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    Jackson King

    Character » Jackson King appears in 194 issues.

    Jackson King is the son of Isaiah King, a member of IO's Team 1. He served as a leader of Stormwatch One as Battalion before he became the head of the organization.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Jackson King last edited by Belmonte3 on 02/11/23 07:11AM View full history

    Origin

    The first iteration of the Stormwatch Program was known as Stormwatch Prime and consisted of Flashpoint, Nautika, Sunburst, Backlash and Jackson King as Battalion.

    Backlash was made team leader because of his strong psionic powers, his athletic physique and his ability to keep a cool head under pressure. He led Stormwatch Prime on many successful missions until an accident in at the end of Desert Storm. In their first confrontation with Deathtrap and the Mercs, Flashpoint, Nautika and Sunburst fell before the enemy and were presumed dead. Only Backlash and Battalion escaped, but the loss dealt a heavy blow to King. Between that loss and the evil path his father took, self-doubt started to form in his mind.

    Stormwatch

    Stormwatch Prime
    Stormwatch Prime

    From the ashes of Stormwatch Prime, Stormwatch One was assembled.

    As the leader of Stormwatch One, Jackson King is responsible for the lives of the people under his command. He uses these field exercises not only to hone their battle skills but his own as well. What Batallion lacks in brute strength , he more than makes up for speed and power of though. His powerful innate psionic abilities, amplified by his unique Cyber-tran suit, make Battalion one of the most powerful beings on the planet.

    "There are three simple rules to live by. Rule number one, never leave the back door open. Number two, never let your guard down. Number three, never forget rules one and two".

    Tragedy struck again though, and on one of their first missions, King’s friend and mentor, John Windsor, was killed by Deathtrap. King thought about leaving Stormwatch after this but was convinced to stay by teammate Synergy. Not only did she make him realize that as a man of action, he needed Stormwatch as much as it needed him, but she activated his younger brother Malcolm. She did it to save his life, but it gave Battalion another reason to stay. Now he could keep an eye on his brother since he’d now have to be trained on Skywatch.

    Around this time Battalion and Synergy’s mutual interest in each was growing (though they denied it when asked). However, during an incident in another dimension to stop the sorcerer known as Argus, Battalion put a strain on that relationship. Though he’d followed Argus to his home dimension for the sole purpose of saving Christine, he met a princess there and they spent the night together. He almost stayed with her on her world but Argus killed her and so went back to his dimension, but the damage was done and he and Christine weren’t very close for a while.

    After an incident on Skywatch where Daemonites released the WarGuard, Battalion led Stormwatch One into a mission in Gamorra where they faced up against Deathtrap yet again. This time the confrontation with the deadly mercenary ended in victory even though the entire situation was a trap. Battalion found out that his teammates from Stormwatch Prime had survived and they were able to be rescued; though he had to disobey orders to do it. His teammates had been held captive for quite some time and while Nautika and Sunburst would eventually come to thank Battalion for finally saving them, Flashpoint, who had already resented Battalion never did, and his hatred for burned hotter.

    Some time and several missions later, Battalion was met in his quarters by a time traveler named Timespan who took him a year into the future. There he saw everything he knew in ruins. Skywatch had been destroyed, his team still existed but it was little more than a small resistance led by Spartan (now that the WildC.A.T.S. were dead), and his father Despot was on the cusp of taking over the world. On top of that, it appeared that he himself had died. After returning from the future he told no-one what he had seen and continued going on missions. Not knowing exactly when he would die, he was more determined than ever to make a difference before he did, repeatedly disobeying orders and putting himself in dangerous positions that he didn’t have to, but surviving and gaining victory. During this time he finally allowed himself to act on his feelings for Synergy and they got very close, acting like a couple both on and off duty, though that was somewhat affected by her becoming Weatherman after Henry Bendix was fired for defending Battalion’s rash decisions.

