Abigail Brand

Abigail Brand's father was an extraterrestrial. She inherited the X-Gene from her mother. She has the mutant ability to coat at least her hands in some type of blue energy flame that is potent enough to burn through most metals. Her tongue is shaped differently allowing her the ability to speak alien languages that humans cannot. She was a Special Agent of the United States Government and the head of S.W.O.R.D., a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D., charged with defending the Earth from extraterrestrial threats. She also had a half-brother named Lothithanriaxiaxus, who was a green, furry alien and a ne'er-do-well.

Brand encountered the alien Ord in her capacity as a S.W.O.R.D. agent, who was convinced that a mutant from Earth was destined to destroy his planet. In order to avoid an interplanetary war, Brand acquiesced to Ord's plan to avert the destruction of his world by allowing him to create a cure for the mutant "condition". It was later learned the mutant prophesied to destroy Breakworld was Colossus. After her involvement in this plan became known to the X-Men Brand faced a board of inquiry to face charges of misconduct. She defended her actions on the grounds that averting interplanetary warfare was a responsibility so great as to justify courses of action that would otherwise be considered immoral or illegal. Despite their past differences, she attempted to work with the X-Men to find a solution to the crisis. In an attempt to draw Breakworld's forces away from the Earth, Brand had the X-Men, Ord, and Ord's ally Danger teleported aboard a S.W.O.R.D. starship and traveled to the Breakworld itself. Ord was able to contact his homeworld to alert them of Colossus' location, unaware that this was all part of Brand's plan. However, Breakworld forces caught up with the S.W.O.R.D. vessel before Brand had predicted they would, forcing the X-Men and the S.W.O.R.D strike team to use the ship's escape pods to finish their journey to the Breakworld. Once on the surface, Brand and the X-Men made the last-ditch assault on the Breakworld's doomsday device before it could be fired at Earth. Brand dove into the path of a laser blast meant for Beast and was wounded. After the Breakworld mission ended, Brand offered Dr. Henry McCoy a job with S.W.O.R.D., needing someone who would question her actions. Brand was attracted to McCoy. She referred to herself as his Xenophiliac Experimentation Partner.

Despite the antagonistic relationship she and Nick Fury demonstrated toward each other, she was considered a Nick Fury loyalist by Fury's replacement at S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill. Brand made no effort to hide her dislike for Hill. During the Skrull Invasion, Brand broke into one of the Skrull armada's ships and witnessed the destruction Skrulls were causing on Earth. She managed to free their prisoner, Mister Fantastic, who took her to the Savage Land. There, she saw that all of the "Earth heroes" who had crash-landed there were actually Skrulls.

Beta Ray Bill came to Brand seeking information on the whereabouts of Galactus. Brand gave Bill the information but stressed that the World-Eater could never find out who gave him the information lest Galactus seek revenge on Earth. Abigail recruited Jessica Drew into S.W.O.R.D. On Jessica's first mission, Brand sent her to Madripoor as well as giving her an alien detector.

Henry Peter Gyrich managed to take several notable aliens into custody such as Noh-Varr, Adam X, Jazinda, Karolina Dean, and Hepzibah as part of his effort to remove aliens from Earth, including Brand and Lockheed themselves. When S.W.O.R.D itself was invaded by the brutal alien race called the Drenx, Brand, McCoy, Lockheed and their ally Death's Head managed to defeat them, reversing Gyrich's actions and getting him dismissed from the organization.

Abigail helped give missions to Cyclops' team. During the war between the Avengers and the X-Men Abigail sided with the Avengers, via Hank. When the war was over, however, she pretended to help the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. track down Cyclop's X-Men, and instead helped Magneto, making sure he knew if there was anyone coming for him. She also revealed she was a mutant herself and wanted children with Beast one day.

Soon after that, Abigail was called upon by Legion to help him fight a monster that had escaped his mind. During the battle, to Beast's horror, Abigail Brand was incinerated right in front of their eyes. Legion later resurrected her and everyone else that died in the battle at the cost of his own life.

When Thanos invaded Earth, S.W.O.R.D. was held hostage and occupied. In desperation, Brand sent the Guardians of the Galaxy a request of help. This worked and Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, and Gamora helped Brand free the station from intruders and restore vital defense systems. They were assisted by the help of Angela, a mysterious warrior of uncertain origins.

When Alpha Flight replaced S.W.O.R.D. as Earth's first line of defense, Abigail became lieutenant commander of its low-orbit space station, working directly under Captain Marvel. While Abigail was openly hostile towards Carol, it was revealed by Puck that Brand had turned down the role of commander. Despite a rough start, Abigail stayed by Carol's side through the second superhuman civil war, the Chitauri invasion during Hydra's takeover of the country, and countless other adventures. When Carol's lineage as a Kree became public, Carol decided it was best to step down as Commander of Alpha Flight and asked Brand to take over, which she reluctantly accepted. It was also around this time that Abigail joined the mutant-only nation of Krakoa.

After the threat of Empyre, Brand had her last drop and realized that Alpha-Flight simply didn't work, since no one would warn them whenever they faced alien threats. After making a scene with Carol at Hulkling and Wiccan's space wedding she said she quit the Space Program.

Abigail relaunched S.W.O.R.D. on Krakoa as an extra-terrestrial space program with Cortez, Wiz Kid, Frenzy, Cable and Manifold.