Bloodshot has become the Valiant Universe's most recognizable hero. He is a man who was infused with nanites by the arms contractor Project Rising Spirit, turning him into a weapon. These nanites allowed PRS to control him and alter his memories, but granted him incredible physical strength and the abilities to interface with machines and heal from almost any injury.
Bloodshot was originally created by Kevin VanHook, Bob Layton and Don Perlin, appearing in 1992's Rai issue #0. When the Valiant Universe relaunched in 2012, he starred in one of the four original titles, and in the 2015 story The Valiant, he rose to meet his greatest challenge yet.
Written by Jeff Lemire and Matt Kindt with art by Joe and Paolo Rivera, The Valiant is an epic event featuring all the Valiant heroes -- but it primarily focuses on Bloodshot and Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior. Gilad has been chosen by the Earth to protect the Geomancer, who is, in turn, the guardian of the Earth itself. Whenever a Geomancer dies, a new person becomes the next Geomancer. Each death is also a personal failure of Gilad's.
The most recent Geomancer is Kay McHenry, who (ironically) is an ex-lobbyist for Big Oil. To atone for her sordid past and fulfill her responsibilities, she attacks a Colorado oil operation run by her former employer. For the first time, she can feel the Earth's pain as it is poisoned. Suddenly, she is attacked. Her adversary is an ancient shapeshifting monster called the Immortal Enemy, a being who has killed three of the previous Geomancers and fed on their fears.
Gilad and the MI-6 agent Ninjak arrive. They help Kay escape but are quickly overcome as the Enemy manifests their greatest fears. As Kay runs for her life down a narrow mountain highway, she finds Bloodshot standing in the road, having also been recruited by MI-6 to help. He unleashes a torrent of automatic gunfire into the Immortal and even hacks off one of its arms to no effect. Thankfully, a lumber truck speeding down the highway rams into the Immortal, temporarily stopping it and ripping off Bloodshot's arm.
Despite his injuries, he helps Kay, telling her his wound will heal and that they should run. He takes her to hide in a nearby mall. They set up defenses while the other Valiant heroes confront the Immortal. The two bond and Kay senses the nanites in him, even as he explains he has no memory of who he was before he became Bloodshot. After defeating every other Valiant hero, the Immortal Enemy comes for them again. Bloodshot gives his all defending Kay. He shoots it, grenades it and keeps fighting even after it snaps his neck. Kay then joins him, using her Geomantic powers. Despite their effort, she is still dismembered. Bloodshot holds her, and with her dying breath, she purges the nanites from his body, making him fully human again.
Elsewhere, Gilad receives a metal crate with a message, sent to him from himself in the future. The box opens, revealing the next Geomancer, sent back in time to the present where she will be safe. Gilad protects her but never forgets how he failed Kay.
Bloodshot sets out and makes a life for himself in Colorado. However, he eventually reclaims his nanites, choosing to be a hero once more. Years later, when Project Rising Spirit creates its newest weapon from Kay's resurrected corpse, he faces her. Bloodshot manages to save Kay, just as she once saved him, and in the process, they both save the world from Project Rising Spirit.