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{{short description|Fictional organization in DC comics}}
{{Infobox comics organization
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| publisher    = [[DC Comics]]
| debut        = ''[[Justice League]]'' vol. 2 #7 (May 2012)
| creators     = [[Geoff Johns]]<br>[[Gene Ha]]
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| members      = [[Amanda Waller]]<br>[[Steve Trevor]]<br>[[Etta Candy]]<br>[[Sasha Bordeaux]]
| villain      = 
| sortkey      = A.R.G.U.S.
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'''A.R.G.U.S.''' ('''Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans''') is a government organization in [[DC Comics]]. A.R.G.U.S. first appeared in ''Justice League'' vol. 2 #7 and was created by [[Geoff Johns]] and [[Gene Ha]].

Headed by [[Amanda Waller]], A.R.G.U.S. is typically depicted as a parent organization for the previously established [[Checkmate (comics)|Checkmate]] and [[Suicide Squad]] organizations. Since its debut, A.R.G.U.S has been adapted into numerous television projects within the [[Arrowverse]], the [[DC Extended Universe]], and [[DC Universe (franchise)|DC Universe]] (both film and television), as well as numerous animated projects.

==Fictional organizational history==
A.R.G.U.S. is a United States federal agency operating under the jurisdiction of [[Homeland Security]]. It is under the command of Col. [[Steve Trevor]] and Director [[Amanda Waller]]. 
It is introduced in ''[[The New 52]]'' (a reboot of DC Comics continuity) following [[Darkseid]]'s invasion. A.R.G.U.S. acts as support and liaison to the [[Justice League]], supplying them with resources and cleaning up afterwards. Trevor was asked to stand down as head liaison after their battle with Graves, having gotten too close to [[Wonder Woman]].<ref>''Justice League'' vol. 2 #7</ref>

During the "[[Trinity War]]" storyline, A.R.G.U.S. later directly establishes the counterpart group to the Justice League in the form of the Justice League of America, of which Trevor is himself a member.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Geoff Johns|Johns, Geoff]]|artist=[[David Finch (comics)|Finch, David]]|colorist=Oback, Sonia, Jeromy Cox|letterer=Leign, Rob|story=World's Most Dangerous Chapter One|title=[[Justice League#Justice League of America vol. 3|Justice League of America]]|volume=3|issue=#1|date=April 2013|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref> Dr. Arthur Light is called in by A.R.G.U.S. to examine the Secret Society's communication coin. While doing so, it is manipulated from the other side causing Light to be enveloped in a white light, giving him powers.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Geoff Johns|Johns, Geoff]]|penciller=[[Brett Booth|Booth Brett]]|inker=[[Norm Rapmund|Rapmund, Norm]]|colorist=Dalhouse, Andrew|letterer=Leigh, Rob|story=World's Most Dangerous Chapter Four: The Good, The Bad, and The Shaggy|title=[[Justice League#Justice League of America vol. 3|Justice League of America]]|volume=3|issue=#4|date=July 2013|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref> After seemingly losing control of his powers, [[Superman]] surrenders himself to A.R.G.U.S. at A.R.G.U.S. headquarters, the [[Question (character)|Question]] enters Superman's cell and releases him.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Geoff Johns|Johns, Geoff]], [[Jeff Lemire]]|penciller=[[Doug Mahnke|Mahnke, Doug]]|inker=Almay, Christian, Keith Champagne, [[Doug Mahnke]], Tom Nguyen|colorist=Eltaeb, Gabe, Nathan Eyring|letterer=Leigh, Rob|story=Trinity War Chapter Two|title=[[Justice League#Justice League of America vol. 3|Justice League of America]]|volume=3|issue=#6|date=September 2013|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref>

