WHAT would make these Avengers into villains?

[Jerry W. Loper]

From time to time I see threads that ask which Avengers would make good villains; this question is a twist on that. Imagine you're a writer for Marvel and get an assignment to write stories in which the following Avengers become villains. What reason would you write for them turning bad?

Captain America
Wasp
Tigra
Beast
She-Hulk
Thor

Or pick your own character(s)

[Gaz]

Cap? Honestly, I can't think of anything beyond mind-control.
The ladies? Nothing I can think of could be posted without me being banned, so... ;)

[Huzzah!]

A writer?


A crossover?


a touch of the crazy?

[Alan2099]

Thor could be a villian he he started letting his godhood go to his head and beliveing that he knew what was best for everybody.

Tigra could undergo some sort of mutantion or something to mkake her more feral.

Beast, well, we already have Dark Beast. Isn't he enough?

She-Hulk...Savage She-Hulk anyone?

Cap? No way. No how. Not hapening.

[tricksterpup]

From time to time I see threads that ask which Avengers would make good villains; this question is a twist on that. Imagine you're a writer for Marvel and get an assignment to write stories in which the following Avengers become villains. What reason would you write for them turning bad?

Captain America
Wasp
Tigra
Beast
She-Hulk
Thor

Or pick your own character(s)

Captain America
Easy, our country society changing being similar that of a dictatorship and the country loosing its way. Almost becoming like a Nazi state. If everyone is following those dreams, they would clash with Capt's views and would in our eyes make him a villain.

She-Hulk
Again an easy one, letting her inner beast take control when she is green. So finally she is like Bruce.

Thor
This has already been done in an excellent way via Dan Jurgen's final story arc in Thor. Where Thor took over the world.

Wasp
I would have her go insane via the transformations of shrinking and growing large, now that she has that ability. Basically stating that the mind can not handle such transformations repeatedly with out some damage. I would also attribute Henry's break down due to the same thing, the Pym particle.

Tigra and Beast

I would say allowing their beastial sides finally take over their bodies and hooking up and having kittens.

[1HELLBOY]

Captain America- He could see that fighting the good fight was getting him nowhere and that things would be a lot easier if people just did what he wanted them to do

Wasp- I have no idea. :confused:

Tigra- Letting the animal out.

Beast- Dark Beast anyone? heh :D

She-Hulk- I'd say just letting those Hulk instincts of "SMASH EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!!" take over.

Thor- Maybe Loki could manipulate him into doing things his way.

[Mister Mets]

Captain America
The supersoldier serum starts making him crazy. To make him stick as a villain I'd let him kill off high profile heroes. (ie- Nick Fury, one of the Avengers, etc.)

Wasp
Kills Henry Pym.

Tigra
Two words. "Stockholm Syndrome"

Beast
Decides to join the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

She-Hulk
Falls for a violent client. Helps him escape.

Thor
Tries to take over the world after he gets pissed off with the way it's currently run.

[jackalope]

Captain America - This would require a LONG time to develop, because it has to be very subtle and gradual. No sudden shocking event would alter Cap's personality much, not after the things he's seen. So, this is how it goes down: Captain America saves the world again, this time in a particularly public way. The threat comes from within the US government, and this public revelation and defeat is a huge embarassment to the standing administration. Under Presidential pressure SHIELD is forced to cut it's ties with Steve Rogers, leaving him at odd ends. Having revealed his identity to the world at large, Steve Rogers becomes a celebrity. Unable to get a "regular joe" job because of his duties as a superhero and his celebrity, Steve agrees to work with an agent and do some public service announcements and other public appearances, charging small fees. He develops a relationship with this agent, a beautiful woman of course, and slowly agrees to be involved in more and more merchandising deals, an official biographer. Soon he has an entourage and is rolling in money. He starts dating actresses and models, spurning the agent who got him so far. But then something horrible happens. The public gets bored of him, sick of his self-promotion. They get sick of Steve Rogers. Sales of the Captain America comic book plummet, web fansites shut down, and the new common wisdom: Captain America is just another sellout. So Captain America never becomes eveil, but Steve Rogers - through self-indulgance and simple greed - does the one thing Zemo, Strucker and the Skull could never do: he kills Captain America.

