Apollo's History
Apollo is a powerful superhero with solar powers. He has been a member of StormWatch and the Authority alongside his husband Midnighter.
Origin
Apollo was a former U.S. soldier and the leader of a black ops StormWatch team so secret that no one but the first Weatherman, Henry Bendix, knew of its existence: StormWatch Zero. Apollo was a normal human, bio-engineered by Bendix to have fantastic abilities including super-strength, heat vision, and a high degree of invulnerability. Apollo derives his power from solar energy, and becomes vulnerable to attack when that energy is depleted.
Of the seven-member team, only Apollo and Midnighter, Apollo's future husband, survived. Due to circumstances surrounding the mission, they went rogue and spent the next five years fighting undercover for a finer world in the alleyways of America.
After Bendix's fall in 1998, Christine Trelane discovered files hinting at the existence of Apollo and The Midnighter. Jackson King, formerly Battalion, now the new Weatherman, ordered them found, not sure if they were heroes or villains. Apollo and Midnighter were tracking weapons made in the "Nevada Garden", a leftover of the first Engineer. He ordered Fahrenheit and Hellstrike to tag them with fetishes so they could be transported into SkyWatch. At first, Apollo and Midnighter attacked the StormWatch team, believing them under Bendix's orders. However, they ceased the attack once they were told Bendix was dead. With King's help, they destroyed the Nevada Garden, and Trelane gave them new lives away from Stormwatch.
The Authority
In 1999, Jenny Sparks convinced both Apollo and The Midnighter to come out of retirement to join a new team, dubbed The Authority. The Authority distinguished itself from other super-human teams in that it answered to no governing body or external authority, such as the United Nations. Rather, for the first time, these were super-humans fighting for a better world on their own initiative.
Throughout the course of their membership in the Authority, Apollo and Midnighter's relationship was revealed further. Apollo also developed a friendship with Jennifer Sparks, who felt comfortable confiding in him.
On December 31, 1999, Jennifer Sparks died. Her spirit was reincarnated in an infant girl born the next day in Singapore. As soon as the child was identified, a bloody battle broke out between competing forces--including The Authority--for control of the child, code-named Jennifer Quantum. Apollo was severely beaten in the course of the battle. After the battle, the Commander raped Apollo. Consequently, the Midnighter gored the Commander with a jackhammer.
When the Authority battled a renegade Doctor, a powerful shaman who usurped the powers of the Authority's Doctor and ended up regretting his crimes and repenting, Apollo fried him to a crisp with his eye-beams.
When Seth Cowie defeated and captured the entire team (minus Midnighter), Apollo was depowered and kept on board the Authority's Carrier which was then used by the G-7 nation's Authority. The Authority's replacements were, in reality, government lapdogs and were cruel, homicidal and masochistic. Apollo was used as a punching bag by two of the villains, Teuton and Last Call, who were his and Midnighter's respective replacements. Teuton almost raped him before the Midnighter appeared and shot Apollo's assailant through the back of his skull. Apollo then fried the head of Midnighter's replacement and later did the same to The Machine, who had taken the powers of Apollo's friend the Engineer. After having killed the G7 Authority and the miserable defeat of Seth Cowie, Apollo and Midnighter were married and adopted Jenny Quantum. From this point on, Apollo was referred to as The Midnighter's husband, and vice versa.
Apollo participated in the beating of Kevin Hawkins, an SAS agent and rampant homophobe. Apollo had forgiven Kev for actually killing the Authority in the past but this was one step too far.
Human on the Inside
The U.S. President ordered an assault on The Authority which resulted in doubts, depression, and human foibles overcoming them. The Midnighter kissed another man, but when he confessed this to Apollo, Apollo became enraged and struck him, sending him through a wall. This is the first time that Apollo and The Midnighter became physically violent with each other.
Coup D'Etat & Revolution
Following a deadly mistake by US leaders, Authority team leader Jack Hawksmoor decided that the time had come to remove the US executive branch and run the country their way. The takeover went smoothly, but the occupation did not go as planned. Shadowy forces intervened to destroy the Authority and put corporate interests back in power.
