S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is an organization that features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
History
The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division was an international peacekeeping, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency that was sanctioned by the United Nations.
One account showed it as being the creation of Howard Stark who was secretly a member of the Brotherhood of the Shield. Stark had elaborated on the idea of a secret counter-terrorism espionage organisation tasked with protecting the world from threats with these thoughts being recorded for his son Anthony. (S.H.I.E.L.D. by Hickman & Weaver v1 #6)
Officials in Langley later considered Colonel Fury for Project: S.H.I.E.L.D.. (Marvel: The Lost Generation v1 #10)
The first Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was a man by the name of Colonel Rick Stoner. (Secret Warriors v1 #1)
After the assassination of Director Stoner, Nick Fury was appointed as the executive director of the organization. (Secret Warriors v1 #1)
S.H.I.E.L.D. came to first direct its efforts in countering the threat posed by Hydra. (Strange Tales v1 #135)
The U.S. Congress later decided that S.H.I.E.L.D. should no longer be under Presidential control and named Nick Fury its Director of Operations in an effort to remove the agency's head from any political control. Policy of the agency was to be determined by a five-man committee consisting of people from various sectors of public service. Among those selected for the position by Nick Fury was to be Foggy Nelson. (Daredevil v1 #121)
Following the disastrous Latveria mission, the public affairs disaster saw Nick Fury resigning as executive director with international warrants made for his arrest. In the aftermath, the President of the United States decided to promote a young up and coming agent to the position of Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with this being Maria Hill. (Secret War v1 #5)
During the Skrull Secret Invasion, the alien shapeshifters came to use a virus to disable to Helicarrier and leaving it to float in the Bermuda Triangle. (Secret Invasion v1 #1) By this point, it was revealed that many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been replaced by Skrulls with among them being Dum Dum Dugan. (Secret Invasion Prologue v1 #1) At the height of the invasion, the Skrull Queen Veranke was killed at the hands of Norman Osborn who headed the Thunderbolts. This act led to the defeat of the invaders leading to Osborn being hailed as a hero. In the aftermath, S.H.I.E.L.D. as disbanded for being ineffective in protecting the planet against the alien attackers with Osborn being tasked to lead its successor organization. (Secret Invasion v1 #8) This saw the creation of a new security organization headed by Director Osborn with this being H.A.M.M.E.R.. (Dark Avengers v1 #1) Around this time, Nick Fury came to discover Hydra's own ties to the history of S.H.I.E.L.D. and believed the global peacekeeping agency having been infiltrated heavily by their foes. (Secret Warriors v1 #1)
Though disbanded, a new incarnation of the organization was being put together under the direction of Director Daisy Johnson. (Battle Scars v1 #2) The new S.H.I.E.L.D. subsequently saved U.S. Army Ranger Marcus Johnson from mercenaries hired by Leviathan, and when he discovered he was the son of Nick Fury, he and his army friend Phil Coulson joined the storied security agency. (Battle Scars v1 #6) By this point, the agency lacked the resources to achieve its mission statement and had to resort to alternative means to accomplish its operations. This led to Maria Hill suggesting a new Avengers Initiative that made use of memory-wipes and superhero operatives to achieve mission goals. (Secret Avengers v2 #9) Thus, they established their own Avengers unit tasked with handling new super-human threats. (Secret Avengers v2 #1) In response, Director Johnson authorised a black-op mission into Barbuda that consisted of the Secret Avengers who had the task of eliminating the Scientist Supreme. The mission was seemingly a success but the nature of it was exposed to the world. As a result, Daisy Johnson was disgraced and removed from her position by the security council with Acting Director Maria Hill being named her replacement. (Secret Avengers v2 #5)
