List of government agencies in DC Comics
The following is a list of fictional government agencies, comic book organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints.
A
The Agency
The Agency was formed by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X. It performed global operations which were vital to the security of American interests. Valentina Vostok brought former NYPD Lieutenant Harry Stein into the Agency as an operative. Adrian Chase the Vigilante and Christopher Smith Peacemaker were contract operatives for the Agency.A.P.E.S.
A.P.E.S. is a semi-independent US governmental division within the DEO, possessing government IDs for multiple agencies ranging from the FBI to Scotland Yard and SMERSH; an agent has described the organisation as possessing more clearance than God. Donald Fite, father of Empress, and Ishito Maad are their most well known operatives. Their main headquarters is inside Mount Rushmore.Argent
Argent was the domestic branch of Task Force X. It was a sister organization to the Suicide Squad. Argent was led by Control and consisted mainly of former O.S.S. agents. Argent was a powerful agency during most of the Cold War. After confronting and killing a government official responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy, Control ordered all records of Argent destroyed and pulled the organisation undercover. For years, the Argent continued their work in secret, but shrunk considerably in size. Eventually, Control died, but his granddaughter, Anne-Marie Vere, maintained the pretense that he was still alive to keep the group operating. In recent times, a confrontation with the Suicide Squad exposed the deception and Argent disbanded. Known agents of the Argent included Control, Falcon, Fleur, Iron Munro, Phantom Lady and Anne-Marie Vere.A.R.G.U.S.
Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans is a United States federal agency Operating under the jurisdiction of Homeland Security. It is under the command of Col. Steve Trevor and Director Amanda Waller.A.S.A.
The A.S.A. was a U.S. Government organization that supervised the creation of the national team of super-agents called the Force of July. The chairman of the A.S.A. was B. Eric Blairman. Blairman was later replaced as head of the A.S.A. by the even more corrupt Abraham Lincoln Carlyle, who made an attempt to use the Psycho Pirate's Medusa Mask to get himself elected president. During an internecine war within the US Government called the Janus Directive, Carlyle and most of the Force of July were killed in battle. The American Security Agency was defunct shortly afterwards.A variation of the A.S.A. appears in Black Lightning. In this show, it is stated that Peter Gambi under his real name of Peter Esposito used to work for the A.S.A. as their spotter. When he left, they gained Vice-Principal Kara Fowdy as their new spotter. During season one, a faction of the A.S.A. led by Martin Proctor has been abducting emerging metahumans and having them stored in pods so that he can build an army. He even planned to expand it by arranging for Black Lightning to be abducted so that they can harvest his DNA. By the season finale, A.S.A. agents assault the Pierce family and Peter Gambi at a house in North Freeland which led to where Black Lightning, Thunder, and Peter fought some of them which ended with most of the agents dead or retreating when Deputy Chief Henderson and the police were approaching. During a confrontation at one of the warehouses storing the metahuman stasis pods, Martin is briefly attacked by Jennifer and shot by Gambi. The news media broadcasts the information that exposed Proctor's rogue operation. As for the briefcase, it falls into the hands of Tobias Whale following his, Syonide, and Painkiller's raid on an A.S.A. base where he had Proctor's thumbs salvaged by his coroner ally. In season two, Lynn Stewart works with the A.S.A. agents that work for Agent Percy Odell in preserving the pods to the point where they even enlisted convicted scientist Helga Jace to assist in it. As one of the contents in the briefcase, Tobias Whale's latest ally Todd Green cracked the code contained in it which revealed that the A.S.A. was developing metahumans for Project Masters of Disaster. At the same time, Agent Odell secretly has the Pierce family under surveillance when he gets suspicious of them. By the end of season two, Agent Odell visits the Pierce family with his knowledge on Jefferson, Anissa, and Jennifer being Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning. He mentions that the metahuman pods have attracted the attention of the Markovians who have reclaimed Helga Jace and would like Black Lightning, Thunder, and Lightning to help the A.S.A. when the Markovians turn Freeland into a battleground. In the third season, Agent Odell starts having the A.S.A. soldiers round up any young metahumans and have Deputy Chief Henderson impose a curfew to keep the young metahumans from falling into the hands of the Markovians. Odell is assisted by Commander Carson Williams, Major Sara Grey, and Sergeant Gardner Grayle. It was also revealed by Tobias Whale to Issa Williams that Martin Proctor worked for Odell and Odell works for the President of the United States. The A.S.A.'s motives have often clashed with a resistance that is secretly led by Chief Henderson. By the season three finale and after the Markovian invasion on Freeland, Carson Williams is killed by Lynn Stewart in self-defense, Sara Grey is killed by Technocrat during his and Gambi's shootout with her commandos, Gardner Grayle sides with the rebels, and Odell is wounded by Khalil and arrested. During the congressional hearing where Black Lightning exposed the A.S.A.'s experiments as well as Markovia's experiments using the decrypted briefcase they have, Representative Nagar states that Odell will be prosecuted and the A.S.A. will be disbanded.
