The Gatekeepers were established in St. Louis in June of 2002. The city fathers of St. Louis, worried because the superhero mainstays of St. Louis, the Marvel Family, were in disarray, got together with Nemesis Inc. and Batson Media to create a superteam to protect the Gateway City.
Spreading their net wide, they put together the following group.
Conjure and Mewz
Mindstrike
Ree'l
Jo-Tan
The Black Phantom
The team was presented with a landmark building in St. Louis's LaClede's Landing area. Their first task was to decide on a name for the team, and the name Gatekeepers seemed the most obvious.
As part of the establishment, the Gatekeepers have several support personnel.
Jack Weston is the training coach. He looks about 60, sort of like Bobby Knight. He's actually in his 80s. It's his job to keep everyone fit and trained, and he's had field experience. There is some speculation that he is actually the 1940s hero known as Minuteman, who has been long thought dead. There is even a stature to his memory in Memorial Park.
Jennifer Butler is a red-haired young woman in her early thirties who acts as office manager. All normal calls to the team are taken off site and relayed to her. She also fields calls from authorities asking for aid directly. Jennifer's grandfather and father have both been lawyers working for the District Attorney at one time or another.
Forman Wylie is a trim and athletic black lawyer in his mid-thirties who acts as the marketing and PR person. His family has long term connections to the Batson family.
Lafayette Jefferson looks something like you would expect Denzel Washington to look when he's Morgan Freeman's age. He has the title of Director, but insists he is actually more of a counselor. (As the team now knows, he still occasionally operates as the Black Phantom.)
Jack Nakashima is the Maintenance and technical man. He is a young Japanese-American of medium build and a tendency to plumpness. "I don't push a broom, that's what the robots are for. I keep the computers and robots running and do research projects if you need them. I also hack pretty good if that's necessary, and I keep up the computer security."
Benjamin Wingfoot is in his twenties, a muscular Amerindian with a ready smile. He is the pilot and chauffeur and mechanical maintenance person. His father is the Fantastic Four's old friend Wyatt Wingfoot. He is a student in engineering by correspondence. He is also continually tinkering with a battlesuit he calls The Battlelance.
Sean Maguire is a St. Louis Police Captain and the police liaison for the group. His precinct HQ is just up the street, also in a heritage building. Captain Maguire is in his early 40s and looks more Italian than Irish.
"Mr. Tawney" seems to be an anthropomorphic tiger. If asked, he will explain that he is a pooka who took tiger form many years before and liked it. He has had a long-standing relationship with the Marvel Family. He supervises an outside security agency that provides security. Most of the members are off-duty cops, largely from Maguire's precinct.
Joyce Taylor is a large black woman who acts as cook and housekeeper. She has a varied repertoire of regional dishes from all over the United States and works well with Jack Nakashima and the housekeeping robs.
Housekeeping robs are a creation of Stark International. They are wheeled canisters with several extendible appendages that roll up when not in use. Think R2D2 without the sunny (or any) personality. They are strictly programmed for housekeeping duties and could not even do those outside the headquarters. They do not work in occupied rooms, but are not sophisticated enough to realize a room has an occupant if the occupant is perfectly still. If a room has been occupied for more than 24 hours, they notify Joyce Taylor.
Geraldine Bromley is a retired schoolteacher in her 60s who acts part-time as a librarian and reference technician, and also tutors any underage members (see Essence, below)
Gatekeeper Headquarters is at 215 Commercial street in the LaClede's Landing area, old St. Louis. It is a four story building, though about five stories tall, with a very faded marquee that proclaims it the St. Louis Clarion. A large modern plaque with St. Louis Gatekeepers has been put over the Clarion sign. At street level is a historic plaque on the front of the building that says the paper was one of St. Louis's first (founded in 1835) and maintained publication until 1986.This building is actually relatively modern for the area, put up in just before WWI on the site of the original printing shop. It is about two blocks away from the Mississippi, but is the tallest building for several blocks; the upper stories have a view of the river.
