This page covers the Marvel comicbook team SHIELD . If this is not the page you were looking for check here.
S.H.I.E.L.D
SHIELD (Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate) is a group affiliated with the U.N that deals with superhuman threats. It is an intelligence and anti-terrorism group similar to the FBI, only it is an international corporation that spans all the world. It acts like the police force. SHIELD agents are armed and work well, much more effective then standard police. They fight terrorists as well as superhumans. SHIELD also has been responsible for the starting of spin-off groups like SWORD and S.T.R.I.K.E. S.H.I.E.L.D has agents that also are higher level, that often are superhumans. Captain America, Spider-Woman, and Iron Man all have operated as SHIELD agents. SHIELD keeps ties to the superhuman community, too-they often call on the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and Captain America.
SHIELD has superhuman agents in the past-two teams were formed in an effort to make a SHIELD superhuman team. The first team consisted of Quasar, Texas Twister, the Vamp, and Blue Streak. However, it quickly failed, and another team in the same vein also failed. The Psi-Division of SHIELD is a group of psychics or telepathics that deal with psionic menaces. This is only one of the groups of superhumans that work in SHIELD for the greater good.
All SHIELD members have a certain level, based on their importance. A normal SHIELD agent will have a Level One-which means he can pass through Level One areas and has clearance. A sergeant might have Level Two, which means he has Level Two and One clearance. The Director of SHIELD has a Level Nine clearance. Level Ten means the most important person in the world-no one currently possesses a Level Ten clearance. Not even the President, or Nick Fury.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
SHIELD has many bases around the world. Many are on land-most notably SHIELD Central, which is located in New York City. There are also many shelters that are secret placed around the world. Fury has used one, as has the Secret Avengers when they needed a base during the events of Civil War. However, their most famous and important base is the SHIELD Helicarrier.
The Helicarrier is an aircraft that is constantly in the air. It is huge enough to hold an aircraft carrier. It is the mobile headquarters of SHIELD-and is extremely protected. The Helicarrier has held an entire squadron of jet fighters and a nuclear ballistic missile. There is one major Helicarrier, which is the one that is most important and used. There are also many smaller Helicarriers, however, which all serve as bases too. The Helicarrier has an extremely high level of security-even if someone managed to get on without clearance, guards and extremely powerful security technology would have them gone in a second. The Helicarrier was first proposed by Stark Industries, and was designed by Tony Stark, Forge, and Mr. Fantastic.
History of S.H.I.E.L.D
S.H.I.E.L.D
SHIELD was formed by (of course) Nick Fury, in the period after World War II. However, he figured the U.S government wouldn't want a group like that, so he disbanded it. Later, though, after a terrorist attack, he noticed that a group like SHIELD could really have helped and prevented the disaster. So he reformed it. Meanwhile, the United Nations had already taken SHIELD and restarted it, made it big. Fury immediately joined and rose to the top. The Nations had reformed it in response to a HYDRA attack, and once Fury was leading it, it flourished. SHIELD operated as a covert, military/intelligence agency at the time, and members of it had already appeared. SHIELD already fought HYDRA then-the evil group had plots like the aforementioned "Overkill Horn". AIM made it's first appearance, and individual villains such as Red Skull also popped up and needed to be stopped by SHIELD. At this time, Godzilla came, and the Godzilla Squad was formed to take the monster down.
SHIELD had tough periods during this time. Several lifelike robots got so smart that they became able to think and make choices-they became sentient beings. They had a grudge against SHIELD for making them follow orders all the time before they had intelligence-so they drugged important SHIELD members and took their place within the organization. Several of these were Contessa Valentina Allegro De Fontaine, Jimmy Woo, and Jasper Sitwell, among others. However, the valiant Fury managed to take them down.
Most of the reason that SHIELD was so effective started with Fury. He started the group and put good, effective agents in place. He was extremely popular in and out of SHIELD, and had strong ties with the hero community. Without him, many "pessimists" and intellectuals theorized that SHIELD would fall, and fall hard.
