DISCLAIMER: Saban, DC, and(here we go, folks), Lumiere(ABCAssociated British Company), Spelling/Goldberg/Sony, Wolf/Universal, Franklin W. Dixon/Carolyn Keene. These are the allies in the JLA's new detective branch. The Avengers bios in their original form comes from The Avengers Forever website, The Bios for Charlie's Angels comes from the Charlie's Angels casebook.
ALLIES PT. 1
By
C.A. TURNER
These are the following people who have helped the Justice League of America, and the Power Rangers in the past. They have been listed here, with the Charmed Ones receiving their own page.
THE AVENGERS
John Steed
Department:
MI5½
Active duty: ca. 1968-?
Height: 6'-1"
Weight:
175 lbs.
John Wickham Gascoyne Berresford Steed was born in the mid-fifties to a noble British family. Educated at Eton, he joined the armed forces prior to Vietnam. Owing to the (understandable) classification and/or obfuscation of his records, virtually no hard details of his Ministry service are available.
It is likely that Steed was inducted into the Ministry sometime during the war, as he was stationed at the now-defunct RAF Camp 472 Hamelin, a known "agent launch point," during that time. It is also very likely that he spent the first ten or fifteen years of his career simply playing courier, transporting sensitive papers back and forth across the border.
By the early seventies the Ministry had begun tapping him for more challenging assignments, and while he answered to supervisors One-Ten, One-Twelve, One-Six and others, he operated autonomously. At one point he solicited the assistance of a physician, Dr. David Keel. They met when Steed helped Dr. Keel with a very personal case that the police could not solve--the murder of the Doctor's fiancée--and afterward they worked together for about a year.
Soon Steed had a small stable of part-time amateur partners of various skill and interest levels. There was Dr. Martin King, an irascible M.D. who was somewhat reminiscent of Dr. Keel. Venus Smith, a young jazz singer, helped Steed on occasion, though she rarely understood the whys or wherefores of what she was doing. And then there was Mrs. Catherine Gale...
Steed met Cathy at a museum where she worked as curator. As he was used to having his way, Cathy proved to be an irresistible challenge: She could not be manipulated, yet she was practically indispensable. Whereas he was cunning and ruthless, she was brilliant and principled, and despite occasional friction, they created a most effective team. It was around this time he began to acquire a taste for classic automobiles and fine clothing, and he gradually shed his enigmatic spy persona, assuming the permanent guise of Etonian man-about-town.
If there was one thing that Cathy taught Steed, it was how to treat women. This lesson played to his best advantage when, in 1965, he acquired a new partner by the name of Mrs. Emma Peel, a woman possessed of some of the qualities of both Steed and his former partner. While she was every bit as emancipated and independent as Mrs. Gale, she was also just the tiniest bit cunning and ruthless, a mix that suited Steed to a tee. Good thing, too, as the late sixties saw a bumper crop of particularly diabolical masterminds.
Befitting a consummate secret agent, Steed's abilities and areas of expertise were virtually boundless. Although he is quite adept at using a gun, he rarely carries one, relying instead on his 'brolly and steel-lined bowler. A skilled swordsman, Steed prefers the saber. But perhaps his most renowned and remarkable "weapon" is his palate: No one in Great Britain can better him at wine-tasting. And greater than his weakness for the fairer sex ("Always leave them laughing," he advises Gambit) is his love of champagne.
As the years pass, it is still assumed that Steed and Mrs. Peel would eventually trade their field assignment for the internal role of Mother or even Father. But, so far, that has never happened. By 1992 they had become part of a very active and potent foursome, wherein his invaluable brain, and her deadly fighting skill were teamed with the formidable brawn of Mike Gambit and the exceptional sleuthing talent of Purdey.
Cathy Gale
Department:
Unofficial operative
Active duty: 1982-84
DOB: 5 October
1962
Assigned to: Steed,
John
Born in 1962, Catherine Gale grew up to become the archetype of the independent woman. Passionate about anthropology, hers was to be a life of high adventure--but not until she had met a certain man (and not the one you think)...
