Thomas Burke was born in New York, but raised in Britain, which explains his faint British accent.  He rose quickly through the ranks of the Guardians, soon earning a place in the elite counter-terrorist 19th Squadron, better known as the "Hellbats," under Major Gordon.  Soon, however, the Hellbats were disbanded following the death of Maj. Gordon, and Burke made lieutenant and became a Guardian Special Liaison to Project Metaverse Administration.  This position gave Burke high access privileges and total discretion for his investigations.

It was due to his access, however, that he was captured while in Mainframe investigating a bogus crime by a cell of the Crimson Claw, a vicious anti-human terrorist group.  The leader of the cell, Renei, sought to gain Burke's access so he could get into the Teracomputer and perform unspeakable acts against humans.  Burke, however, refused to give up his access code, even under torture.  Soon, however, Prime Guardian Maximillian Jennings hired mercenary (and personal friend) Nathan Justice to find Burke and rescue him.  Justice did so, and Burke appeared to know who his savior was, despite having never met him.

But it was because of Justice's skill that Burke hired him during an investigation shortly thereafter.  A masked hacker named Chaotis had co-opted a Teracomputer programmer, Dr. Cyrus Koracks, into slipping a bug called Caliban into the Prospero Protocols, a series of programs that regulated the weather generators of the Metaverse.  Justice, having experience in dealing with Chaotis, took the job and found the deactivation cipher for Caliban, delivering it to Burke.

Burke always wears the traditional Guardian uniform, since his job doesn't require many undercover missions.  He wears his keytool, Cron, on his left wrist.  He has straw-blond hair and green eyes, and his lean face has faded scars -- leftover from his time as a prisoner of the Crimson Claw.