Nick Fury

Nicholas J. Fury is the Director of SHIELD, a super espionage/military organization devoted to world peace.

Background

Nick Fury was born in 1917 in Hell's Kitchen, NYC. His pop was a WW1 aviator, and Nick always saw joining the Army as the means of getting out of his circumstances. He learned to box as a kid, training with a local gym as a means to keep him out of trouble. His schoolwork wasn't stellar and there wasn't enough money especially during the Depression, so college was out of the question. Nick never had problems with doing an honest day's work, but his goal was to join the Army and serve his country. He got his chance in WW2, enlisting as a private and quickly earning his sergeant's stripes. As a sergeant, he led a soon-to-be elite unit called the Howlin' Commandos, perhaps one of the few racially integrated units in the Army. He never learned how to be racist or a bigot, judging men (and women) based on their actions, not on their gender or the color of their skin. The Howlers were instrumental in the European theatre, and Nick learned of the existence of metahumans and super soldiers, even fighting along side and learning the secret identity of Captain America himself. At the tail end of the war, Nick was injured and was treated by a shady scientist named Professor Sternberg, who injected him with something called the Infinity Formula. Unfortunately, Sternberg wasn't able to save his left eye, and Nick eventually went on to lose 95% sight in it, wearing an eyepatch from then on.

'course, a soldier as good as Nick couldn't be left to fade away. He was tapped to run some shady ops in Korea, beginning his tenure with OSS and the CIA and other similar groups. By the time the Korean Conflict was over, Nick was a full-bird colonel, a far cry from his days as a mere sergeant, but he never forgot his roots. The distance between himself and his men began to widen as he kept having to keep more secrets, but he still took care of his people, even at the potential loss of life and limb. Still, he kept in touch with many of the surviving Howlers, particularly Dum Dum Dugan, and while he wore suits more often than fatigues in his role as super spy and master of espionage, Nick kept doing jobs both for and in the military and also out of it, in the civilian world, but always for the US government. Most of his work in the 50s and 60s was blackops in nature or stuff that will never be declassified, to hell with the Freedom of Information Act. He traveled all over the globe and was quietly instrumental in various military successes for the American government, although more and more of his work was on an international level, often at the behest of the UN. It was then that he was approached to join a new organization.

Nick was brought in and dazzled with a lot of cool tech, bankrolled by some kid named Tony Stark, but he wasn't buying this story until he saw what the group was meant to do: keep the peace and stop the bad guys. SHIELD needed a director at the top that couldn't be bought, and Nick had earned himself that reputation. It also needed someone who would do what it takes to get the job done. It needed someone who didn't have patience for beancounters, who took care of its people, and Nick was that. He took on the job of director and put his stamp on it. He installed his old friend Dugan as his right-hand man and led SHIELD through adventures in the Far East, in Africa, in Europe itself, in America, everywhere they were needed. Their mandate has been global, bankrolled by the UN more than the US, although always with a close association with the US military and spy organizations that spawned it. Metahumans were included in SHIELD's roster at Nick's behest, although there aren't many, and SHIELD spent a great deal of time working with various supertights groups, particularly the JLA and occasionally the X-Men, although the latter is frowned upon. SHIELD of course has fought against other organizations that serve the cause of evil, particularly HYDRA, founded by his old WW2 enemy Baron von Strucker. If Nick had a nemesis, it's Strucker. Nick also has other more recent nemeses, the villain Scorpio being one of them. It was to Nick's anger and chagrin that the founder of the Zodiac cartel was his own damned brother. While their tussles involved switching identities and trying to take out each other's groups, the end result was Jacob dead by suicide and that Jacob's son was actually Nick's from a time when they were involved with the same woman. Nick also had to deal with the fact that he had to keep taking an annual injection of the Infinity Formula, else he'd age rapidly and die. And Sternberg was extorting him for money in increasing amounts. There were up sides to all of these escapades. He found a classy lady that he loved and who loved him, although he still thinks Val's out of his league.

Of course, being the head of a large international organization whose mandate was to stop the bad guys, that meant that Nick was A Liability to certain segments of the government, and also Trouble for people who wanted SHIELD out of the way or working for them. They soon learned that Nick was untouchable directly, but they wormed their way into SHIELD, planting moles, taking control of things and not informing the director, and otherwise destroying SHIELD's effectiveness. Stymied by stupid or devious politicians, his organization usurped from within, Nick goes to ground and launches a campaign to take down his own organization. SHIELD sent its top agents to stop him, restraining his known allies to keep them from helping him, but eventually they found out that SHIELD was under the control of sentient LMDs called Deltites. Captured and tortured, Nick refused to help them and managed to escape and bring SHIELD down. Retiring, he took a few of his newer agents and split, leaving even Val and Dum Dum behind.

