S.T.R.I.K.E.

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S.T.R.I.K.E. (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies) is a fictional intelligence agency appearing in Marvel Comics. It was introduced in Captain Britain Weekly #17, as the United Kingdom's version of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In the organisation's first appearance, Nick Fury refers to Tod Radcliffe as S.T.R.I.K.E.'s "head honcho", however after Radcliffe is revealed as a traitor, working for the Red Skull, former Royal Navy Commander Lance Hunter is introduced as S.T.R.I.K.E.'s director, with dialogue implying he had outranked Radcliffe all along.

Like its sister organisation, S.T.R.I.K.E. includes a Psi Division, which included Betsy Braddock, later the X-Man known as Psylocke.

S.T.R.I.K.E. is later taken over by Captain Britain's enemy, the crimelord Vixen, and disbanded in the wake of the Jaspers Warp. It is replaced by the Resources Control Executive and the Weird Happenings Organisation.

[edit] Ultimate S.T.R.I.K.E.

In the Ultimate Universe, S.T.R.I.K.E. is again the UK version of S.H.I.E.L.D. It is introduced in Ultimate X-Men #15. Known agents include Betsy Braddock and Dai Thomas (whose Earth 616 counterpart was a police inspector who often clashed with S.T.R.I.K.E. and its descendent organisations).