The Protectorate is a government-sponsored superhero organization that spans the United States of America and Canada. It works under the Parahuman Response Team.
Structure[]
Triumvirate[]
The Triumvirate, consisting of Legend, Alexandria and Eidolon, formed the core leadership of the Protectorate for most of the story, with Legend being the official leader. In addition to leading several teams, they were the first responders and de facto leaders of every fight against S-Class threats across the globe.
Due to sensitive information becoming public knowledge during the Echidna attack, all of the members of the Triumvirate retired from the Protectorate. While they still participated in all Class S fights following this, they no longer took leadership positions. Legend was eventually replaced by Chevalier.
Top Tier Heroes[]
These are the cream of the crop among the Protectorate. Typically powerful heroes who lead their own departments or have some other major presence in the community. In superhero team posters that advertise the Protectorate, posters will typically include the Triumvirate in front, followed by Myrddin, Chevalier, Cinereal, Narwhal (leader of the Guild), Rime, Exalt and Armsmaster, with Dragon (another member of the Guild) in the back represented by a Dragon suit with its wings extended.[1]
Regional Protectorate Teams[]
Each PRT department has a corresponding Protectorate team. These teams operate out of the local Protectorate Headquarters (PHQ), maintaining regular patrols and responding to reports of villain activity. Leaders will have likely spend time with the Triumvirate before being trusted with their own teams.[2]
Parahumans could request transfer to specific locations,[3] or simply be transferred to a new location.[3][4]
Known members include:
Wards[]
- Main article: Wards
The Wards are a parallel organization to the Protectorate that underage parahumans can join. If a cape is still in the Wards by the time they reach eighteen, Wards can be reassigned to a Protectorate team, but are generally kept in one city.
PRT Response[]
The PRT administrates and reins in the Protectorate. They will withhold persecution of villains who join the Protectorate,[5] though this was not a fact that was well known to the public.[6]
History[]
Background[]
The formation of the Protectorate was initially suggested by Alexandria to Eidolon, Hero and Legend as part of a larger plan to integrate parahumans into the United States society.[7] Alexandria herself had outside backers for the plan,[8] who influenced the development of both the plan and subsequent organization.[9]
After the appearance of Behemoth, the formation of the organization was hastened.
On January 18th, 1993 Alexandria, Eidolon, Hero and Legend were sworn in by the President of the United States under the PRTCJ as the founding members of the United States' Protectorate. It was the first in a long series of steps that led to the formation of the PRT, the Protectorate, and the organization of heroes worldwide.[10] In exchange for government funding and legitimacy, the members agreed to follow a special set of laws laid out for capes, to accept bureaucratic oversight and cooperate with local authorities.
During this period the four and others operated out of a singular city, traveling to trouble spots as they appeared.[11] This was presumably New York.
Following Hero's death, the remaining founders became the leaders of smaller teams based in different cities.[12] Before PRT Departments were an established presence in most major American cities, the Protectorate maintained several strike teams to deal with problems that appeared around the country in the background.[13]
The Protectorate and immediately related teams make up 25-50% of the defending side against Endbringers outside of North America.[14]
The Protectorate also gives out training funding and resources to hero teams around the world who also fight Endbringers.[15]
Story Start[]
The Protectorate would eventually expand to cover Canada as well as the United States of America, with talks of covering Mexico.
Strike teams that were previously used before current departments solidified are only being maintained by Alexandria and Eidolon.
The group deployed in force to Brockton Bay to save the city from total destruction by Leviathan.
Post-Leviathan[]
The combined members of the Protectorate came out of the battle with Leviathan with the lightest casualties from any Endbringer fight.[16]
Legend took a detachment of the New York Protectorate to deal with the Slaughterhouse Nine in Brockton Bay. While there the group followed Miss Militia's lead. The Protectorate was unsuccessful but were able to remove several prominent members.
Post-Slaughterhouse Nine[]
Started committing resources seriously to the hunt for the Slaughterhouse Nine.
