Scarlet Knights (British flying mutants)

SCARLET KNIGHTS

Membership: Arthur Hardy, Edward ("Ned"), Jennifer, Lisa Hardy, Malcolm, Nell, the Scarlet Knight (Colin Hardy)

Purpose: To serve the people

Aliases: None

Affiliations: The British people

Enemies: Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) (indirectly, as she was responsible for removing their powers)

Base of Operations: London, England

First Appearance: New Excalibur I#6 (June, 2006)

History: (New Excalibur I#6 (fb) - BTS) - When Colin Hardy's mutant powers manifested, his newfound power also transferred to his family, granting them all the ability to fly. Donning costumes, the mutant family became the heroic Scarlet Knights, dedicating themselves to serving the people. As the father Arthur Hardy became the Scarlet Knights' captain, the Scarlet Knights became specialized in search and rescue operations, with field leader Colin, Arthur and older siblings Edward ("Ned)" and Jennifer handling combat operations while mother Lisa Hardy and the younger siblings Malcolm and Nell handled the peacetime operations. Eventually becoming famous, the Scarlet Knights participated in the annual Farnborough Air Show, where they became the favorite attraction. During one of their rescue operations, each of the Scarlet Knights were carrying their maximum amount of passengers when a bright flash signaling the events of M-Day occurred. M-Day caused Colin to lose his mutant powers, thereby causing the other Scarlet Knights to lose theirs as well and they all fell from the sky with passengers in hand. Sadly, the passengers and nearly all of the Scarlet Knights perished in the fall, leaving Colin as the only survivor.

(New Excalibur I#6 - BTS) - Joining the Royal Air Force as a squadron leader, the guilt-stricken and angry Colin Hardy recorded a video in which he recounted his experiences with the Scarlet Knights and what M-Day had cost him. As the video progressed, Colin remarked on how before M-Day, he had no idea how much the public hated mutants, but afterwards, he saw how the public cheered at the loss of so many mutants. Colin eventually revealed a detonator and announced that the public had sown the wind with their own hatred and that it time for them to reap what they had sown. Proclaiming that M-Day had taken away his purpose, his family and his future, turning his dreams into ash, Colin activated the detonator, announcing his intent to give the public a taste of what was to come. With the detonator activated, explosions rocked Shepherd's Cross Railway Station in London, devastating the area. Since Colin's video was not released publicly, neither the metropolitan police nor the Shepherd's Cross security were able to identify Colin's involvement in the terrorist attack, but British intelligence agency MI-13 discovered Colin's video and were shocked that a hero such as Colin could have committed such an act. Agent Pete Wisdom reminded MI-13 that the Scarlet Knights, Colin's family, had been all wiped out in an instant with no clue as to who was responsible.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont, Michael Ryan and Rick Ketcham.

The Scarlet Knights were never directly seen on-panel, only on video screens flashing back to their heroic deeds.

While it seems likely that each of the Scarlet Knights had the last name of Hardy, especially since the Marvel Atlas confirmed that the Scarlet Knights parents were named Arthur and Lisa Hardy, we did not have explicit confirmation that all of the siblings all shared the last name of Hardy (only Colin was confirmed to have the last name Hardy).

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Scarlet Knights have no known connections to:

Scarlet Beetles, People's Defense Force, clashed with west coast Avengers @ West Coast Avengers II#34
Scarlet Circle of the Hyborian era, far eastern sect @ King Conan I#1
Scarlet Spiders (Michael, Patrick, Van), Shadow Initiative, Counter Force, clones of MVP @ Avengers: The Initiative I#3
or any other "Scarlet" or "Knights" groups

Arthur Hardy

Arthur Hardy was granted the power of flight by the activation of his son Colin's mutant powers and he soon became the Scarlet Knights' captain after his family decided to use their powers to become heroes. After becoming famous at the annual Farnborough Air Show, Arthur led the combat operations of the Scarlet Knights up until the events of M-Day removed Colin's powers, which in turn removed Arthur's powers as well, causing him to fall from the sky and die upon hitting the ground.

Before losing his powers, Arthur Hardy had the mutant power of flight.