While keeping the same façade it has had for most of a century, the building has been fireproofed and bullet-proofed in accordance with up-to-date protection protocols, including Questonite windows.
The first floor is about two stories tall and now filled with workout equipment, holographic projectors, and a control booth along one wall. In another area there is a basketball court. When this was a working newspaper, this was the press room. At the rear of the building is a parking area and simple maintenance garage. The team has an arrangement with the same people who maintain the police department's vehicles for any large scale work. There is also a laundry facility. There is now a small lobby with bullet-proofed walls in front of the main doors which is always manned by a couple of the security guards. Mr. Tawney has an office off this lobby. Jack Weston has an office off the basketball court.
The second floor is meeting and research facilities and a couple of guest rooms in one corner. The lunch and other meals room is on the opposite corner, with a large window overlooking the river This floor was originally the production department and support facilities (darkrooms, artwork, etc.) of the paper. Jennifer Butler, Forman Wylie, Joyce Taylor, and Lafayette Jefferson have their offices here. Geraldine Bromley has an office in the library area.
The living quarters are on the third floor. There are eight apartments. Each of the active members of the group has an apartment and a budget for furnishing it. Initial furnishing is a simple bed, a large desk that was obviously originally a newspaper desk, and a closet. Bathroom facilities are shared between every two rooms. The bathrooms are on the corners of the building. There is a central stairwell and elevator shaft. This floor was originally the bullpen for editors and reporters. Besides the team members, Lafayette Jefferson and Mr. Tawney have apartments.
The top floor is given over to hanger facilities for the Quinjet® and a small multi-passenger helicopter. The helicopter is usually on the roof itself, the Quinjet launches from a catapult inside the hanger. This floor was originally the senior editor and publisher offices. Jack Nakashima's office and workshop is here. Benjamin Wingfoot can usually be found here or in the garage on the first floor.
Since the Gatekeepers started, there have been three additions to the roster and two departures.
La Faroana, who is actually Captain Sean Maguire's sister-in-law, Safira Toranto, is a gypsy illusionist and dancer-martial artist. After her mother was killed by a demon accidentally released, her grandmother's duende (or spirit) possessed her and is teaching her all the secrets of being a gypsy bruja.
Essence, a form-shifting magic elemental in the body of a teenage girl was left with the Gatekeepers for safekeeping after she was abducted from the care of Doctor Strange by Black Paladin and the Gatekeepers helped get her back. Geraldine Bromley was brought in at this time to be a tutor to Essence and La Faroana.
Ree'l was found by other members of her race while investigating a dimensional breech in Utah. She left with them, apparently very ready to leave this illogical world.
Essence has just been reclaimed by Doctor Strange, who said that her time on this plane was over and she was needed elsewhere.
Vinix is a Vegan system enforcement officer with distinct magical abilities whose obvious Tamaranian ancestry is tempered by a touch of the diabological. She joined the Gatekeepers at the suggestion of Dreamscape of ISIS. In theory she is just marking time until she can find a ride for a prisoner back to the Vegan star system. However, she has also expressed an interest in the legendary Earth that she has heard so much about from the Omega Men, among others.
The new Captain Marvel has worked with the Gatekeepers on a couple of occasions and so far has not worked against them. She is mostly concerned with ghetto problems and wages an unrelenting (if apparently futile) war against the drug pushers who are leeching the life out of her community.
Mary Marvel is the only member of the Marvel Family who retains her powers. She has helped out on a couple of occasions but spends most of her time retired. Apparently many years as a hero has taken a bit out of her.
St. Louis city relations are handled through Captain Sean Maguire, who has so far been very helpful and supportive.
St. Louis also has a regional PRIMUS office.
Local Commandant Major Donald O'Connell is very cooperative.
Silver Avenger Alex Richardson, on the other hand, is almost actively hostile.