Eight months into the future, S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken over the Avengers and was helping them hunt down the Illuminati to make the organization answer for destroying incursive worlds, which endangered the safety of Earth as a consequence of the multiversal phenomena known as incursions. (Avengers v5 #35) After locating the Illuminati in Spain, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in the Avengers to capture its members. However, this was a trap set by the Illuminati, who attempted to subdue the Avengers with help from Sunspot's Avengers. (Avengers v5 #39) S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Avengers and Illuminati eventually agreed to a truce and work together to find a way to stop the incursions. (Avengers v5 #40)
Following that point, Director Hill decided to dedicate the agency's resources in the creation of the Pleasant Hill prison. The gated community made use of a reality altering Cosmic Cube that became a sentient being named Kobik. Her reality altering powers were used to rewrite the reality and memories of the supervillain in-mates to make them peaceful members of the community. (Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hills v1 #1)
In the aftermath, the agency was being disbanded with its assets being redistributed to other branches such as the military with the organization's many agents going unemployed as a result. (Marvel Legacy v1 #1) Following its dissolution, Leonardo da Vinci resurfaced where he secretly looked to establish a new group of geniuses and people that would replace S.H.I.E.L.D. (Invincible Iron Man v1 #599)
Overview
It was held as being the most valuable proactive intelligence asset. (Secret Warriors v1 #1) The U.S. Army felt that the agency did not operate like military intelligence, the FBI or the CIA with it said that whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. was involved then the matter was serious. (Battle Scars v1 #2)
The agency fell under the United Nation's jurisdiction with funding and oversight provided by the United States of America. (Secret Warriors v1 #1) Oversight over the agency was provided by the World Security Council that had the power of stripping a Director of their authority or placing them on probationary whilst an investigation was made over their conduct. (Avengers Standoff: Assault On Pleasant Hill Omega v1 #1) S.H.I.E.L.D. policy was determined by a five-man board of directors that were chosen from various sectors of public service. (Daredevil v1 #121) Pursuant to United Nations General Assembly Resolution A/RES/21/135 the U.S. Constitution did not bind their special agents. (Amazing Fantasy v2 #7) A Priority 1-A summons could be made to request an emergency meeting between Director and the board. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1)
The organization was divided into numerous sub-branches that included:
- Sym-Soldier Program :
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Super-Agents : a team of super-powered agents working directly for S.H.I.E.L.D. and to be deployed on certain missions. (Captain America v1 #217)
- Silvereye : a group that specialized in hunting Vampires.
- Operation: Lightning Storm :
- T.I.M.E. : the Time Irregularity Management and Eradication was a secret splinter branch operating at the Chronal Experiment Lab. (Indestructible Hulk v1 #11)
- W.A.N.D. : the Wizardry Alchemy Necromancy Department that dealt with supernatural threats. (Thunderbolts Annual v2 #1)
- S.T.A.K.E. : the Special Threat Assessment for Known Extranormalities was an elite unit tasked with combating the supernatural and were based out from Area 13. (S.H.I.E.L.D. v3 #9)
- Caterpillars : initiative surrounding super-powered potential agents whose existence were unknown to anyone and had not been exploited or exposed. They were held as a pool of talent that could be cultivated to become select agents. (Secret Warriors v1 #1)
- Artificial Intelligence Division : a division that dealt with the threat of emergent A.I.s. (Avengers A.I. v1 #1)
- Gray Blade : an offshoot that specialized in performing international hostage rescues and intel gathering with it initiating Project: Twilight that sought the weaknesses of superheroes and supervillains as part of a conspiracy among its ranks. (Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #1)
- Psi Division :
- ExTechOp Division : a cybernetic division that secretly recruited convicted criminals to become field operatives with the engineers transforming the individuals into living weapons as cyborgs super-agents whose only organic component could be their brains. (Elektra: Assassin v1 #8)