Unfortunately, they were right.
Maria Hill
SHIELD ran into disastrous times. As aforementioned, Nick Fury did a mission in Latveria to stop them from attacking the U.S. However, it was totally unauthorized, and Fury was forced to resign from SHIELD Warrants went out for his arrest. The new head of SHIELD was Maria Hill-who proved to be incompetent at the position. The President of the U.S was a driving force behind Hill's election-for two reasons. Hill was a North American, and the President expected her to be loyal first and foremost to the U.S. Even though SHIELD was a United Nations facility. Also, many men and women had been members of SHIELD for a long time, and they would have been much better as the head of SHIELD. However, they were "too loyal to Fury", so Hill got the job to keep the Fury loyalists out.
SHIELD took a downward turn. Fury's work as the head of SHIELD was extremely effective, and an insane amount of work had kept corruption out of the huge organization. Unfortunately, Hill wasn't as good as Fury at it, and SHIELD became corrupt and weak. Crimes were committed. Criminals were "stockpiled" in prison. Worst of all, the Avengers discovered that someone was mining the anti-metal in the Savage Land using slave labor-and SHIELD was the prime suspect.
The Civil War changed everything though.
Civil War
Civil War
The Civil War started when the New Warriors (consisting of Robbie Baldwin, Namorita, Microbe, and Night Thrasher) went on a basic mission to catch four criminals in an old house. They included Speedfreek and an old Captain Marvel villain-Nitro. These villains had escaped from the Raft when Electro broke them out. The New Warriors easily defeated the villains-but Nitro was escaping. Namorita stopped him, but he let off an explosion, destroying Stamford and murdering 600 people.
Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man, proposed the Superhuman Registration Act, where all superhumans would have to register their powers and identities. They'd basically be cops. Maria Hill, who was the head of SHIELD, supported the Act, and eventually it was passed. Many superhumans disagreed with the Act, the most important and prolific being Captain America. SHIELD was enlisted by the U.S government-take down Cap and his anti-registration hero team, the Secret Avengers. New SHIELD Agents, nicknamed cape-killers, went after anti-reg heroes. SHIELD was led by Maria Hill, and was fully pro-reg. Iron Man worked closely with SHIELD also-he revealed his identity as Tony Stark. Many battles were fought. Eventually, Tony Stark's pro-registration side-and SHIELD-won. However, Maria Hill found out why she had been made the head of SHIELD, as aforementioned-to keep more effective "Fury loyalists" out and be loyal to the U.S. She was not supposed to be effective, and she wasn't. Dismayed, she turned leadership of SHIELD over to the man she thought deserved it most-Tony Stark. Stark, also Iron Man, is currently the leader and head of SHIELD.
Nick Fury
Fury
The most prominent, important, and effective member of SHIELD is the man who runs it all-Nick Fury. Fury was born in New York City in 1921, to decorated World War I pilot Jack Fury. He and his friend Red Hargrove lusted after adventure-so they joined the U.S Army in World War II. Nick was an adept soldier, and he was given command of the First Attack Squad-nicknamed the Howling Commandos. The Howling Commandos were extremely effective-and Fury quickly became a decorated war hero.
After the war, Fury was hit by a land mine and badly injured. The government decided to test a new formula on him-that would heal him and greatly retard his aging. This was called the Infinity Formula. It worked-Fury was restored to full strength and is still in his physical prime today. He eventually joined the CIA and became a CIA agent in Korea, also interacting with the Fantastic Four. Tony Stark hired him to be the second commander of SHIELD, and Fury excelled at the job. Under his leadership, SHIELD grew and grew until it is now one of the most powerful organizations in the world. Fury led SHIELD for over forty years, working tirelessly and keeping it powerful and secret.
However, Fury recently discovered that Latveria, led by the evil Doctor Doom, was planning to attack America. He immediately had SHIELD launch a covert assault on the country, effectively stopping the massive attack that would have taken place. A year later, Latveria attacked back, and thousands were killed. Fury was blamed-and Luke Cage was injured. Captain America was angered at Fury. Eventually, this culminated in Fury being fired as commander of SHIELD. A warrant was put out for his arrest, and Maria Hill took his place as the head of SHIELD. Hill still leads SHIELD, and Fury is still in hiding. He keeps control over parts of SHIELD and lent a base to the Secret Avengers during Civil War.
