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    Gully

    Character » Gully appears in 17 issues.

    Gully is the strongest nine year old known to man, drawing her power from Gauntlets of incredible power and magic; The parting gift of her father and one time legendary hero, Aramus.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Gully last edited by gravenraven on 07/14/23 07:53PM View full history

    Origin

    Gully is the quintessential child in Joe Mad's Battle Chasers. She is the daughter of Aramus, the epic hero of the time, and sister to Sebastius Nefar, a brother who cares nothing for Gully and resents her existence as it marks the demise of Sebastius' Mother (not the biological mother of Gully). Aramus draws his power from the legendary gauntlets he wears. These Gauntlets, when worn, are the source of his super strength, invulnerability, and overall durability. Through the power of the gauntlets, Aramus has defeated many evils throughout the land and created a legendary status for himself and his household.

    At the age of Nine, Gully would be forced to take over the mantle of Aramus. For reasons still unknown, the great hero Aramus went missing for quite some time, leaving behind just one possession sealed magically in a chest and entrusted to Gully. The disappearance of her father is as upsetting to Gully as it is mysterious. Without any warning or advice for his daughter, Aramus simply up and vanished from existence leaving Gully in the care of the family 'Nanny'. It is yet to be revealed what happened to her mother and it appears Gully is quite accustomed to having a nanny to take care of her, suggesting this has been the case for the majority of her nine years. There is a quick glimpse in issue 9 of the young mother with baby Gully but that is the only time she has appeared in the series.

    Gully seems to be unnaturally hopeful that her father will return soon and has taken it upon herself to go about her way as if this life changing event was only a minor setback. At this point in time, Gully begins to show signs of a 'hero-in-training', spending her spare time as a child reading books on war tactics (some volumes were written by her father). This has certainly come about by the disappearance of her father and her longing to help in the search effort to find him. Although she remains confident that he shall return home, she has now taken up an interest in the things her father enjoyed most.

    Under the last wishes of her father to keep possession of the chest he had left behind, Gully had yet to open it and reveal it's contents. Whether or not she actually had any desire to open the chest is irrelevant. It was sealed in powerful magic and could not be opened without the aid of a powerful spell caster. However, her household was attacked by shapeshifting lycans under the orders of a mysterious unidentified enemy. This enemy knew of the chest, the family keepsake, and of it's contents; A secret that apparently only one man knew of.

    With the disappearance of Aramus, King Vaneer had placed the household of Aramus under the protection of the royal guard. However, the Royal Guard was hardly a match for the ferocious Lycans and were quickly cut down. Gully narrowly escaped from her pursuers and ran from the house clutching the package closely to her body. The Lycans allowed her to flee in order to ransack the premise. When they discovered that the chest was not in the house, they pursued the nine year old Gully. In her desperate attempt to flee with the keepsake, Gully would run into Calibretto. This iron golem would end up being her salvation in more ways than one. 'Bretto eviscerated the Lycans and brought her back to his keeper, Knolan, one of the most powerful magicians of the time. With the aid of a powerful spell caster, the chest was finally opened to reveal the Gauntlets of Aramus; the source of his power.

    While Gully was in shock upon the discovery of her fathers legendary Gauntlets, Knolan was busy pondering the true intentions of Aramus. It was unclear to Knolan at the time as to why Aramus had left his daughter with the gauntlets; the source of the now-missing hero's overwhelming power. Still undecided as to what to do about the gauntlets, it was decreed within Knolan's household that no one should put the gauntlets on. Before anyone could come to a conclusion as to the fate of the gauntlets and what should be done with them, a second group of Lycans sniffed out Knolan's estate to capture both the gauntlets and the golem.

    The attack on the estate was attempted while Knolan was away, leaving only the War Golem 'Bretto to protect the child and the gloves. The Lycans were successful in neutralizing 'Bretto with some sort of electro magnetic pulse cannon, temporarily disabling the giant construct leaving Gully alone to fend for herself. Again, the game of hide and seek was on, Gully being far outmatched for the ruthless and feral Lycans who were now out to avenge their first loss to Gully and the Golem. Gully grabbed the gauntlets and hid as best she could. The Lycans, being the great hunters they were, were able to find her easily hiding within the house and cornered Gully. In a desperate attempt to better her situation, Gully put the gauntlets on to which a cosmic scene ensued. The awesome magical powers of the gauntlets surrounded her initiating a sort of bond between the two. The gloves had 'accepted' Gully as their new and rightful owner and together, Gully and the Guantlets made quick work of the Lycans, destroying much of Knolans house in the process.

