Henry Peter Gyrich

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 in Avengers v1 #181.

Henry Peter Gyrich

After his father contracted Alzheimer's, Gyrich took a year's leave to care for his father, rather than letting strangers deal with him, strangers that he could not even afford. (Incredible Hulk v1 #456) It was noted that he stayed with his father until the end. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #5) Henry had continued to look after his father where he washed him and took care for him. His fathers last words as he succumbed to the disease were, "Who in the heck are you?". (Incredible Hulk v1 #456)

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)

Thunderbolts

While working for the Commission on Superhuman Activities, Gyrich grew to have a vendetta against the Thunderbolts and was one of the people responsible for denying them pardons for their crimes when the former Avenger Hawkeye approached the Commission to make a deal on their behalf. (Thunderbolts v1 #21)

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 v1 #1) It was Gyrich who gave the orders to cover up the circumstances behind MVP's death. He also made arrangements for a special tutor to be provided to Trauma with this being made through Beast. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #2) This tutor was later revealed to be depowered Mutant Dani Moonstar. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #3)

Held responsible for the damage and deaths, Gyrich was fired after a heated argument with Iron Man in which Gyrich yelled, "I don't have Captain America's blood on MY hands!". Following his inquiry, Gyrich announced his retirement at a press conference and walked off claiming that he was going to spend time with his family. A reporter at the scene though pointed out that Gyrich had no living family to which he declined to elaborate any further. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #12)

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

Gyrich developed a growing fear of contracting Alzheimer's disease, like his father had done so. (Avengers: The Initiative v1 #5)

Notes

• Henry Peter Gyrich was created by Jim Shooter and George Pérez where he made his first appearance in Avengers v1 #165 (November, 1977).
• The character received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z v1 #5 (2008) where it stated that Gyrich had been an ambitious and ruthless government official who served under James Murch in his early years with the National Security Council, where he became infamous among his colleagues as "Bad News Pete" for his hardline tactics and career-driven mindset.

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 Mutant X v1 #26 (2000), an alternate version of Henry Peter Gyrich appeared in the Mutant X reality designated as Earth-1298 in the Multiverse. Gyrich was a bureaucrat who was in bad terms with Captain America due to an unspecified previous encounter. Gyrich asked for superheroic help when the prison for superhumans the Vault was raided and a box was stolen by the Marauders - a box containing the body of Dracula. Unable to contact the Avengers, Gyrich contacted the Six, but refused to tell them specific information about the stolen asset. Bloodstorm of the Six though discovered it and tracked it on her own with a little help from her teammate Gambit, but she failed to stop Dracula from being released.

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.

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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