―Guardian
History[]
James MacDonald Hudson was born in Ontario, Canada. Mac was the youngest of three children fathered by Frederick Hudson II, each with a different mother. Frederick died in a bar fight at age 30.
In his adult life James Hudson worked for the Am-Can Oil Corporation and developed a sophisticated exoskeleton suit to help search for oil deposits underground. However, after hearing it was intended to be used as a weapon by the United States military, he stole the suit from Am-Can and destroyed its plans; although he left the suit behind James took the helmet (which he had developed before Am-Can), making the suit unusable. A young secretary named Heather McNeill followed him, explaining that she agreed with his decisions and that they could seek help from the Canadian government. They admitted they both had developed a strong attraction to each other and soon married.
To avoid prosecution for the theft of the suit, Heather contacted the Canadian government. As James had not repaid his government student loan, Ottawa retroactively declared him a government employee, and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau invited him to found the Ministry of Defence's secret research and development program known as Department H.
While on a hunting honeymoon, James and Heather encountered a feral James Howlett. Hudson had to leave to get help. Heather was able to keep Howlett calm as he discovered his adamantium claws, believing he was not truly malicious. As Wolverine, Howlett has remained close with the Hudsons.
Attacking Wolverine
Hearing about the Fantastic Four, James was inspired to form a team of superhumans to work for Canada, coming up with the name of Alpha Flight. He and Heather began recruiting members. Logan turned down Alpha Flight membership as he felt his presence and feelings for Heather would conflict with his friendship with James.
When Am-Can went bankrupt, the Canadian government took possession of the suit James had designed. Calling himself Weapon Alpha, James was ordered to capture his old friend Wolverine and bring him back to Department H. He was unsuccessful and accidentally wounded Moira MacTaggert. After this incident, he took the name Vindicator to redeem himself. On a few other occasions Hudson's Alpha Flight teams have opposed the X-Men.
After the dissolution of Department H, James moved to New York for a job with Roxxon Oil, where he found an apartment in 569 Leaman Place, Brooklyn Heights. The job was a trap by his old enemy Jaxon, who had formed Omega Flight to battle Hudson and his team. Jaxon was killed while using the Box robot. However, as a result of their battle, Guardian's suit overloaded and exploded apparently killing him.
"The Quwrlln and Becoming a Cyborg"[]
However, some time later it was revealed that James was sucked through a spatial rift. James returned as a cyborg. Members of the Quwrlln race had found him and mistakenly thought that the suit was a part of his body. Thus, they bonded him to it while making repairs and healing his body. They altered him, thinking he would make a useful backup if Galactus arrived since they knew the world devourer had been stopped by Earthlings in the past.
Becoming a Cyborg
They sent him back in a ship, but it was found by the Roxxon. Roxxon attempted to use his computer systems. Madison Jeffries was also asked to help deal with "a computer problem." James's cyborg mind was too strong, so they attempted to cut him off life support. He responded by destroying the facility, but Jeffries was able to keep him alive. He was distant with the computer side often overriding his human side, which greatly troubled his teammates and wife.
Galactus soon approached the alien planet. Most of Alpha Flight and the Avengers were transported there. They were all sucked into another dimension under which conditions Galactus was able to be stopped. But this also meant he lacked enough energy to power a device that could transport them all back to the proper dimension. James and Heather's suits could manage enough energy to assist Galactus, but the process was likely fatal. James impulsively knocked Heather out, handed her to his teammates and seemed to sacrifice himself to send the others home.
He was found by the Master of the World somehow in another area of space. James was brainwashed into leading a new version of Omega Flight as the Antiguard in the Master's attempt to take over Canada. Apparently the new programming and repairs counteracted the aliens', and James returned to normal.
Later James learned of Department H's true plans after reinstating Alpha Flight. They attempted to kill him by rigging his armor to warp him into space. A younger clone of Hudson was created and sent by Department H to lead the team.
However, James fell back to Earth and was found in Antarctica by Sasquatch and Shaman. With Northstar and Aurora they confronted their other teammates. The Hudson clone was killed in battle, helping the others escape from AIM.