B
B.A.A.
The B.A.A. is a US Government agency that monitors and deploys enhanced animal super operatives. Currently known operatives of the Bureau are Rex the Wonder Dog and Detective Chimp.C
Cadmus
Project Cadmus was featured as an adversary of the Justice League in the first season of animated series Justice League Unlimited. It is described by Emil Hamilton as "Power brokers, politicians, criminals, and black-ops mercenaries with one thing in common: they're humanity's last hope against ". This version is a combination of the comics version of Cadmus, the Suicide Squad, and Checkmate. In the series, Cadmus is a government project designed to take precautions against the League going rogue. The project was started when Superman was brainwashed by Darkseid into invading Earth at the end of Superman: The Animated Series where the project was designed to deal with the Man of Steel if he were to attack the Earth again. It was created by Lex Luthor, and a mutual ally bigoted General Nathaniel Hardcastle who was later killed by Galatea on orders of Cadmus. The project's goals extended to the Justice League as well after the Justice Lords incident. Members of this version of Cadmus include Amanda Waller, Professor Hamilton, Tala, General Wade Eiling, Professor Milo, Maxwell Lord, Hugo Strange, and Doctor Moon. For a short while, they also had turned Captain Atom to their cause. In addition, they also had Task Force X, which is the official name for the organization known in DC Comics as the Suicide Squad, for use in risky field missions. Cadmus was later shown to be backed by Lex Luthor, who only financed the project in a grab for superpowers of his own; a new AMAZO robot with Luthor's conscious mind implanted in it. After taking what he needed to build it from Cadmus and learning the League had figured out his link to the organization, Luthor attempted to destroy the organization by hacking into an immense laser built into the League's Watchtower. Although the building was destroyed, Waller "had the facility scrubbed as per standard protocol" after Superman and Huntress broke in to rescue The Question from Moon's captivity. It was then revealed that Brainiac was living inside Luthor at the time, improving upon his physical health and strength while "subtly influencing actions". After they were confronted by Batman and then the rest of the founding members of the Justice League, which Waller had released from custody, Luthor and Braniac escaped to Washington, D.C. to a Cadmus building in order to merge with the Dark Heart, a nanotechnology-like alien being which the League defeated thanks to Atom. After both of them were defeated, Cadmus ceased operations against the League and the Justice League announced the establishment of a planetside base to improve their public relations. However, there were a few former members of Cadmus who were still against the Justice League, such as Tala, who ends up joining Gorrila Grodd's Secret Society and General Eiling. Project Cadmus was responsible for creating the characters Galatea, Doomsday, the Royal Flush Gang, Volcana, the Ultimen and ultimately Terry McGinnis. When the Joker took the Royal Flush Gang from Cadmus, he also stole some technology he would later use to overwrite his DNA into Tim Drake during Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker as explained in Epilogue. Elements of the organization were later brought together to initiate 'Project Batman Beyond', to ensure that, in some form or another, there "would always be a Batman".C.B.I.
