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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
- Good guys. Bad guys. Whatever they are, they are all just one thing to me: assets.
- — Amanda Waller src
Amanda Waller is a U.S. Government agent renowned for her brutal methods and ruthless approach. She was director of the government agency A.R.G.U.S. but still maintains her leadership over Task Force X, otherwise known as the Suicide Squad.
History
Team 7
During the Parademon invasion which led to the creation of the Justice League, Amanda Waller was an NSA operative, seconded to the Army to assist Military Intelligence in its campaign against the Basilisk terrorist group.[3] Soon afterwards, however, she was recruited into a field team of the secret government research effort called Project Majestic. The team, codenamed "Team 7", was tasked with finding tactics to counter aggressive metahumans, and securing related technologies and knowledge.
For four years, Waller served with aplomb, as various of her teammates developed metahuman abilities from their improbable missions. However, on their final mission, the truth was revealed - the team was intended as a means for the U.S. government to gather what it would need to create a metahuman on par with Superman. The newly activated metahuman sank the island nation of Gamorra, which had supported Basilisk, and the team disbanded.
Not reporting back to the government out of disgust with the lie of her previous assignment, Waller wound up in Malaysia, spending her days playing pinball in a bar. However, she wound up getting recruited by a CIA team led by Lawrence Duren, who asked her to help them fight a nearby Basilisk operation. Waller agreed, but in the end, she alone walked away from the mission. This tragedy, coupled with her Team 7 experience and the anger of the Duren family, led her to pursue a radical plan - to recruit bad people to do bad things, so that good people would be safe.[4]
Forming the Suicide Squad
Taking control of the metahuman prison Belle Reve, Amanda Waller learned of Task Force U, and the two specialist task forces that succeeded it.[5] She began profiling the super-criminal inmates. Those that she chose were put through her initiation process and whoever made it through to the end were assigned to Task Force X, which was informally called the Suicide Squad.
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Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Deception
- Firearms
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)[6]
- Indomitable Will: Amanda was able to resist the mental persuasion of Maxwell Lord which was previously unheard of.[6]
- Interrogation[6]
- Leadership
- Tactical Analysis
Notes
- Amanda Waller was created by John Ostrander and John Byrne, first appearing in Legends #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Amanda Waller first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #1 by Adam Glass and Federico Dallocchio.
Related
- 368 Appearances of Amanda Waller (Prime Earth)
- 92 Images featuring Amanda Waller (Prime Earth)
- 41 Quotations by or about Amanda Waller (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Amanda Waller (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
Suicide Squad member |
A.R.G.U.S. member |
Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |