle, When John was still very young, the Diggles moved from Coast City to Star City, where John’s younger brother Andrew (or “Andy”) was born. By all accounts, John always had his head on straight and though he was never considered “book-smart”, he was a straight-A student through that discipline and effort. While John kept himself out of trouble, the same could not be said for his brother. Andy ran with the wrong crowd and was constantly in trouble with the law. Hoping that discipline would help Andy find his niche, John convinced his younger brother to enlist in the military with him. The two joined the Army together on the same day and both were shipped off to Iraq in the tail end of Operation: Desert Storm. Both brothers re-enlisted and the next time they saw each other was in Somalia in late September of 1993. That encounter would be bittersweet as just days later; John was part of a rescue force in the Battle of Mogadishu and at the conflict’s end, learned that his brother was among the few U.S. casualties.

After a short stint back home, John decided to return to the military and re-enlisted; John made Delta Force and likely was part of a number of deniable ops and other covert missions. In 1997, John was shot in the shoulder and was sent Stateside for recovery, during which time he kept himself busy by teaching Special Forces training courses. It was while teaching such a class of freshly minted Navy S.E.A.L.s that John met Lyla Michaels. The two shared a good conversation over drinks that week. The next time they met would be a year later in Nevada, Lyla was attending a conference and John was celebrating his discharge after learning his injury had prevented him from returning to active duty. The atmosphere of Las Vegas got the better of the pair and they found themselves married the next morning. As John didn’t have much of a game plan at the time, he decided to follow Lyla back to Metropolis where he got a job for a private security company. Due to John’s special forces background, he was hand-picked to oversee security for a very important, very private client: Cadmus Labs.

### **The Guardian: 1998 - Present**

On John’s first day at Cadmus Labs, he was given a shot which he was told was a simple flu shot. In truth, it was an enzyme that heightened John’s mental processes, particularly with his ability to process his sensory information and his response time to such stimuli; John was the ideal security specialist. With the first shot such a success, Cadmus gave John further treatments. His shoulder not only fully recovered as a result of these chemical cocktails, but it was better than ever. Indeed, John was in the best physical condition of his life, but these treatments were not without side-effects. They made John highly susceptible to certain suggestions and dulled his personality, which had a negative effect on his personal life.

A few months after John and Lyla divorced, John’s dad died. That proved to be the wake-up call John needed as he returned to Star City for the funeral. A chance encounter with Oliver Queen gave John and opportunity to get his life back on track. John returned to Metropolis just to submit his resignation. Afraid John would divulge their secrets, Cadmus sedated John and kept him prisoner. Fortunately for John, Oliver had shadowed John (paranoid that John might be an assassin sent by Ollie’s ex-wife) and when he did not leave his last place of employment, Oliver donned his old assassin threads and raided the Cadmus Labs. By the time Oliver freed John, the lab was torched, most of the workers had been killed or escaped, and John had been subjected to some memory erasing treatments but was alive. Oliver took John back to Star City and fixed him up.

Shortly after John’s recovery, he found out that Oliver had been making plans to become a superhero in the style of Gotham’s Batman. John offered to help. At first, John played support and let Ollie have all the fun. As time went on, John’s skills became more needed in the field, watching Ollie’s back. Now, John sports his own costume and calls himself “The Guardian”. John has also got his life back on track. He is now a remarried to Lyla, who has made him a loving, caring and responsible father to his cherished daughter, Sara. Aw….

## **Trivia**

* The Guardian joined the Justice League in 2011 nominated by Green Arrow.
* He describes Queen Lodge as a "cabin", because he likes people's reaction when they see it for the first time.