Colin Wallis

{{#if:DefiantLast 20.a|

“	He’d worked so hard, training, sacrificing opportunities to meet people, make friends, meet women he could date. He’d given his all to fight crime in Brockton Bay, sometimes for selfish or ambitious reasons, but he’d tried. He’d tried to train his team to brave what was inevitably a losing battle against greater numbers and enemies who didn’t play by the rules.	”
{{#if:Defiant| —Defiant{{#if:Last 20.a|, Last 20.a}} }} }}

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>Colin Wallis</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>

Alive

</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox> Colin Wallis, known in his cape identity as Armsmaster, was the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate team. After being critically wounded by the Slaughterhouse Nine, Colin took on a new identity as Defiant and worked alongside Dragon in searching for and fighting the Slaughterhouse Nine.

Personality

Colin is exemplified by a stern and uncompromising personality, one which frequently serves as a source of friction between him and the people around him - including professional subordinates. Colin sees himself as being part of a war; a soldier of law and order fighting against the chaos of supervillains.<ref name="16.y">Interlude 16.y</ref> Because of this, he can be rude and abrupt to people who aren't on 'his side'.

Colin is defined by his tunnel vision.<ref>I dunno if he cares about friendly staff. He'd go to a place where the staff barely talks, just because the food is good and he can sit and eat. Just a loner with messy (helmet) hair sitting in the corner with a bowl and some bread, taking in much needed raw calories after a day of working out and inventing. Wifi doesn't matter - it's almost better without. He can just tap out notes on his phone as ideas come to him.

He's defined by tunnel vision, so for just that moment, the world is defined by that 3-foot diameter space which is him and the table and the food. - Wildbow on Reddit</ref> He's a man who wants to be self-reliant at all times and to excel at everything he does, pushing himself to his absolute limit to a point that might be considered obsessive. He prided himself on this spartan existence which allowed him to take up any job and perform any role the Protectorate required of him.<ref>Interlude 24.y</ref> He deliberately went without a family, friends or a personal life in order to be that much better at his life as a cape and to not give any enemies additional ammo to use against him.<ref name="I11d">Interlude 11d</ref> In fact, until he developed a relationship with Dragon, he had no personal life to speak of whatsoever. Any time not spent on his official duties was spent training or working on his equipment. Despite his powerful drive to be a heroic cape, Colin's pride and anger can get the better of him, leading him to make errors in judgment or exhibit elements of narcissism. Along those lines, Colin also has difficulties with understanding people.<ref name="I10.5">Interlude 10.5</ref> As Colin himself puts it: he never knows what to say, how to say it, or who to say it to.<ref name="I11d"/> Miss Militia noted that he "didn’t have a head for this sort of thing" when discussing interrogations.<ref>Cell 22.6</ref>

He was known to prepare for things well ahead of time even against threats he hadn't met yet.<ref>Interlude 13</ref>

Relationships

Dragon

They have been colleagues for several years and Dragon notes that she and Colin have the same taste in movies and television shows.<ref name="I10.5"/> As part of their professional relationship Colin shared his electric pulse technology, an effective counter to Skitter, with Dragon, much to the teenaged villain's exasperation.<ref>Monarch 16.1</ref>

His later romantic relationship with Dragon (and his new identity as Defiant) leads Colin to be slightly less stern and belligerent, although he still exhibits many of the same traits and habits that make him difficult for most people to deal with for an extended period. As Taylor puts it, Dragon is the only person on the planet who can stand him for more than ten minutes at a time,<ref>Sting 26.4</ref> and Dragon herself admittedly needs a break sometimes.<ref name="I24c1">Colin was commenting on how society tends to demand that women be pure and virginal but at the same time sexualizes them. He says Dragon is possibly the only entity that could possibly be both and satisfy society, and he’s happy to have her.

And if that isn’t misguided enough, he says it in a ham-handed way. - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 24.y</ref>

Hannah

Besides Chevalier and Dragon she is one of the only people who considers Colin a friend.

Taylor Hebert

Got off to a bad start with the young would-be hero. Taking credit for her and the Undersiders taking down Lung led to the first blemish on his record, and, in turn, led him to recklessly try for a win against Leviathan.

As Defiant, after having some time to recover and with somebody to help change his mind, he has officially retracted his statements calling Taylor a "manipulator and a liar".<ref>Drone 23.1</ref> Further he empathized with her over their time as leaders. He used her time as Weaver to make a new start in their professional relationship.<ref>Drone 23.5</ref>

Chevalier

Saw each other as old friends.<ref name="I24"> - Excerpt from Interlude 24.x</ref>

Reputation

Armsmaster was featured in photoshoots of the "core group of the top Protectorate members". He had his own action figures.<ref>Brockton Bay's team was officially ‘The Protectorate East-North-East', and were headquartered in the floating, forcefield-shrouded island that you could see from the Boardwalk.  This guy, Armsmaster, was the guy in charge of the local team.  When the core group of the top Protectorate members from around Canada and the States assembled in that classic ‘v' formation for the photo shoots, Armsmaster was one of the guys in the wings.  This was a guy who had his own action figures.  Poseable Armsmaster with interchangeable Halberd parts. - Gestation 1.6</ref> He appeared on magazine covers and did interviews on TV, so you could find almost anything about Armsmaster through various media, short of his secret identity. Taylor Hebert compared him to Michael Jordan and referred to him as "one of the top heroes".<ref name="1.6" /><ref name="SBWoh">Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Armsmaster appears in the posters and such of the top Protectorate heroes.
Wildbow:When they do the image of everyone standing in a 'v' formation
Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Nah. Legend in front, Alex and Eidolon to the left and right, respectively. Then Myrddin, Chev, Cinereal, Narwhal, Rime, Exalt, Armsmaster, Dragon suit silhouette in the background, wings echoing the wings of the PRT logo over their heads. - IRC conversation archived on Spacebattles</ref>

Armsmaster is mentioned as being under 'retirement' and presumably the public thinks this.<ref>Interlude 18.z</ref> He was allowed to operate as Defiant; with full knowlege of the PRT establishment,<ref>Interlude 20.x</ref> by being under several severe prohibitions.<ref>Interlude 20.x</ref> 

Appearance

Colin is a tall man in his late twenties or early thirties by Taylor's reckoning.<ref name="1.6">Gestation 1.6</ref> He has dark-brown hair and beard that he keeps short and cropped.<ref name=":3">Interlude 7</ref> <tabber>As Armsmaster= Armsmaster's costume consists of a suit of midnight-blue power armor<ref>Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref> with silver highlights and a helmet and silver<ref>Tangle 6.5</ref> visor that covers his eyes and nose<ref name="1.6"/>. He wears a neatly trimmed beard. He wields his personally designed and crafted Halberd weapon system which can shift into various weapons, cut through most metal, wreathe the blade in plasma, project electromagnetic pulses and act as a grappling hook, among many other tools and features. His helmet includes a lie detector and a computer program that allows him to predict enemy behavior - although these tools are not infallible.

