Name

Aliases

Origin[]

Alien Legacy[]

In a prehuman time, a cabal of cold-bloodedalien reptiles arrived onEarth, planning to start a legacy of evil. They planted the seed that would later gave birth to future evil empires.^[3]

Ancient Egypt[]

In 2620 BC, theBrood attackedEgypt and killedPharaoh Khasekhemwy Khasekhemui, ending theSecond Dynasty of Egypt. A man namedImhotep led a coalition of warriors (includingApocalypse, hisFirst Horsemen, and theMoon Knight) to annihilate the aliens.^[21][22][23] Imhotep created an organization to protect the world, but it was split into two halves and hisShield went to the West with theBrotherhood of the Shield.^[21][1] This was the earliest origins of Hydra,^[14] but at the time, it was named after theSpear.^{[4][21][24][1]}

China[]

In 114 AD, during theHan Dynasty,Zhang Heng was the keeper of the Spear of Imhotep. He met with the pregnantCelestial "Madonna" and avoided the consumption of Earth or the Moon for nourishment of theinfant Celestial by suggesting the use of theSun as gestation place.^[21][24]

Zhang Heng used the Spear on some occasions, using to enforce the Brotherhood's goals and protect his country.^[22]

Corruption[]

Thanks to the alien reptiles' evil seed,^[3] both parts of the greater Brotherhood became corrupted: while the West, the Brotherhood of the Shield, turned inwards and devoured itself, the East flew apart, dissipating itself generations after generations.^[1] The Eastern Brotherhood of the Spear, now simply referred by its enemy, the Shield, as theBeast,^[24] spread out, ingraining itself into all facets of human society - science, magic, politics - like a multi-headed monster.^[3]

At the height of the East, theLast Caliphate, the three brothers of Causality (the embodiment of branching time: what is, what has come before, what will be) were hidden away at the request of theForever Man, Michelangelo.^[1]

18th Century[]

After theRenaissance, all references to the ancient organization of Hydra ceased to appear.^[14]

World War II[]

Strucker's Hydra[]

Some time before 1941,^[25]Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, leader ofNaziThule Society,^[26] birthed the first modern incarnation of Hydra as his personal paramilitary force, with its very existence kept secret fromHitler's knowledge.^[27]

Their name came from the fearsomeLernean Hydra.^[28]

In 1941 Strucker was contacted by the cabal of ninjas known as theHand, which had just broken a longtime agreement with the crime mastermindRomulus and wanted to form new alliances.^[12][29] In order to gain the Hand's loyalty, Strucker approached and captured young Russian operativeNatalia Romanova, bringing her toMadripoor as a gift for the ninjas, who were trying to turn the girl into the cabal's Master Assassin. However Strucker was not aware that Natalia was secretly an agent of Romulus sent to kill theJonin of the Hand, and while she was ready to accomplish her mission during the Master Assassin ritual,Logan, another agent of Romulus and Natalia's friend, interrupted the ceremony and killed the Jonin, seeking to avoiding making Natalia a killer again.Captain America andIvan Petrovich helped Logan fight the Hand, while Strucker escaped in the battle's chaos.^[12][30]

Later in 1941, Strucker conducted a secret Hydra operation inTunisia, using as a cover another Nazi operation on the same place.^[31] After Captain America, his sideckickBucky and Logan entered into the Hydra headquarters and killed aStrucker impersonator, the real Strucker's location was discovered by Logan, who was ordered bySeraph, a Madripoor agent of Romulus, not to kill him due to new agreements between him and Romulus.^[32] Captured by theU.S. Army, Strucker was later freed by Logan and later rescued by his Nazi allyBaron Heinrich Zemo, arrived in Tunisia with support troops.^[33]

Japanese Hydra[]

Some time before 1943,^[34] Nazi officer theRed Skull, observing how Hitler's Reich was falling in pieces, sent Baron Strucker toJapan. Strucker helped create a secret organization, merging several underground criminal societies, including the Hand, with fugitive members of Nazi Germany andImperial Japan^[35][14][17] and renamed it Hydra.^[36] Strucker killed its leaderRyuji Hiraoka, seizing control of the organization.^[35][14] As theSupreme Hydra, Strucker created the Hydra Base Tsunami, better known as theHydra Island.^[37][14]

