Gideon Graves

Gideon Graves

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“	Ramona... You belong to me. I am a genius, and you are my muse.	„
	~ Gideon Graves to Ramona Flowers

“	This is Gideon. When will it be convenient for you to die?	„
	~ Gideon Graves to Scott Pilgrim

“	You idiot. Did you think I'd just roll over in here? I'm all powerful inside her head, man!	„
	~ Gideon Graves to Scott Pilgrim

Background

Gideon Gordon Graves is Ramona Flowers' seventh evil ex-boyfriend, the leader and founder of the League of Ramona's Evil Ex-Boyfriends, and the main overarching antagonist of the Scott Pilgrim series. Gideon isn't seen much throughout the series, except for a blurry picture taken by Wallace Wells, and briefly in the shadows at the end of Volume 3. He also appears in the fourth volume in the form of a mysterious shadowy figure, and in Volume 5, though he's not actually seen. He finally appears in Volume 6 with surprisingly pointy hair and a nasty attitude.

This dropdown contains the synopsis of Gideon Graves’ story. Read at your own risk as you may be spoiled otherwise!

Origins Little is known of Gideon Graves' origins. He eventually made his fortune by setting up a successful career as a music mogul, at which point he took the alias of "G-Man". Gideon once claimed the Glow is what has made him his millions. It is not clear, though, if this means he sold the Glow to other people, or if he used the Glow to manipulate people into buying his company's products. The latter is more likely, since Gideon is the only one who knows how to fully control the Glow. Relationship with Ramona Gideon first met Ramona at a party in New York and the two quickly formed a relationship. Despite Ramona's feelings for him, Gideon saw his relationship with Ramona purely as an experiment, during which he inflicted Ramona with The Glow. Fed up with him constantly pushing her away, Ramona decided to leave Gideon, leaving nothing except a letter. Unfortunately for Ramona, Gideon walked in on her just as she finished the letter. Ramona, filled with intense emotions, became overwhelmed by The Glow and vanished into Subspace, taking the letter with her. After Ramona left, Gideon got totally wasted out of his mind and put up a huge drunken rant on Craigslist about her. This got the attention of Ramona's other six evil exes who contacted him. Gideon used this opportunity to form the League of Ramona's Evil Exes, which he would use to control the future of Ramona's love life. Memory manipulation and observation At some point in between Volume 1 and 2 (most likely soon after Matthew Patel's defeat), Gideon started spying on Scott and Ramona through Scott's Subspace. Whilst there, Gideon altered some of Scott's memories, adding his likeness to Simon Lee, Kim's ex and "enemy" of Scott's. In Volume 3, during Scott's battle with Todd Ingram, Ramona's third Evil Ex, Todd has a mental breakdown while overwhelmed by his own vegan powers and a series of flashbacks as the pair battle/race through Honest Ed's department store. The largest of the three flashbacks, right after his own father and Lynette Guycott, is Gideon saying, "Just use your vegan powers or whatever, he'll never know what hit him, right?" He also appears again at the end during Sex Bob-omb's performance telling the recording crew following The Clash At Demonhead "No comment" and giving us a darkened profile view of him. It's safe to assume Gideon didn't come to see the show, but to size up Scott while he fought Todd. Judging from his response, he is not impressed. In Volume 4, Gideon is referenced to by Roxie Richter when Scott leads Knives' father, bent on killing him, into Ramona's house, and the two face off with katanas. Roxanne's first line upon seeing him is "Did Gideon send you?" which sends her into a rage believing no one has any faith in her, starting the fight. This is the same question Ramona asks when first attacked by Knives in Volume 2, possibly suggesting that Gideon often hires assassins. Also, in Volume 4 and 5, Scott accidentally intrudes upon Ramona's head and finds her kneeling beside a sinister dark figure sitting on a throne. Though the shadowy figure's face is never revealed, it can be assumed this was Gideon, or at least a manifestation of him representing the part of Ramona still attached to him. At the end of Volume 5, Scott receives a phone call from Gideon to taunt him, asking when a convenient time for him would be to die. Encounter with Scott In Volume 6, Scott encounters Gideon on the street while he and Envy Adams are talking about their past. Scott is so frightened by Gideon's presence; he immediately runs away. Later, after confronting his mistakes by merging with NegaScott, Scott goes to the Chaos Theater to confront Gideon once and for all. Gideon ends up stealing the Power of Love from Scott and impaling him with it. Scott returns to life thanks to the 1-Up he gained from defeating Todd Ingram, and he and Ramona begin to fight Gideon. It is then revealed that Gideon is keeping six of his other ex-girlfriends suspended in cryogenic stasis on the ceiling of Chaos Theater, enabling him to thaw and date any one of them at any time of his choosing, and desired to add Ramona to the final capsule. Using The Glow, Gideon manipulates their emotions, causing them to argue with each other. Ramona tries to leave through Subspace, but Gideon stops her escape by impaling her, and then teleports himself into her mind. Scott then enters Subspace through Ramona's Subspace Suitcase to enter Ramona's mind, where he finds that Gideon has transformed himself into a powerful God form and is lording over Ramona. Scott headbutts him, giving Gideon the Glow and transforms him back to his original size, releasing Ramona from his influence in the process. Infuriated, Gideon tries to kill Scott with his sword, but Ramona enters her own Mind Subspace and casts the three of them back into the real world where she blocks the attack with her Subspace Suitcase, causing it to explode whilst disarming Gideon. Ramona then takes the Power of Love, which heals her wounds allowing her to continue fighting. During this time, Envy asks Gideon if he is OK. Gideon coldly rebuffs her in response. After realizing that he and Gideon are more similar than he thought, Scott earns a new sword - the Power of Understanding and begins the final battle alongside Ramona. Gideon takes his backup sword (installed in the back of Envy's dress) and begins to fight. Gideon reveals during the battle that he was spying on Scott and Ramona through Scott's head via the subspace highway, "spicing up" some of Scott's boring memories along the way. This has further increased the memory problems Scott has throughout the series and prompts Ramona to exclaim "His brain doesn't need any extra damage from you!" Infuriated even more, Ramona disarms Gideon once again, leaving him at the mercy of the duo. Defeat Before his final defeat, Gideon claims that getting rid of him won't solve anything and that both Scott and Ramona are their own worst enemies based on their past actions throughout their lives. They soon deny this, however, and reply that Gideon himself is much worse due to his own actions. Having said this, Scott uses the Power of Understanding while Ramona simultaneously uses the Power of Love on Gideon and perform an X-Strike, creating a X-shaped slash mark in his chest. Gideon then explodes into $7,777,777 worth of coins which fall (very painfully) all over the onlookers below.