    Battalion
    Battalion

    Battalion wasn’t convinced that what he saw in the future was unalterable. Though at first his knowledge of his death caused him to act recklessly to make what he had left count, at some point he decided to try to change the future instead of rushing headlong into it. He requested a leave of duty and while he was supposed to be off Skywatch, he snuck back on to kill his father who was in the Icebox, the absolute zero prison on the orbiting base. Unfortunately, Battalion was unable to pull the trigger. He was unable to kill the man he loved and still thought of as a hero in cold blood. So he left his father alive. He wouldn’t kill his father, but he wasn’t going to give up on stopping him; however, the visions of his future death started to haunt him more. While making modifications to his suit one day, Flashpoint provoked him and they got into a brawl that had been brewing for some time. Battalion had beaten his rival down when he was called in for a mission. He was sent to to stop Maul, who had been brainwashed by the Daemonite, Defile, from dropping a bomb in a volcano in order to sink the island and many others. Battalion beat Maul and took the bomb from him. There were seconds left before the timer ran out. Diva tried to get Battalion to somehow get rid of the bomb, but she was distracted by the arrival of Timespan who had come to make sure things happened the way they needed to. Diva didn’t reach Battalion. To protect his team and the island, he wrapped himself and the bomb in a force field to contain the explosion. The bomb went off and all that remained of Battalion were pieces of his suit.

    The future Battalion had seen continued to become reality when Despot and the Warguard were released during Wildstorm Rising. Various Daemonite factions were fighting each other (and most of the super teams on Earth), in order to get their hands on a ship capable of getting back to Daemon. Disregarding Synergy’s protests, the UN ordered the release of the Warguard so they could fight Helspont and Defile. Of course Despot and his followers could not be controlled and once released, they left Stormwatch custody to carry out their own plans. More pieces fell into place after the events of Wildstorm Rising. The Daemonites didn’t get the ship but the WildC.A.T.S. did. No one knew this though, instead thinking the ship exploded and they died. Most of them left for Khera, but a damaged Spartan was left on Earth and was rebuilt in order to join the Stormwatch team for their next mission, capturing Despot. They failed and as a result Strafe turned evil, Diva was killed to be used as Despot’s puppet, and Spartan took her place as leader just as Battalion had foreseen. All these actions were leading up to the precise moment Battalion would appear from the past. Stormwatch’s only plan to defeat Despot was to lure him into Skywatch and crash it in Death Valley, unbeknownst that as the satellite crashed, Battalion was being brought from the past to witness that act and be a part of what happened next. He met up with the team as they were searching the wreckage for devices. Link and Spartan had constructed devices that would protect them from Despot’s mind control. Since for them, Battalion had been dead for months. They thought he was some sort of trap. When they realized he was real and just displaced in time, they went on with their mission and Battalion joined them after trying to figure out what had happened. Stormwatch’s efforts were for nothing. Despot was in control of the fight. Without revealing himself, he dropped the entire team and sent Battalion's younger brother to fight him. Battalion defeated his brother only to come face to face with Despot. Isaiah revealed that he wanted to rid the world of free will and make everyone his slaves. Battalion tried to overcome his father by letting him into his mind to see the love that he still had for him despite what he had done. His plan failed but right before Despot killed him, Timespan sent him back into the past.

    Cybertran Suit
    Cybertran Suit

    After Battalion disappeared into the past, no one was left conscious to stop Despot. Despot then turned his attention back to wiping the minds of everyone on the planet. Before he could do much, he was attacked from behind by none other than Battalion. Back before his fight with Flashpoint he had been modifying his suit to be able to teleport. When it seemed like he had died , he had really teleported to where Skywatch would land. Their Battalion spent all that time honing his psionic powers for his showdown with his father. Battalion was still outmatched. Not only was Despot a more powerful psychic, but he controlled all the fallen SPBs, both Stormwatch and WarGuard. Despot turned them all against Battalion. Battalion was able to defeat all his mind-controlled enemies and finally get Despot’s attention. Despot attacked Battalion with his own mind, bombarding him with his failures and weaknesses in an attempt to break him. In a turn of events, Battalion turned the attack back against Despot. Battalion overloaded Despot's mind with all his fears and inadequacies. At the end, Despot was on his knees and Bendix teleported in to finish him off. Bendix attack Despot but Despot managed to a moment to recover. Before Despot could attack, Bendix, Battalion and the now-freed Stormwatch members were teleported into a building. Despot found them quickly, but Battalion and Spartan (being the only ones Despot couldn’t take over), engaged him until came up with a plan to stop him for good. A short time after the battle, when Battalion had stopped mourning his dead father, he caught up with Timespan and tried to force some answers out of him, but only wound up tossed forward in time again.

