The Meta-Grue

When The Grue Unity kidnapped and replaced The Atom Family as a prelude to their invasion of Earth, the young Atoms were also used as subjects in a Grue experiment. Darr’Kan, a Metamorph specially bred and modified for the experiment, leeched off their psychic energies and, in so doing, fully duplicated all of their unique powers and abilities. He was intended as the first of a new generation of Grue super-warriors. Once the Unity had drained and copied the powers of all of Earth’s heroes, it would become invincible!
Fortunately for Earth and the universe, the experiment didn’t work out as planned. The psychic interaction with the Atom Family, enhanced by telepathic interference from Chase Atom, caused Darr’Kan to awaken to a new, independent consciousness. Knowing full well he would be branded a rogue and destroyed as a threat to the Unity, and filled with power-lust and ambition, the Grue warrior hatched a plot to aid the invasion, then overthrow The Meta-Mind and claim rulership of the Unity for himself!
With the aid of Darr’Kan’s plot, the Atom Family was able to lure the Meta-Mind to Earth’s solar system and escape their confinement on board the Grue mothership. With the betrayal of Darr’Kan and the escape of Earth’s other heroes—aided by Pseudo and the new Star Knight—providing a distraction, the Atoms were able to damage the mothership and shut down the Grue subspace shields. This allowed Chase’s friend Cosmo, the Moon Monkey to teleport them to Farside City.
Using the power of the Moonstone, aided by Earth’s most powerful psychics and mystics, Chase Atom engaged the Meta-Mind in psychic combat and defeated it. The telepathic backlash disabled the Grue, wiping out most of their invasion fleet and sending the rest fleeing back into deep space. Darr’Kan was able to escape the destruction of the Grue mothership at the last moment, but he was stranded on Earth and exiled from the Unity. Since then, the rogue metamorph has adopted the title “the Meta-Grue” and still plots to either overthrow the Meta-Mind and claim control over the Unity, or to found his own rival Grue Unity that will one day conquer and absorb the original, allowing the Meta-Grue to become ruler of the galaxy!

Physical Description

Special abilities

The Meta-Grue has the full combined powers of the Atom Family siblings, although he lacks their attributes, particularly their intellectual capabilities and knowledge.
Like Maximus Atom, he can increase or decrease in size, becoming a 30-foot giant or a tiny figure easily able to escape notice. He can also decrease his density to the point of passing harmlessly through other objects and materials.
Possessing Victoria Atom's metamorphic abilities, combined with his own Grue metamorph skills, the MetaGrue is an accomplished shapeshifter, able to assume virtually any appearance or form, to elongate his limbs or any portion of his body, and to become pliable and fluid, able to flow through small spaces and openings. He can combine Max’s size-changing and his shapeshifting to assume much larger and smaller forms than Victoria can, as well. Among other things, this allows the Meta-Grue to disguise himself as virtually any earthly creature.
He wields Tesla Atom's power to generate and project nucleonic radiation, from projecting powerful blasts and blinding beams to forming nucleonic force fields in different shapes, dampening existing sources of radiation, or disrupting the molecular bonds of nonliving material, causing it to weaken and crumble.
Lastly, he combines Chase Atom’s telepathic powers with his own Grue psychic abilities, making the Meta-Grue a fairly formidable—if not especially subtle—telepath, able to read minds, project his thoughts, alter perceptions or memories, and strike the minds of others with stunning bolts of telepathic “force”. His mind-reading and shapechanging powers make the Meta-Grue an excellent infiltrator and spy, although his warrior bloodlust sometimes gets the better of him.
The process which gave the Meta-Grue his powers appears to be stable, and he continues to retain them even without psychic contact with any of the Atom Family.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

The Meta-Grue is a cunning opponent and a fierce warrior, but he’s still learning in many respects, both about human culture and acting on his own. As time progresses, he becomes more subtle and detailed in his plans and their execution. He’s wary of allies, preferring his independence, and generally trying to dominate any situation he is in, but sometimes finds it worthwhile to work with others. His arrogance makes it unlikely he’ll join forces with another villain except as the leader of a team of his own creation.
Although he has considerable power, the Meta-Grue is not the most brilliant tactical mind; he tends to approach problems with brute force, although existence on Earth has taught him subtlety in the use of his metamorphic powers to conceal himself and his activities.