During the "[[Forever Evil]]" storyline, Steve Trevor awakes at the remains of the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters in Washington, D.C., and learns from [[Etta Candy]] that the headquarters' destruction was caused by a massive spike in energy around Doctor Light's body and that A.R.G.U.S. and its agents have been completely exposed. After seeing the [[Crime Syndicate of America]]'s broadcast, Trevor learns that the [[President of the United States]] is in danger as the President has a backup key that would assist in A.R.G.U.S. gaining their assets back.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Sterling Gates|Gates, Sterling]]|penciller=[[Philip Tan|Tan, Philip]], Neil Edwards, Javier Pena|inker=Paz, Jason, Jay Leisten, Javier Pena|colorist=Eyring, Nathan, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Hi-FI|letterer=Sienty, Dezi|story=Part One: Issues of Trust|title=Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.|volume=|issue=#1|date=December 2013|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref> After rescuing the President from [[Deathstroke]], [[Copperhead (DC Comics)|Copperhead]], and [[Shadow Thief]], Trevor uses the President's key to open A.R.G.U.S.' Green Room to keep the President and Candy safe. Then he heads to the Wonder Room which he has filled with mementos of his past relationship with Wonder Woman to use the Delphi Mirror to strike a deal with the [[Moirai]].<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Sterling Gates|Gates, Sterling]]|penciller=Edwards, Neil|inker=Paz, Jason, Jay Leisten|colorist=Eyring, Nathan|letterer=Esposito, Taylor|story=Part Two: Know Thyself|title=Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.|volume=|issue=#2|date=January 2014|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref> While in the Green Room, Candy begins investigating about the founding of A.R.G.U.S.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Sterling Gates|Gates, Sterling]]|penciller=Edwards, Neil|inker=Paz, Jason, Jay Leisten|colorist=Eyring, Nathan|letterer=Esposito, Taylor|story=Part Three: Deals with Devils|title=Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.|volume=|issue=#3|date=February 2014|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref> [[Martin Stein]] takes Trevor and [[Killer Frost]] to his secret off the grid basement where he uses his teleportation devices to transport them to A.R.G.U.S.' Detroit station known as "The Circus". Inside, they encounter fellow A.R.G.U.S. agents, who allow Trevor to talk to one of their prisoners named [[Psi (comics)|Psi]] in hopes of seeing if she could psychologically disrupt the Firestorm matrix to free the Justice League. In the Green Room, the President and "Mr. Green" discuss a promotion with Candy.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=[[Sterling Gates|Gates, Sterling]]|penciller=Edwards, Neil|inker=Paz, Jason, Jay Leisten|colorist=Eyring, Nathan|letterer=Sienty, Dezi, Taylor Esposito|story=Part Four: Tipping Point|title=Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.|volume=|issue=#4|date=March 2014|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref>

"Mr. Green" reveals the history of A.R.G.U.S. to candy. He claims that the group was created by the [[Founding Fathers of the United States]] to safeguard American interests and shifted its focus multiple times throughout its history. In the 18th century, A.R.G.U.S. was the '''Armed Revolutionaries Governing Under Secrecy''', which spied on the British to prepare for the [[American Revolution]]. In the 19th century, they became the '''Anonymous Ranger Group of the United States''', helping the United States win every major battle in the [[American Civil War]] and pursuing dangerous criminals in the American frontier. In the late 19th century, A.R.G.U.S. engaged in a secret war with the Crimson, an apocalyptic cult that ensnared powerful politicians and businessmen with promises of heaven. The war with the Crimson Men, the Crimson's forces, ended with them being routed in the dawn of the 21st century, after which A.R.G.U.S. shifted its focus to superhumans, which Green claimed was an existential threat to humanity. However, Green later reveals himself to be a member of the Crimson Men who are looking to reshape A.R.G.U.S. through Trevor and Candy.<ref name="ARGUS 6">{{cite comic|writer=[[Sterling Gates|Gates, Sterling]]|penciller=Edwards, Neil|inker=Leisten, Jay, Jason Paz|colorist=Eyring, Nathan|letterer=Esposito, Taylor|story=Part Six: Trustfall|title=Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.|volume=|issue=#6|date=May 2014|publisher=[[DC Comics]]}}</ref>