The C.B.I., was formerly led by Sarge Steel and also included Danny Chase, King Faraday, Richard Dragon, and Ben Turner in its stable of agents. Steel was eventually depicted as a Federal Cabinet Secretary of Metahuman Affairs, until the election of Lex Luthor as President. Luthor then appointed Amanda Waller as his replacement until he was exposed as a criminal in the events of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies.Civil Defense Administration
The Civil Defense Administration is an American intelligence agency created as a replacement for International Operations. It is led by Ivana Baiul as seen in the pages of.C.E.M.A.
C.E.M.A. is an interstellar organization tasked to help the survivors of cosmic disasters such as planet-eating monsters.Checkmate
Checkmate is a covert operations agency within the DC Comics universe. Created from the ashes of its predecessor group, The Agency, it was originally set up by Amanda Waller to serve as a small, quasi-independent branch of Task Force X under the command of Colonel Valentina Vostok to perform operations worldwide considered vital to the security of American interests. In the wake of events depicted in the miniseries The OMAC Project and Infinite Crisis, Checkmate has been re-chartered as a United Nations Security Council-affiliated agency.Checkmate's original hierarchy was modelled after the pieces of a chess game- one King, one Queen, and several Bishops. The Bishops oversaw the Rooks behind the scenes while the Rooks planned missions and supervised the field agents, or Knights, and the Knights' support, Pawns.
Pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1696, Checkmate was reorganized as the UN's Chartered Metahuman Monitoring Force. The organization was restructured utilizing the “Rule of Two”. Each super-powered or otherwise enhanced member in the “Royal Family” must have an un-powered counterpart in a corresponding position of power. In addition, there are an indeterminate number of “pawns”. In the original incarnation of Checkmate, they were low-level field agents that provided intelligence-gathering, logistical and operational support; it appears that pawns in the current incarnation serve similar roles.
Checkmate! (Russia)
The Russian version of Checkmate was introduced in the last issues of the original series run. They were admittedly underfunded but wore armor similar to their US counterparts.D
D.E.O.
The D.E.O. is a branch of the United States government, concerned with the magical, the alien, and the superhuman and having connections with such organisations as the Suicide Squad and Knightwatch. Other divisions include an agency for training 'gifted' youngsters whose powers manifest at a difficult age, and numerous surveillance and data-collection operations. The current Regional Director for the Eastern Seaboard is a former costumed villain named Mister Bones. One of its highest-profile agents is Cameron Chase.Département Gamma
Département Gamma is the main French covert ops organization in the DC Comics universe. Known operatives are Andre Chevard founder and leader, Fleur-de-Lis, Belphegor, Tin, the Captain, the Professor, and Halfwolf.Department PSI
Department PSI is a rival organization to the International Operations and employer of the superhero team Wildcore. Its director is Antonio Giovanni. When International Operations was dissolved, Department PSI absorbed most of its assets, equipment, and personnel.D.M.A.
The D.M.A. is a division within the DEO. Known operatives are Sarge Steel, Tom Tresser, and Diana Prince.D.S.I.
The D.S.I. is a government organization dedicated to the investigation of strange phenomena. Known operatives were Darwin Jones the chief of staff, and Tommy Dane one of the Young Scienceers.E
E.A.G.L.E.
E.A.G.L.E. is a government agency within the Astro City universe. They are described to normally function as a sort of "clean up crew" for the superheroes but during the Confession storyline they are seen hunting down, and capturing, various superheroes. After the storyline it is implied that they returned to their normal duties.F
FDAA
Introduced in issue #1 of The American Way. The FDAA, handles a US government superhero team called the Civil Defense Corps. The FDAA is responsible for using gene therapy to create many of America's heroes as well as "villains" who they have fight the heroes in publicly staged battles. The FDAA periodically unleashes Hellbent, a homicidal and sociopathic supervillain, to assassinate enemies of the United States.Finger, Eye, & Ear
The Finger, the Eye, and the Ear. These were the three branches of overt government surveillance depicted in the dystopian Britain of V for Vendetta.G
G.E.O.R.G.E.
