History
Citizen Soldier is the reincarnation of the Founding Father and a recurring foe of Stormwatch Team Achilles.
When George Washington was on his deathbed, several of the American Founding Fathers used a magical spell to make his spirit constantly reincarnating so he could protect the country forever. Since then, Washington has been reincarnated endlessly so he could fight in every American war.[1] The Soldier's earliest identified incarnation was Major Alexander Abernathy, a member of the Union Cavalry during the American Civil War.[2] In the 1930s, he reincarnated as Peter Cassaday and fought in the Spanish Civil War for the socialists. In 1934, he was approached by a cabal of wealthy industrialists who offered to help them in overthrowing the FDR administration in place of a fascist government modeled after Nazi Germany. However, Cassaday foiled their conspiracy.[1]
During the Second World War, Cassaday fought against Nazi Germany as the Citizen Soldier whose actions and reputation had terrified the German Army. In 1947, Cassaday was executed by the American government after he was deemed as a threat for being a suspected communist. Since 1947, the Citizen Soldier had been reborn in various lives and being repeatedly assassinated for various reason by members of the U.S. government, including Junior Senator Sonny Terns and former President Patrick Kent.[2]
In 2003, Citizen Soldier resurfaced in the form of Steve Gatesniak, a multi-billionaire computer entrepreneur. For over 20 years Citizen Soldier had built up his wealth while assembling an army of loyal followers and employees who would help him dispose of, what he believed to be, the hopelessly corrupt US government to enact a true realization of democracy.[3] He began his attack by robbing the Federal Reserve on Wall Street, the same attack which resulted in the death of Stormwatch Team Achilles member Blake Coleman and earning Ben Santini's wrath.[4]
Following this he launched various attacks upon the Senate, the Supreme Court, the global satellite network, the stock market and more.[5][3] During this time he also projected his own memories into the heads of American citizens via their dreams, showing them the various demises of his past incarnations.[2]
Ultimately Stormwatch was able to foil his plans and were about to apprehend him with plans to place him in a cryogenic holding unit preventing any further reincarnations, when he was killed by a member of Ivana Baiul's Civil Defense Administration known as Giant. Soon after Citizen Soldier manifested in the body of a newborn illegal Chinese immigrant to start his plans anew.[1]Attributes
Powers
- Resurrection: Due to the fact his spirit undergoes constant reincarnation, he can never truly perish and will just appear in a new body after the death of his old one.
- Superhuman Strength: Citizen Soldier has superhuman strength that he retains through each resurrection. For instance, as a newborn he was able to take the door off a shipping container with little effort.[1]
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Agility
- Enhanced Intellect: Citizen Soldier maintains the sum knowledge of all his previous experiences after each rebirth, granting him vast information and wisdom.
- Power Distribution: Citizen Soldier can grant others superhuman abilities that will kill them after prolonged usage.
Abilities
Notes
- Citizen Soldier is an analogue of Marvel Comics's Captain America.
Trivia
- Citizen Soldier's name comes from the epitaph on George Washington's tombstone: "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."[6]
- Citizen Soldier's previous host bodies are references to WildStorm staff: "Abernathy" refers to editor Ben Abernathy, and "Cassaday" is a reference to Planetary artist John Cassaday.
- Citizen Soldier's "Steve Gatesniak" identity is a reference to Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak.