Real Name: Byron Emil Durand
Occupation: Body guard for hire, adventurer and Guardian of the Cube.
Base of Operations: Gateway city, the One Eyed Snake Nightclub and Darque Manor.
Place of Birth: New York, NY
Known Relatives: Louisa Durand (mother) and Emil Durand (father)
Group Affiliation: The Guardians of the Cube
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Homosexual
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 203 lbs.
Eyes: brown, though they appear blue, because of the special contact lenses he wears.
Hair: naturally black, but he prefers to bleach it platinum blonde.
Penis: 11 inches, cut
First Appearance: Naked Justice #2 (2004)
Current Appearances: Naked Justice #2, Rapture #1, Rapture #2, Rapture #3, Striptease #1
History:
Born to Louisa Durrand, a private school teacher, and Emil Durrand, a well-respected scientist and engineer, Byron Durand was a very quiet child, who preferred to keep to himself and read comics rather than interact with the other children at his school. Considered the school geek, he was bullied from a young age by the older kids, and because of his slight build, they found it easy to push him around. But despite the hardships he endured, Byron remained a very optimistic and happy child, taking refuge from the adversity in the pages of his favorite comic books.
His mother and father used to try and encourage him to be more outgoing, but Byron had no interest in being friends with the kids who treated him so poorly. He preferred to nourish his imagination instead.
One fateful afternoon when he was 15 years old, he and his mother were out walking in New York, when Byron caught a glimpse of “the Goddess”. To this day, his parents still don’t know to who he was referring to, but Byron insists that that moment was the defining instant of his life. He saw his heroine fly gracefully across the bright, blue sky, her long silver hair and cloak flowing in the cool breeze, and in that instant, his life would be changed forever.
He had been bullied and ridiculed for too long, and he would stand for it no longer. Byron began to exercise and take care of his body. He joined the school track team and began to lift weights, until he had become a full-fledged athlete. He took lessons in the martial arts, and became well versed in many forms of combat.
Seeing “the Goddess” made him realize that he could be more than the boy that everybody pushed around, and that in fact, he could become someone that people looked up to and respected. He decided then and there that he would fulfill his dream of becoming a super hero.
At 19 Byron decided that he was now ready for adventure. By then he was an extremely handsome young man, toned and muscled to perfection. His body was as powerful a fighting machine as it was beautiful. Still, Byron needed a “gimmick”… something that set him apart and gave him his own identity as a super hero. That is when he decided to turn to his father.
Emil Durand’s research centered around the creation of new equipment for NASA’s astronauts. Byron let his father in on his dream of becoming one of the world’s heroes, despite his fear that his father might not understand. To his surprise, Emil embraced the idea, stating that it was so wonderful to see Byron come out of his shell and fulfill his great potential. Emil gave his son several prototypes, which included a jet pack and helmet, as well as a plethora of ray guns and blaster pistols.
Needing only a name to complete his new identity, Byron adopted the alias “Space Cadet”. From that point on, he would try and earn himself a reputation as one of the world’s greatest heroes.
Space Cadet learned the hard way that being a hero was no easy task. On his first “adventure”, he was sorely rendered unconscious by the villainous Prick and Mamma Ries as they robbed one of New York’s finest jewelry stores. To teach him a lesson for trying to thwart their plans, Momma Ries and The Prick stripped Space Cadet nude, and tied him up in one of the city’s less favorable alleys, where he was milked and molested by thugs and low-lives for 2 days and nights. To his relief, the police eventually came to his rescue. Space Cadet had been humiliated, but he had not been defeated.
Still he had lost the equipment his father had given him, and getting it replaced was going to be costly. So he decided to move to Gateway City where he would earn money for his heroics. He became a body-guard for hire.
His most high-profile client was to be the infamous Tobey Tubesteak. While protecting Tobey from the evil Jack the Stripper, Space Cadet encountered Naked Justice and Ghostboy. The three heroes helped one another out and defeated Jack the Stripper, sending him straight to the Fraserview Mental Health Hospital.
Since then, Space Cadet has befriended Naked Justice and Ghostboy, and has offered his help to them on many occasions. Through his work as a body guard, he managed to earn enough money to pay for his replacement equipment.
Recently, Space Cadet has received an invitation to join the Guardians of the Cube from Jeanne Darque. For him, this is the perfect way to prove himself as one of Gateway City’s great defenders.
This invitation coincided with recent power augmentations he received from his father. Now Space Cadet no longer requires his laser pistols and fancy gadgets when in battle, relying instead on his own ability to wield cosmic radiation at his will. He has much to learn about his new abilities, but will undoubtedly have the opportunity to do so in Ordovica, the land of the Satyrs. That is where Space Cadet has traveled to help his new ally Vallan free his people, the Satyrs from the evil clutches of the vile Baron Von Phallus.
Powers and Paraphernalia:
As an athlete, Space Cadet is well versed in numerous forms of hand to hand combat and martial arts. He is a formidable opponent who possess higher than average strength and endurance for a human male of his age, height, weight and build.
Space Cadet wears special contact lenses which allow him to see with infrared, and x-ray vision, again, compliments of his father. They also increase his visual acuity and filter out unwanted radiation on all wavelength spectrums. These contacts have a blue hue to them, thus making it appear that Byron has blue eyes. Coupled with his bleach-blond hair, they give him a rather striking look.
Recently, Space Cadet’s father, Emil Durand, the brilliant scientist conducted several experiments on his son, endowing him with new superhuman abilities. It now appears that Space Cadet has the ability to project cosmic radiation from his hands and eyes. The beams are exceptionally destructive and he must control their intensity or risk killing his intended target by accident.
Emil’s experiments also enhanced his son’s physical strength and endurance. Space Cadet can now withstand incredible pressures without the aid of his special costumes.
It was also Emil’s intention to imbue his son with the ability of flight. It is still unknown whether or not he succeeded as Space Cadet is still discovering the full extent of his new abilities.
Prior to his new enhancements, Space Cadet possessed no superhuman powers or skills.
He employed gadgetry and equipment in his crime fighting which his father provided.
Space Cadet carried laser pistols, a force field emitter and his rocket pack permitted him to fly at speeds exceeding 100 MPH. If it turns out that he still cannot fly on his own, Space Cadet may well resort to wearing his rocket pack once more while his father continues his attempts to grant him the power of autonomous flight.
When completely zipped up, his former skin tight, form fitting costume, constructed of unstable molecules, served to insulate him for extreme environmental conditions, thus allowing him to travel in space and even underwater. His costume regulated all body functions and shields him from extreme pressure, heat or cold.
Now Space Cadet has no further need for the protection of this special costume, and wears a regular spandex version of it when fighting crime.
His helmet permitted him to breathe in such conditions as well, and can recycle his oxygen indefinitely. It is likely that the helmet would still prove useful to Space Cadet should his adventures call him to venture underwater or beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