Assisting the birth of Strucker's brand new Hydra, the newJonin of theHand tried to unify the two organizations introducing the occult arts and the worship of theBeast inside Hydra. Strucker, who knew that occultism had previously driven Hitler near to madness, fought the Jonin, winning the battle that would keep separated Hydra and the Hand for some time.^[38]

Hydra soon came in to conflict withCaptain Simon Savage and theLeatherneck Raiders.^[39] The crew was captured,^[40] but they were able to fight their way to the base just in time to rescue their men from a firing squad, but they were all able to escape, with Hydra Island partially destroyed.^[35][41]

At some point, the Nazi Germany acquired theSpear of Imhotep, possibly from or with the help of theJapanEmperor, Hirohito.^[24] The Spear was at some point acquired by Baron Strucker.^[42]

Strucker later decided to regain Hitler's favor, drugging Fury after having him captured inAfrica, and offering Hitler the drug's formula. However, Fury was freed by the Howling Commandos.^[43][44] Strucker then returned in Germany, seemingly operating as a loyal Nazi but secretly leading Hydra behind the scenes. Hydra later obtained the Japanese submarine known as theDragon of Death and used it as its new base of operations; Hydra later tried to build an atomic bomb by using knowledge from the future obtained by Strucker in a time-travel withDoctor Doom's Time Machine, but they were defeated by theInvaders.^[45]

Under Strucker's leadership, the Thule Society and Hydra started merging, quickly becoming the one and the same.^[46][47]

By 1944, Hydra had started recruitingS.S. officers into their ranks; a faction, led byBaron Zemo, was active inParis after the liberation ofFrance, in late 1944.^[48]

After World War II[]

During theCold War, Hydra kept on its activities, theRed Army Faction/Baader-Meinhof Gang, theGerman People's Union,Der Republikaners and Neo-Nazis being some of their new faces in Germany, pursuing the goal of obtaining eternal life through science. TheGerman Freedom League who had previously opposed the Thule Society kept fighting Hydra, smuggling scientists under duress from their organizations.^[49]

Hydra manipulated the rises of totalitarianism inChina andNorth Korea to support their agenda.^[50]

Baron Strucker acquired several hordes of Nazi gold, used to fund Hydra activities.^[5][14]

Satanist and fourth richest person in the worldElsbeth von Strucker married Baron Strucker and started funding Hydra in 1957,^[51] seemingly incorporating her own agenda about theSickly Ones,^[52] entities having waited a chosen one for almost four billion years.^[53]

Strucker then reorganized and began to diversify Hydra, re-positioning the organization towards global domination.^[14]

S.H.I.E.L.D. Foundation[]

Before 1961,^[14] a group ofU.S. Government officials began considering the idea of startingProject: S.H.I.E.L.D., intended to evolve into a worldwide espionage top-secret organization dedicated to secureEarth from several threats.^[54] AlthoughC.I.A. agentNick Fury was first considered for a directorial position,^[54] when the organization, ultimately rebrandedS.H.I.E.L.D. and sponsored by theUnited Nations andStark Industries' chairmanHoward Stark,^[55][56] came into existence, C.I.A. colonelRick Stoner was chosen as its first Executive Director.^[14]

TheWheel ofPieta[]

In 1961,Leonardo da Vinci of theBrotherhood of the Shield organized the prominent spymasters of their time in a loose partnership known as theGreat Wheel. Led by Leonardo da Vinci himself as Aries, the Wheel included Hydra's Baron Strucker and theKraken,Nick andJake Fury, theHand's GrandmasterShoji Soma,Leviathan's leadersOrion andMagadan,Thomas Davidson,Timothy Dugan,John Garrett, andCornelius van Lunt.^[42]

