A.R.G.U.S.
The A.R.G.U.D. is an organization that features in DC Comics.
Contents |
History
The Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans (A.R.G.U.S.) was an organization created by the United States in coordinating a response for the rise in Metahumans in the wake of Darkseid's attempted invasion of Earth and the formation of the Justice League. (Justice League v2 #7) Steve Trevor was called by the President of the United States of America who told him that an agency was to be made to combat threats in the future. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #1)
Pandora broke into the Black Room where she took Pandora's Box and was able to escape security forces that attempted to stop her. (The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1 #1)
After the David Graves incident, Steve Trevor was removed from his position as Justice League liaison and replaced with Amanda Waller. (Justice League v1 #13) Agent James Gunn was tasked with recruiting the newly empowered DC to serve as a Metahuman agent to help police interdimensional incursions to the planet. (Justice League of America's Vibe v1 #1) The U.S. government though grew frustrated at the Justice League operating independently and looked to have their own government sponsored superhero team. As a result, they began recruiting superpowered beings with this being overseen by Steve Trevor. This Justice League of America came to nclude Hawkman, Katana, Vibe, Stargirl, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern Simon Baz, Green Arrow and Catwoman. (Justice League of America v3 #1)
Dr. Arthur Light is called in by A.R.G.U.S. to examine the Secret Society's communication coin. While doing so, it is manipulated from the other side causing Light to be enveloped in a white light, giving him powers. (Justice League of America v3 #4) After seemingly losing control of his powers, Superman surrenders himself to A.R.G.U.S. at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, the Question enters Superman's cell and releases him. (Justice League of America v3 #6)
During the events of Forever Evil, the identities of every undercover A.R.G.U.S. agent was exposed to the world leading to many being killed whilst the agency was completely exposed. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #1)
When Barbatos invaded Earth-0, an executive order was given that allowed A.R.G.U.S. to gather S.H.A.D.E., the D.E.O, Task Force X and the American military into combating the threat posed by the Dark Knights with this uneasy alliance of agencies working under Crisis Protocols. During their discussion, a villainous Dark Knight from the Dark Multiverse named the Merciless arrived who attacked the gathering. (Batman: The Merciless v1 #1) It became one of a number of secret intelligence organizations that was targeted and seemingly destroyed by Leviathan. (Event Leviathan v1 #1)
Overview
It was a military agency created to combat superhuman threats whilst supporting the world's greatest superheroes. (The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1 #1) The United States had tasked A.R.G.U.S. to support, investigate and if necessary combat superhuman activity that posed a threat to national security. (Justice League of America v3 #1)
Facilities operated by the organization that included:
- A.R.G.U.S.-1 : the Washington headquarters of A.R.G.U.S. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #2)
- Black Room : a vault overseen by A.R.G.U.S. that contained the world's most dangerous supernatural artifacts. (The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1 #1)
- Red Room : it was the world's largest covert research facility for housing extraterrestrial, unidentified and classified technology recovered from around the globe. (The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1 #1)
- Circus : a prison facility used to hold interdimensional invaders. (Justice League of America's Vibe v1 #1)
- Green Room : stated to be a magical panic room made through the use of Tesseract technology with the occupants being outside time and space. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #2)
- Wonder Room : a special room containing various mystical artifacts. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #2)
An elite team operated by the organization was a Black Room Field Regiment that were referred to as the Oddfellows. Their function was to covertly investigate strange occurrences and determine if the target needed to be captured and catalogued or destroyed. (Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor Special v1 #1) Anti-magic squads were armed with the latest magic busting hardware and protective enchantments. (Justice League Dark v1 #11)
One item of importance for the agency was the A.R.G.U.S. Key that allowed an agent access to every facility operated by A.R.G.U.S. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #2)
Every agent was equipped with a sub-dermal chops that were embedded in their bodies allowing them to be tracked around the world. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #1)
A.R.G.U.S. maintained a special branch in Detroit due to the city being a nexus for interdimensional incursions. (Justice League of America's Vibe v1 #1)
They maintained a secret prison facility that resembled a cruise ship that constantly moved from one location to the next with it being invisible to technology. (Wonder Woman v5 #52) A.R.G.U.S. constructed The Odyssey that was based in Coast City and meant to be a place where superhumans could gather and connect with each other though this was only a cover story hiding its true function. (Event Leviathan v1 #1)
Members
- Steve Trevor : the founder and director of A.R.G.U.S. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #1)
- Amanda Waller :
- Sasha Bordeaux :
- Etta Candy :
- Dale Gunn : a black male who was formerly a CIA agent before joining A.R.G.U.S. (Justice League of America's Vibe v1 #6)
- Stuart Paillard :
- John Peril : a dark haired male, Dr. Peril was a special government liaison and expert in paranormal investigation and occult terror prevention. (Justice League Dark v1 #11)
- Casey Klebba :
- Meadows Mahalo :
- Victoria October :
Notes
- A.R.G.U.S. was created by Geoff Johns and Gene Ha where they made their first appearance in Justice League v2 #7 (May, 2012).
In other media
Television
- In the Arrowverse, A.R.G.U.S. made a number of appearances in the shared setting.
