Origin
Jake Fury was the younger brother of Nick Fury but rarely fell in line with his older brother. During World War II, Jake took an anti-war stance against the United States’ involvement in the European conflict despite Nick already out there serving with the Howling Commandos. He was later persuaded by events to change his viewpoint and enlisted, following Nick’s lead into a life of military and espionage.
However, this did not resolve the friction between Jake and Nick. Jake resented Nick’s fortunes and did not enjoy being stuck in his brother’s shadow. He came to resent military life in general as well. Still, this did not stop Jake from becoming a formidable soldier and covert operative.
Creation
Jake Fury was created by Jim Steranko.and first appeared in Strange Tales issue 159.
Major Story Arcs
Wheels Within Wheels
Along with his brother Nick, Jake was invited by Leonardo Da Vinci to be a part of a mysterious new group called the Great Wheel, consisting of the leading covert intelligence figures of the world. In return for completing a select few missions for Da Vinci, they would all be given resources that would be of great value to their own separate agendas. It was as part of this group that Jake was first given the codename of Scorpio.
Each mission involved acquiring a piece of strange technology. Jake executed a mission with Nick and Thomas Davidson to a chapel in France, where they found the technology that would later be reverse-engineered into life model decoys. Jake unwisely got too close and activated it. The technology latched onto him and Davidson, creating life model decoys of them both. Nick decided to keep this a secret.
The Great Wheel later fell apart due to the betrayal of Viktor Uvarov and Vasili Dassiev. The broken Wheel led to the creations of Nick’s S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, Leviathan and the Zodiac Cartel.
Who Remembers Scorpio?
Some time after the Great Wheel dissolved, Jake was approached by Cornelius Van Lunt, formerly Taurus of the Great Wheel. Lunt was forming a new criminal organization called the Zodiac, obviously taking cues from the Great Wheel, and wished for Jake to be a part of it as Scorpio. At this time, Jake had also acquired the Zodiac Key, an ancient and powerful weapon that recognized the darkness inside of him. Jake used this as his primary weapon as a member of the Zodiac and created several false identities to hide himself from the world.
Some, or perhaps all, of Jake’s time working as a criminal with the Zodiac was actually perpetrated by his life model decoy, which was mentally unstable.
As Scorpio, Jake made numerous attacks on Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., seemingly acting out on his resentment of his brother. His failure to actually kill Nick eventually saw him evicted from the Zodiac, and he lost his Zodiac Key to Nick, who used it to impersonate him as Scorpio for a brief time.
The life model decoy of Jake later had a complete mental breakdown. Out of desperation and depression, it created a new Zodiac out of other life model decoys and engaged in a conflict with the Defenders. However, things went badly for it, and the life model decoy committed suicide. Since the world at large did not know the truth, Jacob Fury was now considered to be dead.
Secret Warriors
Now believed dead, Jake played an important role in Nick’s secret war against HYDRA and Leviathan. He managed to track down Daniel Whitehall, otherwise known as Kraken of HYDRA and formerly Leo of the Great Wheel. Not only that but he found Whitehall’s journals, which contained a record of nearly all of Whitehall’s secrets. Jake found that Whitehall was already dying in a hospital bed and finished the man off. Then, he donned the Kraken armor and spent the next three years impersonating Kraken as one of the leaders of HYDRA.
Due to Whitehall’s secretive nature and the Kraken armor, Jake was able to even fool Baron Strucker that he was the man who helped build HYDRA. He was a crucial part in Nick’s plan, helping to provoke all out war between HYDRA and Leviathan and then sparking an internal civil war within HYDRA.
After facilitating Baron Strucker’s death, Jake’s role in his brother’s plans was almost done. He completed his final task, delivering a letter to Daisy Johnson, and then disappeared.
Powers and Abilities
Jake Fury is a military-trained combatant and expert covert operative.
While wielding the Zodiac Key, Jake was physically enhanced by its power, becoming stronger, faster and more resistant to injury.
Weapons and Equipment
The Kraken armor stolen from Daniel Whitehall is a powerful and sophisticated weapons system. It does not only protect Jake physically and increase his strength, but it also emits deadly energy blasts and is tied into a teleportation system. The armor likely has a multitude of other features.
Jake formerly possessed the Zodiac Key, which was an item of seemingly limitless power.