HYDRA

"HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize is that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded, and I was recruited. The new HYDRA grew, a beautiful parasite, inside S.H.I.E.L.D."

- Arnim Zola to Captain America and Black Widow

HYDRA is a terrorist-military organization bent on world domination. It was founded shortly after the rise of Nazism in Germany by Johann Schmidt as the scientific branch of the Nazi Schutzstaffel. Its main purpose was to create advanced weaponry for the German armies, but over the years, members of HYDRA became loyal only to Schmidt himself. At the beginning of World War II, HYDRA still fought for the Nazi cause, but in 1943, Schmidt separated HYDRA from Nazi Germany to start his own conquest of the world.

After its defeat at the hands of Captain America in 1945 and the subsequent disappearance of Johann Schmidt, HYDRA was secretly rebuilt inside S.H.I.E.L.D. by Schmidt's top scientist Arnim Zola who was recruited into the agency during Operation Paperclip. Though Zola's body died in 1972, HYDRA was already well established, and Zola's mind continued to live in a computer. In the following decades, HYDRA secretly fed crises around the world, aiming to create a society that would accept the fascist New World Order just to gain its security.

By the beginning of the 21st century, agents of HYDRA managed to spread outside of S.H.I.E.L.D., infiltrating many important organizations, including the United States Senate, and establishing many secret bases around the world. One of HYDRA's top agents in S.H.I.E.L.D., John Garrett, secretly led the Centipede Project with the goal to recreate the Super Soldier. In 2014, HYDRA's plans for world domination almost succeeded through their agent Alexander Pierce and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Project Insight. However, their plan to eliminate 20 million people who posed a threat to HYDRA failed because of the efforts of HYDRA's oldest enemy, Captain America, who publicly exposed their infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D. and destroyed their main tool of destruction, three of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarriers. However, HYDRA's leader Wolfgang von Strucker already had new plans for global domination, plans which included twins declared "miracles" and the Chitauri Scepter.

With its existence publicly known, HYDRA started a war against the remnants of S.H.I.E.L.D., taking over many S.H.I.E.L.D. bases. For many months, HYDRA's forces led by John Garrett fought a vicious fight against the small team of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Phil Coulson. Despite its attempt to infiltrate the U.S. Armed Forces through Ian Quinn and Deathlok Soldiers, Garrett's group was ultimately defeated through the combined efforts of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s former director Nick Fury, Coulson's team, and the U.S. Marines.

However, even that defeat was only a temporary setback for HYDRA. S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed and publicly declared a terrorist organization, and many HYDRA agents continued with their work, including the high ranking member Daniel Whitehall who used the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. to start the campaign to recover the mysterious Obelisk.

Foundation and First Actions
"Howard, the footage you're about the see was just smuggled out of Nazi Germany by "Agent 13", an undercover operative the British have planted deep within HYDRA, Hitler's advanced weapons program."

- Chester Phillips HYDRA has its roots in the special weapons division of the Nazi Sturmabteilung. Led by Ernst Kaufmann, the division was charged with developing advanced weapons for the German army.

In June 1934, during the, Kaufmann was killed by the SS officer Johann Schmidt. Schmidt and his men eliminated Kaufmann's entire unit, except one man, Dr. Arnim Zola. Schmidt took over Kaufmann's weapons program and formed his own SS division, naming it HYDRA.

HYDRA was named after the mythological creature and used its original phrase: "cut off one head, two more will take its place". It was soon charged with science experiments and deep investigation of the occult. Due to contributions from Arnim Zola, HYDRA developed several extremely advanced weapons.

When the started in 1936, the leaders of the Third Reich decided to support the  led by. HYDRA was among the German units sent by Adolf Hitler to assist the Nationalists on the battlefield.

In April 1937, HYDRA's tanks and soldiers equipped with powerful exo-skeleton battle suits destroyed the city of Guernica. At the time, it was believed the German air force, the, was responsible for the destruction of the city. However, the footage of the slaughter was smuggled out of Germany by the British agent Margaret Carter and handed over to the US military in January 1940.

