Contents 1 History 2 Alternate Realities 2.1 House of M 2.2 Ultimate Universe 2.3 Bullet Points 2.4 Zombiverse 2.5 Marvel Noir (Earth-90214) 2.6 Insane Impossible Man (Earth-14845) 2.7 Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Animated Series) (Earth-80920) 2.8 The Avengers (film) (Earth-199999) 3 Notes 4 Trivia 5 See Also 6 Links and References

History

The Helicarrier, an aircraft carrier specifically designed to be itself capable of independent powered flight in addition to the standard functions of aircraft carriers, is the world headquarters and signature capital ship of the extragovernmental intelligence/defense agency S.H.I.E.L.D..

Built by Stark Industries and designed by Tony Stark, Dr. Reed Richards, and former X-Man Forge. In addition to housing a wing of fighters and other aircraft, the Helicarrier bristles with advanced weaponry, including an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The first Helicarrier was proposed by Stark Industries as a political compromise among the signatories of the treaty in response to fears that any nation hosting the Directorate's main headquarters would be subject to attack by organizations such as HYDRA with domestic political fallout sure to follow immediately thereafter.

Constructed in secret there are at least eight Helicarriers have been built over the decades, and at least two have been in simultaneous service in the last decade on several occasions. Also, at least six Helicarriers have been named over the years:

• Luxor (not yet seen - a class prototype)
• Behemoth (smaller version used by SHIELD's Godzilla Squad)
• Hermes (allegedly scuttled after being hi-jacked by the Red Skull)
• Argus (a Luxor-class Helicarrier)
• Black Hawk (destroyed in action against HYDRA-Hand alliance)
• Alpha
• Pericles V (infiltrated by the vampiric Order of Tyrana and scuttled by Blade)

It is not yet known what criteria S.H.I.E.L.D. has used to name the Helicarriers.

When Tony Stark himself became Director of SHIELD, he ordered construction of a red-and-gold Helicarrier in the motif of his Iron Man Armor. This helicarrier was destroyed by the Red Hulk.

The main S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is disabled by a computer virus unleashed by a Skrull agent posing as Edwin Jarvis as part of the Secret Invasion. When the Invasion was over and Norman Osborn the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (now called H.A.M.M.E.R, he soon ordered to dismantle it, to build his own H.A.M.M.E.R. Hellicarrier.

After the Siege of Asgard, Steve Rogers became world's new Top Cop, deposing Norman Osborn and dismantling H.A.M.M.E.R., but without reinstalling S.H.I.E.L.D.

After the attack of the Serpent and the return of H.A.M.M.E.R., Rogers decided to reactivate S.H.I.E.L.D. and build a new Helicarrier.^[1][2]

Alternate Realities

House of M

The Helicarriers of the House of M Universe were owned and operated by Magnus' House of M.

Ultimate Universe

The Ultimate version of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a fleet of airborne aircraft carriers (prior to the assault by the Liberators), one of which was referred to, at one point, as the Helicarrier. They aren't S.H.I.E.L.D. primary HQ, being the Triskelion this. The engines that keep the carriers aloft were designed by Tony Stark and were modular enough to be used in a space shuttle by the Ultimate Fantastic Four. These fleets of Helicarriers are smaller than the Earth-616 Helicarriers and are more conventional aircraft carrier shape, but are far more plentiful.

Bullet Points

The Helicarrier of the Bullet Points reality was fortified and upgraded by SHIELD Director Reed Richards.

Zombiverse

The Helicarrier of the Zombiverse was used as the last remaining base of the resistance to the Zombie-contagion.^[3]

Marvel Noir (Earth-90214)

The Army Air Force built a "Dirigi-Carrier", a airborne battleship kept in midair by dirigibles right underneath the vessel. The Dirigi-Carrier was used as the base of the Office of National Emergency (O*N*E*).

Insane Impossible Man (Earth-14845)

On Earth-14845, The Impossible Man has the ability to shape-shift anything he wants to at will. When The Controller slaps a Slave Disc on him, The Impossible Man goes crazy, and crashes the SHIELD Helicarrier before transporting all of the agents along with the rest of the people in Washington, D.C. to "Mouse-Land" in California.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Animated Series) (Earth-80920)

S.H.I.E.L.D. utilizes this Helicarrier in this animated series as it's main HQ.

The Avengers (film) (Earth-199999)

Depicted in The Avengers (2012), the Helicarrier is a seaworthy ship capable of VTOL flight by way of four huge lift fans mounted on the sides. It has two runways, one with direct access to a hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel and is used for forward launches of aircraft, and the other diagonally aligned runway above is suitable for landings. The carrier was heavily damaged in an attack, yet was still able to limp to open water on the strength of only three of its colossal fans.

Notes

• The British organization W.H.O. utilized a Helicarrier of their own.
• According to intel gathered by project Livewire, five Helicarriers are known to have been wrecked, two off the coast of NYC ^[4], though several more are known to have been lost since then.
• One of the crashed helicarriers was re-built by an illegal black ops project and subsequently destroyed by the Livewires.
  

Trivia

• No trivia.

See Also

• S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier's Comic Appearances
• Vehicle Gallery: S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier
• Images that include S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

Links and References

• None.