They made use of technotaku personnel that was slang for tech specialists operating in a state of neurochemically induced pseudo-autism that boosted operational focus and intensity. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3) The agency was known to operate psi-units whose psychic agents could read the thoughts of others. (New Avengers v1 #19) Among the units deployed by S.H.I.E.L.D. included the Capekillers who were highly trained agents equipped in capekilling tech built by Tony Stark. These were part of the Superhuman Restraint Unit that deployed teams in capture of targets. (New Avengers v1 #21) It came to operate its own teams of super-powered agents known as the Super-Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. (Captain America v1 #217) S.H.I.E.L.D. maintained a register of possible agents and operatives that they could recruit for missions. One file was the Red List that consisted of those that were considered washouts. (Solo v2 #1) Typically, it was said that those assigned onto the list were never used or reassigned but in certain extreme circumstances a person could be recruited for a mission. (Solo v2 #2)
Estimates held that there were 4232 S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives stationed within the U.S. alone. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1)
Code White indicated extremely dangerous threats that only super-powered beings could handle. (New Avengers v1 #17) A Code 1A alarm indicated that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by enemy agents and was considered a serous charge. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1) It maintained a database called the Abaddon Index that was a list of extinction level threats to the world. The list included the likes of Galactus, Shuma-Gorath, Annihilus, Thanos, the Infinity Stones, Apocalypse and Mephisto. (Captain America Annual v3 #1)
The highest deep-cover operatives made use of the phrase "family values" as a signal that they were a friendly that they were an agent. (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #4)
According to protocols, deceased agents were placed at a secret graveyard with no tombstone to identify them and allowed the dead to rest in peace and out of the enemy's reach. Thus, S.H.I.E.L.D. were able to pay their respects to their fallen without making a target of themselves. This practice was a leftover directive from Nick Fury who had put it into practice. (Black Widow v6 #2) It maintained its own S.H.I.E.L.D. Protection Program for people at risk of threats on their lives where the person was given a new life and a new identity. (Battle Scars v1 #2)
The organization was responsible for creating numerous ultra-devices that were devised by their technos in the interest of peace. (Strange Tales v1 #146)
A range of tools were created for their use that included
- CAT Tags : Casualty Awareness Tracking system tags were designed to monitor or kill their users (Captain America v4 #1).
- Stark Tech Airborne Nano-Camera : the ANC were the size of a skin cell and delivered a pixel: dedicated software processed millions of multiple views, assembling them into images, 2-D and holographic. (Iron Man v4 #15)
- Neutro-Mist :
- H.A.W.K. : High Altitude Wing Kite were gliding tools used to exit planes. (Strange Tales v1 #166)
- Project: Achilles : the use of nanites that were used to inhibit superpowers and even de-powered its targets. (She-Hulk v2 #18)
- A.U.T.O.F.A.C. : the Analytical Unit for Tabulation of Origin Factors And Computation was an analytical computer designed to predict actions. (Strange Tales v1 #154)
- Dwarves : an attempt by the cloning division to breed super-agents with these small bipedal beings created through animal cells such as reptile or rodents for particular subspecies generations but were instead used as skilled technical labourers. (Elektra: Assassin v1 #8)
- Project Delta :
- Olympus Project : a secret project that was dedicated to the development of a new breed of superhumans that would be answerable directly to the President of the United States. Its creation was spurred over the fear of independent superheroes with some feeling that the country would be better served with superhumans with more direct government ties. However, some intended for these new superhumans to be created and used to eradicate the older ones. (Defenders v1 #126)
- Project Gladiator :
- Project Doppelganger : a project designed to create L.M.D. duplicates. (Spider-Man/Deadpool v1 #27)
- Shadow Eye : autonomous stealth drones that could be loaded with multiple reconnaissance swarms of micro air vehicles. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3)
- Godseye : a satelitte able to remotely detonate nuclear weapons which later developed intelligence and went rogue (Incredible Hulk v3 #89).
