Jonathon William Reed is a billionaire industrialist and NYPD hostage negotiator who moonlights as the dark vigilante Black Shadow. When he was a young man, his billionaire philanthropist parents were brutally murdered by an unknown mob hit team. At and before that time, he was very irresponsible: Reed was a young security guard for his parents' mansion where he always forgets his duties and cared about partying and drinking and was at a friend's house when he should have been on duty. His parents' killers were brought to justice, but Reed felt the pain of not being there watching his parents and could have prevented the assassinations. Seeking redemption, he dedicated his life to serving and protecting the people of New York City. Trained as a ninja in Japan and manhunting techniques in India, along with other disciplines in Australia and England, he became the dark crusader to avenge his parents' murder and the realize the importance of true responsibility. But to provide cover for his secret identity, Reed joined the NYPD and later became their top hostage negotiator. When he is not called for a hostage crises, he patrols the streets of Manhattan as the Black Shadow, disposing justice to those who threatened it. His weapons including several gadgets and equipment in his utility belt, including flashbang mini-grenades, explosive shurikens (ninja throwing stars), two extending metal hand batons, and a specially-modified handgun that shoots a variety of non-lethal ammunition with an over and under EMP emitter or high-powered laser beam. But his preferred weapon from his extensive arsenal was his fedora; its' brim is installed with a concealed chakram made out of hard, durable aerodynamic metal and plastic alloys to make it a boomerang-type thrown weapon. Shadow can deploy and target his fedora to stun and/or disarm various adversaries and return to its' owner. Shadow has spare fedoras just in case of loss. His cowl is equipped with a night vision goggles that made him appear to have "eyes of the devil". He is an expert in several forms of martial arts and is a gifted detective and expert in hostage negotiating. As a negotiator, he uses his wealth for ransom money and carries a 9mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic, although he only shoots at parts to decapitate, not kill, or disarm the hostage takers as a last means.