Christian Ward

Christian Ward was a Republican United States Senator from Massachusetts. Ward had a difficult childhood and was abused by his parents, and in return abused his younger brothers, Thomas and Grant. Becoming a Senator, Ward backed Glenn Talbot's efforts to hunt down remaining S.H.I.E.L.D. agents after the HYDRA Uprising and publicly denounced them in light of the attack on the United Nations. Ward was eventually approached by Phil Coulson who offered him Grant's custody in exchanging for publicly supporting S.H.I.E.L.D. against HYDRA. Ward accepted; however, Grant managed to escape and eventually kidnapped his brother, forcing him to make amends for throwing Thomas in the well, before killing Ward and their parents.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
====Tormenting Brothers====
Christian Ward grew up in Massachusetts along with two younger brothers and a sister, one of them being Grant Ward. Christian and Grant's parents abused the two but since their mother adored their youngest son, Thomas was spared of this. Christian was very abusive to his brothers, frequently beating both of them. In particular, Christian showed resentment to Thomas by making Grant beat him up frequently for him.
Christian, wanting to hurt his mother with the loss of her favorite son, threw Thomas into a well to drown and sought to prevent Grant from rescuing him. Grant, however, eventually managed to do it without Christian knowing. This incident caused Grant to feel real hate for the first time. In 1999, Grant was imprisoned because he set fire to his parents' home. When John Garrett asked him about the situation, Grant denied knowledge that Christian was in the house at the time. Garrett told him that Christian wanted Grant charged as an adult for attempted murder. Over the years, Christian did not maintain contact with Grant.
====Senate Career====
Christian Ward ran a campaign to become a member of the United States Senate, as a Republican Senator from his native state, Massachusetts. Ward backed Glenn Talbot in his campaign against S.H.I.E.L.D. because Ward wanted Phil Coulson arrested.
===Family Secrets===
====Meeting Phil Coulson====
Glenn Talbot had a meeting with Ward after Marcus Scarlotti, claiming to be with S.H.I.E.L.D., tried to kill him with a Splinter Bomb during Talbot's speech in the United Nations. Ward berated the General for allowing S.H.I.E.L.D. to attack him as he bragged about taking down the organization. Talbot told him that he did not believe he was attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. and that he had not revealed the senator's connection to Grant Ward.
Later, in a television interview, Ward called S.H.I.E.L.D. a terrorist organization and called for a multi-national police force to target and prosecute those organizations with ties connected to S.H.I.E.L.D. Ward debated with the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Belgium, Julien Beckers, about who decides who is connected to S.H.I.E.L.D. and whether or not this proposal betrayed the very ideal of citizens' rights, but Ward stood his ground on the issue and told him that while Beckers was welcome to invite S.H.I.E.L.D. into his country, he believed that the organization needed to be destroyed.
Phil Coulson appeared in Ward's office uninvited after the interview; although Ward attempted to call security, Coulson revealed that he had cut the phone lines before stating that HYDRA, led by Daniel Whitehall, was responsible for the U.N. attack. Ward cunningly deduced that the Director didn't come to "clear the air", but to ask him to go on record defending S.H.I.E.L.D. and condemning HYDRA, and assumed that Coulson had nothing to offer him in return. He insisted that the American people wanted a simple enemy to make themselves feel safe.
However, Coulson surprised him by mentioning that his brother Grant Ward was in his basement. The two discussed the Ward family's past and Coulson told him that Grant had claimed that Christian had tortured their youngest brother Thomas Ward. Christian instead told Coulson of the strained relationship between Christian and Grant, including when he caught Grant standing over Thomas with a screwdriver. For a recant of Christian's position on S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson agreed to have Grant put in federal custody.
With Grant Ward being moved from the S.H.I.E.L.D. base into federal custody, Senator Christian Ward called for a press conference. Ward gave a speech about the truth, stating that he had learned that there was a difference between S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA. Ward went on to reveal that his brother was a traitor to his friends, his family and his nation, and was an agent of HYDRA. Ward made a vow to the press that he would personally ensure that his brother was punished for his crimes.
====The Hunt for Grant====
Grant Ward escaped federal custody and, to allow S.H.I.E.L.D. to search for him without interference, Christian covered up his escape to the press, allowing them to believe that Grant was now in prison and awaiting his trial and sentencing. Although he did allow S.H.I.E.L.D. teams to go across the country searching for his brother, ultimately, Christian decided to put his own men on finding Grant as well because he felt that working with S.H.I.E.L.D. was "political suicide" to do the organization's strong connection to the HYDRA Uprising and its collapse as a result.
====Tortured by Grant====
Christian developed an affair with a woman and visited his family's summer house to meet with her, after lying to his wife Anna by saying that he had to go to strategy meetings. Outside the house, Christian was attacked by Grant who had tracked him down and killed his security detail. Grant threw Ward out of the car before smugly greeting him.
