- "This is an agent of Ma'at, the goddess of truth in the Egyptian pantheon. You see, the creature, it feeds off lies. And whoever it eats at has nothing but truth left to tell."
- —John Constantine[src]
Agents of Ma'at, referred by the Legends as truth roaches or truth bugs[1] are a species of magical creatures. After Mallus was freed, which opened the door for other banished mystical beings, one such creature escaped.
Overview
Agents of Ma'at are cockroach-like creatures and are servants of Ma'at, the Egyptian goddess of truth. They are drawn towards people who lie and insert themselves inside that person through any orifice, whether the mouth or the nose. Whoever has an agent inside their bodies can only tell the truth and can never lie. Agents can also leave its current host if it detects another person lying. They can be exorcised by lies releasing spells.[1]
History
At some point in the past, one agent was banished in Mallus's realm, along with other mystical beings.
After Mallus gained freedom from his imprisonment, the agent and other magical beings made their escape as well.
The agent ended up in 1973 and was drawn to President Richard Nixon and made him its host.
Aberrant timeline: In Orlando, Florida, 1973, the agent forced Richard Nixon to tell the truth of his many atrocities to the public sending all of America into chaos.
Current timeline: 24 hours before Nixon's speech, the Legends arrived in 1973 and kidnapped him. Later, John Constantine magically expelled the agent from Nixon's body and into a jar. Sara Lance asked Mona Wu to take care of the creature, and she did, reluctantly, conversing with it. For a second, when the agent went still and Mona presumed it was not getting enough air, she poked a hole through the jar's cover with a pen, and with her clumsiness, the jar slipped from her hand and rolled onto the carpet. Mona picked it up but when the car suddenly braked, she dropped it once again and the jar rolled under the brake pad, rendering it useless to slow down the RV. After a few unsuccessful tries, Sara picked up the jar and the car finally slowed down, but not before a police officer pulled them over.
Ray Palmer tried to explain their situation and ended up lying, agitating the agent. It escaped through the hole in the cover and made its way inside Ray, causing him to tell the truth, and confirming the officer's suspicion of drug intake. The team made their chance to escape and drove off.
Later while laying low, Ray suggested that they talk about their feelings, John lied by expressing his joy for Ray, agitating the agent, who escaped through the hole in the jar and into John's mouth, making him tell the truth. Ray replied that it won't keep him down, making the agent switch to Ray, who expressed his fear for John, making him lack sleep. The agent switched bodies to whoever told lies, until it went to Sara, making her lash out at Mona for their situation not being fine, and felt that it was all Mona's fault.
Mona left in anger and rode on a bike, with Sara chasing after her, she declared that she meant what she said, before requesting John to expel the agent from her and into the jar.
After Ray and Mick Rory were finally caught by the Time Bureau, Dick stepped out of the RV and incriminated the Legends, saying that he had done nothing to deserve it, causing the agent to break the glass and fly into Dick, who admitted that there was nothing good about his name, amusing Mick and baffling Hank Heywood. Hank interrogated Dick, who had no idea either, only that he was supposed to be headed to Florida for his press conference. Ray explained that he ingested a truth bug, prompting Nate Heywood to protest that they lock up the Legends for their actions, making the agent switch to him. Nate revealed his true feelings to Hank, strengthening their bond and prompting Hank to drop the charges on the Legends. Nate then individually told everyone that he loves them so big, and admitted that he's open to a relationship with Zari Tarazi.[1]
Powers and abilities
Powers
- Lie detection: The agent can tell if a person nearby is telling a lie.[1]
- Speech manipulation: Because they feed on lies, when inside a host's body, it forces the host to tell the truth.[1]
- Super strength: While being trapped inside a glass jar it managed to make the jar jump out of Sara's hand.[1]
Abilities
- Flight: As a cockroach-like creature, the agent has wings it uses to fly.[1]
Weaknesses
- Extraction spell: As demonstrated by John Constantine, a certain spell can be used to force an agent to leave its host.[1]