Statistics

Key: Regular | Subspace Avatar

Tier: 6-A, Higher with the Power of Love | Varies from 8-A to 6-A, Higher with the Power of Love

Name: Gideon Gordon Graves

Origin: Scott Pilgrim

Sex: Male

Age: 31

Alignment: Chaotic Evil (Despite seeming calm and collected, Gideon is incredibly narcissistic and egotistical, viewing everyone around him as insignificant and weak. He sees Ramona Flowers as his muse, and openly brags about damaging the mind of Scott Pilgrim. He formed the League of Ramona's Evil Exes purely to have control over her love life)

Classification: Human, Inventor, Subspace Master, Owner of GGG Heavy Industries, Owner of the Chaos Theatre, Leader of the League of Ramona's Evil Exes

Dimensionality: 3-D

Attack Potency: Continent level (Given each evil ex gets progressively stronger, he should be superior to Todd Ingram who punched a giant hole in the moon that subsequently caused tons of explosions and tidal waves back on earth twice. Implied to have the power to nuke the entire West Coast), Higher with the Power of Love (Killed Scott Pilgrim and severely harmed Ramona Flowers) | Varies from Multi-City Block level to Continent level (Has a subspace avatar that he can make as strong as he wants), Higher with the Power of Love

Durability: Continent level (Fought and endured in combat with Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers. Should be far superior to all other evil exes), Higher with the Power of Love | Varies from Multi-City Block level to Continent level (Has a subspace avatar that he can make as durable as he wants), Higher with the Power of Love

Striking Strength: Continent Class, Higher with the Power of Love | Varies from Multi-City Block Class to Continent Class, Higher with the Power of Love