The Nazi Science Division
"HYDRA is the Nazi deep science division. It's led by Johann Schmidt. But he has much bigger ambitions." "HYDRA's practically a cult. They worship Schmidt, they think he's invincible."

- Peggy Carter and Chester Phillips to Senator Brandt In 1939, World War II broke out. HYDRA's leader Johann Schmidt actively participated in the Nazi conquest of Europe. Though the United States of America weren't yet involved in the war, Schmidt knew that was only temporary. In 1940, HYDRA assassins attempted to kill the American industrialist Howard Stark, but with the help of Colonel Chester Phillips, Stark was able to defeat the attackers, and decided to join the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

That November, at Castle Kaufmann in the, Schmidt injected himself with Abraham Erskine's Super Soldier Serum. He expected to become the superior man, but the unstable serum disfigured his face and turned him into a super strong megalomaniac villain. Erskine escaped with the help of Agent Peggy Carter, Colonel Phillips, and Stark.

Adolf Hitler gave Schmidt a military base in the Alps, which he turned into a headquarters of HYDRA. Over time, HYDRA members became more loyal to Schmidt than the Third Reich. Immediately after the start of the war, HYDRA began building several factories across the Nazi-occupied Europe. By 1942, they had factories in Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Poland, Italy, and Czechoslovakia. They used captured Allied soldiers to work in factories. They even had a U-boat base somewhere on the Mediterranean.

The Rise of HYDRA
"My apologies, Doctor, but we both knew HYDRA could grow no further in Hitler's shadow. Hail HYDRA!"

- Johann Schmidt to Arnim Zola

In March 1942, HYDRA stormed a castle in Tønsberg, Norway where the mystical object known as the Tesseract was buried 531 years ago by Odin. Schmidt saw to it that the Tesseract would be used to its full potential by Arnim Zola. Zola's outlandish designs of robotic power armor, massive vehicles and energy weapons and armor could find a functional use thanks to the Tesseract's power, and with the most advanced technology in the world, HYDRA began their conquest that counted Berlin in its targets.

In the meantime, a HYDRA officer, General Reinhardt, was sent to search for other mysterious artifacts. Reinhardt's team was able to discover the Obelisk in some unspecified location, possibly in the deserts of North Africa. When Reinhardt showed the artifact to his leader, Schmidt said that the Obelisk may hold the answer to death itself. The Obelisk and other artifacts were soon stored in HYDRA Storage Facility in Austria. Reinhardt became the facility's commanding officer.

Soon, HYDRA's goals would be challenged by America's own super-soldier, Captain America. In November 1943, Rogers attacked the HYDRA factory in Austria, and managed to free all Allied soldiers who were imprisoned there. This was the first direct conflict between Rogers and Schmidt, who activated self destruct mode and escaped in the experimental plane. Aided by his best friend, Bucky Barnes and the Howling Commandos, Captain America began a massive assault on HYDRA forces across the Axis lines, destroying numerous bases.

During the first months of 1944, when the German air force launched the last "Blitz", Schmidt sent a group of HYDRA agents to London to steal some blueprints from the Strategic Scientific Reserve. The agents were successful, but they were soon discovered and chased by Captain America who managed to capture all of them.

In May 1944, the HYDRA submarine Leviathan destroyed an Allied merchant freighter in the Mediterranean with HYDRA's thunder lance torpedo, but Captain America, who was traveling on the sunken ship, boarded the submarine and captured it. Cap and Commandos infiltrated the HYDRA U-base where they discovered that the mysterious "Hydra serum" merged the entire base's staff into one octopus-like creature. Cap took the creature to Howard Stark to separate it back into individual men.

In April 1944, HYDRA took possession of an old castle on an island in the Nazi-occupied Danish Straits. Schmidt was interested in that castle because of an ancient Viking runestone that was hidden there. The same month, Captain Rogers and the Howling Commandos invaded the castle. Schmidt attempted to destroy them through his "vita batteries" but they survived.

