Obsessed with becoming a superhero to attain purpose, fame, and wealth, Ryerstad based his vigilantism on mass culture such as comic books, films, television and paperbacks, his hates and prejudices, and accusations against him (despite his claims to be fighting injustice).

He is rejected and despised by Nightwing and other heroes after they discover that he is a psychopathic, reactionary neo-fascist unable to distinguish right from wrong, a spree killer no different from the supervillains and other criminals he seeks to fight.

Tad Ryerstad, an amoral, narcissistic, hypocritical, and sociopathic fame-seeker, has a great deal of rage and hate and is prone to loud outbursts.

[3][4] Growing up an orphan in Blüdhaven (a former whaling capital near Gotham City), he goes by the first name of Tad — originally Tadpole, the nickname he was given in the orphanage because of his diminutive size.

His last name, Ryerstad, is the name of a local beer brand adopted by his father Randy as a criminal alias; Tad never knew his family's true surname.

Due to his lack of parental involvement and his anti-social nature, Tad devoured popular culture by stealing paperbacks and comic books and sneaking into action films to escape; this desensitizes him to violence, but he teaches himself to read.

As an adult he reads works by Friedrich Nietzsche, who is commonly associated with fascism because his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche was affiliated with the Nazi Party during World War II.

He meets John Law, an elderly novelist who was the Tarantula (a masked mystery man who was a member of the defunct All-Star Squadron superhero team).

In prison, Tad writes a detailed account of his past as a "crimefighter" which begins with causing his crooked father's death and his refusal to accept the fact that his actions are not heroic; he still refers to himself as a superhero, despite his status as a felon.

Tad naively tries to get himself released by giving his account to the federal agents who are holding him in custody, expecting them to share his mindset; however, he exposes himself as a spree killer.

Nite-Wing sees himself as a hero and seeks to bring justice to the world, but his methods are flawed; he kills a number of people, including an undercover FBI agent.

He often carries a number of billiard balls taped to his back, and uses a modified three-foot pool stick or a steel rod found in a junkyard as weapons.

Despite his overcoming the Blockbuster's low-level criminal subordinates, due to his idiocy and lack of advanced combat training he is easily subdued by Nightwing and the FBI agents.