Gareth Gallowglass (Gary the Miracle Boy)

Powers: Gareth Gallowglass was called a master of the impossible. It was a title given to those who had reached an ability to do almost anything they could think of as easily as breathing. The only limit was imagination and will. This man had great levels of both. He could bring the dead back to life, but they were never the same; he had learned that the hard way.

Source of Powers: He is homo magi? Intensive study, a magical tome called The Book of Answers

Knowledge and skills: Encyclopedic knowledge of biology and magic

Weapons and Gadgets:
History: Gareth Gallowglass was orphaned at 2, when his parents were murdered by Major Valdemir, a foreign spy, no more details are revealed as yet. As he grew older, his psychic powers began to manifest, growing more powerful as he aged. It was rumored that a young Gareth Gallowglass had been one of the White School’s last students at the mere age of seven prior to his becoming the team mascot for the Sentinels of Magic. Before he was 12, Doc Yale, one of the members of the Sentinels, learned about Gary from the Book of Answers, and the 7 members of the super hero team Sentinels of Magic adopted him as a protege, and he learned much from them. Because of his powers, he became known as Gary the Miracle Boy. When he was 12, the Sentinels were betrayed by Valdemir and abandoned on Grim Island, which is a gateway to Hell. They all eventually died protecting the world from the demonic monsters that were trying cross the Island from Hell to Earth.

Gary confronted Valdemir, who stabbed him in the left eye with a dagger. Gary unleashed his power on Valdemir and broke every bone in the villain's body - Gary's attack was meant to kill the villain, but Valdemir's own magic protected him from death, barely, and he was left crippled forever after. Gary went to Grim Island to avenge his friends. His powerful presence was enough to temporarily block the gateway, and he settled down as the only resident of the Island, abandoning the 'Miracle Boy' name as he felt he had failed his team. For several years, he used his powers to keep people, notably the US Navy, away from the Island.

Several years later, his presence alone on the island was no longer enough to keep monsters at bay, and they started slipping through the gateway from Hell to the island and from there to the 5 Earths of Earth 1, 2, 4, X and S. Powerful magic-based heroes from all those worlds investigated and came together on the Island. They were initially opposed by the hermit Gareth, who refused to leave the island because the spirits of some of his friends were trapped there. They eventually convinced Gareth to let them try to destroy the island; when they proved unable to do so, they proposed setting up the Grimoire Academy with Gareth as the Headmaster - as well as the major deterrent to the monsters from Hell.

Gareth has always seemed to be a bitter, rude, arrogant man, growing leaner and meaner as the years passed him by, but recent events have revealed that he cares - about his students, his faculty, and even the world, more than he wants anyone to know. He is a strict disciplinarian, but his discipline is backed by compassion.

(Partial) list of 5EP appearances: (links)

1948 The Sentinels of Magic: 1948: Sacrifices Must Be Made Appearance of Gary the Miracle Boy

1951 The Books of Magic: Times Past, 1951: Founding Fathers

1987 The Books of Magic: Orientation Day

1987 The Books of Magic: Curiosity Kills

1987 Swamp Thing: What Friends are For

1987 The Books of Magic: Rise of the Bloody Moon

1987 The Books of Magic: Fever of Death

1987 The Books of Magic: Changeling Unmasked

1987 Shiva: Representatives 1987 Cameo, welcomes Shiva and Kali to Grimoire Academy.

1987 Magic and Demons and Ghouls, Oh My! 1987 Referenced as Headmaster of Grimoire Academy, no actual appearance

1987 Underworld Unleashed (Legion of Doom Book 4)

1988 The Books of Magic: The Mysterious Student

1988 The Books of Magic: The Spirit World