THE S.H.I.E.L.D. FILES - THE AVENGERS
Duty roster
Steve Rogers (Captain America)
Birth date: July 4, 1918
Relatives: Joseph and Sarah Rogers (parents)
If there is one thing that the Avengers, the Adventure Team, and pretty much any would-be vigilante you can name have in common is that they owe their existence to one man: Captain Steve Rogers—or, as he’s more well-known these days, Captain America.
Once a simple kid from Brooklyn, young Steve Rogers was brought onto Project Rebirth by Dr. Abraham Erskine, who was impressed by the boy’s refusal to stand down to bullies despite his small and frail nature. Colonel Chester Phillips was not as impressed but humored the doctor nonetheless, giving the approval to subject Rogers to the Super-Soldier Serum. While the operation proved to be a success, Erskine was assassinated by agents of the Nazi organization Hydra not long after. With the serum lost, the plan to create more super-soldiers was abandoned and Rogers was assigned to mascot duties. Unwilling to stand by and do nothing, Rogers led an effort to rescue the captured members of the Howling Commandos from Hydra captivity, in the process rescuing his old friend Bucky Barnes. Impressed by his efforts, the government promoted Rogers to the rank of captain and he quickly became known as “Captain America”.
Captain America went on to lead a number of successful missions for the Allies, focusing most of his efforts on defeating Hydra and its affiliates. Along with the Howling Commandos, he was known to have fought alongside the likes of Sgt. Savage and the Screaming Eagles, and was considered the unofficial leader of the so-called “Six American Warriors,” a team of vigilantes that had been inspired by Captain America to don unique uniforms of their own.
His adventures came to a tragic end however when, on March 1st, 1945, Captain America sacrificed himself to prevent Hydra from destroying the United States with the Valkyrie bomber plane, crashing it in an ice field. Believed to be dead, Captain America was commemorated for his sacrifice and became an inspiration for many soldiers to come, including Joe Colton and the Adventure Team.
In truth, however, Captain America had in fact survived the crash of the Valkyrie as, at the turn of the century, his frozen form was discovered by operatives of SHIELD and he was thawed out of the ice, his cryogenic preservation confounding even the most brilliant of scientists. The passage of five decades brought quite the culture shock to Steve Rogers, who had lost many loved ones in the intervening years. He quickly overcame his shock and accepted Director Fury’s offer to join the Avengers Initiative.
Tony Stark (Iron Man)
Birth date: May 29th, 1970
Relatives: Howard and Maria Stark (parents)
Tony Stark would likely still be your typical selfish rich playboy had a brush with death not changed his tune. The only child of successful businessman Howard Stark, Tony was practically born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Graduating from MIT at the age of seventeen, he was pretty much set for life with it being all but guaranteed for him to inherit his father's fortune, which did ultimately happen... if a bit sooner than expected.
Stark had only just entered adulthood when his parents were killed in a tragic car accident. Upon inheriting Stark Industries, he became a bit of recluse for a time, letting his friend and mentor Obadiah Stane call the shots while he got over his grief. Once he had recovered, he took over the business and pushed it to even greater heights with his inventive mind, quickly making a name for himself. Before long, Stark Industries had become the number one arms supplier for the United States government.
Naturally, this made Stark Industries a target for a number of terrorist organizations, among them Cobra and Hydra. However, it was the Ten Rings that made the first move, ambushing Stark during a demonstration and taking him hostage. The initial blast nearly killed him but his life was saved by the innovative nature of the Ten Rings' captive scientist Ho Yinsen, who installed a miniaturized arc reactor to protect his heart. With the help of Yinsen, Stark constructed a suit of armor which he used to break out of the Ten Rings' facility, although Yinsen died in the attempt to escape.
After returning home, Stark - having realized the impact his inventions had on the world - decided to steer the company in a different direction, focusing on helping people rather than endanger them. This enraged Obadiah Stane, who had in fact been the one who had sold out Stark to the Ten Rings so that he could take full control of the company, and he sought to once again remove Stark from the company so that he could maintain their deal with the government.
By this point, Stark had perfected his own armor design, becoming the metal hero Iron Man. Stane then found his schematics and used them to construct his own suit of armor, creating the massive Iron Monger. Stane intended to send this armor to the Ten Rings so they could properly destroy Stark with it, but when his plans were uncovered, he decided to don the armor for himself and proceeded to clash with the Iron Man. After an intense battle, the Iron Monger was destroyed - as was Stane - and Iron Man publicly revealed his identity to the public.
Needless to say, this attracted the attention of SHIELD, and Director Fury decided to approach Stark personally with an offer to join the Avengers Initiative.