During this Apollo and Midnighter were sent to raid the base of Stormwatch: Team Achilles, but they found it booby-trapped. After narrowly escaping with their lives, their next mission was to eliminate the US military's super-human training camp. Midnighter returned with the declaration that the program was "Not so special."
The Midnighter received a revelation about the future which compelled him to leave The Authority, permanently. He left Apollo and Jenny Quantum without an explanation and returned to the underground. Following a humiliating nuclear incident in Washington, DC, Hawksmoor resigned as President of the US and announced elections. The Authority disbanded. From 2005 to 2008, Apollo raised Jenny alone in San Francisco, under the watchful eye of the US Government.
When Jenny was eight years old, a series of events propelled her to take matters into her own hands and rebuild the team. She caused herself to jump in age to fourteen, precipitating a verbal confrontation with her father, Apollo. With Apollo's support, she set about to round up the surviving members of The Authority, including The Midnighter. In a painful moment between Jenny, Apollo, and Midnighter, Jenny told Midnighter that she was "the product of a broken home."
In the battle that followed, Henry Bendix revealed that he had gained control over The Midnighter through a Trojan Horse strategy which delivered nanites into Midnighter's body. The Midnighter then fought Apollo and Jenny. Midnighter told Apollo that he must kill him if he got the chance, but Apollo refused. Midnighter, with the aid of a device stolen from Dr. Krigstein's laboratory, defeated Apollo in battle, but Jenny was able to engage Midnighter long enough that the Engineer could remove the mind-control implants and restore Midnighter.
Worldstorm
Apollo (along with Midnighter and Jenny Quantum) battled Captain Atom and his allies (notably Grifter) in a attempt to stop the destruction of the Wildstorm universe. He killed Grifter in the battle by incinerating his head, but he was later killed by Captain Atom in retaliation. Afterwards, Void recreated the Wildstorm universe, and Apollo lived on.
Utopian
While recharging himself, he was taken down by U.S. Military forces during his attempt to aid injured people in Afghanistan.
World's End
During the events of World's End, Apollo was separated from Midnighter and the rest of the Authority when a thick layer of smog covered the Earth, preventing sunlight from reaching the surface. Apollo was forced to remain in the photosphere to absorb the radiation he needed to survive, visiting the surface in brief periods to help the team. While on the surface, environmental conditions sapped his powers, giving him a gaunt appearance and limiting his ability to fight.
He was later infected by the Warhol Fever, a super power-inducing virus. He attempted to destroy the infection by residing in the middle of the Sun, but it evolved and became sentient by incubating in his body . Claiming to be "The Burn", the virus overrode his mind and attempted to escape into The Bleed. The Authority was forced to put Apollo in suspended animation, frozen and in an anaerobic room to keep the infection from spreading.
When Kaizen Gamorra and his forces attacked the Carrier and stole its technologies, Apollo was released into Gamorra Tower from the rest of Gamorra island, causing pure havoc. Apollo confronted Kaizen and killed him by incinerating his head. Apollo was sealed inside Gamorra Tower and the entire building was dropped into the Norwegian Trench so The Burn would go dormant in the cold environment.
Apollo was subsequently cured of his infection after Midnighter traveled to Scotland where he stopped a mad Habib Bin Hassan and was given an apple by Gaia Rothstein that cleansed Apollo's infection. The couple finally embraced after a long time. He and his husband later decided to stay on Earth after the Carrier left the planet, subsequently separating from the Authority, as Apollo's life depended on Earth's sun. Both Apollo and Midnighter then helped the heroes of Earth in battling the Knights of Khera, in which Apollo fought the Majestic-level Sebastian and was beaten when the Kheran warlord punched him to a un-sunlit Wales. Fortunately, he was teleported out of Wales by Stormwatch technician Link over five miles above the North Pole where he was fully recharged and able to destroy the Kheran's terraforming machines.