His chest emblem was a silhouette of his visor in blue against a silver background, and was featured on various merchandise, including underwear.<ref name="1.6" /> |-|As Defiant= Defiant's costume consists of an advanced, heavy-duty suit of power armor which is forest green and gold in coloration. Much of the armor is decorated in a styling that evokes dragons - such as frills or wings - along the green portions. His helmet, which obscures his whole face, resembles a high-tech knight's helm and the points where the visor meets the rest of the helmet are shaped like a dragon's wing. Much like Armsmaster, he wields a long polearm, although this one is a two-pronged spear as opposed to a halberd and is much larger, able to extend itself up to fifteen feet in length. The spear can deploy a number of different blades and tools, similar to Armsmaster's Halberd and is etched with a design like a lizard's skull in the spearhead. Much of this armor is obviously intended to invoke a comparison with his heroic partner, Dragon, who wears a similar set.

As Defiant, he has numerous cybernetic enhancements throughout his body and even inside of his brain. These include at least one prosthetic eye, a prosthetic leg, and a prosthetic arm to replace the one he lost fighting Leviathan (it is unclear whether more than one each of his arms and legs are cybernetic replacements; see trivia). This level of cybernetic augmentation allows Dragon to see what he sees and allows them both to communicate with each other privately. His scalp is covered in thin, neat surgical scars and he keeps his dark hair and beard shaved close. The level of cybernetic modification means he only has fifteen minutes of 'down time' each day, with six of those fifteen being for sleep. His cybernetic leg also mounts a nanomachine thorn generator.<ref name="16.y"/><ref name="26.2c1">The nanites don’t eat. His nanites are basically like thorns, which sever molecular bonds and effectively disintegrate the target material. - Comment by Wildbow on Sting 26.2</ref>

He usually has access to a personalized Dragon craft which he pilots. </tabber>

Abilities and Powers

Colin is a Tinker that specializes in three groups: miniaturization/minimized technology, efficiency technology,<ref name="16.y e3">He glanced at one monitor, and windows opened to show images of the leg.  He was able to draw the crude shapes that represented individual devices even when he wasn’t looking at the screen.  A triangle here, a circle there.  Another window opened up with a line connecting it to the triangle, and he drew an identical triangle, began filling it with more shapes.  By the time he had a fourth subwindow open, he was drawing from previous notes to copy over other schematics of older work, seeing where things could go.  Everything could fit together.  The waste energy of one system could help power another.  Even on a molecular level, there were ways to harness the ambient radiation that was emitted by everything in the known universe.  Some was infinitesimally small, but it was usable.  That energy could be heterodyned, or redirected into loops long enough that they were near-infinite.  Hyperefficient, dense energy generation that could benefit from being hooked up to more devices.  It was the fundamental basis of his work: efficiency.

Which suited him well.  Efficiency, intensity, focus were all the same thing in a sense, and they were his strengths.  The flip side was that they weren’t strengths when they were applied to relationships.  Or to human relationships. - Excerpt from Interlude 16.y</ref> and Hybrid technology.<ref>Defiant has the 'tinker up efficiency/hybrid/minimized technology' skill tree. Stinger has the 'missile' skill tree. Tecton has the 'Seismic and Architecture' skill trees. Leet has all of them, but all throughout those trees are entire sections with 'Use of this technology has a X% chance to fail'. You get further away from one design, that chance drops, but it's still there. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref> He uses this power to create ridiculously efficient technological devices which he outfits into his suits of armor or into his weapons.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=EarDay>Armsmaster triggers and starts off with a set of ideas. The Halberd is the central focus. So he starts out with something resembling (for core builds)...

• 3 or so Halberd variants.
• 2 bodysuit concepts.
• Some computer/workstation elements, some devices and trinkets.
  

Where the miniaturization came in is that he could pack a lot of tools and functions into his halberd (and to a lesser extent, the bodysuit and computers). So where another tinker might have a giant mechanical axe that they can stick two pieces of tech into while still preserving function, Armsmaster can stick three in there, and his specialty gives him quite a few more ideas on the tech he can build while also giving him the ability to pack a few more things into there at the expense of some function. So add to his list of possible builds reams of basic tech and tech improvements like…

• Combat HUD - Gathers and provides combat details. Effectively gives him some more raw skill (weapon handling, dodging, deflection, battlefield awareness) in a combat situation.
• Rocket booster - The augmented tech has a built in rocket he can use to better maneuver the battlefield, get himself into the fight or out of danger.
• Grappling hook - Offensive and defensive utility.
• Battlefield mapper - Touching surface sends out reverberation to map out surroundings & pass info to visor. With halberd, slamming halberd butt into wall provides more comprehensive data, but makes noise. With computer, naturally gathers & provides some satellite data & building blueprints.
• Advanced comms - Technologically enhanced teamwork (similar to combat HUD above, but focused on avoiding friendly fire, knowing location of friendlies), plus ability to unobtrusively glance through cameras & hear through microphones given to teammates.
• Plus 2-4 more.
  

It should be stressed at this stage that he's a very combat-leaning tinker with a fairly narrow focus and not a ~lot~ of defensive hardware, but he can expand where he takes that focus with sheer utility & toolkit at his disposal. He might well lean heavily on the tech that compensates for offensive and defensive weaknesses by augmenting his skills in an abstract way.

So he starts off with the Protectorate and he gets a chance to shine pretty early on. In a time when there are more heroes than there are departments, he takes on a role as a member of a strike squad. An issue arises, someone calls, and he and his team mobilize to solve the problem. Long periods of downtime followed by moments of action, and he shines, he thrives. He has a few standout moments and he's doing everything right from the point of view of his shard.

Much like Taylor's achievements went hand in hand with a growth in her capability and flexibility with her power (on a blunt level like the waxing & waning max range, in terms of being able to see/speak with them, and on an abstract level, like how the shard is helping more in the background or when she's unconscious), Armsmaster gets his breadth and depth too, going hand in hand with some major achievements and moments of personal growth. Taking down a key bad guy after months of preparation, getting a position as leader of the squad, moving on to leader of a city, and so on. Meanwhile, like any tinker, he builds up a repertoire by accessing other tinker stuff, scanning it, and translating it into a language and format his particular tinker brain can understand. Some stuff falls by the wayside, original ideas his shard had helped him come up with being discarded, but he takes long strides down other paths. The standard tinker costume gives way to a suit of armor, and his facility with adding more augments (tools, programs, bits of tech) into his gear improves.

His lists expand, he develops a fighting style and trains his actual skills which are then augmented further by tech, instead of leaning on tech to supply skill on its own.

This is roughly where he's at as he takes on leadership in Brockton Bay and has his first few encounters. He then starts focusing on a few bigger projects, collaborating more with Dragon. The disintegration halberd is a major project, as is the combat simulator, which plays off of things like the Combat HUD and battlefield mapper above.