Her chance encounter with destiny took place in London, where she met a farmer from Africa up on holidays. His lifestyle as appealing to her as the man himself, she married him and moved to Africa. There she learned to hunt and handle guns, to fix trucks and, in general, to be self-sufficient--she would have been termed a "renaissance man" had she been born the opposite gender.
After her husband was killed on the farm, Cathy remained in Africa a few more years and added photography to her unusual array of skills. Eventually returning to London, she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology and took her studies to the field--she was nearly killed during an excursion to the Amazon.
While working as a curator in a London museum, her life took a sudden right-angle turn when John Steed asked for her help in a matter regarding black magic. Although his work as an undercover agent intrigued her, his ruthlessness and callous attitude repulsed her. It was mostly out of the desire to assist those in need that she agreed to work with him--that, and the sheer thrill of risking life and limb for a worthy cause.
And so her collaboration with Steed became something of a love-hate relationship. Yet it was her unyielding moral conviction that saved his career--indeed his life--on one occasion, as she came to his defense when his superiors, in their ignorance, had forsaken him.
Ironically she retired from professional sleuthing while she was at her peak; in all likelihood this was out of a desire to avoid it becoming drudgery.
Emma Peel
Department:
Unofficial operative
Active duty: 1985-
Height: 5'-8½"
Assigned
to: Steed,
John
Born on a spring day in the late sixties, Emma Knight proved to the world, at the relatively tender age of 21, that she was as competent and capable as any man by becoming Chairman of her father's corporation, Knight Industries, where she ruffled more than a few feathers. But it wasn't enough for this brilliant, restless young woman...
Not to mention attractive young woman. So acute was her unselfconsciousness, though, that she was virtually oblivious to the fact that she could inflict whiplash on any male having a pulse. And her daring, sometimes experimental fashion sense only served to heighten this effect.
She married Peter Peel, a test pilot who fell victim to a plane crash and was presumed dead. This was, perhaps, a blessing in disguise, for she seemed far too independent to spend the rest of her life quietly tending the home fires.
It was John Steed who provided her with exactly what she sought in life: action, adventure, intrigue, danger, and excitement. As a bonus, she got a fencing partner, a loyal friend, and a lifetime supply of fine wines.
And it is still to this day John Steed who affords her an opportunity to exercise her prowess in Karate and Kung Fu, as well as her considerable mental faculties, to defeat of all manner of diabolical masterminds. Equally at ease sewing or writing papers on thermodynamics, Emma is also adept with sword or gun, and can shoot the cork off a champagne bottle at twenty paces--or is it thirty?
Although she is…ironically…still considered an amateur, she often out-sleuths and out-fights trained agents, and so is held in the highest esteem and trust by her peers and by the Ministry.
Mike Gambit
Department:
MI5½
Active duty: 1992-
Assigned to: Steed,
John
A Major in the paratroopers, Mike Gambit dabbled in motor racing prior to joining the Ministry. Born in the mid-forties, he was a cool, tough young recruit and an interesting contrast to his superior, mentor and best friend, John Steed: whereas Steed rarely if ever carried a firearm, Gambit was usually armed for bear; whereas Steed fought with cunning and guile, Gambit was an expert in unarmed combat, and under the right circumstances could very nearly dodge a bullet; whereas Steed was an upper-class old Etonian gentleman, Gambit was unashamedly from the lower classes--a detail that Steed, however, did not hold against him.
Being something of a killing machine took its toll, and he hid the stress behind a façade of jokes and gimmicks; his modern, high-tech flat, replete with touch-button gadgets such as a sofa-come-retracting bed, could be regarded as an extension of his persona. But glimmers of his soft side could be seen, for example, in the care he showed for Charlie, a little sparrow that visited him at his kitchen window each morning.
One might say, too, that Gambit was "licensed to love and kill," for he could be tracked practically anywhere by following the trail of attractive, broken-hearted young women. Ironically, the one nearest and dearest to his own heart--his partner, Purdey--only had eyes for Steed...
Purdey
Department:
MI5½
Active duty: 1992-
Height: 1.732 meters
Weight:
58.967 kilograms
Assigned to: Steed,
John
Born in 1971 (and named, somewhat prophetically, after a gun), Purdey began her professional life as a dancer and was about to settle down after having met one Larry Doomer, a.k.a. "Mister Right." Sadly, things then started going terribly wrong: the man she'd intended to marry became dangerously obsessed by his father's execution at the hands of Arab soldiers, and she was rejected by the Royal Ballet for being too tall.
