Blue Beetle
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Real Identity: Jaime Reyes
Affiliation(s): The Team, The Reach, and The Outsiders
Appearances: Happy New Year, Alienated, Salvage, Beneath, Depths, Satisfaction, Darkest, Before The Dawn, Cornered, True Colors, The Fix, Runaways, War, Complications, The Hunt, Intervention, Summit, Endgame, Princes All, Away Mission, Illusion of Control, First Impressions, Early Warning, Elder Wisdom, Into the Breach, Nevermore, Emergency Dive, Rescue and Search, and Death and Rebirth
Appearances (Comics): Players Chapter One, Players Chapter Two, Players Chapter Three, Players Chapter Four, Players Chapter Five, Players Chapter Six, Foreign Affairs, Metallic Aftertaste, Last Rights, and Yesterday's Children: Memory Six
Powers/Skills: Energy Weapons and Flight
Voiced By: Eric Lopez
On the night Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, was murdered by the Light in July Team Year Five, Jaime Reyes stumbled onto the Scarab in the parking lot of Kord Industries. It immediately attached itself to Reyes' spine and he went from an average teenager to a superpowered crime fighter named Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle's armor can morph to suit his needs from a sonic cannon to a battering ram. Unlike most of his peers, Blue Beetle never met his predecessor and lacked both a mentor and proper training. He was often mistaken by the public as the previous Blue Beetle, as well. He had contact with Peacemaker, Captain Atom, and Green Lantern Guy Gardner. They all concluded Reyes was a decent kid. Even Gardner. The Justice League contacted Reyes' parents, who were not privy to his new alter-ego, and was given permission to recruit him since he was still a minor. Mr. and Mrs. Reyes agreed if was going to be a hero, he should learn how to be a hero the right way.
On December 1st, Team Year Five, Nightwing brought Wonder Girl to El Paso to recruit Blue Beetle to the Team. Nightwing felt the latest recruit was most suitable to reach out to the next and between the two of them, she was less likely to provoke a fight or flight incident. Nightwing revealed his relationship with Kord and made his offer to Reyes. Reyes was unsure and the Scarab did not trust Nightwing or Wonder Girl but he agreed to come along with them to Metropolis. Blue Beetle was scanned and given the designation A-12 in S.T.A.R. Labs before Alpha Squad took a Zeta to Gotham City. In the battle against the Collector of Worlds, Scarab informed Reyes it could neutralize the robot's attack. Together with Sphere, Blue Beetle succeeded but The Collector was more astonished to see a Reach warrior among the Earthlings. In the aftermath of the mission, Blue Beetle officially joined the Team despite Scarab's objection and was assigned the designation B-22. Blue Beetle often argued outloud with his suit, often leaving his teammates perplexed.
On January 1st, Team Year Six, he was assigned to Delta Squad and participated in a mission involving tracking down Clayface in Gotham City. On January 4th, Blue Beetle was assigned to Gamma Squad with Robin and Lagoon Boy. During the confrontation with the Kroloteans, its leader recognized Blue Beetle and ordered an evacuation. The armor notified Reyes the base was set to self destruct. Upon capturing a Krolotean, Blue Beetle spoke in its language to learn of an exit to ferry the human prisoners out in time. On January 5th, 17:09 EST, Team Year Six, Blue Beetle and Bumblebee attempted to capture a Krolotean posing as Bibbo Bibbowski. The Krolotean fled Bibbo's Diner on foot and narrowly escaped. Blue Beetle's scans detected no trace of the alien. He then argued with himself much to Bumblebee and Bibbowski's dismay.
On February 13th, Superboy took Blue Beetle with him to investigate Intergang and its possible connection to an alien bomb that destroyed Malina Island. Once Ugly Manheim and Whisper A'Daire were restrained by Blue Beetle, he later modified his sonic cannon to communicate with the Appellaxian Golem. However, the Golem was soon destroyed by Partner. Superboy held the weakened Beetle as he mourned its death. On February 18th, 23:56 MST, Reyes got a call from his friend Tye Longshadow. Longshadow tired of his home situation and decided to run away to Houston. Reyes raced over to the bus depot to talk some sense into him, but when Reyes arrived Longshadow was nowhere in sight. Reyes spent the next 24 hours searching El Paso for him, in vain as Longshadow was shipped to Bialya.
