Augustus Steranko

Augustus Steranko.

Augustus Steranko was Chairman of the European Economic Community and a close friend and ally of the British Secret Service. Unknown to them, however, Steranko, whose family emblem was a deadly scorpion, was actually an evil mastermind bent on world domination. Despite his ruthlessness, he disliked violence and thus employed several minions to do his killing for him, particularly the small Ilsa Grunt and the silent Zigesfeld.

Steranko concoted a plan to steal all of the gold in Europe by swindling or killing the finance ministers of common market nations, using it to mint his own coins in a secret foundry within his mountaintop mansion, the Chatteau Richelieu. These coins, bearing his likeness, were to become the currency of the one-world government Steranko planned to create by poisoning the world leaders attending a party at his mansion. His plans were stumbled onto by the British agent Blade, who was killed by Ilsa, and when Steranko learned that the British had contacted the CIA for help, he sent Ilsa to the United States to dispose of the American agent Michael Corben at the airport before he even got onto the plane.

Although she succeeded, a mix-up resulted in another Michael Corben, a high school student, getting the other Corben's ticket, making everyone (including Steranko) think that Ilsa had killed a decoy. Several attempts by Steranko's minions to kill this Corben failed, and ultimately the American teenager ruined Steranko's plans and exposed him for the villain he was. In trying to escape in his helicopter with his gold, Steranko was killed when he fell from the aircraft, and was then crushed when the pilotless helicopter landed on him.