Protocide

Background

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Powers and Abilities

Protocide is superhumanly strong, fast and tough. He can demolish solid steel with his bare hands or, more commonly, a strike from his shield.

His combat power is overwhelming. He can steamroll Captain America himself unless the Star-Spangled Avenger burns a lot of Hero Points . Protocide also took down USAgent like nothing.

The implication is that McIntyre, being much stronger and faster than Rogers was before he became a super-soldiers, retains proportionately higher abilities as a super-soldier.

This does not necessarily align with other cases of super-soldier serum use. But the sample used for Protocide likely was an earlier version and lacked a chemical additive that was used in later experiments.

History

In 1941 Operation : Rebirth, which would soon result in Captain America, underwent dissension among some decisions-makers. Professor Erskine wanted to experiment on Steven Rogers because of his personality. But General Maxfield Saunders considered that banking everything on a 4F weakling was a bad joke.

The matter couldn’t be solved through compromise. Thus, Gen. Saunders made the brash decision to unofficially proceed with the experimentation of the super-soldier serum on his own. He did so without reporting to his chain of command or collaborating with Erskine. The objective was to enhance a trained soldier, a much brawnier man than Rogers.

The serum

Saunders wanted the strongest, toughest man he could find. Other considerations were secondary. Whom his staff found was Private McIntyre, a strongman with an incredible constitution. The downside was that he was in a military prison for having killed his commanding officer.

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McIntyre acknowledged that he had refused orders because he considered them absurd and suicidal. But he maintained that his gun had fired accidentally and that he never meant to frag the officer.

The prisoner immediately agreed to be injected with the serum, since the alternative was a firing squad.

Saunders’s midnight requisition procured the correct serum sample. But he lacked the secret additives and treatments designed by Erskine. Thus, McIntyre acquired a super-soldier’s physique and strength, but went mad with pain and, after a short, blind rampage, collapsed. The maverick Saunders was court-martialed by General Phillips, the head of Project: Rebirth.

(This injection likely took place in the sort window of time between the injection in Isaiah Bradley and his comrades, and the injection in Steve Rogers. See the Captain America (Isaiah Bradley) character profile for more).

Super-soldier found

McIntyre’s inanimate body was placed in suspended animation under the code name “Protocide”. But it was soon lost due to an administrative mistake. It would be six decades before it was found again.

In 2000, a trio of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were inspecting a warehouse full of various US Top Secret resources. How this occurred is unrevealed. Perhaps these were resources transferred to S.H.I.E.L.D. during the 1960s, but never actually used or even inspected for lack of resources.

The agents stumbled upon McIntyre’s sarcophagus, and quickly realised the importance of their find. However, one of the three was a traitor. He was an A.I.M. plant who decided to blow his cover. The traitor murdered his colleagues and fled with the body.

Deadly A.I.M.

A.I.M. scientists reanimated Protocide. They explained to the confused super-soldiers that they were freedom fighters, and that America had fallen under the yoke of a secret police called S.H.I.E.L.D.. In their story, the Protocide project had been sabotaged by a jealous Captain America, as Rogers did not want to share the glory with McIntyre.

Furthermore, the A.I.M. staff told McIntyre that Rogers was still alive, and worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.

The bellicose McIntyre wanted revenge. But A.I.M. convinced him to undergo a series of test runs to validate his good health. These included taking out an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force by himself, and ambushing and demolishing USAgent.

A.I.M. then learned that Cap would be protecting a shipment of toxins they wanted to acquire, and sicced Protocide on him. McIntyre thrashed Rogers, but the theft was narrowly prevented. S.H.I.E.L.D. then extracted Cap from the fight.

Tu vuò fà l’americano

At that point A.I.M. had launched a war against HYDRA, and convinced McIntyre to help. As hoped, Protocide proved essentially invincible. He destroyed entire HYDRA bases and slaughtered scores of agents. But S.H.I.E.L.D. intervened in this war. Once intelligence determined which base Protocide would hit next, they sent Captain America in.

Cap and Protocide fought amidst a base full of HYDRA men trying to kill them. Protocide nearly fell into a fire pit. Rogers helped him out, and McIntyre thanked him by throwing him in and walking away. However, having Cap save his life gnawed at Protocide’s mind. It didn’t match at all with A.I.M.’s depiction A.I.M. of Rogers.

Cap miraculously escaped the fire pit. He again ran into Protocide when he attacked the main A.I.M. base. McIntyre was thought killed in an explosion – but he actually survived and walked away by himself. No longer trusting A.I.M. but not trusting Cap either, he decided to make his own way in the world.

Protocide has not been seen since.

Description

Protocide’s shield is shaped like an arrow head. It is painted white with two vertical red stripes and a blue tip with a white star. Protocide punches with the pointed end with great force, obviously intending to kill and destroy.

Personality

Tough, bitter, confident, manly. He’s a warrior and a killing machine, and never gives quarter or follows rules. His basic tactic is the ambush followed by an all-out assault.

Protocide’s manners and vocabulary are dated. But he comes across like a 1980s jingoistic action movie protagonist rather than a 1940s man.

Quotes

“I’m the man you destroyed 60 years ago, pal. Here’s where I square the deal – with interest.”

By Sébastien Andrivet.

Source of Character: Captain America v3 issues in 2001 and the 2000 Annual.

Helper(s): Nick Yankovec, Roy Cowan, Peter Piispanen, Jay Myers.