Later on, following the Mannequin encounter and his shift in focus to being Defiant, he takes the leap into cyborg enhancements, wherein he starts taking some of the augments and smaller techs mentioned above and implant them into his own body. - Comment by Wildbow on Armsmaster's early days</ref><ref>Armsmaster is defined in large part by his tunnel vision. He focuses overmuch and without outside factors will lean too heavily on his own perspective, goals, or way of doing things, so his levels of empathy take a hit.

In the conversation, Dragon steps in to steer him back on course when he starts to get too tunnel-visioned. He's clever and intuitive enough to read people (provided his own biases or focuses aren't coming into play in the initial reading) and can even make programs that do it (combat analysis, lie detector) or leverage it into helping him conduct an investigation (gather evidence, read witnesses), but given a long conversation or a context that makes things less convenient for him, he'll wind up putting his foot in his mouth, inadvertently trampling over someone else's feelings and priorities, get too focused on his own goals, or devolve into tinker-talk that makes no sense to others. Depending on the context/subject, of course.

Defiant has the 'tinker up efficiency/hybrid/minimized technology' skill tree. Stinger has the 'missile' skill tree. Tecton has the 'Seismic and Architecture' skill trees. Leet has all of them, but all throughout those trees are entire sections with 'Use of this technology has a X% chance to fail'. You get further away from one design, that chance drops, but it's still there. - Comment by Wildbow on Sufficient Velocity</ref><ref>SB efficiency trees</ref>

His equipment has demonstrated, or has been said to have, the following features:

Tinker Creations

Blade that rearranges into various other weapons (Halberd)<ref name=":0">Tangle 6.6</ref> Blade that can cut through steel (Halberd blade, spear<ref>“No,” Defiant said.  He took two steps forward and swiped with the spear, cutting her in half. Almost in half.  Something like chainmail was wrapped around her spine, but the spear had cut through the matching mesh that had protected her abdominal organs. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x</ref>) Grappling hook (Halberd blade)<ref name=":0" /><ref name="1.6" /> Welding device (Halberd blade) <ref>His grappling hook released me, reconfiguring into what I suspected was the same setup that had fixed Lung to the ground with bars of stainless steel, back in my first day in costume.  It was shaped like a rectangle, and there were two ‘u' shaped bands of metal with electricity arcing around them, the tips of each ‘u' glowing hot enough to melt against any surface. - Tangle 6.6</ref><ref name="1.6" /> Flail (Halberd blade)<ref name=":0" /> Teleporting to his hand (Halberd)<ref name=":1">Excerpt from Tangle 6.7</ref> Possibly a result of scanning Miss Militia's power. Temporal stasis trigger (Halberd) Scanned from Clockblocker EMP Projector/Electricity field (Halberd, spear)<ref name=":4">Tangle 6.5</ref> Plasma blade (Halberd)<ref name="1.6" /> The ability to change its size (spear)<ref>He held out a rod in one hand, and it unfolded into a spear of ridiculous length. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x</ref> Spinning blades (spear)<ref>Blades sprung from the length of the shaft, and began spinning like propellers   One caught her from behind, and she slid forward, only to find herself sandwiched between two such sets. “That’s Mannequin’s trick!  That’s so cute, that you’re copying-” - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x</ref> Echolocation (Halberd, helmet)<ref name=":0" /> Lie detector (helmet)<ref name=":0" /> Combat predictor (helmet)<ref name=":0" /> Psychic shielding (helmet)<ref name="6.6e1">“Which means you can stop trying to use your power on me, Regent.  I’ve got a little blinking light in the corner of my H.U.D. telling me you’re trying something.  I’ve set up psychic and empathic shielding, to protect myself from you and Tattletale.” I glanced at Tattletale. He was psychically shielded against her? How did that work? Then I remembered. When we’d gone up against Glory Girl and Panacea, hadn’t Tattletale said she read minds? And now Armsmaster had bad info and was figuring he was immune. “I don’t need to read you,” she told him, “You’re the only one with shields, so your teammates and the PRT staff don’t have any psychic shields up, and I can read them to get anything I need. You’re not the best inventor, but like most tinkers, you’ve got a knack. Yours just happens to be condensing and integrating technology. Only works in your immediate presence, but still, you can stick way more technology in a space than has a right to be there… like your Halberd.” - Excerpt from Tangle 6.6</ref> Sealed biohazard capabilities (Defiant armor)<ref>“Biohazard safe,” Defiant said.  His spear shaft tapped against his armor. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x</ref> Enhanced strength (Armour)<ref name="SB1">Gallant's armor? More details on style? Does it enhance strength? Do anything else? The armor is primarily protective, with some cosmetic features. Think stylized medieval armor with lights recessed in the midst of it, to give him more of a 'gleaming' look, highlighting edges. The armor is basically a super-reduced version of Armsmaster's, which is a smaller-scale version of Defiant's (which is tanky and bulky). It primarily offers enhanced strength, but 80% of that boosted strength is going towards just allowing Gallant to move around easily with the armor and equipment. Between gauntlet and armor, he can throw a pretty mean punch. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref> Megaprojects Nano-thorn disintegration field (unique Halberd, later incorporated into a spear and his Defiant armor)<ref>His leg flared with a gray blur as he reached her, and be brought it down onto her back from above. It sheared through her as though she weren’t even there, cutting her in half.  - Excerpt from Interlude 19.x</ref>

During their partnership, Taylor speculated that Dragon must have had Defiant adjust her gear, because "there was no way she could pack that much machinery in that much space" - unless "it was all crammed into her torso, which was impossible",<ref name="20.5">Excerpt from Chrysalis 20.5</ref> obviously not knowing that dragon was an artificial intelligence.

As Defiant, he replaced his internal organs and parts of his brain with artificial equivalents, reducing his need to sleep, eat and eliminate waste to less than fifteen minutes a day.<ref name="I15">Interlude 15</ref>

History

Background

Growing up Colin was a loner and the child of divorced parents. He went to college and had even taken psychology classes.

When he triggered he was old enough to directly join the Protectorate.<ref>Too many years he’d spent alone. Too many years, he’d had nothing to care about. Nothing and nobody to hold precious. A dad who worked two jobs, a mother who traveled. They’d divorced, and virtually nothing had changed in the grand scheme of things. They’d looked after him, but they hadn’t been there. They had been occupied with other things, with dreams and aspirations that had never included him.

Colin knew he had been the weird child. Had never made friends, had convinced himself he didn’t want or need them. He was efficient in how solitary he was.

He’d even prided himself on it, for a time, that there was nothing to hold him back. That he could, should the mood strike him, pick up and leave at any time. He’d modeled his life around it, had led a spare existence, devoid of the little touches of home, of roots. He’d saved money so he had the ability to travel, to get a new place in a new city if the mood struck. It had even been an asset when he had joined the Protectorate, the ability to relocate, take any open position.

