"When? How? Where? What? Why? - Life's full of questions, isn't it?"
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- Love doesn't work. Freedom doesn't work. All we use freedom for is to kill each other. I'll change the world. No one will die -- unless I decide they die. I'll change the world one body at a time if I have to, until people start controlling themselves.
- — Henry Bendix src
The Weatherman was the director of Stormwatch.
History
Henry Bendix's past is ambiguous, partly because of the existence of an alternate Bendix who had posed as the original. He grew up in Maladyville, Mississippi, raised by his abusive, alcoholic father. Even as a child, Henry was extremely intelligent, designing the bodily enhancements that eventually led to the creation of the superheroes Midnighter and Apollo while still a child. Henry's diary from this time mentioned that he had been contacted by the alien Weavers, who showed him the future. Young Henry was shocked to find out that he would become a villain, but the Weavers told him that till then he could be a hero. Henry killed his father with a self-built energy weapon in order to save his father's girlfriend, Delia.
During the 1960s, Bendix worked for the US government, developing a mobile weapon called the "Think Tank" that was operated through a combination of manual controls and cybernetic uplink directly to his brain. He was recruited into Team One, a secret task force designed to deal with the emerging Daemonite threat. Team One was dissolved following its first mission and Bendix was left mentally scarred when the Think Tank was torn apart while he was inside. However, the experience gave Bendix a lifelong interest in Earth's secret history. This fascination put him in contact with the villains known as the Four, and led him to discover the interdimensional realm known as the Bleed, among other things. Although he continued to work for the US government, he kept most of his funding for himself while working in black operations that proved more corrupt over time.
In 1978, he was appointed to the post of Weatherman One, head of Stormwatch, the United Nations Special Crisis Intervention Team. During this time, he was outfitted with cybernetic implants that granted him direct cybernetic link to Skywatch's operating systems. He successfully retained this post until 1994, when he was temporarily replaced by Christine Trelane. He regained his post a year later following the Second Despot Incident. All the while, he continued to explore the world and advance his own secret agenda.
The Fire from Heaven incident inspired him to take a more proactive approach to peacekeeping. He reorganized Stormwatch, firing most of the junior members, recruiting Jenny Sparks, Rose Tattoo and Jack Hawksmoor and placing all members of the original team into inactive duties. He split the remaining memberships into three teams: Stormwatch Prime, StormWatch Red and Stormwatch Black. Bendix believed that this structure would allow for a more flexible response to post-human threats.[1]
Shortly after Stormwatch's reorganization, Bendix was approached by an alternate universe version of himself. The doppelganger offered Bendix a chance to explore The Bleed. In exchange, he asked Bendix to allow him to replace him. This alternate Bendix attempted to forcibly shape an orderly world and was killed by Jenny Sparks after he slaughtered members of a superhero team, The Changer, that were attempting to create a crime-free utopia.[2] At the time, members of Stormwatch believed this to be the real Bendix gone insane. The new Weatherman, Jackson King, even believed Bendix's madness was a result of the cybernetic implants (which were part of the Weatherman's job), and refused to have them himself.
After exploring The Bleed and gathering allies, Bendix returned to his world in 2004. Discovering that The Authority was now in charge of America, he devised a plan to remove them from power whilst, at the same time, breaking up the team. His plan was successful. Following that, he assumed control of the shattered Secret Monarchy, the loose coalition of secret groups that ran the world behind the scenes. He implemented an active post-human advancement agenda, facilitating integration of Kherubim and other otherworldly technology into American (and to a lesser extent, global) society. In 2008, he faced off against the reorganized Authority. After a prolonged struggle, he was killed by Midnighter.[3]
Post-Worldstorm
Bendix had a son named William Bendix. The spitting image of his father, the younger Bendix was the child of a call girl that Henry paid off to raise on her own in secret. William was recruited by Jackson King to be the new Weatherman (no longer a leadership role) for the reconstituted Stormwatch Prime. This was due to most of the cybernetic integration systems having been designed for Henry's physiology, so William was the obvious choice. While seemingly a bit maniacal, William seemed to be deeply concerned that he would turn into his father, despite King's faith that he was his own man.
William's main goal was to crack his father's "memory tower," containing his most secret files. He managed to do this by uncovering a secret bunker in the Nevada desert, leading to a battle between The Authority and Stormwatch Prime for custody of it's contents. During the battle, an A.I. copy of Henry Bendix activated in response, and proceeded to release zombie-like clones of his secret Stormwatch team, seduce Rose Tattoo to his side yet again, and install itself in a younger cloned body which had been engineered with the powers and abilities of every superhuman present. William arrived at the scene and convinced Rose to kill the clone of his father, but not before he was seriously wounded by the reborn Henry Bendix. Although his body was not found by either of the teams after the resulting destruction of the bunker; the horrifically scarred William emerged from the wreckage, his father having psychically grafted his own consciousness onto William's mind. In control of his son's body, Bendix mused that the body was young and strong enough.[4]
Alternate Bendix
The alternate Bendix who replaced the original had a substantial impact on the team as well, though in a much more negative way. While the original Bendix had an undoubtedly ruthless and cold-hearted side, the new one was an entirely self-centered, psychotic individual pursuing an ultra-conservative agenda. He had a bizarre romantic affair with Rose Tattoo, the Spirit of Murder, apparently being attracted to her lust for death and destruction.
The new Bendix was first defeated after attacking a group of superhumans attempting to establish a utopia in South America. Though believed dead at Jenny Sparks' hands, Bendix had in fact escaped to an alternate dimension. There he prepared an elaborate scheme to destroy the Authority, the successors of Stormwatch.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Cloned Physiology: Bendix installed himself in a younger cloned body which had been engineered with the powers and abilities of various super-humans, such as; The Authority, StormWatch Prime, and StormWatch.
- Cybernetic Enhancement: As Weatherman Bendix was equipped with Cybernetic Networking Implants that allowed him to collect and process vast amounts of informations and control the orbital station of Skywatch.[5]
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect
- Leadership: As weatherman Bendix was in charge of all Stormwatch operations.[5]
- Science
- Tactical Analysis
Notes
- In the Monarchy series, Henry Bendix appears, claiming to have planned his death by Jenny Sparks so that he could become an imaginary being, capable of assisting the Weavers and the Monarchy in their battle against Chimera. Jackson King visits Bendix's home and finds his childhood diary there. In it, Bendix relates the events of his first contact with the Weavers. The Authority: Revolution series seems to have retconned these events away. Therefore it is also unclear whether his youth in Maladyville, Mississippi is still part of continuity.
Trivia
- Henry created Midnighter's and Apollo's genetic enhancements.
- In the multiverse Henry Bendix is a rare concept only possessing at least 2 - 4 counterparts while everyone else has as many counterparts as there exists realities.
- Benix has appeared in the following non-WildStorm Image publications: Team Youngblood #7.
Related
- 61 Appearances of Henry Bendix (Wildstorm Universe)
- 8 Images featuring Henry Bendix (Wildstorm Universe)
- 6 Quotations by or about Henry Bendix (Wildstorm Universe)
- Character Gallery: Henry Bendix (Wildstorm Universe)
Footnotes
StormWatch member |
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