Lifting Strength: Unknown | Unknown

Travel Speed: Superhuman | Superhuman

Combat Speed: Relativistic (Landed several hits on Scott Pilgrim) | Relativistic

Reaction Speed: Relativistic | Relativistic. Can't be blitzed while in subspace due to the way space-time works

Stamina: Superhuman (Built multiple robots to challenge Scott Pilgrim in quick succession. Can fight Scott Pilgrim)

Range: Standard Melee, Extended Melee with the Power of Love, Dozens of Meters with Glow energy attacks, potentially Thousands of Kilometers (Implied to have the potential to nuke the West Coast), Multiversal with Subspace Manipulation (The size of subspace expands this large)

Intelligence: At least Extraordinary Genius (Is a successful millionaire who created the Glow; A power which seals you in your own head and can freely manipulate the human consciousness and Subspace. Gideon, while drunk, formed the League of Ramona's evil exes to hunt and kill Scott Pilgrim. Created technology capable of cryogenically freezing his exes)

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Powers and Abilities

Superhuman Physical Characteristics, Human Achievements (Is a successful businessman, inventor, and musician), Genius Intelligence and Creation (Created the Glow, a power that controls Subspace to his liking), Social Influencing (Formed the entire League of evil exes with a drunk rant. Uses the Glow to manipulate his opponents into agreeing with him and joining his side), Martial Arts (Fought evenly with Scott), Preparation (Prepared a backup sword in Envy Adam's dress), Weapon Usage (Can efficiently wield a sword in combat against Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers), Intangibility, Durability Negation, and Power Nullification (Stuck his hand through Scott's chest and stole the Power of Love, causing Scott to level down), Breaking the Fourth Wall (Is aware he's in a series of graphic novels), Possible Clairvoyance (Was aware that Scott and Ramona were dating), Law Manipulation (Subspace can shape reality to the user's liking. An example being Scott Pilgrim and the various video game-like aspects of the world, which are a result of Subspace and its perspective-based abilities), Perspective Manipulation and Observation (Type 2 and 3. Potent Subspace users can use the perspective-based powers of Subspace to overwrite reality to fit how they view it in the real world. Gideon, being one of the smartest Subspace users, can freely manipulate Subspace consciously), Avatar Creation (Has an avatar in subspace he unconsciously creates), Immortality (Type 5. Death is treated as an inconvenience in the universe with nobody actually dying), Dimensional Travel & Space-Time Manipulation (Characters can manifest doors directly to subspace, or even move between subspace and the real world through sheer force. Breaking the walls between subspace and the main universe), Mind Manipulation (Entering Subspace directly accesses one's mind and subconscious thoughts), Irreversible Damage (Can kill ones subspace avatar and kill their true form in the process), Attack Reflection (Scales to Scott Pilgrim who gave Gideon the Glow), Sheer Will (Those who can access the powers of Subspace in the real world naturally require a strong will and determination to control them), Plot Manipulation and Existence Erasure (Types 2 & 3. Type 4. Through the power of Subspace, characters can rewrite, manipulate, and erase events in the plotline of their story. It's also implied throughout the Scott Pilgrim series that Gideon, along with other major characters, are protected by a sort of plot armor to help them in dire situations. As Gideon is a master of Subspace, making him superior to Roxanne Richter, he should have this same power), Subjective Reality & Dimensional Storage (Whatever the user can imagine will be created in subspace. For instance, Scott manifested his love for Ramona as the Power of Love, which he can pull from and store in Subspace), Portal Creation & Summoning (As the powers of the characters originate from Subspace, they can create portals or summon beings and objects from their subspace)

Resistance to Sealing and Mind Manipulation (Should naturally resist conventional mind manipulation as her mind harbors subspace. Gideon wasn't fully affected by the Glow due to already being trapped in his own head), Empathic Manipulation and Corruption (Type 2 and 3. The Glow corrupts the mind of the inflicted to act very bitter and irregular towards people, which had no effect on Gideon after being infected), Memory Manipulation (Gideon's use of the Glow allowed him to alter Scott Pilgrim's memories to confuse him, of which did not affect Gideon), BFR (Type 1. It took Ramona Flowers several years to build the mental strength to remove Gideon from her head, which still didn't work properly), Power Nullification (Scott was unable to overpower Gideon's influence throughout Ramona's head without the Glow), Perspective Manipulation, Observation, Law Manipulation, Space-Time Manipulation, and Subjective Reality (Type 2 and 3. Even after being infected with the Glow, severing his connection to Subspace, neither Scott or Ramona could completely overpower his influence over Subspace with their own powers), Plot Manipulation and Existence Erasure (Type 2 and 3. Type 4. Characters are unaffected by the events in the plotline being altered and erased which imvolves), Transmutation (Doesn't get immediately turned into money by Scott and Ramona)