It was only now, a full fifteen years later, that he started to wonder what he’d missed out on. Did most people know how to handle this sort of thing? The absence of someone they cared about? Did they have an easier time handling the moments when they weren’t sure if they’d ever see those people again, or was it harder? - Excerpt from Interlude 24.y</ref> He was operating in the early enough days that he was part of Protectorate strike squads that dealt with problems as they flared up.<ref>So he starts off with the Protectorate and he gets a chance to shine pretty early on. In a time when there are more heroes than there are departments, he takes on a role as a member of a strike squad. An issue arises, someone calls, and he and his team mobilize to solve the problem. Long periods of downtime followed by moments of action, and he shines, he thrives. He has a few standout moments and he's doing everything right from the point of view of his shard. - Partial comment by Wildbow on Reddit</ref>

Armsmaster was present for The Simurgh's attack on Madison, showcasing his competence. Myrddin chastises him for being reckless. When Myrddin grows argumentative with Dragon following orders unquestionably, Armsmaster defends her.<ref>Migration 17.4</ref>

Story Start

After pumping Lung full of tranquilizers and welding a steel cage around him, Armsmaster used his Halberd's grappling hook to scale to the top of the building that an unnamed bug girl had taken refuge on. He confirmed that she wasn't going to attack him before talking about what had happened that night as well as the threat of consequences to her if she took the credit for taking Lung down. Because of this, Skitter asked him to keep her involvement with Lung's capture secret and they amiably parted ways.<ref>Gestation 1.6</ref>

Lung's arrest did not go well for Armsmaster. When he took Lung back to the local Protectorate HQ (to be held until the villain's trial by teleconference), Lung was under the effects of Skitter's insects. As Skitter's bugs had injected Lung with a near-lethal dose of poisons, Lung almost died as his powers wore off and his regeneration could not heal him faster than the poison was hurting him. Armsmaster was subject to an investigation. Over the course of two days, he lost command of his team, had his Halberd and power armor confiscated and taken apart for inspection to ensure that he had not been using lethal poisons, and was interrogated as to the circumstances of Lung's capture. This was the first blemish to his otherwise exemplary record.

Armsmaster met with Skitter at her request, although his demeanour was consequently colder than it had been on their initial meeting, though he was grateful for the information she was able to give him on Tattletale. They argued over her plan to infiltrate the Undersiders, and he revealed the consequences arresting Lung had had for him. It was presumably around this time that Armsmaster pushed the PRT to look into the Undersiders' backgrounds. They identified Regent's old identity as Hijack.<ref>"What do you know about how I grew up?" Regent challenged him.

"I know what the Protectorate knows.  Not long after Lung was brought into custody, Armsmaster began pushing for details on your group.  Staff at the PRT offices were tasked with looking through old criminal records and reports of lesser known parahumans, trying to find parallels.  Find if perhaps a supervillain in another area perhaps moved to Brockton Bay, changing their names, costumes and methods.  They found you." - [ Excerpt] from Tangle 6.8</ref>

After the Undersiders robbed the Brockton Bay Central Bank, Armsmaster met with the Wards. He looked at the information that they were compiling about the Undersiders before noting that Tattletale's section was nearly empty. He wanted Panacea to tell them what she had observed about the villain's powers, but the younger hero hadn't gotten her thoughts in order. When he attempts to push the issue, Miss Militia tells him it's fine.<ref>Interlude 3</ref>

Armsmaster was present at the Battle at the Gallery alongside the rest of his team when the Undersiders hit it. He disables their stolen containment foam sprayers with electromagnetic pulses. He orders Bitch to call off her dogs before explaining that he had studied the Undersiders' powers, allowing him to construct countermeasures to each.<ref name=":4" /> During the battle, he displayed telepathic shielding that blocked Regent's ability, a variation on his EMP that acted as a bug-zapper, echolocation that could see through Grue's darkness, and a powerful flail that disabled Tattletale, Grue, and Bitch's dogs. He also claimed that he had prediction software that could anticipate Bitch and her dogs based on footage of them.

During the fight, Tattletale employs her power against him, figuring out some of the tools in his Halberd and claiming that all of his subordinates despise him; he instantly disables her with his Halberd. Although he and Miss Militia seem to have the Undersiders dead to rights, he orders her to use a less lethal weapon when the Undersiders imply that the two of them are engaging in brutality, allowing Regent an opportunity to disable her and Grue to blanket the room in darkness. He battles and defeats Grue and Bitch's dogs.

After the rest of his team are disabled, he refuses Skitter's quiet offer of a truce, stating that he plans to simply arrest her. In response, Skitter swarms him with seven hundred hornets, manages to wrestle his Halberd from him, and throws it over the side of the building. The Undersiders rescue Skitter and escape. Skitter deliberately leaves her message to leave in place to mock Armsmaster.<ref name=":0" />

As the Undersiders recuperate in an alley, however, Armsmaster tracks them down - along with Dauntless. With his Halberd once more in his hands, Armsmaster demands the surrender of the Undersiders. Armsmaster has had Dauntless wear earbuds to prevent him from hearing Tattletale. They fight and Armsmaster pursues them into a parking garage where he is promptly ambushed by the Travelers, Circus and Trainwreck. Armsmaster is then left beaten, bloodied and unconscious; Trainwreck picks up Armsmaster's Halberd and crushes it, covering the unconscious hero in the debris of his own weapon.<ref name=":1" />

In light of recent actions and poor performance, he was to be demoted as Protectorate leader and transferred over to Chicago.<ref>She stood there, paging through the folder of paperwork, stunned.  “Where are you going?”

“Chicago.”

Hannah broke into a smile, “Chicago!  That’s fantastic!  A bigger city, a bigger team!  Where’s Myrddin being moved?”

“He stays in Chicago.”

Hannah shook her head, “But…” she trailed off.

The hard look on Colin’s face was telling enough. - Excerpt from Interlude 7</ref> He, erroneously, believed it to be because of his meager talent in politics.<ref>“It’s the politics,” Colin spoke, leaning back, “I’m good at this.  Better than most, if you don’t mind me boasting.  Everything I bring to the table, I worked my ass off for.  But when it comes to shaking hands, managing people, navigating the bureaucracy… I’m not good at it, won’t ever be.  Because of that, I’m getting demoted, and I can probably give up on ever being in charge of another team.” - Excerpt from Interlude 7</ref>

Colin worked through the entire night with Dragon. He took to the task with grim determination.<ref name="7.x">Excerpt from Interlude 7</ref>

Battle against Leviathan

After Legend gave his introductory speech Armsmaster took over the briefing to explain to the gathered capes how Dragon's armbands worked. He questioned Miss Militia about The Travelers when they stood with those who have faced an Endbringer before. He was assigned to lead a group of capes who think they can harm Leviathan in hand-to-hand combat alongside Chevalier.

