Top Ten Tuesdays - Ten More Historical S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents

As I mentioned in the review, the first issue of S.H.I.E.L.D. left a really big impression on me, and there was plenty of space for speculation for us fans to partake in. We have already seen several of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s historical agents, but there's bound to be more of them, right? So who else from our long history could have been one of the elite in charge of protecting the today and welcoming the tomorrow? Not all of them are polymaths and renaissance men like the ones we have seen so far, but here are ten possible ideas for more S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and how they would fit the story and the Marvel universe!

Special note from the author: I have been known to "borrow" (read: steal) a good idea when I see one, but I always want to make sure to mention where I "borrowed" it from. I wish I had gotten this idea first, but Ben Morse of The Cool Kids Table was the first one to come up with it, so make sure to read his original article and then come back to read the rest of the article.

1 - Alexander III of Macedon (a.k.a. Alexander the Great)

(356 -323 BC)

One of the most accomplished leaders and commander of men in history, a known lateral thinker and a genius tactician, Alexander's greatest achievement was not the impressive expansion of his empire, but rather the unified knowledge he brought to those lands he conquered. Alexander received an impeccable education from Aristotle himself during his teenage years and he would later become the ruler of the Macedonian empire after the death of his father. He would go on numerous military campaigns, including the conquest of the Persian empire. During the long Siege of Gaza (Egypt), he received a wound in the shoulder from a mysterious spear, said to have been thrown from a thousand meters and still landing in it's intended target though obviously failing at killing him. After recovering from the wound, Alexander immediately recognized the Spear, for he himself was in possession of the matching Shield. It became his obsession to return the Spear to the East, unfortunately for him, this meant that he had to march through the Indian subcontinent, where his army mutinied and the Spear was stolen. Alexander would not recuperate from this perceived failure (not knowing that the Spear reached it's intended destination) which dealt a heavy blow to his morale, and he would die shortly after returning to Macedonia.

2 - Joan of Arc (a.k.a. The Maiden of Orleans)

(1412 - 1431)

Imagine you are a twelve year old girl in an impoverished region of France, during one of the longest military conflicts, when you find yourself suddenly hearing mysterious voices all around you. This is what Joan of Arc went through, and what she initially interpreted as the voice of God speaking to her, unbeknown to herself at the moment that puberty had caused her to develop strong psychic abilities and become one of the first known hosts of the Phoenix Force. It was sheer causality that a french member of The Shield, Robert de Baudricourt, encountered her in a small town and immediately realized the potential of this young lady. With his tutelage and knowledge, Joan of Arc became incredibly efficient with her powers, which allowed her to not only peer into the minds of opposing generals, but also a small degree of clairvoyance to predict the outcome of battles. Joan officially joined the army and helped turned the tide of The Hundred Years' War all by herself. For reasons unknown, the Phoenix Force left Joan in the worst possible time, and she got captured by enemies force, and she faced death when she was executed at the stake. Baudricourt was one of the few that knew the true nature of her powers, and how important her contribution had been, so he used his influence within the Shield to convince Charles VII and Pope Callixtus III to declare her a martyr and a patron saint of France.

3 - Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia (a.k.a. Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes, Dracula)

(1431 - 1476)

One of the problems with running such a big and important organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. is that sooner or later you are going to have a few bad apples join your ranks, and when they do, it's really catastrophic. Young Vlad received an education worthy of the prince he would eventually become, where he proved to have a natural affinity for languages and anatomy, as well as military tactics and psychological warfare. Vlad was inducted into the Order of the Shield early in his life, but (in a terrible oversight) the Order did not know that Vlad had spent years as a slave under an Ottoman Sultan, which made him develop a deep hatred of foreigners. These xenophobic feelings are what probably caused him to volunteer in the campaign to eradicate the Skrull aliens that had secretly invaded huge regions of Eastern Europe. While other members of The Shield intended to build machines to out these outwardly invaders, Vlad used his innate intelligence and perverse mind to find other more effective (and sinister) ways of finding them: inventing torture methods that not even Skrulls could stand, of which impalement was a personal favorite. He effectively protected the region, but once that was done he continued to practice these newfound methods against everyone he considered a foreigner, most notably Turks. Thus, Vlad became the first member of the Order of the Shield to be banished, and an enmity developed between the two parties. He eventually died during one of his military campaigns, and his body was never found, but we all know what happened to him, right?