==Members==
* [[Sasha Bordeaux]] – Director
* [[Amanda Waller]] – Former director, head of the Suicide Squad
* [[Steve Trevor]] – Original founder, head of the Oddfellows
* [[Black Orchid (character)|Black Orchid]]
* [[Booster Gold]]
* Casey Klebba – Agent and husband of Dale Gunn.
* [[Chronos (character)|Chronos]]
* Dale Gunn – Agent and Director of Circus of A.R.G.U.S.
* Darwin – The assistant to Dr. John Peril.
* Dr. John Peril – Top scientist.
* [[Etta Candy]] – Steve Trevor's secretary.
* Major Nicholson – She runs an A.R.G.U.S. base in Wisconsin called the Clinic.<ref>''Legion Lost'' vol. 2 #6</ref>
* Meadows Mahalo – Special agent.<ref name="Bizarro #1">''Bizarro'' #1</ref>
* John Economos – Warden of [[Belle Reve (DC Comics)|Belle Reve]] and ally of The Suicide Squad.<ref>The Suicide Squad (vol. 1)</ref>
* Suicide Squad
** [[Suicide Squad|Task Force X]]
*** [[Katana (DC Comics)|Katana]] – Field Leader; former Second-in-command
*** [[Deadshot]]
*** [[Captain Boomerang|Captain Boomerang / George "Digger" Harkness]]
*** [[Harley Quinn]]
*** [[Killer Croc]]
** Task Force XL
*** [[Deadshot]] – Field Leader
*** Akando
*** [[Captain Boomerang|Captain Boomerang/Digger Harkness]]
*** [[Giganta]]
*** [[Harley Quinn]]
*** Katana
*** [[Parasite (comics)#The New 52|Parasite / Joshua Michael Allen]]
*** [[Solomon Grundy (character)|Solomon Grundy]]
** Suicide Squad Black
*** [[El Diablo (character)#Chato Santana|El Diablo/Chato Santana]] – Field Leader
*** Azucar / Veronica Lopez
*** [[Enchantress (DC Comics)|Enchantress / June Moone]]
*** [[Gentleman Ghost|Gentlemen Ghost]]
*** Juniper / Zahra Abed
*** [[Klarion the Witch Boy]]
*** Tiamat / Katie Randles
*** Wither / Jade Tice
* Oddfellows – A clandestine A.R.G.U.S. unit that investigates superhuman and supernatural occurrences.<ref>''Wonder Woman: Steve Trevor Special'' #1</ref>
** Charlie
** Chief
** Sameer
* Paul Chang
* Puzzler
* Stuart Paillard – Special agent.<ref name="Bizarro #1"/>
* [[Victoria October]] – Doctor and post-human bio-weapons expert.<ref>''DC Comics Bombshells'' #83</ref>

===Former members===
* [[Atom (character)#Rhoda Pineda|Atom / Rhoda Pineda]] – She was revealed to be a mole for the Crime Syndicate of America.
* [[Doctor Light (Arthur Light)|Doctor Light / Arthur Light]] – Scientist.
* Doctor Mist – Residential sorcerer for A.R.G.U.S.' magic division.
* [[Doctor Polaris]]
* Fastrack 
* [[Angel and the Ape|Primeape]] – Sam Simeon was a scientist and colleague of Dr. O'Day who was turned into a humanoid [[gorilla]] following an accident during his experiments with gorilla DNA from [[Gorilla City]]. Cheetah once controlled him where he operated as Priemape of the Menagerie.<ref>''Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S.'' #5</ref>
* [[Sebastian Faust]] – Director of A.R.G.U.S's magic division.
* Spore - Scientist.

==In other media==
===Television===
* A.R.G.U.S. was mentioned in the ''[[Beware the Batman]]'' episode "Hunted".
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in series taking place in the [[Arrowverse]] franchise. In this continuity, A.R.G.U.S. stands for '''Advanced Research Group United Support''', and its core members are [[Amanda Waller (Arrowverse)|Amanda Waller]] and [[Lyla Michaels (Arrowverse)|Lyla Michaels]]:
** A.R.G.U.S. is first seen in ''[[Arrow (TV series)|Arrow]]'', where the agency has a major presence in every season. In [[Arrow season 7|season seven]], [[John Diggle (Arrowverse)|John Diggle]] has joined up with A.R.G.U.S. at the time when [[Oliver Queen (Arrowverse)|Oliver Queen]] was incarcerated in Slabside Maximum Security Prison.
** A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[The Flash (2014 TV series)|The Flash]]''.
** A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[Legends of Tomorrow]]''. The episode "Zari" features an A.R.G.U.S.-[[Police state|controlled]] dystopian future where religion and metahuman activity are banned. [[Zari Tomaz]], a Muslim woman in possession of a totem that gives her air-based powers, is pursued by the futuristic A.R.G.U.S. before joining the Legends. This future is averted when [[Neron (DC Comics)|Neron]] is defeated.
** A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[Superman & Lois]]''. On this show's Earth, A.R.G.U.S. collaborated with Sam Lane when it comes to dealing with Tal-Rho. It is also shown that there is a version of John Diggle on this Earth while Lyla was mentioned to exist here.
* In the ''[[Doom Patrol (TV series)|Doom Patrol]]'' episode "Donkey Patrol", [[Cyborg (DC Comics)|Cyborg]] hacks into A.R.G.U.S. to learn more about the incident in Cloverton, Ohio where it was swallowed into the White Space.
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in the ''[[Titans (2018 TV series)|Titans]]'' episode "Purple Rain". It is revealed A.R.G.U.S. has been in Gotham since the reappearance of Ra's al Ghul. A.R.G.U.S. also is being run by [[Roy Harper (character)|Roy Harper]] and an agent using the name of "Margarita Vee" (portrayed by [[Karen Robinson]]) has been undercover at GCPD working with Barbara Gordon for some time. A.R.G.U.S. assists the Titans in their final fight against [[Scarecrow (DC Comics)|Jonathan Crane]] and the GCPD officers that are on his side.
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in the [[HBO Max]] series ''[[Peacemaker (TV series)|Peacemaker]]'', set in the [[DC Extended Universe]]. Though Amanda Waller is mentioned several times and appears briefly in two episodes, the primary focus is on the team of agents John Economos, Emilia Harcourt, Waller's recently recruited daughter Leota Adebayo, [[Peacemaker (DC Extended Universe)|Peacemaker]] and [[Adrian Chase|Vigilante]] as they track down alien "butterflies" on the orders of Clemson Murn, an intermediary agent for Waller. "Clemson Murn" is later revealed to be the identity of the man inhabited by the rogue butterfly Ik Nobe Lok, allied with humans to exterminate the rest of his hostile species. After the butterflies are defeated, Leota exposes Project Butterfly much to the dismay of Waller.
* A.R.G.U.S. is featured in ''[[Suicide Squad Isekai]]''.

