History
The Liberators were a multinational group of superpowered villains that invaded the United States of America. They had support, at least tacitly, from the governments of China, France, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and Syria. Various elements within those governments considered America a threat, but they could not hope to win a conventional war. Instead they put together a small but powerful strike force, which they could recruit, train, and deploy in secret. These "super troops" would occupy key cities and capture key personnel. To counter the American government's superpowered heroes (the Ultimates), the force included each country's version of a super soldier, a group they dubbed the Liberators, along with thousands of "foot soldiers" in battle suits that granted them flight and class three super-strength, but shortened their lifespan to one month.
The strike force through planning were able to severely weaken the Ultimates before the invasion even started. The Ultimates dropped Henry Pym from their roster, so out of revenge he contributed a set of Ultron robots to the strike force. The Hulk was thought to be executed after Bruce Banner was exposed as the Hulk. Loki through his powers over reality had convinced SHIELD that Captain America and Thor were traitors. The traitorous Black Widow gave many of SHIELD's secrets to the Liberators and arranged for the murder of the Barton family and the kidnapping of Hawkeye.
Their planning enabled them to succeed in the first days of the invasion. The invaders occupied key cities, bested the Ultimate Reserves, and made prisoners of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Spider-Man, the president, Quicksilver, and the Scarlet Witch. Only the Wasp remained at large.[1]
The plan began to unravel when Hawkeye escaped and freed Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Iron Man learned that the Black Widow had betrayed the team and put her out of commission. The Wasp broke Captain America out of prison. The Liberators now had to do what the plan demanded: battle the Ultimates directly, on their own turf.[2]
In a battle royale, the Liberators found themselves no match for their American counterparts. The Hulk killed the Abomination; Captain America defeating Schizoid Man and stabbing the Colonel with his own weapon; Iron Man vaporizing the Crimson Dynamo; Quicksilver disintegrating Hurricane; and the Wasp, after becoming a giant, stomps on Swarm.[3] Perun later surrendered, making him the only survivor of the team. Loki attempted to use his powers to destroy the Ultimates and continue "World War III", but due to the intervention of Thor and his father Odin was himself defeated.[4]
In the aftermath, China and Russia distanced themselves from having any links with the Liberators and stated of offering both aid to a war-torn America and a "full investigation" of the Liberators.[4]
Liberators[]
- The Colonel (Iran) - Abdul al-Rahman was a thin and sickly 17-year-old Muslim boy from Iranian Azerbaijan who witnesses the Captain America led invasion of his country.[5] Angered by these event volunteers for an experimental program and becomes the Middle Eastern version of Captain America, as well as the only other person to survive the Super-Soldier process.[5] He is later killed by Captain America in battle, who uses the Colonel's own weapon to do so.[3] However, his body was taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. and sent to Dr. Branklin.
- Abomination (China) - Dr. Chang Lam, is the Chinese version of the Hulk. Abomination possesses supposedly greater strength but retains his genius intellect. He is light green and gigantic, but is bald, has pointed ears, scales on his shoulders, and a tail. The Abomination is later killed by the Hulk. The Hulk mocked his belief that his greater intellect made him more dangerous than the Hulk. Dr. Lam's strength is at a set level, while the Hulk's grows with his rage.[3]
- Crimson Dynamo (China) - Alex Su, is a Chinese analogue of Iron Man who has been fused with his Crimson Dynamo Armor and can fight independently or with his 50 giant-sized duplicates. He was killed by Iron Man shortly after abandoning the Colonel's orders and opening fire on American civilians.[3]
- Perun (Russia) - nicknamed a "Soviet Thor" who appears to have the same belt and vest that Thor wore and wields a hammer and a sickle with both hands. He is named after the Slavic thunder god Perun. He surrendered to the US Military after the deaths of the other Liberators, citing this fact as his reason for surrender. Perun later briefly joined Nick Fury's Avengers.[4][6]
- Hurricane (North Korea) - is an unnamed genetically and surgically enhanced woman with superhuman speed. The Korean version of Quicksilver. Hurricane boasted that she could out run Quicksilver, but provoked Quicksilver to such a point that he grabbed hold of her and showed the extent of his own power, tearing her body apart in the process.[3]
- Swarm (Syria) - Petra Laskov, is a mutant woman with the ability to control any insect, millions at a time. Petra Laskov was actually Georgian but worked for the Syrian government. It was believed she was killed by Janet Pym, but later resurfaced as part of Nick Fury's Avengers with the codename Red Wasp.[3][7]
- The Schizoid Man (France) - was an unnamed operative of a rogue arm of the French government. He was augmented with stem cells stolen from the mutant Jamie Madrox that give him the same ability to create duplicates of himself. Prior to his assignment to the Liberators, he is said to have single-handedly stopped riots in France. He was defeated by Captain America but was not killed.[3]
- Loki (Norway/Asgard) - The Asgardian God of Mischief and half-brother of Thor. Loki allied himself with the Liberators because he found the concept of World War III amusing, and as the ultimate work of mischief. He told the Colonel that since the Ultimates have their own Norse God, "it's only fair that [the Liberators] have one as well". When the Liberators got defeated, Loki unleashed his supernatural powers to summon an army of Asgardian monsters, such as trolls, giants and gargantuan wolves. This invasion force was defeated by the Ultimates and an army of Asgardian Viking warriors (summoned by Thor) before Thor banished Loki back to Asgard so he could be judged by Odin.[4]
Notes
- Despite all of the Liberators being relatively powerful themselves, all of them except Loki and possibly The Colonel seem to be nothing but cheap imitations of the Ultimate with each being severely out classed by their respective counterparts.
See Also
- 5 appearance(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 1 minor appearance(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 1 mention(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 8 image(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)
- 12 member(s) of Liberators (Earth-1610)