On March 23rd, 18:18 MDT, Reyes was surprised to see Impulse, in full costume, outside his house. Reyes changed into Blue Beetle and went with Impulse out into the desert for male bonding. However, they were attacked by a team of villains led by Kaldur'ahm. They evaded capture and teleported to Mount Justice with alien tech that sabotaged the base's security system. Blue Beetle, Impulse, and Beast Boy were captured and fitted with Proprietary Collars. Reyes refused to go with Scarab's idea prompting the intelligence to take control, disable the collar, and attack. Kaldur'ahm exposed a part of Reyes' chest with mystic energy and Tigress applied a blow dart, rendering Blue Beetle unconscious. On March 30th, Reyes awoke to find his memories of the last eight months as Blue Beetle being accessed by a Reach Scientist. When discussion among the Reach shifted to a proposed reboot, Reyes became alarmed when he heard the process would kill him. Impulse freed him from a Containment Pod.
Impulse revealed the true reason he came back to past was to stop Blue Beetle from being placed on-mode, betraying the human race, bringing on the Reach apocalypse, and becoming the biggest villain in history. Reyes refused to believe this revelation but had little time to dwell on it with the Team decimated by Black Beetle. Still too weak to engage him, Reyes surrendered full control of the armor and weaponry to the Scarab. The two Beetles fought to a stalemate but the Team was able to escape with the kidnapped teenagers. During a hull breach, Blue Beetle was sucked out into the Pacific Ocean. Lagoon Boy recovered him and brought him aboard the Bio-Ship. Reyes regained consciousness during the trip back to the surface. He was debriefed by Black Canary at the Taos branch of S.T.A.R. Labs and confirmed his Scarab's connection to the Reach. On April 2nd, he admitted Impulse's apocalyptic revelations to Nightwing, Black Canary, and Captain Atom then implored them to figure out a way to remove the Scarab.
An attempt by the Atom and Bumblebee to remove the Scarab failed. Reyes became scared of the Scarab taking full control of his body permanently. On April 9th, Green Beetle spoke to Blue Beetle through a mind link and revealed there was alternative to removing the Scarab. Later that day, Blue Beetle walked around Taos with Green Beetle and eventually convinced him to use his shape shifting powers to neutralize the Scarab. Blue Beetle was elated when Green Beetle seemingly succeeded and the Scarab went silent. However, Blue Beetle was put back on-mode and became an agent of the Reach. Reyes was conscious of what was happening and could commune with the Scarab but was no longer in control of his own body. On May 13th, Nightwing assigned Blue Beetle to find the four runaway teenagers with powers and convince them to go back to S.T.A.R. Labs for their own safety. He accepted and flew to Taos. To gain their trust, Blue Beetle revealed his secret identity and origin to the teenagers. They still refused to go back to S.T.A.R. so Blue Beetle suggested they go to his ally Green Beetle for help. However, Red Volcano put a damper in Blue Beetle's plans.
Nightwing reassigned Blue Beetle to stop Red Volcano from stealing the head of Amazo. Blue Beetle initially lost and was buried in pavement. He was later freed by an astral form of Tye Longshadow's. Eventually, Blue Beetle discovered Red Volcano was vulnerable to sound. He recklessly blasted both Red Volcano and the S.T.A.R. Labs building with his sonic cannons. The four teenagers ran in to evacuate the workers inside. When Red Volcano threatened to kill the teenagers to solidify its escape, Blue Beetle ignored them and kept attacking. He got close enough to drill a hole in Red Volcano's chest and fired his sonic cannon inside, destroying the robot. Blue Beetle was surrounded by news reporters, allowing the teenagers to run way again. On May 14th, 05:55 MDT, Blue Beetle met with Green Beetle and Black Beetle at Taos Pueblos. On May 26th, Blue Beetle was assigned to Beta Squad with Beast Boy and Impulse and tasked with procuring the Crystal Key by both Nightwing and the Reach. At the conclusion of the mission, Blue Beetle attacked the Team and neutralized all but Arsenal.
