Wikipedia

S.H.I.E.L.D.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 207.235.53.230 (talk) at 15:33, 20 October 2006 (→Ultimate S.H.I.E.L.D.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

S.H.I.E.L.D. (originally an acronym for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division, subsequently changed to Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate) is a fictional counterterrorism and intelligence agency in the Marvel Universe that often deals with superhuman threats.

S.H.I.E.L.D.
File:Marvel Universe Super Hero Teams 001 -SHIELD-.jpg
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceStrange Tales #135 (August 1965)
Created byStan Lee (writer), Jack Kirby (artist)
In-story information
Base(s)The Helicarrier

Background and history

Usually led by Nick Fury as Executive Director, this organization often operates as much as a covert agency as a quasi-military one, initially depicted as affiliated with the United States government, and in later years under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, with vast technological resources at its disposal and U.N. General Assembly Resolutions backed by legislation passed in signatory nations aiding many of their operations, as cited in Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2, # 7 (June 2005).

Most famously, its headquarters for a long period was the Helicarrier, a massive flying aircraft carrier that was kept airborne at all times and, among other things, contained a squadron of jet fighters and housed an ICBM. In addition, S.H.I.E.L.D. maintains strong ties to the superhero community and often calls upon their aid for particular missions, especially Captain America and the Avengers, as well as the Fantastic Four.

S.H.I.E.L.D. was introduced in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), during a trend for action series about secret international intelligence agencies with catchy acronyms, such as television's The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and James Bond's SPECTRE. Colonel Fury (formerly the lead character of Marvel Comics' World War II series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos) was appointed head of the organization. Some characters from the Sgt. Fury series reappeared as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., most notably Thaddeus "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Fury's bowler hat-wearing aide-de-camp. Its most persistent enemy is HYDRA, a criminal organization founded (after some retconning) by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. Its name is taken from the mythical monster to symbolize its ability to grow stronger the more it is wounded.

Most of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents are normal humans. Years ago the organization attempted to set up a team of superhuman agents, composed of Marvel Man (the future Quasar), Texas Twister, Blue Streak and the Vamp but the last two were secretly agents of the criminal organization called The Corporation, and the team broke apart before it had its first official mission. A second team organized years later also lasted only a short while.

Still, S.H.I.E.L.D. does employ superhumans. It has a what it refers to as its Psi-Division, composed of telepathic agents who deal with like menaces. S.H.I.E.L.D. also obtains help from independent heroes when their special abilities are needed. It has also accepted some superheroes and supervillains as members, but no longer in a separate unit. (See "Membership".) In general, the organization tended to let superhumans police themselves, but their policy seems to have recently changed.

During the time that Godzilla roamed the United States, S.H.I.E.L.D. formed a subunit, the "Godzilla Squad" to hunt the creature down, until it disappeared into the Atlantic sea. This unit, led by Dum Dum Dugan, employed such weapons as a giant robot called Red Ronin and a smaller version of the Helicarrier, known as The Behemoth.

Another of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s unique technological features are the LMDs (Life Model Decoys) extremely lifelike androids used to replace people who are in danger of being killed. This technology was stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. by Scorpio and used to create the second team of villains called the Zodiac. Later, some LMDs (known as the Deltites) achieved sentience and infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D., replacing key members, until Fury defeated them. This led to the disbanding of the original organization and its replacement by a new taskforce with the same acronym.

Secret War and Civil War

In the wake of a disastrous unauthorized mission in Latveria, in the multi-title story arc "Nick Fury's Secret War", Fury effectively resigned as Executive Director, with international warrants out for his arrest. His successor is not one of his closer associates but a relatively unknown newcomer to the S.H.I.E.L.D. hierarchy, Maria Hill. Little is known of Hill's history within and prior to joining S.H.I.E.L.D..

A transcript of a conversation between Hill and the President of the United States printed in Secret War #5 revealed she was chosen for the post by consensus of the U.N. heads of state specifically to achieve two main goals: to keep other, more qualified senior staff perceived as Fury loyalalists out of the job, and to keep relations with the world's superhero community to a minimum. The President also expected Hill — a North American — to be loyal first to U.S., despite S.H.I.E.L.D being an U.N.-chartered organisation.

In the series New Avengers, Madame Hydra notes that Fury, "by sheer willpower", had been keeping S.H.I.E.L.D. relatively autonomous and uncorrupted, and without him, the organization was starting to fall apart. The Avengers suspect elements of S.H.I.E.L.D. are behind such things as "stockpiling" supervillians in prison and using slave labor to mine the Savage Land.

An additional political and ethical irritant affecting the relationship between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superhuman community is the passage of the United States' Super-Human Registration Act, as depicted in the series Civil War. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been tasked to lead its enforcement, and to take on registered superheroes as operatives. In her effort to do so, Director Hill resorts to such questionable actions including blackmail.

