SCORPIO
Real Name: Jacob "Jake" Fury
Identity/Class: Android (LMD), technology user
formerly, human, technology user (World War 2 era
to modern era)
Occupation: Spy, terrorist, crimelord; former scientist and soldier, occasional race car driver (as Scarlotti)
Group Membership: HYDRA, Zodiac Cartel, Zodiac (LMDs)
Affiliations: Amber D'Alexis, the Deltite,
Nick Fury
LMD, Jack
Norriss, Quicksilver;
as a Scorpio, he presumably
has some association with Set;
see also the Catalogue
of Correspondences for Set from Ian McNee's reading of the First Tarot
Enemies: Avengers (Hawkeye, Iron Man, Mockingbird, Moon Knight, Henry Pym, Tigra, Wonder Man), Defenders (Hellcat, Hulk, Nighthawk, Valkyrie (Brunnhilde/Barbara Norriss)), Nick Fury, Colonel Klaue, S.H.I.E.L.D., Rick Stoner, Zodiac Cartel
Known Relatives: Jack Fury (father, deceased), Katherine Fury (mother, presumed deceased), Nicholas Joseph Fury (brother), Dawn Fury (sister), Mikel Fury (Scorpio, nephew)
Aliases: Count Julio Scarlotti, Zodiac Master; impersonated Nick Fury and Jacques LaPoint
Base of Operations: The Ankh
Dimension;
formerly, a Zodiac base at an unrevealed location
the
Theater of Genetics, Belleville, New Jersey
Las Vegas, Nevada
Dimension Research, Macao
Hell's Kitchen, Brooklyn, New York
First Appearance: (as Jake Fury) Strange Tales
I#159 (August, 1967);
(as Scorpio) Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1
(June, 1968)
Powers/Abilities: Scorpio had a sleep gas inside of his costume, and was a master of disguise.
Scorpio's chief weapon in all of his incarnations was the Zodiac Key; initially, Scorpio only used the Key to teleport himself, create force fields, and generate energy blasts; later, he learned how to transform himself into water, and could use the Key to create LMDs, drawing upon energies from the Zodiac constellations; after Scorpio had become an LMD himself, he proved able to teleport the entire 12-member roster of the Zodiac with him, and to send himself and others to the Ankh Dimension, but the Key had demonstrated such a high level of sentience by then that it would not always respond the way he desired it to, refusing to function in any way that would end conflict.
At one point as an LMD, Scorpio wore a costume outfitted with a powerful neurotoxin released from his outfit's hands. This outfit was also designed to help him burrow into the earth easily. Later, he either wore gloves or had technology implanted in his hands which allowed him to fire blasts of venom.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 185 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown
History: (Strange Tales I#159 (fb)) - Jake Fury was the younger brother of Nick Fury. He grew up with his brother and sister Dawn in Hell's Kitchen by their mother, their father Jack having died when they were all young.
(Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.#4 (fb)) - Jake and Nick sometimes dressed up as the "Boogie Man" to scare couples off the rooftops at night, with Nick sitting on top of Jake's shoulders and a cloak draped over them.
(Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#68-69) - During World War 2, Jake took a decidedly anti-war position, believing that America was wrong to have entered the war, even after his brother Nick became a hero in the Howling Commandos. When Nick came home from Europe to visit his family, he and Jake came to blows over their opposing views. When Nick was captured by his enemy Colonel Klaue, Jake met the Howling Commandos, who had come in search of Nick. They found that Nick had been brainwashed by Klaue, and after saving him from Klaue, Jake helped Nick recover. After his firsthand experience with the Howlers, Jake decided that he would enlist.
(Fury I#1 (fb)) - While in the field, Jake learned how his brother had been thrown into prison for striking a superior officer, only to be released by order of the President. Jake was annoyed that once again his brother had been given all of the breaks.
(Defenders I#49 (fb)) - Jake grew to loathe life in the military, finding himself in unpleasant situations. This made him come to resent his brother even more.
(Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection (fb)) - While working for Dimension Research in Macao as a scientist, Jake fell in love with Amber D'Alexis, who was using him for espionage purposes. Nick tried to warn Jake about Amber, but Jake was still bitter towards him, and accused Nick of trying to run his life. When Nick finally found the evidence he needed to expose and deport Amber, Jake blamed Nick and left Macao with Amber.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5 (fb) - BTS) - At some point in his career, Jake became associated with Pickman, a locksmith.
