Grant Ward

"I'm not a good man, Skye."

- Grant Ward

Grant Ward was a HYDRA infiltrator in S.H.I.E.L.D. disguised as a Level 7 operative. Abused as a child by his family, he wound up in prison until he was freed by John Garrett. Garrett trained Ward to become a cold-blooded killer and he became more loyal to him than to HYDRA. As an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., he was recruited onto Coulson's Team working with them on all their missions, pretending to be gruff and anti-social and to become emotionally attached to the team. During the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War he killed Victoria Hand but still maintained his cover as a loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. He broke cover on John Garrett's orders and rejoined HYDRA. Despite harboring feelings for Skye, he followed all of Garrett's orders. When Garrett's HYDRA cell lost the Battle at Cybertek, he was imprisoned by Coulson. He managed to escape many months later.

Childhood
"My older brother, he didn't beat up my younger brother. He was crueler than that. He made me do it, and I let him. I was afraid." "What about your parents?" "They were worse."

- Grant Ward and Skye

Grant Douglas Ward grew up in Massachusetts and had a difficult childhood. He had an abusive older brother who would frequently force Ward to beat up his younger brother. His parents were even worse. Ward also has a sister who he is no longer in contact with.

An incident in particular that had a profound effect on Ward was when his older brother threw his younger brother into a well and wouldn't allow Ward from rescuing him. Ward eventually managed to do it without his brother knowing.

Recruited by Garrett
"I work for a secret organization that's always looking to recruit young men like you." "And why should I trust you?" "You shouldn't. Don't trust anybody, ever, especially me."

- John Garrett and Grant Ward

In 1999, Ward went AWOL from the military academy to which he'd been sent, stole a car, drove over 1000 miles home, and set fire to his parents' home. Unknown to Ward, his older brother Christian was inside. Christian survived but pushed for the courts to try Grant as an adult.

While being detained at a juvenile detention center, Ward was unexpectedly visited by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent John Garrett, who offered him a choice - leave with Garrett now and be taught the skills needed to survive or face prison. Ward agreed, and for five years Garrett subjected Ward to a number of grueling survival tests in the Wyoming wilderness, eventually molding him into a cold, driven survivalist. Garrett eventually revealed to Ward that he was not, in fact, loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., but to HYDRA. Garrett made Ward prove his emotional detachment by asking him to kill his loyal dog Buddy

Early S.H.I.E.L.D. Career
About five years outside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, Ward was posed for sixteen months as a Russian attaché at the embassy in Warsaw, Poland.

After proving his worth, Ward became a full-fledged agent, rising through the ranks under Garrett's tutelage and supervision. Deputy Director Maria Hill gave Ward top marks in combat and the highest espionage rating since Natasha Romanoff, giving him low marks only in his people skills.

In 2008, Ward saw action in Georgia during a rebel uprising. He made several contacts along the South Ossetian border during this time, including Yuri Dubrovsky.

Mission in Paris
"Something turns up like this Chitauri neural link... we get to it before someone bad does." "Any idea who Vanchat was planning to sell it to?"

- Grant Ward and Maria Hill

Grant Ward and his team were assigned to a mission in Paris, France. Ward was assigned to break into a hidden vault belonging to the international criminal Vanchat and steal a Chitauri neural link which had come into Vanchat's possession and was going to sell to an unknown buyer. After taking the link, he was discovered and fought his way to the top of the building, where he was extracted by helicopter.

First Mission
"This is definitely not protocol."

- Grant Ward to Phil Coulson

Before the Battle of New York, Agent Phil Coulson, an old friend of John Garrett's, was slain at the hands of Loki and days later restored to life through unknown means. Garrett, whose health was beginning to fail, hoped to find out how Coulson was revived, hoping he could restore his own health through the same means.

When Coulson assembled a new team of specialists to investigate new, strange and unknown threats, Garrett suggested to Coulson that Ward be a part of his new team, ostensibly to "smooth out" Ward's "rough edges", but in reality, Ward was Garrett's undercover asset attempting to discover the truth about Coulson's resurrection.

