A superb hand-to-hand combatant, Jake Oh takes his role as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. seriously and becomes one of their most highly decorated operatives.
First Generation
Born in the United States to Korean immigrant parents, Jacob “Jake” Oh grows up encouraged by them to become a lawyer. Though Jake may have disappointed his parents when he decides to join the espionage and protection agency, S.H.I.E.L.D., and becomes a special field operative.
Decorated S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent
Jake is a superb hand-to-hand combatant and an accomplished marksman with most types of firearms, with specialized S.H.I.E.L.D. training for active field duty, medicine, combat, and armored fighting vehicle operation.
His War Machine Mark 3.0 suit contains a powered exoskeleton granting him superhuman strength (lifting 90 tons). The suit contains various offensive weaponry, including repulsor rays (particle beams), unibeam (includes visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, tractor, laser and image inducer) and pulse bolts (plasma discharges); and defensive weaponry, including an energy S.H.I.E.L.D. (laser absorption grid), electromagnetic pulse (energy-dampening field) and targeting computer. The suit can be outfitted with special weaponry as needed, including shoulder-mounted Gatling gun assembly, wrist-mounted laser blade, shoulder-mounted micro-rocket launcher and wrist-mounted particle beam discharger. Electrically-powered turbines in the suit’s boots and jetpack enable flight at supersonic speeds.
Heroic Allies and Antagonists
Jake becomes romantically interested in the mutant and telepath Celeste Cuckoo, but when manipulative John Sublime, AKA Sublime, and the powerfully destructive Phoenix Force cause her to nearly lose control of her abilities, she asks Jake to kill her before it’s too late. Jake cannot bring himself to do so, however. Later, he dates a lawyer, who is a man.
When Jake discovers his employers, Eaglestar International, test a technological contagion on human subjects, he joins James Rhodes, AKA War Machine’s Team War Machine against them. He dons the War Machine Mark 3.0 armor, and goes up against Jason Strongbow, AKA American Eagle but is overpowered.
Jake also goes up against the Prince Regent Phalkan and his Imperial Guard of Seknarf Seven alongside other heroes including Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, Cindy Moon, AKA Silk, Shang-Chi, Agents of Atlas leader James Woo, AKA Jimmy Woo, and the new Hulk, Amadeus Cho, AKA Brawn.
A Special Agent’s Account
S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Field Operative Jake Oh was stationed at the World complex, the abandoned yet operational laboratory where the Weapon Plus Program once attempted to create superior humans employing eugenics, nanotechnology and artificial evolution technology. Oh was there for three months while S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists studied the complex’s technology. As time within the complex had been stopped, Oh grew bored with his assignment and was about to submit a transfer request when the flow of time was restored by the arrival of young mutants Celeste, Mindee and Phoebe Cuckoo (known collectively as the “Stepford Cuckoos”). The Cuckoos were among several thousand clones “born” years ago at the World using oocytes (egg cells) removed from the mutant Emma Frost, at the time known as the White Queen, by the sentient bacteria entity John Sublime, who began developing them into an anti-mutant doomsday weapon for the Weapon Plus program under the codename “Weapon XIV.” Recent possession by the cosmic Phoenix Force caused the Cuckoos to unconsciously act on long-dormant aspects of their nanotech programming and return to the World.
Taking a romantic interest in Oh, Celeste was able to temporarily resist both Sublime’s influence and the Phoenix Force and begged Oh to kill her before her powers raged out of control. Oh refused and instead joined forces with the Cuckoos’ X-Men allies to disconnect the triplets from the clone collective. A fully Phoenix-possessed Celeste incinerated all the other Cuckoo clones except for Mindee and Phoebe, as the genocidal Weapon XIV’s destruction had been the Phoenix Force’s ultimate goal all along; however, before the Phoenix Force could take any further action, the triplets neutralized it by converting their hearts to diamond permanently and trapping a third of the Phoenix Force within each heart. Later, Oh transferred to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and was on duty when Kenneth Hale, AKA Gorilla-Man, and M-11, AKA Human Robot, kidnapped the comatose body of the then S.H.I.E.L.D. subdirector Jimmy Woo.
Following S.H.I.E.L.D.’s dissolution, Oh became a first lieutenant for private multinational military contractor Eaglestar International and was deployed to the occupied Middle Eastern nation of Aqiria. When War Machine rescued his childhood friend Glenda Sandoval, who was being experimented on by Eaglestar, Oh discovered his employers had secretly laced human test subjects with a technological contagion derived from the extraterrestrial robot Ultimo; Oh joined forces with War Machine to prevent the virus’ spread in Aqiria and locate the virus’ source in the U.S. As a member of “Team War Machine,” Oh donned a copy of War Machine’s armor and distracted American Eagle, while Rhodes replenished his arsenal at his mother’s home on the Navajo Nation reservation and attacked the Ultimo technology suppliers operating out of nearby Mackelroy Army Base. Learning that Ultimo’s Central Processing Unit (CPU) had been split in three and stored in separate facilities around the country, Oh donned one of Rhodes’ old War Machine battle suits and infiltrated Transcore AI Solutions in Bingston, Indiana, to destroy one of the CPU components. He went up against American Eagle, but lost.
Following Ultimo’s defeat, Rhodes was delivered to the International Criminal Court by HAMMER Director Norman Osborn, AKA Green Goblin, to face trial for war crimes at the Hague. While Rhodes was incarcerated, Oh and Team War Machine attempted to deliver a cloned body so the dying Rhodes’ consciousness could be transferred into it. Although Norman Osborn stole the cloned body, Team War Machine retrieved Rhodes whose consciousness was successfully transferred.
Jake later works for a reformed S.H.I.E.L.D. and works alongside T’Challa, AKA Black Panther, to track down Brawn. Once they do, they help Brawn and his sister Maddy fight the Austin Monster. Jake uses S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol which was intended for Brawn, and sends the Austin Monster to the Negative Zone.
When Jake invited a host of Asian and Asian American Super Heroes to an event to raise awareness for Asian-American bone marrow donation, the group becomes fast friends, sharing BBQ and Karaoke to unwind. The group of heroes included Ms. Marvel, Silk, Shang-Chi, Jimmy Woo, and Brawn. Having a meal with them, he shared that he’s a Korean vegetarian and commiserated with Woo whose parents wanted him to pursue an alternate career than the one he chose. Jake recalled that he also disappointed his parents by pursuing a life in espionage, going against their wishes for him to become a lawyer. He also shared that while his dad encouraged him to find a Korean girl who’s also a Methodist and a corporate lawyer, he ends up dating a Methodist corporate lawyer but who is a Black man, and shares a laugh about it with Ms. Marvel.
After their night on the town, Prince Regent Phalkan and his Imperial Guard of Seknarf Seven crashed their party and invaded Earth. They abduct the heroes along with a large group of New Yorkers, and threaten to cut off their oxygen if they resist their captors. The heroes fought back their captors but a civilian got killed in the crossfire. The human civilians and the Super Heroes fight the guard back until Alpha Flight arrived and helped them initiate discussions with the Prime Congress of Seknarf Seven to resolve the conflict.