- Argus : a collection of surveillance mini-satellites located in geosynchronous orbit that were networked into a very large optical array that was the equivalent to a 5-kilometer wide hypertelescope. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3)
The agency possessed dedicated A.I. datamining mainframes that could sift through covert intercepts on international telecom and data lines. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3) They also had access to Class-Five performance enhancing compounds war drugs that included high intensity-stimulants, neuro-function enhancing cognitive boosters and sexual-impulse subliminators though these were normally not used due to side effects. (Iron Man: Hypervelocity v1 #3) Agents that were level 9 and above could make a request to have cloaking device that could fit as a watch on the hand that turned the user invisible. (Mighty Avengers v1 #12)
The Helicarrier was their proudest equipment where it served as a flagship for the agency with the mobile flying fortress allowing them to deploy themselves at quick notice. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1) Another type of aircraft they utilised were the Sky-Destroyer that were warships smaller than a Helicarrier. (Captain America v4 #10)
It operated 117 stations located around the world. (Secret Warriors v1 #1) Another of its facilities was known as Project 13 that contained a doomsday device. (Thor v1 #271) Others included the:
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Central : (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. v1 #1)
- Triskelion :
- Camp Hammond :
- Area 13 : Operatives from this facility were culled from paranormal subjects whose 'talents' fell under Site 13's operational mandate with them effectively recruiting monsters. Conscription was mandatory with the only other option being isolation and confinement at the base. (Nick Fury's Howling Commandos v1 #1)
- Area 14 : a S.H.I.E.L.D. site that was home to interdimensional creatures and weapons which were kept in the dark for decades. Located underground were 42 vaults each of which contained a unique creature or item of interest. (Spider-Man/Deadpool v1 #27)
- Gamma Base One :
- Raft :
- Cube :
- Pleasant Hill :
- Smokehouse : a human engineering facility that was able to produce clones which was situated in Florida until its destruction. (Captain America v4 #7)
- Cradle :
The agency operated stations all over the world that specialised in low-level radio surveillance. (Captain America v3 #28)
Members
- Nick Fury : Originally following the U.S. President's orders, Fury later became the organizations Director of Operations who operated independently from America's Commander-in-Chief. (Daredevil v1 #121)
- Maria Hill :
- Pandora Peters : dark skinned black haired Director of W.A.N.D. who had mystical tattoos on her body and the ability to command people through the phrase 'Simon says'. (Thunderbolts Annual v2 #1)
- Dum Dum Dugan :
- Jasper Stillwell :
- Monica Chang : dark haired female division chief of the Artificial Intelligence Division who was a practicing Muslim. (Avengers A.I. v1 #1)
- Phil Coulson :
- Nick Fury, Junior. : the African-American son of Nick Fury who took his birth name and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and served as a agent of the organization. (Secret Avengers v2 #1)
- David Sum : a male Chinese man who was actually born Hui Lin in the year 1320 in China where his remarkable healing abilities allowed him to survive across the centuries into the modern age with him hiding his true identity and becoming a pilot in S.H.I.E.L.D. as part of Carol Danvers Operation: Lightning Storm. (Ms. Marvel v2 #26)
- Daisy Johnson :
- Rosalind Solomon :
- Mercedes Merced : a short-black haired woman who came to marry Tony Masters and later operated as Hub who headed the Org when he became Taskmaster. (Taskmaster v2 #4)
- Derek Khanata : a black male who who was a special agent within S.H.I.E.L.D. (Amazing Fantasy v2 #7)
- Hook : a blonde haired female Psi-Agent who was used to render Spider-Man asleep during the Collective crisis in order to probe the heroes mind about information on the House of M. (New Avengers v1 #19)
- Edward Cobert : black haired male scientist assigned to the Caribbean-based Olympus Project four years ago but after a year he was transformed into a giant named Leviathan that was kept contained by S.H.I.E.L.D. for three years in a coma-like state until he accidentally awoke and ran amok. (Defenders v1 #126)
- D.E.A.T.H. : an acronym that stood for Da Vinci Elevating Agents To Helm and was given to the immortal Leonardo da Vinci who was secretly controlling aspects of the organisation and selecting Directors to take charge of it at a cost. (S.H.I.E.L.D. v3 #9)
Notes
- S.H.I.E.L.D. was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where they made their first appearance Strange Tales v1 #135 (August, 1965).
- There was a Russian version of the organization which was called S.I.C.K.L.E. that was first referenced in X-Men: Gold v2 #11 (2017).
Alternate Versions
- In Fantastic Four v2 #13 (1997), an alternate version of the Daemonites appeared in the crossover merger setting between Wildstorm Publications and Marvel Comics with this being in the World War III reality that was designated as Earth-13031 in the Multiverse. S.H.I.E.L.D. was headed by Wolverine and one of its elite units were the Black Knights that were headed by Daniel Whitman. They were shown to be active in battling the threat of the Daemonites/Skrull alliance.
- In Mutant X v1 #1 (1998), an alternate version of the organization was the Saviours of Humanity by Intervention in the Evolution of Life-form Deviants appeared in the Mutant X reality that was designated as Earth-1298 in the Multiverse.