4 - Moctezuma II

(1466 - 1520)

Moctezuma was one of the wisest and strongest leaders of the Aztec empire, bringing together the three main city-states under a unified rule from the city of Tenochtitlan, and established a common religion that actually stemmed from the Aztec's interaction with the feathered alien race known as the Shi'Ar. The Aztecs established contact with the Shi'Ar long before the rest of the world, and much of their civilization was influenced by their visit, most notably their religion. The Shi'Ar had been there on a hunt of a bellicose and consuming God that was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in the form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive: the Shi'Ar called it the Phoenix Force, although the Aztecs ended up calling it Huitzilopochtli. It was during Moctezuma's rule that the sun was predicted to be consumed, and much of the population was in unrest, despite their leader's claim that "this is not how the world ends!". It was during this time that other strange visitors arrived in Mexica, the Spanish Conquistadors in their metal clad armors lead by Hernan Cortes. Moctezuma wrongly thought them to be more Shi'Ar visitors and welcomed them into his palace. Months later, with his guests still abusing his kindness, The Order of the Shield contacted Moctezuma and informed him of what these newcomers really were and tasked him with their removal. When Moctezuma finally tried to kick them out of the city, the Spanish turned on him and killed him, ending his short and unspectacular career as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

5 - Thomas Hobbes

(1588 - 1679)

Hobbes sits amongst the most influential philosophers in Western culture, but he also contributed in many other fields, such as physics, geometry, and political science. During his early life, he traveled parts of Europe learning from many different sources and absorbing all kinds of knowledge, which made him a prime candidate to join the ranks of the Order of the Shield. His most known piece of work, commonly referred to as Leviathan, was inspired by a completely different experience. Hobbes met with the mysterious leader of a foundation known only as Atlas, which was governed by the decisions of an immortal lung dragon called Mister Lao. Hobbes saw merit in this absolute undying sovereign that would control all aspects of life, and which the members of Atlas freely joined to earn its protection. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. had long championed strong central figures to control the course of life and history, but thanks to the help of Hobbes writing, they found a way to establish these beliefs of the social contract as one of the central tenets of western philosophy. The beliefs that Hobbes championed in the book almost ended up branding him a heretic, but thanks to the influence of the Order of Shield, he was protected from prosecution until he died of natural causes.

6 - Benjamin Franklin

(1706 - 1790)

Benjamin Franklin is probably the most known and beloved of the long list of scientists in the age of American Enlightenment. His innovations and contributions to society are numerous, not the least of which included his participation in the American Revolution, and his research in the field of electricity, although what you will not find mentioned anywhere in the history books is that the key used in his now famous kite experiment was actually made of vibranium (which ended up absorbing all the electricity from the lighting). Still, Franklin's most important contribution to the Order of The Shield would end up being one of his least known ones, the Glass Harmonica. The ethereal sound that the glass harmonica produces was the key to contacting an intergalactic organization known as The Fraternity of Raptors, that communicated through what they called "the data-song". Franklin, ever the innovator, used the glass harmonica to communicate with The Raptors and broker a deal that would protect all of Earth from their influence. Others besides Franklin have tried to use the glass harmonica, unwittingly and accidentally accessing into the datasong and driving them mad. It is because of this that few of them remain, as under the advice of Franklin, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have destroyed the majority of them.

7 - Thomas Jefferson

(1743 - 1826)

The father of the United States Declaration of Independence was a polymath himself, owner of one of the biggest private libraries while he was alive, his friends commented that he would often study for up to fifteen hours a day. All this studying rewarded Jefferson with a burgeoning knowledge in fields like architecture, law, horticulture, and more importantly, paleontology and archeology: he is sometimes referred to as the father of archeology because of the techniques he used and invented. It was during one of the many archeological digs he conducted in what is now known as West Virgina that he came across a strange series of intricate caverns that seemed to be man made. While he was unable to explore them completely at the time, the experience left a huge impression on Jefferson, and already in his eager mind there were theories forming as to what had possibly created these underground structures that appeared to expand far beyond the limits of the colonies. Years later, already a member of the Order of the Shield and having been elected as the president of the United States, he did all in his power to arrange for the Louisiana Purchase, so that these underground caverns could be fully explored. Jefferson appropriated money so that the adventurers Lewis and Clarke could freely travel through them and discover what had created them. It was thanks to Jefferson's discoveries and achievements, and the perseverance of the Lewis and Clark exploration party that the Order of the Shield first came into contact and knowledge of the many underground races that lived underneath this continent: Lava Men, Moloids, among others.

