Grid is a sentient virus living inside Cyborg. Once he gained control, he helped the Crime Syndicate.
History
After he was given the technology that kept him alive, Cyborg realized that with its telecommunication he could keep constant watch on every superhuman on Earth. However, aware of the invasion of privacy, he refused to consciously hunt for information, leaving secondary cybernetic systems to passively compile information. He began to refer to the software that curated these secondary systems as "the grid".
The software grew, and developed into a neural network, with behavioral quirks copied from the viruses and hackers it encountered. It was shepherded into full sentience by Atomica, who used it to steal all the data of the Justice League's adventures. When she betrayed the heroes to the Crime Syndicate, she brought it with her onto the villain team.[1]
The machine mind, now christened "Grid", stole Cyborg's cybernetic prostheses to make a body for itself, and went to join the Crime Syndicate in exchange for their promised help in achieving its ultimate goal: emotions, which were the one thing Victor Stone had that it could not replicate.[2]
Forever Evil
Grid served the Crime Syndicate in their scheme to take over the world, acting as a datahub. He was instrumental to their plan, to take over the global telecoms infrastructure one city at a time, during a worldwide blackout that the group had engineered.
He was eventually stopped by Victor Stone, who had been given new prostheses by his father, and who attacked with the aid of the Metal Men, a gang of non-networked robots. The group appealed to Grid's nascent ego, causing him to disconnect from wireless contact to fight them, after which they seemingly killed him.[3]
The Darkseid War
However, Grid survived, hidden inside Cyborg's systems once again. When the surviving members of the Crime Syndicate teamed up with the Justice League to end a conflict between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, Superwoman reactivated Grid to strengthen the Syndicate's side of the alliance.[4] Grid was able to take advantage of changes to the nature of Victor Stone's cybernetics, and made Victor become him.[5] Grid assisted the combined group, but at the end of the adventure, his allies were dead, except for Owlman, who had Grid download himself into the Mobius Chair. Owlman and Grid are then seen talking to Metron when a powerful force attacked and seemingly killed him.[6]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Robot Body: Grid constructed a body out of Victor Stone's cybernetics.
- Technopathy: As a sentient computer program, Grid can gain complete control of any system it has unfettered access to, allowing it to manipulate data or rearrange security privileges.
Abilities
- Enhanced Intellect: Being a sentient cybernetic system, Grid is capable of having a computer-like intellect that uses to upgrade himself over and over.
Weaknesses
- Power Limitation: Grid needs to be granted access to a system before it can do anything. This includes having control over his own body, instead of being isolated in cyberspace.[3]
- No Physical Body: Without Cyborg's mechanical skeleton, Grid is a bodiless computer program.
- Technological Reliability: If Grid doesn't have access to any computer systems including his body, he ceases to exist.
- Restricted Senses: Grid, because it is a program in a machine, cannot emotionally feel anything. It's ultimate goal is to finally be able to experience emotion. This restriction is partly overcome before it loses its connection to its body.
Trivia
- Grid is compelled to leave its "signature" at the end of a conversation or just before a crippling attack: "have a nice day".
Related
- 29 Appearances of Grid (Prime Earth)
- 6 Images featuring Grid (Prime Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Grid (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Grid (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
  This character is or was primarily a member of the the CSA (Crime Syndicate of America • Crime Syndicate of Amerika • Crime Society of America), in any of its various incarnations, either on Earth-Three, Earth-3, Earth 3, or in the Antimatter Universe. As with all other CSA members, they are an evil version of a hero of the mainstream DC Universe, primarily the Justice League. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "CSA members" category. |
 This character is or was primarily an enemy of the Justice League, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Justice League Villains." |
 This character, team, or organization, is or was primarily an enemy of Cyborg. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Cyborg Villains category." |
 Secret Society of Super-Villains member |