Shortly after the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Baron Zemo's castle in Bavaria, Johann Schmidt attempted to activate the Sleeper, a giant robot powered by the Tesseract, but the machine was destroyed by Captain America. Captain America's actions against HYDRA were crowned when he succeeded in capturing Arnim Zola.

Defeat
"Tomorrow, HYDRA will stand master of the world. Born to victory on the wings of the Valkyrie. Our enemies weapons will be powerless against us. If they shoot down one plane, hundreds more will rain fire upon them! If they cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail HYDRA!"

- Johann Schmidt

Despite the loss of Doctor Zola, in May 1945 Schmidt was ready to launch the offensive that would change the face of the planet. The same day on which Schmidt intended to launch the attack, the base was infiltrated by Captain America, who was captured and brought before Schmidt himself. However, before Schmidt could kill his nemesis, the base was attacked by the Howling Commandos and the U.S. Army detachment led by Colonel Chester Phillips. Outnumbered, Schmidt's men were eventually defeated, but not before Schmidt flew away in his Tesseract-powered bomber, the Valkyrie. He intended to nuke all bigger cities in America.

Captain America managed to board the plane and came face to face with Schmidt. When it became clear that Rogers was gaining the upper hand in the fight, Schmidt attempted to use the power of the Tesseract with his bare hands. This only resulted in a beam of light, similar in design to the Bifrost Bridge, which caused Schmidt to disappear, and forcing Rogers to put the bomber plane down in the freezing waters below, freezing himself solid and causing the Tesseract to be lost to the seas. Immediately after Schmidt's disappearance, General Reinhardt and his lieutenant attempted to empty the HYDRA Storage Facility in Austria so they could escape with the artifacts and continue HYDRA's work. At that moment, Reinhardt's unit was the last active HYDRA cell. However, despite their hurry, the base was discovered and attacked by the US Army detachment led by the Strategic Scientific Reserve team composed of Peggy Carter, Dum Dum Dugan and Jim Morita. After a short fight, the garrison of the base surrendered. All HYDRA soldiers were arrested and the artifacts, including the Obelisk, were confiscated. However, before he was taken away, Reinhardt promised to Agent Carter that HYDRA would rise again.

After The War
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place."

- Captain America and Arnim Zola

In the aftermath of World War II, the United States started Operation Paperclip, a program used to recruit the scientists of Nazi Germany for employment by the United States and deny their scientific expertise and knowledge to the Soviet Union. As part of the operation, Zola was recruited into S.H.I.E.L.D., the newly formed peacekeeping organization.

Many other former Nazis and HYDRA scientists escaped to South America, hoping to hide from justice. Several of them were employed by the government of Peru to make the new Tesseract-powered weapon. The government wanted to use the weapon against the rebels, but due to the temporal instability of the Tesseract energy, the weapon ended up stuck in the undiscovered Incan temple.

Various HYDRA operatives who escaped justice after World War II infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. shortly after the agency was formed, working secretly in their ranks. Over the next decades, led by Zola, HYDRA worked from the shadows, directing their agents to complete the tasks that were assigned.

Toward the New World Order
"HYDRA created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete, HYDRA's New World Order will arise."

- Arnim Zola

Shortly after the war, Arnim Zola found Sergeant James Barnes, Captain America's war-time partner who was presumed deceased after falling to an icy death from Zola's train in 1945. Zola and other scientists took Barnes to one of HYDRA's secret bases, presumably in the territory held by the Soviet Union, where they replaced his lost left arm with the new cybernetic limb. They brainwashed him, and since he was already injected with another version of the Super Soldier Serum, they turned him into the new fist of HYDRA. Though he was wearing the communist red star on his new limb, Barnes never fought for the Soviet ideals, instead becoming HYDRA's best assassin known as the Winter Soldier. Over the next decades, he did much on creating chaos in the world, assassinating those who could pose a threat to HYDRA's goals, and spending time between missions in cryogenic sleep.