The Great Wheel accomplished three retrieval missions for Leonardo da Vinci. The Kraken was part of the group that found theBrood's alien power source inEgypt, and Baron Strucker was part of the group that found specialstasis chambers in theZagros Mountains. InFrance, the Fury brothers and Thomas Davidson found theLeonardo da Vinci's original LMD, which made two moreLMDs ofJake Fury andThomas Davidson, but they kept this a secret. However, Orion and Magadan started operating behind the scenes using the alien technology for Leviathan's own purposes, betraying the Great Wheel after having learned from Davidson how to activate Pieta's secret protocols. As a consequence, the Wheel later disbanded.^[57]

One month after the breaking of the Great Wheel, Strucker and Soma's Hand allied to attackLeviathan, and Strucker used theSpear of Imhotep to stab Orion; the Spear's fate after the battle is unknown.^[42]

In 1965,^[58] S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Stoner was apparently assassinated by Hydra agents, being replaced by Nick Fury as the organization's second Executive Director.^[59][14]

Hydra inside S.H.I.E.L.D.[]

Soon after having become director, Fury recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D. former Great Wheel memberThomas Davidson to built the organization's new technological setup based on the old Leviathan's system, themselves based on originalPieta's protocols. Then, Fury sent theduplicate of Davidson created by Brood's technology in France as an undercover member in Hydra. This way, Strucker learned from "Davidson" how to have access into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s systems and used the protocols to secretly observe the organization's activities; Strucker also had "Davidson" building the entire Hydra's technology spying system, them also based on Pieta's protocols. This way, the real Davidson easily had access to Hydra systems, and Fury used them to observe Hydra while Hydra was observing S.H.I.E.L.D.^[60]

The Rise of Hydra[]

Strucker andBaroness Adelicia von Krupp once captured theC.I.A.'s Agent Ten, Logan, but he was rescued by agentsRichard Parker andMary Parker.^[61]

Hydra then clashed with Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. several times. Since Strucker did not want to expose himself, he foundTHEM, a secret council that oversaw Hydra and its subsidiaries,A.I.M. andSecret Empire, and became known as theGrand Imperator.^[62] THEM then selected a puppet leader for Hydra,Imperial Industries businessmanArnold Brown, who called himself theImperial Hydra. Brown was later killed by an Hydra agent who refused to believe he was the organization's leader after having seen him unmasked.^[63]

During this time, Strucker andDr. Nikolaus Geist secretly carried over theInfinitas Agenda,^[49] a program started duringWorld War II by Strucker'sThule Society.^[26]

After Brown's death, Hydra's subsidiaries A.I.M. and Secret Empire became more active.^[64]

Hydra resurfaced some time later, led by a newSupreme Hydra, Don Antonio Caballero.^[65] Caballero later went undercover in S.H.I.E.L.D. under the identity ofAgent Bronson.^[66] It was eventually revealed thatDon Caballero was Baron Strucker in disguise.^[67] Strucker finally died at the hands of Fury and several deceived Hydra agents.^[62]

The three Hydra subsidiaries, THEM, A.I.M. and the Secret Empire gained independence following Strucker's apparent death.^[14]

A Broken Hydra[]

After Strucker's death,Count Otto Vermis became the newSupreme Hydra. In 1966, he directed an Hydra operation to breakFort Knox, but he was stopped by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury andTim Dugan; Dugan was shot in the mission, where he apparently died.^[68] Fury kept Dugan's body in suspended animation for years, preserving his last glimmer of life and broadcasting his consciousness in severalLMDs who took Dugan's place in S.H.I.E.L.D.^[69][68]

Vermis later moved inEurope, where his Hydra faction was responsible for the creation of the agent later known asSpider-Woman.^[70]