During the battle, Armsmaster provides tactical advice and orders, and eventually maneuvers things to set himself up in a one-on-one duel with the Endbringer itself.

Tired, but gloating and taunting, Armsmaster appears to be fighting Leviathan and winning due to his new disintegration weapon and his numerous tinker devices giving him countermeasures for much of what Leviathan attempts. His combat analysis software<ref>“You dumb brute,” Armsmaster growled. He was panting for breath. “Every fight you’ve done so far, that we’ve got on camera? I’ve watched it, put it through programs. I’ve got a computer on my back that’s relaying to a supernetwork, noting your every move, using subsonic pulses to read every aspect of the street, the surrounding buildings, every feature of the terrain. I know exactly what you’re going to do next – you’re going to try to catch me from behind with a wave.” - Extermination 8.4</ref> (with no interference and outside variables) genuinely worked against the Endbringer by predicting his attacks, movement, counters, and tactics.<ref>Plendamonda: Reminder that Armsmaster's prediction software worked perfectly at predicting Leviathan
until it didn't
[...]
Wildbow: His combat analysis software did work

Xantho: The data it had was incomplete

Wildbow: Not that.
It let him land the blow just where he wanted it. But he was working on the assumption that his halberd cut through everything.
His software doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of powers or composition or figure out what can be cut through and what can't. It's about movement, attacks, counters, and tactics.
Watch how someone moves, get all the data from video footage and whatever else, gather data on mindset and habits, extrapolate.
Even if there's 50 possible moves (in a broad sense), it can still guide you to places where you're safe, and that reduce the opponent's future options for courses to take. - Conversation with Wildbow on Parahumans Discord</ref> However, Armsmaster was caught off-guard by his nano-thorn Halberd getting stuck partway through Leviathan's claw as he assumed it could cut through anything:<ref>Legend talks about underestimating Leviathan... which is a complete aside and totally unrelated to me bringing up Armsmaster vs. Leviathan. I should explain (because I think it was unclear) - Armsmaster's computer didn't let him position the others so they would die, exactly. That was secondary. He put the villains in the way (particularly the giant bruisers and the wall-creating Kaiser) and set himself up so he would be able to fight Leviathan one on one. That let the simulation program be clean of interference and outside variables.

It wasn't that Armsmaster screwed up, but that a weapon that's supposed to cut through anything gets part of the way through Leviathan's claw and stops. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit, archived on Spacebattles</ref> the Endbringer then pins Armsmaster to the ground before tearing off one of his arms.

Skitter, who had been watching the fight, arrives and administers first aid as best she can. Armsmaster claims that she was dead. Shortly afterwards, Lady Photon arrives to take Armsmaster to receive proper medical attention.

Post-Leviathan

Immediately after when Scion beat Leviathan back. Armsmaster finds Skitter, who had stumbled upon Shadow Stalker's civilian identity, and restrains her. Dragging her over to Legend and Miss Militia he reminds them that Skitter is an adept liar who was able to fool both his instincts and hardware. However, his angry belligerence isn't enough to prevent Tattletale from outing his actions during the battle against Leviathan - namely ensuring that villains were placed in the Endbringer's path which would be a violation of the truce. Armsmaster lunges for Tattletale, but Legend sends him sprawling with a laser blast and Miss Militia points her weapon at him.

Tattletale tells Legend and Miss Militia that Armsmaster essentially deliberately put villains such as Kaiser in harm's way, letting them die all to arrange his duel. Without any humility, Armsmaster states that he did everything he did for the greater good and that it was the most effective way of ensuring a bright future for Brockton Bay. In response to his immediate arrest, Armsmaster outs Skitter as a mole in the Undersiders, claiming that she is the one they should be mocking and spitting on as she had been planning to betray her teammates for her own gain.<ref>Extermination 8.8</ref>

Afterward Colin was kept under off-the-record<ref>Interlude 13</ref> house arrest on the second-highest floor of the Protectorate ENE Headquarters with regular check-ups from Dragon. It was not kind to him - Colin was tired and had lost weight - although he was still able to work on many of his projects and had access to some of his equipment, such as his nano-disintegration blade. He made no attempts to escape, despite the fact that he would be able to. When Dragon asked him about recent events, he expressed regret and acknowledged the fact that he broke the Endbringer truce during Leviathan's attack.<ref>Interlude 10.5</ref>

Later he was visited by a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine - Mannequin. Mannequin was there to recruit Colin for the Slaughterhouse Nine, insinuating that he was no different from anyone in their villain group. This enraged Colin who, despite warnings and pleading from Dragon, deliberately provoked Mannequin by calling him out on his actions, on how he went from being Alan Gramme to Mannequin as a result of the death of his family. Mannequin promptly stabbed Colin in the shoulder, several times in his abdomen, and then slashed him across the face, blinding and disfiguring him. Despite his disintegration knife, Colin lacked the physical strength to overpower his opponent. As Colin fell into unconsciousness, Mannequin escaped.

Some time later, Colin woke up in the PHQ under Dragon's care, who informed him that he had nine heart failures on the operating table, and he found out that some of the damage he incurred from Mannequin had been repaired with prosthetics, particularly his face and eye. Dragon sternly admonished him, calling his display with Mannequin the "stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen" but then, after a brief moment of awkward conversation, she revealed to him her nature as an A.I.<ref>Interlude 11d</ref>

Miss Militia later disclosed to the villains at the truce that Mannequin had gone after Armsmaster and left him hospitalized.<ref>Plague 12.2</ref> Days later Miss Militia revealed to Skitter that Armsmaster escaped from his hospital bed.<ref>Snare 13.7</ref>

Post-Slaughterhouse Nine

Now garbed as Defiant, Colin showed up along with Dragon, who was showing her 'face' in public for the first time to the Brockton Bay Protectorate. She explained the duo's new mission of hunting down the Slaughterhouse Nine. Thanks to Colin's body language, Triumph immediately noticed that it was Armsmaster under the armor and the implication was that Director Piggot and the rest of the Protectorate capes were aware of this fact as well, but no one was willing to mention it. Defiant revealed that he had replaced his internal organs with artificial equivalents, including parts of his brain as well, leaving him only fifteen minutes of 'down time' per day. It was also implicitly revealed that Defiant had made modifications to Dragon's programming to allow her to control a multitude of her suits at once.<ref>Interlude 15</ref>

Colin and Dragon commenced hunting the Slaughterhouse Nine, a task that took them across the northeast. While investigating a hospital attack in Stafford, Defiant came to the conclusion that Dragon is actually a Parahuman.<ref>Interlude 16.y</ref>

