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Batrocs Brigade

The Religious Affiliation of
Batroc’s Brigade
 

Religion: manifestly non-religious CBR Scale: S

Name: Batroc's Brigade

Other Names: Batroc's Brigade III; Batroc's Third Brigade

Classification: villains villains   group group  

Publisher(s): Marvel

First Appearance: Captain America (vol. 1) #149 (May 1972): "All the Colors -- of Evil!"

First Appearance (Additional Details): (1st appearance of any group known as "Batroc's Brigade") Captain America (vol. 1) #105 (Sep. 1968): "In the Name of Batroc!"; (Batroc's Brigade III/hired muscle version 1st appears) Captain America (vol. 1) #149 (May 1972): "All the Colors -- of Evil!"

Creators: Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema, Jim Mooney

Number of Appearances: 5

Ally: Mister Hyde

Type of Organization/Group: henchman, mercenary

Worked for: Batroc the Leaper, Ward Meachum

Nation: USA

Note: squad of no-name hired muscle

The best known version of "Batroc's Brigade" is comprised of Batroc himself along with two other mercenaries: Machete and Zaran. But the original incarnation of "Batroc's Brigade" -- seen in Captain America (vol. 1) #105 -- was comprised of Batroc alongside Living Laser and Swordsman. A second incarnation of Batroc's Brigade appeared in Captain America (vol. 1) #130, comprised of Batroc alongside Porcupine and Whirlwind.

This all sets up a clear pattern: Batroc works alongside two costumed super-villains (or super-mercenaries), all of whom have distinct codenames, costumes, modus operandi, etc.

But a rather different incarnation of "Batroc's Brigade" first appeared in Captain America (vol. 1) #149. This "Batroc's Brigade" is a squad of hired muscle, all dressed similarly and none of whom have distinctive names, costumes, etc. This can be identified as "Batroc's Brigade III", or the third incarnation of the group.

When this version of Batroc's Brigade first appeared, they were a group of seven thugs, all quite large and muscular, all male, who were helping Batroc in his mission to deliver children kidnapped from around New York City to a mysterious client. Batroc did not realize that the children were to be turned over to an alien named Jakar, who intended to use them as a source of energy to cure his wife and other members of his race from a mysterious plague.

The fact that the mercenary henchmen who comprised this version of Batroc's Brigade were willing to participate in a kidnapping plot just to earn some money illustrates their coldly mercenary nature. These mens seemed to be deeply selfish and immoral, without any ideological motivations for their actions. There is nothing to indicate that they should be classified with regards to religious affiliation as anything but manifestly non-religious.

Batroc himself, once he knew the children would be turned over to the alien Jakar, was quite remorseful about his participation in the kidnapping plot, and he essentially switched sides and helped Captain America and the Falcon take down Jakar and rescue the children. But the men of Batroc's Brigade displayed no such remorse and continued to attack Captain America and the Falcon even after Jakar had revealed himself.

This incarnation of Batroc's Brigade later appeared in Marvel Premiere #20 and Captain America (vol. 1) #s 251-252.

Number of group members listed below: 9

Character
(Click links for info about character
and his/her religious practice, affiliation, etc.)
Religious
Affiliation
Team(s)
[Notes]
Pub. #
app.
Batroc the Leaper Batroc the Leaper (Georges Batroc) villain
  Batroc's Brigade; Doom's Brigade...  Marvel 129
Batroc's Brigade Batroc's Brigade villain group
CBR Scale: S manifestly non-religious
[squad of no-name hired muscle] Marvel 5
Living Laser Living Laser (Arthur Parks) villain scientist
  Batroc's Brigade; Hood's Army...  Marvel 96
Machete Machete (Ferdinand Lopez) villain
  Batroc's Brigade; Doom's Brigade...  Marvel 23
Porcupine Porcupine (Alex Gentry) villain
  Batroc's Brigade; Crime Wave...  Marvel 36
Rapido Rapido (Roussel Dupont) villain
  Batroc's Brigade; The French Foreign Legion Marvel 16
Swordsman Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) villain hero
  Batroc's Brigade; Emissaries of Evil (Egghead)...  Marvel 73
Whirlwind Whirlwind (David Cannon) villain
  Batroc's Brigade; Initiative... 
[ice skating competitor]
Marvel 113
Zaran Zaran (Maximillian Zaran) villain hero
  Batroc's Brigade; Initiative...  Marvel 61

This character is in the following 4 stories which have been indexed by this website:
Captain America
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Marvel Premiere #20 (Jan. 1975): "Batroc and Other Assassins"


Suggested links for further research about this character and the character's religious affiliation:
  - http://marvel.wikia.com/Batroc's_Brigade_(Earth-616)
  - http://www.comicvine.com/batrocs-brigade/65-41314/
  - http://marvel.com/universe/Batroc's_Brigade
  - http://comicbookdb.com/team.php?ID=606
  - http://www.marvunapp.com/master/basbaz.htm
  - http://marvel.wikia.com/Captain_America_Vol_1_149
  - https://www.comics.org/issue/25101/
  - http://marvel.wikia.com/Captain_America_Vol_1_150