Deployed in vast numbers in Brockton Bay to deal with the S-class threat, Echidna. Several heroes, including leaders such as Myrddin, were killed in action. There was severe damage to morale when a clone of Eidolon, Ignis Fatuus, revealed the Protectorate's history with the shadow-organization, Cauldron.
Post-Echidna[]
Following Legend's resignation, the group went through a reshuffling. The Protectorate shifted to a joint leadership, with Chevalier, Alexandria and Prism each dealing with different crises.[17]
Chevalier would head up a new Protectorate edgier and more honest.
Post-Timeskip[]
Had recovered from losses and had weathered the two years leading up to the Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand. They scrambled to deal with multiple strikes throughout the United States by the Nine.
Gold Morning[]
The Protectorate were a vanguard in the early days of the event, leading the first attack on Scion. They then coordinated evacuation efforts throughout North America.
The Protectorate and other groups were systematically attacked by Scion over the four days following the start of his rampage. During the final battle in New York, the forces of the Protectorate and others were rallied by Chevalier. When Khepri rose, the majority of the Protectorate forces were likely subsumed into her swarm.
Post-Gold Morning[]
The organization effectively dissolved after Gold Morning, with its members joining multiple successor groups.
Trivia[]
- Taylor on Triumvirate, a biography about the Triumvirate: "Biographies weren’t my thing, and they were especially not my thing when I was suspicious it was all made up."[18] This was possibly the earliest piece of clever foreshadowing in the series.
- Members who are cleared for and attend Endbringer fights and other S-Class threats gain a substantial pay raise.[19] Attendance is strictly voluntary, however.
Fanart Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Armsmaster appears in the posters and such of the top Protectorate heroes.
Wildbow:When they do the image of everyone standing in a 'v' formation
Parahumans IRC said:
Wildbow: Nah. Legend in front, Alex and Eidolon to the left and right, respectively. Then Myrddin, Chev, Cinereal, Narwhal, Rime, Exalt, Armsmaster, Dragon suit silhouette in the background, wings echoing the wings of the PRT logo over their heads. - IRC conversation archived on Spacebattles - ↑ It's not a hard and fast rule. Some teams find leadership in other ways. But before a cape really gets branded and presented to the nation at large as 'leader of [city]'s Protectorate', they'll be vetted and tested and given time with the Triumvirate. Until then, it'll often be something along the lines of... sure, you're in charge of the team until someone says different, but don't go saying you're in charge and if someone asks you if you're leading the team, deflect or be sure to say it's temporary.
Because they really want to vet people and make sure things are a good fit. - Protectorate Heroes typical Day (Wildbow, [Reddit.com], 2016-11-26) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Interlude 7
- ↑ PRT Quest
- ↑ Interlude 12.5
- ↑ Cell 22.6
- ↑ May 1st, 1988
[...]
“No. Because I’d like to propose a solution. A way to assert control. I want to band together. Form a team.”
Legend leaned against the wall. “There are teams forming already. Yes, we’d be powerful, influential, but I don’t see how that addresses the problems.”
“Simple. We do what the government’s been pushing for. We regulate. We bend to the government’s yoke, all four of us together. We follow their stipulations and regulations.”
“That sounds like a horrendously bad idea,” Eidolon spoke. “Why?”
“Because if it was us four, together? We could afford to push back if they pushed too hard, and they’d know that. And just by being there, we could make the project attractive enough to bring others in. [...] The post-baby boomer generation is growing up. Couple that with the explosion in parahuman numbers, and this situation threatens to get well out of control. We need structure and organization if we’re going to keep things intact.”
“There’s no guarantee your plan will survive contact with government,” Legend said.
“There’s one guarantee.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m estimating that it will take at least five years to establish this plan nationwide. In that span, we’ll start with only a few groups in the largest cities, we’ll gradually and gratefully accept involvement and oversight from government and law enforcement. We’ll also create a sub-group for minors with powers, so we can strictly structure their environment and development. Those are the key points. [...] I expect we’ll be able to employ the remainder of the plan, the eight-stage integration of parahumans with the public, because I will be in a position of power in the government. I, my civilian self, can be in charge of the government-sponsored superhero teams within eight years. [...] I will content myself with working to guide legislation to where we need it.” - Excerpt from Interlude 15.z - ↑ Absent Cauldron's meddling, there's no PRT for one thing. There's no Suits, no Red Gauntlet, no Elite Sentai group or whatever I called them, no Elite; all groups that Cauldron set up or supported. - Wildbow on Spacebattles
- ↑ “You asked me for my trust, I gave it. You asked me for loyalty, I gave that to you as well. You asked me for sacrifice, and I gave that. I was content to be second place in the Protectorate, because it’s what you needed.”