With S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources, Zola managed to build an entire computer system which his mind was uploaded into as an artificially intelligent user interface. Though Zola's body died in 1972, his mind continued to live in cyberspace, from which he was able to provide easy passage into the agency for more HYDRA sleeper agents.

HYDRA also oversaw the Deathlock Project in 1990, using the turncoat S.H.I.E.L.D. agent John Garrett as their first test subject. He was the first Deathlok. However, only the cybernetic components worked. The organs were severely effected, leading Garrett to look for a solution to perfect Deathlok and to prevent his slow-coming death.

The HYDRA weapons and technology captured by the Strategic Scientific Reserve during the war were studied by S.H.I.E.L.D.. In 2011, S.H.I.E.L.D. started a program called "Phase 2". The program involved reactivating the HYDRA weapons with the Tesseract for use against super-powered or other-worldly forces. Several cases of HYDRA weapons were stored aboard the Helicarrier. However, the weapons weren't needed, because when the Chitauri led by Loki invaded New York City, the aliens were defeated by the Avengers.

The "Clairvoyant"
"HYDRA always comes back."

- John Garrett

Following the Battle of New York, one of HYDRA's agents within S.H.I.E.L.D., John Garrett, going under the alias, the Clairvoyant,, recruited and funded the Centipede Project to provide them with super-soldiers and to help keep himself from dying. Garret also recruited the boxer Carl Creel, by faking his termination off S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Index. One of the first was Mike Peterson. In his Clairvoyant persona, Garrett made people like Ian Quinn and Raina believe that he could see everything such as what the President dreams about. Garrett also had another sleeper agent, Grant Ward, recruited by Phil Coulson for his team. Ward's mission was to find out about Coulson's revival. Garrett then had Coulson captured and interrogated for three days to find the secrets behind his revival in Tahiti. Garrett then ordered Quinn to shoot Skye. He then made sure that he would be the one to take Quinn in, and to have Coulson lead him to where he was revived. After getting inside, unbeknownst to Coulson and Leo Fitz, he took a few of the drugs and hid them in his vest before the place was destroyed. He then had Mike Peterson, going under the codename "Deathlok", turned into a cybernetic super soldier.

Project Insight
"Zola's algorithm evaluates peoples' past to predict their future." "And what then?" "Oh, my God. Pierce is gonna kill me." "What then?!" "Then the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list. A few millions at a time."

- Jasper Sitwell and Captain America

Two years after the Battle of New York, S.H.I.E.L.D. was much better armed than before, so it could easily repel any attack from other worlds. With new funds granted by the World Security Council, Nick Fury started Project Insight, an operation which involved three heavily armed Helicarriers that were designed to proactively strike out against potential threats before they actually happened.

However, HYDRA's agents used this opportunity to take control of the project. With Arnim Zola's special algorithm that could calculate who could be a threat to HYDRA in the future, the leader of HYDRA's S.H.I.E.L.D. branch Alexander Pierce intended to wipe out 20 million people from the face of the Earth.

The End of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by HYDRA."

- Captain America

In 2014, the HYDRA infiltration was finally exposed when corrupted senior official Alexander Pierce attempted to activate Project Insight early. The operation was thwarted by the combined efforts of Captain America, Black Widow, Falcon, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Nick Fury and Deputy Director Maria Hill but the event left S.H.I.E.L.D. in shambles and resulted in the deaths of many HYDRA agents.

The Age of Miracles
"There are other facilities doing HYDRA's good work around the world. We'll feed them to Captain America and his colorful friends, keep them off our scent." "What about the volunteers?" "The dead will be buried so deep, their own ghosts won't be able to find them."

- Wolfgang von Strucker and a HYDRA Doctor Despite the failure of Project Insight, HYDRA continued with its operations, with figure leader Wolfgang von Strucker placing his attention on superpowered twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch.

New Battles
"Out of the Shadows Into the Light HYDRA"

- Coded message for HYDRA sleeper agents within S.H.I.E.L.D.

John Garrett, after escaping Agent Victoria Hand's custody with the aid of fellow HYDRA agent Grant Ward, continued to work on the Centipede Project at the HYDRA base in Havana, Cuba.

