Shroud

Elliot "Eli" Connors, better known as Shroud, is a former member of Brave Brigades turned supervillain, the leader of the Red Ring, and the main antagonist of Dispatch. Shroud presents himself as a calm and methodic man, as well as polite, respectful and honorable; beneath his stoic facade, however, he is petty, arrogant and prideful. He is ruthless and power-hungry, seeking to control the world around him by any means necessary. Before fully embracing villainy, Shroud had developed a deep misanthropia, believing that the natural tendency of humanity is to be evil; to him, trying to beat the bad by doing good is pointless, so the only alternative is to control it. Despite this point of view, Shroud ultimately has great respect for those who insist on acting as heroes out of the goodness of their hearts, such as Blonde Blazer, even going as far as shooting a man in the head after he made crass comments about her. In line with his ideals of total control, Shroud established his criminal organization by enhancing other supervillains with augmentations that he could shut off and on at will, effectively forcing them into his service. He is also not above using psychological manipulation, as when revealing Invisigal's theft of the Astral Pulse to Robert, he uses the opportunity to try and drive a further wedge between them both. Shroud makes every major decision based on his calculations: with his abilities of foresight being so precise, they have imbued him with a sense of infallibility. Years of knowing the outcome of every situation, however, have inflated his ego, as losing control of a situation or being unable to predict the future sends him into a nervous breakdown, such as not knowing Blonde Blazer's reliance on an amulet for powers and not accounting the fact she can transfer her powers into Chase. Nevertheless, he can be seen as a coward in some aspects.