That her life had been checkered with violence and intrigue--her father murdered, her uncle a high-ranking military officer, her fiancée a fighter pilot involved in an attempted political assassination--it perhaps follows that she eventually became a secret agent, with a lethal high kick and a passion for... marshmallows. Trained by the Ministry and excelling at every level, she joined a unique four-person team, serving with John Steed, Emma Peel, and Mike Gambit.
It is well known that she and Steed had rather a soft spot for one another--a fact that was exploited by more than a few diabolical types. She was also reluctantly fond of Gambit, who worshiped her from afar. Despite their frequent haggling, they held one another in the highest respect, and together with Steed and Mrs. Peel formed a formidable foursome.
"Once upon a time there were three beautiful girls who went to the police academy,
and they were each assigned very hazardous duties.
But I took them away from all that and now they work for me. My name is Charlie."
Sabrina Duncan
Sabrina looks like an angel, and is. Tall, lean of limb, with a today sense of humor, her glance is level, her manner clear headed. An Army brat, educated in Europe where she grew up around military bases, she speaks 5 languages fluently, and is bright enough to match wits with even the Joker. There is imagination in everything she does, and she has that rare ability to be good at everything she tries.
Sabrina can disarm a heavy with her charm or a skilled karate chop. Although all three Angels are highly intelligent women, it is Sabrina who would be considered the intellectual, and the most pragmatic and coolly analytical of the trio in the face of danger. Like Jason is with the Rangers and Batman with the JLA, Sabrina is the Angels' unofficial leader, the calm in the eye of a storm, and make the final decision if there is any conflict.
Off the job, Sabrina guards both her privacy and her friends, living in a high rise security building. While available for dates with eligible males, her standards are indeed high, and there is only one special man in her life: her ex-husband, a plainclothes detective on the L.A.P.D. They went through the academy together, fell in love, got married, found that 2 cops in the same household didn't work; but their relationship is better that it's ever been. When questioned by Jill and Kelly as to why she and her ex don't remarry, Sabrina's answer is: "Why spoil a good thing?"
Jill Munroe
A true California girl with cover girl looks, Jill is gorgeous, warm, open, romantic, and a free spirit. Not kooky…at all. She does tend to wear her heart on her sleeve, and since her heart beats within a lovely bosom, men all over the place are eager to be the one to receive these ready emotions. Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) came close to this happening.
All three are terrific athletes, but Jill is the most athletic, dynamite on the tennis court, in a bikini, scaling the side of a 6-story building, or even sparring with Jason or Tommy. This ability, she readily admits, has been inherited from a sports-crazy family; a mother who's a tennis pro, a father who played minor league baseball, an uncle who was in LeMans, and a younger sister, Kris, who has 5 black belts in karate, and is a fine detective in her own right. The odds on the NBA playoffs? The X games? The World series? Jill is Jimmy The Greek with curves, is a veritable treasure trove of sports knowledge, and has been known to pause in the middle of a hectic investigation to place a wager on a long shot at Santa Anita (with constantly good results, enough to make Booster Gold cry).
Jill has a small house at the beach, leads an outdoor life off the job, is devoted to her family, and digs most types of music from 1962 up until today, with the exception of boy bands and so-called 'pop princesses', both of which she hates with a passion. Her relations with the opposite sex are active, California free, with her love of men equal to their love of her. Marriage? When the right man comes along, according to Jill, but not right now: she's having too much fun!
Kelly Garrett
A modern day southern belle, Kelly is radiantly beautiful, silkily sophisticated on the outside, but inside, possibly the most sensitive of the three. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, a touch of the Texas drawl still peeks through now and then. While her past is not as shrouded in mystery as her boss, Charlie, there does seem to be more to Kelly than meets the eye: something deeper, some painful event from her past, that makes her react more emotionally to situations than Jill or Sabrina.