G.E.O.R.G.E. debuted in Blackhawk #228, during that title's attempt to mainstream the Blackhawks as superheroes. G.E.O.R.G.E. opposed the International Crime Combine, a supraorganization made up of operatives from various other criminal organizations some based in the DC Comics Universe, like CYCLOPS and O.G.R.E., and other fictional organizations such as THRUSH and SPECTRE. Known G.E.O.R.G.E. operatives were their leader The Long L, Mister Delta, and The Champ, a trenchcoat wearing robot.Global Peace Agency
The Global Peace Agency is an organization that first appeared outside the DC Universe in the original OMAC series, but which became part of the DCU proper in Final Crisis #7.G.O.O.D.
G.O.O.D. is an international organization where the only known operatives are Barney Ling and field operatives Ben Turner and Richard Dragon.H
Hayoth
The Hayoth are a team of four super-powered covert operatives who act as a special division of the Mossad. Their first contact with the West came when Amanda Waller was contracted to capture Kobra. Waller was informed of the Hayoth's existence by an Egyptian operative named Nazair.Human Defense Corps
In the DC Comics universe, the Human Defense Corps is a branch of the military established by then President of the United States Lex Luthor to reduce government dependency on superhumans when a major alien crisis breaks out, act as back-up to Earth's superheroes, and specifically counter any alien threat to Earth. Membership of the Corps is open to 'Decorated veterans of alien campaigns only'.I
International Operations
Internal Operations is a fictional American intelligence agency in WildStorm comics. It was originally called International Operations. I.O. International Operations was founded in 1964 as a branch of the Central Intelligence Agency with the mission to safeguard the United States' interests and safety abroad. It quickly became an independent agency under the leadership of Director Miles Craven. Following the Divine Right incident, the agency was severely weakened. It was shut down by the US government within a year. However, in 2004, it was reestablished under the leadership of John Lynch. IO first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. vol.1 #1 and was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee.K
Knightwatch
Knightwatch is the military arm of the D.E.O. Knightwatch operatives wore armor that resembled the suits worn by Checkmate agents.Knightwatch in other media
Knightwatch appears in the seventh season of superhero television series Arrow. In flash-forwards set in 2040, Connor Hawke is an agent of Knightwatch, who are described as a "good version of A.R.G.U.S." This version appears to be more grounded than its comic book counterpart, having no connection to the "extranormal" and instead focusing on everyday threats.L
LexCorp
LexCorp is a government position run by president Lex Luthor.LuthorCorp
Luthor Corp is a corporation run by Lex Luthor's father, Lionel Luthor. Lex bought the company after he killed Lionel and inherited all of his money.P
Project Atom
Project Atom is a United States government initiative masterminded by General Wade Eiling and lead scientist Dr. Heinrich Megala with the aim of creating a superhero answerable only to the military. The project used a combination of nuclear physics and a unique alloy called Dilustel with quantum properties that was cut from the skin of a captured alien known as the Silver Shield using X-Ionizer technology. The project only had two recorded successes, Captain Atom and Major Force. The origin of the woman calling herself Bombshell is still unknown. Heinrich Megala was also responsible for creating the X-Ionizer technology capable of cutting Captain Atom's skin and the skin of most invulnerable metahumans.Project Cadmus
Project Cadmus is a high tech genetic research facility responsible for the successful cloning of Jim Harper, and Conner Kent as well as a number of other heroes and villains.Project 7734
Project 7734 is a secret United States Military black-ops facility commanded by General Sam Lane. Its existence was uncovered by investigative reporter James Olsen's investigations. Like the Human Defense Corps, and Squad K, this project was created to defend humanity against extraterrestrial threats, including Kryptonians.Project M
Project M was a secret government organization which operated during World War II and specialized in experimental biotechnology and necromancy. Known creations of the Project include the Creature Commandos, Miss America, and the G.I. Robot. The Project's main scientist is one Professor Mazursky. He was aided by Robotman. As told in Young All-Stars #12, they operated from a secret underground complex on mythical Ferris Island in New York.Project Peacemaker
Project Peacemaker is a US government division that was tasked with handling Peacemaker's interaction with other government agencies. After the so-called "Janus Directive", the Project became part of Checkmate, and placed under the supervision of the CBI and Sarge Steel.Q