Garrett then raided the Fridge, stealing many items such as the Peruvian 0-8-4, the Berserker Staff, and the Gravitonium. They also freed a number of prisoners. Ultimately, his branch of HYDRA was defeated by the combined efforts of Phil Coulson, his team, and Nick Fury, with their prisoners also freed and most of the stolen items recovered.

Out of the Shadows
"A "gifted" that refuses HYDRA is a threat. And threats are taken care of quickly. That's why HYDRA will win. Because while a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is considering right and wrong, HYDRA's already taken the shot."

- Grant Ward

Despite Colonel Glenn Talbot's massive manhunt for S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA agents and bases, HYDRA continued its plans for world domination by retreating to the shadows.

HYDRA agent, Sunil Bakshi, at the behest of Dr. Daniel Whitehall, sent one of their assasins, Carl Creel to retrieve an 0-8-4. However, the Obelisk was then taken by Raina and Creel was then captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and turned over to General Talbot.

Following that, HYDRA recruited former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jemma Simmons. In reality, however, Simmons was actually undercover for S.H.I.E.L.D. under orders from Director Coulson himself. They also brainwashed agents to their cause, such as Agent 33, with Dr. Whitehall's methods with apparent success.

HYDRA also continued to investigate the alien writing that Garret had been writing. Bakshi, disguised as General Talbot, and Agent 33 were sent to Miami, Florida to retrieve a 500 year old painting that had the writing. However, they lost it to Director Coulson and Agent May.

HYDRA, using skin samples from an Obelisk's victim, created a toxin and used it on a Naval anti-HYDRA unit, killing some of them. HYDRA then had their security chief, Barbara Morse to hunt for a traitor in their midst. At first, Dr. Kenneth Turgeon was thought to be traitor, but the traitor was revealed to be Jemma Simmons. Unfortunately, Morse was revealed herself to be S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and the two escaped. Dr. Whitehall and Bakshi then had the lab dismantled and relocated. However, Whitehall then met a doctor who gave him back the Obelisk, and offered to give him and HYDRA its secrets in exchange for killing Coulson.

Weapons
"HYDRA is assembling an arsenal to destroy my enemies in one stroke, wherever they are, regardless of how many forces they possess, all in a matter of hours."

- Red Skull


 * World War II Era Weapons: Before and during World War II, soldiers of HYDRA could rely on standard weapons used by the armed forces of Nazi Germany but also on several extremely advanced weapons developed by HYDRA's scientists.
 * : All officers of HYDRA were armed with the standard pistol used by members of the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
 * : This pistol was mainly used by HYDRA's assassins like Heinz Kruger.
 * MP 40: Since HYDRA's foundation and until the end of the war, soldiers of HYDRA used the MP 40 submachine gun.
 * Merkel S12ga Shotgun: Used only by select HYDRA units under the command of Baron von Strucker.
 * : Although it was mainly used by the Wehrmacht, the was also used by HYDRA's sharpshooters.
 * HYDRA Assault Rifle: One of many weapons developed by Arnim Zola after the discovery of the Tesseract, this rifle could fire energy pulses that could disintegrate enemy soldiers with one shot.
 * HYDRA Pistol: Similar in design to the Luger P08, this pistol was mainly used by the Red Skull.
 * HYDRA Cannon: A pulse cannon mainly used on HYDRA's heavier vehicles.
 * HYDRA Flamethrower: One of the few advanced weapons developed before the discovery of the Tesseract, the flamethrower was mainly used on HYDRA's mini tanks.


