This gives Bloodshot enhanced physical traits, the ability to repair damage to his body, an internal database of weapons and hand-to-hand combat training, and a mental connection to computers (technopathy).

The original Valiant Comics character was a mafia hitman named Angelo Mortalli who is experimented on by Project Rising Spirit.

After Acclaim Entertainment bought Valiant Comics, writer Len Kaminski with artist Sal Velluto rebooted the character in 1997, now depicting him as a covert operative named Raymond Garrison who uses the cover identity of Angelo Mortalli while infiltrating the mafia.

Believing himself to be military officer named Raymond "Ray" Garrison, Bloodshot regularly goes on covert missions and is specially trained to fight people born with superhuman powers (known as "psiots" or "harbingers" in the Valiant Universe).

No longer sure if he was ever Ray Garrison and not wishing to be a living weapon, Bloodshot goes rogue, hoping to find his own life outside of PRS and the military.

The character got enough fan interest to earn his own series Bloodshot (Volume 1) in 1993, initially written by VanHook with artwork by Don Perlin.

2), written by Len Kaminski with art by Sal Velluto, introduced a slightly altered version of the character and lasted 16 issues, ending in 1998.

From 2018 to 2019, Valiant published a prequel 8-issue series titled Bloodshot Rising Spirit written by Kevin Grevioux, Lonnie Nadler, and Zac Thompson, with art by Ken Lashley.

Bloodshot Volume 1 Angelo Mortalli is a ruthless and arrogant hitman climbing the mob ranks and about to marry the daughter of mobster Gino Canelli, head of one of New York City's major crime families.

Rather than kill the former hitman, Canelli delivers him to be a new test subject for Project Rising Spirit, an illegal and clandestine attempt to turn people into living weapons, headed by the corrupt scientist Hideyoshi Iwatsu.

One of his enemies include Ax, a psiot obsessed with attaining advanced technology such as Bloodshot's nanites and the alien armor of X-O Manowar.

Director Simon Oreck sends out the Special Circumstances Division (nicknamed "the Chainsaw"), a team of mercenaries equipped with advanced technology.

Dr. Stroheim reveals Garrison was his first true success and the process cannot be replicated unless a "prime assembler" unit implanted in Bloodshot is removed.

[6] Starting with the 2012 Valiant Entertainment relaunch, the Project Rising Spirit Program (PRS) is said to have regularly created different super-soldiers since the days of World War II.

Starting with Quiet Man, who served in the Gulf War, the Bloodshot project uses nanites to transfer memories from dead soldiers, providing the super-soldier with emotional restraint as well as motivation factors that can be manipulated to ensure control.

[8] One Bloodshot cyborg who has multiple false identities implanted over time eventually becomes insane, forcing the program to destroy him in 2010.

Bloodshot (Volume 3) follows the life of Every Man, who at the start of the series believes he is Raymond "Ray" Garrison, a soldier with a wife and son back home.

The process causes Bloodshot to realize he has repeatedly been given false memories of different lives and identities in order to motivate him and control him.

[11] Several free psiots join together to oppose both the Harbinger Foundation and P.R.S., calling themselves the Renegades, including a hacker activist named @x (pronounced "Ax").

[13] Bloodshot pretends to become a loyal soldier and H.A.R.D Corps member in order to regain his health, as well as access to the Project's resources.

As a reward for his cooperation and sign of good faith, Project Rising Spirit gives Bloodshot a file that seems to reveal his true identity is indeed Raymond "Ray" Garrison (though this could be another false life created by PRS).

An 8-issue prequel series launched in 2018 under the writing trio of Kevin Grevioux, Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson, with artist Ken Lashley.

The prequel series focuses on a cyborg Bloodshot super-soldier who is regularly given new memories and identities, including one named "Angelo Mortalli."

The imperfect memory alteration process eventually drives him insane and he turns on his handlers, forcing Project Rising Spirit to destroy him.

[14] Angelo Mortalli is a living man injected with nanites that control his blood flow, oxygen, and adrenaline levels, and almost immediately rebuild damaged and torn muscle.

The microscopic machines connect his mind to a pre-programmed database of martial arts styles, combat skills, and weapons information.

When Mortalli has to heal from serious wounds, he needs to consume animal tissue and protein (such as raw meat) to replace the lost mass and flesh.

[4] The Acclaim Entertainment reboot version of Bloodshot, named Raymond Garrison, possesses the same powers but has the appearance of chalk-white skin and red eyes at all times.

The modern-day Bloodshot, known as Every Man and Ray Garrison, is a soldier who died and then was resurrected when a billion nanites were shot into his bloodstream and rebuilt him.

In the original canon from Valiant Comics, the Angelo Mortalli incarnation of Bloodshot is connected to the future-era hero Takao Konishi, the last Rai.