From the birth of warfare, it has been the dream of the state to create the superior soldier, a cut above what talent or training can provide to a man. Numerous programs were tried in many parts of the world down through the ages but the first true ‘super soldier’ formula was created in 1885. The results were hushed up and buried, and this set the tone for similar experimentation over the next hundred years. Quickly it was learned that superior aggression or resistance to the idea of killing was not desirable a trait to re-create for soldiers that also had to come home after the war. There were numerous horror stories from that period and the roots of many later supervillain experiments lay in the period from 1890-1900.
There were patriotic ‘super soldiers’ before this time of course. The ghost of Revolutionary War Ranger Thomas Wainwright possesses his descendents, turning them into Old Glory. The half-alien Johnny Reb almost turned the tide of the Civil War in favor of the confederates before his Northern counterpart Ironclad killed him at Antietam.
The Great Influenza Pandemic was the first successful biological weapon test, Fu Manchu’s response to Germany foiling his plans for the conquest of China. The first truly successful super soldier formula was created in 1918 as a mistake while looking for an influenza cure; it created five physically superior specimens that did not go mad.
From that point, US, English and German scientists worked to recreate that accident, also branching out into other areas of research. For the technology of the time, chemistry was the way to go. In 1942, the US had another success using the mostly-untested radiation approach: The Silver Eagle. Britain created Tommy Atkins and Yeoman using their more traditional chemical approach, though Yeoman eventually went mad and Tommy had to take the serum every week or see his powers fade. Germany went a different route with their Necromen project, though their major success in the field came from duplicating the US Silver Eagle project and producing Iron Cross and Masterman.
The Silver Eagle and Starboy (created through a transfusion of Silver Eagle’s blood, though that method never worked on another person, ever) were immediately put into action in Europe while at home the Army got down to work on the Minuteman project. Tired of potions and treatments that only worked on single individuals, the Minuteman project sought a mechanical solution. The concept of the exoskeleton was not a new one, but recent materials advances finally made it possible.
The Silver Eagle was murdered by Iron Cross in 1944. In 1955 Starboy renamed himself Patriot and was assigned another partner: Eagle. Eagle was literally the first of a new breed. In 1955 Atlantean scientists working in collaboration with the US Government improved our understanding of DNA to the point that we could begin genetic experimentation. Eagle was the first of Batch One, a group of 36 physical supermen created by a fusion of human and Atlantean science. Eagle was the only one who was later able to resist the mental conditioning placed in the clones by Zuras, the Atlantean Illuminated One (head scientist), in his first attempt to conquer Earth. After that, the US Government abandoned most of its Atlantean ties, though many private corporations continue to make use of that research.
The US went through several other programs: The Minuteman projects were resurrected in the 70’s. The 80’s saw them use cybernetics. In the 90’s they dabbled in nanotech. By the 2000’s, they are firmly back in the genetic experimentation route.
