Due to exposure to a Durlan infection, and the experimental medicines used to cure him, the August General’s body has been transformed so that it is covered in rusty iron plates. This has increased his strength and resistance to injury.

He also wields a staff topped with a pair of energy blades.

History

[A general history of the Great Ten can be found in the teams own entry]

Captain Fang Zhifu was leader of an elite special ops unit of the Chinese army, based in Gansu Province, where he lived with his fiance. When an unidentified crash in Qinghai Province, shortly after the invasion of Earth by an alien alliance, was determined to be that of a Durlan spacecraft, his unit were sent in to secure the site. The surviving Durlans attacked them. They captured two alive, and took their craft, but not before the Durlans had transformed into a bacterial infection, infecting the unit.

Injecting a broad-spectrum counteragent in seconds, a few of the unit managed to survive, at least briefly, but the cellular breakdown continued to affect his men. Even being hospitalized within the hour didn’t help much, and the rest of his unit soon succumbed, their bodies dissolving. Zhifu held on until one experimental treatment actually worked, halting the decay. There were side effects, however, as his body gradually transformed, becoming overgrown with rusty iron plates.

His fiance ended their engagement on seeing his condition, but the army were happy to have such a weapon at their disposal, and within a couple of years he became the August Captain in Iron, joining the Socialist Red Guardsman as the first official super-functionaries of the People’s Republic of China. He served them over for a decade hunting rogue metahumans such as the Accomplished Perfect Physician, and the Celestial Archer.

One of his earliest assignments was investigating rumours of a mysterious woman hunting criminals in Hong Kong. Investigating, Zhifu first encountered the Ghost Fox Killer, and an immediate attraction drew the pair together, neither of them able to experience true human contact.

Eventually, 13 years after his transformation, the Party decided to forge a proper team, recruiting many of the rogue metas he’d previously hunted, and making Zhifu, now the August General in Iron, field leader.

Checkmated

Less than happy about being assigned to work with Checkmate, Zhifu nevertheless did his duty, and acts as a loyal member of the organization, but is open about that loyalty being secondary to his loyalty to China.

Personality

Stern and unyielding, Zhifu is a devoted servant of the Party, following orders for the good of his country. He has little time for dissenters, and has to work to control his temper around some of the team mates he considers less than loyal to the Party.

Part of his persona is undoubtedly due to his inability to make proper physical contact with others, which has left him detached from normal relationships. He has formed a romantic bond with the Ghost Fox Killer, though, and she is the only person with whom he appears able to drop his guard.

He sees part of his role on the team as being to keep the more liberal members (such as the Accomplished Perfect Physician, and Thundermind) in line, and he takes a firm, authoritative, stance in commanding the team. It’s unlikely he’s particularly close with any of his team mates other than Ghost Fox Killer.

Writeup completed on the 28th of July, 2010.