Wasp - Janet stops by Hank's to let him flatter her before she blows him off again, but some piece of jailbait in Hank's shirt answers the door. Jan runs off. People begin making comments about the "appropriateness" of a woman "of her age" running around in spandex. A young woman interviewing her for a hip young women's magazine askes her how it feels to be a role model for a whole generation of younger female superheroes. A young studly guy holds open a door for her, smiling, and when she says "Thanks" he responds "You're welcome, ma'am." It's too much for Janet. She starts considering plastic surgery, but then imagines herself as Joan Rivers with bug wings, and realizes more drastic measures are called for. Against her better judgement, she contacts some villain with age and beauty enhancing abilities, though nobody too nasty. Enchantress or Diablo are likely suspects. The potion makes Jan subtly younger and more beautiful. Men start drooling over her again, Hank is suddenly interested again. But the potion's effects begin to fade, and Jan begins aging at an acelerated rate. She runs back to the villain again and again, only to discover the horrible truth. The potion is made from the "psychic essence" of young women, drained by a process that turns the women into quasi-mindless drones. The villain points out that Jan must have known that some evil was afoot, she might as well accept her complicity in the matter. The villain has even prepared a new costume (with matching duds for the drone girls) for her new villain identity...Queen Wasp!

Tigra, Beast, She-Hulk - All three of these characters could mutate into feral, savage forms. Kind of obvious though. Hank could, in theory, also give into depression and self-hatred, leading him to betray the X-Men or Avengers to Magneto.

Thor - Thor and the Asgardians ressurect in the form they took in the most ancient pre-dawn of history, millenia before they became the relatively cultured and sophistacted people of Odin. That's right, a race of super-powered Vikings descends on earth, ransacking and rampaging, carving it up into feifdoms, and generally acting like savage louts on a bender.

[Smarty Jones]

Characters such as Captain America, The Wasp, Iron Man, etc. are innately good people so without a plot device these characters cannot become villains. That's what happened The Scarlet Witch -- she needed some development to make an essentially good character become a villain.

In order to answer this question fairly, you need Avengers who have the necessary traits to become villains. So let's name these former Avengers:

NAMOR. Arguably the most known good/bad character in comic books. Namor has led revolutions against humanity, has sided with Doctor Doom and shown that he is distrusting of humans' motives.

QUICKSILVER. Like Namor, his allegiances seem to be more of convenience and has shown a distrust of humans. He doesn't share his father Magneto's need to take over the planet, but I feel that is because he sees that as a personality trait he associates with his father.

SANDMAN. Former member of The Frightful Four? Longtime villain of current Avenger Spider-Man? A logical choice.

MOONDRAGON. A manipulator of people, she also displays a rather amount of disdain for people that can be fanned into a villain.

[Red State Cap]

Easy, our country society changing being similar that of a dictatorship and the country loosing its way. Almost becoming like a Nazi state. If everyone is following those dreams, they would clash with Capt's views and would in our eyes make him a villain.

Of course if you arbitrarily change the societal norms and laws, then anyone can be criminalized, simply by defining their character as criminal wrt the "new norms."
Howver, that's not really the question here. The question is, what could make Capt. A a criminal, while holding societal norms constant. The answer to that question is that nothing could.

RSC

[Uncensored]

Wasp - Janet stops by Hank's to let him flatter her before she blows him off again, but some piece of jailbait in Hank's shirt answers the door. Jan runs off. People begin making comments about the "appropriateness" of a woman "of her age" running around in spandex. A young woman interviewing her for a hip young women's magazine askes her how it feels to be a role model for a whole generation of younger female superheroes. A young studly guy holds open a door for her, smiling, and when she says "Thanks" he responds "You're welcome, ma'am." It's too much for Janet. She starts considering plastic surgery, but then imagines herself as Joan Rivers with bug wings, and realizes more drastic measures are called for. Against her better judgement, she contacts some villain with age and beauty enhancing abilities, though nobody too nasty. Enchantress or Diablo are likely suspects. The potion makes Jan subtly younger and more beautiful. Men start drooling over her again, Hank is suddenly interested again. But the potion's effects begin to fade, and Jan begins aging at an acelerated rate. She runs back to the villain again and again, only to discover the horrible truth. The potion is made from the "psychic essence" of young women, drained by a process that turns the women into quasi-mindless drones. The villain points out that Jan must have known that some evil was afoot, she might as well accept her complicity in the matter. The villain has even prepared a new costume (with matching duds for the drone girls) for her new villain identity...Queen Wasp!

