Subject: Nick Fury

Universal Studios - Marvel The son of noted World War I pilot Jack Fury and an alleged descendant of one of the men who wore the Phantom Rider mask in the late nineteenth century, Nick Fury was born in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in the late 1910s. Following high school, Fury and his longtime friend Red Hargrove joined Finley's Flying Circus, a traveling air show. They both became excellent pilots and stuntmen. When Finley's Flying Circus came to England in 1940, Fury and Hargrove gave parachuting instructions to Lt. Sam Sawyer, an American soldier attached to the British Army. Weeks later, Sawyer was assigned to rescue a British spy in Holland, and he persuaded Fury and Hargrove to accompany him. Their plane was downed in Holland, where they met circus strongman Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan, who joined their rescue mission. In the end, all five safely returned to England. Inspired by the adventure, Dugan joined the British Army, and in early 1941 Fury and Hargrove returned to America to enlist in the U.S. Army.

Early in the war, separated from the Howlers (British Squad of commandos, codenamed "the Howling Commandos," or "Howlers.") during a mission in France, Fury was gravely injured by a land mine. Discovered by French partisans, he was taken to a nearby doctor, Professor Berthold Sternberg. Unknown to Fury, Sternberg not only treated Fury's injuries, but also surgically altered Fury so he could withstand inoculation with Sternberg's so-called "Infinity Formula," intended to slow or even halt the human aging process. Fury returned to his unit a week later, still unaware of Sternberg's experiment; however, over the course of the war, exposure to Fury's blood introduced the formula into the other Howlers' bloodstreams as well, causing them to remain unusually vital well into old age. Fury returned to France many times during the war, occasionally on intelligence missions from the Office of Strategic Service.

Powers:

Slowed aging process, provided by the Infinity Formula.

Abilities
Nick Fury has trained as a paratrooper, Ranger, demolitions expert and vehicle specialist. He holds an unlimited-tonnage, all-seas license as a commander of ocean-going vessels. Fury has completed Green and Black Beret Special Forces training, and has been an agent of the OSS (Office of Special Services) and a liaison of the M5 (British Secret Intelligence). He is a seasoned unarmed- and armed-combat expert, was a heavyweight boxer in the Army, and holds a black belt in Tae Kwan Do and a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. Fury has honed his fighting skills sparring with Captain America, perhaps the world's finest unarmed-combat expert. Fury ingests the Infinity Formula annually, slowing the process of aging in his body. In his youth, Fury learned to fly planes and wing walking.

Paraphernalia
As director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury has access to some of the most advanced technology on Earth; he often wears a bulletproof, fireproof uniform of Kevlar and Beta Cloth, and always carries some sort of firearm.