    Battles

    Gully has certainly seen her fair share of fights. Though she is the only member of Battle Chasers to not have combat experience at the start of the comic, she certainly makes up for her lack of experience with power and enthusiasm. She has proven herself to be quite a capable fighter amidst even the most experienced of veterans (Knolan, 'Bretto, and Garrison all surpassing her in combat experience by a long ways). She doesn't rely solely on the awesome power of her gauntlets though, she is a smart fighter as well, and this trait develops throughout the book. Later on, against the borrower, she figures out what it takes to destroy the beast, coming up with a clever and seemingly insane idea of allowing the beast to consume her completely (so she might destroy it from the insides)

    The Lycan Werewolf warriors who serve Sebastius Nefar hunt Gully with tireless enthusiasm. These Lycan warriors seem to possess the ability to shape shift into the forms of humans they have killed. This is evidenced by their infiltration into the home of Gully posing as the royal guard. They are fairly intelligent creatures with excellent hunting and tracking abilities. Their consistent downfall seems to be their incessant taunting of Gully and enjoyment of the chase, allowing Gully to flee from their clutches so that the hunt may continue.

    Without the Gauntlets, Gully is no match for the Lycans. They are quite capable of killing the best trained soldiers and a nine year old girl poses little to no threat. In her first encounter with the Lycans, Gully is without the gauntlets and is forced to flee from her house, leaving her nanny alone to fend for herself. Gully manages to make it into a neighboring village that appears to be abandoned, finding a hiding place to conceal the keepsake her father had left her.

    The Lycans are able to sniff her out and manage to corner her, taunting and jeering. Gully does show some courage and bravery, stabbing one of the Lycans in the neck with a splintered handle of a pick axe. This is enough to buy her a little more time for running, to which she meets the War Golem Calibretto, and the Construct is able to eliminate the Lycan warriors.

    Gully's next encounter with the Lycans was at the household of Knolan the wizard. She had the gauntlets on her person but had yet to put them on or wield them. The Lycans are out for some revenge this time, keeping the witty banter down to a minimum. Again, Gully finds herself completely cornered and is faced with the decision of listening to Knolan and _not_ put the gloves on or put the gloves on against Knolan's wishes and attempt to kick some Lycan butt. After she puts the Gauntlets on and experiences a supernatural phenomenon, the Lycans strike the final blow, sending a pick axe into Gullys person. The gloves provide her with invulnerability and the axe shatters, revealing an immaculate Gully underneath the dust. She then proceeds to punch the Lycan through the ceiling and out into the backyard.

    Gully expresses all of her rage and frustration towards the Lycans, beating the unfortunate Werewolf to death with the awesome power of the gauntlets. She is restrained by Calibretto before she realizes that the Lycan is dead and the realization of the situation befalls her, swallowing her up in a sea of emotion. This would be the first lesson she would learn in the responsibilities of her new and devastating powers in the Battle Chasers series.

    The first real test for the gauntlets was against the enslaved demon known as Bulgrim. Prior to this battle, Gully had simply destroyed all other opposition. Bulgrim was far beyond anything she had faced and would test demonic power against those of the gauntlets. Bulgrim is completely invulnerable to damage caused by weaponry created by man. This makes him impervious to artillery, melee weapons, etc. The magic power of the gauntlets manages to bypass this protection and cause the demon true harm. Upon confrontation, Bulgrim naturally underestimates the nine year old Gully, ignoring her and continues his domination of Vaneers armies. It doesn't take long for Bulgrim to realize that Gully is the major threat on the battle field and begins to concentrate his attack solely on Gully.

    Gully does an admirable job of holding off the demon and protecting the army of Vaneer as well as the capital city. Blows are exchanged between the combatants but the Demon seems to feed off the battle where as Gully is weakened with the impact of each devastating attack. With a series of concussive attacks culminating in an earth shattering strike, Bulgrim is delighted over his hard fought victory, claiming that the 'Trinkets' Gully wears (Gauntlets) are no match for true magical power. It is then that Gully rises from the rubble, weak and weary, but still determined to stop the demon.

    The demon reassesses Gully and looks upon her young and energetic body combined with her indomitable will as a desirable vessel with which to possess. His current human vessel he considers 'weak' and resilient to his commands and wishes for a perfect soul that, when possessed, will release him from the cursed bracelet which binds him to the mortal plane (*see Bulgrim). He scoops up the child in preparation for his possession ritual when 'Bretto targets the human vessel of Bulgrim and destroys the bracelet that contains the demon. Bulgrim is destroyed and Gully is saved. While it is obvious Gully did not 'defeat' the demon, she performed extremely well for her first major battle against a stronger opponent. Gully would take her experiences from the fight and apply them to future battles. The most important thing about her fight with Bulgrim was how she relied on the power of the Gauntlets completely, trusting that the power would be there when she needed it most. It also should be mentioned that Gully showed an amazing amount of resilience and durability throughout the fight, taking a real beating from Bulgrim and still continuing to fight. The combination of the invulnerability from the gauntlets and her 'never-say-die' attitude gives her a lot of staying power in epic throwdowns.