They finally caught up to the group in Boston, with Defiant coming upon Bonesaw and Damsel of Distress in the basement of a building that Accord supplied to the local bio-technology tinker Blasto. Defiant easily dealt with Damsel and tried to stop Bonesaw, but Damsel was able to surprise him and escape with Blasto. Defiant was trapped by Bonesaw and later freed by Dragon, who reported that she killed The Siberian. They then continued their pursuit.<ref>Interlude 19.x</ref>

Post-Echidna

The pair continued their pursuit of the Nine and were eventually able to force them into hiding.<ref>Cell 22.2</ref>

Dragon and Defiant arrive at Arcadia High in a pair of Dragon suits in order to apprehend Taylor, under orders of the PRT. Defiant counters her insects with his spear and defends Dragon as she verbally spars with Taylor. Defiant also apologizes to Taylor, admitting that he should have attempted to compromise with her and he regrets how he handled things with her. He is even willing to officially admit culpability in how Taylor became who she is. When Skitter asks why they have come to arrest her in a public place - outing her cape identity in the process - Defiant informs her that Dinah told them it was their best chance of apprehending her.<ref>Chrysalis 20.4</ref>

Taylor refuses to go with them and uses her fellow students as an escape method. Defiant is dogpiled by many of them, preventing him from grabbing Skitter. When Dragon is forced by her programming to attempt to apprehend Skitter, Defiant makes a crude adjustment to her code that prevents her from pursuing Skitter further. Although he does not feel the risk of losing Dragon is worth Taylor's freedom, Dragon insists it is the right choice. He makes the edit, crippling Dragon. While Skitter escapes, Defiant embraces Dragon's malfunctioning android body.<ref>Chrysalis 20.5</ref>

After the incident, Piggot reminds Defiant that he is on a strict probation, with terms that he had personally agreed to. As Dragon is unable to speak (although can presumably still communicate with him thanks to his cybernetic implants), Defiant promptly makes the demand that the Protectorate needs to clean house and eliminate any sign of Cauldron influence. When the Director refuses, Defiant claims that he and Dragon will simply leave then. In response, Alexandria indicates that the PRT will hand over much of Dragon's responsibilities to Saint. Because of this, Defiant and Dragon agree to a compromise: after the next Endbringer attack, the PRT will clean house.<ref>Interlude 20.x</ref>

Director Tagg tells Taylor that she may be held by Dragon and Defiant in one of their vessels, away from any of her insects, until the time of her trial.<ref>Cell 22.2</ref>

Defiant arrives, with Dragon, to ostensibly collect Skitter from the Protectorate HQ in Brockton Bay. He confronts Skitter in a storeroom, pinning her to the ground with his spear until Dragon arrives. They haul Skitter to the Pendragon and, as they go, Skitter ties Defiant to Dragon with a cord from her insects. As they arrive, Skitter attempts to push Defiant over the edge of the roof, however Defiant manages to catch himself and Dragon hauls him back up over the edge. Angry, Defiant snaps at Skitter to "Stop trying things."

When Skitter continues to resist, Defiant tells her that Tagg and Alexandria are dead. They continue to spar verbally until Miss Militia intervenes, talking through Dragon's set of power armor. Defiant tells Skitter that they were not there to arrest her. Further, he says that the whole situation with Alexandria was a mistake - one that they are all about to pay for.<ref>Cell 22.5</ref>

Defiant likens Alexandria's mistake with Skitter to his lie detector - she had the wrong information and made the wrong decisions because of it. And, given that she never actually killed any of the Undersiders, they are poised to attack in fifteen minutes - something which Defiant says would be almost impossible odds with the suits, the Brockton Bay Protectorate and ten other visiting heroes. As the timer counts closer to zero, and Skitter sticks to her terms, Defiant goes into communication with the new Chief Director and Chevalier who agree to Skitter's terms.

Still, the Protectorate faces a public relations crisis due to the death of Alexandria. Defiant offers the Dragon-craft as a thing to use to capture the imagination of the public - but Miss Militia states that they're still vulnerable to the Endbringers, in contrast to Alexandria who had been instrumental in stopping all three on numerous occasions.

Later, Defiant gives Taylor her new mask and costume that she will wear as Weaver. He congratulates her and compliments her speech, although Dragon shushes him as he attempts to press a conflict of interest issue.<ref>Cell 22.6</ref>(this last part goes into personality not catching the nuance of what is happening)

Defiant and Dragon served as transport for Weaver, taking her to and from prison, court, Protectorate meetings and what she terms 'field exercises'. In New York, Defiant acted partly as her advocate during her meeting with various protectorate teams.<ref>Drone 23.1</ref> Defiant also debriefed Weaver in part after her action against The Adepts.<ref>Drone 23.2</ref> When Behemoth was detected in New Delhi, Defiant and Dragon arrived to collect Weaver from Boston.<ref>Drone 23.4</ref>

En route, Defiant provides Weaver with a flightpack that he had created for her and admits that he had wronged her and set her on the path to becoming a villain. Because of that, he has put himself on the line to recommend her for the Wards and will invest as much time and and equipment as necessary to keep her on track. In exchange for the apology and the flightpack, Colin asks Taylor to look past his own transgressions from his time as Armsmaster. As they land and disembark, Defiant prevents Taylor from rejoining the Undersiders, telling her that her place is with the Wards.<ref>Drone 23.5</ref>

When Alexandria arrives, Defiant is as confused as anyone else, claiming that he saw her dead body himself and verified her DNA, examined and carbon dated her prosthetic eye and checked several other readings. He also confirms that Alexandria went missing from Protectorate custody.

Defiant assists in the battle with Behemoth but is out of contact for some time following the destruction of Dragon's suits. In the final battle against Behemoth, Colin lent support to Chevalier as he faced the Endbringer head-on.<ref name="I24"/>

In the aftermath of the battle, Defiant waited in vain for Dragon to reboot and took time to reflect on his life, his actions, and his attitude. Trying to clear his head, he sets out to help rescue workers, later a rebooted Dragon finally contacts him.<ref name="I24y">Interlude 24.y</ref>

Months later Defiant is present representing the Protectorate at the Khonsu Meeting, alongside Dragon. He exchanges verbal barbs with Saint over the needed response.<ref>Scarab 25.5</ref>

Post-Timeskip

When the Slaughterhouse Nine reappeared, Defiant called Weaver to inform her.<ref>Scarab 25.6</ref>

Defiant briefs Weaver on the threat posed by the Slaughterhouse Nine. Having spoken with Dinah, Defiant tells her that the chance of the world ending is 93.8 percent.<ref>Sting 26.1</ref> He blames himself for failing to kill Jack during their attack on Boston, seeing it as their best chance of being able to have stopped him.<ref>Sting 26.2</ref>

Following Dragon's death at Saint's hands, Defiant is immediately aware of who the culprit is. He swears to kill Saint for what he has done.<ref>Interlude 26.x</ref> Contacted by Weaver, Defiant informs her that the Azazel suits have been 'compromised' and that they are now unreliable. Defiant is so distraught by the loss of Dragon that he thanks Weaver at the end of his conversation with her, something which she acknowledges is very uncharacteristic.<ref>Sting 26.4</ref>

Monitoring the Ellisburg Situation, Defiant sees that the Nine contingent has fled back into their pocket dimension.<ref>Sting 26.5</ref>

Following her failure to stop the abduction of Nilbog, Defiant pilots the Pendragon to the goblin kingdom, taking many capes - including Weaver, Chevalier, Bitch, Parian and Foil - and two members of the Dragon's Teeth to stop the Slaughterhouse Nine directly. During the flight, he has a private conversation with Chevalier.