The team has also worked with Silver Avenger Ernie Freeman of Chicago, and there is a mutual respect between him and the team.
The team stopped a sabotage group consisting of Whirlwind, Constrictor, Mr. Hyde, Vulture, and Blizzard from a program of general industrial sabotage throughout the St. Louis area. They were apparently in the employ of Jasmine Hammer, the current CEO of Hammer Industries, though no connection was proved.
The team captured the Puppet Master.
In July, 2002, the Gatekeepers broke up a major weapon smuggling ring which led to a confrontation with "Heavy" Marvel, formerly one of the Lieutenant Marvels, who was in turn working for Klaw. Pyro was also working with Klaw, as were some mercenary Viper agents. The whole group was headquartered in a building belonging to FiskChem. Wilson Fish proved that the firm had been sold to its employees months before and was bitterly disappointed that they should turn to crime like that.
The Gatekeepers (with a major assist from Doctor Strange) then stopped a plan to turn the entire United States west of the Mississippi back in time to the 1820s. This was apparently a combined conspiracy of the Spirit Warriors (mostly captured, though Ghost Shirt is still at large), Black Paladin (stopped and many of his minions captured), Gorilla Grodd (apparently putting together a union of intelligent animals who wanted the Great Plains to roam in), "The Kingpin" (a name often applied to Wilson Fisk, but there was no other connection), and someone who signed himself with a stylized Red Dragon.
Adding La Faroana and Essence to the group, the team journeyed to Utah in the company of Stealth, from the Texas Titans, to investigate a dimensional anomaly that turned out to be the dimensional invaders that Stealth had gotten his technology from in a previous incursion. They captured most of the invaders. In the process, they rescued a party from Ree'l's home dimension that had been investigating her disappearance. She left for home with them.
Since then, the team has:
Defeated a team consisting of Doctor Polaris, Bolt, Captain Cold II, Captain Boomerang, Solomon Grundy, and Deadshot.
Defeated a villain team of Juggernaut, Sabretooth, Weather Wizard and Bolt who were working with Anaconda, the country club villain organization, to steal technology from Kord Electronics.
Mutually experienced a surreal dream devised by Nightmare in an effort to suborn Essence.
Stopped another attempt to exploit Essence masterminded by Lifeshaper, a descendant of Circe's, who led a team including Copperhead and Cheetah II.
Dealt with an attempt by a group of villains to audition for VOICE by killing the Gatekeepers, exposing a repentant American Eagle IV as the provocateur of the attempt.
Kept the Margrave from destroying much of downtown St. Louis in pursuit of the woman he claims to love.
Investigated a series of break-ins and murders involving a group of female villains apparently led by the White Queen. Most of the villains, which included such luminaries as Titania and Volcana, were captured.
Stopped a group of villains including Man-Bat, Catwoman, the Grey Gargoyle, the Unicorn, and Sandman from gaining all of the magical artifacts needed to help their employer, thought to be the mysterious Kingpin, from summoning a demon to assist his business interests. In the process, they caught the sorcerous Thurston family, who had apparently been committing human sacrifices for years in their back yard.
Recently, exposed a FIRE program to turn suburban housewives into super agents under the guise of the New You commercial cosmetic surgery establishment in the New Urbana Galleria. In the process they have apparently rooted out all traces of FIRE in the St. Louis area. Police and PRIMUS, acting on their information, raided several sites. Unfortunately, all had been abandoned just before the raids, probably due to warnings from the New You practitioners.
Responded to police information that a bomb had been placed in Memorial Park. The bomb proved to be a device that covered several members with a yellow dust that drained energy from those not protected from such effects. They were immediately attacked by a motley group of supervillains, including Ogre, Herculan, and Lodestone, tactically led by Mysteria, the female successor to Mysterio. All were captured except for the leader who organized the group, Utility.
In all, the team has proven its mettle and shown St. Louis what a proficient super team can do.