(Fury I#1 (fb)) - Later on, Jake became a research scientist for Stark Industries, and used his position to assist the terrorist group HYDRA in performing acts of industrial espionage. When Jake brought HYDRA some blueprints from Stark, he was spied upon by Rick Stoner, public director of the newly-formed spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Jake delivered a fatal gunshot wound to Stoner after discovering him. Later, he helped smuggle the Deltite, a sentient LMD, into S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury was assigned by Tony Stark to help find out who was sabotaging S.H.I.E.L.D., and he discovered Jake's involvement. When he and Jake fought, Jake shot him in his left eye. Nick managed to get the drop on Jake, but Jake, knowing Nick wouldn't shoot him, was able to escape.
(West Coast Avengers II#27 (fb)) - Jake was sought out by the Zodiac Key, a sentient tool from the Ankh Dimension. Sensing Jake's capacity for evil, and desiring to create conflict, the Key became Jake's personal weapon, and he adopted the identity of Scorpio.
(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#20: Zodiac (fb) - BTS) - The Zodiac Cartel was founded by Cornelius van Lunt (Taurus), handpicking the eleven other members, including Jake Fury, who became Scorpio; van Lunt concealed his own identity, while he was the only one who knew the identities of the others. Each member was based in a different American city as part of his nationwide criminal network, with the ultimate goal of world economic and political domination.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1 (fb) - BTS) - As Scorpio, Jake created several cover identities for himself, including that of Count Julio Scarlotti, a champion race car driver.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1) - Scorpio infiltrated a S.H.I.E.L.D. base and slew what he thought was Nick Fury, but it proved to be an LMD. He left behind his trademark Scorpio coin. Later, at the Monza Autodrome, he won a race as Count Julio Scarlotti.
Scorpio then invaded a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in the Nevada desert, disguised as a technician. When Nick Fury was testing an Entrope Phase Barrier Guard System, he used gas to stun the rest of the agents in the room, then launched an h-bomb at Fury. However, Fury escaped the bomb, and faced Scorpio at the base. He declared his intention to gain revenge upon Fury, but Fury didn't recognize him. Their clash led into the streets of Las Vegas, and Scorpio attempted to flee aboard an aircraft, but it was struck by a wild bullet fired by gangster Mitch Hackett, seemingly killing Scorpio.
(Defenders I#49 (fb), West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb)) - The Zodiac Key recreated Jake, hale and hearty on the corner of the street where he had just died, but planted false memories of Scorpio being another person to help him cope with the trauma. Finding the Zodiac Key where he had just "died," Jake took it to become Scorpio (once more).
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5) - Scorpio confronted Nick again as he was in his S.H.I.E.L.D. flying car. Nick attempted to ram Scorpio with the vehicle, but Scorpio created a force field that it crashed into. Finding that Nick had survived the crash, he quickly donned a disguise so that he would look like his brother, then dressed Fury in the costume of an LMD that was to be tested at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s New York base. He also injected Nick with a drug to slow down his reflexes and render him incapable of speech.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5 - BTS, Defenders I#49 (fb) - BTS) - While masquerading as Nick Fury, Scorpio stole an LMD of his brother and hid it away.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5) - From the observation booth of the LMD test, Scorpio watched as Nick was sent into a deadly obstacle course, only to survive all of the death traps. Scorpio set after him to kill him before his speech could return, and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents mistook the real Nick for a rogue LMD. Nick was saved when Pickman appeared, having come to inform Nick of information he had learned about Jake, only to be shot by Valentina De La Fontaine, who had been aiming at Fury. Scorpio ran away, dropping his disguise.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5, Avengers I#72 (fb)) - As Nick caught up to Scorpio, he saw his unmasked face, and recognized him as his brother.
(Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5) - A half-dozen S.H.I.E.L.D. agents shot Scorpio as he jumped from a window into the nearby harbor. Although the agents swore they had hit him, no body was recovered.
(Avengers I#72 - BTS) - Scorpio's poor showing against Fury resulted in him being removed from the Zodiac Cartel. The Zodiac Key was claimed by Nick Fury, who impersonated Jake in order to infiltrate the Zodiac, although the ruse was eventually revealed.
