OHotMU 2010 Update: Full Character Biography
From The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 2010 Update, #5 (of 5).
Real Name: Jonathan "Johnny" Gallo
Aliases: "Rico"
Identity: Secret
Occupation: Adventurer; former stuntman
Citizenship: USA
Place of Birth: Brooklyn, New York
Known Relatives: Unidentified father, unidentified mother (deceased)
Group Affiliation: Loners; formerly Excelsior, the "Slingers"
Education: College dropout
First Appearance: Slingers #0 (1998)
Abilities/Accessories: Ricochet has superhuman speed and agility, as well as a "sixth sense" that warns him of danger. His legs are superhumanly strong, allowing him to leap great distances. He carries several throwing disks, which he can throw with great accuracy; most are solid, but he also carries some specialized disks, including explosive disks, electromagnetic pulse-emitting disks, and blackout disks.
History: When Johnny Gallo was a child, the crazed Nanny and the Orphan-Maker, intent on raising him as a mutant-rights terrorist & child-soldier, murdered his mother in a grocery store parking lot but failed to ascertain Johnny's location before killing her. Johnny's father withdrew into himself afterward, leaving Johnny to largely fend for himself with the help of his friend Kathy, who he began dating. Johnny enrolled in Empire State University, where the elderly Black Marvel (Dan Lyons), who had been a vigilante in the 1940s, recruited him and 3 other ESU students into a super-team, unknowingly using costumes provided by the Hell-lord Mephisto. While the team, later dubbed the "Slingers," was training, Dusk (Cassie St. Commons) fell to her death off a building. While investigating a Maggia toxic waste dumping operation, Hornet (Eddie McDonough) was caught in a collapsing tunnel; their overbearing teammate Prodigy (Ritchie Gilmore) abandoned them, and Johnny tried desperately to save Eddie until Dusk, who had returned to life, rescued him. The team subsequently united to save occupants of the Grand Royale hotel (including Kathy, who learned Johnny's secret identity) from a fire set by the Black Marvel, who failed to stop a fire there years ago and wanted to make amends, however illogically. Prodigy seemingly died when the building collapsed, and the remaining Slingers rejected their mentor. Later, when the mutated rat-man Griz (Mac Garrity) abducted Eddie, Johnny modified a dune buggy go-kart into the "Ricochet Mobile" and teamed with Dusk to save him, sacrificing the buggy kart to ram the Griz. Nanny and the Orphan-Maker soon sought out Johnny, hoping to de-age him to childhood ((as one does)) and kill his father; Johnny convinced Orphan-Maker that would result in the Orphan-Maker no longer being Nanny's favorite, so he left Johnny and his father unharmed. In the wake of the near-disaster, Johnny revealed his super-identity to his father, who reacted largely with indifference. Shortly afterward, Ricochet, Hornet, Dusk, and the returned Prodigy were sucked into Hell by Mephisto ((I TOLD YOU THIS REALLY HAPPENED!!1!)), who demanded that they forgive Black Marvel to free his soul. They refused, and were forced to battle a legion of demons. Johnny eventually forgave Lyons and abandoned his Ricochet costume; the others soon followed suit, and Lyons' soul was freed. Returned to Earth, Dusk and Prodigy went their separate ways while Hornet and Ricochet remained partners.
Eddie later recreated his and Johnny's weaponry, and they continued to act as vigilantes; Johnny was more interested in the fame and renown that came with it, until a Hand cult-controlled Wolverine (Logan / James Howlett) murdered Eddie, and Johnny quit heroics entirely. A distraught Johnny broke up with Kathy and relocated to Los Angeles, where he joined Excelsior, a support group for former teen heroes. Ex-sidekick Rick Jones eventually contacted the team, offering them financial support in exchange for bringing in the runaway children of deceased LA crimelords the Pride. The team reluctantly donned their costumes and tracked them down, only to stumble upon the genocidal robot Ultron. Ricochet and the others ineffectually battled the crazed machine until Darkhawk (Chris Powell) destroyed it. Afterward, the group, redubbed the Loners, added a new member in Spider-Woman (Mattie Franklin). She coerced Darkhawk into resuming super-heroics to investigate a Mutant Growth Hormone drug ring; Johnny followed them, in costume, and helped them deal with Nekra (Nekra Sinclair), the drug-dealers' enforcer. Johnny continued to investigate the ring on his own, battling the assassin Delilah and finding the enigmatic creature Hollow. Johnny briefly worked as a stuntman along fellow Loner Julie Power until she had to reject the unwanted advances of their director, prompting them both to quit. He also had a one-night stand with Franklin, unaware that her interest in him stemmed from Dusk's parents, who had hired Franklin to find their daughter. The entire team donned their costumes again to battle deranged Loners co-founder Phil Urich, who had usurped Darkhawk's android body ((as one does)) in a fit of jealous rage. The group later relocated to New York City; when Darkhawk's adventures took him into space, Johnny and the others agreed to look after his family in his absence.
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