Bruce Banner (Hulk)
Date of birth: December 18th, 1969
Relatives: Brian and Rebecca Banner (parents), Jennifer Walters (daughter)
Bruce Banner did not have an easy childhood. While he had a loving relationship with his mother, his father was filled with an intense hatred for his son, which some of our psychologists speculate stems from a jealousy for how his wife showered Bruce with affection. Things came to a head on the Christmas Eve of 1973 when Bruce’s father lashed out at him for opening a present early. Having had enough of her husband’s abusive nature, Rebecca Banner tried to escape the house with Bruce only to be fatally struck by her husband. Neighbors witnessed this occur in the Banners’ driveway and called the police. While Mr. Banner was taken away in handcuffs, a traumatized Bruce was left in the care of his aunt Susan.
Growing up, Bruce was able to find some solace in the loving friendship of his cousin Jennifer Walters, whom he came to see as a sister. After graduating high school, he attended Harvard University, where he met and became close to Betty Ross, daughter of General “Thunderbolt” Ross. After graduating from Harvard, both Banner and Ross found work at Culver University, where Banner developed his interests in nuclear physics. Over the course of his career, he also became acquainted with other such notable scientists as Hank Pym, Richard Parker, and Erik Selvig.
Banner’s expertise led to him being recruited for a revival of Project Rebirth, an effort to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that had led to the creation of Captain America. However, Banner was not privy to this knowledge and was instead led to believe that the serum he was working on was in fact for protection against radiation poisoning. When the time came for testing, Banner—oblivious to what he was actually working on—tested the Gamma Ray Projector, infused with the prototype serum, on himself against the advice of Betty Ross and her father. The operation transformed him into a hulking green monster that proceeded to go on a rampage, destroying the lab in which Project Rebirth 2.0 was being held. Horrified by what he had done and enraged by General Ross’ deception, Banner went on the run while General Ross sent his men to hunt him down, convinced that he had found the key to Project Rebirth’s success.
Donald Blake (Thor)
Hank Pym (Ant-Man)
Date of birth: July 5th, 1969
Relatives: Brad and Doris Pym (parents), Janet van Dyne (wife)
A child prodigy if there ever was one, Hank Pym was often overlooked by his mentors, who tried to discourage him from indulging his imagination and trying to do the possible. It was thanks to encouragement from his grandmother that Pym managed to overcome his insecurities and become the brilliant scientist that he is remembered as today. Working alongside the likes of Richard Parker and Bruce Banner, Pym graduated with the highest of honors and went on to found Pym Technologies. Among his greatest inventions was a type of particle (dubbed “Pym Particles”) that could effectively reduce one’s size, although they had to be in a specialized suit in order to control this ability.
Perhaps it was because of the potential dangers inherent within the Pym Particles that SHIELD decided to recruit Dr. Pym, not only to protect his inventions from potential wrongdoers but also to apply his technology to SHIELD’s own tech. Pym agreed to join SHIELD on the condition that his partner (both in the lab and in the romantic sense) Janet van Dyne be recruited as well, a term to which Director Fury agreed.
While with SHIELD, Pym created the Ant-Man suit as a means to test the Pym Particles in the field, with van Dyne donning a “Wasp” variant that had flight capabilities. One could suggest that the successful test of these suits planted the idea for what would become the Avengers Initiative in Director Fury’s head, and only a few months later the project was in full swing. Pym and van Dyne were the first to be recruited for the Initiative, joined shortly thereafter by Stark, Banner, Blake, and, finally, Captain Rogers himself.
Janet van Dyne (Wasp)
Birth date: March 4th, 1974
Relatives: Vernon van Dyne (parents), Hank Pym (husband)
Heiress to the wealthy van Dyne family, Janet would have enjoyed a fruitful career as a fashion designer had her path not crossed with that of Hank Pym. While attending the same university as Pym, Janet required a science course in order to get her degree, and it just so happened that Pym had become an assistant teacher for the course. According to Janet, her love for both Pym and science had blossomed then and there and it wasn’t long before she asked the introverted and eccentric scientist out.
Before long, Janet found herself working as a designer at Pym Technologies and was soon engaged to Dr. Pym. Around that time, SHIELD reached out to Pym with an offer to join them and the scientist agreed on the condition that Janet be recruited as well. She proceeded to work with him on the Ant-Man and Wasp suits, applying her skills as a fashion designer to make sure that they not only worked the way they needed to but also looked nice while doing it. While Pym donned the Ant-Man suit, Janet tested the Wasp variant and quickly became accustomed to its flight capabilities.
The success of their project inspired Director Fury to establish a team of superpowered humans that would defend the Earth from any and all potential threats. When Fury mused this thought aloud, Janet was quick to coin a name for the hypothetical team: the Avengers. Needless to say, Fury liked the idea and ran with it. Before long, Janet and Pym were the first to be recruited into the Avengers.
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