(Defenders I#49 (fb)) - While at a bar, Jake overheard a patron mention how he had sold an object to a pawn shop which matched the Zodiac Key in description. Jake reclaimed the Key from the shop "for a song."
(Defenders I#49 (fb) - BTS) - Scorpio feel into a period of ennui, and retreated from the world to create the Theater of Genetics, hoping to have his own Zodiac to be his friends, and meant for his LMD of Virgo to be his lover. He also used the Nick Fury LMD he had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. to his companion as he grew increasingly distraught by the world outside.
(Defenders I#46) - Scorpio invaded the Richmond Riding Academy, intending to ambush Kyle Richmond and hold him for ransom, as his horoscope had led him to believe he would face Richmond there. However, he instead found himself facing the Defenders, who were using the academy as their headquarters. After a skirmish with the heroes, he transformed himself into water and fled.
(Defenders I#48) - Scorpio met with his LMD of Nick, and expressed his frustration over how complicated his plan had become. He dispatched the LMD to retrieve Jack Norriss from Avengers Mansion, and to pick up some beer. When the LMD returned with Norriss, he latched on to Norriss, sensing a kindred spirit. He gave Norriss his last cold beer and showed him his Theater of Genetics. When Moon Knight broke into the complex, Scorpio caught him inside of a water vent and attempted to kill him, but the following morning, he found that Moon Knight had escaped. Scorpio set up a ransom for Norriss to be paid by the Defenders, but when Nighthawk came to deliver it he captured Nighthawk instead, having realized that Nighthawk was really Kyle Richmond and that he could ransom him for even more money.
(Defenders I#49) - Scorpio had Nighthawk imprisoned and returned to check on his Zodiac, despite Norriss' insistence that his plans were unnatural. He also revealed to Norriss that his "brother" was an LMD he had stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D. When the Defenders were brought to the Theater of Genetics by Moon Knight to rescue Nighthawk, Scorpio activated his Zodiac to confront them.
(Defenders I#50) - Scorpio was stunned to see only 8 of his Zodiac join the fight. He fled to check on the remaining three, only to discover that Sagittarius and Pisces had collapsed after coming to life, and Virgo had been stillborn. Grief-stricken at having lost them, and at his Zodiac's failure at the hands of the Defenders he retired to his quarters to listen to his recording of Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" one last time. His Nick Fury LMD attempted to raise his spirits, but Jake no longer believed there was any point in living. He had the LMD hand him his weapon, then shot himself in the head.
(Defenders I#51 - BTS) - Jake's body was claimed by Nick Fury, who had S.H.I.E.L.D. take it away.
(West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb)) - The Zodiac Key created an LMD version of Jake, and transferred his consciousness (or created a near-exact replica of it) to inhabit the body. This also caused Scorpio to recall that he was the original Scorpio, having recognized the Key's false memories. Resuming his identity as Scorpio, Jake set the LMDs captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. free, and used the Zodiac Key to create new versions of those which had been destroyed.
(West Coast Avengers Annual#1) - Scorpio joined the Zodiac LMDs in following Quicksilver in his attempt to gain revenge upon the Avengers. Scorpio joined Libra, Leo and Virgo in attacking the Keibler Circus. Scorpio fired a human cannonball artist at Mockingbird to take her out of the fight, and then burrowed into the ground and sprayed Hawkeye with his costume's neurotoxin, but Wonder Man was immune to his poison, and knocked him unconscious.
(West Coast Avengers II#26 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Jake killed Jacques LaPoint, his successor in the Zodiac, and prepared to slaughter the remaining Zodiac members so that his LMDs could take their place.
(West Coast Avengers II#26) - At a meeting of the Zodiac Cartel in Dallas, Texas, Scorpio unmasked himself before the cartel as Jake Fury, and revealed that he was now an LMD. He then let in his Zodiac and swiftly murdered the entire cartel, except for Taurus. Scorpio pursued Taurus out of the meeting room and into a mall, but Taurus was able to evade him.