8 - Nikola Tesla

(1856 - 1943)

Everyone's favorite mad scientist was also an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., as he helped invent many of the technologies that the group would use in modern times, not to mention many of the developments that have become everyday technologies like alternating current, radar, and remote control. Nikola Tesla was born in what is now Croatia (then the Austrian Empire) and was from an early age an incredibly intelligent although socially inept person: he suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and synesthesia but he had a photographic memory and was known for his "picture thinking". He became a mechanical and electrical engineer, not to mention a master of several languages, despite the lack of a formal education (he enrolled several times, but always dropped out). He worked random odds and ends jobs in his field of interest, which is where he met Charles Batchelor, who recognized Tesla's brilliance and introduced him to the Order of The Shield. During his time with the organization, Tesla was in charge of developing direct energy weapons, ion propellers for machines, and a radio transceiver (affectingly known as the Teslascope) that could communicate with other planets. Unfortunately, much of this research was lost to a case of espionage, in which Tesla's laboratory was also burned down. Unknown to him at the time, enemies of the Order of the Shield used much of Tesla's inventions and research to create the armor of The Night Machine.

9 - Alexander Fleming

(1881 - 1955)

The discovery of penicillin marked one of the most monumental shifts in modern times, and it was all thanks to Sir Alexander Fleming. The accomplished Scottish bacteriologist, biologist, and pharmacologist ushered a revolution in the medical field thanks to the discovery of this powerful antibiotic. The official story of the discovery of penicillin is attributed to Fleming's carelessness, as he went on a vacation and left some bacteria samples outside of its proper storage, but that was all a cover introduced by The Order of the Shield. In reality, Fleming was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was tasked with a trip to the Microverse to investigate the flora and fauna of this very unexplored region. It was during one of his trips that he came across these powerful and highly self-replicating alien fungi that would consume all biotic matter that would come across its path. Fleming was able to escape the microverse with a rather large sample of it, hoping to study it once he got back to his lab, but for reasons unknown the fungus did not travel through the size change as everything else, and remained at a microscopic level. Initially lost as to what to do with the sample, Fleming quickly realized the potential this new life form had for the localized treatment of certain diseases.

10 - Salvador Dali

(1904 - 1989)

You know that co-worker at your job that no one stands, that he or she manages to annoy and anger everyone around but somehow retains the position? For S.H.I.E.L.D., that man is Salvador Dali. Despite being an accomplished painter, sculptor and all-around eccentric, the Spanish artist proved to have no useful abilities for The Order of the Shield, outside of the power to alienate and exasperate people around him with his usual theatrics. As a matter of fact, the only reason that S.H.I.E.L.D. kept Dali in their ranks was because, during his childhood in Catalonia, Dali was accidentally linked to the Supreme Intelligence. The Supremor of the Kree possesses vast psychic powers, which he used to regularly scan the known universe for any signs of the Cosmic Cube that the empire coveted. Perhaps due to a latent mutant power, Dali became universally and parasitically attached to this power, gaining a degree of cosmic awareness, low level telepathy, the ability to peek into the mind of the Supreme Intelligence, and a knack for developing sensory links into the subconscious of other people. As a matter of fact, much of Dali's surreal works feature visual and sensory tricks that fool the mind such as optical illusions and holography, a clear side effect of this connection to the space overmind. The Order of the Shield pretty much left Dali to his own desires, only demanding regular updates on the Kree Empire.

Conclusion

I know that the list does have a Western bias, and that not all of the ones I listed are polymaths like the ones we have seen so far in the book, not to mention that there's a big gap in the middle ages, but it all boils down to the fact that I did not know enough about the Arab polymath scientist and creators that were prominent during this era to make compelling stories around them.

I had a ton of fun writing this article, and I think it shows what a powerful book S.H.I.E.L.D. is that with just one issue it sent my mind into a frenzy of ideas. That being said, let's hear what other historical characters you think should appear in the book. Let us know in the comments section!

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