Grant handcuffed Christian and forced him to walk through the woods. As the brothers walked, Christian tried to learn what interest HYDRA had in him but Grant informed him that HYDRA had no interest in him and this was personal. Christian tried to convince Grant that he had gotten him out of S.H.I.E.L.D. as he knew Grant would be able to escape from the guards Christian had put on him. Grant claimed not to be able to fall for his brother's emotional tricks any more, despite Christian reminding Grant of the crimes he had committed. Before long, Christian realized that Grant was taking him to the well where Thomas had nearly drowned years before.
Grant forced Christian to dig up the well; when he asked what this entire event was about, Grant told him that he simply wanted Ward to admit that he forced Grant to push Thomas down the well all those years ago. Christian refused and claimed it was all Grant's sadistic idea. When Christian eventually dug his way to the well, he attempted to escape by hitting Grant with the shovel and running; Grant quickly caught him and hit his face against a tree. As Christian bled from a deep cut on his forehead, Grant carried him to the well and attempted to drop him inside.
In tears and fearing for his life, Christian finally admitted that the accusations were true. Once Grant pulled him away from the well and threw him in the dirt, Christian told him how he had tried to drown Thomas and did it because their mother favored Thomas, and he wanted to show her their pain once Thomas was dead. Grant relented and told Christian that all he wanted was the truth; the pair hugged and Grant seemingly forgave his brother as he led him out of the woods back towards civilization.
====Family Massacre====
Having finally gotten the closure he needed, Grant took his brother to their family home where he murdered Christian with their mother and father and burnt the house down, making it look like a murder-suicide. This allowed Grant to be accepted by Daniel Whitehall, who showed Grant news footage of the incident at their meeting. The next day, Skye and Melinda May watched the news, informing them of Christian's death. Skye wished that they could have helped the senator; May assured her that S.H.I.E.L.D. did all it could.
==Personality==
While growing up as a kid, Christian Ward and Grant were abused by their parents, while their youngest brother Thomas was spared due to him being adored by their mother, but this caused Christian to abuse both of his brothers and develop a deep-seated resentment toward Thomas. However, he was enough of a mastermind not to personally do notorious things when he was able to have Grant bully Thomas in his place. His hatred towards Thomas eventually got to the point that he wanted him dead so that their mom could feel his and Grant's pain, but decided to make Grant commit the act as he couldn't do it himself. He attempted to take revenge by throwing Thomas into a well and forcing Grant to let him drown, though Grant did save him. However, many years later, an adult Christian denied his actions with the well incident and blamed it on Grant.
When Christian became a United States Senator, he used his manipulative skills to remain unconnected to the traitorous actions of his brother. Furthermore, Christian knew how to make himself appear in control of any situation through quick psychology assessments. For example, when Phil Coulson came to his office, Christian knew that the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director wanted to bargain. Also, during his confrontation with Grant, Christian knew how many guards were on Grant's detail from whom he escaped, as if they were chosen by him.
Christian also planned events in advance to keep himself clean in the public's eye. He called his wife and told her of meetings, while with the next phone call, he discussed the see-thru nightgown he had delivered to his mistress. He knew that Grant respected Anna, so he invoked her name to slow Grant's accusations.
Grant Ward feared Christian, even into adulthood. He said that his brother knew how to place thoughts into his head and knew what to say to manipulate his feelings and actions.
When Grant initially attempted to force Christian to admit that he forced him to drown Thomas in the well, Christian denied his actions and turned this around on Grant. However, just as Grant was about to throw him in the well, a fearful and tearful Christian finally admitted he was responsible and he did it to get back at their mother for adoring Thomas, and then sincerely apologized to Grant. Despite seemingly being forgiven by Grant, this was all part of Grant's act so he could murder him and their parents, ultimately leading to the deaths of Christian and his parents.
==Abilities==
*Tactician: In order to spark interest in his reelection campaign, Christian made a deal with Phil Coulson to have his brother handed over to the government to show the people that he is punishing his brother. When he was younger, he hated his other brother, Thomas. He threw Thomas down a well out of revenge and planned to keep him there, threatening Grant, who tried to help Thomas.
==Facilities==
*United Nations Headquarters: Ward had a meeting at the United Nations' headquarters, where he talked about a recent attack on him.
==Relationships==
===Family===
*Grandmother
*Father †
*Mother †
*Grant Ward † - Brother and Killer
*Thomas Ward - Brother and Abuse Victim
*Sister
*Anna Ward - Wife
===Allies===
*Glenn Talbot †
*S.H.I.E.L.D. - Former Enemies and Situational Allies
**Phil Coulson †
===Enemies===
*HYDRA
**Julien Beckers
==Appearances==
Appearances for Christian Ward
==Behind the Scenes==
*In the end credits of The Well, Christian's first name was listed as Maynard.
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Characters
Category:Humans
Category:Males
Category:Brown Hair
Category:Brown Eyes
Category:Politicians
Category:Villains
Category:United States Congress Members
Category:United States Government Officials
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Characters Killed by Grant Ward
ru:Кристиан Уорд