Nick Fury is infused with the Infinity Formula, meaning he barely ages at all. He is an soldier, with lots of experience as both a warrior and a leader. He is a master tactician and strategist, and is very good with all sorts of weapons. He wields great political power as the head of SHIELD, and is a very good hand-to-hand combatant.
Other Important S.H.I.E.L.D Agents
Nick Fury is not the only SHIELD agent-not by a long shot. Many of the other important SHIELD members date back from Fury's old team-the Howling Commandos.
Dum Dum
Dum Dum Dugan (Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan) was working as a circus strongman before he enlisted in World War II. He was put in the Howling Commandos, a new division led by Nick Fury. He was extremely valuable to the team-he was so strong that he was able to save them from many things that should have killed them. He was a great marksman, strongman, and leader, and he became Fury's second-in-command. When the war ended, Fury invited Dugan into SHIELD as his second-in-command. Dugan has easily been the second-most-important person to SHIELD. His missions have included tracking down and killing a radioactive monster (Godzilla, in the Godzilla Squad) and various independent missions to take supervillains (often with Squirrel Girl). For a long time, he worked maintaining security on the Helicarrier, and working for Fury whenever needed. When Fury was replaced by Maria Hill, he was her second-in-command and was put in charge of mutant affairs. This involved conflicts with Wolverine, who he had a mysterious contact with. Eventually, he tried to resign from SHIELD when Tony Stark took control. He was rejected-he was too important to SHIELD to quit. He was recently shot in the chest by Wolverine's son, but he survived, and is currently in the hospital.
Gabriel Jones was a young African-American living in New York City when a little thing called World War II popped up. Jones joined the army, and realized that he was naturally a great soldier and leader. He was put into the elite Howling Commandos and proved invaluable to the team. After the war was over, Jones served on the Godzilla Squad with other former Howling Commandos (not Fury), and later joined SHIELD. He ran out missions with or without other agents for SHIELD until he retired, due to the events in the miniseries "Nick Fury vs. SHIELD". He remains retired today, living the quiet, peaceful life. He sure deserves that. He also has the honor of being the first African-American in the Howling Commandos.
Sharon Carter
Agent 13 (also known as Sharon Carter), is one of the most important members of SHIELD. As a young girl, Sharon loved hearing stories of her older sister Peggy, who was a World War 1 flying ace and freedom fighter. Peggy had worked with Captain America, and the two fell in love. However, Cap never learned her name, and he then froze in suspended animation. Sharon was a good fighter and loved justice, so she joined SHIELD under the codename "Agent 13" and ran out several missions for them. She kept crossing paths with Cap, who had been resurrected and they eventually fell in love. Cap wanted her to quit as a SHIELD agent, but she refused. Eventually, her death was faked so she could be sent off on a top-secret mission. The mission failed, and she was presumed dead. Cap was never informed that her death was faked the first time. However, he eventually found her, and she rejoined SHIELD. She now works as a high-level agent, reporting directly to Hill for missions. Recently, she was given a hypnotic suggestion by Dr. Faustus to help kill Steve Rogers, and under hypnotism, shot him in the stomach after Crossbones, a sniper and Red Skull's henchman, shot him. It was also revealed that she is pregnant with Cap's baby.
Other important SHIELD agents include Contessa Valentina Allegro De Fontaine, Clay Quartermain, Jimmy Woo, and Jasper Sitwell.
HYDRA
Since SHIELD is a major force and such a huge, powerful organization, it bound to have many enemies. Most of SHIELD's enemies are big groups-and the most powerful, fearsome, and deadly one of them all is Hydra.
Hail Hydra!