    How do you kill that which is already dead? This is the question of fighting a spirit consisting of fallen warriors; an army of undead warriors congealed into one giant creature. The The Borrower is a powerful entity that combs the battle fields for fallen warriors. These entities are usually driven by one purpose or objective, to which it builds it's body from the organic matter of fallen warriors to constitute a means of fulfilling it's desire. The more material it can collect, or 'borrow', the stronger it becomes.

    The borrower that attacks Gully and co, is slightly different from those of typical Borrower-type. This one seems hellbent on causing mass destruction and in killing as many people as it can, becoming stronger and stronger in the process. The spirit is filled with thousands of eyes, arms, and mouths which all hiss the word "gloves". The armies of Vaneer only add fuel to it's fire, providing the borrower with more material to collect. On top of this, the men herd the borrower into a graveyard to which the demon becomes incredibly powerful. Gully is able to withstand killing blows from the demon-spirit and continues to pound it out with the beast. It looks like another Bulgrim-esque fight winding down to Gully becoming simply overwhelmed by a more powerful entity. This time however, it appears Gully has succumbed to defeat, allowing the demon to swallow her whole and consume her; Much to the shock and horror of Garrison and the rest of the team fighting against the beast.

    Inside the bowels of the demon, Gully crawls blindly through twisting tunnels of biting mouths and slashing tendrils of fingers and hands. Making her way to the epicenter of the beast, she reaches the source of the borrowers power. It is a small orb of brilliant light, said to be the soul that has collected the souls of the dead and enveloped itself with the bodies to protect itself from harm. In a particularly spectacular scene where a captured Garrison is about to be done in by the evil Sebastius Nefar, Gully encases the orb of light between her gauntlets and physically crushes the spirit with the power of the gloves. The brutal fight leaves Gully completely exhausted and easy prey for Sebastius...

    Encounter with Sebastius

    Prior to her encounter with Sebastius Nefar, Gully was completely unaware that her father had had another child with another woman. Sebastius is indeed Gully's older brother, and, according to Sebastius, is the rightful heir to the legacy of Aramus and the gauntlets.

    Sebastius blames Gully for the unfortunate events that had befallen him when he was a younger boy. Because of Gully, and her mother (which we know very little about), Aramus left Sebastius and his mother to die by the hands of his own men. Sebastius relives the tale for Gully while he is imprisoned, explaining how the traumatic story unfolded. Upon 'adventuring' in the woods pretending to be like his great father Aramus, Sebastius came upon a scene he was shocked and disgusted to see. His father, Aramus the deceiver, was with another woman who had a baby (Gully). Sebastius hated the fact that his father had left him with his mother to be with another woman and care for another child. The seeds of hatred were planted and grew to fruition when Aramus later came to visit the town where sebastius was living, not to see his family, but to burn and raze the town to the ground, and enslave the inhabitants that were killed.

    One of these was Sebastius himself, to which he called out to Aramus to protect him. When Sebastius had called to him "Father", Aramus examined the young Sebastius further and denied that it was his son. He gave the orders to the rest of the men to enslave the boy and that was the last Sebastius ever saw of his father.

    Gully was very much in denial over the accounts of the story, not wanting to believe the horrible stories about her heroic father. She continued not believing, listening to Garrison's advice of "not listening to a word of what he (Sebastius) was saying". However, Sebastius mentioned a keepsake in his story to which no one could have known of. It was a locket that he claims he saw given to Gully when she was just a baby. Gully continues to disregard his stories for lies but later reveals to herself the very locket that Nefar had spoke of. It is yet to be determined how much truth Nefar speaks of but the evidence of the locket suggests at least some of his story is true, though the light in which he views his father is obviously warped. This is one of the last events to happen to Gully and it is still to be seen how she will react to these events.

    It is finally revealed that Nefar has been behind most of the trouble that has followed Gully and her friends since the disappearance of her father. The Lycans seem to gravitate to Nefar and do his bidding without question. On top of all the attacks his Lycans have preformed, Nefar was also in control of the demon-spirit, the borrower, commanding it to find and collect the gloves and to kill all others that got in the way. Nefar is nearly successful in killing Gully, managing to capture Garrison, put 'Bretto out of commission, and took advantage of Knolan not being around. His shape shifting Lycans set up the deceiving scenario that allowed most of this to happen. When he finally had his hands on the Gauntlets, there was one final thing he 'needed' to accomplish to complete is life long mission; To kill Gully.

