Champions Timeline

Circa 2 million BC: The mysterious alien Progenitors tamper with the genetic code of humanity’s ancestors, leading to the rise of humans.

Circa 500,000 BC: Further experiments by the Progenitors result in the creation of the immortal superhuman race called the Empyreans.

Circa 37,000 BC: The Lemurians use a potent magical weapon, the Mandragalore, against the Empyreans, but it backfires, causing the continent of Lemuria to sink. Only the Mole Men, Lemurians who had already moved into the cave systems, survived.

Circa 32,000 BC: The Dominion of Atlantis becomes one of the predominant political powers on Earth, transforming the Valdorian Age into the Atlantean Age.

Circa 30,000 BC: War between Vondarien of Atlantis and Sharna-Gorak the Destroyer causes the Cataclysm, sinking Atlantis beneath the waves and reshaping the world.

Circa 10,000 BC: The era of the gods and heroes of Egyptian, Greek, Norse and other mythologies begins about now and lasts for about ten thousand years.

Circa 4,000 BC: Shaderon, one of the wisest and most influential of the second generation Empyreans, develops his philosophy of Silence, or transcendence of the body, and creates the Temple of Silence in Arcadia. Over the next few centuries, dozens of Empyreans join him in rejecting their mortal forms and seeking a higher plane of existence through meditation.

Circa 460 AD: The first Shaolin Temple is founded in China.

490-540: King Arthur rules England from Camelot. Giles de Morphant, the Black Paladin, wreaks great evil, but is eventually slain by Lancelot. Arthur’s realm, and his Round Table of knights, eventually falls due to the epercussions of Lancelot’s affair with Queen Guinevere.

1090: The Ancient Order of Assassins is founded by Hassan ibn-al Sabah.

1199: Robin Hood is active in English countryside, bedeviling King John Lackland and the Sheriff of Nottingham.

1459: Vlad Tepes, voivod of Transylvania, becomes a vampire under uncertain circumstances. One legend suggests he is transformed by an Atlantean “dark mage.” Tepes is later known as Dracula (“little dragon.”)

1749: John Ward, the first Black Mask, is born on a farm outside of Philadelphia.

1772: Ward first adopts the identity of the Black Mask, to protect his family while he performs acts of sabotage against the British Army.

1788: Ward retires the identity of Black Mask.

1797: John Ward’s son, Timothy, a Boston silversmith, becomes the Black Mask and battles a band of criminals.

1818: Black Mask II is killed in action. The training of his son, Samuel, is taken over by his grandfather, the first Black Mask.

1822: Black Mask III debuts in Philadelphia. By now the legend has grown across the northeastern United States, and the first rumors of the immortality of the young nation’s hero begin to spread.

1850: Sherlock Holmes is born in London. He and his brother Mycroft are raised by roving gypsies after the death of their parents.

1852: John Watson is born in Coventry, England.

1853: Matthew Ward becomes Black Mask IV, at first operating out of Philadelphia.

1860-1865: The American Civil War. Matthew Ward, as Black Mask IV, fights alongside the Northern Army, while the mysterious Grey Ghost aids the Confederates.

1866: Captain James Nemo launches the first submarine, called the Nautilus. He preys on illegal slave-traders heading across the Atlantic to South America. Matthew Ward moves to Chicago and continues his adventures as the fourth Black Mask.

1867: Oceanus ascends to throne the of Atlantis after the death of his father.

1868: Sherlock Holmes is tutored in advanced mathematics by Professor James Moriarty, later to become the greatest criminal figure of Victorian England. Around this time, James Harmon I, ancestor of Defender, explores Africa and begins building the family fortune.

1871: James Lee Ward inherits the Black Mask upon his father’s death. He moves to Arizona and transplants the legend, acting as a vigilante lawman.

1872: Marvin Carr begins to act as Black Mask V’s sidekick.

1876: Black Mask V is killed by the notorious criminal Sidewinder in a shoot-out in Show Low, Arizona. Since James’s son Jason is only two, Marvin Carr becomes the sixth Black Mask and the first not to be part of the direct lineage.

1877: Sherlock Holmes opens his private “consulting” detective agency in London.

1878: Oceanus and Orana marry.

1879: The Empire Club, a private “Gentleman’s Social Club” for adventurers, explorers, and other daredevils, is founded in New York City.

1881: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meet at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital during the case known as A Study In Scarlet.

1883: Dr. Henry Jekyll first uses the mysterious chemicals he discovered to become the monstrous Mr. Hyde.

1887: Sherlock Holmes encounters Dracula in Transylvania for the first time.

