Arnim Zola (Earth-199999)

Dr. Arnim Zola was a Swiss-born scientist known for his unwavering allegiance to Hydra. After Hydra was seemingly dismantled in World War II, Zola joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and promoted Hydra idealogy from within, causing large quantities of S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to become sympathetic to Hydra's cause, a conspiracy that would fester for decades to come. Zola died of illness in 1972, but he had his mind transferred into an artificial intelligence housed in a vast computer database deep within a Camp Lehigh bunker, where he helped coordinate Hydra efforts from afar. Zola developed the algorithm that provided the groundwork for Project Insight, the Hydra plot to kill off their existing and future enemies in one fell swoop. Zola's A.I. was destroyed in 2014, removing all trace of him from the Earth after over a century of existence.

Biography

The rise and fall of Red Skull

During World War II, Zola was recruited by the Nazis and later specifically Johann Schmidt of the Nazi scientific arm, Hydra. Schmidt's ambitions lay beyond the Nazi empire: he harbored an obsession with mythological power and heroism, particularly in making himself an übermensch of sorts. To that end, Hydra abducted scientist Abraham Erskine to use his super-soldier serum on Schmidt and make him a superhuman. Erskine warned that the serum was untested, but Schmidt was impatient. He underwent the operation, and his face was horribly scarred as a result, earning him the nickname of Red Skull. Schmidt's quest for power led him to acquiring the Tesseract, and set Zola to deciphering its potential. Zola used the Tesseract to fuel powerful weaponry for Hydra's forces. Hydra captured a number of Allied soldiers to manufacture this weaponry, including Bucky Barnes, on whom Zola did extensive, unspecified experimentation. In November 1943, the hero Captain America—powered by Erskine's perfected super-soldier serum—attacked Hydra's weapons facility, and Zola and Red Skull were forced to retreat as Cap rescued the captives there, including Barnes, and the base exploded. Over the next several years, Captain America and the Howling Commandos gained the upper hand over Hydra. Zola was kept in a mobile Hydra train for safekeeping, but even here he was set upon by the Commandos and captured. He was interrogated by Chester Phillips, and was cooperative in offering information about Hydra and Red Skull. Zola was held in custody as the war raged on: in the end, Captain America defeated Red Skull, using the Tesseract to suck him into space.

S.H.I.E.L.D.'s parasite

Zola was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., the peacekeeping organization borne out of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, where he immediately began secretly planting the seeds for Hydra's resurgence. He quietly spread Hydra propaganda among sympathetic parties within S.H.I.E.L.D., spreading an ideological infection that would secretly torment S.H.I.E.L.D. and world affairs for decades to come. Hydra's ultimate goal was to relieve humanity of its freedom, and sought to do so by causing ample chaos and destruction in the world to make them give it more readily. Zola was also heavily involved in the transformation of Bucky Barnes: Barnes had been captured by Hydra forces during the train mission, and was imprisoned until after the war, believed by his allies to be dead. Zola and other Hydra-sympathetic scientists brainwashed Barnes and replaced his missing right arm with a powerful metal one. They dubbed him the Winter Soldier and used him as an elite Hydra agent and assassin. In 1972, Zola was diagnosed with a terminal illness and had his mind "backed up" in a large computer database deep beneath Camp Lehigh. Zola died shortly afterward, but his artificial intelligence continued to support secret Hydra forces from within for decades. Zola developed the algorithm that provided the groundwork for Project Insight, the Hydra plot to kill off their existing and future enemies in one fell swoop. In 2014, amid high-ranking Hydra agent Alexander Pierce's attempt to initiate Project Insight, Captain America and Black Widow discovered Zola's A.I. Zola kept them busy while Pierce ordered an airstrike on the bunker, destroying it from the outside. While the heroes were able to take refuge in a vent under the floor, the rest of the base was obliterated, and any trace of Zola's mind with it.