The Irregulars were a heroic group formed from ex-hero Case 53s following the revelations of the Triumvirate's involvement with Cauldron during the battle against Echidna.[1]
Modus operandi[]
The Irregulars made an alliance with Faultline's Crew upon their formation, agreeing to share resources and information. Weld proposed that they become mercenaries, motivated less by money and focused more on helping people.[2]
Structure[]
It seems that beyond their unique means of revenue they operated like any other mercenary company. Weld was the leader of the group but it is unknown if there were any squad leaders or similar.
PRT Response[]
This group was one of the results of the larger schism the PRT was dealing with following the battle against Echidna. As the Irregulars did not voice the actual reasons for their leaving and remained somewhat affiliated with the Protectorate, the group received equipment, funding and, contacts through the Protectorate.[3]
History[]
Background[]
Cauldron had been releasing Deviation cases for various ends throughout the world.[4] Many were used as villains to prop-up certain heroes so they gained in reputation quicker. As such they gained a reputation for villainy among the public.
Story Start[]
The PRT started a program to absorb more Case 53s into the Protectorate.[5]
Post-Echidna[]
During the fight with Echidna, Eidolon was captured by Echidna. She created a clone of him, who, after killing Myrddin, began revealing to the gathered Protectorate heroes the origins of Cauldron, their roots in the Triumvirate, and their involvement in the creation of Case 53s. This caused an upheaval among the ranks of the heroes, particularly the Case 53s, many of whom had in the past found themselves passed over for promotions and generally discriminated against due to their appearance. This later led to a schism in which many disenfranchised Case 53s split off from the Protectorate. Soon afterward was the formation of the Irregulars, who were largely independent from the Protectorate but still received equipment, funding, and contracts through them.[3] The vast majority of the 'monstrous' capes who had split from Protectorate left to join them,[6] although some, such as Hunch, chose to stay.[7] Later, the Irregulars reached out to Case 53s across the world, causing their numbers to swell tremendously.[8]
In the period when the new Endbringers appeared following the defeat of Behemoth, the Irregulars' numbers dropped somewhat, although they continued recruiting in the time that they laid low.[9]
Post-Timeskip[]
They had risen to enough prominence that Cauldron invited them to meetings.[10]
Gold Morning[]
The Irregulars fought at the oil-rig battle during Gold Morning as part of the 80 strong contingent.
Taking advantage of the chaos following the battle, the Irregulars broke the truce by attacking Cauldron directly, freeing imprisoned Deviants from their cells and attacking Doctor Mother against the wishes of Weld[11], incapacitating Doormaker in the process[12] and nearly killing Contessa using Mantellum's power.[13]
They were decimated when they were engaged in combat by Weaver's strike team[14][15], and presumably took even more casualties when the Cauldron Compound was self-destructed.
Early-Ward[]
The group is now defunct due to the majority of survivors being minors and only somewhat affiliated sympathizers.
Members:[]
| Name |
|---|
| Weld |
| Gully |
| Mantellum |
| Matryoshka |
| Garrote |
| Sanguine |
| Gentle Giant |
| Brickhaus |
| Blesk |
| Egg |
| Whippersnap |
| Various Case 53s |
References[]
- ↑ The Irregulars
Formed of a splinter group of ex-hero Case 53s and others, following the revelations of the Triumvirate’s involvement with Cauldron. The group does mercenary work, with a focus on doing good deeds more than on making money, and retains loose ties to the Protectorate and Wards. - Cast (In Depth) - ↑ “Mercenaries,” Weld said. He glanced at Faultline, “But not part of your contingent, no offense.”
“So long as you’re accepting if I want to hire you?”
“I’m not about to turn down our first potential client,” Weld said. “So long as you stick to the rules. I’m thinking we’ll only take jobs that help people. Screw payment.”
There were murmurs of agreement from the other freaks. - Excerpt from the Missing Interlude - ↑ 3.0 3.1 ► Weld (Verified Cape) (Irregulars)
Replied on July 6th, 2011:
I dunno, I’m optimistic. 😉
For the record, I harbor no animosity toward the Protectorate. We’re still attached, and we’re receiving equipment, funding and contacts through them. They were very respectful as a whole, but we got a chance to interact a few weeks ago, and we collectively agreed that while the Protectorate’s plan to build a rapport between us Case-53s (as the Protectorate terms us) and the public was sound (making me leader of the Brockton Bay Wards, for example), it was too slow, and we could do more as a group. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y - ↑ Cauldron capes were explicitly more stable. Case 53s (barring Shamrock, Madison and Dealer C53s) all had a reason for being dropped where they were, with individual programming. - Excerpt from a Reddit comment by Wildbow.