HYDRA is SHIELD's archenemy. The motto of the group is "Cut off one of our heads, and two more will take it's place!" This is a reference to the Ancient Greek monster called the hydra, which fought Hercules and had the same ability. HYDRA is a terrorist group dedicated to taking over the world and destroying SHIELD, which has foiled them many a time.
HYDRA has actually been around for centuries. The group goes all the way back to Imperial Japan, which only sought to rule Japan. This all changed in the 1900s when Wolfgang Von Strucker joined the group. Strucker was insane, deluded, and powerful-and he quickly rose to the top of the group. he steered it away from Japan and decided on a new goal-rule the world!When he got to the top, he changed his name and got a title-he became Baron Strucker. HYDRA was originally very open, not quiet, and SHIELD was actually specifically formed to fight it (as you will read later). HYDRA and SHIELD became enemies-constantly warring to take each other down. HYDRA made several daring moves. Strucker invented the "Overkill Horn", which would detonate all nuclear explosives worldwide. Later came the biological "Death-Spore Bomb". Both plots were foiled by SHIELD, and the latter resulted in Strucker's death.
After Baron Strucker died, HYDRA split into many mini-groups, or "heads" of HYDRA. Some of these were East Coast HYDRA, Las Vegas HYDRA, New York HYDRA, and Germany HYDRA. These factions also genetically created super agents for HYDRA, resulting in the creation of many villains. However, this backfired when the great hero Spider-Woman was created by HYDRA related. Eventually Strucker was revived, and he reunited HYDRA. They continued their war against SHIELD and the Earth.
HYDRA later planned a massive attack on the U.S-they smuggled nuclear missile into America and was going to launch a bionuclear assault on a major aquifer. They also tried to brainwash an army of heroes and villains (including Elektra and Northstar). Both times, they were foiled by SHIELD and the New Avengers (including Spider-Woman, who they created). HYDRA is still extremely dangerous, and cannot be stopped easily. The only reason they don't currently rule the world is because of the heroic efforts of SHIELD.
The HYDRA Agent is similar to the SHIELD agent. He is extremely well-trained-only the elite become agents. They carry a large variety of weapons and are trained especially in stealth. HYDRA Agents often get missions to detonate, destroy, beat up, or burn things, and they are superb fighters. Some Agents of HYDRA have been Red Skull, Spider-Woman, Kingpin, and many others.
AIM and Other Enemies
Although HYDRA is easily SHIELD's greatest enemy, it is by no means the only one. One of SHIELD's worst enemies is [[A.I.M:char:13497].
A.I.M. Agent
A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics) was created as a subdivision of HYDRA, by Baron Strucker. AIM's purpose was to create new technological wonders for HYDRA to use against SHIELD and to take over the world. It is a group of scientists, industrialists, and technological geniuses, and originally, they provided and designed weapons, defenses, and huge assault mechanisms for HYDRA. However, HYDRA suffered a huge defeat from the U.S and Japan Armies, so AIM broke off into it's own group. Like HYDRA, AIM's goal is to rule the Earth. However, unlike HYDRA, who wants to do it by force, AIM seeks domination by technological means. They have created huge weapons and marvels before, and share one trait with HYDRA-they are dedicated to destroying SHIELD. AIM was led by the Scientist Supreme, an evil, shadowy figure where very little about him is known by S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Cosmic Cube was an intensely powerful item-it could literally alter reality to the user's whim. Red Skull once stole it and wreaked havoc with it, but that was later. The Cube was created by the scientists at AIM, who sought to use it to rule the world. However, the Cube actually evolved into a new creature, Kubik, and AIM no longer controls it. In this vein, AIM created the Super-Adaptoid, which could exactly mimic the powers and appearance of other superheroes and villains. Although it was immensely powerful, the Adaptoid contained a sliver of the Cosmic Cube that gave it its power. When the Cube became Kubik, it wanted the shard back, so it easily destroyed the creature and regained the sliver. AIM also created MODOK (Mobile Organism Designed Only for Killing). MODOK was originally one of AIM's own scientists, and he took control of AIM and improved it, continuing the fight to rule the world and destroy SHIELD. MODOK still is in charge of AIM.
