DAI THOMAS (Sir Gawain, Gwalchmai)
Created by: Chris Claremont & Tony DeZuniga
First Appearance: Marvel Preview #3 (Sept. 1975)
Role: Hero-Hating Cop Turned Heroic Ally
Group Affiliation: Scotland Yard, The Knights of Pendragon
PL 8 (91)
STRENGTH 2/5
STAMINA 3/5
AGILITY 0/3
FIGHTING 4/8
DEXTERITY 0
INTELLIGENCE 2
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 0
Skills:
Deception 4 (+4)
Expertise (Scotland Yard) 6 (+8)
Intimidation 3 (+3)
Investigation 5 (+8)
Perception 3 (+6)
Persuasion 2 (+2)
Vehicles 1 (+1)
Advantages:
Benefit (Scotland Yard), Equipment 2 (Pistol +4), Ranged Attack 6
Powers:
"Pendragon Powers"
Comprehend 2 (Animals) [4]
Enhanced Strength 2 [4]
Enhanced Stamina 1 [2]
Enhanced Agility 3 [6]
Enhanced Fighting 2 [4]
Enhanced Dodge 2 [2]
Senses 3 (Detect The Bane- Ranged, Danger Sense) [3]
"Pendragon Armor" (Flaws: Removable) [10]
Enhanced Strength 1 (2)
Enhanced Stamina 1 (2)
Enhanced Fighting 2 (4)
Protection 1 (1)
Enhanced Dodge 1 (1)
-- (12 points)
Offense:
Unarmed +4 (+2 Damage, DC 17)
Powered-Up +6 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Pendragon Armor +8 (+5 Damage, DC 20)
Pistol +6 (+4 Ranged Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +0 (+3 Pendragon Powers)
Defenses:
Dodge +5 (+8 Suits, DC 10-18), Parry +4 (+8 Suits, DC 14-18), Toughness +3 (+7 Suit), Fortitude +3 (+5 Suits), Will +5
Complications:
Reputation ("Hero Hater")- Dai is so known for his public tirades against superhumans that even the other detectives find him irksome. It even causes his correct guesses to be disregarded as he's easily dismissed as a crackpot.
Relationship (Brian Braddock)- Dai & Brian later came to terms and formed a partnership and friendship.
Relationship (Kate McClellan)- Kate & Dai were on the "Knights of Pendragon" together, and their rivalry eventually turned to love.
Total: Abilities: 28 / Skills: 24--12 / Advantages: 9 / Powers: 35 / Defenses: 7 (91)
Dai Thomas- One Of Those Backgrounders:
-Dai Thomas ("Dai" is likely short for the Welsh Dafyyd, which of course is pronounced "Davith" because someone decided to royally f*ck the translations of Welsh to English) is a Welsh policeman who frequently quarreled with Captain Britain in his UK stories. He had initially shown up in a Blade story written by Chris Claremont- a Scotland Yard detective who was annoyed at Blade always bringing in dead vampires (which were now corpses) as it caused a lot of people to freak out- Blade ended up punching him after an argument, but Dai & his partner Kate (who had psychometry) still managed to spring him from a frame-job. He later pops up in the
Captain Britain stuff as a more standard "Hero Hater"- it was established that Dai's wife had been killed when they visited New York and a building collapsed on them during one of Thor and the Hulk's fights.
-Saying publicly that all heroes just leave death & destruction in their wakes, Dai opposed Capt. Britain and frequently fought to have him arrested. He even realized physical similarities between Brian Braddock & Capt. Britain and pieced together evidence (such as similar overlapping territories) suggesting they were the same man, but was disregarded by his superiors (who, to be fair, had by this point dismissed him as a "Hero Hater" and a crackpot due to his obsession). The character disappears for a few years, but in Alan Davis's stories, the two men came to a better relationship, as Dai had been "promoted" into a different unit to essentially get him out of the way, but his investigation into a gang war led to the discovery of a superhuman perpetrator, and many of his own men were slain. Humbled and scared, Dai reluctantly turned to Braddock for help- there was an initial argument (Dai always had a temper) but Dai apologized and said he had nowhere else to turn. Ultimately, Brian defeats the monstrous creature and saves Dai's life in the process, and the two men part as friends.
Excalibur To The Knights of Pendragon:
-Only a couple years later,
Excalibur debuts, done by Claremont (Dai's creator) and Davis (the last writer), and so Dai Thomas becomes the "Human Ally" of the new superteam. He helps them against the Warwolves, and later becomes the token "Local Cop Annoyed By Government Investigators" as the Weird Happenings Organization investigate stuff in his area. He is threatened by the Nazi Captain Britain, investigates various odd things, and more, but is just a minor character appearing once or twice a year.
-Then suddenly Dai becomes a character in Dan Abnett's
Knights of Pendragon, a book featuring various people being transformed into superhumans by the spirits of the Knights of the Round Table! Possessed by Sir Gawain's spirit, Dai becomes superpowered and investigates various things. He is temporarily killed after the spirits force him and Captain Britain into a bloody brawl, but is reborn as Gawain before losing his powers and taking his original form. Unpowered, he helps out in the last few issues of the series (and briefly dates nosy reporter Kate McClellan after one of those standard-issue "Slap Slap Kiss" couplings), and appears only once in the second. He gets a few more shots in
Excalibur in the early '90s (now by Alan Davis alone) before disappearing, showing up in the final issue of the series five years later (1998). Subsequent appearances were only minor one-offs by guys like Claremont until the
Revolutionary War mini-series by Abnett, which actually BROUGHT BACK the "Knights" stuff and had Gawain posess Dai repeatedly! He was again felled in battle fighting Zombie King Arthur and his Zombie Knights, but rose as regular old Dai again. Along the way, he & Kate formed a relationship again, him saying he'd always loved her. This has been his last appearance.
Such a Long Bio For Such a Minor Character:
-So overall, he's another one of those weird side characters- an off-and-on rival to Captain Britain until Alan Davis has them become fast friends, bonding over mutual dislikes of other people in their world, and Brian saving his life. Then he's one of the "Human Contacts" in
Excalibur (though not a major character)... and randomly a superpowered guy in a weird, forgotten book, before going back to normal before being mostly forgotten as "one of those supporting guys". He's probably best served by having powerful names like Claremont, Davis & Abnett/Lanning gunning for him, as typically these characters get left behind entirely. His gruff pragmatism is a bit amusing, but he's such a stock character much of the time that despite owning MANY comics featuring him, I'd forgotten about him entirely and had never properly statted him up (nor recognized him when I actually did my original
Knights of Pendragon bio!).
Dai's Stats:
-Dai Thomas is your typical Comic Book Cop, but definitely no match for a major supervillain (a few early stories show just how outclassed he and other cops are against supernatural threats). In
Knights of Pendragon, he gains the same boosts as other characters get, and becomes a PL 7-8 warrior (ordinarily, he's PL 3-5). He's a burly, chubby guy past his physical prime, but large and tough enough for regular Mooks.