Dr Bateman found himself drowning in the Irish Sea after getting too close to an IRA operation, but instead of drowning he underwent a near-death transformation into a thick noxious mist which rose above the dark waves. He pulled himself together over several painstaking hours and when he had managed to reform his wandering mind there was one thought overriding all others: revenge.

That night spent drifting through the night air brought a change, almost as if something inside him had snapped. He became bitter and cruel. After killing the men who had dumped him into the water, Bateman returned home to his wife and children and killed them in their sleep: poisoning them with his very body which had now become a dark green mist. He sat in his cold house for two days until the authorities arrived.

Bateman fled Ireland and became Donegal Mist. He killed for money and fun, but after a year of bloodthirsty work across the continent he decided to return to the United Kingdom and take up his life again, moving to England and Oxford University. He had never been convicted of his family's murders and had not even been suspected, so he was free to start his life afresh as a weary widower. It did wonders for his career as a writer and poet and soon he was known amongst small circles as something of an 'Indy Poet'.

As a member of Empire, Donegal Mist serves as a scout and black ops agent not worried about getting his hands dirty. He has made a pact with Big Ben that when the Empire is re-established Donegal Mist will have control over Ireland. He enjoys dreams of that country, free from the wars and conflict and this fantasy fuels his poetry.

Dr Bateman is a poet with a beautiful soul, but he is also one of the most cold-blooded killers in Europe. He switches moods quickly, like the changing directions of the winds. He is often cruel and menacing but does so almost as an Irish stereotype: laughing and mocking in battle. The other members of Empire treat him with caution although Bailey has struck up a kind of friendship considering their previous criminal careers and their love of card games.

"Ye'll never land ye're blows on me, boy; but this bullet will pierce ye're brain."

Donegal Mist is able to transform his body into a thick noxious mist which allows him to pass unharmed in most situations. He is able to pass through solid objects, literally walking through walls like a ghost; as well as infusing the mist with poisons that murder slowly. He is an accomplished martial artist and gunman and has had several years experience as a world-class assassin.

Donegal Mist is an Irishman. He wears a dark green cloak over brown trousers and a light green armoured shirt. He appears effete and harmless, but his eyes often betray a steel-like menace. In his mist form, Donegal Mist can appear as a ghost or as an insubstantial cloud of mist. He has shoulder length black hair and a pretentious moustache and goatee.

As a mild-mannered professor, Bateman appears drained of colour. His hair is not as showy as it is as Donegal Mist. His moustache is merely shabby and his clothes are mismatched and old. It is a costume of sorts, but his eyes remain cold and menacing and he seems to be laughing at people around him.