The Guardian
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Real Identity: Malcolm Arnold "Mal" Duncan
Affiliation(s): Happy Harbor High School and The Team
Appearances (Episodes): Targets, Failsafe, Secrets, Misplaced, Happy New Year, Salvage, Bloodlines, Depths, Satisfaction, Darkest, Cornered, True Colors, War, The Hunt, Intervention, Summit, Endgame, Illusion of Control, Unknown Factors, and Death and Rebirth
Appearances (Comics): Players Chapter One, Players Chapter Two, and Yesterday's Children: Memory Six
Powers/Skills: Management, Coordination, Technology, and Unarmed Combat
Voiced By: Kevin Michael Richardson
Malcolm Duncan was born in 1993. Mal Duncan was a student at Happy Harbor High School and is the boyfriend of Karen Beecher. No one ever stood up to Duncan in recent history except Connor Kent. On October 31st, Duncan dressed as Superman. However, he put his own spin on costume. Over five years later, Duncan now served as operations manager coordinating communication between the Team and resides in the Cave. Duncan was assigned the Authorized Guest designation A-10. He still dated Karen Beecher, now Bumblebee, but their time together was limited much to his dismay. He also trained with Black Canary and the Team. On February 13th, Team Year Six, Duncan was present in the Cave and observed the activation of the Zeta Shield.
On March 23rd, 20:20 EDT, Duncan visited Beecher on Ivy University campus and tried to invite her out to a date like they did in high school times. Beecher, however, had to work in Dr. Palmer's lab. Duncan tagged along but soon left deflated. On route back home, Duncan watched in horror as Mount Justice blew up. He raced to the scene and sighted Super-Cycle holding Wolf, Superboy, and Nightwing precariously on the ocean surface. Duncan swam to Super-Cycle and revived the others. Superboy and Duncan swam back to shore with Wolf and Nightwing in tow.
On April 1st, 21:24 EDT, Mal Duncan tried to move in with Beecher but he was essentially turned down. Things got even worse when Despero arrived at the Hall of Justice. Duncan soon discovered communications and the Zeta Tubes were offline. He utilized the Guardian armor donated to the Hall's museum by Jim Harper and posed as Earth's greatest champion so Miss Martian and Superboy could regroup and come up with a new plan. Duncan used some of Black Canary's training to play a deadly game of keep away with Despero until Zatanna saved the day. She possessed Duncan's body and neutralized Despero with his own telepathy. Duncan settled for moving into the temporary sleeping quarters set up in Bludhaven.
Duncan took on the mantle of Guardian and officially joined the Team. He was assigned the designation B-24. On May 24th, 21:38 EDT, Duncan exited Ivy University grounds with Beecher when the Warworld was sighted in the night sky. On May 26th, Guardian was assigned to Gamma Squad with Bumblebee and Super-Cycle. During the mission, Guardian openly complained about their relationship or lack of. By the conclusion of the mission, he admitted Bumblebee was destined for great things, she outgrew him, and he was proud of her. They reaffirmed their love but it was cut short when Blue Beetle attacked everyone. On June 19th, Guardian took part in the Santa Prisca mission. On June 20th, he took part in the coordinated strike on the Magnetic Field Disrupters. He was on Kappa Squad with Bumblebee. He attended Wally West's funeral. On July 4th, he was assigned to Beta Squad with Tigress, Kid Flash, and Bumblebee to find proof LexCorp was rereleasing the Reach soft drink under a new name.
Guardian later resigned from the Team after deciding it was time to move on. He and Beecher got married at some point. On November 22nd Team Year Eight, Beecher and Duncan attended Thanksgiving at Conner Kent and M'gann M'orzz's home. On January 21st, 20:30 EST, Team Year Nine, while on the road, Duncan told Beecher he got tested for the meta-gene. Beecher became concerned but he pointed out she got tested before him. She countered it was for her dissertation and tested her blood sample as a control before she shrunk down to study and alter the genome. Beecher changed her mind several times but then implored Duncan to just say what the results were. Duncan revealed he did not have it. Beecher processed they both did not have the meta-gene and was fine with that. Duncan thought it would be cool if "Karen Junior" was a meta. She stated "Malcolm Junior" did not need a meta-gene to be cool. He agreed but believed they could handle it. Beecher recalled they put a lot of time in babysitting metas.
Duncan stated he would love their child no matter what and just hoped she had a big beautiful brain. She told him his was beautiful, too, and said his son would be blessed to get it but she believed it was the luck of the draw. Duncan wondered if it had to be and thought science could give her the edge, or at least make sure she could keep up. Beecher wanted to leave it to Mother Nature. She suddenly declared her water broke. They arrived at Ivy University Hospital. Evelyn Fox attended to her. Duncan told Beecher she was doing great and mused if she hurried, their baby could still be born on Martin Luther King's birthday. Beecher promptly grabbed him by the collar. He denied he told her to hurry. Fox instructed her to focus on one last push. Fox declared it was a girl. However, she noticed the color in her figures and lips, noting cyanosis, and wanted to get her to x-ray. Beecher became worried. Fox tried to calm them down but admitted there was a problem, their daughter had a hole in her heart.
To make matters more dire, the heart surgeon was stuck in traffic due to the snow. Ryan brought over a "gift" from Dr. Palmer's lab: her Bumblebee suit. Duncan pointed out she just gave birth. Fox assured Duncan repairing a hole in the heart was a common procedure and she assisted in many surgeries. Beecher declared that was why she was the perfect candidate to assist her. Duncan repeated she just gave birth. Fox thought it was crazy she would be putting the mom into the baby. Duncan implored her to be careful. Beecher assured him he wasn't losing anyone. She shrunk and flew into Fox's syringe. Fox injected her and it was a success. Fox confirmed blood flow and pulse were normalizing. On January 22nd, 00:16 EST, Beecher laid down next to her daughter and told her everything was all right. Duncan agreed and placed her back on the bed. She returned to normal size. Their daughter was named Rhea Malia Beecher Duncan. Fox excused herself. Duncan noted she spent a long time inside after the procedure and asked what she was doing. Beecher stated she did the right thing for her.
In late August Team Year Ten, Mal Duncan was a candidate for the Justice League Reserve System. On September 16th Team Year Ten, Duncan attended Conner Kent and M'gann M'orzz's wedding in Happy Harbor.