On May 27th, 06:04 UTC, Blue Beetle told Nightwing the rest of the Team was caught up in a Boom Tube. He claimed he flew up out of instinct. On Nightwing's orders, Blue Beetle returned home to get some rest. Nightwing soon realized Blue Beetle lied about what happened. On May 28th, 15:04 EDT, the Reach Ambassador held a press conference in front of the United Nations Headquarters. He introduced Blue Beetle to the public at large and credited him with saving the world from Mongul and his Warworld. Blue Beetle took the podium and revealed his secret identity. On May 29th, 12:14 EDT, Blue Beetle appeared with the Ambassador at a press conference outside the United Nations Headquarters to announce the Reach would be giving the Warworld to Earth. On May 30th, Blue Beetle was awarded the International Medal of Valor. On June 13th, 20:28 EDT, Blue Beetle defeated Toyman in Metropolis. At 20:40 MDT, Blue Beetle was attacked by Batgirl and Impulse on a deserted street in El Paso.
Blue Beetle took the bait and was easily trapped by Rocket and Zatanna in a containment field reinforced with magic. He was then taken to a secret Biaylan airstrip where the Scarab was discovered by Dan Garrett in 1939. Zatanna summoned Isis to gather enough power to conduct a ritual aimed at returning the Scarab off-mode. The ritual was a success and Reyes was back in control. While there was some concern, all external signals to the Reach were confirmed to be severed. On June 19th, Blue Beetle took part in the Santa Prisca mission. He took the place of a League of Shadows soldier. During the assault, Blue Beetle managed to immobilize the Reach Ambassador and Scientist with the staple gun. On June 20th, Blue Beetle, Green Beetle, and Aqualad confronted Black Beetle. Blue Beetle managed to resist deletion and in turn destroyed Black Beetle's Scarab during an interface. Blue Beetle later helped prepare the Reach-Tech Eggs for deployment in the simultaneous assaults on the Magnetic Field Disrupters activated by the Reach.
Blue Beetle and Impulse were assigned to Beta Squad and disabled the Disrupter in Taos. Blue Beetle detected one last Disrupter that was shielded by the North Magnetic Pole. Upon arrival, Scarab told Reyes Kid Flash had only 16 seconds before he would cease. It was too late and Kid Flash was vaporized by the chrysalis energy. He attended Wally West's funeral. On July 4th, Blue Beetle observed the Reach's departure from Earth. He was assigned to Gamma Squad, tasked with following up on Batgirl's lead on Vandal Savage's next move. On July 27th, 19:57 EDT, Team Year Eight, Blue Beetle was present on the Watchtower for a Team briefing. On August 4th, Beetle took part in the Team mission on New Genesis. He used his sonic cannon the meta-human Blister but was blasted by the Bug known as Mantis. Wonder Girl caught Beetle. They were saved by another bug named Forager. After the battle was over, Blue Beetle suggested Forager needed something like witness protection. Blue Beetle was consulted on a Reach weapon confiscated from Simon Stagg on September 25th. Beetle translated and informed the others it was a "Metahuman Failsafe."
On November 22nd, 13:59 MDT, Reyes zetaed to Taos with Traci Thurston and Virgil Hawkins for the Harvest Festival. Garfield Logan and Queen Perdita Vladek arrived soon after in a helicopter. Thurston elbowed Reyes and asked why he didn't say "Tork" was coming. He introduced her to them and noted she was a big fan. Logan later admitted the covert nature of the Team was getting in the way of his desire to be inspirational. Reyes teased the TV star liked the spotlight but he got elbowed by Thurston. Logan clarified he was searching for a way to bring hope to meta-teens and kids but they all suddenly fell prey to Count Vertigo. He and Joe Henchy took off with Vladek in a helicopter. The others recovered and chased after but Beetle noted that even in his armor, he was vulnerable to Vertigo's attack. Scarab suggested it could stop Count Vertigo by blowing his vehicle out of the sky. Reyes yelled at it not to do that because the goal was saving Queen Perdita Vladek without killing her. Scarab quibbled it would help when he specified such things. He retorted it was implied.
