The Heretic

Hailing from Earth-X, “The Heretic” is only a rough translation of a word alien to our English. It was the translation offered on the spur of the moment by the man himself to the newly-formed second generation Pantheon of Heroes. He has since explained that the deification of leaders on Earth-X means the name spat at him by soldiers as he fought also implied both spiritual disgrace and treason.

Not that they were wrong, but it was unpleasant of them.

For the duration of the Crisis, Heretic was an enigmatic figure. Detaching from the Earth-X force with a small group of loyal soldiers nicknamed the X-iles, Heretic and his men provided aid to US forces but remained aloof until most of the X-iles were lost in battle and Heretic eventually joined the new Pantheon of Heroes. While remaining ultimately very reserved, Heretic became a public figure and often the Pantheon's default spokesman in later years, even inspiring a whole school of thought in Ochrastism.

The one matter he refused to speak on, though, to this day, is his final battle with Glorihound. Many have speculated on the reason for this and the outcome of the battle, but all I see fit to give you is the facts: Glorihound and Heretic fought after all of the Earth-X matter was meant to have been expunged, Heretic didn't seem any the worse off after it, and Glorihound was never seen again. The only place we'd ever get any more truth is from either combatant, and neither seem to want to come forward with answers.

It just goes to show, it's not bad to be a rebel, as long as you're rebelling against the wrong side.

- Arthur S. Leighman