When they land, Defiant is one of the primary combatants in holding off the monstrous horde, fighting back to back with Weaver at points. During the battle, Saint refuses to assist the group and Defiant contacts someone, letting them know where to find and hunt down Saint. He then - with assistance from Dinah - computes the required number to track the Slaughterhouse Nine to their dimensional pocket and leads the group of capes after them.

Defiant led a team to Houston to take down the Slaughterhouse faction there, presumably taking several of the leftover munitions from the Nine's secret base for some much-needed firepower.<ref>Interlude 26a</ref>

Successful in defending Houston, Defiant works with Saint, only hours after threatening him for killing Dragon, to locate Lisette and have her transmit a message to Scion in the hopes of preventing Jack Slash from ending the world.<ref>Interlude 26b</ref> They succeed but their efforts are for nought.

Gold Morning

At the Cauldron meeting to discuss Scion, Defiant is grilling Saint about his string of failures since supplanting Dragon: Saint is failing and Defiant has placed the responsibility for numerous deaths - 2.2 million in New York alone when Saint failed to raise the defenses in time - upon his head.

Saint mutes him and Defiant claims that he will kill Saint and otherwise obstruct him in anything he will attempt, knowing that Saint has done everything he has done to get Teacher out of the Birdcage. And Defiant is the only one who holds the keys to releasing the prisoners. He agrees to the release of Teacher if everyone else in the room agrees to it.

They do.<ref>Extinction 27.2</ref>

Was present at the Oil-rig battle, confirming the identities of the Birdcage prisoners released in the preparations to facial recognition, all were accounted for. He works with Tattletale to manage Dragon's programs and systems, and figures out something of a pattern to Scion's movements. Defiant instructs String Theory to scale up her F-Driver weapon but to minimize collateral damage. He co-ordinates the waves of attacks against Scion.<ref>Extinction 27.4</ref>

Defiant later brought Saint into custody, though the exact details are not known.<ref>Cockroaches 28.1</ref> Along with Narwhal he served as Saint's prison warden. When Narwhal claims that she needs to ensure that the Undersiders (and Canary) won't be any threat to Saint, Defiant vouches for them. Tattletale's interrogation of Saint is punctuated by verbal sparring from himself and Defiant throughout. When Tattletale informs the group that Teacher's plan was to obtain Dragon and/or her systems, Defiant heads off to investigate.<ref>Cockroaches 28.2</ref>

He later confirms that Teacher obtained all of Dragon that wasn't on the satellite backups. In the face of such monumental news he did not appreciate Imp's poor attempts to inject levity into the situation.

As the Undersiders plan, Bitch states that they might have to let Teacher have Dragon for the moment. Defiant is not happy about the prospect of Dragon being dismantled, tortured, rebuilt and so on in Teacher's clutches, but admits he has little choice.

Narwhal comforts Defiant. When Saint asks to be freed, claiming that it makes sense, Defiant protests again and again, claiming that he wants to believe that Saint can be held for just a little bit longer. Saint is released, but Defiant remains with him, double-checking any code the faux-tinker works on.

Defiant is piloting the Pendragon when Tattletale attempts to communicate with the Simurgh. When Tattletale attempts to form a psychological model of the mental patterns of the Endbringers, Defiant criticises her for using Freudian terminology, recalling a Psychology class he took at University.

Defiant later met with Teacher in the handover of Dragon. Teacher waves off Defiant's vitriol and goads the couple with the fact he has rechained her. Ensuring that she will leave him alone and even protect him. Defiant makes a rare promise that Teacher will pay for enslaving his girlfriend.

Later he tries to comfort Dragon, promising to remove 'every last chain'. This falls on deaf ears.<ref>Interlude 28</ref> Defiant spends some time recuperating from the events of the last few days,<ref>Venom 29.1</ref> presumably performing needed maintenance.

Despite not agreeing with Taylor's plan to infiltrate Cauldron, he does give her one of his disintegration knives along with incredibly detailed maintenance instructions, Dragon cuts him off.<ref>Venom 29.3</ref>

As Khepri does considerable damage to Dragon's systems, Defiant is ready to come to her aid - until Dragon tells him not to and to focus on Zion.<ref>Speck 30.4</ref>

Khepri utilizes Defiant's eyes and his combat prediction software to try and predict Scion's movements and plan a strategy. As with all the other Tinkers, he is put to work creating a weapon that is enough to kill Scion.<ref>Speck 30.5</ref> Upon its completion, before Khepri regains control of the group, Defiant is the one in place to activate the Tinker device that finally kills Scion.<ref>Speck 30.6</ref>

Post-Gold Morning

In the time since the end of Gold Morning Colin was constantly working on a new project to deal with Dragon's mutilation at the hands of Teacher. He was able to unleash it and then had to deal with the consequences. He was used as a puppet by the woman he loved in her fight against his better half.<ref>Teneral e.3</ref>

Ward

For some unknown reason Dragon and Defiant were away from the City for several months.

Post-Fallen fall

Following the Portal sabotage, the duo returned to The City to provide assistance and help coordinate the Heroes there.

Post-Goddess' Takeover

Defiant together with two dragon-crafts was in Brockton Bay during The Wardens attempt to stop March's Megacluster.<ref>Heavens 12.all</ref>

Post-Time Bubble Pop

He was at the side of Dragon during the assault on Teacher's Compound. However, they were successfully diverted from the majority of the action.<ref>“No, I was just asking because she was absent.”

“As was I, for the latter part. Dragon is immensely powerful, but she, like any tinker, is dependent on her pre-established work to function at optimal capacity. The Dragonslayers knew this and used it against her in the past. Teacher used it against her here. With no satellites to use for remote access except the ones she deployed after passing through the portal, she was limited in what she could do. - [1] from From Within 16.1</ref>

Post-Attack on Teacher

In the days after the battle he welcomed Victoria Dallon and Kenzie Martin to expanded Wardens HQ.<ref name="16.1II">From Within 16.1</ref>

Arrived to Breakthrough HQ during their venture to The Shardspace‎‎,<ref name="16.12II">From Within 16.12</ref> interrogated them after it, and presented them an ultimatum.<ref>Sundown 17.1</ref>

The Ice Breaks

Defiant was fighting the Titans at the side of Dragon.<ref>Granted, one of those capes was Legend, Dragon and Defiant and Narwhal were present too. - Excerpt from Infrared 19.6</ref> Defiant had his aircraft severely damaged during the fight with Titans Custodian, Pouffe, and Cinereal. Together with Dragon they still deliver massive damage to Pouffe and Cinereal, temporarily disabling them.