Conception

S.H.I.E.L.D. was created by Nicholas Joseph Fury after the end of World War II, but Fury abandoned the idea and left the draft he created for the agency locked up in a safe for years. He felt the U.S. government wouldn't approve the formation of such an agency, when there was no need.

It would be years later, when Fury was in a secret meeting with members of the former superhero team, the First Line, that Fury saw the need for an agency like S.H.I.E.L.D., after they suffered an attack by Kro and a band of Deviants.

Apparently, however, the idea was finally dusted off by the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. without Fury's knowledge some years later, as his recruitment to the post of their second Executive Director — as well as the agency's existence itself — was a surprise to him when he learned of both.

Organizational structure and procedure

Over the decades, varying writers have depicted S.H.I.E.L.D.'s organizational structure in several different ways. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (first edition) describes an eight-level ranking structure, although providing almost no detail on other aspects of the Directorate's internal makeup.

In the 2000s, depictions of S.H.I.E.L.D. imply a hierarchy of security clearance levels used either in place of, or alongside, the previously described rank structure. The security clearance hierarchy operates on a ten-level scale, ranging from "Level One", the lowest, to "Level Ten", described by then-Executive Director Maria Hill as the highest security clearance any human being can have, Hill herself cited in the series New Avengers as having a "Level Nine" clearance.

Prominent members

Prominent members of S.H.I.E.L.D. include (alphabetized by last name except for Fury):

  • Nick Fury, creator and second known executive director
  • Yelena Belova, the third known Black Widow
  • Abigail Brand, S.W.O.R.D. officer with dirty secrets (seen in Astonishing X-Men)
  • Yuri Brevlov, Russian Helicarrier commander.
  • G. W. Bridge, fourth known executive director
  • Laura Brown, daughter to Arnold Brown, the Imperial HYDRA
  • Sharon Carter (Agent 13), fifth known executive director; often detailed as liaison officer to Captain America
  • Contessa Valentina Allegra di Fontaine
  • Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman
  • Thaddeus "Dum-Dum" Dugan, third known executive director, and former corporal of Fury's Howling Commandos in WWII
  • Rigby Fallon, computer expert; had brief flirtation with Kitty Pryde
  • Maria Hill, sixth known executive director
  • Jerry Hunt, UK-based field agent and past romantic partner of Jessica Drew
  • Daisy Johnson, seismic-powered "super-agent" and sole known S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with "Level Ten" security clearance
  • Gabriel "Gabe" Jones, like Dugan, a former member of Fury's Howling Commandos in WWII
  • Derek Khanata, an ex-Hatut Zeraze operative from Wakanda, and handler for the current Scorpion
  • Sidney "Gaffer" Levine, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s primary ordnance inventor and gadgeteer
  • Al MacKenzie, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s senior liaison officer to the CIA
  • Jamie Madrox, a duplicate of Jamie Madrox created years ago that joined S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • Ali Morales
  • Noriko Nagayoshi
  • "Network Nina" (real name unknown), cyber-enhanced ESP Agent
  • Kate Neville (deceased)
  • N'Gami, technological advisor and Wakandan governmental liaison officer.
  • Richard and Mary Fitzpatrick Parker, the parents of Peter Parker a.k.a. Spider-Man
  • Jake Oh, special field operative stationed at Weapons Plus Headquarters
  • Alexander Goodwin Pierce, sometime personal aide/bodyguard to Fury
  • Clay Quartermain, one-time liaison officer attached to Hulk-hunting operations of the United States Armed Forces, later supervisor for the second incarnation of the Howling Commandos
  • Natasha Romanova, the second known Black Widow
  • Michael Rossi, former lover of Carol Danvers
  • Gail Runciter
  • Ayna Sareva
  • Jakuna Singh
  • Jasper Sitwell
  • Jack Truman (Manhunter Agent 18), who later became the third known Deathlok cyborg
  • Alexei Vashin, formerly affiliated with the KGB as one of their specialists in superhuman-related operations
  • Jimmy Woo, former FBI agent who fought the Yellow Claw and later Godzilla.
  • Lawrence "Larry" Young, former S.H.I.E.L.D. Air Cavalry officer, later the fourth known Deathlok cyborg

Bases of operation

Although the various Helicarriers built over the years have long been considered S.H.I.E.L.D.'s primary home base, the Directorate as maintains a number of land bases throughout the world, most notably "SHIELD Central" in New York City. While some of these bases are publicly accessible on a limited basis, most are not publicly disclosed for reasons of planetary security. There are several fully equipped S.H.I.E.L.D. fall-out shelters scattered around the world, their existence known only to Nick Fury. After the events of Secret War, it is widely speculated that Nick Fury was hiding in an American based shelter. He also divulged the ___location of one to Captain America, so the Resistance to the Superhuman Registration Act could use it as a safehouse.