Later, Scorpio led the LMDs to Wichita to rob businessmen at a cattle auction, but they were opposed by the West Coast Avengers. During the fight, Sagittarius was slain by Hawkeye, and some of the others began to panic. Scorpio was forced to create a diversion with a cattle stampede, then teleported his team back to their base. He was furious with them for fleeing, and had to contend with Leo jockeying for the position of leader. Finally, he sent the LMDs away and used the Key to create an LMD of Hawkeye to serve as his new Sagittarius.
(West Coast Avengers II#27) - Scorpio led the LMDs to capture Hawkeye, and let the new Sagittarius engage him in battle. When Sagittarius was losing, Scorpio struck Hawkeye down from behind, satisified in the LMD's abilities now that he had seen him in action. Scorpio replaced Hawkeye with the new Sagittarius, and sent the real Hawkeye to the Ankh Dimension. As he explained his plan to trap the Avengers, he once again was challenged by Leo, and had to contend with the LMDs vying personalities, annoying him to no end.
(West Coast Avengers II#27 - BTS) - Realizing that Leo posed a serious challenge to his authority, Scorpio ambushed Tigra and sent her to the Ankh Dimension, then created an LMD of her to serve as his new Leo. He sent her to infiltrate the Avengers in case Sagittarius failed.
(West Coast Avengers II#28) - Scorpio led the LMDs in robbing the Denver Mint, but were interrupted by the Avengers. Scorpio managed to teleport them to Death Valley along with their loot, but the Key had begun to be slow to respond. Just as Leo made another bid to claim leadership, the Avengers caught up to them once more, and Iron Man concealed the Zodiac Key within an energy field to even out the odds. After the new Leo took Iron Man out of commission, the Key was set free, and Scorpio revealed to Leo that he was no longer needed. Leo attacked Scorpio and tore him apart, but the Key brought Scorpio and the other damaged LMDs back together. Deciding to change the terrain, Scorpio asked the Key to bring them to the Ankh Dimension. The Key did not want to, but complied, and Scorpio was turned off along with the other LMDs as soon as they arrived in the Ankh Dimension, unable to function there.
Comments: Created by Jim Steranko.
As a Scorpio, Jake Fury was born between October 23rd and November 21st.
Some members of Nick's gang are seen with him in Marvels#1, so Jake could be among them...but since they're all pro-war, probably not.
Update 01/31/2021: As revealed in Marvel Masterworks: Defenders Vol. 6, David Kraft intended for Jake Fury to be a self-loathing gay man. The reason Jake was seen in an Army shower room (colored pink by Kraft himself as pink is frequently used as "coding" for homosexuality) is that he was trying to repress his homosexual urges while in the Army. Jake was likewise distraught at the death of the Virgo LMD in Defenders I#50, calling her her "last chance to be normal," believing he could "cure" his homosexuality. His final act before his suicide was to listen to Judy Garland, Judy being a popular gay icon. Said Kraft, "Amazing how many comics historians missed this!"
The placement of Jake's chronology is tricky. Jake was supposed to have been 20 in Sgt. Fury#68, and was 52 when he died in Defenders I#50 (1977, our time). This would place his birth year as 1925, meaning he would have enlisted in World War 2 in 1945, but Fury I#1 places him in uniform in 1944. Maybe he was born in 1924, and was still a few months off from his 53rd birthday in Defenders I#46-50?
The Scorpio Connection flashback is much more tricky. At that time, Nick has his eyepatch, is working for the CIA, and he and Jake aren't enemies. However, Fury I#1 depicts Fury donning the eyepatch in the modern era (which makes sense, since he didn't have the patch in Fantastic Four I#21). Here's my solution: we know from Marvel: The Lost Generation#10 that Fury had a bionic replacement left eye at some point in the pre-modern era. Therefore, I submit that Fury occasionally wore his eyepatch in his CIA days before he received the bionic eye (meaning the Scorpio Connection flashback takes place before Marvel: The Lost Generation#10). When Jake shot Nick in the eye in Fury I#1 it ruined the bionic replacement, and Fury never bothered to have another installed (until Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.#1).
The Zodiac Key is able to retard Jake's aging process, so if the Key first made contact with him in the pre-modern era, this would spare him from the effects of Marvel's sliding timeline. Thus, Jake is not actually 52 at the time of Defenders I#46-50 chronologically, but does appear 52 physically.
A footnote in Defenders I#49 incorrectly identifies the Zodiac Key from Iron Man I#35-36 and Daredevil I#73 as a different Key.