- In House of M v1 #2 (2005), an alternate version of S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the House of M reality that was designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. It was originally under Nick Fury where part of its mission was to contain the increased threat from the growing mutant population. This would lead to Fury into direct conflict with the man who would rule Earth, Magneto. Following Magneto's victory, Fury was relegated to training his replacements before his presumed death. Under the command of Sebastian Shaw, S.H.I.E.L.D. became completely loyal to Magneto and his beliefs. They worked with him to keep the dominant mutant population of the planet in control. Using a combination of mutant and human agents as well as Sentinels, S.H.I.E.L.D. is an example of the new world order established by Magneto and his victory over those human oppressors who wished mutantkind destroyed. The Red Guard were an elite strike force of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Led by Agent Wolverine, they were formed as part of Magneto's reorganizing government associations after the defeat of the Sentinels
- In Ultimates v1 #2 (2002), an alternate version of S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse. It was revealed that they had their own private version of the Hubble Space Telescope with this being called Sentry that gathered detailed images of anything within the solar system. S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded by Colonel Nicholas Fury and Clint Barton during the later years of the Cold War before eventually expanding into a global multi-national organization with thousands of agents worldwide in response to an increase in the global mutant population. The organization was first led by General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross as its director and was controlled entirely by the United States. During the Gulf War, the Weapon X Project, headed by Colonel John Wraith, was sanctioned by S.H.I.E.L.D. and resulted in the creation of Wolverine.
- In Spider-Gwen v2 #2 (2015), an alternate version of S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the Spider-Gwen reality that was designated as Earth-65 in the Multiverse.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, S.H.I.E.L.D. made an appearance in the animated television series in the episode "Mission: Save The GuardStar". They were referred to as an international security agency that protected the world against threats. One of their operatives was a Mutant named Aurora Dante who went under the code name Lightwave. When Lightwave seemingly went rogue, Agent Buzz Mason had Spider-Man and Firetar brought in to meet them to get their aid in protecting the GuardStar satellite. This was after they received intelligence that Lightwave intended to steal it.
- In X-Men: Evolution, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
- In Iron Man: Armored Adventures, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the animated television series.
- In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the animated television series. They were shown as an international peacekeeping agency under the command of Director Nick Fury where they maintained four prisons for super-powered beings.
- In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., S.H.I.E.L.D. featured in the live action series that was part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- In Ultimate Spider-Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the animated television series. They were shown to be led by Nick Fury who headed a young hero training program that included Spider-Man, Nova, White Tiger, Iron Fist and Power Man.
Films
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. made a number of appearances in various live-action films.
- In Iron Man, S.H.I.E.L.D. was first introduced into the live-action film where agent Phil Coulson was dispatched to keep watch over the recently returned Tony Stark to Stark Industries. After the defeat of Obadiah Stane, Nick Fury was shown as being the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. who attempted to recruit Iron Man into the Avengers Initiative.
- In The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D. returned in the live-action film where Director Fury showcased their mobile base of operations namely the Helicarrier and used the agency's resources in the formation of the Avengers Initiative.
- In Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, S.H.I.E.L.D. made an appearance in the animated film where it was a peacekeeping organization.
Video games
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the video game where its Helicarrier came under attack from the Masters of Evil.
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the video game sequel. After the Superhuman Registration Act, the organization came to be the enforcers of that law where they sought to arrest any hero that did not register. A number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents came to defect from the agency and formed White Star who rallied under Captain America that opposed the Registration Act.
- In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, S.H.I.E.L.D. Was deployed to New York City to combat the infestation of Symbiotes that had overrun it.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, the S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game with their own Dossier.
- In Marvel Heroes, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
- In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the setting of the video game. They were deployed in New York City to respond to the Symbiote invasion outbreak.
Appearances
- Strange Tales v1: (1965)
- Captain America v1:
- Daredevil v1:
- Avengers v1:
- Defenders v1:
- Marvel: The Lost Generation v1:
- New Avengers v1:
- Secret Invasion v1:
- Dark Avengers v1:
- Battle Scars v1:
- S.H.I.E.L.D.:
- Secret Avengers v2:
- U.S.Avengers v1:
- Nick Fury v1:
External Link
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