    Stripped of her gauntlets and the source of their power, Gully was helpless to the evil Nefar. With no help coming and most of the Battle Chasers out of commission, Sebastius gave Garrison a difficult choice to make. He allowed Garrison to select who would live and who would die, the choices being Gully or his military friend Clavius. Garrison never gets a chance to make a choice, as Nefar becomes enraged at Gully's comment towards Nefar. She stated that she didn't hate her brother for who he was and what he had done. This drove Nefar to the brink of madness and he attempted to crush the life from the nine year old. Before he could strike Gully, the gloves reacted! They stopped Nefar in his tracks and proceeded to 'remove' themselves from his possession taking his forearms off in the process. It was the end to the climactic day that left everyone in the group emotionally and physically drained. Nefar survived the incident and it was there, in custody, that he revealed the stories of his past, his discovery of Gully and her mother, and the horrible stories of their father, Aramus.

    Powers & Abilities

    Gully herself possesses no super natural powers. She wields a powerful pair of Gauntlets that imbue her with supernatural strength and durability. The gauntlets are lined with runic symbols and each hold a red/ruby circular gem in the center of the hand. Cosmic fiery energy has been seen emitting from these gems but it is not yet determined why this happens or what triggers the reaction. Very little is known about the gauntlets themselves other than they had previously belonged to her father Aramus and that they had made him a hero. Her father had been in possession of the gauntlets from a young age and it is unclear as to how he came into possession of the power item.

    Super Strength

    It is still unknown as to what makes the gauntlets and their wearer so powerful. The runic symbols may give them magic powers and the same can be said about the gems inlaid upon them. In the Battle Chasers universe, items of powerful magic do exist giving the owner of such items certain powers. The gauntlets have exhibited super natural feats of strength. Whoever wears them is imbued with unfathomable power, as is evidenced by Gully, a nine year old girl, dishing out devastating attacks with the power of the Gauntlets. There is no set numerical value to the level of strength the gauntlets are capable of but several tons of lifting is an easy task to handle, often requiring only finger strength to accomplish.

    Invulnerability

    While the gauntlets were worn by Aramus, a full grown man and battle hardened warrior, many suspected the gloves to be a source of his strength but still some might speculate that power belonging to Aramus himself. When the gloves were wielded by Gully, it became immediately apparent that the gauntlets were the sole source of Aramus' power.

    Along with making the wearer supernaturally strong, the gloves also make the wearer completely invulnerable. Piercing strikes, explosive attacks, and crushing blows are deflected by the gloves. When Gully first wields the gauntlets and is temporarily stunned by the supernatural power and 'initiation' process of cosmic powers, a Lycan takes the opportunity to strike at the helpless Gully with a pick axe to the face. Though contact between the pick axe and the gloves is never made, the axe shatters on Gully's face, breaking into hundreds of pieces of shrapnel. Gully is found to be completely fine and unaffected from the devastating attack.

    The impact of the strikes are all felt, but the damage is overwhelmingly reduced. One example from the comics is when Gully is swallowed whole by The Borrower, chewed through and digested. The gloves protected her from all forms of damage (piercing, crushing, acidic) and she was able to crawl her way to the epicenter of it's power source and neutralize the plague of reincarnated death from the inside-out. While the wearer of the gauntlets is completely invulnerable, it is not uncommon for the wielder to become completely exhausted from excessive damage and become incapacitated. Gully has become too exhausted to continue fighting as evidenced in her battle with both Bulgrim and the Borrower. While she retains no wounds from the fighting, she needs an appropriate amount of rest to recover fully.

    Stamina

    It is generally accepted that children possess far more energy than adults, being able to bounce around all day with boundless enthusiasm. This extra stamina is magnified ten fold when wearing the gauntlets. While durability and stamina often go hand in hand, it should be noted that Gully is able to give a hundred percent to fighting for a seemingly inhuman amount of time. It seems as though she is impervious to fatigue and its effects, fighting nonstop and without pause for as long as it takes to get the job done. This gives her a lot of staying power on the field of battle and allows her to take advantage of the invulnerability and super strength powers the gauntlets give her. Sometimes, it is difficult to perceive her incredible stamina since she often times fights along side the War Golem Calibretto, who also has an incredible stamina being a construct that requires little to no rest. The two of them on the battlefield look like energizer batteries, never tiring or giving up.