All previous powers and abilities to an unknown extent. Regeneration (Low-Godly. Subspace avatars are avatars of pure cognition of one's true self and by extension can be restored by the true form at will), Immortality (Type 3, 5, 6, and 8. Subspace avatars are avatars of pure cognition of one's true self and by extension can be restored by the true form at will. Concepts such as death are irrelevant to them as even if one dies they will just be sent into subspace. Even spirits can freely pass through and from Subspace. All damage done to a subspace avatar means nothing to them, Scott could lose his limbs in subspace and be cut in half and would still be perfectly fine), Abstract Existence (Type 1. The subspace avatar is a being of pure cognition, existing as a mere thought in the realm of subspace, with the effects done to their body being useless as it will always regenerate back or be unaffected by acts such as cutting it in half, even if the true user dies the subspace avatar will still exist), Acausality (Type 3. Subspace is a different space-time where all rules are different (including death), thus it should by extension be a different system of causality), Perspective Manipulation (Perception is Law. People, items, and Mind Subspace itself are based on the nature of the person's mind, therefore, however, a person imagines Subspace is how it will appear. A good example is Scott's Dream Desert: this location is repeatedly used as a metaphor for Scott's loneliness but also is his projected image of Subspace at that time which Ramona is able to pass through), Law Manipulation (One’s subspace operates under their rules and systems which can extend even to the real world with characters like Gideon affecting Ramona’s Subspace), Reality Warping & Mind Manipulation (While Mind Subspace allows for others' own projected images of themselves to take on other forms, the individual whom the Subspace resides in retains all power and control within said mind. Through this, the character can shape themselves and Subspace to their liking all through their thoughts, perspectives, and desires), Power Nullification (A user of Subspace can completely nullify any connection an opponent has in that Subspace, regardless of if they're more powerful or not. This is how Ramona was able to expel Gideon despite him being a master of Subspace and able to manipulate it inside anyone's mind), Dimensional Travel (Can enter his avatars at any point if he so desires even after death)

Light Manipulation and Empowerment (The Glow causes anyone infected with it to have their heads spontaneously glow when under emotional tension. Characters like Scott Pilgrim have been able to use the Glow to empower himself), Energy Manipulation (Gideon was able to fire energy beams of the Glow out at multiple targets), Sealing and Mind Manipulation (The Glow is described as a weapon of "emotional warfare" that seals you within your own mind subspace to face your issues), Empathic Manipulation and Corruption (Type 2 and 3. The Glow corrupts the mind of the inflicted to act very bitter and irregular towards people), Memory Manipulation and Duplication (The Glow allowed Gideon to manipulate and alter the memories of Scott Pilgrim. The Glow caused multiple incarnations of Ramona Flowers to exist in her head based on the parts of her that belonged to herself and Gideon), Teleportation and Dimensional Travel (Ramona Flowers was able to "ride" the glow between subspace and reality. This also allows her to teleport wherever she wants), Power Nullification and Existence Grounding (Scott was able to use the Glow to depower Gideon to his base form self, reducing his Subspace control enough for Ramona to overpower his influence), Enhanced Perspective Manipulation, Observation, Law Manipulation, Space-Time Manipulation, Pocket Reality Manipulation, and Subjective Reality (Type 2 and 3. The Glow allowed Gideon to take hold of Ramona Flowers' mind subspace and become "all powerful" to his liking)