- In Arrow, A.R.G.U.S. made a number of appearances in the live-action television series. The Advanced Research Group United Support was a government agency that was headed by Amanda Waller. Under the leadership of the immoral Amanda Waller, the organization became very corrupt if not excessive in its methods, as they became no better than the very threats they are supposed to protect the U.S. from, committing unspeakable acts with no regard for human life, this includes the extortion of whoever is convenient to their benefits, usually threatening their family members if they don't comply, they also used felons for Task Force X to carry out life-threatening operations in exchange for working off their sentencing, they were even willing to order a drone to destroy Star City in order to stop Slade Wilson's army from leaving. When meta-humans started emerging, A.R.G.U.S. even began to study them in order to weaponize their powers. Following the death of Amanda, Lyla Michaels becomes the new director of A.R.G.U.S., reforming the organization, as everything they do is now based on morals, principles and the value of human life, as they are no longer using criminals or unwilling individuals for their benefit, it also seeks to rehabilitate criminals instead of weaponizing them. However, at the same time, Lyla's new position of authority also has forced her into various difficult situations, sometimes making decisions that would more closely follow Amanda's protocol, such as holding dangerous terrorists in prison without trials or stealing secrets and even technology from allies. In season seven, John Diggle has joined up with A.R.G.U.S. at the time when Oliver Queen was incarcerated in Slabside Maximum Security Prison.
- In The Flash, A.R.G.U.S. made a number of appearances in the 2014 live-action television series.
- In Legends of Tomorrow, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the shared continuity setting where they first appeared in the episode "Zari". In 2042, they were described as being a covert paramilitary organization that patrolled the Earth under the Anti-Metahuman Act 2021 where they arrested any rogue Metahumans with them utilising drones for surveillance under a police state. Zari Tomaz, a Muslim woman in possession of a totem that gives her air-based powers, is pursued by the futuristic A.R.G.U.S. before joining the Legends. This future is averted when Neron is defeated.
- In Superman &* Lois, A.R.G.U.S. made a cameo appearance in the setting of the live-action television series.
- In Doom Patrol, A.R.G.U.S. was referenced in the setting of the live-action DC Universe television series starting from the episode "Donkey Patrol". Cyborg hacked into their security feeds for information of the incident at Cloverton in Ohio when the town seemingly vanished along with its inhabitants.
- In Titans, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the live-action DC Universe television series. Margarita Vee was the identity of an operative who was embedded into the GCPD where she served as an assistant to Commissioner Barbara Gordon. Her assignment in Gotham was to assess the capabilities of the Titans and to uncover the location of a hidden Lazarus Pit placed in the city by Ra's al Ghul.
- In Peacemaker, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the DC Extended Universe. Though Amanda Waller was mentioned several times and appears briefly in two episodes, the primary focus was on the team of agents John Economos, Emilia Harcourt, Waller's recently recruited daughter Leota Adebayo, Peacemaker and Vigilante as they track down alien 'butterflies' on the orders of Clemson Murn, an intermediary agent for Waller. Clemson Murn was later revealed to be the identity of the man inhabited by the rogue butterfly Ik Nobe Lok, allied with humans to exterminate the rest of his hostile species. After the butterflies are defeated, Leota exposes Project Butterfly much to the dismay of Waller.
Films
- In Batman: Assault on Arkham, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the animated film. They attempted to apprehend Riddler after the latter stole vital information relating to the Suicide Squad from Amanda Waller, as well as entering a confrontation with Batman, who intended to interrogate the Riddler himself relating to a dirty bomb that Joker stole and placed somewhere in Gotham.
- In Suicide Squad, A.R.G.U.S was referenced in the DC Extended Universe in the live-action film. The motto for ARGUS was "Noster quaerere incipere", which was Latin for "Our search begins". Rick Flag was shown to had been part of the organization till he was assigned to Task Force X that was being folded into the A.R.G.U.S. program.
- In The Suicide Squad, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the live-action film sequel. Waller commands desk agents Flo Crawley, John Economos, and Emilia Harcourt in directing the ground teams in Corto Maltese. Crawley knocks out Waller before she can kill the Suicide Squad for disobeying her orders to leave Starro unabated, allowing everyone to help save Corto Maltese. A furious Waller wakes up and has Crawley publicly arrested before sending Economos and Harcourt to monitor Peacemaker's recovery teasing the events of Peacemaker.
- In Batman and Harley Quinn, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the animated film where their Gotham City branch was under the command of Sarge Steel. Batman consulted with them in order to access classified files on a missing scientist that had been kidnapped by Jason Woodrue and Poison Ivy.
- In Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the animated film.
Video games
- In DC Universe Online, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
- In DC: Unchained, A.R.G.U.S. appeared in the setting of the mobile video game. Steve Trevor was shown as a high ranking agent of the government law enforcement agency that became subverted by the forces of Apokolips. As a result, many A.R.G.U.S. agents had mind control helmets placed on their heads where they were sent in a plot against the Justice League.
Appearances
- Justice League v2: (2012)
- The New 52: FCBD Special Edition v1:
- Justice League Dark v1:
- Justice League of America:
- Justice League of America's Vibe v1:
- Action Comics Annual v2:
- Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1:
- Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor Special v1:
- Action Comics v1:
External Links
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