1888: Jack the Ripper terrorizes London. Sherlock Holmes involved in the famous cases, The Sign of the Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles.

1889: Adolf Hitler born in Braunau, Austria.

1890: Count Dracula terrorizes London, before he is destroyed by vampire-hunter Abraham Van Helsing and young Jonathan Harker.

1891: Sherlock Holmes pursues his nemesis Moriarty to Switzerland, where they apparently both perish at Reichenbach Falls. In Moriarty’s absence, the Cabal rises to supremacy in the European underworld.

1892: Mycroft Holmes becomes the director of the British Secret Service. He is referred to only as “M” (as have his successors).

1894: Oceanus slays the traitor Gangar. Sherlock Holmes returns to London after traveling the world undercover.

1896: Marvin Carr retires as Black Mask VI. The mask is given back to Jason Ward, son of Black Mask V, who moves back to Chicago. For a time, his partner is Andrew Carr, Marvin’s own son.

1902: Sherlock Holmes is consulted by the police when a brilliant but deranged scientist, Hawley Griffin, develops the power to become invisible and goes on a rampage in London.

1903: Sherlock Holmes retires from public life.

1908: A massive explosion occurs near Tunguska in northern Siberia. The exact nature of the explosion remains unknown, though it levels trees for miles around. Scientist later theorize that a comet or meteor struck the Earth.

1917: Albert Zerstoiten is born in Bavaria.

1918: Corporal Adolf Hitler, serving on the Western Front in World War I, is temporarily blinded by mustard gas. While undergoing treatment, he has a vision that the Teutonic Gods have selected him for a great purpose, which he translates as restoring the purity of the Aryan people and bestowing on Germany the “Thousand-Year Reich.” He gives up his career in art and goes into politics, becoming a leader of the National Socialist Party after the war.

1920: Mara (Sea Hawk) is born in Atlantis.

1924: Orana dies. Oceanus, grief-stricken, refuses to remarry. Mara begins her formal schooling.

1925: The Satanic cult DEMON is founded.

1926: The Raven is first seen fighting crime on the streets of Hudson City.

1927: First appearance of the Raven’s partner, the Velvet Phantom, and his group of assistants, the Midnight Brigade.

1929: Black Mask VII dies, and the mask passes to his son, Jeffrey Layton Ward. Black Mask VIII operates in Chicago, but moves to Haynesville, Kansas when he joins the Defenders of Justice during World War II. James Harmon II, Defender’s grandfather, serves with Eliot Ness in the “Untouchables” in Chicago.

1936: Bill Jefferies declares his personal war on crime. He develops two alternate identities, the costumed avenger known as the Black Owl, and a common street thug called Lefty LeGrand. As LeGrand, he uncovers criminal activity that he then thwarts as the Black Owl.

1937: Oceanus is overthrown and killed by Dargon the Usurper. Dargon tries to wed Mara, who instead escapes. She later befriends several “landers” and becomes known to the world as the heroine Sea Hawk after she rescues the crew of a sinking destroyer.

1938: On May 1, Arcane experiments conducted by the Nazi RSvKg cause the increase of ambient magical energy on Earth, thus making it possible for superhumans and superpowers to exist. Both Der Sturmvogel and Captain Patriot gain their powers. Robert MacDonald travels to Egypt. There, he encounters the mysterious ancient god Osiris, who grants him power over light and darkness. In Yellowstone National Park, Harrison Chase finds a mysterious rock that gives him fantastic powers when he is in direct contact with it. In October, Earth is invaded by aliens who first land at Grover’s Mill, New Jersey. A majority of the New York-area crimefighters team together to defeat the alien tripods. Optimus, Cowboy, Dr. Twilight and Sea Hawk form the Defenders of Justice.

1940: The Japanese sorceror called Iron Father works with the RSvKg to cast a series of spells protecting the Axis countries. Superpowered enemies of the Axis are unable to enter these nations’ borders without succumbing to a “mystical weakness,” losing their powers and eventually falling into comas.

1941: The Haynesville Project, the top secret government program to study and employ superhuman powers, begins. The Defenders of Justice officially join the army, along with several solo heroes, and are divided into two separate teams: The Defenders, who protect the homefront, and the Freedom Battalion, who fight overseas (and are mostly made up of the sneakier mystery men and professional soldiers on the team). Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese, and America is drawn into World War II.

1942: The first Russian superhero, General Winter, appears.

1943: James Harmon III, father of Defender, becomes a U.S. Army Ranger, and earns the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valorous conduct during the War. After hostilities cease, he becomes an industrialist and quintuples the family’s already considerable fortune.