    Sentience

    The gauntlets themselves were the parting gift of Aramus to his daughter and seem to work best when worn by her. Almost as if Aramus had intended his daughter to use the gauntlets to carry on his legacy or perhaps even aid in the finding of her lost father. The fact that Gully is a young girl bodes well for her grit determination and willpower. She has a 'never say die' attitude that is common among many children and this seems to amplify her staying power on the field of battle as well as expand her trust in the unlimited power of the Gauntlets (e.g a lesser man may doubt the power, believing he cannot move the mountain, when in fact he can). On top of this, when her older brother Sebastius Nefar captures the gloves for himself (claiming it was his birth right as the first born to possess and wield the power of his fathers gauntlets), the gloves seem to "reject" him as the rightful heir and proceed to 'disarm' themselves from Sebastius taking off both forearms in the process. It is still a mystery as to how much the gloves have their own sentience and to how much the gloves long to remain in the possession of Gully.

    Only a child

    For all the strength and durability that she possesses, Gully is still a child looking for her father. Her quest is much different from that of her teammates. Though they all wish to find the whereabouts of Aramus, the rest of the team can sometimes be 'difficult' in dealing with her childish ambition, persistent questioning, and the difficult task of raising a child. Gully often finds herself gravitating towards 'Bretto and his child-like understanding of her situation. Though his basic processing is that of a computer, Gully often confides in him troubling things on her mind. She desperately needs the attention most nine year olds require and, being around some of the most combat experienced adventurers, this can be difficult to achieve. Her adventurous youth does help her on occasion, allowing her ambition to take over where most other warriors might draw upon experience to combat the situation or enemy. On top of all this, she can become outraged over complex matters she does not quite comprehend. This is a problem with the power she possesses. In one excerpt from the comics, she repeatedly beat a Lycan to death after a horrifying experience, asking it an inquiry to which it could not answer. 'Bretto found her in the act and restrained her stating (about the lycan) "He can no longer give you the answer you wish to hear". Gully possesses the best and worst qualities of children, of which, these are amplified by her abilities that far surpass those of adults.

    Battle Chasers

    Gully belongs to the colorful and charismatic group of fantasy heroes that call themselves Battle Chasers. The team consists of Four Members (Gully, Calibretto, Garrison, and Knolan)with an additional helping hand from the extravagant thief Red Monika. Together, they create a powerful team that is well balanced and able to deal with any dangerous situation or powerful villain/villains. The team itself really doesn't consist of any SUPER heroes. The Battle Chasers exist in a universe that is heavily fantasy based, meaning that the skills and abilities of the heroes are from their exceptional and almost legendary prowess as adventurers, with the exception of Knolan, who bases his power off of the magical arts of spell casting.

    Gully, it seems, is still trying to find her place within the team. It is obviously unwise to let a nine year old lead a team of adventurers. Though she is somewhat of the main character of the series, she is not the leader and this makes an interesting and unusual relationship with her and her teammates. Regardless of these sometimes awkward moments, she is considered an incredibly valuable part of the fighting force, serving as the groups main hammer and tank, able to take the most punishment of the group as well as dish out the most physical hurt. In battle situations, some of the members are still reluctant to give her orders, mainly from the concern of placing her in unnecessary danger. However, time and time again, Gully has proven that she belongs on the team, carrying the weight of the team on her own shoulders at times and providing enthusiasm, youthful, and honest perception towards situations.

    Outside of battle, situations can often times become strained with the older members. Sometimes, it's difficult for her to keep up with the challenges many of her team members are well adjusted to as experienced fighters. On top of this, she does not fully comprehend the decisions and logical processes of adults. This leads to some confusion and hurt feelings at times. She is also a bit of a liability at times, having to have the entire team make major adjustments to their lifestyles while Gully is around.

    The most unifying ideal that the group shares is its desire to find Aramus and reunite the child with her father. When situations are difficult and times are tough, this is often the glue that keeps everyone together. They all realize that they are in action because of this ideal, and genuinely feel that they are doing a great thing.

    The way the team operates in combat is incredibly balanced for a four man team. Gully serves as the biggest physical threat, overpowering her opponents with sheer force and determination. She is also able to 'tank' the most damage with her invulnerability often outlasting the entire team in a long battle. The second front line fighter is Garrison, the swordsman. He is more of a finesse fighter, using his awesome swordskills and legendary blade to strike down opponents. He is the most agile member of the team using a balance of skill and power to defeat his opponents.

    The other two members are more catered to long range attacks though 'Bretto can take it to the house with physical domination. That said, 'Bretto is a long range master wielding many advanced long range weapons and is able to fire them all with deadly accuracy. His tracking and locking system is second to none making him the perfect marksman in tight situations. Knolan rounds out the team adding a lot of diversity in ranged attacks. This magician is one of the oldest human beings alive and has one of the most varied and devastating spell books. He can do it all when it comes to spell casting, protecting himself using magical barricades, casting explosive spells with singular targeting and area of effect damage, and is even able to banish enemies to another plane or dimension. It seems there is no limit to his power as he has demonstrated spells of all kinds, melding with walls, creating duplicates of himself, and summoning his traveling cloud 'nimbus'.

    Together, the team is able to take on the likes of any. Melee, Ranged, and Magical. There is no area where the team does not excel. The team itself has never tasted defeat though it has come close at times. This can be attributed to the well balanced nature of the team as well as their expertise in all forms of combat.

    Friendships

    For a nine year old girl, Gully is surprisingly 'friendless'. That's to say, at least she is never seen playing with children her age and she never reminisces about playing with her friends. When we first get to see Gully, she is quite content to be by herself, enjoying a good war strategies book, and later on, confiding with adults. It seems that she is far more mature than her age suggests and that she may want to put her childhood behind her so that her teammates may allow her more responsibilities as well as allow her to feel like she can be a major player in the finding of her father, instead of a helpless bystander.

    Calibretto

    In the tumultuous events that befall her during the active storyline of Battle Chasers, it is simply natural that she may gravitate and latch on to a confidant to express her feelings and share what is on her mind. This leads her to the befriending of the docile and surprisingly human-esque War Golem, Calibretto. 'Bretto shares many similarities with Gully, mainly about the misunderstanding of adults (or in 'Bretto's case, humans in general) and the mysteries that life holds. 'Bretto is always available to talk to and is able to lend his complete attention to Gully when many others distance themselves because of the age difference. Gully shares things with 'Bretto that she won't mention to other people and this expressed confidence in their friendship carries itself onto the fields of battle. Whenever 'Bretto is injured or in combat, Gully becomes very emotional and very active in protecting her new and best friend.

    There seems to be an endearing relationship between the two, much in the way a young child loves her pet, with the exception of this 'pet' being a sentient War Golem capable of complex thought process and emotion. Gully is often seen snuggling up to 'Bretto, joining the Golem in his druidic activities of feeding birds and communing with nature. When 'Bretto becomes seriously injured from the battle with Bulgrim, and is forced under for repairs, Gully would spend the entirety of her time visiting her friend and conversing with him about the new and wonderful things she had found while wandering about the town they were residing in. When Gully is alone, she often will look for things that 'Bretto may have an interest in, such as a new or rare plant, and things of that nature, to report on and share when she next comes in contact with the Golem.

    It should be said that there relationship isn't perfect. It can be frustrating for Gully to share her feelings with the Golem to which he can't comprehend or has difficulty understanding the logic of. Being a child doesn't help matters, as she naturally has a difficult time relating her feelings or sharing her experiences even to the most understanding of adults. So to have a robot as a best friend can amplify these problems. It never really amounts to anything significant. Gully will usually let things go when she realizes 'Bretto can't comprehend what she is feeling or will try to find a new approach to sharing what's on her mind. There was scene from the book where Gully is off thinking about her brother Sebastius Nefar, and skipping stones absentmindedly across the water. 'Bretto is naturally looking for her and when he finds her skipping stones, he attempts to join her casting a large boulder into the water to which the large splash disrupts the peace and quite.

    It's events like these that help define the two as friends. 'Bretto insists she is performing some form of magic to make the stones 'dance' across the water. He can not, for the life of him, get one of the large boulders to skip across the water and thus, assumes it is some magical ability. This thinking process is much in part due to living with Knolan the wizard for a long period of time. Actions he can not preform are considered magical abilities, so he inquires Gully how to preform the magic. While it is frustrating for Gully to sit down and explain something to the clueless Golem, it helps her take focus off of the horrible stories her brother had been telling her about her father and the two end up talking one of their more serious conversations of the series. The two are nearly inseparable and it is very clear that, though he is a War Golem, 'Bretto treasures his time with Gully.

    Garrison

    Garrison is the only one of the _Battle Chasers_ to which Gully had any previous relationship with. Garrison was the one time friend of Aramus and, from this relationship, Garrison knew Gully when she was very young. Gully used to look up to Garrison because she knew that her father thought of Garrison as a son. When Garrison entered his fall from grace, and distanced himself from the world, Gully had a change of heart about the legendary swordsman.

    With the disappearance of Garrison for a while, Gully's father became heartbroken over the grief that he suffered. Aramus tried many times to help Garrison out, reaching out to a friend in need. Garrison was quick to reject the offer and ties were severed between the two. This took an exceptional toll on the young Gully, who once thought of Garrison as the older caring brother she never had. Garrison's absence also had a negative impact on her father and for that, she grew to despise the 'cowardly' Garrison for abandoning her and her father.

