George Washington (Wildstorm Universe)

Citizen Soldier
Wildstorm Universe‎
Gallery
Real Name	George Washington
Main Alias	Citizen Soldier
Other Aliases	Alexander Abernathy, Peter Cassaday, Steve Gatesniak, Bernardo Costello
Status
Alignment	Bad
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Origin
Universe	Wildstorm Universe
Creators	Micah Ian Wright · C.P. Smith
First Appearance	Stormwatch: Team Achilles #13 (August, 2003)

Citizen Soldier is the reincarnation of the Founding Father and a recurring foe of Stormwatch Team Achilles.

History

When George Washington was on his deathbed, several of the American Founding Fathers used a magical spell to make his spirit constantly reincarnating so he could protect the country forever. Since then, Washington has been reincarnated endlessly so he could fight in every American war. The Soldier's earliest identified incarnation was Major Alexander Abernathy, a member of the Union Cavalry during the American Civil War. In the 1930s, he reincarnated as Peter Cassaday and fought in the Spanish Civil War for the socialists. In 1934, he was approached by a clique of wealthy industrialists who wanted to overthrow the administration of President Franklin Roosevelt and replace it with a fascist government modeled after Nazi Germany, in which they offered Cassaday to become the leader of this authoritarian regime. However, Cassaday refused to join their conspiracy and threatened to kill them if they proceed with their intent.

During the Second World War, Cassaday fought against Nazi Germany as the Citizen Soldier whose actions and reputation had terrified the German Army. In 1947, Cassaday was executed by the American government after he was deemed as a threat for being a suspected communist. Since 1947, the Citizen Soldier had been reborn in various lives and being repeatedly assassinated for various reasons by members of the U.S. government, including Junior Senator Sonny Terns and former President Patrick Kent.

In 2003, Citizen Soldier resurfaced in the form of Steve Gatesniak, a multi-billionaire computer entrepreneur. For over twenty years Citizen Soldier had built up his wealth while assembling an army of loyal followers and employees who would help him dispose of, what he deemed to be, the hopelessly corrupt U.S. government to enact a true realization of democracy.

He began his attack by robbing the Federal Reserve on Wall Street, the same attack which resulted in the death of Stormwatch Team Achilles member Blake Coleman and earning Ben Santini's wrath. Following this he launched various attacks upon the U.S. Senate, the Supreme Court, the global satellite network, the stock market and more. During this time he also projected his own memories into the heads of American citizens via their dreams, showing them the various demises of his past incarnations and as well exposing President Kent's racist ties to the Ku Klux Klan.

Ultimately Stormwatch was able to foil his plans and apprehend him. However, Citizen Soldier was able to redistribute the stolen $200 billion gold reserve amongst his 2,000 employees with new identities to continue their revolution in the future. Just as Stormwatch planned to have him place in a cryogenic holding unit to prevent any further reincarnations, Citizen Soldier was killed by Giant of Ivana Baiul's Civil Defense Administration; in which Citizen Soldier planned this in order to be reborn again. Soon after Citizen Soldier manifested in the body of a newborn illegal Chinese immigrant to start his plans anew.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Resurrection: Due to the fact his spirit undergoes constant reincarnation, he can never truly perish and will just appear in a new body after the death of his old one.
• Superhuman Strength: Citizen Soldier has superhuman strength that he retains through each resurrection. For instance, as a newborn he was able to take the door off a shipping container with little effort.
• Superhuman Speed
• Superhuman Agility
• Enhanced Intellect: Citizen Soldier maintains the sum knowledge of all his previous experiences after each rebirth, granting him vast information and wisdom.
• Power Distribution: Citizen Soldier can grant others superhuman abilities that will kill them after prolonged usage.

Abilities

• Charisma
• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)
• Leadership
• Tactical Analysis

Notes

• Citizen Soldier is an analogue of Marvel Comics's Captain America.
  

Trivia

• Citizen Soldier's name comes from the epitaph on George Washington's tombstone: "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."
• Citizen Soldier's previous host bodies are references to WildStorm staff: "Abernathy" refers to editor Ben Abernathy, and "Cassaday" is a reference to Planetary artist John Cassaday.
• Citizen Soldier's "Steve Gatesniak" identity is a reference to Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak.
• Citizen Soldier's tattooed face (during his Gatesniak identity) is an inverted United States flag, which according to the U.S. Flag Code is traditionally displayed "as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property." In recent times, the inverted flag has been used by protesters from both ends of the ideological divide to show their displeasure.

Related

• 7 Appearances of George Washington (Wildstorm Universe)
• 3 Images featuring George Washington (Wildstorm Universe)
• 2 Quotations by or about George Washington (Wildstorm Universe)
• Character Gallery: George Washington (Wildstorm Universe)