Acting As Skye's S.O.
"I don't ever want to do another pull-up again." "You ever find yourself hanging off the edge of a building twenty stories up, you're gonna want to do at least one."

- Skye and Grant Ward

During the team's first mission together, they encountered a Rising Tide "hacktivist" known only as Skye, who was their only lead in the case of Michael Peterson. Having had some negative encounters with Rising Tide after their release of classified data during ongoing operations, Ward took an instant dislike to Skye. She was also an unknown factor that neither Ward nor Garrett had calculated. After the mission, Phil Coulson recruited her to the team as a consultant, over Ward's objections.

However, after Skye's quick thinking saved his life while taking back the Bus from Camilla Reyes' hijackers, Ward saw a way to learn more about her, thus removing any unknown element she might bring into the mix. Ward agreed to be her "Supervising Officer" and oversee her training and education.

Ward began her training but felt that Skye wasn't fully committing herself to it or to S.H.I.E.L.D. Coulson suggested a different, more personal approach. Ward responded by giving some details of his personal life and rough childhood to Skye, describing his so-called "defining moment" to her.

During the operation to rescue Dr. Franklin Hall in Malta, Ward objected when Skye volunteered to infiltrate the compound of Ian Quinn, citing the fact that she wasn't nearly qualified yet for such an operation. When Skye completed her mission, allowing Ward and Coulson to infiltrate the compound, she used Ward's training to good effect but had to rescued by Ward in the end. After the op, Skye seemed to fully commit herself to her training and S.H.I.E.L.D.

After the team captured Akela Amador, Ward used Backscatter Glasses to impersonate her and complete her next mission. He used the key card Amador bought with the diamonds she stole to enter the Todorov Building in Minsk, Belarus and entered a room with a series of strange symbols on the wall. After seeing the symbols, the Englishman informed him the mission was complete and he fought his way out of the building.

A few weeks later, the team was seemingly betrayed by Skye, who alerted her boyfriend, hacker Miles Lydon, that S.H.I.E.L.D. was closing in on him while tracking down a leak that endangered the life of Hong Kong resident Chan Ho Yin. Ward cuffed Skye and took her and Lydon into custody aboard the Bus. When Ward produced evidence that Lydon had accepted payment of one million dollars for the information that endangered Chan's life, Skye was infuriated and felt betrayed by Lydon.

Later, when the operation to extract Chan from captivity by the Centipede Project (actually John Garrett's HYDRA-funded science group) went bad, Ward released Skye from custody and accepted her help in rescuing Coulson and Melinda May. Skye very quickly managed to hack Centipede's mainframe and release the locked doors, allowing Coulson and May to escape. Coulson later agreed to let Skye remain on the team as long as she came completely clean with the team and agreed to wear a Tracking Bracelet at all times.

Ward further gained the trust of the team by jumping out of the Bus to rescue Jemma Simmons, who had jumped from the Bus without a parachute in order to protect her team from a Chitauri Virus. Ward was never in any danger as he had a parachute and administered the cure to Simmons during free-fall.

When the team had a stopover at the installation known as The Hub, Agent Victoria Hand assigned Ward and Agent Leo Fitz on a mission to Georgia to destroy an enemy weapon known as the "Overkill Device".

Ward went into the assignment watching the back of the inexperienced Fitz, but despite a few mistakes, Fitz surprised Ward with his quick thinking, adaptability, and courage during the assignment.

Dark Past
After Thor saved the Earth from the wrath of Malekith and the Dark Elves, Ward along with the rest of the team and S.H.I.E.L.D. proceeded to clean up the mess the battle had left in Greenwich. Later they were called to investigate the mystical weapon known as the Berserker Staff, which had been discovered by Norse Paganists leaders Jakob Nystrom and Petra Larsen. While searching for the second piece of the Staff, Ward came across the piece and Professor Elliot Randolph, but as he attempted to take it from Randolph, the Staff infected Ward with its mystical strength but also brought back a dark memory he had long hidden. As the effects of the Staff continued to affect Ward, his anger rose, causing him to lash out at the other team members.

The team finally located the final piece of the Staff thanks to Randolph, who was revealed to be the Asgardian soldier who had hidden it. When Grant and the team arrived they were confronted by Jakob, who had beat them to the location. Seeing no other choice, Grant grabbed a piece of the Staff and attacked Jakob. After a difficult battle, Ward defeated Jakob and the remaining Paganists, while also fighting through his own dark memory, which caused him to collapse at the end of the battle. Petra and another Paganist arrived, only to be defeated by Melinda May, who had taken the Staff from Ward. Later at a bar, Ward apologized to Skye who let him know if he ever needed to talk she was there. As he went to his room he saw May with a bottle; after a brief moment of eye contact, she entered her room, leaving the door open, and Ward soon followed. Seeing May as the biggest threat to his mission, he allowed things to get intimate.

True Colors
Ward assisted his team on other missions with his skills as an undercover specialist. He covered as a train conductor while the team was chasing Ian Quinn. In a sudden and tragic turn of events, Skye was shot twice in the stomach during the mission by Ian Quinn. At the thought of losing her, Ward's feelings for her grew as his relationship with Melinda May waned.

Ward helped with Skye's recovery by breaking into the Guest House with Phil Coulson, Leo Fitz, and John Garrett when Garrett arrived with his new recruit, Antoine Triplett.

As Skye recovered, Ward admitted to her that he blamed himself for her injury, but Skye reassured him by promising him that she would train harder after her recovery.

Ward received the assignment to help Sif with the capture of Lorelei in Nevada. Lorelei enthralled him after she saw his strength in battle. After spending the night together in Las Vegas, Ward was candid with Lorelei about his feelings toward Skye and May and told her that Coulson's Team stood between her and world domination. Together, they hijacked the Bus, and Ward had a lengthy fight with May, in which he would have killed her if his gun wasn't empty. This effectively ended their relationship.

Grant Ward witnessed Skye becoming an official S.H.I.E.L.D. agent so she could access the Index allowing  S.H.I.E.L.D. to investigat the Clairvoyant. Ward was teamed with Triplett to investigate Elijah Fordham, but before they could find him, they were called to help Felix Blake against Deathlok.

Deathlok was found in Pensacola, Florida, and he led a raiding party, including Ward, to Thomas Nash. When Nash threatened Skye's life, Ward killed him.

Battle at the Hub
"Yeah, that straight version of you is something else; I don't even think Romanoff can pull that one."

- John Garrett

During the S.H.I.E.L.D. Civil War, Ward explained to Phil Coulson that Victoria Hand, who was believed to be the Clairvoyant, could not get the research and items stored on the Bus, so Coulson had Skye download all of the data onto an encrypted hard drive. Ward and Skye worked together to battle through the Hub as they discussed their feelings. When Coulson, Leo Fitz, and Melinda May were surrounded by HYDRA agents and John Garrett, who revealed himself as both the Clairvoyant and a HYDRA operative, Ward and Skye rescued them.

Ward requested to join Hand in transporting Garrett to the Fridge. Once airborne, he killed Hand and two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to free Garrett. Ward next freed Raina from her imprisonment and took her to Havana, Cuba to introduce her to their mutual benefactor. At the Barbershop Headquarters, Ward and Garrett presented Raina with the drugs from the Guest House and the encrypted hard drive Skye had created so she could perfect Project Deathlok. Afterwards, they went off with Agent Kaminsky to raid the Fridge, releasing its prisoners, including Blackout and Ian Quinn, and obtaining its confiscated weapons, including the Berserker Staff, the Peruvian 0-8-4, and the Gravitonium. However, when Raina reported that only Skye could decrypt the hard drive, Ward was ordered to return to Coulson's Team to get the pass codes from her. Before he went to Providence, Ward had Garrett hit him several times, damaging his face and cracking his ribs.