    When Garrison heard about the disappearance of Gully, he began searching for the child. When he finally met with her in the presence of Knolan and 'Bretto, there were mixed emotions. Gully was furious to see that Garrison was now ready to join the rest of the world at this particular time but also glad to see that he was in fact alive and well. Overall, Garrison's presence was far too upsetting for the young girl and he was forced to leave there company for a time.

    After the events of Capital city, Garrison had reformed his ways and become the man he had once been. This change of character was a welcome change and Gully could finally look at him as the Garrison of old. There relationship has grown since the event with things getting better as Garrison continues to determinedly search for Aramus. Sometimes, Gully wants things to be how they once were in the days when her and her father got along with a much younger and happier Garrison. It is hard for her to comprehend the heartbreaking events Garrison has overcome to help Gully out and, because of this, he sometimes distances himself from the child for fear that he will subject her to the horrible truths of his life.

    Of her teammates, Garrison trusts Gully the most in combat. Perhaps he see's a bit of Aramus in Gully or he maybe he knows more of the gauntlets and about their power than he lets on. Whatever the reason, Garrison seems more confident in Gully's abilities as a fighter and this is a reassuring confidence booster for Gully. While they aren't the same friends they once were, together, they are working on rebuilding the friendship that was once there all the while searching together for Aramus.

    Knolan

    The Wizard extraordinare can preform magic of the most complex kind but when it comes to dealing with young children, he seems to be a bit at a loss as to what do. The first time Knolan and Gully met, Calibretto had just finished attacking the Lycans which were chasing after Gully and had brought her back to Knolans house, the only place he knew where to take her. They didn't get off to a very good start as Knolan was not expecting to house and entertain a nine year old child that night. Knolan was more than happy to oblige Gully by opening the chest she was carrying which happened to have, concealed within it's parameters, the legendary gauntlets of Aramus.

    Not knowing what to do about the situation, Knolan allowed Gully to spend the night while he pondered over the intentions of the missing hero Aramus and what he might have wanted or expected the child to do with the gauntlets. If Gully was a surprise on his door step the first night, the next day was even more shocking. A group of Lycans hired by Sebastius Nefar sniffed out Knolans estate and were ordered to capture the girl along with the gauntlets. Calibretto was the only one around when the Lycans attacked and they quickly immobilized the War Golem. With only Gully around to defend herself, she went against the recommendations of Knolan of not putting the gauntlets on and wielded them to defend herself from the Lycan attackers.

    Needless to say, the destructive forces that were to ensue from the battle would end up destroying half of Knolans house, to which he was none to thrilled to find out about when he got back home. This is the first event that would force Knolan to make a compassionate decision over the fate of Gully. When he went up to her room to talk to her about the house and if she was alright, Gully asked Knolan if she had to leave the estate from all the damages she had caused. Knolan replied, "Of course not." and recommended she get some rest because she, "had a hell of a mess to clean up in the mornin'".

    This, in a way, was the beginning of their comical relationship. With Gully being so young and full of energy, it often provided readers a stark contrast to the relaxed and logical reasoning of Knolan. In a way, it made him look overly methodical in his approach. Where Gully would always beg him to act quickly and to help save the day, Knolan would usually do so grudgingly, muttering under his breath things like, "I'm getting way too old for this crap".

    It is very apparent that the two get along well, each giving the other something important to ponder and consider. It is obvious that Knolan cares a lot for Gully, allowing her to coax him into adventuring with the team in order to help Gully find her father Aramus. As much as it seems he is not enjoying himself while adventuring, often finding cynical things to say, Knolan has formed a bond with Gully that keeps him in the game, making it a priority to stay on the team so that he can see to it that Gully will remain safely out of harms way.

    Aramus

    There isn't a whole lot of information on Gullys father Aramus other than that he was a legendary hero of his time and that Gully loved him very much. Outside of this given information, not much else is revealed about the character. Gully will continually mention how she misses her father and will also speak up about how her father would want things to be, often times using this to get Garrison to behave in the way she remembers him from her childhood.

    When Gully meets Sebastius Nefar, her older brother to which she had no prior knowledge of, her world gets turned upside down. Nefar paints a new haunting and chilling picture of Aramus, making claims that he was not the hero everyone thought he was. Gully remains true to the memories of her father, doubting Nefar and his outrageous claims. However, it is revealed that there is some possibility to Nefars claims, having physical evidence of at least one of his claims.