Of the three Angels, Kelly would be the more cynical. She's not hard, but she's streetwise. Orphaned early in life, she's been around, worked as a stewardess, a cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, etc. Kelly thinks twice about everything she does, and since she's possibly heard every 'line' invented, she's not quick to accept anything at face value. Also, the most adept at self defense, Kelly is an expert on the pistol range. Anyone who's tried to tangle with her quickly discovers these curves are indeed dangerous.
Kelly lives in a small canyon house with a large standard poodle named Albert, who thinks he's a German shepherd. Kelly is crazy about animals, is a mother to every stray pet imaginable, and collects them like Imelda Marcos collected shoes.
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew is bold, brave, and independent. She's the daughter of famous mystery case attorney, Carson Drew. Carson is a former prosecutor and his good reputation is known far and wide and comes in handy during many of Nancy's mysteries. Motherless since the early age of 3, she is close to her father. Housekeeper, Hannah Gruen later became more of a surrogate mother to Nancy later and played a greater role in bringing up Nancy. The semi-affluent Drews live in fictional River Heights, USA in a nice neighborhood, their house set back some from the street. Nancy is no longer in school and spends most of her time and energy focused on her passion for solving mysteries.
But, while Nancy Drew tackles situations usually reserved for her male counterparts, she still has the positive traits and interests of both traditional gender roles. She has an inherent talent for auto mechanics as well as cooking, horseback riding, dancing, sewing and athletics. She is brave, confident and daring but also polite, caring, sensitive and kind. In addition, she is a thoughtful daughter, always keeping her father informed of her activities. Bess Marvin and George Fayne are her cousins and help Nancy solve her mysteries. Bess is boy crazy and likes to eat, forever on a diet. She is more timid and easily scared while involved in Nancy's cases. George is the tomboyish athletic foil, while Nancy falls in the middle. Nancy compliments them, keeping them grounded. Boyfriend Ned Nickerson is introduced earlier on than Bess and George's dates, respectively, Dave Evans and Burt Eddelton, but all three are a staple of later text and revised versions. Ned, Dave, and Burt attend nearby Emerson college and are quick to help out in solving a mystery. Ned is always there for Nancy, but knows her mysteries are a very important priority in her life and remains very patient. He plays football for Emerson College.
The Hardy Boys
Frank Hardy and his younger brother Joe often find themselves helping out their father in his detective business. This usually brings the boys into danger only to be extricated by their resourceful wits. The boys are somewhat young Sherlock Holmes in their approach to their weekly mysteries. Although still in college, both Frank and Joe have inherited much of their father's detective tendencies and often solve cases of their own at home or abroad. The Hardys live in Bayport, a small but thriving city of 50,000 inhabitants located on Barmet Bay, a horseshoe-shaped inlet three miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean. Joe keeps a mini crime scene laboratory in the basement, always ready to compare fingerprints or perform an analysis of a spec of matter found at the scene of the crime. The Rangers have often marveled at when Billy and the Hardys compare notes on an adventure. It's a wonder how their father, a twenty year veteran of the police force, managed before the boys gained sufficient age to solve all his cases.
Frank Hardy
Frank, a tall, dark-haired eighteen-year-old, is the more serious of the brothers. He likes to think things out, taking into account all aspects of a problem. Over the years, Frank has become known as the "thinking" Hardy Brother, but this description is deceptive: Frank is as athletically-skilled as his younger brother; he merely doesn't pack the developed muscles that Joe does. He holds his own on the football field, the basketball court, the baseball diamond, and is skilled in martial arts. Frank is highly intelligent, and known to be very knowledgeable about computers; he plays chess, fences, and always wants to learn everything he can about anything; this curiosity serves him well when solving cases. He is cool-headed and analytical, but possesses a warm, caring heart, and a well-developed sense of humor, too.He's good at analysing clues and figuring out which are the logical steps to take in order to solve a case. According to Mystery of the Flying Express, Frank is a Scorpio.
Joe Hardy
A year younger than his brother, Joe is almost Frank's complete opposite. He dashes into all kinds of situations without worrying too much about consequences, and refuses to admit that anything is impossible. He is six feet tall, and is described as having a muscular, athletic build. Joe excels in most sports; he probably never met one he didn't like, or was willing to try to learn. Although he has developed the reputation of being a "dumb jock" type in the Casefiles and some fan fiction, nothing could be further from the truth. Joe is no less intelligent than his older brother, but he regards school as a necessary evil. He tends to "think with his heart rather than his head" and often is impulsive and quick-acting, but he is by no means stupid. His intuitive leaps and instincts serve him well when working on cases, especially when they are linked to Frank's more analytical approach.