Hahaha brilliant man!

[Gaz]

Captain America - This would require a LONG time to develop, because it has to be very subtle and gradual. No sudden shocking event would alter Cap's personality much, not after the things he's seen. So, this is how it goes down: Captain America saves the world again, this time in a particularly public way. The threat comes from within the US government, and this public revelation and defeat is a huge embarassment to the standing administration. Under Presidential pressure SHIELD is forced to cut it's ties with Steve Rogers, leaving him at odd ends. Having revealed his identity to the world at large, Steve Rogers becomes a celebrity. Unable to get a "regular joe" job because of his duties as a superhero and his celebrity, Steve agrees to work with an agent and do some public service announcements and other public appearances, charging small fees. He develops a relationship with this agent, a beautiful woman of course, and slowly agrees to be involved in more and more merchandising deals, an official biographer. Soon he has an entourage and is rolling in money. He starts dating actresses and models, spurning the agent who got him so far. But then something horrible happens. The public gets bored of him, sick of his self-promotion. They get sick of Steve Rogers. Sales of the Captain America comic book plummet, web fansites shut down, and the new common wisdom: Captain America is just another sellout. So Captain America never becomes eveil, but Steve Rogers - through self-indulgance and simple greed - does the one thing Zemo, Strucker and the Skull could never do: he kills Captain America.

Wasp - Janet stops by Hank's to let him flatter her before she blows him off again, but some piece of jailbait in Hank's shirt answers the door. Jan runs off. People begin making comments about the "appropriateness" of a woman "of her age" running around in spandex. A young woman interviewing her for a hip young women's magazine askes her how it feels to be a role model for a whole generation of younger female superheroes. A young studly guy holds open a door for her, smiling, and when she says "Thanks" he responds "You're welcome, ma'am." It's too much for Janet. She starts considering plastic surgery, but then imagines herself as Joan Rivers with bug wings, and realizes more drastic measures are called for. Against her better judgement, she contacts some villain with age and beauty enhancing abilities, though nobody too nasty. Enchantress or Diablo are likely suspects. The potion makes Jan subtly younger and more beautiful. Men start drooling over her again, Hank is suddenly interested again. But the potion's effects begin to fade, and Jan begins aging at an acelerated rate. She runs back to the villain again and again, only to discover the horrible truth. The potion is made from the "psychic essence" of young women, drained by a process that turns the women into quasi-mindless drones. The villain points out that Jan must have known that some evil was afoot, she might as well accept her complicity in the matter. The villain has even prepared a new costume (with matching duds for the drone girls) for her new villain identity...Queen Wasp!

Tigra, Beast, She-Hulk - All three of these characters could mutate into feral, savage forms. Kind of obvious though. Hank could, in theory, also give into depression and self-hatred, leading him to betray the X-Men or Avengers to Magneto.

Thor - Thor and the Asgardians ressurect in the form they took in the most ancient pre-dawn of history, millenia before they became the relatively cultured and sophistacted people of Odin. That's right, a race of super-powered Vikings descends on earth, ransacking and rampaging, carving it up into feifdoms, and generally acting like savage louts on a bender.

Actually Jen could go bad by introducing the multiple aspect Hulk idea Bruce has, so she becomes a different kind of She-Hulk, like an amoral Jill Fixit,ifyou will.
And Tigra's family/friends could be repeatedly let down by the police and the heroes, she loses faith and decides the only way to keep the people she loves safe is to control the ones doing the hurting. Tigra, baddest b*tch in the underworld! :p
Love the Wasp idea, though. It might actually be worth a try if someone (like Kurt Busiek ;) ) cares to try.

[comic_lover]

Captain America -Take everything that has ever meant something to the man and destroy it and he would still stand up for what is right.Aside from taking over his mind,nothing could make Cap evil.He'd rather die than become what he detests the most.The only real way to destoy Captain America is to have Steve Rogers believe that his skills are fading,and Captain America is simply not needed any more.Shatter his ideals and maybe you have a chance,but I doubt it.
Wasp - Take away her credit cards.Ha ! Seriously,to make Janet evil she would have to have some sort of mental breakdown,and be led astray by a master manipulator like Zemo.Make sure you also have her think she killed Henry Pym.Her mind isn't that strong to begin with,and her materialism is yet another weak link.
Tigra - Find a way to make her lose control of her human side,either that,or simply shut down the human side of her brain with someone like Professor X.With that element out of the way she's simply an animal,and it's very easy to control an animal.
Beast - You would have to bring his animalistic nature to the surface and shut down his human side,just like you would with Tigra.Unlike Tigra,this wouldn't be easy,and would take some careful planning and adequate time.During this time you would need to find a way to slowly shut down his immense intellectual capabilities.Also,have him make a foolsih calculation that leads to the death of an X-Man....like Bobby or Warren.
She-Hulk - 1st - Transform Jennifer Walters to The She Hulk 100 % of the time,with no way to ever transform back via a mental block. 2nd - Make her think she's losing control by making her believe she's destroying her friends and family one by one.Have her feel completely betrayed...especially by Bruce Banner. 3rd - Escalate hostilities by leading the world goverments to believe she's a danger to herself and all around her.After a while she will be hunted by everyone from Shield to The Hulk Busters.
Thor - He's already lost it before.... # 1 - Make him think he's killed the love of his life, and his closest friends in a warriors rage.# 2 - Lead him to believe he's been manipulated by his Father to do so. # 3 - Have him battle his Father and murder him,only to have him find out he was wrong.After this he'll lose it completely.

[Doom Hammer]

Citing the "Avengers Forever" arc in the Exiles:

Cap loses his battle to Baron Blood during WWII. He's turned into a vampire. Much more powerful than Blood now, he destroys him an assumes the mantle of "Vampire King." Corrupted by the invincibility (and general nature of vampiric activities), years later he turns his would be allies, and viola!

Avengers Forever. ;)

[1HELLBOY]

Those scenarios that Jackalope gave read to me like Tales From the Crypt lol. Especially the Wasp one lol.

[Mr. Croup]

Captain America starts a backward seeking political movement to return the USA to the way it was when he was growing up. He is able to use his celebrity to get himself elected President of US, and soon he is no better then the Nazis.

The She-Hulk survives World War III, and the destruction of all she loves. The radiation makes her stronger, and she takes over the reminantes of civilization, changes her name to the Lady, and becomes a despotic tyrant.

Odin turns a blind eye to Thor's activities, and never sends him to Midgard to learn humility. Thor still wins the Hammer, but never undergoes the life shaping adventures that make the hero he is today. At some point he goes to far, and Odin has to slap him down. Thor throws a temper tantrum at the "unfairness" of his father's punishment. Odin sends him to Midgard, he ends up becoming the nasty alternate personality of Donald Blake, and his later alter-egoes.

[CyberCoyote]

Easy one word answer:

Bendis :p

[Kid Kyoto]

Characters such as Captain America, The Wasp, Iron Man, etc. are innately good people so without a plot device these characters cannot become villains.

Gotta disagree. Outside of silver age comics 'good' and 'evil' are not always immutable concepts and people do not always agree on them.

OK, Holocaust=bad. We're all on the same page there.
How about Hiroshima? Abortion? Captial Punishment? Iraq? Vietnam? Drug laws? Affirmatitive action? OJ Simpson? Insert here...

Today we all agree Martin Luther King was a great man, at the time the FBI was investigating him as a communist/anarchist and southern states were sicing dogs on him.

If I was doing Cap as a villain I would have him take a stand on some issue that readers are deeply divided on. He's a man from a different time with strong moral values OF HIS TIME and in the right conditions would not let the law stop him from dowing what is right. Let it build for a while as he speaks out against abortion/Iraq/whatever but when he realizes that there is no political situation he has to take action outside the law.

He might find himself with strange bedfellows, teaming up with the Punisher for help, arming his followers with non-lethal weapons purchased from AIM etc.

In the end he would die but it would be left to the readers and history whether or not his crusade for/against war in Iraq/abortion/whatever was heroic or villainous.

[Smarty Jones]

"Gotta disagree. Outside of silver age comics 'good' and 'evil' are not always immutable concepts and people do not always agree on them.

OK, Holocaust=bad. We're all on the same page there.
How about Hiroshima? Abortion? Captial Punishment? Iraq? Vietnam? Drug laws? Affirmatitive action? OJ Simpson? Insert here..."

You're naming controversial issues here, that will cause people to stand on different sides of the fence and such actions may create strange bedfellows. That's different from making Captain America a villain, a core ethical and moral change in his character. I really doubt Cap will become some hardcore villain over abortion or Title IX.

[Kid Kyoto]

You're naming controversial issues here, that will cause people to stand on different sides of the fence and such actions may create strange bedfellows. That's different from making Captain America a villain, a core ethical and moral change in his character. I really doubt Cap will become some hardcore villain over abortion or Title IX.

A villain is measured by what he does, not what he claims to be. If you blow up a plane full of civilians I don't care if you did it for oppressed Palistinians or to protect the waterways of the Persian Gulf or for Pure Evil.

US actions in several wars make us villains in the eyes of many people (insert your favorite example here). Stopping the Axis powers is good, fire bombing Dresden and Tokyo... less so.

[Smarty Jones]

"A villain is measured by what he does, not what he claims to be. If you blow up a plane full of civilians I don't care if you did it for oppressed Palistinians or to protect the waterways of the Persian Gulf or for Pure Evil."

The ACT of killing itself for the sake of killing is evil, which contradicts what you posted earlier -- which were CAUSES.

If Captain America starts killing people in the name of Title IX, the CAUSE isn't evil. If Cap starts killing people over Girl Scout cookies, that doesn't mean his CAUSE is evil -- his ACTIONS are.

And in the context of conventional superhero comic books, in most cases there are no shades of grey. This hypothetical question did not assume shades of grey.

You didn't name anything that would put Cap conclusively on the side of evil. A controversial issue like Title IX? C'mon, now.

[Smarty Jones]

"US actions in several wars make us villains in the eyes of many people (insert your favorite example here). Stopping the Axis powers is good, fire bombing Dresden and Tokyo... less so."

Again, shades of grey. Of course, the losing or invaded group is going to have a less favorable view of the aggressor. However, it's a biased view to say the least.

We're not talking about something like war in this case. We're talking about making an intrinsically moral and ethical character like Captain America becoming a villain like The Red Skull, Magneto, etc.

[Kid Kyoto]

Again, shades of grey. Of course, the losing or invaded group is going to have a less favorable view of the aggressor. However, it's a biased view to say the least.

Actually I was thinking of myself. I'm a yank and I've spent time in Japan & China and I have no love or symapathy for facist Japan. But I'm not convinced that interring Japanese-Americans or firebombing residential areas was necessary to win the war.

But let's take a non-political example. The 80s Squadron Supreme mini series. There you had heroes as pure as Superman or Captain America who halfway through the series are fighting the US army and brainwashing large parts of the population and by the end of it had reduced the president to a figurehead, covered up their own crimes and were killing their friends and teammates on the steps of their headquarters. They never pledged themselves to Pure Evil, never cackled or put on red hot iron masks but they were villains.

WONDERFUL COMIC!

They were put in a tough situation, made some right calls, made some wrong ones, and made some questionable ones.

To turn Cap into a villain a writer has to create a similar situation.

How about...

After freeing Earth from Kang's domination most of the world lies in ruins, unable to feed itself, enforce the law or even start rebuilding. Frustrated with inept and indecisive civilian rulers the remaining US military forces ask Captain American to become temporary commander in chief until order is restored. Cap refuses and meets with the President in his bunker in West Virginia. But in the meeting her realizes the President cannot restore order, cannot govern and there is no hope in that direction. They have angry words when the President refuses to release emergency supplies to the general population saying they must be reserved for loyal cities and states. The Presdient orders the marines to take Cap into custody, there's a tense minute where no one does anything, and the marines take the President into custody. Cap does nothing... He knows he should surrender but he knows there's a greater good at stake. He accepts the (quite illegal) position of Acting Commander in Cheif.
Things go well. With Tony Stark and Reed Richards at his side he gets things back in order to some extent.
In the process there are compromises. The Punisher had taken over law enforcement in NY and he and his followers had summarily executed 100s during the lawless months. Cap pardons him.
But then he learns that the Red Skull has taken control of an equally devestated Europe and turned it into his 4th Reich. Though the US has not fully recovered Cap declares war on the 4th Reich.
Things go poorly. The Red Skull has devoted all his resources to this war while the US is still bound by moral considerations. The US loses some critical battles, the Atlantic fleet is sunk.
However the 4th Reich is careful not to ever attack the US directly. He fights a defensive war forcing Cap to play the agressor.
The Madarin takes control of East Asia and is just as bad as the Red Skull, death camps, forced labor etc. Cap does not have the resources to deal with him, they sign a non-agression pact. He even tries to get the Mandarin to enter the war on his side.
Universal conscription is ordered with some soldiers ordered to submit to cybernetic supersoldier enhancements that will shorten their lives considerably. Reed Richards resigns over this.
Protests start. A coalition of genuine pacificts, people who are tired of war, people who cannot live under war shortages and (yes) genuine traitors/Red Skull sympathisers organize general strikes and other civil disobediance. Some turn to riots. More and more stringent measures are needed to keep control and to keep the war going.
Blah, blah, blah...