“What Alexandria needed.”
Eidolon shook his head. “Let’s not pretend.”
The Doctor paused, then nodded slowly. “Fair enough.”
“When the shit hit the fan, when my clone divulged the ugly details to the public, I made sacrifices there too. I walked away, so the Protectorate could stand. Gave up everything.” - Excerpt from Interlude 15.z - ↑ January 18th, 1993
“I, Alexandria, do solemnly affirm that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the director appointed over me, according to the regulations of the PRTCJ.”
Applause swelled around her. As far as the eye could see, there were crowds and flashing cameras. President Griffin extended a hand and she shook it.
He leaned close, “You do us proud.”
“Thank you, James. I’ll give my all.”
He squeezed her hand and moved on.
“I, Eidolon, do solemnly affirm…” - Excerpt from Interlude 15.z - ↑ Ridtoria: Since the original group has been disbanded/killed, if you would mind bow, how did the Triumvirate+Hero (I guess just Protectorate) function as a team in the early days? Did they stick to their singular cities and occasionally team up for big events, or did they travel around the nation with Cauldron's help to promote themselves in heroics?
Wildbow: One city as HQ, traveling to sites as situations demanded. - IRC cloud conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles - ↑ Around the time that they were a group, they were simply 'the Protectorate' or 'the guys at the top'. You could say, perhaps, that the loss of Hero splintered the team. They didn't hate each other or resent each other, but it was about time, and served as the catalyst to the group each going to their own individual cities - New York, LA, & Houston. - Comment by Wildbow on Reddit
- ↑ So he starts off with the Protectorate and he gets a chance to shine pretty early on. In a time when there are more heroes than there are departments, he takes on a role as a member of a strike squad. An issue arises, someone calls, and he and his team mobilize to solve the problem. - Comment by Wildbow on Armsmaster's early days
- ↑ ► Miss Mercury (Protectorate Employee)
Replied on July 5th, 2011:
Speaking for someone in the thick of it all, I don’t think that there’s any expectation or assumption that recent events (losing Legend, losing Myrddin, several members leaving) will change the outcome of the next attack. The Protectorate and immediately related teams only make up 25-50% of the defending side when outside of North America, and North America isn’t a likely target. There’s been no policy changes or anything of the sort in the Protectorate that point to that degree of pessmism
-☿ - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y - ↑ “-But they’re only picking up for the PRT. They’re running scared, hemorrhaging members. They’re falling apart, and they’re big enough in the grand scheme of things that we don’t even know the repercussions if this keeps going on. Every team that fights the Endbringers relies on the Protectorate for information, for backup, equipment and even periodic training. But even beyond that, beyond the capes, there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who are watching the Protectorate, looking to them for reassurance. Our perspectives and feelings are barely a factor in the face of those hundreds of millions of watching eyes.” - Excerpt from Imago 21.2
- ↑ ► Space Zombie
Replied on July 5th, 2011:
I’m more inclined to think the PRT is making a mistake than to think they’re on the ball.
My money’s on a big-ass clusterfuck. This is the first time since Behemoth first showed that we haven’t had all our ducks in a row. May’s Leviathan attack had the lowest casualty rate we’ve ever had, but I think the next one’s going to hurt us bad. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y - ↑ Protectorate is currently being run by a joint team atm. Chevalier, Alexandria and Prism are each handling different tasks. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y
- ↑ Gestation 1.1
- ↑ Two hours later: Threat level upgraded to class S. All Protectorate capes who subscribed to the emergency response measure and accompanying pay increase now forced to get over to Brockton Bay and help. - Excerpt from Interlude 19.y