    Weeks later in normal time Battalion appeared again. While he had been gone, most of the Stormwatch regulars had taken leave to recover from the battle with Despot or just deal with personal things. Their replacement team had come into trouble against Heaven’s Fist, leaving two dead and the others, including Synergy, taken as hostages. Henry Bendix became The Weatherman once more. Benix had reassembled some of the older Stormwatch members and was preparing to send them off. Before he could do so, Battalion arrived and reclaimed his position as team leader. Under Battalion’s command they were able to rescue their teammates and stop Heaven’s Fist from setting off neutron bombs around the world.

    During Fire From Heaven, Battalion and Flashpoint had their final showdown. Now it was revealed that Flashpoint had been working for Deathtrap for quite some time. Flashpoint had been Deathtrap's partner, not his prisoner. During the chaos of a larger battle, Flashpoint showed his true colors and was going to get revenge against Battalion. Flashpoint held animosity towards Battalion because Battalion had been picked to lead Stormwatch over him. Flash point tried to kill Battalion, instead, he lost his life as Battalion obliterated Flashpoint's head with a telekinetic blast.

    Stormwatch Trainer
    Stormwatch Trainer

    After the events of Fire From Heaven, and under the writing of Warren Ellis, Stormwatch underwent some changes. Henry Bendix took a firm, if somewhat brutal stance against the causes of evil. Bendix created new Stormwatch teams. Unfortunately Battalion wasn’t on any of them, instead he was made the training officer for other Stormwatch members. This was in order to separate him from Synergy (who had been made a field agent charged with activating Seedlings) so their relationship couldn’t be used against them or anyone else. Battalion was of course furious, but his emotional reaction only proved Bendix’s point, so he accepted the change. The way Stormwatch had changed didn’t set well with Battalion though, and on his limited dates with Christine on Earth, he would talk about the things he thought were questionable.

    Despite his concerns Battalion kept doing his job, but when The High returned during the Change or Die story, things really did change. Jackson wasn’t directly involved for most of it, but his brother betrayed Stormwatch again, offering to feed information to The High and his people and then becoming their hostage. The situation ramped up when Bendix sent in Stormwatch to defeat the Changers, not because they were evil, but because they were going to change the world their way when he would only allow the world to be saved if it happened on his terms. Battalion wasn’t on the mission and found out from Winter, not Bendix, that his brother was being held captive. Battalion put his problems with Bendix’s secrecy, and dubious motives and leadership, on hold, and went to go save his brother. It was Battalion that got Wish to reveal what she had been doing and what she was planning. After she was killed (from Skywatch by Bendix) he walked into a room where most of the Stormwatch operatives were talking with the Changers and had almost worked things out. Things were not to go that easily though. On Skywatch, Jenny was fighting a now-insane Henry Bendix and Battalion was surprised and taken down by Blind, the other member of the Changers that had his own way of doing things. That set off Jack Hawksmoor and just then the rest of Stormwatch arrived and things got out of hand. Before order could be established people on both sides died and the surviving Changers died as a result of the last order Henry Bendix had given before escaping Skywatch.

    The New Weatherman

    After Change or Die, Jackson King was unanimously elected to the position of Weatherman. His Stormwatch members consisted of Winter, Fahrenheit, Hellstrike and Synergy. As Weatherman, made some changes to Stormwatch. He brought Synergy back to Skywatch and made the rest of the team back into public figures. Battalion even had Stormwatch members going to press conferences to speak to the media. He did keep Stormwatch Black, the covert team made up of Jenny Sparks, Jack Hawksmoor and Swift, but he denied their existence. Since Stormwatch had recently been banned from observing or acting in ???, he needed them for missions there as well as other places.

    Weatherman
    Weatherman

    At this point, usually going by Weatherman, Battalion stepped into his role easily. His strategic thinking, seriousness, drive, discipline, and his own personality allowed him to be commanding and clearly in charge without alienating himself from his team members or losing himself under the burden of authority. In general, it made him an excellent leader. The only real problem he had with his people was when he refused to send his Stormwatch to save a parallel Earth because he didn’t feel like he had the right to interfere that much. Synergy supported him, but he had a falling out with Winter. That incident, along with other doubts Battalion had about previous operations he had run, caused him to question his leadership ability and his sanity. It didn’t help that in the alternate reality Jackson King had killed half of Skywatch trying to save it. He began to worry about making a catastrophic mistake.

