Henry Peter Gyrich

Revision as of 07:49, 18 November 2023

Commander Gyrich in S.W.O.R.D. v1 #2.

Henry Peter Gyrich is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Henry Peter Gyrich

Avengers

He was appointed by the National Security Council to investigate unofficial reports of irregularities in the operations of the Avengers. The Avengers were granted by the U.S. government certain privileges such as exemptions from air traffic regulations, access to certain classified intelligence information, and a special priority status enabling them to operate with a minimum of bureaucratic red tape. When Gyrich went to investigate the reports in person, he discovered a gaping hole in the wall of Avengers Mansion caused in a recent battle with Count Nefaria, and none of the Avengers present. Overpowering the Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis, Gyrich bound him to a chair and deliberately set off a security alarm. When the Avengers responded, he introduced himself, lectured them about their lax security, claiming that anyone could have walked in and stolen their sophisticated technology or classified records. He explained that their priority status could only be revoked by two people, the President of the U.S. and himself. (Avengers v1 #168)

After reporting his findings to the council in Washington, Gyrich returned to New York, finding that Hawkeye had left the front door open when he entered. Although he was detained by a security device, Gyrich was still unimpressed by the Avengers' security. He told them he was revoking their priority status and all accompanying privileges, effectively denying them use of their quinjets, monitors, and data files, as well as curtailing certain extralegal activities. Despite their protests, the Avengers could not persuade him to relent. (Avengers v1 #172)

Weeks later, after the Avengers struggled to operate under restrictions, Gyrich returned to tell them his requirements for the reinstatement of their security clearance. Among other things, he demanded that the Avengers limit their membership to seven, and that he determine who that seven would be. Despite general dissent, Captain America convinced the others that the reinstatement of priority status was of prime consideration and worth any other inconvenience. Consequently, the Avengers allowed Gyrich to determine that the African-American Falcon, who had never been an Avenger before, be asked to join to satisfy equal-opportunity employment. (Avengers v1 #181) Gyrich also instituted a security screening and identification for all members. (Avengers v1 #183)

Gyrich was later promoted to be Valerie Cooper's successor as the head of the Commission on Superhuman Activities. Whilst there, Baron Strucker secretly placed Gyrich under the control of nanites. Gyrich used the Commission resources and re-molded the vigilante Jack Monroe into the assassin Scourge and attempted to live out his 'fantasy' of killing all the world's superhumans, before being stopped by the Thunderbolts. (Thunderbolts v1 #49)

Initiative

Following the Civil War, Gyrich was placed as the Secretary of the Superhuman Armed Forces. His base of operations was the superhuman training facility in Stamford, Connecticut. It was under his orders that Gauntlet was drafted as the facility's drill instructor who saved Gyrich from an attack by HYDRA in Iraq. (Avengers: The Initiative #1 (April 2007)

After the Skrull Secret Invasion, Gyrich had been appointed Co-Director of the U.N. space security agency S.W.O.R.D. where he focused on potential alien threats already on Earth. (S.W.O.R.D. v1 #1)

House of X

Orchis Director Gyrich in S.W.O.R.D. v2 #9.

Gyrich later came to be appointed as the new commander of Alpha Flight's Interstellar Defense and Diplomacy Initiative thus giving him oversight over Gamma Flight. By this point, the taskforce had successfully captured he Hulk with Gyrich deciding on what to do with the gamma mutate that was kept trapped by manacles that held even his large size. It was then that the Hulk reverted to one of his alters that was the Joe Fixit persona who emerged in Banner's human body by ripping free from the Hulk's form. Joe came to knock out Gyrich and the guards whereupon he made his escape from the station. (Immortal Hulk v1 #40) Afterwards, he reprimanded Gamma Flight and had sent an arrest warrant for the Absorbing Man after Creel had left the station over the recent incident. It was only a threat by Doc Sasquatch that caused Gyrich to stand down but he dismissed Gamma Flight and pulled them off the case. He then made calls for a new team to be assembled to hunt down the Hulk with this being the U-Foes that had been drafted as government agents. (Immortal Hulk v1 #42) Gyrich later had the team under go training drills in order to prepare them for their eventual confrontation with the Hulk. (Immortal Hulk v1 #43) At some point, he came to join the ranks of Orchis in secret and was working for the eventual conflict with Mutantkind on Earth. During this time, the Earth came under attack from the Symbiote God called Knull. (S.W.O.R.D. v2 #3)

Wanting to show the world that Krakoa couldn't be Earth's sole voice for Sol, Gyrich initiated a plan to discredit the mutant nation. He recruited Wiz Kid to be a mole for Alpha Flight and ORCHIS while hiring Orbis Stellaris to provide the Lethal Legion to assassinate Shi'ar empress Xandra. With Wiz Kid's help, he was able to send the Peak crashing to Earth. Cable was able to redirect the satellite towards Australia where Manifold was able to redirect it back into orbit. As his plan was ruined, Wiz Kid revealed his true allegiance and revealed he had the data needed to get him in trouble with the Shi'ar, forcing him to run. Cut off in a hallway, he was confronted by Brand, who revealed to him that she agreed with his idea that Krakoa should not be voice of Earth and planned to be the one to knock them down. She then shot him out of an airlock, sending him to die in the vacuum of space and making it look like a suicide. (S.W.O.R.D. v2 #11)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Powers and abilities

Notes

• Henry Peter Gyrich was created by Jim Shooter and George Pérez where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 #165 (November, 1977).

Alternate Versions

• In Factor X v1 #1 (1995), an alternate version of Henry Peter Gyrich appeared in the Age of Apocalypse reality designated as Earth-295 in the Multiverse. He was a human anti-Mutant suicide bomber who threatened to destroy Heaven that was Angel's club. He was defeated by the Bedlam Brothers but later returned was returned as the leader of the human resistance. He lost his legs, in the offensive to blow the Seattle power core, confining him to a wheelchair, and was seen helping evaluate the powerless Jean Grey.

In other media

Television

• In X-Men, Henry Peter Gyrich appeared as a minor antagonist in the 1990s animated television series where he first appeared in the episode "Night of the Sentinels" and was voiced by actor Barry Flatman. He was part of the government initiative in registering and detention of Mutants following growing hysteria following large number of incidents involving them. Gyrich was working alongside with Bolivar Trask who had created the Sentinels that were part of the operation in capturing Mutants.
• In Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes, Henry Peter Gyrich made a brief appearance in the episode "Imperious Rex" where he was voiced by actor Don Brown.
• In The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Henry Peter Gyrich made an appearance in the episode "Welcome to the Kree Empire" where he was voiced by actor Jim Ward.

Films

Appearances

• Avengers v1: (1977)
• Thunderbolts v1:
• Black Panther v3:
• Avengers v3:
• Avengers: The Initiative v1:
• Immortal Hulk v1: (2020)
• S.W.O.R.D. v2: (2021)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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