===Film===
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[Batman: Assault on Arkham]]''. They attempted to apprehend [[Riddler]] after the latter stole vital information relating to the Suicide Squad from Amanda Waller, as well as entering a confrontation with [[Batman]], who intended to interrogate the Riddler himself relating to a dirty bomb that Joker stole and placed somewhere in Gotham.
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in the [[DC Extended Universe]]. This version is a covert sub-branch of the US military that becomes the supervisor of the [[Suicide Squad]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Freeman|first=Molly|date=June 24, 2016|title=Suicide Squad Wraps Post-Production; New Joker & ARGUS Images|url=http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-production-joker-argus-images/|publisher=Screen Rant}}</ref> The motto for the organization is "Noster quaerere incipere", Latin for "Our search begins". Its headquartered in the John F. Ostrander Federal Building (a reference to comics writer [[John Ostrander]], who instigated the modern incarnation of the Suicide Squad) in Midway City. Just like the comics, Amanda Waller (portrayed by [[Viola Davis]]) is the director of A.R.G.U.S. and plays a central role in forming its associated teams of supervillains. 
** A.R.G.U.S. was first mentioned by [[Lex Luthor]] in 2016's ''[[Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice]]''.
** A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller are central to the formation of [[List of government agencies in DC Comics|Task Force X]] in the 2016 film ''[[Suicide Squad (2016 film)|Suicide Squad]].'' During their mission to stop [[Enchantress (DC Comics)|Enchantress]], [[Joker (character)|Joker]], his enforcer Jonny Frost, and his minions attack the Van Criss Laboratories branch of [[Wayne Enterprises]] to get A.R.G.U.S. ally Van Criss to help him free Harley Quinn from the A.R.G.U.S. nano-bombs in her head. Bruce Wayne receives A.R.G.U.S. intelligence from Waller at the end of the film and threatens that the [[Justice League]] will get involved if she doesn't shut down her team. 
** A.R.G.U.S. appears again as the central organization in ''[[The Suicide Squad (film)|The Suicide Squad]]''. Waller commands desk agents Flo Crawley, John Economos, and Emilia Harcourt in directing the ground teams in [[List of DC Universe locations|Corto Maltese]]. Crawley knocks out Waller before she can kill the Suicide Squad for disobeying her orders to leave [[Starro]] unabated, allowing everyone to help save Corto Maltese. A furious Waller wakes up and has Crawley publicly arrested before sending Economos and Harcourt to monitor Peacemaker's recovery teasing the events of ''Peacemaker.'' 
* A.R.G.U.S. is featured in ''[[Batman and Harley Quinn]]''. [[Sarge Steel]] is shown to be an A.R.G.U.S. agent working with Batman to stop [[Poison Ivy (character)|Poison Ivy]] and [[Floronic Man]].
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay]]''.

===Video games===
* A.R.G.U.S. appears in ''[[DC Universe Online]]''.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/A.R.G.U.S._(Prime_Earth) A.R.G.U.S.] at DC Comics Wiki
* [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/argus/4060-59012/ A.R.G.U.S.] at Comic Vine
* [https://comicbookrealm.com/report/character/16631/argus-group A.R.G.U.S.] at Comic Book Realm

{{Justice League}}
{{Justice League characters}}

[[Category:Characters created by Geoff Johns]]
[[Category:DC Comics organizations]]
[[Category:Fictional intelligence agencies]]
[[Category:Suicide Squad members| ]]