    When Skywatch found a rock floating in space, Battalion thought of events that had happened on the parallel world and how things had transpired. The rock turned out to be full of Aliens and they found their way onto Skywatch. There were many casualties, but Battalion was able to save almost 100 of his people, thanks to the assistance of the Wildcats and Winter’s sacrifice. Unfortunately, Skywatch was lost and Stormwatch was disbanded.

    The Monarchy

    In issue #5 of Stormwatch P.H.D.,Jackson King hints that all the things that happened in the "Monarchy" were the results of a drug-induced hallucionation. The events of the Monarchy are not considered to be cannon.

    Stormwatch P.H.D.

    Stormwatch P.H.D.
    Stormwatch P.H.D.

    At some point the UN decided there needed to be a Stormwatch again, but they didn’t have the funding to do things the way they had before. The United Nations created a team that would be the beginning of a new kind of Stormwatch.

    Stormwatch P.H.D. (Post Human Division) is made up of primarily non-super-powered individuals. Jackson King is the Director of Stormwatch. Jackson's powers begin to increase after he is shot in the head by his wife, Synergy. Synergy was attempting to take away Jackson's super powers. Jackson did not hold his wife accountable for her actions because she was suffering from post partum depression.

    Authority Prime

    Jackson vs Midnighter
    Jackson vs Midnighter

    "Authority Prime" was a six part mini-series. The series focused on the contents of a bunker owned by former Stormwatch Weatherman, Henry Bendix. This set the stage for an epic confrontation between Stormwatch and The Authority. Jackson played a pivitol role keeping key Authority members in check. Without Jackson, Stormwatch would not have been a match for The Authority.

    World's End

    Stormwatch P.H.D.
    Stormwatch P.H.D.

    A catastrophic event has rocked the Wildstorm Universe! The Earth was in ruins and Skywatch III was being used as a refugee camp for Earth's survivors. Skywatch III was totally disabled after Kheran bombers detonated their bombs from within. This lead to a battle between Stormwatch and a Kheran rebels who sought to re-make the Earth. Here we saw Jackson matched strength level with Sebastian; a Mr. Majestic level opponent.

    In World's End, Jackson King was not as level headed as he had been in previous Stormwatch series. He was very brash and at times appeared ruthless. His team mates were on edge when dealing with Jackson. (It is revealed later that he had been under the influence of former WildC.A.T. Tao). In this arc, Jackson's powers have increased and he has gone back to wearing his Battalion armor. Jackson has also grown out a full white beard.

    Jackson eventually joins the WildC.A.T.s. in their efforts to save Earth. Jackson shaves his beard and dones a new armor (his new armor is lest bulky than the prior versions Jackson has worn). Jackson and Ladytron go on a mission to find the new Doctor of Earth. Battalion redeems himself of his past actions as excutes his missions with flawless execution.

    Powers & Abilities

    Jackson King is a skilled telepath and telekinetic. On their own, his powers work on a small scale for more specific tasks. Battalion can disrupt individual minds, generate force fields, construct illusions, and manipulate small objects, atoms and particles.

    As Battalion he was given a special Cybertran suit that amplified his abilities over 100 times and then focused them through guns. With the suit on his psionic powers are far more potent and can be used for large scale effects, such as crushing space ships and ripping apart multiple-mile wide space stations. His guns fire his amplified psionic abilities in a focused beam that causes physical and mental damage.

    Psionic Weapons
    Psionic Weapons

    Battalion is skilled at using his abilities through technology (for example, broadcasting telepathic and telekinetic attacks through connected devices). This may be a result of his use of the Cybertran suit, or it may just be that he knows how to use his psionics through physical systems. Battalion has also used his psionics to scan people to repair damage to their bodies.

    Battalion possesses the unique ability to turn his psionic powers inward to increase his physical abilities to levels well above the 100 ton mark. Battalion may use this ability unconsciously at a low level since he has displayed superhuman reflexes without any visible psionic augmentation. After being shot in the head by his wife, new abilities started to show up, including the ability to see glimpses of the future. Jackson believes that the damage to his brain may have removed limits he had placed on himself in order to avoid becoming like his father, who while being a much more powerful psychic, was evil and insane.

