Born Cheryl Schwarteze-Temnota, she died at the young age of 10. Her father, being the Chosen Warrior of Darkness, had sealed her fate - as well as the fates of her sisters and mother - simply because he cared for them. After Cynthia (Cheryl's mother), Marcy, and Melody (Cheryl's sisters) had been killed, this psychic child realized that she was to die next. In a pre-emptive and selfless manner she sacrificed herself so her father could survive. Her death was almost rendered pointless, but a friend of Peter's was able to pull him away from his dying child as a group of Iek'Eh approached with the intent to kill him. When the Iek'Eh arrived they only found a small body who apparently had self-inflicted wounds on her wrists. They attempted to continue onward to their target, but suddenly one of them turned upon the others. Before long the twelve Iek'Eh had utterly destroyed one another.

You see, Cheryl's mighty psionic powers actually allowed her to free her own soul and she instantly become a possessor spirit, a being made entirely of soul energy which has the ability to enter other bodies and control them. She became known as Chernyi.

In this form Chernyi aided the Forces of Darkness in protecting themselves from the constant threat of Iek'Eh invasion and with her to guard their home, the Dark Warriors were able to aid the Undead in their assaults against Light's outposts in the Underworld.

Years passed.

Eventually Chernyi was faced with a unique opportunity. There had been a parallel version of reality existing for quite some time in which Cheryl had not died. When this second universe began to collapse most ethereal creatures were transferred to this reality by VileTerror. Thus there were copies of all Undead, Dark entities, Light entities, and other similar beings. Cheryl was the only human to also be brought over. Most of the copies were consumed, killed, or intergrated with their other selves, Chernyi included. Cheryl and Chernyi agreed to become one so that their psychic powers could be greatly boosted.

Cynthia, Cheryl's dead mother, was the the host to Light's Chosen Soul. After Cynthia died the Chosen Soul was placed in an Iek'Eh formed from her body. This is a big "no-no" when it comes to creating loyal, fresh-minded troops in the afterlife. When a soul re-enters its original body, the soul permanently regains all its old memories. Cynthia blamed her husband for her death and after dubbing herself Cynic she waged a bloody war like no other before. Conflicts errupted in the three planes and there was much turmoil in the Nether Realms. Cynic nearly had the entire world in her grasp but through the combined efforts of the Undead and the Forces of Darkness, Cynic was defeated.

It was also about time when the Rikti invaded earth. With humanity engulfed in its own conflict, it did much to mask the battles between Light and Dark. Eventually Darkness triumphed and a semblance of peace was established between the Overworld and Underworld.

Since destroying Cynic's body would free her soul and grant Light another opportunity to wage a war like this, and since her soul had become too powerful to destroy or be consumed, it was decided that Cynic should remain unharmed but forever imprisoned. Chernyi used her mighty psychic powers to trap Cynic within her own mind while the Forces of Darkness constructed a mighty chamber deep within the earth to house Cynic's powerful body. Cynic was placed in the chamber and it was sealed. Guards were posted in every chamber surrounding the prison to ensure no one could free Cynic or her soul.

Chernyi, however, did not have to remain in close physical proximaty to Cynic to ensure she remain trapped. Chernyi now wanders Paragon City looking to aid others in need while honing her psionic powers so she may travel further while remaining everwatchful of her ex-mother's internment.





Story as it appears in-game:
Born Cheryl Schwarteze-Temnota, this girl died at the age of 10. Her soul was freed and she became a powerful possessor. After an interdimensional crossing, she was faced with opportunity to possess herself (from the alternate reality). In doing so, she amplified her own powers greatly. Soon after that, the Iek’Eh’Mal Cynic was defeated, and Chernyi took up the duty of forever being Cynic’s prison warden.