Several Hydra's sections had been later active in theUnited States. One of them, controlled byMadame Hydra, was opposed byCaptain America.^[71][72] Apparently,Baron Strucker returned from the grave, under the new identity of theHood; he hired theBatroc's Brigade and built anandroidBucky in order to take his revenge againstCaptain America for the events of World War II;^[73] Strucker was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and later revealed to be an android created byMachinesmith.^[74] TheHulk then fought an incarnation of Hydra led by an unidentifiedSupreme Hydra twice, one time inCalifornia^[75] and later inNew Mexico;^[76] Captain America then faced an incarnation of Hydra led byRichard Fisk and Red Skull inLas Vegas,Nevada,^[77] whileNew York's Hydra asked crime bossSilvermane to become theirSupreme Hydra; this incarnation was fought byDaredevil.^[78] A firstLMD impersonating Baron Strucker was later defeated by Captain America and theHowling Commandos,^[79] while a second LMD was faced by theX-Men andAlpha Flight.^[80] Finally, aSupreme Hydra led his cell inCanada to attackThe Leader's bunker, but he died in the mission.^[81]

Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.[]

When S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were inNew Mexico to found theHelicarrier's power cube,^[82] a group of Hydra agents arrived to obtain it for themselves.^[83] This Hydra cell operated in Japan, controlled by a newMadame Hydra.^[84] It was eventually revealed that the shadowyS.H.I.E.L.D. Executive Board was controlling Hydra, A.I.M. andRoxxon Corporation behind the scenes, with the Board'sGeneral Director posing as theSupreme Hydra.^[85] Hydra was completely defeated by an assault squad led by Nick Fury in Japan, and Madame Hydra was kept by Fury as a prisoner^[86] and later deported at Tyler Institute for the Criminal Insane.^[87] The S.H.I.E.L.D.'s General Director was then revealed to be aLife Model Decoy built several years before by Hydra scientistArnim Zola and placed insideS.H.I.E.L.D. Space Station by a rogueLMD ofJake Fury who allied himself with Hydra,^[88] and he was ultimately killed by Fury.^[89] S.H.I.E.L.D. was then shut down by theUnited Nations, and Fury went undercover.^[89]

Meanwhile, aLife Model Decoy of Strucker and Dr. Geist continued Hydra'sInfinitas Agenda, developing an army of Super-Soldiers which was unleashed against theCaptain and his fellowAvengers.^[50]

Time later, the U.N. decided to reform S.H.I.E.L.D., now as a smaller organization under Fury's direct control;^[90] Fury then brought to Tony Stark the remains of the Deltite, inside of the which he discovered an hologram of Baron Strucker who revealed that all the Deltite affair was a distraction to keep Fury out of the scenes while Hydra was organising his possible future resurrection.^[88]

Madame Hydra and the Yellow Claw[]

LaterMai-Pan was sent by theYellow Claw to help Madame Hydra escaping the institute;^[91] Hydra was later reformed by Plan Chu and Madame Hydra, who started possessing S.H.I.E.L.D. agentAlexander Pierce to make him her lover.^[92] Madame Hydra died in a battle against S.H.I.E.L.D., Pierce was freed from her control and the true Hydra's new leader revealed himself to the Yellow Claw asWerner von Strucker, Baron Strucker's son.^[93]

Strucker's Return[]

After having seen Hydra's decline with Werner von Strucker's leadership, the Red Skull sent three agents to resurrect the real Baron Wolfgang von Strucker using hisBlack Spore Virus in the formerHydra Island.^[94] Successfully resurrected, Strucker immediately started to reorganize Hydra by killing the leaders of the several splinter cells and uniting them to create a brand new Hydra.^[95] Later, Strucker and his newly recruited lieutenants assaultedNew York City and destroyedS.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters inManhattan, killing 1500 agents in the act.^[96] Hydra lieutenants later ran an operation atArctic Circle, but they were stopped by Fury's agents.^[97]

Hydra successfully placed three secret agents, dubbed theSuper Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. into S.H.I.E.L.D., helped by a brainwashedG.W. Bridge. They were assigned to Nick Fury, who had to train them.^{[98][99][100]} They were unmasked as Hydra agents byIvory,^[101] who was then killed.^[102]