1948: The Haynesville Project officially closes its doors. Princess Mara and Drake Wilson divorce. Wilson returns to the surface world and goes to work for the United Nations, later helping sculpt UNTIL into its modern form.

1949: Despising the Communists in China, Dr. Yin Wu moves to San Francisco, adopting the identity of an art supply dealer while working to restore the China he has known and loved for centuries. He later moves back to China, secluding himself in his castle.

1953: Black Mask VIII retires. The British government establishes Bureau S to study the country’s superhuman resources (and threats).

1955: Mexican wrestler El Espectro receives his magical silver mask and begins combating supernatural evil while defending his heavyweight title.

1956: David Matthew Ward becomes Black Mask IX, while working full time during the day as a Chicago policeman. The second MeteorMan makes his first appearance.

1959: Five Americans, entering space in a homemade rocketship to protect Earth from a comet, are exposed to strange radiation and transformed into the Fabulous Five.

1960: Princess Mara remarries, this time to Andros, Subchieftain of the Moray barbarian tribe.

1961: The Sentinels form when the malevolent computer Ultivac attempts to take over the world. The original lineup, which will change constantly over the years, is MeteorMan II, Dr. Phantom, Microman, Beowulf, and Rocketman.

1963: Teen hero The Hornet begins his star-crossed career. The U.N. establishes a commission, the Tribunal on International Law, to study superhumans and related issues.

1964: Revenger travels to the Moon and conquers the Selenites.

1965: Earth is invaded by the alien Qularr, who attempt to use giant monsters from alien worlds as weapons against it. Tokyo is nearly destroyed for the first time. After several attempts at conquest, the Qularr are finally defeated and driven from Earth’s galaxy, though several of their monsters remain on Earth (most confined to the research facility on Monster Island). UNTIL is created by U.N. treaty — a treaty not signed by the United States, which refuses to allow UNTIL agents to operate within its territory.

1966: In Great Britain, Bureau S becomes the Ministry of Superhuman Affairs, a publicly-acknowledged branch of government responsible for protecting British citizens from superhuman threats.

1967: The People’s Republic of China establishes its own government superteam, the Tiger Squad. The Fabulous Five thwart a second invasion attempt by the “Martians” of 1938, who are revealed to actually be from a planet in the Sirius system.

1968: The Iroquois superhero called Rainmaker makes his public debut. Steel Shark, an Atlantean rebel and supervillain, temporarily seizes control of the Atlantean army and attacks Florida. He is narrowly defeated by the Fabulous Five and Queen Mara. DEMON steals the Basilisk Orb and becomes regarded by the world as a significant superhuman threat. The Soviet Union establishes the People’s Legion, its official superteam. The Legion disintegrates in the late ’80s as the Soviet Union itself crumbles.

1969: Peter Renton, son of Amazing Man and Siren of the Fabulous Five, eventually to become the second Amazing Man, is born. The United States reveals its first “official” superhuman, the All-American. A Star*Guardian is assigned to our Solar System for the first time by the Odragans. Brin Rei Tarn, of the planet Dendris, establishes a base on Jupiter’s moon Europa, and then comes to Earth regularly. While here, he becomes an unofficial member of the Sentinels.

1970: The Fabulous Five free the Selenites on the Moon. Amazing Man and Siren retire from the team, and are replaced by Kestrel and Scirocco.

1971: The Ministry of Superhuman Affairs sponsors the creation of the New Knights of the Round Table, Britain’s official superteam.

1972: Jennifer Anne Ward (Black Mask X) is born. Dr. Yvette Ste. Germaine founds L’Institut Thoth, a think tank and research laboratory devoted to the study of all aspects of “paraphysics.” The United States Department of Defense issues its first Superhuman Survey. David Farquar begins the newsletter that will eventually become SuperWorld Magazine.

1973: The Mandaarians, an enigmatic alien species, first visit Earth as peaceful explorers. Later visits occur in 1979, 1984, 1991, and 1999.

1974: James Harmon IV (Defender) is born. Brendan Grant (Kinetik) is born. Bethany (Witchcraft) and Pamela (Talisman) Duquesne are born. The Advanced Research Group is founded as a corporation. The American superhero Ricochet, while orking for the CIA, is killed in Paris by GRUassassins.

1975: Dr. Destroyer first appears. His attempt to conquer California and the world is narrowly defeated by a large group of superhumans; Kid Chameleon and Ocelot are killed. David Ward’s wife, Sharon, dies. David never remarries, and since he has no son, assumes the Mask will either pass to another family or the legend will end with him. Mark Whitaker (Nighthawk) is born in Detroit. Kenji Hayashida (Shugoshin) born in Japan.

1976: Queen Mara’s twins, Prince Marus and Princess Thalassa of Atlantis, are born.

1977: The Gadroon attempt to conquer Earth and are driven off by a force of Earth’s superhumans that includes many supervillains (Dr. Destroyer among them).

1978: The United States completes the construction of Stronghold, the world’s first prison designed solely to contain superhuman criminals. Canada establishes an official superteam, the Northern Guard. Dark Seraph first appears. Great Britain passes a law concerning the registration of superhumans. Scirocco succumbs to mental illness and becomes a supervillainness.

1979: General Lorenco João Garrastazu e Silva takes power in Chíquador. The Slug appears, and nearly succeeds in transforming everyone in New York City into Elder Worms.

1980: The Advanced Research Group changes its name to the Advanced Research Group Enterprises (ARGENT) as a marketing ploy. Following an attempt by Dr. Destroyer to conquer the United States using several supervillains as pawns, Congress passes the American Superhuman and Paranormal Registration Act.

1981: The gorilla who will be known as Dr. Silverback is captured by mercenary animal traders in Rwanda and sold to Dr. Phillippe Moreau. Corazon Valenzuela (Sapphire) is born in Los Angeles. DEMON lures four superheroes and several UNTIL officers into an ambush, slaughtering them all as a sacrifice to dark underworld gods. The first Northern Guard team splits up. Scandal rocks the New Knights of the Round Table, significantly diminishing the group’s reputation.

1982: Don “Captain Patriot” Randall dies of a heart attack. Annette Berkelheimer founds the Institute for Human Advancement (IHA) to champion the cause of “true humans” over mutants and superhumans.

1983: ARGENT is exposed as a criminal organization. Its leaders flee the United States. All members of Ameriforce One, the United States’s superhuman SEAL team, are killed when a Soviet sub they are trying to recover explodes. Danar Nicole quits the European Parliament in disgust, undergoes the treatments that transform him into the villainous Fiacho, and begins forming Eurostar.

1984: Dr. Phillippe Moreau’s experiments in “genetic advancement” have their first, accidental success when he grants superhuman intelligence to the gorilla who will become Dr. Silverback. The second Gadroon invasion is easily defeated. Canada forms a second Northern Guard. Doctor Sebastian Poe founds the Parapsychological Studies Institute (PSI) to study superhuman phenomena.

1985: Mechanon first appears, attempts to destroy humanity with America’s nuclear arsenal, and is defeated by the Sentinels. Doctor Silverback is rescued from Professor Moreau’s labs by the New Knights of the Round Table. He is taken in by Dr. Dina Morrison and other employees of Cambridge Biochemical Labs. The Secret Crisis, a war across space and time involving almost all of the heroes that had ever existed, occurs.

1986: The United States government founds PRIMUS, an anti-supercrime law enforcement agency roughly equivalent to UNTIL. A terrible industrial accident creates the monstrous Grond. The French government passes a law requiring the registration of superhumans. Thomas Cassidy founds SNN, the Super News Network.

1987: In a landmark ruling for nonhuman intelligences on Earth, Dr. Silverback wins his independence and legal status as a citizen of the British government. Andros, Prince Consort of Atlantis, dies in a tragic accident while exploring. Takofanes the Undying Lord arises in Oklahoma and begins marching toward the East Coast. After he kills several superheroes who try and stop him at the Mississippi River, a larger group of superhoeroes band together to defeat him in eastern Kentucky.

1988: David Ward (Black Mask IX) retires from adventuring and becomes Police Commissioner of Chicago. The Chaos-Beast and his horde of realitywarping demonic beings attempt to invade the Earth and are defeated by the Justice Squadron. Eurostar first appears, releasing its Eurostar Manifesto. UNTIL founds its own official superteam, UNITY. The New Knights of the Round Table stop an attack by Samhain, thereby restoring themselves to the public’s good graces.

1989: Kristina Pelvanen, formerly the superheroine Rowan, founds the Ravenswood Academy, nominally an ordinary (if highly exclusive private school), but secretly intended primarily to train young superhumans in the proper use of their abilities. The second Northern Guard team splits up.

1990: Brin Rei Tarn dies. His replacement is the first human Star*Guardian, Andre Almena. Juan Martinez retires as Secretary-Marshal of UNTIL, and is replaced by Wilhelm Carl Eckhardt. The Great Stronghold Breakout occurs due to a series of unfortunate mishaps. The Cottonmouth Incident: Authorities capture the VIPER supervillain Cottonmouth, who reveals much of the inner workings of the organization before being assassinated by his former employers.

1991: Doctor Destroyer launches his artificial island, Destruga, in an attempt to gain statehood. When that scheme fails, he turns toward Hawaii, but is defeated by the combined might of the United States military and American superheroes. The California Patrol, an informal team of West Coast heroes, is founded. The German government passes a law requiring the registration of superhumans.

1992: July 23 — The “Battle of Detroit”: Dr. Destroyer is defeated battling Earth’s superheroes, but activates a device that destroys most of Detroit. Later that year, the American government, several major corporations, and numerous charitable foundations form the Millennium Project to rebuild the city.

1993: As a response to public outcry over the destruction of Detroit, the United States signs the Tribunal Treaty, allowing UNTIL agents to operate freely in American territory. Black Paladin first appears. Eurostar launches an invasion of Poland with an army of cloned soldiers created by Teleios, the Perfect Man. Teleios’s existence is revealed to the world in the aftermath of the thwarted attack. Foxbat first appears and attempts to steal the Empire State Building. Canada forms a third Northern Guard superteam.

1994: Dr. Silverback moves to Millennium City to work at the American headquarters of Cambridge Biochem. The Justice Squadron thwarts an ARGENT sponsored coup in Guamanga. Kristine Griswold gains solar energy powers and becomes the superheroine Victory, working for the United States Air Force. Annette Berkelheimer dies and is replaced as the leader of the IHA by Archer Samuels. PSI is revealed to be a criminal organization employing supervillains with psionic powers. Project Sunburst takes place. The Warlord fi rst appears, and attempts to conquer Vietnam.

1995: Li Chun the Destroyer is accidentally freed in China. After defeating the Tiger Squad in a twoday running battle, he mysteriously disappears. The United States Army initiates “Project Greenskin” in an attempt to take control of the supervillain Grond; the project fails, leading to a destructive rampage by Grond and the deaths of most of the scientists involved. The FBI completes the Stalwart powered armor suit, thus giving it an official superhero to supplement its Hostage Rescue Teams.

1996: Jennifer Anne Ward, now a private investigator in Vibora Bay, adopts the identity of Black Mask X, against her father’s wishes (at least at first). UNTIL completes the construction of its GATEWAY space station. The “VIPER-Eurostar War” begins in Europe, and lasts until 1998.

1997: Los Defensores de Méjico (the Mexican Defenders), a Mexican superhero team, disintegrates when several members are implicated in a corruption scandal. Nightwind begins fighting crime in the still under-construction Millennium City. Following the death of his daughter in a New York City superbattle, Senator Phillip Glassman becomes an ardent campaigner against superhumans and a supporter of the IHA. Black Rose and Amazing Man II re-organize the Sentinels; MeteorMan III chooses to retire from the team. Daniel James Johnson becomes the Golden Avenger of PRIMUS.

1998: Canada’s latest attempt to establish the Northern Guard, a team of official heroes, fails as the team votes to dissolve itself. Istvatha V’han first attempts, and fails, to conquer Earth’s dimension. Scorpia and Feuermacher murder Professor Muerte, loot and destroy his facilities, and defect from Terror, Inc. to join Eurostar. The United States Department of Defense reveals Janissary, a superhuman soldier it has succeeded in creating. A program is begun to test the feasability of creating more superhuman soldiers. Thomas Cassidy launches the SNN Sidekick television network.

1999: Late this year, the rebuilding of Detroit is substantially completed, and the new metropolis is christened Millennium City. Defender becomes a part-time superhero in New York City. Sapphire’s mutant powers manifest. Mark Whitaker (Nighthawk) is injured in a VIPER attack on Millennium City University; inspired by the event, he becomes a crimefighter. A lab accident gives Brendan Grant superpowers, and he becomes Kinetik. Shugoshin receives his Spirit Swords and begins his crimefighting career in San Francisco. The San Francisco-based Freedom Patrol suffers a major defeat at the hands of ARGENT.

2000: Dark Seraph and the Crowns of Krim steal a valuable book from a Paris museum, in the process killing 43 UNTIL agents and the French superhero Skydragon.

2001: Defender moves to Millennium City and founds the Champions. Sapphire and Nighthawk join soon thereafter; Ironclad arrives on Earth and joins the group as well. Witchcraft joins the group late in the year. The Binary Corporation presents Binary Man, its official corporate superhero and representative, to the world. Binary Man begins fighting crime and performing heroic deeds. Firewing comes to Earth to challenge its superhumans to combat.

2002: Firewing battles Hyperion in London; the fight ends inconclusively, but results in significant property destruction.

Like this Page!? Enjoy this Story!? Get to know the man Behind the keyboard at User:Jade Defender here at Primus Database!