"Ward is HYDRA"
"I was on a mission. It wasn't personal." "It was - you did not just say that. "It wasn't personal"?"

- Grant Ward and Skye

When Ward arrived at Providence, he lied to Coulson's Team about the Fridge, telling them that he killed John Garrett as Garrett was freeing the prisoners. Coulson decided to take half the team to Portland, Oregon to pursue Blackout, but Agent Eric Koenig insisted that they all pass the Lie Detector first. Ward barely passed his test. When Skye and Koenig discussed using NSA satellites to watch the prison break, Ward knew it would expose his part in the scheme; therefore, he killed Koenig, hid his body in a closet, and convinced Skye to leave with him on the Bus. Unknown to Ward, Skye had already found Koenig's body and left the message "Ward is HYDRA" for her teammates to find.

Ward flew to Ruthie's Skillet in Los Angeles since Skye told him that the encryption was location-based. While there, he learned that Skye knew his affiliation, but when she tried to escape, Deathlok, Ward's back-up, apprehended her. Ward tried to explain to her that his feelings were real, but Skye was too upset to listen. Deathlok then shot Ward with a Heart Stopper to induce a heart attack to make Skye release the codes. She did, saving Ward's life. Maria Hill arrived as Ward was preparing the Bus for take-off and distracted Ward long enough for Coulson to board and rescue Skye.

With the codes, Grant Ward returned to Cuba, and Raina was able to finish recreating GH.325. Garrett ordered the abandonment of the Barbershop Headquarters for the new Cybertek Manufacturing Facility, and Raina told Ward about rumors she had heard about Skye's parents. Before the members of the Centipede Project could leave, Ward found Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons spying on them. After he captured them, Fitz activated the EMP Joy Buzzer that further damaged Garrett, who was already suffering from organ failure. Ward ejected them in a Medical Pod from the Bus into the Atlantic Ocean. When he returned to Garrett, Ward learned that he had had Raina inject him with the GH.325.

Battle at Cybertek
"You know about Skye's parents, about the darkness that lies inside her. I believe in a world where her true nature will reveal itself. And when that day comes, maybe you two could be monsters together."

- Raina

Ward went with John Garrett to the new Cybertek Manufacturing Facility. On the flight there, he became worried about the state of Garrett's mind. He talked with Raina about his worries before she left, and she sarcastically said that perhaps now he could be with Skye. Despite his concerns, he stayed with Garrett. When Coulson's Team broke into the facility, he was tasked with apprehending Skye but was stopped by Melinda May with whom he engaged in a long battle that ended with his foot nailed to the floor, several bruises, and a fractured larynx. Coulson, angry that Ward had lied to them from day one, left him a question: Who are you without John Garrett? He was then taken into custody by U.S. Marines.

Prisoner at the Playground
"I told Coulson weeks ago that I was willing to speak to you to give you intelligence. Why now? Something bad happened?"

- Grant Ward

Grant Ward became a prisoner in one of the vaults in the Playground. In his time, he refused to speak to anyone except Skye. For three months, Phil Coulson sat outside Ward's cell but Ward refused to speak. Ward was eventually questioned by Skye about Carl Creel's connection with John Garrett and HYDRA. Ward told her about his gift. He also provided information on how HYDRA was communicating between its factions. Before Ward could give any information about Skye's Father, Skye left and returned Ward to isolation.

Later when the team was attempting to track down Donnie Gill who had now gained cryogenic powers, Skye came down to gain information from Ward. The two were sidetracked, discussing Ward's alleged abuse by his family who are now considered well-known, respectable people. Ward told her that HYDRA, when coming after a gifted, will first try to recruit them or, if the former fails, terminate them. He also told Skye that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s morals were going to lead to its defeat.

Leo Fitz, feeling that the others were keeping secrets from him, discovered Ward in his cell and attempted to kill him out of revenge by taking the oxygen out of the cell. During this, Fitz revealed the team had left to go after Gill. Ward revealed that HYDRA brainwashed some of its agents, including Gill, who was used by HYDRA to take the Sandbox. Fitz allowed Ward to live.