While investigating in the ruins of the destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Nick Fury discovered that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents apparently killed and replaced by the LMDs during theDeltite Affair had not been killed, but kept in stasis in the underground sector of the HQ.^[103] Those agents had been brainwashed into believing themselves to be Hydra agents;Jasper Sitwell,Jimmy Woo andSidney Levine, impersonating theExecutive Board, commandedClay Quartermain to kill Nick Fury, but they were finally freed from Hydra's psychic control.^[104] During the final showdown between Strucker's Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury and his agents were brought toHydrabase inIceland. Fury and his allies defeated Hydra, Strucker escaped and agentKate Neville was killed in the mission.^[105]

Later, aSkrull namedSn'Tlo took control of the New York's Hydra branch, calling himself theSensational Hydra; he captured Captain America and impersonated him during the time Rogers was considered to be the perfectAmerican citizen model, trying to destroy his reputation by faking a Skrull invasion. However, the real Captain escaped and revealed to the world the impostor's real identity.^[106]

Hydra's Civil War[]

Despite his reorganization of the group, various independent Hydra factions continued to operate and a Hydra Civil War would later result. WhileBaron Helmut Zemo had Strucker placed in stasis for his own ends,Gorgon and Strucker's wife Elsbeth mystically created aclone of Strucker who they set up to fail, allowing for a public execution of him.

At some point, legendary Hydra agentKraken went (on his own) toKobe,Japan, and gave theGodkiller blade toTomi Shishido, aka the Gorgon, to help him achieve his destiny.^[107] Gorgon then went to theHand and committed suicide (in order to be resurrected).^[53]

Gorgon became the High Priest of the Hand, their leader, and allied the Hand and theBrotherhood splinter group theDawn of the White Light (that he formerly led as well) with Hydra.^[108]

Elsbeth von Strucker soon considered Gorgon as being the one awaited by theSickly Ones.^[53]

As Gorgon left to follow their goals in leading Hydra,"ushering in the end with infinite resources", the sickly masters of the Hand erected a resurrected "Elektra" as a queen to rule from the East. Elektra, along withWolverine, soon killed the masters and decimated the Hand's ranks.^[109]

WhenEdgar Lascombe took over as leader and under his command, Hydra planned an all out attack on theUnited States by smuggling missiles intoNew York for use in a planned bio-weapon assault on the Ogallala Aquifer. Lascombe know the reason why Hydra had failed so many times, was the lack of superpowers, so they formed a distraction usingclones of the Avengers (Tactical Force instead ofIron Man,Militant asCaptain America,Hammer asThor andBowman asHawkeye, who was dead at the time) but were foiled whenSpider-Man joined the Avengers' new line-up.^[110]

Wheels Within Wheels[]

In the closing days of the foiledSkrullinvasion, Strucker destroyed his undersea baseIchor, which was crawling with Skrull infiltrators. He then changed his plans from subverting the world to conquering it.^[2] Fury then found out that Hydra was controlling S.H.I.E.L.D. since its foundation.^[9] He gathered allies around America to battle the overwhelming threat of Hydra. This included variousCaterpillar teams^{[citation needed]} and theHowling Commandos PMC.^[4]

Strucker learned about this and in turn gathered his new ruling council of Hydra:Viper,Kraken, theHive, andMadame Hydra. To complete this council, they had the Hand resurrect Gorgon.^[2]

This new direction began by stealing technology from secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities around the US, as well as kidnapping psi-agents from the cryo-storage facility known as "Red Worm". Fury'sSecret Warriors attempted to foil Hydra but failed, unprepared for the resurrected Gorgon.^[111] Strucker made an alliance withNorman Osborn, hoping for Osborn to kill Fury. However, he proved unsuccessful.^[112]

Madame Hydra and Viper negotiated with theClan Yashida to gain possession of the Box, a mysterious artifact.Leviathan forces assaulted Hydra, kidnapping Viper. Madame Hydra brought them the Box, passing it off to Hydra as a negotiation to rescue their companion. In truth, she had been working for Leviathan the entire time. Using the Heart contained within the Box,Magadan revived countless Leviathan agents from Overwinter cryostatis, includingOrion, their leader.^{[citation needed]}