It took some doing from his old compeers, but the big boys with the money wanted a new SHIELD, and they weren't above using Nick's old friends to try and talk him into coming back. Nick's one demand: SHIELD had to be smaller and answerable to him, he wasn't about to have it get too big and bloated that he couldn't oversee it properly. SHIELD took on Neo-Nazis and Baron von Strucker (again and again) and Nick lost some good people... but he also regained Val in his life, which made it all worthwhile. With the explosion of the public internet and more tech for him to shake his head at, Nick's led SHIELD with its new acronym through at least two deaths (although they were advanced LMDs both times), and he keeps his one good eye on everyone and has been censured and threatened by politicians in multiple countries for refusing to do their bidding and being openly intolerant of the corrupt. He's led campaigns against several people and organizations and even rogue countries, leading to his temporary removal as director of SHIELD, but he always comes back, vindicated or exonerated.

Personality

Gruff/Private: Nick is something of a gruff and aloof sort of person when he's not with his immediate inner circle of friends. He doesn't tend to be outgoing and often seems to be wearing a frown, which doesn't help open conversations with strangers. He tends to cherish his privacy and doesn't appreciate people poking their noses into his personal life. He knows that a lot of what he's done is still classified, but even so, he doesn't like to talk about it.

No-Nonsense/Cynical: Fury doesn't put up with any shenanigans. His sense of humor is reserved for his inner circle if at all, and he's by the book while on duty for SHIELD, unless a creative solution is needed to a problem. He's more likely to shoot someone who's joking around as look at them. This also means Nick is something of a cynic. He's not the idealist that Captain America is, he's seen far too much of humanity to believe in their ultimate goodness.

Integrity/White Hat: While there are a lot of dirty things Nick can and will do to back up his superiors, at the end of the day, Nick Fury is a good man and will shoot straight with someone being honest with him. He can't be bought or bribed, and he will not tolerate the corruption of his people in SHIELD. He also keeps his promises and remembers when someone does him a favor. He believes in honor and decency and has drawn a line in the sand against evil. On his side, the good guys. Heaven help the people on the other side.

Regular Joe: Nick's a regular joe and always will be. He started out as a private and earned his way up the ranks to Colonel. He's never felt any urge to make lots of money or to put on airs. He's still that kid from Hell's Kitchen who didn't have much to eat and who worked hard to get where he is now.

Hardened: Nick's seen far more than anyone should have to. He's fought against the Nazis, the Commies, and every kind of war out there. If there were an opposite of 'naive', it's Nick.

Powers

Not a damned one.

Skills

• Nick Fury has been trained since he joined up on martial arts of varying skillsets, training long enough and hard enough that he can keep up with Captain America. He's more of a boxer than martial artist, although he has a black belt in tae kwon do, and a brown belt in jiujitsu.
• He's trained with most military firearms since World War 2, including the stuff the Russkies used and gave out like candy to their satellite countries during the Cold War. This includes most pistols and rifles of military grade, as well as rocket launchers, mortars, and other such fine toys of the military trade. He prefers a nice warm Glock most of the time.
• Nick's also trained on melee weapons such as knives, quarterstaff, fencing, and he sleeps with a k-bar under his pillow at night. He's also good with ranged weapons such as thrown knives, bow and arrow, and other such non-techie weapons.
• Due to his various tours of duty with the US Government and with SHIELD, Nick's also been trained on a number of military ground vehicles, including jeeps, humvees, deuces, etc. This includes power boats and many later vehicles. He knows how to sail in a vague way, but leaves that to squids if he can get away with a nice powered boat instead.

• Nick's skill as a pilot is pretty good. He's rated on a number of fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, both military and civilian, both instruments or without. He can even do quite well with SHIELD's flying cars when he's so inclined.

• Nick's something of a military historian, having studied it since World War 2 as a method for learning how to avoid the same mistakes in the past. He's a brilliant tactician, whether the mission is an over-the-hill charge, or a black ops infiltration and espionage affair. He can think on his feet and change plans mid-fight to ensure the completion of the mission and the survival of the people involved.

• Nick's espionage skills are pretty unparalleled. He's got a full range of disguises to allow him to go undercover, and he learned all the spy tricks from the days of the OSS back in the War and through its transition into the CIA. It actually amuses him that the old-school tricks of the trade are coming back into fashion because of too much reliance on technology.

• Nick's been in the military most of his life, so he knows how to walk the walk, how to talk the talk, and how to respect the chain of command (and when not to).