Quorum
The Quorum is the clandestine and apparently corrupt department of an unnamed government agency in the DC Comics universe. Former operatives are Major Force, Mace Gardner, Loria a New Blood, the metahuman known as Sledge, and an army of armored men known as Sweepers. The Quorum sponsored and funded the Blood Pack, a superhero team made up of "New Bloods", in a failed attempt to create a superhuman army based on their DNA.R
Red Shadow
Red Shadow is the Russian version of Task Force X. Just as they copied Checkmate, they also mirrored the Suicide Squad under the old Soviet Government. Organization originally consisted of ex-members of the People's Heroes and Blue Trinity. Later on other original Russian characters were introduced such as Stalnoivolk, Russia's World War II Superman. The Red Shadows were all organized under Amanda Waller's opposite number, a man known only as Major Zastrow. Other Red Shadow operatives were: Pozhar, Bolshoi, Molotov, Mrs. Gradenko, Yerosha, Lamia, Blue Trinity, and Schreck.RONOL
RONOL is a pre-World War II agency theorized that the light that originated millennia ago where Earth now orbits would eventually circumnavigate the universe and return as a dangerous, conscious entity. The project leader, Dr. Dayzl, tricked a reporter named Langford "Happy" Terrill into a ballooning accident where a "genetic light bomb" gave Terrill superpowers, abilities he would use to become the Ray. Eventually, Dayzl's unorthodox actions and beliefs came to light and the government terminated the RONOL program.S
S.H.A.D.E.
S.H.A.D.E. is a United States military organization that investigates, assesses, and contains paranormal and superhuman activity. Father Time and his S.H.A.D.E. agency exercise martial law over the devastated city of Blüdhaven. Father Time used this posting to carry out S.H.A.D.E.'s other mandate, the harvesting and creation of new metahuman talent. S.H.A.D.E. uses its specially trained metahuman talent to carry out black ops assassinations of threats to the United States and its policies. Several S.H.A.D.E. operatives defect from the organization to form a new version of the Freedom Fighters under the guidance of Uncle Sam, resulting in Sam and his team being declared enemies of S.H.A.D.E. and Father Time and his ally Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard ordering their deaths at the hands of First Strike.. After Father Time turned on the psychotic Gonzo, he and his troops vanished into the timestream; Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters were made the leaders of S.H.A.D.E.Squad K
Squad K is a special response team tasked with apprehending Superman if he should ever turn rogue, and with the apprehension of other Kryptonian criminals. Perseus Hazard, the grandson of Ulysses Hazard, was the group's first commander; after his death he is replaced by a Native American named Sergeant Cloud possibly a descendant of Johnny Cloud from the Losers.S.T.O.R.M.
S.T.O.R.M. is the agency employing John Stone. It is a tribute to S.H.I.E.L.D. and a precursor to Stormwatch. From the pages of Planetary.Stormwatch
Stormwatch is a United Nations Crisis Intervention Team. It was founded by United Nations during the late 70s as part of an effort to police the growing population of post-humans created in the wake of the Comet Effect. The agency has generated significant controversy over the years. It was shut down in 1998 due to budgetary and political concerns. The agency was re-established sometime after Authority's takeover of the United States under a severely limited budget.Suicide Squad
The original Task Force X consisted of two branches: the domestic and the international. The domestic branch was called Argent and the international branch called the Suicide Squad was originally put under the command of General J.E.B. Stuart. The first Suicide Squad was a minor backup series about a quartet of adventurers. That Squad consisted of Rick Flag, his girlfriend Karin Grace, Dr. Hugh Evans, and Jess Bright.The second and better-known Suicide Squad was a "off the book" covert black ops government strike team. The team was partially made up of imprisoned supervillains and death row convicts with no hope of release. These criminals had either agreed to or were coerced into serving as expendable agents, assigned to perform extremely dangerous or impossible missions, in return for a full pardon for their actions. They were officially unsanctioned and publicly denied by the United States Government. The prisoners' participation was used as rationale for plausible deniability in the event of failed missions, as the rationale claiming that the incidents are merely attacks by criminals.
In addition, there were other non-prisoner members who participated in the team as part of individual arrangements. The Suicide Squad operated out of Belle Reve prison in Louisiana.