Bureau of Normalcy

"*It's a top secret government agency, run by a bunch of demented zealots. They stomp out anything they deem to be aberrations.*"
—Larry Trainor[src]
The **Bureau of Normalcy**, formerly the **Bureau of Oddities**, is an organization dedicated to the weaponization or eradication of entities they deem to be odd.

## History

### Origins

Originally conceived by Niles Caulder as the Bureau of Oddities around the dawn of the 20th century, the organization was a research group created for the intent of discovering and investigating the supernatural, be it magic or science. However, around 1915, with the world in the thick of World War I, the decision was made to shift the focus of the group to weaponizing or eradicating these oddities.

### Experimenting on Larry Trainor

After Captain Larry Trainor's plane came in contact with an unknown type of radiation during a test flight, the Bureau took in the heavily burned and irradiated Trainor to perform tests on. They found that he was immune to extreme temperatures, and attempted to set him to work as a soldier, though the Negative Spirit didn't like this, and killed many of the Bureau's agents as a response.

### Experimenting on Mister 104

Shortly after, the Bureau captured Rama, a metahuman with the ability to control elements, who was experimented on by Charles Forsythe, thinking of using his powers to fight wars, torturing him to kill agents and prove its power, traumatizing Rama for all his suffering.

### Experimenting on Flex Mentallo

In 1964, the Bureau captured the superhero Flex Mentallo to make him their prisoner, torturing him to join like them under the name "722", however, Flex refused to fall to Forsythe's torture, devising a plan with the Negative Spirit to escape, but when he saw that his wife Dolores was going to be murdered, Flex agreed to let himself be manipulated by the Bureau.

### Experimenting on the Were-Butts

The Bureau held dangerous creatures known as Were-Butts captive, so they hired Dr. Margaret Yu to use her linguistic skills to communicate with the creatures, but she ended up falling in love with the Butts, deciding to train them to impress General Wampus with a musical, but seeing how dangerous they were, he ordered them to be used as weapons, frustrating Yu.

### Pursuing Danny the Street

In 2009, a field team led by Jones attempted to perform a raid on Danny the Street. However, the team's recon agent, Morris Wilson, found themselves more comfortable on Danny the Street than they had ever felt in The Bureau of Normalcy. Wilson switched sides and alerted Danny to the presence of The Bureau giving Danny time to teleport and escape.

Believing his friend Morris to be captured, Darren Jones became obsessed with Danny, tracking and attempting to destroy them over the next 10 years. In 2019, Darren managed to find Danny again, however, he was met with Maura Lee Karupt (the new identity of Morris Wilson), Vic Stone, Larry Trainor, and the rest of the Dannyzens. Teleporting and separating Darren from his team, Maura was able to beat up Darren and warn him away from pursuing Danny any more.

### Hunting Niles Caulder

After failing to catch Danny and Darren's failure, the Bureau took strict measures and recruited Ernest Franklin aka the Beard Hunter to track down Niles Caulder and exact revenge on him.

### Cyborg Capture

The Bureau began experimenting with Cyborg, who had been captured by Darren. Later they received from Silas Stone new prisoners which were Larry Trainor, Cliff Steele and Jane. When the prisoners were released, the officers tried to fight them, but most were killed by the Butts. Darren and the agents tried to catch the recent prisoners, but they managed to escape leaving the Bureau frustrated.

### Pursuing Larry Trainor

After Paul Trainor noticed that Larry was in his house, a group of agents went there to try to capture Larry, but Larry and Rita Farr managed to escape with the help of the Negative Spirit. A short time later, Larry appeared at the Bureau and the agents tried to capture him again, but he escaped again with Flit.

## Members

### Current members

* GS-9 Patterson (overseer)
* Major Arbuckle (overseer)
* Agent Charles Forsythe
* Agent Dirk Ellis
* Paul Trainor
* Butt Hunter
* Colonel Samsonite

### Former members

* Doctor Niles Caulder (founder and lead researcher; left the Bureau; deceased)
* Agent Alistair (deceased)
* Agent Laura De Mille (recruiter; fired)
* Lloyd Jefferson/Frenzy
* Shelley Byron/The Fog
* Holly McKenzie/Sleepwalk
* Sachiko/The Quiz
* Malcolm DuPont (deceased)
* Bendy
* Larry Trainor
	+ Negative Spirit
* Rama/Mister 104
* Flex Mentallo
* Shelby Dockery
* Rhiannon Cox
* Wally Sage
* Agent Morris Wilson
* Ernest Franklin/Beard Hunter
* Margaret Yu
* General Wampus (overseer, deceased)
* Lab Tech Lee (deceased)
* Dolores (forced; deceased)
* Agent Darren Jones (fired; deceased)

## Appearances

### Season 1

* "Doom Patrol Patrol" (symbol)
* "Danny Patrol"
* "Hair Patrol"
* "Frances Patrol"
* "Cyborg Patrol"
* "Flex Patrol"
* "Penultimate Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Ezekiel Patrol" (flashbacks)

### Season 2

* "Tyme Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Finger Patrol"
* "Space Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Dumb Patrol"

### Season 3

* "Undead Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Dada Patrol" (mentioned)
* "1917 Patrol"
* "Bird Patrol"
* "Subconscious Patrol"

### Season 4

* "Doom Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Butt Patrol"
* "Nostalgia Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Youth Patrol"
* "Hope Patrol"
* "Orqwith Patrol"
* "Tomb Patrol" (mentioned)
* "Portal Patrol"
* "Done Patrol"

## Trivia

* If they think they can it away with it, they'll even go after public heroes. Like Flex Mentallo and Cyborg.
* The Bureau of Normalcy seems to have been ahead of its time when it comes to racial equality, since both black and white employees could eat and drink together in 1917. This is shown in "1917 Patrol".

## Behind the scenes

* The Bureau of Normalcy is based on the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. from Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run, who first appeared in Doom Patrol (Volume 2) #35.
* In "Frances Patrol", the agents of the Bureau use a type of stunning weapon on their elbow, a reference to an ability that the Men from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. have in the comics called the Tearoom of Despair, a mental prison that entraps the victim when they look at a tear in their sleeve.
* The Bureau also resembles the SCP-Foundation, with it's goal to contain odd phenomena. For example the "sarcastic toaster" mentioned by Lab Tech Lee sounds similar to SCP-426.