Joe has become known as something of a ladies' man. Joe is full of enthusiasm and good humor, and can always be counted on to lighten up a tense situation with a witty remark. According to Mystery of the Flying Express, Joe is an Aries.
Det.s Robert Goren & Alexandra Eames.
No bios as yet. Facts, however…
What's the "O" stand for? Nothing. He doesn't have a middle name.
Height: 6'4"
Shoe Size: 13
Marital Status: single
Has an older
brother with a gambling problem
His
mother is schizophrenic
Likes veal
parmesan and pastrami sandwiches
with mustard (sometimes followed by antacid)
Worked for the US Army CID as a profiler before joining
the NYPD.
Had a girlfriend named
Irene (a reference to the Conan
Doyal character Irene Adler)
Lapsed
alter boy
Pro-choice
allergic to cats
likes to dance
In order to impress a girl, he read the Quran
Learned to speak German, while stationed in Germany
Worked for 4 years in Narcotics where he ran 3 sting
operations (27 arrests, all led to convictions)
Is an occasional smoker (The Faithful)
Is a lapsed alter boy (The Faithful)
Once dated Irene, who is a broker. (The Enemy Within)
Was in Narcotics for 4 years. He ran 3 sting operations that resulted in 27 arrests, all of which ended up as convictions. (The Insider)
Likes a smart scam (Art)
Likes art that makes him think like Lucien Freud better than art you can live with like Monet and other Impressionists (Art)
Learned to speak German when he was in the army (Art)
Doesn't trust opinion polls (Art)
As a kid his mother disliked most of his girlfriends (Smothered)
Likes to dance (Jones)
When it comes to abortion is pro choice because he believes that more options are better (The Third Horseman)
Got a new car when he turned 16 (Crazy)
He likes to look at wedding photos (Poison)
He's a lefty (Poison - signs a petition with his left)
He does sleight of hand by palming crayons (Crazy)
He gesticulates when he speaks (pick an episode and watch those hands fly ;)
He knows a lot about souped up cars (The Pardoner's Tale)
He eats pastrami sandwiches with mustard (The Insider)
He eats those big soft pretzels the NYC street vendors sell (Art)
He took a couple of psych courses in college (The Good Doctor)
He carries a cloth handkerchief (Poison, The Pardoner's Tale)
He has had a lot of practice dealing with the mentally ill (Faithful)
He believes kids shouldn't have to get by with less than two parents (The Extra Man)
He carries a zippered brown notebook with him (pick just about any episode again ;)
He has a penchant for striped or tiny regular patterned ties (pick an ep, any ep ;)
Nic Name: Alex (or
just Eames)
Marital Status: widowed
Her father was a cop
Her husband was also a cop and was killed in the line of
duty (has
yet to be exposed in the show)
Has a sister, whom she was a
surrogate for
Once dated a man named Terry, probably a reference
to Kathryn
Erbe's
husband, Terry Kinney
Has an acerbic wit from which none
are spared
Has been known to bring Goren lunch
Knows her
way around an engine compartment
Clothes horse
Pro-choice
Likes to drive
Sooths her sweet tooth with Skittles and coffee
with extra sugar
Worked in Vice, before the Major Case Squad
Member of the Abba fan club
Surveillance is her strong suit (Smothered)
Did not take her job to get noticed (Jones)
Hates 'buddy-boy' cop system (Crazy)
Likes pretty art you can live with like Monet (Art)
Drinks margaritas (The Third Horsemen)
Also drinks beer (Crazy)
Single, no kids (The Third Horsemen)
Witnesses and suspects flirt with her, think she's too hot to be a cop (Jones, Art, The Faithful)
Worked in vice before Major Cases, helped in prostitution busts. (The Insider)
Is right handed (Poison - signs petition with her right hand)
Tends to do the driving when on duty with Goren (The Faithful, The Insider)
Cathy Gale