The Zodiac Key wielded by Jake was apparently the same one mentioned to have dissolved into dust behind-the-scenes in Avengers III#59.
Jake was not revealed to be Scorpio until Avengers I#72.
Jake claimed that the Scorpio in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD I#1 was a different man in Defenders I#49, but later in West Coast Avengers II#26, it was revealed that the Zodiac Key had planted that idea in his head to help him cope with his apparent demise. It also helps the Nick Fury stories read better, since the Scorpio in Nick Fury I#5 claimed to be the original, having survived his apparent death through use of the Key.
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition's entry for Scorpio claimed that Jake Fury (or his LMD) had always been LaPoint, but Fury never claimed to have always been LaPoint in WCA II#26; also, the Official Marvel Index to the Avengers and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition both consider LaPoint to have been killed and replaced by Fury. Besides this, Jake was supposed to have spent the time inbetween Nick Fury I#5 and Defenders I#46 creating the Theater of Genetics, sinking into depression, and viewing the Zodiac from the outside-- it hardly fits for him to have assumed the guise of LaPoint then.
Furthermore, the OHOTMU ME file lists Flip Mason as one of Jake's aliases. I suspect the author didn't understand Steranko's stories very well.
Mikel Fury initially claimed in the Scorpio Connection that he was Jake's son, but he was actually Nick Fury's son, as both men had had liaisons with Amber D'Alexis.
So who did Steranko mean for Scorpio to be? I don't know, but in his first appearance, Scorpio uses the phrase "Parable of Doom." That phrase was also spoken by Baron Strucker in Strange Tales I#156, also written by Steranko. And both men were masters of disguise. Hmm.
Fury I#1 was an attempt by writer Barry Dutter to write a definitive account of the origins of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it has been ignored by writers...perhaps with good reason.
Fury I#1 makes several questionable retcons, such as Jake Fury seen creating the Zodiac Key at Stark Industries, flying in the face of all previous accounts of the Key's origins (it was supposed to have sought Jake out after departing the Ankh Dimension). For the sake of this profile, I have assumed that Jake was actually studying the Key at Stark's labs.
It also claims that Tony Stark created S.H.I.E.L.D., although stories such as Marvel: The Lost Generation#10 have demonstrated that S.H.I.E.L.D. was in the planning stages well before Stark entered the picture.
Fury I#1 also states that the Nick Fury from Iron Man I#117-129 was an LMD, apparently because Dutter thought Fury's attempt to buy out Stark International was out-of-character; however, since Fury was being forced to do this by the higher-ups of S.H.I.E.L.D., I don't consider it out-of-character at all-- in fact, it's a rather good story, and Fury does let Stark have his company back in the end. Also, Dutter seems to have confused his Fury stories-- Nick Fury Vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.#3 does indeed establish that the Deltite had used a Nick Fury LMD against Tony Stark, but incident in question was Iron Man I#174-175, when Fury attempted to steal Tony's Iron Man armors.
Fury I#1 also depicts Laura Brown as Fury's girlfriend before he became director of S.H.I.E.L.D.-- but they didn't even meet until Strange Tales I#139!
For another, the Imperial Hydra had ordered and had the previous director of S.H.I.E.L.D. killed according to Strange Tales I#135; in Fury I#1, we see that HYDRA agents just happened across him while he spied on them and killed him, not knowing who he was; not exactly like the well-crafted assassination attempts HYDRA attempted on Fury in Strange Tales I#135.
Probably most significantly, Fury I#1 claims that the Gnobians, who were supposed to have supplied HYDRA, were really just creations of Arnim Zola's to trick Fury (seems likely a needlessly complicated cover story, considering Zola supposedly conceived of it prior to Fury becoming director).
by Prime Eternal
CLARIFICATIONS:
Scorpio should not be confused with:
Images taken from:
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#5, page 8, panel 6
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#68, page 13, panel 5
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1, page 7, panel 4
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. I#1, page 13
Defenders I#50, page 2, panel 1
Defenders I#48, page 15, panel 3
West Coast Avengers Annual#1, page 24, panel 2
West Coast Avengers II#26, page 4, panel 5
First posted: 01/31/2005
Last updated: 01/31/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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