 * Modern Weapons: By the beginning of the twentieth century, thanks to its infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA could rely on all weapons available to S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. All sorts of rifles, machine guns, handguns, and heavy weapons could be found in HYDRA's arsenal.
 * : These rifles were used by HYDRA's soldiers during the assassination attempt on Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon, and the raid of the Fridge.
 * : Used by HYDRA's soldiers during the raid of the Fridge and during the battle at Cybertek.
 * : Used by HYDRA's assassins like the Winter Soldier.
 * : Used by HYDRA's assassins who attempted to kill Nick Fury.
 * : Used by HYDRA's assassins who attempted to eliminate Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon.
 * : Used by HYDRA's assassins who attempted to eliminate Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon.
 * : Used by HYDRA's security guards at the HYDRA Research Facility.
 * : Used as the main sidearm by operatives working under Daniel Whitehall, such as the agent sent to capture Donnie Gill in Casablanca or the security guards at the HYDRA Laboratories.

Equipment
HYDRA used a variety of advanced vehicles. Thanks to the scientists like Arnim Zola, members of HYDRA could rely on armored vehicles equipped with flamethrowers, armored personnel carriers, military trucks, experimental planes, futuristic exo-skeleton battle suits, submarines, gigantic tanks, flying bombs, motorbikes, and giant vehicles like the Leviathan submarine or the Valkyrie bomber.

Uniforms
HYDRA SS Uniform: As the SS divison, HYDRA mostly used the standard grey and black uniforms of the Schutzstaffel. They also used the standard German. Their ranks insignia was identical to that of the SS. However, to distinguish themselves from other SS units, they wore HYDRA badges on their caps and collars, instead of the SS rune patches and Totenkopf badges. They also had HYDRA patches on the upper parts of their sleeves and cuff titles with Gothic style script on the lower parts. However, their uniforms lacked the Reichsadler patch on the left sleeve. Some members of HYDRA also used armbands similar to those of the Nazi party. However, their armbands had the HYDRA logo instead of the swastika. Some HYDRA helmets had no insignia, but others had German Imperial tricolor shield decals and HYDRA shield decals. The grey uniforms were still used by troops that guarded Castle Zemo in 1944. Some officers continued to use their black SS uniforms until the end of the war.

HYDRA Uniform: After 1943, soldiers of HYDRA adopted new, futuristic-styled green uniform. The same uniform, but in black color, was used by HYDRA's special troops and the crew of the Valkyrie.

Modern uniforms: By the 2010s, HYDRA mostly used standard combat camouflage uniforms that were used by almost every army in the world. If the situation required, HYDRA's agents would masquerade themselves as civilians or policemen to easily approach and eliminate their targets.

Methods/Techniques

 * World War II Methods/Techniques: Before and during World War II, HYDRA scientists used certain methods to brainwash their soldiers and prisoners.
 * Experimentation: Scientists like Arnim Zola, would experiment on unwilling test subjects such as Sergeant James "Bucky" Barnes.
 * Modern Methods/Techniques
 * ​Faustus: HYDRA scientists, such Dr. Daniel Whitehall and others were able to indoctrinate gifted individuals such Carl Creel Agent 33  and Donnie Gill

Trivia

 * In the comics, HYDRA was organized by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in the Japanese-occupied territory in the final days of World War II.
 * In the animated series of The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, HYDRA was led by Baron Zemo during World War II. After the war, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker took command of the organization.
 * HYDRA's abandonment of the Nazi cause is more elaborated in a Deleted scene from Captain America: The First Avenger where a HYDRA Uber Tank fires at regular German troops before it captures the future Howling Commandos. However, that scene contradicts the events of Captain America: First Vengeance, Volume 6 where HYDRA still works for the Nazis after the imprisonment of the Howling Commandos.
 * HYDRA appears briefly in X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Official Game.
 * The structure of HYDRA's leadership is unknown. Some believe that HYDRA is split into different cells with no overall leader, and others believe that Baron Wolfgang von Strucker is the overall leader.
 * In the comics, the HYDRA Oath is "Hail, Hydra! Immortal Hydra! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off a limb, and two more shall take its place! We serve none but the Master—as the world shall soon serve us! Hail Hydra!" In Captain America: The First Avenger, the oath was shortened and changed to "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place! Hail Hydra!"
 * The revelation of Senator Stern being a HYDRA member in Captain America: The Winter Soldier technically makes Iron Man 2 the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to feature HYDRA.