Although there has been some difficulty, and at one point a divorce was mentioned, it seems James and Heather have rekindled their relationship. Heather gave birth to a daughter. However, James was attacked by a rogue Department H operative obsessed with Heather, nearly destroying the new family's happiness.
James traveled into space with the rest of Alpha Flight overseeing the return of the Plodex eggs.
Alpha Flight fell in battle against the Collective. Michael Pointer the mutant who had become the Collective has been in the custody of the Canadian government. While in prison he was approached by Sasquatch. Sasquatch proposes to Michael Pointer that he will make up for his deeds as the collective by becoming the new Guardian in Canada's new premier super team Omega Flight.
When Alpha Flight tried to block the Collective from entering Canada, Puck, Major Mapleleaf, Shaman, and both Mac and Heather Hudson were killed. They returned to life during the Chaos King's war on all of reality when the gates to the Underworld were left open.
Soon after his return to life, James reformed Alpha Flight with many of its old members. They have reported back to the Canadian government to resume the duty of protecting their homeland.
James and Heather had a difficult time returning from the dead, especially when they learned they no longer had custody of their child Claire. The custody was given to family after the two of them died. The two even had to go as far as go to court to get their child back. But the defense told the judge that the child would have an extreme amount of risk being parented by superheroes.
True North[]
After the Serpent's War, Guardian discovered that Heather was mentally manipulated by Master of the World and had released her rage on Claire's adoptive parents, killing them. She only regained her mind afterwards, but went on the run with Claire fearing they'd be separated again if she turned herself in. Having developed a way to find Heather, James kept track of her whereabouts. He eventually agreed to bring her to Department H in order to ensure her safety and well-being. To this end, Guardian set up a scenario in which he rescued Heather from a group of mercenaries. James brought Heather and Claire to the Department H headquarters, using virtual reality and neurostimulants to make her believe she was setting her up in a peaceful cabin in British Columbia to help her stay in the down-low. James intended to use the virtual scenario as part of a process to make Heather trust Department H again even if it took years for it.
Hellfire Gala[]
Guardian is a Canadian representative to the Hellfire Gala on Krakoa.
Attributes[]
Powers[]
Many of Hudson's powers originally stemmed from his Guardian's Battle-suit; however, he was later converted to a cyborg and those powers became a part of him.
Abilities[]
Hudson is an accomplished inventor and engineer, as well as a good hand to hand combatant. The suit has a very sophisticated navigation system. Hudson seems able to hide his metallic features if he wishes so.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment[]
Guardian's Battle-suit: Hudson's powers come from his suit and later cyborg conversion.
- Supersonic flight.
- The ability to let gravity propel the suit westward at a high speed. The visual effect is confusable with teleportation and/or cloaking. It is most effective when used close to Earth's magnetic poles.
- Body armor.
- Protective force field which automatically triggers if the gravity ability is used.
- Flares.
- Ultrasound.
- Concussive electromagnetic beams. These were originally designed to bore through rock.
- Electromagnetism for 'dispersal beams', electrostatic charges and other effects.
- Lift objects via a 'graviton beam'.
- Limited ability to generate and control plasma, often in the form of a funnel or vortex.
- Able to interface with computers.
- Hudson's mind is computer like and can access or block neural frequencies.
Notes[]
- James' identity is known to the Canadian Government.
- In his first encounter with the X-Men, the mutant known as Banshee refers to Hudson as Major Mapleleaf. Major Mapleleaf is also the name of a character who will one day join the ranks of Hudson's former super-hero team, Alpha Flight.
- James is the great-nephew of Wolverine's mother Elizabeth, making James a first cousin, once removed of Wolverine. Nick Fury revealed that James is one of several maternal relatives of Logan that were there at almost every turning point in Wolverine's life.
Trivia[]
- As a Canadian government agent, Guardian's code name would be known in both official languages (English & French): Le Gardien.
- According to Alpha Flight (Vol. 2) #1 (August, 1997), James Hudson's astrological symbol is Sagittarius. This indicates Hudson was born under this sign of the zodiac, sometime between November 21 and December 21.