Gaius Grieves (Earth-1: Post-Crisis)

"Supervillains. Sad souls in costumes. Wanting you to think they're all dark and deep. What's it like living life as a punchline? But all it would take would be one blessed act of rebellion for you to restore your dignity in its entirety."

- The Thinker to Abner Krill

Dr. Gaius Grieves, better known as The Thinker, was a Metahuman who possessed superhuman intelligence and the geneticist in charge of Project Starfish.

Early Life
At some point, Gaius Grieves became a Metahuman with metal antenna-like devices on his head to boost his intelligence.

Starro the Conqueror
In 1991, after the Cold War, Grieves was hired by the US government to oversee the experiments on Starro in Corto Maltese, where they made a deal with the Harrera family for the usage of Jotunheim.

Over the years, Grieves tortured the individuals infected by Starro's extensions and "had his way" with the creature. He later named the creature "Starro the Conqueror", which was meant to be derisive.

Meeting the Suicide Squad
In 2021, Task Force X was ordered to find Grieves in order to enter Jotunheim for the destruction of all traces of Project Starfish. They were then tasked to intercept Grieves at La Gatita Amable, a gentlemen's club that he often visits.

Kidnapped
Meanwhile, Luna and Suarez slaughtered Grieves' staff as they were loyal to the Herrara family and was against their military coup. Grieves briefed the two officials about Project Starfish and agreed to work with the two in order for an invasion on other countries.

Later that night, Grieves visited La Gatita Amable once more and encountered Bloodsport holding a gun on his back. Grieves smiled according to his orders and told him that even with his help, the task force would not be able to enter Jotunheim. DuBois told him that even if they could not, a "great white" could still eat him. However, they encountered the army searching for Americans. Bloodsport, Rick Flag and Peacemaker then stayed behind as Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 brought Grieves to the minibus. Grieves immediately attempted to manipulate Krill to give him his firearm, only for the latter to shoot the former in the ear.

Dirty Little Secrets
With Grieves under their control, he drove the minibus to Jotunheim and successfully entered the lobby, where he was forced to enter a security code for protecting the task force. Flag and Ratcatcher 2 then brought Grieves to Starro's cage and revealed the experimental subjects. Grieves informed the duo that those infected are basically corpse underneath the starfish latching on their faces. Starro then asked if the duo was there to save him, with Greives bringing the bad news to it and told the creature that they were there to kill it.

Grieves soon explained the origins of Starro and the United States' involvement in the project after the Cold War, with Flag in disbelief. However, the explosives planted by the rest of the team and Milton exploded prior to their planned time, causing the building to collapse. During the chaos, Grieves was captured by Starro, who ripped him into pieces and killed him by throwing him to a glass window.

Powers

 * Superhuman Intelligence: Through mechanical enhancements, Grieves possessed superhuman intelligence and problem-solving, allowing him to research on Starro extensively for 30 years.

Abilities

 * Genius-level Intellect: Prior to enhancements, Grieves was already an intelligent individual and was able to comprehend complicated concepts.
 * Master Engineer: Grieves created a series of metal antenna-like devices that boosted his intelligence.
 * Expert Geneticist: Grieves was said to be a geneticist that had been working on Starro for 30 years, with his research later turning into controlling human behavior.
 * Bilingualism: Grieves is fluent in English and Spanish.

Trivia

 * Grieves bought his Hawaiian shirt from Banana Republic, circa 1989.