BARON STRUCKER LMD

Real Name: None

Identity/Class: Android (LMD)

Occupation: Supreme Hydra

Group Membership: HYDRA

Affiliations: Samuel Sawyer LMD

Enemies: Captain America, Isadore "Izzy" Cohen, Timothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Nick Fury, Gabe Jones, Eric Koenig, Dino Manelli, Robert "Reb" Ralston, Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton, Samuel Sawyer

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Supreme Hydra, believed itself to be Baron Wolfgang von Strucker

Base of Operations: Hydra Island, Pacific Ocean

First Appearance: Captain America I#273 (September, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: The Baron Strucker LMD was programmed to believe itself to be the true Baron Strucker, and to follow the plans the true Strucker had programmed it with. It wore an electrified costume, and contained explosives within its body.

History: (Strange Tales I#158 - BTS/Captain America I#274 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Baron Strucker of HYDRA constructed an LMD of himself to continue on as leader of HYDRA in case his attempt to blackmail the world with the Death Spore bomb failed. When the plot did fail, Strucker was apparently killed, and Hydra Island sank beneath the ocean. The LMD came to life, and believed itself to be the true Strucker. With all of Strucker's men dead from the explosion, the LMD began building its own army of LMD HYDRA soldiers, and rebuilt Hydra Island itself.

(Captain America I#273) - The Strucker LMD sent a team of agents to capture General Samuel Sawyer as he was attending a reunion of his World War II squad "the Howling Commandos." Captain America was present at the gathering and fought the agents, but they escaped with Sawyer, and the Strucker LMD blew up the agents. The Strucker LMD created an LMD of Sawyer so that they could invade Grand Forks Air Force Base and hijack a B-52 which was armed with nuclear weapons. Captain America and three of the one-time Howlers ("Dum-Dum" Dugan, Nick Fury and Gabe Jones) determined what the LMD's plan was and made it to the base, but were captured by the LMD's guards.

As the LMD prepared to claim the B-52, the base was attacked by the rest of the Howlers, and Fury destroyed the LMD of Sawyer, realizing it was a fake. Captain America fought his way past the LMD Strucker's guards and unmasked him, surprised to see the supposedly-dead Strucker was behind the plan, but the LMD's costume contained an electrical charge that stunned the Captain long enough for the LMD to escape on the B-52, with the real Sawyer still in his custody. Eric Koenig attempted to ram the B-52 with another plane, but the HYDRA LMDs shot the plane down.

(Captain America I#274) - The Strucker LMD planned to use the nuclear weapons to destroy Earth's natural resources, then raise a resource-rich continent from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, where Hydra Island was, forcing all nations to deal with HYDRA in order to survive. However, it still needed the missiles' navigation override code, which Sawyer possessed, and he prepared to interrogate Sawyer. As it was about to use truth-serum on Sawyer, Captain America broke into Hydra Island, and had insulated himself against the LMD's electrical field so that he wouldn't be stunned again. He knocked the LMD down and set Sawyer free, while the rest of the former Howling Commandos assaulted the LMD army.

The heroes lost sight of Sawyer during the battle when he left to try and destroy the B-52, so the Strucker LMD used another LMD of Sawyer to use as a shield against Captain America and the ex-Howlers. The Strucker LMD intended to board the B-52 and escape Hydra Island, but the real Sawyer was aboard the B-52, and had already timed the plane to explode. As Sawyer exited the plane, he dropped the access ramp on top of the LMDs, and the Strucker LMD was damaged, exposing him to everyone as a fake. With no more ploys left, the Strucker LMD pulled out a detonator to make himself explode in an attempt to kill his enemies, but Sawyer saw him and shielded the others by leaping on the LMD, taking the brunt of the blast. Sawyer was fatally injured by the explosion, and died in Nick Fury's arms.

The LMD, now just a head, continued to maintain that it was the true Strucker, even as its enemies evacuated Hydra Island. Hydra Island was sunk again when the B-52 exploded, taking whatever was left of the LMD with it.

Comments: Created by David Anthony Kraft, Mike Zeck and John Beatty.

The expedition to Hydra Island in Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. II#20-21 doesn't take this story into account, as this story claimed that there was no trace of the Death Spore...when, in fact, it was very much still active when the true Baron Strucker was brought back from the dead. Maybe this wasn't the real Hydra Island, and just a replica? Everything else in the story was a replica...

Gordon Lonely's comments in reference to Team America#2 (July, 1982). To throw in his theory that Number 1 is the Baron Strucker LMD that appeared in Captain America I#273-274. To support this he offers the following evidence, though it is largely circumstantial:

1. On p5 in Team America#2, artist Mike Vosburg seems to go to a lot of trouble to conceal the Supreme Hydra's face. Even on the last panel of this page, his guards randomly aim their guns at no one (since Agent Marcus has just left the room) just to conceal his face.
2. This issue was published two months before Captain America I#273, and certainly the LMD had been activated and was active by then.
3. Hydra at this time had been split into splinter cells after the destruction of Hydra Island and the failures of Madame Hydra and the Red Skull--among others--to provide solid leadership. In Team America, Hydra is described as being more corporate than militant. However, the Supreme Hydra/Number One we see in this issue has adopted the Strucker-era philosophy that failure means death. While it would be unusual for a throw-away character like Marcus to think she could supplant Baron Strucker, perhaps she had some insight into his true nature or maybe she is one of the Madame Hydras to exist between the Viper and the sixth woman to assume that title (from Nick Fury vs. SHIELD).

Profile by Prime Eternal

CLARIFICATIONS:
This LMD of Baron Wolfgang von Strucker should not be confused with:

• Baron Strucker, Wolfgang von Strucker, the man it believed itself to be, @ Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos#5
• Another Baron Strucker LMD, which fought the X-Men and Alpha Flight, @ X-Men/Alpha Flight II#1
• The Baron Strucker Robot constructed by Machinesmith, @ Captain America I#130

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