"Ryse" (pronounced Reece) Mcrae, is a former Army Blackhawk pilot and Warrant Officer, CW2, who has returned home full time following the untimely death of his parents.

Cutting an impressive figure, he stands right at 6ft tall, 185lbs with an athletic frame, dirty blond hair cut short, and blue eyes, more of a runner's build than a weightlifter.

A UH-60 Black Hawk mechanic and later avionics specialist in the Army, he transitioned to pilot training later in his career, flying on several tours in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world, both combat and humanitarian and has garnered several decorations for his efforts.

Unknown to Ryse or his family, his Grandfather, Augustus McRae is a Hunter, blessed (or cursed?) by the messengers to fight the rising supernatural darkness.  When Ryse was home on leave from the military visiting his family, their respective homes were raided by an unknown number of assailants in the middle of the night.  Rhyse and his grandfather were both wounded and the only ones to survive the attack.  Rhyse doesn't recall much of the fight behind the initial encounter.  It was chaotic and during the fight, Rhyse was knocked out.  When he came to he was at his Grandfather's apartment.  He didn't now how he got there or what happened.  Someone had tried to wipe out their family and only partially succeeded. His grandfather would explain more.  He was a watcher, he observed and cataloged the activities of the supernatural that the hunters dealt with.  He had hoped one in the family would see what he had seen and now that he has, he could step back and let younger bodies do the field work.

Since the death of his parents, Ryse has realized that he had a "warning", something had woken him up before the intruders broke in and that's all that saved his life. He further realized that he had been having visions or dreams for some time and none of it made sense until the night of the attack.

His eyes opened to the new world around him Rhyse's commitment to his career has waned, replaced by a burning desire for payback.  Sacrificing his career, he chose not to re-enlist, letting his term in the army expire, so that he could focus on dedicating his time to protecting those he cares about and understanding the new threats he faces.

He has been back in Chicago now for about six months picking up the pieces.  His brothers and sister came for the funeral but have since gone back to their lives leaving Rhyse alone with his time.

He spends most days at his father's shop, taking over the operations of "Windy City Motorsports", a custom rod and speed shop that his father had started from scratch and is currently living in an extra room above the shop.

He goes by the name Ryse, not his given name Augustus because he hates the name "Gus", even though he was named after his grandfather to whom he is close.