- ↑ Sentinel 9.1
- ↑ Weld’s popularity and time in the spotlight made him a figure of interest when, following undisclosed events in Brockton Bay, he turned from the established heroes and brought vast majority of the monstrous capes in the Protectorate and Wards with him. - Excerpt from Glow-worm P.8
- ↑ The monsters in the Protectorate have almost all left. Only one who stayed, I think, are Hunch and Polish. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y
- ↑ He reached out to monstrous parahumans both American and international, and he kept his together while carrying out deeds for the camera. Maintaining a group of such size isn’t an easy task when its numbers are swelling like his group’s did. - Glow-worm P.8
- ↑ Even the defeat of Behemoth or the appearance of the new Endbringers didn’t serve to bring Weld back into the fold. If anything, Weld seemed to note that his team’s numbers were dropping. He and the monstrous capes serving under him stopped making as many public appearances. We don’t know what he started doing at this time, but this team was still recruiting. - Glow-worm P.8
- ↑ Extinction 27.2
- ↑ “I thought you agreed with me,” Weld said.
“Because a few good arguments are going to change our minds? Convince us that we’ll take a nice, peaceful route, after years, decades of suffering?” the girl asked.
“We can’t become monsters in action, Gully.”
“Some of us already have,” the spike-boy said. “The rest? I imagine they’re working on catching up.”
Weld turned around, his back to Doctor Mother and the others, as if he were shielding them.
“Does everyone disagree with me?” he asked. “You’ve all been plotting this… mutiny?” - Excerpt from Interlude 28 - ↑ “Door,” the Doctor said.
There was a tearing sound, a wet crack.
One of the deviants had appeared beside her. Yellow skinned, with bruising in the recesses of his face, arms and hands. He smiled, his teeth narrow like a fish’s.
He withdrew his hand, and Doormaker crumpled to the ground, limp as a rag doll, blood running from his forehead where his head had been smashed against the wall. - Excerpt from Interlude 28 - ↑ The sounds of conversation faded. Contessa consulted her power. They were most definitely gone.
She remained where she was, tending to the wounds she’d received in the course of selling her ‘death’, waiting for them to get far enough away that she could make her way back indoors.
This ‘Mantellum’ had been close enough that he should have been able to block her power. He hadn’t.
Because he’d been on the other side of the portal. The power didn’t cross dimensional boundaries.
She’d been lucky.
Minutes passed before she found her feet. She made her way up the hill. Easily. Always easily.
Until she reached the top, and found only the view in front of her. No doorway.
Not so lucky. - Excerpt from Interlude 29 - ↑ One pass. A lazy swoop with the swarm, the knife suspended by threads.
I couldn’t see, even with the camera, but I was aware of Mantellum stopping in his tracks. The boundaries of the circle stopped drifting in the general direction of the stairwell.
I waited, willed the lights to flicker. Time passed.
People were reacting, outside the circle. How much damage had I done?
The lights went out.
Another pass.
Mantellum’s effect dissipated. The blind spot filled in, a crowd, capes, blood spraying. My bugs could sense them all. - Excerpt from Venom 29.5 - ↑ Floret shrugged. “We could handle a computer, a lock, even a vault, no sweat. But not this. The plan was to wait for the group on the other side of the facility to forge their way through the steel, or around the steel, but someone gave the Custodian a tinker-made super death knife, and well…”
“That was me,” I said. “Nothing to do with the Custodian.”
“Ah, well,” Satyr said. “Good and bad to any situation. We’ll be able to assert control over that group more easily, with their leadership dead. And there won’t be as great a chance that they take the good Doctor out before we can get a word in… but progress will be slower, and we don’t have much time to spare.” - Excerpt from Venom 29.6
[]
| Leader | Weld ‡ |
|---|---|
| Members | Blesk • Brickhaus • Garotte ‡ • Gentle Giant • Gully • Mantellum † • Matryoshka • Sanguine • Egg • Witness * |