This led to an all-out war between Leviathan and Hydra. A discussion between the groups dissolved merely into fighting. However, Strucker was able to get a mole in the Secret Warriors:Hellfire. An assault on a Hydra base inChina by theHC PMC ended disastrously for Fury's side. Fury's Secret Warriors were able to destroy Hydra's main base atGehenna, withPhobos and Hellfire dying in the process.^[113]

Kraken turned on Baron Strucker, taking him captive. AfterFury's son died fighting Hydra, Nick surrendered to them. Kraken put him in a room with Strucker. He then revealed his true identity:Jake Fury. The Fury brothers then revealed the truth to Strucker. During the era of the Great Wheel, they had convinced a paranoidLife Model Decoy ofThomas Davidson to subvert Strucker's organization. Strucker had been working for Fury the whole time. Fury then killed Strucker with a shot to the head.^[114]

Hail H.A.M.M.E.R.[]

Now with Madame Hydra and the Gorgon as their sole leaders, Hydra formed an alliance with Norman Osborn and hisH.A.M.M.E.R.^[115], and Gorgon joined Osborn'sAvengers team as Wolverine.^[116]

After Osborn failed to destroy theAvengers, Madame Hydra uses the remains of H.A.M.M.E.R. to reinforce her Hydra.^[117]

The "New" Hydra[]

A "new" Hydra was created byHydra Queen alongBaron Zemo, soldiers who where trapped inLand of Nowhere, soldiers form the "old" Hydra and new members, under the concept that the "old" Hydra failed at their commitment.^[118]

Captain America attacked Hydra's base and defeated the Hydra Queen andCodename: Bravo. Bravo died after a shot from the Hydra Queen ricocheted off Cap's shield and struck him while the Hydra Queen was put in a coma by Cap and placed in a S.H.I.E.L.D. hospital. Madame Hydra then resume leadership of Hydra once again.^[119]

At some point, Baron Zemo regained leadership of Hydra.^[120] Under Zemo, Hydra managed another massive infiltration, somehow also managing to infiltrate superhero teams. They also started to recruit newInhumans after theTerrigen Mist cloud transformed humans with Inhuman ancestors. One of their recruits, a boy calledLucas, possessed a toxin in his blood that could sterilize human beings. Hydra immediately created an antidote and passed it to all it's members, then started systematically pumping Luca's blood to spread it across the world, thus effectively taking over the world within the next generation.^[121] Once they had enough blood, Zemo recruited a group of supervillains to release portions of Lucas' blood in various parts of the world in a way that it will hit major population points. But they were opposed bySam Wilson, the new Captain America after Rogers was depowered, and Rogers' sonNomad.^[120] Wilson managed to stop all the villains from releasing the toxin, while both Nomad and Zemo apparently died after the latter set his base to self destruct.^[122] In reality, Zemo survived and was secretly placed by S.H.I.E.L.D. in their reality-altering prison known asPleasant Hill.^[123] Madame Hydra was also captured during the ordeal, leaving Hydra without a leader.^[124]

Some time later, Wilson helped a hacktivist known as theWhisperer evade S.H.I.E.L.D. custody after leaking several confidential files. The Whisperer repaid Wilson with intel on Hydra, extracted directly from them. In the following six months, Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. used the data to cripple the organization and leave it virtually non-existent.^[125]

Gorgon, Hydra's remaining figurehead, began a plot to wipe out Earth's superheroes^[126] in order to gain the credibility needed to re-unify the remnants of Hydra. He was eventually stopped and captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and a team of heroes.^[127] Also, various independent Hydra cells have been shown to remain active despite the organization's lack of central leadership.^{[6][128][129]} They presumably operate independently from one another.

