Phil Coulson

Phillip James Coulson is an agent in the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (SHIELD). Phil is known for his sarcastic, dry wit, his sense of fair play (a strange thing to see in a clandestine organization like SHIELD), and his uncanny ability to walk away from combat that would kill a normal human being.

Identifying Characteristics

Phil has two tattoos on his upper forearms. On the left is a small Captain America shield, about the size of a quarter on his left arm, acquired before he went into Jump School. The second, the 75thbattalion shield and logo, is on the opposite arm and was acquired on returning from Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Beneath the insignia is a date – October 27th, 1983 – the date of his spotter’s death. Both are located just before the crook of his elbows, on the inside of his forearms.

Updated April 4th 2012 – Phil has a scar on his chest from his encounter with Loki. Thirteen inches long by three inches wide, it covers his left pectoral and travels almost to his stomach. There is a scar on his left shoulder, behind, that is half as long and wide, matching it. The wound was made with an upward stabbing motion, and the exit wound was so much wider than the entry wound. The scar is sensitive to touch and is a lower temperature than the rest of the agent’s body. (It’s been registered at a difference of up to ten degrees worth of temperature difference, though no known limit to the drop in temperature has been recorded.)

Powers and Abilities
Increased flexibility, agility, and reflexes due to effects of the STRIKE serum. It is hypothesized that the serum may also grant increased longevity due to its accelerated healing effects as well as the empirical evidence of Phil’s cellular regeneration showing no sign of slowing.

Thanks to the involvement of SHIELD, Phil was a part of the STRIKE experiment in July of 1986, which aimed to recreate the super soldier serum that created Captain America. The serum was in joint development with the military, which had one Doctor Bruce Banner on the payroll in later iterations of the project, leading to his subsequent experiments with gamma radiation and eventual accident. Phil still feels a little guilty about it, even though he was nowhere near in charge of the project. The chance to be just like his hero was too much to ignore, and Phil was the first to volunteer for the serum.

The serum was a rousing success in some ways, a miserable failure in others. Phil’s reflexes, situational awareness, and healing rate were intensified, and his lifespan nearly tripled in length (more like it slowed, instead of lengthened, if that makes any sense), although he isn’t aware of that part as of yet. His ability to be a leader of men was also affected, magnifying traits that were already there.

Erskine’s serum magnified the best traits in a person, shoring up the bad ones but making the best (or worst) parts the foundation. The STRIKE serum magnified his best traits, but his strength and stamina remained the same, as did his intellect. He was already intelligent, but while Steve can look at a piece of territory and formulate six different plans of attack or defense in seconds, Phil needs longer to strategize. Steve can lift heavy loads like Tony Stark in his suit if needed, but Phil still relies on his improvisation and reflexes to get the job done.

Phil’s healing rate is increased, cutting about a quarter of the time normally required to recover from injuries. This renders the STRIKE serum a partial success. He still remains Phil, fallible and human, but his recovery time is much reduced and his charisma in the field matches Steve’s at times. While nowhere near Steve's match in physical prowess, Phil has shown dexterity and strength in the field that far outclasses a normal human.

The project still remains classified. No one save Phil himself and Director Fury are aware of his involvement

Childhood and Pre-SHIELD
Phil Coulson was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to parents Ray and Katheryn Coulson. He was an only child of an Irish Catholic schoolteacher and an agnostic mechanic. Despite their ideological differences, Ray and Katheryn remained married until Phil was eight, when a mutual separation became permanent and they divorced on February 20th, 1972. Katheryn then took her son to move to her parents’ farm just outside of Concord.

Phil grew up doing heavy chores and excelling in schoolwork, promoting a work ethic that was strong and vibrant and would serve him well in his future military career. He took up boxing in high school, training in the gym when he could, at the farm when he couldn’t, lifting hay bales to build muscle mass. Despite his shorter stature, he earned his way into the heavyweight division, enjoying a career of 17-5 wins in his high school career and earning himself a scholarship to Notre Dame.

He graduated in 1982 as a salutatorian of his small town high school and went on to Notre Dame. He spent less than six months in Notre Dame before enrolling in the armed services and going through the Airborne Rangers Jump School.

It was here that he met Marcus Leavensworth, a young man from Phoenix, New Mexico, who would later become his boot camp partner and then his spotter. Both graduated from Jump School and were placed on regular missions in the spring of 1983.

In October of 1983, the two were chosen along with the rest of their unit to take part in Operation Urgent Fury. Marcus's helicopter was shot down on the flight in, killing everyone aboard and leaving Phil without a spotter. He and his squad base jumped in, taking a small village that was a key strategic location, a pass where troops could move into Grenada unimpeded. Phil Coulson was recorded as the sniper of the unit with the most kills, a record 27 confirmed dead insurgents by his hand.

When he returned from Grenada, he was stopped just before his debriefing by Colonel Nicholas Fury, who requested that Phil join his new organization, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (SHIELD). When Phil declined, Fury insisted. An altercation happened when Fury grabbed Phil by the shoulder. Phil reacted, twisting out of Fury's grip and punching him in the nose twice, breaking the cartilage. He would have been thrown in the brig for insubordination had the then Director of SHIELD not intervened, citing the scuffle as his fault.

Two weeks later, Phil was honorably discharged from the Rangers, only to join SHIELD as a junior agent.

Post Battle of Manhattan
Following several months of painful recuperation, Phil has resumed his duties as an agent of SHIELD. The Avengers do not yet know he still lives, but there are plenty of opportunities for them to interact. Eventually, they may learn the truth.