Thurston deduced Scarab wanted to blow up the helicopter and used her bad luck magic to force a landing. Scarab claimed it could have taken out the fuel line with a precision attack. Reyes called him the king of overkill and pointed out it never suggested precision. Inside the Taos Pueblo, Blue Beetle tried to fly up to get a better view of the pueblo's layout but he saw the walls grow taller. Scarab stated Reyes did not make sense and questioned why he hovered one meter above the ground. Reyes thought he was a hundred feet up. Scarab informed him his visual input did not match with its site-mapping of the area. Beetle realized Vertigo was somehow using illusions on them. They encountered Joe Henchy but he was unaffected by Bart Allen's super speed punches. Scarab confirmed it detected one heat signature. The culprits turned out to be Psimon and Devastation. Beetle realized Psimon's telepathy was used to mimic the vertigo and the kidnapping was a distraction. They fought the rest of Onslaught back at the Harvest Festival at the Taos Meta-Human Youth Center.
Beetle stapled Tommy Terror into a container but wanted to deal with the team's Father Box so no more Boom Tubes could be opened. Scarab prepare a precision attack to destroy it but Beetle objected on the grounds Father Boxes were living machines and good guys don't kill. Scarab mused there was no pleasing him. After the battle, instead of living, Logan made a statement to the press along with Kid Flash and Blue Beetle about using their meta-abilities to help. On December 4th, 19:09 EST, Beetle was present at the meeting on the Watchtower instigated by Beast Boy. Beetle revealed he was joining Beast Boy's public hero team and noted the Reach outed him two years ago, so the spotlight wasn't an issue for him. On December 7th, Scarab confirmed the ships in Brooklyn were Reach in origin and it could deactivate them on contact but only one at a time. The others provided a distraction while Beetle got in close to tag each ship. Geo-Force downed a Warbug into some trees with hardened magma and Beetle deactivated it. Wonder Girl lassoed the second ship and slammed it to the ground then Beetle turned it off.
At 20:52 MST, Beast Boy tricked the last ship and Beetle turned it off but realized he should not have done so in mid-air. Beetle formed rocket thrusters to slow down the descent and Wonder Girl flew up and held the underside of the ship to his relief. Beetle pulled the pilot out and confirmed his suspicions, Intergang was behind it rather than the Reach. However, Mayor Thomas Thompkins had the team arrested for vigilantism. A distress call on the Warbugs summoned the main ship to its location. Scarab sensed it lock on their position to Beetle had the others take cover behind a Warbug since it would not target Reach technology when on autopilot. Rather than release the team, Mayor Thompkins called in the Air Force but they were no match. The team opted to break out of their handcuffs and stop the ship before the military decided to just level the town. Scarab informed Beetle the ship could only shut down from the inside. Beetle confirmed he could cut the power to the ship's weapons.
Kid Flash begged for no bad news. Beetle revealed he could only do it by deactivating the ship's engines at the same time. Beast Boy told him to hit the gas and give them enough thrust to clear the town then they would crash it somewhere safe. The park was chosen. The team turned themselves in but Sheriff Maguire cited Brooklyn Statue 1616: The Good Samaritan Law and told them they were free to go. While talking to local teenager Gabi Gabrielli, Beast Boy declared his team was called the Outsiders. They had another successful mission in Chicago. On December 21st, Reyes attended the funeral of Joan Garrick. At 16:51 MST, Reyes was present at the Taos Meta-Human Youth Center when the other Outsiders arrived with rescued meta-teenagers. Upon Eduardo Dorado Junior's request, they all voted to accept him joining the team. On January 1st, 14:24 PST, Team Year Nine, Blue Beetle and Beast Boy played air hockey in the Hub when Wonder Girl arrived for training. They were interrupted by a surprise visit from Eduardo Dorado Senior, Dr. Helena Sandsmark, and Jay Garrick.