Along with A.I.M, some of SHIELD's enemies are Zodiac and Godzilla.
Zodiac is a criminal organization that was created using SHIELD technology. Each member is another sign of the Zodiac, and they are dedicated to world domination. Although the Zodiac mostly fights the Avengers, they often collide with SHIELD in their efforts to have the world ruled by their criminal organization.
Godzilla was a radioactive monster that rose out of the waters of Tokyo, Japan. SHIELD immediately responded to the crisis, and formed the Godzilla Squad out of some of its members. The Squad was led by Dum Dum Dugan (who never fully recovered from the experience), and its mission was to take down Godzilla! Godzilla caused lots of property damage around Asia and North America before it was finally driven back into the sea. Obviously, this is based on the Japanese movie in real life of the same name-minus the SHIELD agents.
Other Groups
SHIELD also has many subdivisions and other groups based off it. Three other groups have been formed from S.H.I.E.L.D- S.W.O.R.D, S.T.R.I.K.E, and S.A.F.E.
SWORD stands for Sentient World Observation and Response Department. As you can easily guess, S.W.O.R.D works with extraterrestrials. It stops extraterrestrial threats, keeps tabs on powerful aliens, etc. They are not a subdivision of SHIELD, but are actually a separate, yet similar group that simply works with SHIELD. However, they are closely affiliated with both SHIELD and the United Nations. SWORD encountered Ord, an alien who was convinced that a mutant from Earth was destined to destroy his planet. He attempted to attack Earth to kill all the mutants-but SWORD and the X-Men stopped him, effectively stopping an interplanetary war. The leader of SWORD is Abigail Brand, a tough, effective leader who stopped many crises and is extremely valuable to SHIELD. She was a Fury loyalist and respected him a lot-but greatly dislikes Maria Hill. As for Tony Stark, he has not encountered SWORD or Brand yet. SWORD is currently trying to stop another war with a planet called Breakworld.
SHIELD is loyal to the United Nations-so two countries have created their own answer to SHIELD that works within their country and their country alone. The first to appear was the British version of SHIELD, S.T.R.I.K.E-which stood for Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies. S.T.R.I.K.E was English, but had many problems. The leader for a long time was Tod Radcliffe, who was ineffective and was revealed to be a traitor that worked for the Red Skull. The next leader was Lance Hunter, who was relatively competent at the position. They worked closely with Captain Britain and Union Jack. However, Vixen (Cap Britain's enemy) took them over and S.T.R.I.K.E was disbanded. he most important person to work for S.T.R.I.K.E was Betsy Braddock, who had psychic powers and was a ninja. She later broke off and joined the X-Men as the heroine Psylocke.
S.A.F.E is the United States answer to S.H.I.E.L.D. The name stands for Strategic Action For Emergencies. S.A.F.E is nearly identical to S.H.I.E.L.D-except they are only in the U.S. They have fought many enemies, including Doctor Doom and Baron Heinrich Zemo. The leader is Sean Morgan, a competent leader and good soldier. Joshua Ballard is the most prolific agent, and he's extremely helpful-he's the Dum Dum Dugan of S.A.F.E.
Along with these agencies, other small groups have been formed including Euromind and Starcore.
Another group that has continually showed up over the years is the Cape Killers. They were never an official SHIELD group, but SHIELD agents did make up it's ranks. The term Cape Killers was given to any group of soldiers trained to hunt, subdue and in worst case scenario kill metahumans. The Cape Killers have had such members as Agent Abrams, Agent Cleery, Dum Dum Dugan, & Special Agent Marquez, and her partner Agent McAllister.