    Again, from what Gully has spoken about her father, as well as other characters in the series (Garrison, Knolan, King Vaneer, etc.), it is hard to believe anything that Nefar had said. Since the series was cut short and the story was left unfinished, it is unclear as to how much truth Nefar was telling. We can only speculate that he had grossly exaggerated the events of Aramus because of his twisted perspective. Gully is still wanting very much to be reunited with her missing father but it is evident that some doubt has crept up into the back of her mind. The disappearance of her father seems a long time ago, and perhaps she is beginning to wonder if her views on her own father were some how skewed to make him appear as heroic as everyone thought he was. Unless Madureira completes the series in the future, we will never know.

    Creator: Joe Mad!

    The character Gully is the creation of comic book penciler Joe Madureira. In the short summary about the book Battle Chasers, located in the trade paper back, Madureira explains how he came up with the idea for Gully.

    Madureira had always had the idea of a 'pint-sized' juggernaut and thought it would make an excellent character to revolve an entire book around. The ideas of having a very young heroine as the main character were equally exciting and challenging. The emotional aspects alone would create an air of complete and sincere originality. Gully would be the driving force behind the book, and the story would rise and fall with her successes and failures.

    Madureira has expressed a certain flair for the fantasy realm, explaining that he had played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons as a kid and a lot of the fantasy element had brushed off on him. This is clearly evidenced in the magical weapons that are often seen in Battle Chasers. Power Gauntlets aren't exactly in Dungeons and Dragons but there are similar items with much less power in the game. The unique aspect of the power items is that it allows anyone to become a hero, allowing the writers to focus on the personality and decision making of the heroes rather than the building and maintaining of powers.

    Gully is portrayed by Madureira as a brave, curious, questioning and loyal young girl. The emphasis on the character is her relationships inside the book, and the way she deals with situations that she has no control over. This allows a lot of play between characteristics, often times in the book, having Gully be a battle hardened warrior on one page, and then a concerned and scared child on the next. While the book was discontinued when Madureira began pursuing the video game industry, readers got to experience a lot of growth in Gully's character. The ups and downs of her life wrapped up in a fantasy adventure created one of the most compelling books of the time.

    While nothing is written in stone as to how the series will end or continue, Madureira has expressed some regret to leaving the project and has mentioned that he would like to finish the story at some point in time.

    Popularity

    Gully and crew were a smash success right off the bat. It is hard to put a finger on what exactly was the biggest seller for fans, but this is mainly due to each element of the book being of exceptional quality. Gullys character is certainly a major part in the success of the nine issue series, giving fans and readers one of the most sincere and down to earth super heroes. Madureira talks about the character and the developing process of creating her, saying that he wanted to be as different as possible with the series, giving readers something new and refreshing. With the nine year old main character and new and bizarre fantasy universe that she existed in, readers simply could not get enough of the up and coming wildstorm comic _Battle Chasers_. With the success of the story and characters, Madureira, who was running the entire show (character developement, story, and art), allowed fans to become an actual part of the comic book series, holding contests to 'create' the next enemy in the series. This was a unique concept that allowed readers to really feel like they were as much a part of the product that they were enjoying so much as was the actual creator.

    Along with a change of pace storyline, characters, and universe, the book also featured amazing pencils by Joe Madureira, voted one of the top ten comic artists of the 90's. His amazing pencils were topped off by solid inking by McWeeny and then became immortalized in Liquid Color. At the time, Liquid was raising the bar for the entire comic artist community almost single handedly using techniques of computer colors that are now considered the norm. With sizzling artwork and luscious colors, it was very clear that the book was going to go far... or was it?

    Sadly, Battle Chasers suffered some of the worst comic book lag ever. The book was to be released each month however, it would often be pushed back months at a time, leaving fans upset with the delayed product as well as confused with the storyline (having large, two month gaps inbetween story lines can be very confusing). One book had several months of lag before, sadly and finally, the book was discontinued. Madureira and co had assessed the situation as such: They were no longer able to produce the book at a desired pace (no kidding) and decided it should be set aside until a more regular production schedule could be attained.

    It is obvious to see that the book was extremely successful and popular, selling out quickly and then selling out of it's reprints. Also, cover art was done by Madureira to promote and sustain the popularity of the comic, having Battle Chaser characters grace the covers of Wizard Magazine as well as appearing on the cover of Frank Frezzattas Fantasy Illustrated. Even now, it is speculated that there will be a full length live action feature movie to be based on the book. The records of this film have been seen on imdb and are still in the early production stages. It is difficult to find a discontinued comic book series that is drawing attention from Hollywood.

    While it isn't impossible that the series will be continued at some point in time, it looks highly improbable that we will be seeing any closure on the characters and stories involved with the series for quite some time. Madureira has expressed some interest in finishing up the series but is currently working on the Ultimates as well as with his Video Game company (for which he ended up leaving Battle Chasers for)

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