A world-class heavyweight boxer-turned-superhero vigilante, Ted Grant became entangled inadvertently in the criminal underworld and developed a costumed identity known as Wildcat to clear his name.
His profound skill in hand-to-hand combat is second to none, making him a nearly-unstoppable force against opponents forced to fight him up close. Rumored to have "nine lives", Grant decided to use his ablities to fight for the greater good, as a founding member of the Justice Society of America.
Background[]
Ted Grant grew up in the Great Depression with his father Henry. As a child, he participated in many sports at his father's behest, and excelled at boxing. As an adult, Ted attempted to study medicine, but became a professional heavyweight boxer instead. Grant eventually grew to become a heavyweight boxing champion.
Early in his career, Ted became entangled in criminal plot crafted by his managers Flint and Skinner, who attempted to fix one of Ted's matches by drugging Ted's opponent "Socker" Smith. However, Flint and Skinner miscalculated the dosage, and "Socker" Smith died as a result. Not wanting to get caught, Flint and Skinner framed Ted for their crime.
After Ted was arrested, Flint and Skinner then arranged a hit on him to prevent the truth from coming out. Although Ted survived the assassination, the police officers who held him in custody were killed. Ted then fled the scene and was wrongly accused of murdering the officers. While on the run, he came across a boy who had been robbed of his Green Lantern comic. The boy described Green Lantern which inspired Ted to become a vigilante. He create a costume of a large black cat, called himself Wildcat, and vowed to clear his name. He forced Flint and Skinner to confess, and cleared himself of all charges. Ted then continued to fight against crime as Wildcat.
After being framed for murder in the boxing ring by mafioso Victor Moretti, Ted became a fugitive from justice. Inspired by Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Ted donned a black-cat costume and became Wildcat; using his new persona and skills to pound a confession from Moretti and clear his name.
Keeping his persona, Grant began patrolling the streets of New York City and ridding them of mob-related crime; joining the Justice Society of America he opened his own gym and trained some of the world's greatest fighters; including Batman, Black Canary and Catwoman.
Combat Statistics[]
- Wildcat (JSA Safehouse)
- Unyielding Wildcat
- Resurrected Wildcat
- Controlled Wildcat
Involvement[]
- Wildcat has been caught by Doctor Sivana and must be freed in the Saving Justice alert.
- Wildcat is an ally in the Justice For All raid.
- Controlled Wildcat is one of the possible bosses for the Starro: Invasion! alert in the Deluge episode.
Villains[]
- Wildcat is found in the JSA Safehouse guarding secret information about Sinestro's location. After defeating him, Society members must discover Sinestro's holding place and pursue the JSA to free him.
- A Green Lantern Corps version of Wildcat called Unyielding Wildcat is a bounty for villains in the War of the Light Part I DLC.
Trivia[]
- Wildcat first appeared in Sensation Comics #1 (January 1942)
- His voice was provided by voice actor Clancy Brown.
- Years later, during the Crisis, Grant is crippled while saving a child. His god-daughter, news reporter Yolanda Montez, who was born with metahuman powers, assumes his identity to honor her godfather and the principles he represented. Grant is at first annoyed with this new super-heroine, but when he discovers she is his god-daughter, he gives Yolanda his blessing. Grant eventually makes a full recovery.
- Ted possesses the ability to return from the dead. However, he cannot come back to life if he is killed nine consecutive times.
- The process that enables Ted to return from the dead has also retarded his aging process, enabling him to keep himself in peak physical condition.
- In the 1950s, Ted impregnated his then girlfriend Irina, who gave birth to Ted's eldest son Jake Grant. However, Jake was kidnapped by the Yellow Wasp, one of Ted's sworn enemies. Although Ted searched for Jake and the Yellow Wasp for years, he was unable to locate either of them. As a result, his relationship with Irina disintegrated. However, Ted would have a one-night stand with Marilyn Bronson, who became the mother of his youngest son Thomas Bronson.
- Although Ted is a master combatant trained in Capoeira, Hapkido, Krav Maga, and Muay Thai, his favorite, foremost and first learned combat skill was and always will be Boxing. No matter how big the opponent or how seemingly impossible the odds might be in or out of combat Wildcat will always solve the issue with boxing.