SHIELD

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This page is about the Phase 2 incarnation of the team. For other uses, see SHIELD (disambiguation).

PHASE 2


Organization: Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division
Shield.jpg
Portrayed by Various
Known Aliases: SHIELD
Affiliations: US Government
Socked By: Various
Introduction:


SHIELD is a government organization that works as the US Government's chief asset in domestic security and intelligence regarding mutant (and other super-powered beings) affairs.


Employees

Nick Fury Director
Nick fury.jpg
Director of SHIELD. See individual page for details.

PB: Samuel L Jackson, socked by Dex


Abigail Brand
Abigail.png
SHIELD agent formerly assigned to the FBI's mutant division and now director of SWORD. See individual page for details.

PB: Ally Walker, socked by Rossi


Barbara Morse
Morse.jpg
Agent. First ran across the X-Men in Metastasis. Appeared again in What Am I Doing Here?. See individual page for details.

PB: Jessy Schram, socked by Twiller


Phil Coulson
Coulson.jpg
Field agent and leader of one of SHIELD's response teams. See individual page for details.

PB: Clark Gregg


Nathan Tyler
NT icon.jpg
Field agent who has been corrupted under the influence of a demonic entity. He was in a coma after his daughter put him there and awoke almost two years later. He is currently in the Vault waiting for his trail for the murder of his ex-wife and her husband.

PB: Christian Slater, socked by Jeff


Details

Founding

(Source: the MCU wikipedia)

S.H.I.E.L.D. was formed shortly after World War II as a successor agency to the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR), an Allied deep science agency which fought against the Nazi's special weapons division during the war.

The founders of the new agency were Chester Phillips, the director of the SSR, Howard Stark, an industrialist of great wealth and a scientific genius, and Margaret "Peggy" Carter, who had worked with the American war hero Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America. S.H.I.E.L.D. was organized to protect the United States, and later the entire world, from all possible threats.

The agency's full name was the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, but some members of the agency preferred to call it by its acronym. The SSR was reformed as the scientific division of S.H.I.E.L.D. and continued to work on researching the advanced weapons captured from the Nazis. Over the years, their ambit expanded to include various super-powered beings, new and unknown technology, and the increasing number of mutants.

Decline

Its existence has remained highly classified, known only to the President and a limited five-man oversight committee from the House of Representatives. SHIELD's original mandate was simple; it had priority access to intelligence resources, both raw and analyzed, that superceded all other agencies' authority. There wasn't an agency or intelligence structure in the US that was permitted to withhold information or assets to SHIELD.

Following the retirement of Peggy Carter, SHIELD's impact diminished. It was primarily staffed with technical weenies and analysts. However, it showed itself to have the ability to big picture intelligence information, tracing the wide range of issues and crises through overlapping agency territory. It was also used as a dumping ground for personnel who were considered either too disruptive or unorthodox for their respective agencies.

Following the first Gulf War, President Bush appointed newly minted General Nick Fury to be the head of SHIELD. Fury, an incredibly effective but very unconventional commander of special forces units during the war, had officially topped out with his promotion, and his views and actions had left him no room for advancement. Bush appointed him as a sort of farewell hollow honour.

Modern Era of SHIELD

Much like how the Secret Service went from solely an anti-counterfeiting squad to the primary protective detail of the Presidency, SHIELD grew by accident. Their original charter had given them first authority over other agencies. It was meant to just be data, but hadn't been defined as such. Fury, realising this, and having one of the most multidisciplinary staffs of any agency, began to do fieldwork. He was smart enough to not try to do what the CIA or the FBI already could. What he did was do that next step, where the other agencies' limitations and bureaucracy prevented them from doing. Because the chain of command and oversight was so incredibly short, Fury was able to push the envelope as he saw fit. Still, if it hadn't have been for a series of spectacular but classified successes in the early nineties, he likely would have been removed.

Since then, SHIELD grew into a larger yet still mostly classified organization. Like the CIA, its operating budget is classified and not released to the public. It also hides funding through multiple other departments. It has the authorization to work both inside and outside the United States, and when they respond, they have the authority to assume command of a scene. The only place they don't automatically have that authority is in situations involved the US military, but they do hold the same intelligence oversight with military intelligence.

There are three main branches of SHIELD. The intelligence gathering and analysis section, which is by far the largest. They communicate and share information with various security organisations throughout the world. There is an operations section, which includes agents in the field and response team, such as the one lead by Phil Coulson. Typically, SHIELD keeps a very low profile on the operations side, working with local and national groups in an oversight capacity. However, as said, due to the nature of the agency, they have the ability to respond very quickly. Finally, there's the research and development side. SHIELD sponsors a lot of R&D, as well as often seizing that of other countries and agencies.

SHIELD has been developing a series of programs designed to respond to the growing number of mutants in the world. In their minds, eventually China or Russia is going to start weaponizing mutants, and they need to capacity to respond. These programs could include technological research from groups like Stark and Shaw Industries, genetic research, and mutant recruitment and training. The programs are known to the President and the oversight committee, but they are classified so not open to the public. Most of this is currently housed in the Triskelion, SHIELD's headquarters and R&D centre in New York.

SHIELD also runs the Vault, a prison facility for mutants and other super-powered beings.

In September 2012, Agent Abigail Brand joined FBI agent Garrison Kane on an investigation in Minnesota identifying a biker who claimed to be the god Thor. After several days of investigation, she headed to Washington DC, saying SHIELD had called her back. She returned several days later with her team from SWORD - Supernatural Watch Observation and Response Department, of which she had been promoted to director. They took control of the scene, and brought Thor into custody.

SWORD

The Supernatural Watch Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D.) is a subset of SHIELD specifically tasked with investigating incidents that appear to have a supernatural or magical origin. It is currently small and quite new, owing its existence to the direct evidence of magical and supernatural incidents over the last several years. SWORD has a small number of dedicated agents who specialize in their fields, and deploys with regular SHIELD personnel and support in the field. Abigail Brand is the Director and reports directly to Fury.

The group was first introduced in the aftermath of the Aitkens, Minnesota incident.


Post Event

Plots

Day Zero

X-Men Mission: Amid These Storms

Sonatorrek


Meta

Socked by: Various