War for Hydra[]

Later, theRed Skull reconstituted a new Hydra from the ground up, attracting various Neo-Nazi, white supremacist and fascist groups to his new cause, to change the world to the Skull's image. The Skull's Hydra returned back to operating under nazism, unlike the previous iterations of the modern Hydra.^[130] This new Hydra also resorted to more direct methods than in the past, recruiting political extremists, using guerrilla tactics and carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians in America and Western Europe.^[131]

To carry out his goals, Skull convinced the sentient Cosmic CubeKobik to turn his enemy Steve Rogers intoa Hydra agent. To this end, Kobik replaced the real Captain America with a twisted version of himself from a version of history Kobik herself manufactured, one in which Rogers was indoctrinated into Hydra since he was young.^[132] While he swore loyalty toward Skull, Rogers repudiated Skull's vision of Hydra and set out to kill him.^[133] Rogers eventually got his chance to kill the Red Skull when the he was finally captured by theAvengers Unity Division, andBeast surgically removedCharles Xavier's brain from his.^[134]

Meanwhile,Elisa Sinclair reappeared asMadame Hydra after Steve's memories were altered by Kobik.^[135] She came toTomi Shishido, offering him to restore his empire, the Spear in the East, by joining the new Hydra High Council,^[136] along withZola,Faustus, the newKraken,Hive,Viper and Captain America.

After escaping from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, a weakened Red Skull went to his private estate in Germany to rest. That was when Rogers made his move. He beat the Skull to a pulp before hurling him through a window, sending the Skull to his death. With the Skull out of the way, Rogers took his place as the head of Hydra.^[137]

CommandingS.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America, helped by Elisa, the High Council, and infiltrators in both S.H.I.E.L.D.^[11] andA.I.M.,^[138] was able to take overtake the agency, while recalling Hydra of its past, rejecting both the Red Skull's influence and the Wheel of Pieta, intending to rule it instead.^[11]

Secret Empire[]

After taking control of Hydra, Rogers spent months of planning that would allow Hydra to take over theUnited States. He took possession ofChitauri queen eggs that causes a wave of trillions of Chitauri to launch an invasion of Earth. Rogers' allyBaron Zemo assembled ateam of villains to launch an attack on Manhattan. Both incidents lured out many of America's superheroes to fight off the threats. Rogers then activated thePlanetary Defense Shield to halt the Chitauri invasion and to strand the superheroes fighting them while Zemo andBlackout stranded the heroes in Manhattan as well as much of the island itself behind a dome of Darkforce. All of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assets were also taken over by Hydra with the help ofDoctor Faustus' mind-controlling technique.

Due to theS.H.I.E.L.D. Act, in light of the two emergencies, Rogers had been legally appointed as interim executive of the government, and political leaders were subsequently placed in "protective custody" by Hydra.^[139] Over the following months, Hydra consolidated its hold over the United States, twisting the narrative in Hydra's favor via censorship and media manipulation, and encouraging the people's receptiveness with mind-altering substances in water supplies.^[140] Mutant resistance was avoided by granting them a sovereign state in the form ofNew Tian whileInhumans were prosecuted and imprisoned in camps.^[141]

Hydra's reign came to an end when, following countless trials and tribulations, a group of rebel superheroes known as theUnderground launched one final attack against Hydra's main congregation inWashington, D.C.. Hydra's main players and troops were taken down by the heroes, withSharon Carter shutting down their entire float of airships, causing them to crash into the ground.^[13] The fascist Steve Rogers was stopped when the real Captain America was returned by Kobik. Following several weeks of adjustments, the United States managed to return to normality.^[142]

Assets and Offshoots[]

Throughout its long history Hydra has created several subsidiaries and front companies, a few of which have splintered off into independent organizations that follow their own agendas.^[9] Hydra has been an extremely wealthy organization, one that had more cash than most nation-states had in their reserves. Prior to the recent global wide conflict between Hydra andLeviathan, Hydra had $900 billion which they were able to discreetly recover from various holdings, while the world was focused on the superhuman civil war in the United States.^[2]