A new mission came up but Garrick protested to them leaving. Beast Boy stated he was an emancipated minor and Blue Beetle and Static were 18. He left the others to hash things out while the three of them went to Dublin to look into a series of thefts conducted by "robot monkeys." At 22:41 UTC, they found Match Electronics Store and met Matthew Malone. He revealed his daughter Moira was kidnapped by monkeys and the police wouldn't believe him. The trio headed to the Radley Overshoe Factory and discovered it was a storage site for Lex Luthor's Spider-Bots. Professor Ivo appeared and sent his M.O.N.Q.I. robots after them. At 23:05 UTC, they ran out the factory with Moira Malone just as it exploded. Beetle taught Victor Stone how to form his cybernetic hand into a blaster. On January 25th Team Year Nine, the Outsiders conducted a search of Goode World Studios Building 16. Stone and the Outsiders found an Apokoliptian machine. Scarab confirmed Kid Flash was incorrect about the device they found then stated it was Apokoliptian in origin and not compatible.
Beetle had a feeling he would be hearing "not compatible" a lot that night. The team was boomed into a X-Pit. Scarab shouted it was not compatible and shut down, leaving Jaime Reyes exposed to the pit. After they were returned to the building, Scarab recovered and armored Reyes. Stone and Beetle destroyed the machine with sonic pulses. Gretchen Goode and Overlord suddenly vanished and Stone boomed after her. On January 26th, 06:54 PST, Violet Harper, Victor Stone, and the Team boomed to the Hub to the Outsiders's relief. The Outsiders all voted to induct Stone. He accepted and took the codename Cyborg. On February 14th, 20:52 EST, Blue Beetle texted Beast Boy asking when "His Highness" became the leader, in response to Geo-Force's interview with Tod Donner. Beast Boy replied it was okay as long as the message got out. For the Markovian coup, Beetle was assigned to Gamma Squad for the joint Team-Outsiders mission. The squad saved those loyal to King Gregor Markov.
On February 24th, 19:00 EST, Beetle was present at the meeting on the Watchtower between the Team, Justice League, Outsiders, Nightwing's team, and Batman's team. On February 25th, a new designation system for the Outsiders went live. Blue Beetle was assigned the designation D-03. On April 19th, 12:17 PDT, Team Year Ten, Blue Beetle zetaed to the Hub to take part in the mission involving Hurricane Amy. On June 2nd, Jaime Reyes took part in an intervention for Garfield Logan. He and Virgil Hawkins reminded him about how they made the Outsiders and meta-humans cool with the world. Reyes emphasized Logan pulled the team together and inspired Windfall and Livewire who were now members of the Outsiders. They then talked about how they missed Logan and just wanted him to get help. Logan dismissed their "routine," telling them they had their timing down perfect and they should take it out on the road. On September 4th, 20:09 MDT, Haly's International Traveling Circus performed in El Paso. Jaime Reyes, Traci Thurston, Tye Longshadow, Asami Koizumi, Holling Longshadow, and Shelly Longshadow were in attendance.
On September 14th, the two Flashs, Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, Shazam, Red Tornado, Black Canary, and Wonder Girl arrived in Planet Circle in Metropolis but the battle against Dru-Zod and his allies was already over. On September 16th, Blue Beetle attended Conner Kent and M'gann M'orzz's wedding in Happy Harbor. On November 11th, after 22:33 UTC+2, Blue Beetle was part of Mongoose Squad and boomed to Madinat Altharwati to provide back up to Gorilla Squad. Beetle stabbed one of the Lex-Bots through its body. At 22:42 UTC+2, Blue Beetle fired a sonic pulse at the sonic pulse fired by a Lex-Bot. Blue Beetle became frustrated with the seemingly endless swarm of Lex-Bots coming out of the factory. Scarab suggested they nuke the building but Beetle stated they were not doing that and not having that conversation.