Squire

History[]

A poor girl with brains and a love of the library, Beryl Hutchinson's life was forever changed when she and her mother stumbled upon Sir Cyril Sheldrake, the son and former squire of Percy Sheldrake, the Knight. Sir Cyril had lost his father in a gruesome run-in with Springheeled Jack, and the trauma drove him to alcohol and drugs, habits which wiped out his fortune. Beryl opted to help mend the broken hero, and with her help, he managed to overcome his addictions. Sir Cyril decided to take his late father's mantle for his own, and made Hutchinson his Squire. Together, they battled the many and varied supervillains of England, and later joined the international Ultramarine Corps.

Adventures with the Ultramarines[]

Years later, when the Ultramarines' base of Superbia was taken over, and the Ultramarines (including the Knight) became brainwashed by the combined efforts of Gorilla Grodd and the Sheeda, resulting in Grodd attempting to use the Ultramarines to take over the Earth, Beryl was the only one to escape from Grodd's grip and reached out to Batman, who led the efforts to liberate Superbia from Grodd's control. Following that incident, the Justice League banished the Ultramarines, Beryl included, to the infant universe of Qwewq, believing that the Ultramarines' own recklessness was to blame for Grodd's rampage as Grodd himself. Later, after the Ultramarines had managed to sort out problems in the infant universe, the League allowed them to return to Earth.

The Black Glove[]

After the events of Infinite Crisis, Batman went on a soul-searching journey around the world, seeking to rid himself of years' worth of anger and paranoia. As part of his efforts, the Dark Knight sought to reunite the Batmen of All Nations to which Sir Cyril and his father had belonged years earlier. Sir Cyril and Beryl were naturally two of the first to sign on. The group was captured, however, by an organization called the Black Glove, and subjected to a series of death-traps. Knight and Squire survived, and the incident improved the friendship between them and Batman and Robin. During the Final Crisis, the Ultramarines aided the heroes against the forces of Darkseid, but the Superbia base fell after sabotage by the Justifiers.

Battle for the Cowl[]

Following the death of Batman, Knight and Squire have temporarily relocated to Gotham City to help quell increasing violence. Robin personally elected to partner with Squire (though he was quick to deny that this was due to a crush.) Squire later worked with Damian Wayne ("Worked" meaning that they bickered constantly until they got to the danger zone) to rescue Robin from certain death during a struggle in the "batcave" of Jason Todd.At some point during this period, she and Knight had to go to Blackgate Penitentiary for an unknown reason.

Blackest Knight[]

Batman later arrived in England, where Knight and Squire had since returned. Batman met up with Squire, having already contacted Knight with the idea of locating a Lazarus Pit in England to resurrect Bruce Wayne. Knight, it seemed, was already looking for the pit, but had lost contact with Squire. Squire worked with Batman to track down the pit (Hidden in an old coal mine), dealing with Old King Coal and his cronies (Who were also looking for the pit) along the way. When they finally located the pit, Knight had already submerged Bruce Wayne's corpse in it. Out of the pit emerged what was actually a sophisticated clone of Bruce Wayne, created during Final Crisis. Knight and Squire, along with Batwoman, helped to fend of the monstrosity, which managed to escape.

For Six/Knight and Squire Mini-Series[]

Squire meets a young handsome super villain at the time in a bottle pub, called Shrike. She introduces him to the other heroes and villains that frequent the place and tells him the potted history of the establishment. Warning him that weapons,fights and super powers are nullified in side the pub by the truce magic. A statue of Merlin resides upstairs making sure the villains and heroes don't try to attack each other. That same evening the magic fails and a mass meta-brawl erupts in the pub, with vigilante Faceoff shooting several villains. Squire and Knight race upstairs to the statue and manage to talk Cornwall Boy out of killing his father who he regards as a loser, wasting the land magic power that they must share. Later Beryl and Cyril go undercover to the town of Yeominister Churney to investigate dark energy detected in the area .After fighting off an ambush of lethal Morris Men they learn there leader, Morris Major, is planning a magic spell that will turn Britain into a "yesteryear paradise" without foreigners and homosexuals .Dressing as Morris Men themselves they disrupt the spell and Morris Major retreats to his own dark dimension threatening to "take their eyes" next time they meet.

Squire and Knight attend a press conference at C.O.R labs as their head scientist clones Richard the Third in an instant, complete with memories .Richard is a sinister, power hungry individual but feigns friendliness to gain favour with the public. Even going so far as to appear in a Red Gull commercial, to raise his profile.After recruiting numerous gangsters to his cause he clones other despotic English monarchs from other ages and outfits them with meta abilities or cybernetic weapons.Whilst the each marches on a different part of the country,Richard charges down the motorway toward London with his heavy armed gangster army.Squire decides to sabotage his support with the public on twunnter by posting cleverly edited video on ohh tube, painting all the monarch clones in a bad light.Richard is angered by this and is drawn into single (bike mounted) combat by Knight and is swiftly defeated.Later Knight invites Shrike to Castle Sheldrake, in an effort to push him and Beryl together.

A week later when Shrike arrives to see Beryl, he is nervous and resorts to name calling when she reveals they know his secret identity and where he's from. Cyril takes Shrike aside and tells him some of his history with Beryl and how she saved him from his self-destructive path. Beryl, meanwhile, is contemplating sending Shrike home when Hank talks her out of it. Before they can reconcile, all are attacked by the Knight armour, its AI upgraded with Cyril's mindscape. It now believes itself to be the real Cyril and the other a fake, a battle ensues until Shrike uses his powers to burn out the suits electronics. The suit dies in Beryl's arms still believing he's the real Knight. Later, Shrike and Beryl share a kiss.

Javris poker suddenly begins a new reign of practical jokes on the public, Beryl remembers there last conversation in the Time in a Bottle Pub and realises (Due to her communication powers) he is dying.Since these mildly criminal pranks are his last, Beryl and Cyril decide to play along with Jarvis and tell the media he is actually a dangerous super criminal planning the crime of the century.When Jarvis is on top of tower bridge planning to turn the Thames purples, he is "arrested" by Shrike .The newly reformed hero believes the media hype about Jarvis and intends to turn him in. Until he is shot by the real joker, in London to show his tribute act how its really done.

Team-Up with Batgirl[]

When Bruce Wayne was on business in London, he had assigned Stephanie Brown assist him on a case. While Bruce was in his business meetings, Beryl showed Stephanie around and the two forged a strong friendship, both in and out of costume.

Abilities[]

Squire is trained in multiple martial-art forms and is an expert in the use of computers and communication equipment. As well as being an expert in swordplay, she also has a natural appitude for several forms of communication, including foreign languages, gestures, and interpretation. She can even read information patterns by touch.

Notes[]

Squire has a habit of using British and Scottish figures of speech, and appears to speak with a Scottish accent.
In 2011, Knight and Squire starred in an eponymous limited series written by Paul Cornell.