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'''S.W.O.R.D.''' is an organization that features in [[Marvel Comics]]. ==History== The '''Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department''' (S.W.O.R.D.) was an agency that operated to handle matters of extraterrestrial nature on [[Earth-616|Earth]]. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #6) When [[Ord]] of the Breakworld tried to declare war on Earth S.W.O.R.D. was able to settle with him diplomatically by offering him a chance to eradicate the mutant gene, while they would seek to identify the mutant that would be responsible for the Breakworld's destruction. However, Ord went on his own and developed a "cure" to the mutant condition, but he was defeated by the X-Men and apprehended by S.W.O.R.D. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #6) During the Secret Invasion, one of their infiltrators disguised as [[Dum Dum Dugan]] went to the Peak where he caused a large explosion that destroyed the space station leaving many dead and others in escape pods that left them unable to combat the alien armada that came to Earth. (Secret Invasion v1 #1) Brand was able to infiltrate one of the Skrulls' ships and freed Reed Richards which proved to instrumental in defeating the Skrulls. (Secret Invasion v1 #5) [[Henry Peter Gyrich]] came to be assigned as co-commander of S.W.O.R.D. alongside Brand, and persuaded the heads of S.W.O.R.D. to pass legislation to have all aliens currently living on Earth deported from the planet, while Brand was away. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #2) In the aftermath of the invasion, Abigail Brand personally approached [[Jessica Drew]] on Earth and asked [[Spider-Woman]] to join as an Agent of S.W.O.R.D. in hunting down Skrulls hiding on the planet. (Spider-Woman v4 #1) S.W.O.R.D. registered an unknown object having landed on Earth with Jessica Drew volunteering to investigate when contact was lost with her. Director Brand then approached Commander [[Steve Rogers]] and requested his aid in finding Spider-Woman with the Avengers searching for her. They discovered that she was abducted by the [[Intelligencia (Marvel)|Intelligencia]] who had recovered a fallen [[Spaceknights|Spaceknight]] that they were studying when the Avengers arrived on the scene and defeated the team of supervillain geniuses. It was then that the Spaceknight activated where it was revealed to had been corrupted by [[Ultron]] who reformed the body into a new form for himself whereupon the A.I. escaped onto Earth. (Avengers v4 #12.1) The presence of the Dreaming Celestial on San Francisco meant that S.W.O.R.D. kept a close eye on the titanic cosmic being. They registered an unknown presence responsible for taking over the giant entity leading to her calling upon the aid of the X-Men. (Uncanny X-Men v2 #1) The '''Extinction Team''' responded to the threat which turned out to be [[Mister Sinister]] who was harnessing the Celestials power for his own purposes. S.W.O.R.D. then registered at least a dozen Celestials coming to Earth to judge it for the treatment of the Dreaming Celestial. (Uncanny X-Men v2 #2) Ultimately, Cyclops and his team managed to thwart Sinister's plan allowing for the Dreaming Celestial to be restored hus leading to its kin departing Earth without harming anyone. (Uncanny X-Men v2 #3) The captive Unit came to escape from the brig on the Peak where he freed several alien criminals allowing them to reach Earth's surface to cause mayhem. This resulted in Director Brand calling on the aid of the X-Men whose Extinction Team responded to the catastrophe. (Uncanny X-Men v2 #9) From the Peak, S.W.O.R.D. came to witness activity at Starcore Station where [[Genocide (Marvel)|Genocide]] who had summoned a [[Celestials (Marvel)|Celestial]] Gardener. The cosmic entity was then slain by the [[Apocalypse Twins]] with the event being reported to the Avengers '''Unity Division'''. It was then that [[Ship (Marvel)|Ship]] emerged which was piloted by the Apocalypse Twins to ram the Peak thus heavily damaging the station resulting in its S.W.O.R.D. crew evacuating the station. The damage resulted in debris and sections of the Peak falling to Earth's surface with the Unity Division responding to reduce the damage from these fragments. (Uncanny Avengers v1 #7) S.W.O.R.D. sent some teams to deal with the Brood threat in the Jean Grey School, but they ended up being killed. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #6) After the destruction caused by the Phoenix Force, S.W.O.R.D. sponsored a relief centre for populations displaced by the cosmic entity where one such location helped victims at the remains of the former moon of Andromeda 9. (Wolverine and the X-Men v1 #19) The rebuild station was later overtaken by Symbiotes who had bonded with captive Brood warriors. Led by the infected Deathbird, the personnel of the station were taken as hosts where they even attacked by the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning. This was until Spider-Man helped defeat the Symbiotes whilst the X-Men helped free the S.W.O.R.D. personnel. (Spider-Man and the X-Men v1 #5) At an unknown point in time, S.W.O.R.D. was attacked by the Vescora, an alien race that acts like a virus given humanoid form. They were able to infiltrate the Peak thanks to a portal built within it and kill almost all of the agents, while the surviving ones were infected. As part for the Ten of Swords challenge, Cable and his parents entered the Peak where he used the Light of Galador to power it back up which also reopened the portal. They fought off the arriving Vescora before returning to Krakoa. (Cable v4 #5) After the failure of the Alpha Flight program, Abigail Brand came to quit the organization as she felt