• THEM - THEM was the central committeeBaron Strucker set up to direct operations of two of Hydra's subsidiaries:Advanced Idea Mechanics and theSecret Empire.^[143][144] Perhaps THEM's most notable achievement was reviving theRed Skull from suspended animation.^[145]
  • Advanced Idea Mechanics - A.I.M. started as Hydra's science arm, outfitting their parent organization with advanced weaponry. A.I.M. is responsible for the development of theCosmic Cube, and the creation ofM.O.D.O.K.^[145][146]
  • Secret Empire - Started by a scientist that felt like an anonymous nobody, the Secret Empire was originally used by Hydra as a means of distraction.^[147] During their attempt at conquering the United States it was revealed that their leader,Number One was actually a high ranking member of the U.S. Government.^[148]
• Typhon Group - One of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, the Typhon Group is both a well-known provider of vaccines to third world countries and, quietly, the global leader in the creation of chemical weapons.^[9]
• Echidna Capital Management - Echidna Capital Management is a venture capital firm committed to funding (and through funding gaining a controlling stake in) businesses on the cutting edge of several key areas such as genetic engineering, new media, nanotechnology, next-generation military systems, and aerospace engineering & manufacturing.^[9]
• Merovech Investment Group - The Merovech Investment Group was founded and funded byBaron Wolfgang von Strucker. It was used as a cover to Hydra's activities inNew York and to secretly fundAbe Jenkins' newThunderbolts team.^[10]

Moments in Hydra history[]

• Hydra agents attacked the wedding ofReed Richards andSue Storm.^[149]
• TheFixer working with Hydra to kidnap the amnesiacNamor.^{[citation needed]}
• Clashing withInterpol agentsCassidy andPatrick Lipton.^[150]
• Clashing withMystique.^{[citation needed]}
• A youngRemy LeBeau destroying a Hydra ship.^{[citation needed]}
• Silver Fox targeting Logan.^{[citation needed]}
• Hydra administering Project: New Genesis.^{[citation needed]}
• Ivan Trefkov, the murderer ofErnst Sablinov formed an alliance with Hydra at some point.^{[citation needed]}

Other Members[]

Main article:Hydra (Earth-616)/Members

• A.I.M. Ship
• Terror-Carrier
• Hydra Flying Island ("New" Hydra)
• Hydra Shuttle
• Pride of Lerna
• Dreadnoughts
• Jumpships

• Although theSpear of Imhotep is no longer the public symbol for the eastern brotherhood that eventually transitioned into Hydra,Jake Fury, under the guise of theKraken, stated to his "fellow"Hydra leaders that they were the Spear, while their opponents, led byNick Fury, were theShield.^[4] Also,Baron Strucker himself wielded the Spear of Imhotep.^[42]
  • Imhotep's Spear inspired another organization,S.P.E.A.R.,^[151] but Hydra and S.P.E.A.R. are enemies.^[152]
  • Zhang Heng's status isblurry: His affiliation is not listed inS.H.I.E.L.D. (Vol. 2) #1, but he is described as part theBrotherhood of the Shield inHistory of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #2. However, he is known for holding the Spear of Imhotep, so the Spear logically makes more sense.^[21]
  • The Gorgon was named byMadame Hydra "the Spear in the East."^[136]
  • TheHydra Captain America stated that theGreat Wheel included "the Shield, the Spear, theLeviathan";^[11] the Spear is referring to Hydra.^[42]
• Captain America once claimed that Baron Strucker formed Hydra in October 1st, 1945,^[153] but that would be afterWorld War II, which cannot possibly be true.^[41]

• As pointed out at marvunapp.com theGreen Terror (3Xs Foe)'s men's uniforms^[154] resemble Hydra uniforms minus the yellow H (they could be members of the unnamed Hydra in Hydra's origin).
• Hydra is a pastiche of the would-be world conquerors of SPECTRE from the James Bond franchise, and itself influenced the creation of several other fictional organizations, the fascist Cobra in theG.I. Joe franchise, the death cult Kobra from DC Comics, the fascist SHADOW in theMutants & Masterminds paper and pencil roleplaying game franchise, and the fascist VIPER in theChampions paper and pencil roleplaying game.

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