    Some displays of Battalion's psionic abilities include:

    • Telepathic communication
    • Thought reading
    • Memory reading
    • Mind detection
    • Psi-blasts (capable of erasing minds)
    • Psi-shields (other uses of TK include for-fitting restraints/immobilization)
    • Psi-scanning (of physical conditions for healing)
    • Illusions (has one up 24/7 to cover wounds, can project images of himself)
    • Increased reflexes
    • Strength amplification
    • Routing psychic powers through circuitry
    • Manipulation of electricity
    • Flight

    In addition to his psychic abilities, Battalion is an excellent hand to hand combatant and more than capable leader. During his time in Stormwatch, Battalion has become knowledgeable about the workings of advanced technology, mostly due to time spent improving his Cyber-Tran suit. Battalion is also a skilled pilot.

    Personality

    Battalion has a strong personality and rightfully so. He is powerful both physically and mentally. Battalion is intelligent and good at what he does. Despite the fact that he would be justified in taking control of any situation, he is not quick to impose himself on others just for his own sake. His Leadership assertions changed after he became Weatherman. While he may make some rash decisions where he himself is concerned, he always makes the right choices when others are involved. Battalion puts the well being of his team (and friends) above any orders or his own safety. He fears becoming his father and often reflects on himself and his past. This causes him to recount his failures. These things bring doubt into his mind on occasion, but he works to not let that overcome him. He's mentally tough and excels at doing what is right.

    After the defeat of Despot, Battalion has come to terms with himself and is less troubled by feelings of inadequacy. He is a thoughtful man with tons of character. He sees value in all life, even villains. Battalion is very reluctant to kill even his worst enemies. He will seek an alternate option before deciding to use lethal force. Battalion is focused on protecting other. He cares for people beyond his close friends.The burden of leadership and power is great, but Battalion has shown that he is more than capable to bear it.

    Relationships

    Despot: Isaiah King is Jackson King’s father. He was aboard Monitor One when the comet went by and along with the other scientist on the satellite, was the closest to the changing affects that it brought. He was granted the greatest powers, gargantuan psionic abilities and also underwent a great personality change. It’s unclear if it was a direct result of the comet or if he now had the power to do something about fears that plagued him his whole life, but Isaiah became Despot, and planned to take over the world to make it the way he wanted it. loved his father and had a few opportunities to kill him and didn’t take them until it was absolutely necessary. He hated the evil in his father, but never the man he had been, and when he was finally killed, his sadness was immense.

    Strafe: Malcolm King is ’s younger brother. Malcolm has a knack for falling in with the wrong crowd and making the wrong choices. does his best to keep him out of trouble and situations that might become bad (which is why he didn’t want him to be a part of Stormwatch) and rides him very hard when he messes up, but he loves his brother.

    Synergy: Though they would never admit it at the time, Jackson King and Christine Trelane had feelings for each other since they first started working together on Skywatch.

    Backlash: Backlash was Battalion’s trainer all the way through the Stormwatch Program, and until Battalion became the leader of the team, he followed Backlash. They grew close not only as teammates but friends.

    Flashpoint: Flashpoint was Battalion’s rival for Stormwatch Prime leadership at the beginning of the Stormwatch program. Because of that (and the fact that Flashpoint is an unashamed racist) their relationship was difficult. The animosity was mostly one-way though, with Flashpoint disliking and always trying to provoke Battalion. Things only got worse when Battalion was finally given the leadership position. They were able to work as a team despite that though, and did so up until that fateful mission in where it seemed that Flashpoint and the others had died. When they were discovered alive years later, having been imprisoned that whole time, Stormwatch of course rescued them, but Flashpoint put all the blame for their years of torture on Battalion, even though he had wanted to try to go back for them years earlier in Kuwait and had broken the chain of command when he found out they were alive and finally did save them. Flashpoint’s hatred for Battalion would never subside and he challenged him whenever he got the opportunity, and secretly planned to kill him. Battalion put an end to the rivalry (and Flashpoint) during Fire From Heaven.

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