it was ineffective in defending Earth from extraterrestrial threats. She the sought to re-form S.W.O.R.D. and received aid in the form of the newly established Mutant nation of [[Krakoa]]. The [[Quiet Council of Krakoa]] sought to establish a space program and looked to fund Abigail Brand's efforts with her working alongside them in order to secure resources she needed to protect the solar system. (S.W.O.R.D. v2 #1) Among the threats she dealt with quietly was the [[Zn'rx]] falling into a devastating '''Snarkwar''' after the death of their emperor causing his various heirs to vie for the throne. Director Brand looked to allow a radical peaceful faction to come into power and had an Arrako assassin named [[Khora of the Burning Heart]] be used to secretly eliminate the heads of the other clans. This would allow the peaceful faction to come into power and owe a debt to Krakoa as a result. (S.W.O.R.D. v2 #5) They later called a meeting of galactic powers to witness the colonisation of Mars by the Mutants of Earth who renamed it planet '''Arakko''' that was the new capital of the star system. They also unveiled a new metal called '''Mysterium''' that was used to make the galactic powers recognise Krakoa as an interplanetary power thus further securing its position on the galactic stage. (S.W.O.R.D. v2 #6) ==Overview== As such, they operated as a secret counter-terrorism and intelligence agency that dealt with extraterrestrial threats to world security. They came to chart 32 alien races living on Earth with these threatening the natural balance of the world. (Avengers v4 #12.1) They made use of precogs that were able to see glimpses of the future. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #6) Oversight of the organization was made by the '''Peak Council''' who received reports on its progress and work. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #1) Its Close Encounter protocols required immediate disinfecting of all non-superhuman entities to guard against extraterrestrial pathogenic infections. (Incredible Hercules v1 #119) Similar to S.H.I.E.L.D., they also made use of a series of flying cars. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #1) The organization conducted a great deal of scientific research relating to extraterrestrials with this being divided between its headquarters and a number of orbital research satellites. One such facility was '''Pandora's Box''' that was designed to contain more hazardous xenoform experiments. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #38) One of the facilities in the Peak was '''''the Gravity Well''''' which was a bar that catered to the crew. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #1) ==Members== *'''Abigail Brand''' : *'''Henry Peter Gyrich''' : *'''Deems''' : a black male with bald head who served as Agent Brand's right hand man. Agent Deems provided the human Ying to Brand's cynical Yang. With nothing but a sensible and grounded attitude, Deems fought at Brand's side through most of her battles. While she was prone to anger and tempestuousness Deems was always calm and considered. (Astonishing X-Men v3 #16) *'''Hank McCoy''' : *'''Reilly Marshall''' : an Ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.W.O.R.D. agent assigned to the U.N. Security Council. He posed as part of the ambassador entourage invited to Xavier's Jerusalem Habitat. He along with the other member's were greeted by the Stepford Cuckoos and Magneto who took over the task of giving the ambassadors a tour through the various biomes of Krakoa. *'''Lockheed''' : *'''Sydren''' : an extraterrestrial from the planet Drenx. He was recruited into S.W.O.R.D. while it was operating as a division of S.H.I.E.L.D. specializing in protecting the Earth against extraterrestrial threats. He was skilled in alien technology and able to hack most computer systems. *'''Jessica Drew''' : *'''K'eel R'kt''' : royal science officer of the Skrull Empire and only survivor of the Builders destruction of the Skrull planet Hy'lt Minor. He was saved by certain death by Silver Surfer and transported to the orbital headquarters of the S.W.O.R.D. where he offered his services to them against the war with the Builders. (Infinity: Against the Tide: Infinite Comic v1 #2) ==Notes== *S.W.O.R.D. was created by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday where it made its first appearance in Astonishing X-Men v3 #3 (January, [[2005]]). *On CBR, writer Kieron Gillen in an [https://www.cbr.com/gillen-sharpens-his-s-w-o-r-d/ interview] said, ''"This is a book about what happens when space hits Earth. Conceptually, "S.W.O.R.D." is about stuff that people on Earth never really deal with. All these invasions are actually happening, and before the Avengers are called in, S.W.O.R.D. is out there seeing if they can deal with them first. They have this responsibility, and I'd love to do something with the cosmic books, because they're great books. 