Who is Grail?
Who is Grail?
Birth
Grail is Darkseid’s daughter and arguably one of DC’s best villainess within the last decade. Myrina, her mother, was a deadly Amazonian assassin known to have slayed Echidna and tamed the Griffin.
Grail was secretly conceived in Themyscira on the same day Hippolyta was giving birth to Diana. Her birth was witnessed by two other amazons, Penelope and Menalippe, who served as Myrina’s midwives.
However, being Darkseid’s daughter, Grail inherited his grey skin and terrifying red eyes. Penelope and Menalippe were horror-struck. There was no way they were going to hide her within Themyscira. In the midst of the terror, Menalippe had a vision. She foresaw the destruction the child would bring. An earth-shattering war between the Dark God and the Anti-God.
The only way to avert the war was to kill the child. However, Myrina would not let that happen. She wanted this war. Her daughter was part of a well-orchestrated plan to destroy Darkseid and finally fulfil the Amazonian mission of defending the world against the Dark Lord. She went on to kill her amazon sisters and flee Themyscira with her daughter.
First appearance
Grail made her first notable appearance in Justice league #40 and she was everything you’d expect from Darkseid’s daughter. Her menacing red eyes and loathsome sneer were as close to a forewarning as you’d get before she struck. She carried out her mother’s plans with great intensity and vigor, perhaps even too good you might say.
Using the flash as a portal to earth, she encountered the Justice league (superman excluded) for the first time and what followed was more of a beat down than a battle. She proved to be a formidable opponent easily overpowering the likes of Batman, Cyborg, Shazam, Wonder woman, Jessica Cruz and Hal Jordan before summoning the Anti-monitor. Things would have been way worse had it not been for Metron intervening and teleporting the Justice League away.
Grail’s Powers
Grail has the blood of an amazon and a new God flowing through her veins. This makes her exceedingly powerful. She possesses super strength, speed, durability and stamina. All these are just a tip of the iceberg compared to the rest of the things she can do.
Omega beams - The Omega effect is one of Darkseid’s deadliest weapon and so Grail’s possession of such a power makes her a force to be reckoned with. The fact that her Omega beams were able to shatter Diana’s unbreakable bracelets raises a question as to whether they are more powerful than Darkseid’s.
Ability to break a Green lantern’s will - Grail was able to corrupt Hal Jordan’s ring causing it to fail and severely hurt him. As a matter of fact, she didn’t seem bothered by the Lanterns at all. She managed to fend off an entire Green lantern corp. For intergalactic protectors, the Green Lanterns seemed quite weak in this scenario.
Ability to travel through dimensions – Grail used the flash as a doorway to the League’s dimension. This was possible due to the speedster’s connection with the speed force.
Increased senses – Grail has an ability to spot the existence of a Mother box from a distance. We see this in her encounter with cyborg where she nearly reaped his entire biomechatronic body part off in search of a motherbox within.
Weapons
Scythe- Grail is normally equipped with a scythe which according to her was forged by Hades and can cut through a God. This, together with her mastery of hand to hand combat, makes her a deadly opponent even against Wonder woman.
The Anti-life equation - This is one of the most powerful weapons you could possess in the DC universe and it is what Darkseid seeks. It allows the wielder to have complete control over the thoughts and emotions of every living thing in existence. After the death of Darkseid, Grail acquires the anti-life equation from the Anti-monitor. Despite accomplishing her mission, she lets her darkness take over and becomes obsessed with power proving the point that she is indeed her father’s daughter.