So to liberate Europe from a new Nazi regime Cap has to become dictator of America and do bad things. It's a variation of a lot of old debates (should the US have entered the war before Pearl Harbor? can we go to war just to stop bad people? See Vietnam, Somalia, Bosnia and Iraq for answers).

Cap can either be a clear minded hero doing what's right no matter what the cost or an Ahab pursuing his goal to destruction. A really cute thing would be to write this story from two points of view and leave it ambiguous...

Anyway my point is that anyone who acts on a worldview different from yours is going to be a villain.

Magneto? he's liberating the oppressed mutants don't you know? Doctor Doom? He's just out to protect his small nation where the people love him.

[Kid Kyoto]

You didn't name anything that would put Cap conclusively on the side of evil. A controversial issue like Title IX? C'mon, now.

Abortion?

If you think abortion is murder and you know that after 25 years of Roe v. Wade abortion will not be made illegal, what can you do?
Marches and bumperstickers won't save lives.
Blockading birth control clinics might.
But shooting a doctor and scaring others into quitting... that WILL work.

Not that I think that way... but the logic is believable.

Captial Punishment?

If Cap thought innocent people were being executed by a biased judiciary and if he knew all legal options were gone, wouldn't his strong sense of justice override his loyalty to the law? And once you're breaking people out of jail, you have to escape, hide them from the police, make compromises etc...

[Smarty Jones]

"Abortion?

If you think abortion is murder and you know that after 25 years of Roe v. Wade abortion will not be made illegal, what can you do?
Marches and bumperstickers won't save lives.
Blockading birth control clinics might.
But shooting a doctor and scaring others into quitting... that WILL work.

Not that I think that way... but the logic is believable.

Captial Punishment?

If Cap thought innocent people were being executed by a biased judiciary and if he knew all legal options were gone, wouldn't his strong sense of justice override his loyalty to the law? And once you're breaking people out of jail, you have to escape, hide them from the police, make compromises etc..."

No, because abortion is a choice. It's a controversial, philosophical issue -- one that is based on individual choice. Captain America killing a doctor is voluntary CRIME. You choose to make that decision. Abortion in itself is not a crime, killing someone and using abortion as an excuse is an EXCUSE for committing a crime.

Again, the topic is making Captain America a hardcore villain -- not a chess piece in a controversial issue. If Cap breaks unjustly jailed people out of jail because of a sense of morality, how does that put him in the same boat with the Red Skull or Magneto? How does that make him evil?

[Red State Cap]

No, because abortion is a choice. It's a controversial, philosophical issue -- one that is based on individual choice. Captain America killing a doctor is voluntary CRIME. You choose to make that decision. Abortion in itself is not a crime, killing someone and using abortion as an excuse is an EXCUSE for committing a crime.
Pardon me, but portraying abortion as a "personal choice" is in fact the political position of the pro-abortion camp. Of course, that side has the right to that position, but the other side of the debate most definitely does not accept that abortion can only be thought of in terms of "choice."
Abortion is only relevant as an example here. The idea that Cap would "go criminal" over divisive, yet in the sceme of things, entirely routine political debates is a gross over-extrapolation. This country has always had divisive political issues, yet fortunately for us, we generally live with them. The issues in America are decided at the ballot box and not at the point of a gun. Yes, one side has to lose and is unhappy about it, but they don't start killing people in protest either. Cap knows this better than anyone, and whatever his political beliefs are on certain issues, he is not a political extremist and would never interfere in domestic politics.

RSC