'S.W.O.R.D.' can touch on stuff that's tangential to those epics... like, for example, what's happened to the refugees from some of these major space wars? So, there's room for S.W.O.R.D to do all these different stories, because it's a book that takes place on the border between space and Earth. It joins these two big parts of the Marvel Universe together. You can gain energy from both."'' ==Alternate Versions== *In Avengers v4 #12.1 (2011), an alternate version of S.W.O.R.D. appeared in the [[Age of Ultron]] reality that was designated as Earth-61112 in the Multiverse. *In X-Treme X-Men v2 #6 (2012), an alternate version of S.W.O.R.D. appeared in a reality designated as Earth-24135 in the Multiverse. S.W.O.R.D. an intergalactic peace keeping organization comprised of several different alien races including humans, Skrulls, Shi'ar, Drenx and others. *In Spider-Gwen v2 #8 (2016), an alternate version of S.W.O.R.D. appeared in the [[Spider-Gwen]] reality that was designated as [[Earth-65]] in the Multiverse. This version was a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D. that sent astronaut Jesse Drew and his team on a mission to the Moon where they were attacked by venomous space spider parasites. ==In other media== ===Television=== *In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, S.W.O.R.D. made an appearance in the animated series where it first debuted in the episode "Welcome to the Kree Empire". They were shown to had taken custody of the defeated Kang the Conqueror's vessel known as Damocles Base. The craft remained in orbit where it was studied by the green uniformed S.W.O.R.D. personnel under the command of Abigail Brand. Its operatives were struggling accessing the craft's systems when Henry Peter Gyrich came onboard as part of a government inspection. At that point, Earth became subject to an investigation by the Kree who attacked Damocles Base where they used the captive Sydren to take control of the future craft. However, Abigail Brand and her forces managed to defeat the invaders where she managed to enlist the aid of Sydren in bringing Damocles Base under their control. With Sydren as part of S.W.O.R.D., they launched a counter attack against the Kree ship which was taken commandeered whilst the Avengers defeated Ronan the Accuser. In the episode "Secret Invasion", a Skrull posing as Henry Peter Gyrich set off a bomb in S.W.O.R.D.s Damocles Base with Sydren detecting it where they managed to evacuated before the spacecraft exploded. In the episode "Operation Galactic Storm", S.W.O.R.D. used a captured Kree starship that had been pressed into service as ''Falchion One''. Commanded by Peter Corbeau, S.W.O.R.D is using it to examine a warp field anomaly close to the sun. They did not fully understand the anomaly, but its as if the warp rift was open on the other end, but closed on this end. Suddenly the anomaly opens, and two ships come through. One is some kind of a small shuttle, and the second is a Kree warship. Falchion One engages the warship, and sends a message to Earth. Nine minutes later, the Avengers are ready for action. Back at the Hydro-Base, the Kree Stealth Ops commando team is searching for Ronan the Accuser's cell when they are attacked by Yellowjacket. Almost defeated, he is saved by Agent Brand. He tells her that they are heading for the north sub-basements, which house the armory and Ronan's Universal Weapon. Meanwhile, the S.W.O.R.D team find a Kree bomb which can destroy the whole installation. *In WandaVision, S.W.O.R.D. appeared in the setting of the live-action television series set in the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]]. This version was the '''Sentient Weapon Observation Response Division''' that was founded by '''Maria Rambeau''' that watched over superhuman threats. Her daughter came to be a senior high ranking agent set to inherit her mothers position until Thanos's attack where he eliminated half of all life in the universe. The Mad Titan's plot was thwarted by the Avengers who restored everyone five years later but in that time Director Rambeau had died with leadership passing to '''Tyler Hayward'''. When Monica Rambeau was restored, she was confined to ground-based operations and sent to investigate a disturbance at the town of Westview with Jimmy Woo at the scene. They discovered that the entire town and its inhabitants were trapped in an altered reality based on old television sitcoms with this being perpetrated by Wanda Maximoff. Once S.W.O.R.D. was able to bring the old Vision back online using Maximoff's "Hex magic", Director Hayward attempted to eliminate Maximoff and the new Vision with the memory-less Vision he now controlled. However, Maximoff's Vision within the Hex talked down Hayward's Vision and restored his memories, which caused Hayward's Vision to abandon S.W.O.R.D. and the fight. The Maximoff family and Agent Rambeau teamed up against S.W.O.R.D. after realizing his diabolical plan, which ultimately resulted in Director Hayward's arrest by the FBI. ===Video games=== *In Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, S.W.O.R.D.s headquarters '''The Peak''' served as a fighting arena stage in the 2015 wii video game. *In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, S.W.O.R.D. was referenced in the setting of the Facebook video game. *In Marvel Heroes, S.W.O.R.D. appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where they were shown during the Secret Invasion storyline. Abigail Brand served as Director of the agency who informed the threat posed by the Skrulls who had infiltrated Earth. *In Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, S.W.O.R.D. was referenced in the setting of the video game. ==Appearances== *''Astonishing X-Men v3'': (2005) *''S.W.O.R.D. v1'': *''Uncanny X-Men v1'': *''Secret Invasion v1'': *''Spider-Woman v4'': *''Incredible Hercules v1'': *''Avengers v4'': *''Uncanny X-Men v2'': *''Uncanny Avengers v1'': *''Wolverine and the X-Men v1'': *''Spider-Man and the X-Men v1'': *''S.W.O.R.D. v2'': ==External Links== *[http://marvel.wikia.com/Sentient_World_Observation_and_Response_Department_(Earth-616) Marvel Database Entry] *[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/sword/4060-41666/ Comicvine Entry] *[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.W.O.R.D._(comics) Wikipedia Entry] {{stub}} [[Category:Organizations]] [[Category:Agencies]] [[Category:Intelligence Agencies]] [[Category:Marvel Comics Organizations]] [[Category:Marvel]] [[Category:Joss Whedon]] [[Category:John Cassaday]]

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