Upon returning to the Playground, Skye confronted Ward, who reminded her of his promise to always tell her the truth. She wanted to know if he was brainwashed into working with HYDRA; he told her he wasn't. He then told her that he could lead her to her father.

Bonding with the other agents, Skye admitted that she once had a crush on Ward. Meanwhile, Fitz felt that Ward was getting more respect than he was from the others.

Ward thought Skye wanted to talk about her father when she returned to Vault D weeks later, but she came to ask him about the Words of Creation. Ward told her that Raina was the one who gave him the information on Skye's father but she believed that Raina was playing him. Ward desperately hoped that she was not carving the Words of Creation symbols. Their conversation gave Skye the clue she needed to recognize that Phil Coulson was the one writing them. Later when Raina told Coulson that she wanted to bring Skye to her father she realized that Ward was right after all.

Transfer and Escape
When HYDRA attacked a United Nations summit posing as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and Grant's older brother Christian attempted to hunt down the agency, Coulson had Skye talk to Grant about his brother in hopes of finding out anything. Grant begged Skye not to let him know he was there. He then changed the conversation to Skye's Father only for Coulson to interrupt them and cut them off. Skye came back and Ward revealed to her that her father was trying to rescue her from HYDRA agents and that her mother was killed in the rescue attempt. Ward then tried to convince her to set him free so he could take her to him. Skye however revealed to him that he was being transferred to his brother's custody, much to his dismay.

Phil Coulson later came down as Grant tried to convince him he could still help them and that he was still part of his team. Coulson angrily listed the many atrocious actions Ward committed (dropping Fitz and Simmons out a plane, killing Victoria Hand and Eric Koenig) and told him that the only reason he was alive because he was of use and the only reason he was being transferred was because Christian was of more use. Coulson escorted him into a truck, advising the guards not to give Ward a single inch. Inside the van, Ward managed to escape his handcuffs and kill the soldiers.

Personality
"I'm agent Grant Ward. I could rupture your spleen with my left pinky... blindfolded."

- Jemma Simmons imitating Grant Ward

Grant Ward, while infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D., generally has a bad temper but is able to stay calm and collected during sticky situations. He is slightly anti-social with strong morals and is known to be 'deadly'. On his days off, however, he enjoys a nice book or even singing along to his favorite West Side Story song. As time progresses, Ward seems to soften somewhat, developing friendships with his fellow Agents, which eventually is cemented upon rescuing Agent Simmons after she jumps from the Bus. Ward does not seem overtly interested in relationships but for a time has a purely sexual relationship with Agent May. However, when he begins to develop feelings for Skye, this arrangement ends.

"I'm everyone's type."

- Grant Ward

In reality, Ward is a member of HYDRA. As such, he is revealed to be a master manipulator, who is able to adjust his personality in order to gain the trust of others. While he still manages to retain a calm and collected personality, he has very little of the loyalty or morals that he previously demonstrated. His only loyalty is to John Garrett, to whom he claims he owes everything. He does seem to have some reservations about Garrett's actions, but mostly in regards to Skye. Beyond that, he seems more than willing to work against Coulson and his team. However, he could not bring himself to directly murder Fitz and Simmons and instead ejected them into the ocean.

Abilities

 * Master Combatant: Ward is an expert in hand to hand combat.
 * Expert Marksman: Ward is an extremely accurate marksman skilled in sharpshooting and sniping. John Garrett recommended Ward to take this course in S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy after Ward spent time in the woods using this skill to hunt for food. Ward has famously made a shot from over 1000 yards; Ward says it was 2000.
 * Multilingual: He is fluent in English, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish. Ward used this skill in missions in Paris, South Ossetia, and Peru, most times as an undercover agent.
 * Expert Spy: Ward is a proficient agent trained in espionage, stealth, disguise and infiltration. He has spent years on some missions as an undercover agent. When taking a Lie Detector test, Ward put splinters of cable wire into his fingers to confuse the sensors. Infamously, Ward used this skill to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. as a HYDRA agent, spending years gaining trust and respect. When questioned by Raina, he explained to her methods that he used to solidify his place on Coulson's Team.

