Force of Nature (comics)
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The Force of Nature is a group of super villains in the Marvel Comics Universe who each have elemental themed powers: earth, fire, water, and wind. The team was organized by the eco-terrorism group Project: Earth, who enticed certain criminal/antisocial superhumans into joining their cause with the notion of continuing to commit illegal acts while acting under the guise of ecological awareness. They have most often clashed with the superhero team known as the New Warriors.
[edit] Members
- Omar Barrenos (leader) -- the head of Project: Earth and direct liaison between the Project and the Force of Nature.
- Aqueduct -- formerly the liquid-controlling criminal Water Wizard, renamed "Aqueduct" by Project: Earth.
- Firewall -- a pyrokinetic who left the Force of Nature after their first encounter with the New Warriors to join the Folding Circle as Silk Fever.
- Skybreaker -- an Inhuman criminal, known as Aireo among his own people, with wind-manipulating abilities.
- Terraformer -- a plant-based "Stimuloid" duplicate of the criminal Plantman who gained sentience and struck out on his own. Terraformer initially resembled his creator's human form (albeit in a different costume), but after sustaining severe damage in battle, transformed into a more plant-like humanoid form. He can mentally control plants, not only altering their rate and size of growth, but causing them to move on their own. A facet of this is the ability to communicate with plants; Terraformer has claimed a need to "commune" with plants in this manner on a regular basis to maintain his physical well-being.
- Firebrand -- the second criminal to use the Firebrand identity, recruited as the "fire" member after Firewall's departure; the only member to depend on technology for his powers.
[edit] History
The Force of Nature first appear as a team when Project: Earth sends them to stop land developers from clearing sections of the Amazon Rainforest. They come into conflict with the New Warriors when several members of the Project fake their own disappearances as a publicity stunt; among the missing members is actress Maddie Baldwin, mother of Warriors member Speedball, who asks for his teammates' help in locating her. The trail leads to the Amazon, where the subterfuge is revealed after the Force of Nature ambushes and captures the Warriors. Speedball pledges the Warriors' aid in an attempt to get close to his mother, but the heroes turn on the Force of Nature when it becomes clear that the villains intend to use lethal force in stopping the clearcutting crews. With the Force on the verge of defeat, Project: Earth abandons them to their fate after an aborted attempt to martyr Maddie Baldwin and blame the developers (foiled by Speedball). The Force of Nature is turned over to local authorities for incarceration.
However, Project: Earth later faciliates the Force of Nature's release and retains them as agents, despite the defection of Firewall to the Folding Circle. After recruiting the mercenary Firebrand as a replacement, Project: Earth sends the Force of Nature to deal with oil well fires in the war-torn nation of Trans-Sabal; when the Force of Nature deviates from their assignment and takes a side in Trans-Sabal's ongoing conflict, Project: Earth asks the New Warriors to pull the villains out of the country before their actions further damage the Project's reputation. The Warriors reluctantly agree and eventually succeed in the task (though not before being dragged into the conflict themselves), bringing the Force of Nature out for incarceration in the Vault.
While in the Vault, Aqueduct, Skybreaker, and Terraformer are part of a prisoner riot that rises out of requests for better inmate living conditions, denied by prison authorities on the basis of the greater security measures required to incarcerate superhuman criminals (for example, denying Terraformer "communion" with even a small houseplant, reasoning that Terraformer would use the plant in an escape attempt). The dispute is mediated by New Warriors member Justice (himself an inmate at the time for an accidental murder), who demonstrates good faith on the prisoners' part by allowing Terraformer access to a potted plant from the prison warden's office; Terraformer proceeds to simply "commune" with the plant, as requested. The warden agrees to the possibility of granting privileges to inmates on a case-by-case basis, according to each prisoner's individual behavior and needs.
The Force of Nature has not worked as a team since the Trans-Sabal incident, and most of the membership has been shown returning to criminal activity. Aqueduct (who kept his new alias and costume after the Force of Nature disbanded) in particular has been active as a member of the seventh incarnation of the Masters of Evil, and most recently as one of the villains recruited for government service by the Thunderbolts during Marvel Comics' Civil War event; Firewall/Silk Fever has also appeared as a Thunderbolts recruit along with her Folding Circle teammates.