S.H.I.E.L.D Technology
SHIELD has a lot of technology, important technology that is often used. Perhaps the most important is the LMD-Life Model Decoy. The Life Model Decoy is an android that is absolutely indistinguishable from whoever it impersonates. Fingerprints, DNA, hair, speech, thought patterns (for telepaths), anything, the Decoy is exactly the same. However, it is an android. LMDs are used to duplicate people and take their place if they are going to be assassinated or there is a strong chance of an attack. LMDs have been used in place of personnel since the beginning of the organization, including Jessica Drew. Most often, they have been used as a substitute for Nick Fury, who has had at least five LMDs destroyed in attempts to have him killed. These robots are a lot of the reason that many key SHIELD members are still alive. The Zodiac, a criminal organization, was created using stolen SHIELD LMDs. Also, LMDs have gained sentience a few times. The Deltites were a group of LMDs that gained sentience and tried to infiltrate SHIELD. They were narrowly defeated by Nick Fury.
SHIELD also has used robot exoskeletons and gargantuan robots to achieve its ends. Red Ronin is the most important of those. Red Ronin was a huge, superpowerful robot that was used by the Godzilla Squad. The robot was destroyed by Godzilla before he was driven into the sea. It was rebuilt, but was hijacked by a mad scientist who was trying to start World War Three. It was stopped by the Avengers and SHIELD regained the remains. It has been stolen and used for evil many times, by Dr. Doom, The Hand, and Henry Gyrich. Each time, the robot has been defeated and rebuilt (by heroes like Wasp and Hulk)-only to be stolen again. Red Ronin is currently possessed and used by the evil villain The Fixer-it appears that the cycle is still going.
Of course, the most prolific technology created and used by SHIELD is the Helicarrier. The Helicarrier is outfitted with weapons, security, and is constantly filled with SHIELD agents who are extremely effective and good fighters. The Helicarrier is always being attacked by villains, and they are barely ever successful. Read more about the Helicarrier at the top of the page. A smaller version of the Helicarrier, the Behemoth, is often used by SHIELD Agents on missions, including by the Squad and by Dum Dum Dugan. The Behemoth is similar to the Helicarrier, only there is less weapons, technology, and it isn't as fast or powerful.
As for other technology, SHIELD has access to an infinite amount of military-level tech. Tools, weapons, anything that's used, SHIELD can get. Anything from pistols to nuclear weapons is easily attainable. Fighter jets are often used by SHIELD agents when it is necessary for their mission.
Other Versions
Weapon X
Ultimate Universe (Earth-1610)
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D was started and first led by General Thunderbolt Ross, who is a major enemy of the Hulk. SHIELD funded and sanctioned projects like Weapon X, which created Wolverine. A now-black Nick Fury took control of the group and was very effective. He tried to recreate the Super Soldier program, making another Captain America. the project failed and the formula turned the lead scientist on the project, Bruce Banner, into the Hulk. SHIELD tried again with the Oz formula. It was responsible for the creation of Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Sandman, and Electro.
Also, Ultimate SHIELD created the Ultimates, as the government enlisted Fury to create a strike force of government-sponsored superheroes. The force was similar to the Avengers in the 616 universe, and answers to Ultimate SHIELD.
Marvel Zombiverse (Earth-2149)
SHIELD also appears in Marvel Zombies Universe. At first, some of the members are already infected by the virus when Sentry came to Earth infected. The first of the members infected were Colonel America, Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. Luke Cage is part of the Avengers. After these infections, it starts to go on from there, with the infected heroes infecting other heroes and villains while eating people completely. Daredevil becomes infected by Spider-Man after saving Nova and Nova is saved by the Fantastic Four and Thor and goes to the SHIELD Helicarrier. SHIELD as called all uninfected heroes to meet together with Nick Fury and Nick Fury tells the uninfected heroes that they must make a defensive stand against the infected. The heroes agree to this, SHIELD, Avengers, and many more alike, and they go fight the zombies. However, this ends in tragedy and the uninfected become infected by the virus. The heroes were no match for the zombies and they all subdue to infection, becoming one of them. SHIELD becomes no more and all of the members are killed or infected.
Mutant X (Earth-1298)
In this reality, SHIELD now stands for Save Humanity by Intervention in the Evolution of Life-form Deviants. It is now a mutant hating group that influence humans to violently hate mutants. It is still being led by Nick Fury.
