Trust (100 Bullets)

The Trust is a fictional organization in the 100 Bullets comic book by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, published by DC Comics imprint Vertigo.

Origins and history

The formation of the Trust
100 Bullets #50, p.14. Art by Eduardo Risso

The origins of the Trust lie back in the early 16th century. Following the discovery of the New World and its resources, particularly gold, the kings and queens of Europe all wanted a piece of the action. Thirteen ancient and powerful families, who up to that point had spent all their efforts scoring points off each other, realised that if they worked together in a newfound spirit of trust, they could acquire not just a piece, but the whole pie. The families had enough power to make or break kingdoms, and were thorns in the sides of the monarchs of Europe. They proposed that if the families worked together, they could relocate their power to the Americas and shape that land to their own needs. With their new base of power, they would remove themselves and their influence from the shores of Europe forever, allowing the monarchy to do what it would. Unsurprisingly, the monarchs said no. Most outspoken of these was Queen Elizabeth I, who not only said no, but intended to take the country for herself, and to this end had set up a colony on Roanoke Island. The families took this refusal badly and decided to send a message of intent.

Seven men were picked as enforcers for the Trust. These men would stop any threat either from within or without. They would be the new law, they were the Minutemen. The Minutemen were dispatched with their orders, and arrived at the Roanoke colony in the dead of night to commit 'The Crime'. During the course of the night, one hundred and nineteen men, women and children were slaughtered in their homes. Once every living thing was no more, the seven Minutemen carved seven letters into a sign for the kings and queens. The word was 'Croatoa', unknown in any language, but to the monarchs the meaning was clear...'this belongs to us'.

Houses of the Trust

The Trust was made up of thirteen Houses (families). Most of the families are wiped out and their Houses absorbed by the remaining Houses during the course of the story because of conflict.

• The House of Medici: a Miami based family; headed by Augustus Medici, leader of the Trust, who recently handed over his House to his son, Benito. Augustus was killed by his oldest friend, Agent Phillip Graves.
• The House of Vasco: headed by Javier Vasco, Medici's most vocal opponent in the Trust, based in Seattle. Assassinated by Will Slaughter. His House was then handed over to Graves in exchange for Graves' removal from the Minutemen.
• The House of Nagel: New York family headed by Axel Nagel until his demise. The short-lived reign of his twin children led to the end of his House.
• The House of Simone: headed by the Dallas -based Mia Simone, considered by Graves to be the weakest of the families. Killed by Remi Rome.
• The House of Kotias: headed by Helena Kotias, based in Aspen, Colorado and closely tied to the House of Vasco. Killed by Victor Ray.
• The House of D'Arcy: this Chicago based House is headed by Joan D'Arcy. She survived two assassination attempts by Remi Rome, but was ultimately killed by Cole Burns.
• The House of Vermeer: based in Omaha, Nebraska and headed by Tibo Vermeer. Tibo was killed by Cole Burns.
• The House of Peres: the first House to be absorbed after the assassination of Daniel Peres by Agent Graves and Cole Burns.
• The House of Carlito: destroyed by Lono, who brutally tortured and killed Fulvio Carlito along with his entire family in retribution for the miscarried attempt on Medici's life.
• The House of Madrid: a New Orleans based family headed by Anwar Madrid, who was assassinated by Wylie Times. Anwar's heir, Rose, had been previously killed as retribution for an anti-Medici plot.
• The House of Rhone: a Lake Tahoe, Nevada based family headed by Sigmar Rhone, who kept informants within the House of Dietrich. He and his entire family are murdered by Remi Rome and Victor Ray.
• The House of Dietrich: headed by the Los Angeles -based Megan Dietrich, who succeeded her late father, Roland. Megan herself was killed by Cole Burns (whose actions resulted in his own death as well).
• The House of Von Hagen: this House was headed by Constance Von Hagen, who was assassinated along with Helena Kotias by Victor Ray.

The Minutemen

The Minutemen in Atlantic City

The original Minutemen were seven vicious killers, who eradicated the Roanoke colony and left behind the message "Croatoa" as a warning. Since that time, the Minutemen were charged with protecting the 13 families who make up the Trust, from outside threats as well as from each other.

The Minutemen are always seven, recruited by the Trust's Agent and trained in surveillance and assassination techniques. Primarily, they work as enforcers, employing lethal force as well as their fearsome reputation to ensure the Trust's well-being.

The identities of the most recent group of Minutemen are: Cole Burns ("Wolf"), Lono ("Dog"), Wylie Times ("Point Man"), Milo Garret ("Bastard"), Victor Ray ("Rain"), Jack Daw ("Monster") and Remi Rome ("Saint"). They were led by Philip Graves, whose occupation is identified only as "Agent", and trained by Joseph Shepherd, the Trust's Warlord until recently. The only Minuteman who definitely survived the events of the story is Victor Ray, who chose not to take part in the assault on Medici's home and leave his life as a Minuteman behind.

The Minutemen were forcibly disbanded after a significant incident in Atlantic City that happened an undisclosed number of years in the past. The Trust wanted a repeat of the Greatest Crime, which was recently implied to be the takeover of another country, but Agent Graves refused on the grounds of breaking historical boundaries. The heads of the Trust then felt that the Minutemen were no longer useful and ordered Shepherd to terminate them. All members of the Minutemen survived, and all members but Lono (who was not present) were brainwashed for their protection. They all were leading regular lives (under their real names) until recently activated.

It is suggested that the Trust has infiltrated the correctional system, using it as a pool of replacements and training ground for Minutemen. Most of those identified as belonging to the latest group -as well as the two new recruits- have been recruited and trained either before, during, or after incarceration. However, the suggested periods of incarceration coincide with start of each Minuteman's new "life" following their concealment after the events in Atlantic City. It is possible they were never actually in prison, this instead acting as a buffer for their memories of their real lives. In "The Counterfifth Detective" Milo tells Graves he spent the night in jail for assaulting a policeman, to which Graves replies "Do you actually remember anything before the fight?"

Recent recruits to the Minutemen ranks are Dizzy Cordova (possibly the first female member) and Loop Hughes after the deaths of Garret, Times and Rome. As part of the Trust's new peace agreement, Graves was recently forced out of his role as Agent by the Trust in exchange for heading the vacant House of Vasco; as his replacement, he chose Dizzy.

All houses of the Trust have been destroyed by the end of the series, making the Minutemen obsolete.

The Trust's Warlord

Although not nominally the leader of the Minutemen, the Trust's Warlord is probably promoted from their ranks in order to serve as intelligence officer for the Trust and right hand man to its leader. He acts as liaison between the Trust and the Minutemen and is also responsible for recruiting and training new Minutemen, having apparently free access to correctional facilities from which many potential new recruits have been literally sprung.

The current Warlord of the Trust is Lono, selected by his predecessor, Joseph Shepherd, who was slain (in issue #58).

See also

• List of characters in 100 Bullets
• Conspiracy theories (fictional)

External links

• 100Bullets.co.uk fan site, on material from which parts of this article were based