Revenge

Born in the heart of Paragon City, Dexter Davidson always held onto the belief that things could get better. Growing up in one of the most impoverished areas of the city, Dexter saw his fair share of crime and injustice and like many children born in Paragon, he grew up idolizing the caped superheroes who protected the city. He wanted nothing more than to be able to fly or lift cars but as he possessed no apparent superpowers of his own, Dexter settled for the next best thing; a career in policing. It was in college that Dexter met Liza Foster, the love of his life and future fiance. Dexter realized opposites really do attract as the two shared few similar interests. The couple planned on marrying but found themselves frequently pushing the date back due to their fear that they were far too young.

Years later, as a rookie cop, Dexter remained dedicated to the law and justice but was met with constant push-back his superiors for being too overzealous. He suspected corruption in his precinct but kept silent about his hunch as he could do nothing about it. Despite this, Dexter dedicated his life to the badge and eventually earned his detective shield. With a reputation for being an inflexible and tenacious officer, Dexter's persistent nature made the crooked cops in his precinct nervous.

It was during this time that Dexter's dedication to his job put a strain on his relationship with Liza. With corruption running rampant in the city despite the work he did, Dexter's worldview became bleaker and bleaker. Liza claimed Dexter frequently put his job first while Dexter insisted the work he put in was important and helped save lives. Still, the two remained together, still planning on marrying.

After his lieutenant assigned Dexter to a case he knew was busy work to keep him out of the way, Dexter caught wind of another investigation, concerning a series of brutal murders, believed to be the work of Andreas Vittori, a notorious Family mob enforcer. He noticed his fellow officers purposefully mishandling evidence and stalling the case but when he brought this to his superior he was told to back off and stick to the assignment he was given. He defiantly decided to work the case on his off-time.

His lieutenant was shocked when Dexter brought him undeniable evidence that Vittori had committed multiple murders. Though Dexter could tell that most of his fellow officers were reluctant to, the precinct was forced to arrest Vittori. He was furious however when he discovered the enforcer had been released from custody days later, due to a supposed clerical error in the filing of the warrant that led to his arrest. Dexter angrily confronted the mob enforcer at a garden party he held, warning him that when he slipped up again, he'd take him down.

In the weeks afterwards, Dexter found himself being repeatedly followed by men who he assumed were Vittori's goons. He began receiving gruesome threats on his life as well. Ever the unyielding officer, Dexter refused to relent, determined to bring Vittori to justice. One night, after a particularly intense argument with Liza regarding his stubbornness, Dexter planned a romantic evening to apologize. While making their way home after dinner, Liza and Dexter were confronted by masked assailants. They made him watch as they shot Liza twice before they smashed his kneecaps with baseball bats and blinded him, in reference to a comment he made about justice when he threatened Vittori.

While the doctors were unsure he'd ever walk again, Dexter's iron will proved strong enough. He regained the ability to walk but his eyesight was lost. Or at least lost as it had been before. While recuperating, he discovered that the traumatic event had activated a latent gene in his DNA that granted him the ability to see through another individual's eyes. After a long recovery, Dexter was released from the hospital with one goal on his mind: Revenge.

For three years Dexter trained under some of the most elite fighters Paragon City had to offer, from bare-knuckle boxers to martial arts masters. Getting used to his handicap was but his new abilities compensated for his sight. He used them to hone his skills in close-quarters combat, stealth, and infiltration techniques. Over the next month, Dexter methodically tracked down and eliminated members of the Moretti family until only Andreas Vittori remained. Before he could flee the city to escape, Dexter found him, broke both his legs and set his house on fire. But as he watched it burn, Dexter realized that even though he'd gained a measure of revenge, Andreas Vitorri was only one small fish in a sea of crime that plagued Paragon and that what had happened to him was happening all around the city. Having since recognized the fact that law enforcement agencies are often the victims of endless bureaucracy and corruption that hampers them from meting out true justice, Dexter created a bullet-resistant bodysuit and became the vigilante the underworld would come to know as Revenge.