When the Avengers and the Fantastic Four seemingly died fighting Onslaught, many super-villains rejoiced. Most took it as a chance to fulfill their dreams of greed or power without the interference of meddling heroes. One villain saw an opportunity for even greater conquest.
Baron Zemo, always quick to spot a chance for attaining his dream of world domination, envisioned a brilliant plan. The heroes were gone, and the common people were left, without hope. Who better to give them hope than a new group of heroes? He assembled a team of villains, gave them new heroic identities, and presented them to the public as the Thunderbolts, a super hero team.
Zemo selected his villains carefully to create a workable, controllable group. His first recruit was the Fixer, whose technical ingenuity would become a cornerstone of the Baron's plan. Zemo found the Beetle after yet another of the latter's failed robbery attempts and easily convinced him to join. He discovered Screaming Mimi after the death of her partner, Angar the Screamer, and offered her sanctuary, which she gratefully accepted. The Fixer then freed Goliath from imprisonment in the dimension of Kosmos; Goliath, in gratitude, swore loyalty to Zemo as the architect of his release. Finally, this new team staged a breakout at the super-villain prison called the Vault, liberating a great number of villains to cover its true goal: freeing Moonstone. She was perhaps the most unexpected choice, considering the fact that she had betrayed Zemo when she was a member of his Masters of Evil group. But as the Baron himself explained, the team needed a trained psychiatrist to help guide its members in their heroic identities.
After intensive training, Zemo unleashed his new team upon the world as the Thunderbolts. And it worked. Six disguised villains: Citizen V (Baron Zemo), Techno (the Fixer), M.A.C.H.-1 (Beetle), Songbird (Screaming Mimi), Atlas (Goliath), and Meteorite (Moonstone)--soon became New York City's newest, most welcomed protectors.
The common people, afraid after the loss of their foremost heroes, eagerly embraced the newcomers as the stalwart champions they appeared to be. Within a few weeks, the "T-Bolts" had utterly won the city's devotion and the trust of its officials.
Not long after its debut, the team encountered a young woman named Hallie Takahama, who had been given superpowers through horrible experiments. Meteorite convinced Zemo to allow "Jolt" to join the team, secretly hoping to create a power base of support from which she might eventually overthrow the Baron's authority.
The Thunderbolts fought a number of supervillains, including the Wrecking Crew, the Circus of Crime, a paramilitary cadre called the Rat Pack, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, Arnim Zola, Kang's Growing Man, the Elements of Doom, and perhaps most ironically, a new incarnation of the Masters of Evil! Zemo took great offense at the usurpation of his old team's name, but could do little about it while posing as Citizen V.
The sudden, unexpected return of the Avengers and the Fantastic Four gave Baron Zemo incentive to step up his plan for world domination. He leaked the T-Bolts' identities to S.H.I.E.L.D., thus ensuring that they would be forced to rely on him for protection. In a final, massive conflict, several T-Bolts rebelled against Zemo and foiled his master plan. After a brief adventure on Kosmos, they returned to Earth and tried to establish new civilian identities for themselves; the deception lasted only a brief while before they were discovered.
Current Members:
Baron Zemo
Moonstone
The Fixer
Songbird
Atlas
Vantage
Blackheath
Former Members:
M.A.C.H.-1
Jolt
Hawkeye
Charcoal
Citizen V
The Beetle Deseased
The Smuggler Deseased
Meteorite Deseased
Scream Deceased
Harrier
Man-Killer
Skien
Guest Stars:
The V-Battalion
The Lightning Rods
The Jury
The Avengers
Villains:
Techno
Crimson Cowl
Graviton
Scourge
Arnim Zola
Baron Von Strucker
Hydra
Count Nefaria
Justin Hammer
Blacklash
Hydro-Man
Humus Sapien
Villainous Teams:
The Masters of Evil
The Wrecking Crew
The Elements of Doom