• Nick also plays a mean hand of poker and often hosts a poker night amongst his associates, including beer, munchies, and the occasional fight.

• Leadership is not something Nick ever read out of a book. He learned it the hard way, and it's one of the reasons that SHIELD is his outfit and why people clamor to get to play on Nick's team. It's well known both within SHIELD and outside of it that Fury is not a lead-from-behind kind of officer. There's nothing he ever asks of his people that he himself isn't willing to do, and he will go through hell and back to bring his people home safely. He knows how to find out how best to use his people's skills and to get them to do their best, whether it be to tell someone to suck it up, cupcake when they're having trouble or to give them a helping hand.

Boons

• Nick has three main boons to help his daily life. Being the Director for SHIELD, he has top-level access to all of its tinkertoys, including the famed Helicarrier, flying cars, LMDs, weaponry, spy gear, vehicles, more weapons, ammo, communications gear, the whole kit and kaboodle that is that roving paramilitary organization.

• Nick's got a metric ton of associates, having made them over 90 years of life and outliving the oldest ones. He still keeps in touch with the old Howlin' Commandos and various military folks he's met over the years. He's also become aware of the metahuman community and has many ties to them, either old friends or acquaintances he's worked with over the years. He's got a stack of favors he can call in if need be. Given his position at SHIELD, he knows everyone there is to know and whose tree to bark up if he needs to get something done and now, dammit.

• He's got a personal accountant to take his paycheck and keep it ticking over. He's not rich, and he likes it that way, but he's not a poor schmuck living off Social Security either. His investment portfolio, he couldn't tell you what's in it, but it's decent enough to keep him in ammo, booze, and cigars, not in that order either.

Flaws

• Nick's 95% blind in his left eye due to shrapnel in World War 2, and he wears a patch over it. It impedes some of his marksmanship skills and also makes him more liable to be blindsided from the left.

• Nick's over 90 years old, chronologically. He remembers stuff that even people's grandparents don't remember anymore. By all rights, he should've been dead decades ago, and there are times he really feels his age, particularly when he's reminded of all the people he's lost over the years. This feeling gets more and more intense as the years go on and the world keeps changing at an exponential rate.

• Nick is, unfortunately, a public figure. People know his name, his face, his rank, and some of the unclassified exploits from his past. Due to the vast number of enemies he's made over the years, this also means there are assassination attempts against him with alarming frequency. He also has difficulty going out in public sometimes due to being recognized.

• Nick's been smoking since he was nearly a kid, and for some reason, it hasn't killed him yet. He's controlled enough so that he doesn't act like an addict, but he'll get mighty cranky if he doesn't get at least one stogie every once in awhile.

• Fury is probably the least diplomatic officer in the entire UN's arsenal of military folks. If the brass is being stupid, he'll say so. He doesn't give a damn about whether he's insulting a dumb policy from the President (should such a thing come down the pike), and he refuses to be silenced. He doesn't bother playing politics and has no time for the people who do. The only time he ever does play politics is when it comes time to get more money for SHIELD's budget.

• SHIELD itself can be a liability. It's a huge multinational organization. There's simply no way Nick can oversee the whole shebang, but he's made it clear just how pissed he'll get if people start running their own operations without clearing it with him first. SHIELD's resources can be misused, both from within and without. Just don't let Nick catch that happening, or there will be hell to pay.

• Nick grew up in a much simpler time, technologically. He's always had an uneasy relationship with all the newfangled doodads that his people come up with. He's fairly quick to adapt, but he has no patience for people relying on technology to the exclusion of using their own brains, and sometimes technology doesn't much like him either.

Wanted Characters

SHIELD FCs: Contessa Valentina de Allegro Fontaine, Dum Dum Dugan, Jasper Sitwell, Jimmy Woo, Sharon Carter, etc.

OCs that want to claim intense top of the line military/espionage training. Also wanted: interns, recruits, eggheads/nerds

FCs that might work in an espionage/military group.

Logs Including Nick Fury

• Welcome to the 21st Century, Captain: Nick greets the newly-revived Captain America and fills him in on the short version of what's happened in the past 60 years.
• Laying a Foundation: Nick and Tony discuss what to do with Captain America.
• Girl Without a World, But Not Without a Home.: Nick gets introduced to Rikki Barnes at Steve Rogers' place and offers to help her get on her feet.
• Recruitment Drive - After their encounter, Whisper and Logos talk while both are being kept cooling their heels, not leaving the Helicarrier and not quite being told what's going on yet. Eventually, Colonel Fury shows up to have his say. Apparently, they did well.