Bloodshot, Nanites, and Reclaiming His Humanity
Bloodshot is forever changed after his fateful meeting with the Geomancer. Bloodshot is a super soldier with nanites in his blood that imbue the hero with a range of abilities which include superhuman strength and agility, regenerative healing, and minor shapeshifting. Bloodshot can also mentally connect with various forms of technology with the machines within his bloodstream. These nanites are what make the character infamous for being a cold blooded killing machine among the many heroes in the Valiant Universe. When this technology is taken from him, Bloodshot's life begins anew.
In The Valiant miniseries, written by Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt with art by Paolo Rivera and Joe Rivera, the path to Bloodshot's transformation begins when he is tasked with protecting Kay McHenry. His entanglement with this all important Geomancer causes a dramatic change in his life. Geomancers are men and women who are chosen by the Earth to protect the planet itself. They possess the power to directly communicate with the Earth in order to protect it. One Geomancer can take the mantle at a time and upon their death, a successor is chosen. Since ancient times, they have been hunted by the Immortal Enemy, an undying monster, to bring about an age of darkness. This time, Kay is its prey. However, she is protected by Eternal Warrior, an immortal hero who has defended Geomancers of every generation. As protector of Geomancers past, Eternal Warrior has seen every one perish at the hands of the Immortal Enemy. Deciding that he can no longer fight the Immortal Enemy alone, he asks for the help of different heroes in the Valiant Universe, including Bloodshot.
Having once served as a weapon for Project Rising Spirit, a secret organization dealing in experimental weaponry, Bloodshot has little to no memory of who he was before he received his nanites. Project Rising Spirit implanted the nanites along with false memories within Bloodshot in order to manipulate him to do their bidding. He accomplishes his missions with unrelenting violence. In Bloodshot and H.A.R.D. Corps #23, by Duffy Bordreau and Christos Gage with art by Al Barrionuevo, Brian Level, Matt Milla, and Allan Passalaqua, Bloodshot plots against Rising Spirit in order to escape their grasp and lead a life of his own volition. In The Valiant #1, Bloodshot, who is now working for MI-6, is sent to recover a mysterious box from the Pacific Rim. In order to open this box, the Eternal Warrior and Ninjak rescue a man known as Breaker, who can open any lock, from the Arctic Circle. On their way back to America, the Eternal Warrior sees a live feed of Kay with the Immortal Enemy appearing not too far behind her. The Immortal Enemy attacks Kay but Eternal Warrior saves her by cleaving the enemy with his axe. Kay escapes and as she flees, she runs into Bloodshot at the end of The Valiant #2.
In The Valiant #3, Bloodshot isn’t the only backup as the heroes of the Valiant Universe, including X-O Manowar, arrive to aid the Eternal Warrior in his fight against the Immortal Enemy while Bloodshot and Kay run into a mall to hide. The heroes hold their own against the Immortal Enemy until he attacks them with manifestations of their respective greatest fears. They fall and the Immortal Enemy makes his way toward Bloodshot and Geomancer. Back in the mall, Kay uses her powers to sense the nanites within Bloodshot and concludes that they do not belong there and there is so much more than just a killing machine. She sees someone beyond the red eyes and white skin. In The Valiant #4, the Immortal Enemy finds them in the mall and deals Kay a fatal blow across her stomach. As she slowly fades, she communicates with the nanites to reveal that Bloodshot’s true name is Ray Garrison, a fact unbeknownst to him before this incident. She then uses the last of her powers to completely remove the nanites from Bloodshot’s body. With her death, the mysterious box opens revealing a young girl, the new Geomancer. Bloodshot goes missing and Eternal Warrior decides to train the new Geomancer hopeful for the future they may have together.
Bloodshot's adventures after the events of The Valiant continue in Bloodshot Reborn. In Bloodshot Reborn #1, written by Jeff Lemire with art by Mico Suayan and David Baron, Bloodshot, now going by Ray Garrison, finds himself working as a handyman at a motel in Colorado. He tries to live as normal a life as he knows how while still haunted by Kay's death. While Bloodshot may have lost the only person to see him as anything more than a killing machine and his superhuman capabilities, he also gained something much more important: the ability to be human.