S.W.O.R.D.

Main article: S.W.O.R.D. (comics)

Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #6 (Dec. 2004), written by Joss Whedon introduced the governmental organization S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department), which works with S.H.I.E.L.D. but specializing in extraterrestrial threats. Dialogue in the stories depicting both organizations have been ambiguous on whether S.W.O.R.D. is a branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. or a sister agency.

Agent Abigail Brand, the S.W.O.R.D. agent the X-Men encountered, has green hair, a trait typical of agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s archenemy, HYDRA. This unusual characteristic did not go unremarked; Wolverine referred to her as "Hydra-Hair" in Astonishing X-Men (3rd series) #6.

A similar group as S.W.O.R.D., likewise affiliated with the U.N., is Starcore, which has worked with S.H.I.E.L.D. on several projects of joint interest, including establishing and maintaining a crewed facility on Earth's Moon.

S.T.R.I.K.E.

S.T.R.I.K.E. (Special Tactical Response for International Key Emergencies) was a sister agency to S.H.I.E.L.D., based in the United Kingdom. Disbanded after being infiltrated and taken over by a criminal organisation, one of its members was the future X-Man Psylocke.

Another European subdivision of SHIELD, called Euromind, was introduced in the Marvel Italia series Europa.

S.A.F.E.

Introduced in Marvel's line of novels in the mid 1990s, S.A.F.E. (Strategic Action For Emergencies) is the United States' answer to S.H.I.E.L.D. It first appeared in Spider-Man & the Incredible Hulk: Rampage (Doom's Day Book 1), and may not be part of comics canon. Whereas S.H.I.E.L.D. is a U.N.-chartered organization dealing with international incidents, S.A.F.E. is tasked with similar duties inside America's borders. It is run by Colonel Sean Morgan. A prominently featured agent is Joshua Ballard, who, among other things, survived an encounter with Doctor Doom and later Baron Zemo.

Depictions in translation

S.H.I.E.L.D. stories have been translated into several other languages, including French, Finnish and Italian. Occasionally, these translations will show S.H.I.E.L.D. with an altered name.

In the case of selected French editions, the name of the agency was depicted as S.E.R.V.O., which sounds like "brain" (cerveau) in French.

In Finnish the name that applies to S.H.I.E.L.D. in mainstream Marvel continuity is Y.P.K.V.V. (Ylimmäisen Päämajan Kansainvälisen Vakoilun Vastustamisjaos), a direct translation of the original English. In translations of the Ultimate Marvel comics, the name is K.I.L.P.I., with "kilpi" being the translation for the word (as opposed to the acronym) "shield".

In Greek, the organisation name is Α.Σ.Π.Ι.Δ.Α. (ASPIDA, as a word means "shield"). The initials stands for Highest Military and Political Foundation of International Espionage (Ανώτατο Στρατιωτικό Πολιτικό Ίδρυμα Διεθνούς Αντικατασκοπέιας)

In Portuguese, the name S.H.I.E.L.D. remains, but it is translated as "Superintendência Humana de Intervenção, Espionagem, Logística e Dissuasão", i. e., Human Superintendence for Intervention, Espionage, Logistics and Dissuasion.

In Dutch the name S.C.H.I.L.D. (schild = shield) has been used by the publisher Williams, but was dropped by Junior Press in favour of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In Spanish, initial publisher Vértice translated S.H.I.E.L.D. as "Escudo" (always without a determinant), but never showed the meaning. Later publishers Planeta DeAgostini and Panini used the name S.H.I.E.L.D., but translating the acronym as "Organización Internacional para la Ejecución y el Cumplimiento de la Ley". It has been suggested[citation needed], as a joke, that the acronym does not correspond to the meaning because the acronym itself is undercover.

Ultimate S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Ultimate Marvel parallel universe was first led by General "Thunderbolt" Ross. 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.

After Ross' apparent death, Nick Fury was then selected as the organization's executive director. His first plan was to resurrect the Super Soldier program, commissioning Dr. Bruce Banner to try to recreate the formula that made Captain America. This failed and resulted in the creation of the Hulk when Banner injected his serum into himself. It was later revealed that the chemical called Oz, which turned Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, was also created in hopes of recreating the Super Soldier formula. As well, the creation of the Sandman and Electro are due to Hammer Industries attempting to recreate the Super Soldier formula for S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. later created its own superhero team, the Ultimates. Later still, it brought the X-Men under S.H.I.E.L.D. jurisdiction.

Prominent Members:

Former Members:

Divisions

  • Psi
  • Black-Ops
  • Eye

Other media

Other intelligence agencies

See also: List of government agencies in comics
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=S.H.I.E.L.D.&oldid=82639018"