Weapons
As an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and a HYDRA operative, Ward is highly skilled with all types of firearms.
 * : The Smith & Wesson M&P pistol is the standard sidearm carried by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and, as such, Ward used it to threaten or shoot most of his enemies.
 * : Ward started using this pistol as his standard sidearm when his alliance with HYDRA was revealed, and used for o threaten Skye during the Battle at Cybertek.
 * : Ward obtained one of these pistols used by the guards of the Todorov Building when he infiltrated the facility.
 * : A revolver handed by John Garrett during his time in Wyoming, Ward fired in the air when Garrett ordered him to kill his loyal dog Buddy.
 * : A submachine gun that Ward, Garrett and Coulson used during the raid of the Guest House.
 * : A shotgun that Ward managed to obtain by 1999 while lost in the forests of Wyoming.
 * : The standard weapon used by S.H.I.E.L.D. Strike Team members, that Ward also used while tracking Deathlok and the Clairvoyant in Florida.
 * Nemesis Arms Vanquish: While investigating Michael Peterson, Ward assembled a Nemesis Arms Vanquish rifle along with a telescopic sight, bipod, suppressor and railed handguard in case Peterson had to be killed due to the unstability of the Extremis in his blood.
 * : Ward used this rifle to act as a sniper during the hostage exchange when Ace Peterson was to be liberated by Raina and Phil Coulson became kidnapped by the Centipede Project.
 * : A sniper rifle used by Ward to hunt during his days in the forest of Wyoming.
 * Night-Night Pistol: Sometimes, Ward needed to apply non-lethal force to subdue a target without permanent harm, favoring the use of the Night-Night Pistol designed by Agents Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons. This weapon renders the target unconscious to be safely captured, such as when he raided Ian Quinn's mansion in Italy while searching for Skye.
 * I.C.E.R. (Pistol Version): After Agent Leo Fitz improved the technology of the Night-Night Gun, Coulson changed the now obsolete weapon and favored the use of the pistol version of the I.C.E.R.s. He used two of these in a fight during the Battle at the Hub.

Family

 * Parents - Abusive, no longer in contact with
 * Christian Ward - Abusive Older Brother, no longer in contact with
 * Thomas Ward - Forced to bully by Christian
 * Sister, no longer in contact with

Allies

 * HYDRA
 * Jasper Sitwell †
 * Centipede Project
 * John Garrett † - Former S.H.I.E.L.D Supervising Officer, HYDRA Superior and Father Figure
 * Kaminsky
 * Raina - Enemy turned Ally
 * Ian Quinn - Enemy turned Ally
 * Ernesto - Barber
 * Centipede Soldiers
 * Brian Hayward † - Enemy
 * Cybertek - Allies
 * Carlo Mancini † - Enemy
 * Sofia † - Enemy

Enemies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Allies turned Enemies
 * Nick Fury - Director
 * Maria Hill - Deputy Director
 * Victoria Hand † - Superior
 * Felix Blake - Colleague
 * Eric Koenig † - Colleague
 * Coulson's Team - Teammates turned Enemies
 * Phil Coulson - Team Leader
 * Melinda May - Former Lover
 * Jemma Simmons
 * Leo Fitz
 * Skye - Enemy turned Teammate and Pupil (former), Love Interest
 * Antoine Triplett - Colleague and Former Friend
 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (Second Incarnation) - Jailors
 * Phil Coulson
 * Skye
 * Leo Fitz - Torturer
 * Jemma Simmons
 * Michael Peterson - Ally (under HYDRA coercion), now Enemy
 * Akela Amador - Enemy turned Ally (former)
 * Camilla Reyes
 * Elliot Randolph - Ally (former)
 * Luca Russo †
 * Sif - Ally (former)
 * Lorelei - Enemy turned Enthraller