All previous powers to a greater extent. Statistics Amplification (Increases the stats of the user. This stat boost allowed Scott Pilgrim to beat Roxanne Richter when he previously couldn't. Ramona Flowers bitzed Gideon Graves with the X-Strike which cut him multiple times in presumably a single strike), Accelerated Development (Passive. The Power of Love gives the user a "level up", granting the likes of Scott Pilgrim increased stats and skill that allowed him to best Roxanne Richter), Willpower Manipulation (The Power of Love increases "guts" and "will", which gave Scott Pilgrim the confidence boost to beat Roxanne Richter), Morality Manipulation (The Power of Love increased Scott Pilgrim's "heart" stat, giving him the courage to fight his own battle against Roxanne Richter and confront Mr.Chau), Healing and Restoration (The Power of Love can heal the users wounds and restore them to their peak), Fire Manipulation and Aura (The Power of Love is encased in an aura of fire), Enhanced Mind Manipulation (The Power of Love excels and is designed to defeat subspace enemies)

Technological Manipulation, Cold Manipulation, Ice Manipulation (Gideon has technology that can cryogenically freeze people in containers, putting them in a sleep for years at a time), Has a sword stashed in Envy Adams' dress

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Optional Equipment

• Power of Love: The Power of Love is a katana-like sword Scott Pilgrim unlocks in volume 4 after confessing his love for Ramona Flowers, causing him to level up. During this same level up, Scott also received Guts +2, Heart +3, Smarts +1, and Will +1. The sword counts as a longsword, for which Scott chose as a proficiency back in grade 5 over the skateboard proficiency. In Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, Gideon steals the Power of Love from Scott, causing him to level down, then impales him upon it, killing him.

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  Power of Love

• Backup Sword: Within Envy Adams' dress is an emergency sword Gideon prepared in case his plans were to fail. Gideon uses this sword to fight off both Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers with their respective blades, to which he loses. Gideon's sword is shaped very similarly to the Power of Love Sword in size and shape, meaning the sword likely qualifies as a longsword.

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  Backup Sword

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Notable Techniques

• The Glow: Described as a powerful weapon of "emotional warfare", the Glow manipulates the Subspace inside the minds of those it infects, causing them to become overwhelmed by their personal issues. The Glow suppresses positive emotions such as friendship and love, and simultaneously enhances negative feelings like suspicion, jealousy, and self-loathing. As such, the Glow can be used to poison or destroy people and their relationships. It also makes a person more susceptible to Gideon's manipulations. Gideon demonstrates this when he uses the Glow to make Scott and Ramona argue during the final battle. It appears that the Glow can lie "dormant" inside the mind of an infected person after the effects of their initial exposure wear off, as evidenced by Ramona's (and later Scott's) frequent episodes of spontaneously sporting the Glow throughout the series. The Glow is triggered by intense emotional moments, like in Volume 5 when Ramona is faced with the prospect of Scott having cheated on her with Knives, and is also experienced by Scott in Volume 6 after Kim points out the mistakes he made while they were dating in high school (namely beating up Simon Lee and leaving for Toronto without telling her), however the Glow's effects can also be activated without even while the likes of Scott and Ramona are both thinking straight and clear. The effects of the Glow on the infected subject vary depending on the subject's level of mental stress and trauma, but the only way to get rid of it permanently is for the inflicted to actually come to terms with his or her personal issues. Despite this, it is possible to still have the Glow and experience its effects even after coming to terms with these issues, like how Scott was reinfected with the Glow after facing NegaScott. While Gideon is able to spread the Glow via touch, he can also fire it at people in a projectile form as demonstrated when he sprays the crowd at Chaos Theatre with it in the final book.

Other

Standard Tactics: Gideon will begin attacking his opponents when they least expect it in close quarters. While in hand-to-hand combat, he will use his Intangibility to reach inside the opponents mind, killing them. Alternatively, he also uses the Glow to infect his opponent, making it easier to manipulate his opponents to fight for him or against allies. | Gideon will remain in Subspace and use his mastery over it to reduce his opponents to a powerless state and kill them.

Weaknesses: Is mentally unstable and incredibly egotistical, causing him to undermine everyone's value and see them as tools or playthings.

Explanations

For further explanation of subspace, read this blog.

Any arguments regarding Vegan Todd and Regular Todd being different tiers have been completely explained here, along with various other arguments regarding the scaling of Todd Ingram.

Gallery

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Battle Records

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Discussions (Link For Mobile Users):

Discussion threads involving Gideon Graves