Zodiac

Thousands of years ago, the alien Brood invaded ancient Egypt and nearly wiped out humanity. The species was saved only due to the heroic intervention of a handful of early superhumans, led by the shield-wielding Imhotep.

To prevent further extinction-level events, Imhotep founded a secret society called the Brotherhood of the Shield. Though the Brotherhood did prevent great disasters across the subsequent centuries, it only became a truly important organization in the Renaissance era, when Leonardo da Vinci revitalized the group.

After receiving a warning from Michelangelo that the world of the future was in danger, da Vinci built a time machine and travelled to the twentieth century, leaving a robotic replica behind in his place. Though opposed by the equally ingenious Isaac Newton, da Vinci ultimately prevailed and prevented the end of the world.

THE GREAT WHEEL

To recover lost Brotherhood artifacts and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, da Vinci assembled a squadron of the eleven greatest spies on the planet, plus himself. They formed a council based on the twelve signs of the Zodiac, a council he called the Great Wheel.

Though over time the Great Wheel membership included natural enemies, such as Alice Grant and Baron Manfred Talis, da Vinci convinced them all to work together by promising to provide them with scientific secrets. He tasked the team with the recovery of three items: an ancient Brood power source left over from the original alien invasion, a cache of stasis pods da Vinci created while battling Newton and the body of da Vinci’s robotic replica.

Jackson Grant, Alice Grant's brother, recovered the robot, but rather than turning it over, he allowed the machine to imprint on him and take his place on the council so he could go underground. The rest of the team uncovered the other two items, but after they realized that the stasis pods and Brood artifact could be combined to create a potent super-serum, Uvarov and Dassalev turned on their cohorts, forcing the council to dissolve.

THE ZODIAC CARTEL

Many years later, Jackson Grant’s robotic replica began to break down. Suffering from delusions of grandeur, he accepted an offer from Cornelius Van Lunt to help found a new, criminal Zodiac.

This Zodiac was composed largely of crime lords and professional mercenaries bound together by a lust for wealth and power. With their identities hidden behind zodiac-themed costumes, they sought to defeat the world’s mightiest heroes and establish the ultimate criminal empire.

In the early days of the organization, Alice Grant defeated her brother’s robot double, allowing the original Jackson Grant to sneak in and take the robot’s place as Scorpio. However, despite Jackson's best efforts, he failed to prevent this Zodiac from launching their first surprise assault on the Marvels.

With Jackson’s help, the Marvels turned the tables and defeated the Zodiac, but the star-sign criminals soon returned and enclosed Manhattan in an energy field, effectively taking the entire city hostage. The Marvels defeated the cartel again, and during the fight, Aries was killed.

This allowed Taurus to formally assume control of the Zodiac, and he took Manhattan hostage once again, this time by threatening to use a special energy beam that would kill every Gemini in the city. Thankfully, the Marvels destroyed the deadly device before Taurus could launch it. Frustrated beyond measure, half of the Zodiac turned on Taurus, forcing the team to dissolve.

Taurus tried to get the team back together, but just as they were starting to get up to speed, Jackson Grant’s robot double returned with the Zodiac Key, a handheld device from the Ankh Dimension that grants its wielder incredible powers. Determined to supplant his former teammates, the double built a new, robotic Zodiac, which slaughtered their human counterparts. Taurus escaped the massacre and convinced the Guardians to destroy the robotic Zodiac, but soon after the job was done, Taurus turned on the Marvels and died in a plane crash while trying to escape from Eventide (Dominic King).

In subsequent years, several groups created their own Zodiac-based team. A Canadian cartel briefly used the idea, as did multiple minor organizations in the U.S. Even Mors briefly applied the title to some of his allies. However, these teams lasted only a few missions each and left little impact on the world at large.

Jackson Grant’s villainous grandson, Evan, recovered the Zodiac Key and used it to come the closest to reviving the Zodiac as a New York–based cartel. In the end, he was defeated by a team of Covert Alpha operatives aided by Shield Spider (Peter Rogers). There has been no major Zodiac activity in recent years, but that could change at any moment.

HEADQUARTERS

Even the first cartel version of the Zodiac—by far the longest-running incarnation of the team—never established a consistent base. They met on an ad hoc basis in various secret chambers and bunkers belonging to the group’s members. Professional criminals know better than to stay in one place for long.

GOALS

Though the original Great Wheel had noble goals, every subsequent version of the team has had the same nefarious purpose: to seize power by any means. Unsatisfied with normal criminal wealth, the Zodiac’s members work to create a world where they are treated like kings. The team has no personal beef with the Marvels or Covert Alpha, but those organizations stand in the way of the Zodiac’s rise to power, and for that, they must be destroyed.

ADVENTURE HOOKS

Here are three adventure hooks for heroes going up against the Zodiac or a similar villainous team:

Mors, the god of death, resurrects the original Zodiac cartel, turning the team into his zombified minions. With their skills and his magic, they conquer the Marvels and take over New York City. Can the heroes find a way to turn the tide and succeed where Earth’s mightiest heroes failed? What does Mors want with New York anyway? Is there anything left of Taurus and his comrades inside his obedient zombies?

The Jackson Grant double (Scorpio), long thought dead, suddenly reappears, rebuilt as a skyscraper-sized mech wielding a gigantic Zodiac Key. He demands that the heroes deliver the severed heads of Alice and Erica Grant to him by the end of the day, or he’ll use his key to flatten the entire surrounding city. Can the heroes find a way to disable the giant robot before it gets a shot off? Is either Alice or Erica willing to help trick the machine? Who rebuilt Jackson Grant? Could this be the start of a larger Zodiac scheme?

The stars that comprise the actual Zodiac constellations begin to disappear, one by one, starting with the last star of Pisces and working backward toward the first star of Aries. Could a new Zodiac cartel be behind this? How are they making the stars disappear? What happens when the last one goes out?