If a snake bites a farmer, even though the latter saved the former's life, do you blame the serpent or the human? Conversely, if a world-renowned super spy betrays or manipulates you every chance he gets, do you blame Nick Fury or yourself?
The director of SHIELD works with metahumans daily. From his perspective, he has to plot and scheme to give himself an advantage over the likes of Captain America, Thor, or the Hulk. But Fury isn't a fan of moderation - needing to be in control of every situation, whether his constituents agree or not. We're going to examine ten of Nick Fury's shadiest moments in Marvel Comics history - both his Mainstream and Ultimate counterparts. Try not to be surprised if your perspective on Fury drastically changes by the end of this article - performing dirty deeds in the dark is primarily what spies do.
10 His Relationship With Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
Nick Fury might not look the part, but Agent A-1 is a bit of a hopeless romantic; Fury's had numerous intense romances throughout his impossibly long life - oftentimes with women from opposing countries. Nick's relationship with Laura Brown epitomizes this trend; Fury's a solider dedicated to protecting the US, while Brown is the daughter of Hydra's leader - Arnold Brown!
As you could imagine, Fury's romance with Brown was rocky at best. However, you probably never imagined Nick Fury and Captain America fighting over the same woman - Contessa Fontaine! Things between Fury and Cap got better later on - after we learn that Contessa Fontaine was a Skrull in disguise.
9 Hiding LMDs From The World At Large
Ah, Life Model Decoys - Marvel Comics' favorite plot device to whip out whenever a popular character gets jobbed out. Everyone from Tony Stark to Thor to Dum Dum Dugan's used LMD's before! We wouldn't be surprised if the MCU introduces LMD's to reverse a few character deaths in Phase 4 or Phase 5 - provided MCU Nick Fury has access to them.
You see, Nick Fury loves to keep his cards close to his chest. When he first learned about LMDs, he didn't alert the world at large. Instead, Fury kept the existence of LMDs secret and used them to further his own agenda. That's mad shady Fury, mad shady indeed.
8 Working With Ultimate Red Skull
The general perception surrounding Ultimate Nick Fury is that he's an unnecessarily mean, exceedingly manipulative jerk who only looks out for himself. We don't think that's true, however; we feel that Ultimate Fury's a miserly, conniving old coot who adheres too rigidly to an "ends justify the means" code of ethics.
That's one of the reasons why Ultimate Nick Fury worked with Ultimate Red Skull for a time. As you can imagine, this created a rift between Fury and Cap once again.
7 As Well As Ultimate Doctor Doom
To present more proof that Ultimate Nick Fury inherited all of his Mainstream counterpart's bad traits, we bring this gem to the fore; Ultimate Fury once worked with Ultimate Doctor Doom to conspire against Reed Richards. Now, it's worth noting that the Ultimate version of Reed Richards isn't a altruistic as his Earth-616 counterpart, but that hardly justifies working with one of Marvel's biggest villains!
Between Doctor Doom and the Red Skull, Victor von Doom is usually the lesser of two evils. But Doom tends to be much more dangerous and erratic. Ultimate Nick Fury thinking that he can fully reign Doom in is honestly just hubris!
6 Letting Baron Strucker Takeover SHIELD
If you've gained the impression that Nick Fury is a gambling man, you're not far from wrong; this super-spy won't hesitate to embroil himself and other heroes (with or without their consent) in high-stakes gambits - often risking the fate of the world on a risky idea of his design.
That's why Nick Fury once allowed Baron Wolfgang von Strucker to takeover SHIELD; it was all an elaborate ploy to let Fury takeover Hydra in the meantime. If even one part o Nick's intricate plan failed to work as intended, then Fury could've jeopardized the safety of the free world.
5 Killing J.T. James, Then Lying About It
Ask just about anyone who works at SHIELD, and they'll tell you how brutal of a boss Nick Fury is. But those same SHIELD Agents also respect Fury and would follow him to Hell and back if asked. JT James, however, would likely protest against Fury - if he were still alive to do so.
Near the end of Marvel's Seige event, Nick Fury considers JT James a liability. Instead of just firing the guy, Fury takes the opportunity to drop him off a cliff when no one else is looking! To make matters worse, Fury lies about James' death when questioned later on.
4 Attempting To Assassinate Lucia Von Bardas
Well, is it that surprising to learn that Nick Fury tried to assassinate a world leader? And of Latveria, no less - one of the Marvel Universe's most powerful countries! During Marvel's Secret War event, Fury sent a team of heroes to Latveria. Their mission; kill Lucia von Bardas, the current leader of the nation after Doctor Doom.
We're not hyperbolizing when we say that Nick Fury could've started World War 3. But hey, maybe that's what Fury wants - the man can hardly operate when he isn't barking orders from the commander's seat after all.
3 Mindwiping Various Individuals
There's an old saying that we feel sums up Nick Fury's outlook on life perfectly; "when all you have is a hammer, it's hard not to see everything else as a nail." In Fury's case, the only way he knows how to live is as a spy. If he gets into a dispute with someone, he likely won't try to talk it out; he'd prefer to erase their memory and pretend the dispute never happened.
To this day, we're not sure exactly how many people Nick Fury's mindwiped over the years. For all we know, Nick could have brainwashed hundreds or thousands of victims!
2 Making Thor Odinson Unworthy
The events that transpired in Original Sin propelled numerous characters to face the skeletons in their closets. Of particular note, Nick Fury had to reveal that he wasn't the man everyone thought he was. First and foremost, Fury was very old and on the verge of death! Looking to find closure, Fury found the opposite when he became the Unseen - a replacement for the recently deceased Watcher.
One of the first things Nick Fury did as the Unseen was telling Thor "Gorr was right." Fury then went on his merry way while Thor Odinson went on a perilous adventure to regain his worth.
1 Just About Everything Fury Did In Fury MAX
Beware the works of Ennis. We ought to make that a catchphrase considering how popular his stories are becoming again. This Irish-born writer is immensely talented, but he also completely lacks a filter or restraint. When he got his hands on the Punisher, he had him shoot Wolverine's crotch off!
In Nick Fury's MAX story, he berates everyone else for not wanting another war and takes advantage of prostitutes. Trust us, this one isn't for the faint of heart.