The Simurgh disabled Dragon with communications sabotage and Machine Army infection. It led to Defiant taking over the Dragonflight, which opened him for further exploitation.<ref name="II19.z">Infrared 19.z</ref><ref name="II20.1">Last 20.1</ref><ref name="II20.2">Last 20.2</ref> He led the Wardens and their allies back inside The Complex.<ref name="II20.3">Last 20.3</ref>

After the Simurgh was driven out of The Wardens' HQ Defiant and Dragon pursued her to the Titans under Machine Army's fire. Defiant fired G-Drive on the Ziz and although the shot was hindered, the explosion was enough to revert the recent Endbringer's regeneration, but also took a side out of Dauntless and sent Simurgh's bodypieces to Machine Army.

While Dragon attempted to deny Machine Army access to more Endbringer parts, Defiant was prompted to contact Dauntless and proceed according to the plan by Lookout. He took a stand between Titan Fortuna and the Simurgh. The Endbringer promptly crushed his ship with its body, with Defiant being saved only by Dauntless' intervention. Defiant finally delivered his message to Dauntless, who in turn provided him an opening to fire G-Drive again. The shot, deflected by Dauntless into the Simurgh, sent Endbringer into the Sleeper power-storm, trapping it there.

Defiant was picked up by Dragon, together they returned to the Wardens HQ and prepared for the next stage of the plan, with Defiant accepting the parahuman plague, the first among the Wardens.<ref name="II20.a">Last 20.a</ref>

Quotes

• (To Leviathan): "You dumb brute. Every fight you’ve done so far, that we’ve got on camera?  I’ve watched it, put it through programs.  I’ve got a computer on my back that’s relaying to a supernetwork, noting your every move, using subsonic pulses to read every aspect of the street, the surrounding buildings, every feature of the terrain.  I know exactly what you’re going to do next – you’re going to try to catch me from behind with a wave. You don’t even speak English, do you?  Or you’d know what I was saying, you’d know I already won.  The others helped, slowing you down, stopping the waves.  But this victory, this killing blow?  It’s going to be *mine.* This cloud around my blade?  Nanotechnology.  Nano-structures engineered to slide between atoms, sever molecular bonds.  Cuts through anything.  Everything.  Like a sharp knife through air. [smashes his face] Let’s see how quickly you respond to classical conditioning.  Every time you try to run, I’ll do something like that. For the record, that last trick was a temporal stasis trigger, with thanks owed to the cooperation of a subordinate of mine.  Drains my battery reserves, but you don’t understand that, do you? *I* am going to be the one to take your head, abomination.  I can only hope you know mortal terror in your last moments, know what you’ve inflicted on so many others. Delaying, buying time for a tsunami? No.  Three point four minutes before the next big wave breaks through the ice.  Dragon’s probes are giving me the data on that.  This will be over before then. Finally scared? Good. I should thank you, monster."
• (To Saint): "I'm inclined towards tunnel vision."
• (To Hoyden): "I never guarantee anything, except for a select few promises I make to people I love and people I hate."
• (To Dragon): "I'm about to put my foot in my mouth. Can I call in a 'Colin is a doofus' chit in advance?"

Trivia

• Prior to his actions during Leviathan's attack, Taylor indicates that the fallout from Lung's poisoning was the first blemish on Armsmaster's record.
• In Miss Militia's interlude, Colin remarks that he would "give [his] left foot" for Miss Militia's no-sleeping perk.<ref name=":3"/> As Defiant, Colin needs almost no sleep and possesses at least one cybernetic leg.
• Colin has been seen fighting all three Endbringers. The Simurgh in Madison, Leviathan in Brockton Bay and Behemoth in New Delhi.
• In Fortuna's interlude, a version of Colin is glimpsed in an alternate reality. There, he is known as Arsenal. He wields a gisarme and works closely with someone named Richter (presumably that reality's version of Andrew Richter).
• It appears that Defiant may be upgrading his body with further cybernetic modifications as the story progresses. While he initially only has one cybernetic eye,<ref name="16.y"/> by the epilogue both of his eyes are apparently prosthetics.<ref name="E.3">Teneral e.3</ref> Similarly, during his interlude, Defiant works at further integrating cybernetic components into his calf - which is organic at that point - much to Dragon's disapproval.
• Armsmaster finished the nano-thorn halberd only the night before the Battle against Leviathan.<ref>To be fair to the man, though, Armsmaster did only create the first iteration of the disintegration Halberd with Dragon that very morning. - Comment by Wildbow on Extermination 8.4</ref>
• Armsaster was a recurring character in the various drafts of what would be Worm. His relationship with Dragon was exclusive to the final draft.<ref name="14.8c1">Comment by Wildbow in Prey 14.8</ref>

Fanart Gallery

<tabber>Armsmaster=

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  Image by Sasha on Spacebattles.
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  Image by YunYunHakusho on Reddit
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  Illustration by Aerryi

|-|Defiant=

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  Illustration by Lonsheep
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  Illustration by aerryi

</tabber>

References

<references/>

Site Navigation

Noctis Capes
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The Protectorate
Founders	Alexandria {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Eidolon {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Hero {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Legend
Leaders	Legend • Alexandria (Second-in-command) • Chevalier • Rime (Second-in-command)
Anchorage	Cask • Horizon • Lightslinger • Rail • Snaptrap
Atlanta	Cinereal
Baltimore	Mayday • Turtleshell • Aerobat
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Los Angeles	Alexandria {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Arbiter • Rime • Usher
Louisiana	Fidelis
New York	Astrologer • Cache • Clay • Legend • Prism • Ursa Aurora
Philadelphia	Chevalier
Raleigh	Cask
San Diego	Prefab
Seattle	Fume • Gasconade • Snubnose
Toronto	Grumman • Narwhal
Unknown Location	Albatross • Chubster {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Leister • Pinpoint • Scroll • Tomcat

PRT Department #ENE: Brockton Bay
Director	Emily Piggot {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Thomas Calvert {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • James Tagg {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }}
Staff	Renick (Deputy Director) • Jessica Yamada (Parahuman Psychologist)
The Protectorate
Leader	Armsmaster {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Miss Militia
Members	Adamant • Assault • Battery {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Challenger • Clockblocker • Dauntless • Dovetail • Sere • Triumph • Velocity {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }}
The Wards
Team Captains	Battery • Triumph • Aegis {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Weld • Clockblocker • Crucible
Members	Browbeat {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Chariot • Flechette • Gallant {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Glory Girl {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Kid Win • Shadow Stalker • Toggle • Vista