INTRODUCING  CURE :

    It was the early 1960s and America was in trouble. Crime was getting out of hand, engulfing the country, forcing it surely toward either anarchy or dictatorship.
    So a young president of the United States made a brave decision, and CURE was born. CURE was a supersecret agency, set up to save the Constitution by working outside it to fight the rising tide of crime. And, as the head this agency that only he in government would know about, the president selected Dr. Harold W. Smith, a tight-lipped New Englander who had served in the OSS and the CIA.
    CURE had everything: money, manpower, and a free hand. And still it failed. It needed something more. It needed a killer arm to mete out its own brand of justice.
    So Remo Williams, a young, Newark policeman was framed for a murder he did not commit, sent to an electric chair that did not work, and woke up working for CURE. Remo's training was put in the hands of Chiun, a tiny, aged Korean from the North Korean village of Sinanju. For centuries, Sinanju had provided the world with assassins and Chiun was the latest Master of Sinanju.
    Chiun, the Master of all the Oriental killing arts taught Remo to kill.
    At first it was just a job for Remo. But as the years went on and the training went on, it became more than a job and he became more than a man. He became a Master of Sinanju himself, a troubled man torn between his Western heritage and his Eastern training.

    And the bodies piled up.

Remo Williams: The smart-mouthed, patriotic, convicted murderer, ex-cop, student of the Master of Sinanju from New Jersey, who may just be a living god.

Occupation: Assassin-in-training
Legal Status: Deceased
Aliases: "Pale piece of pig's ear"; Shiva; the Destroyer.
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Sunny Joe Roam (Father); Dawn Starr Roam (Mother,
deceased); Freya Williams (Daughter); Winston Smith (Son); Chiun (Adopted Father)
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 165 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Identifying Features: Cold, dead eyes, and unusually thick wrists.
Turn Ons: Large busted women who have no interest in him. Keeping his wrist straight.
Turn Offs: Aggressive women. Long finger nails on men. Electronics. Code words, phrases, and "This stupid spy-stuff."

Chiun: The Master of Sinanju, who came to America to train an assassin, but found a son.

Occupation: Master of Sinanju
Legal Status: Unimportant, Chiun is above such things.
Aliases: "Him Who Graciously Throttles the Universe"; "Little Father".
Marital Status: Widower
Known Relatives: Nuihc (Nephew)
Height: 5'
Weight: 90 lbs.
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: White
Identifying Features: Perfect bilateral development.
Turn Ons: Prompt payment; Ung Poetry; Barbara Striesand; Cheeta Ching; kvetching; Soap Operas.
Turn Offs: Disrespectful Sons; violence; amateur assassins who rob the art of its joy and harmony; hack authors who fail to capture the beauty and harmony which is Sinanju.

Harold W. Smith: Head of CURE. A patriot who is fiercely devoted to his country. A man who believes in the constitution of our great nation, even though he breaks it every day.

Occupation: Head of CURE; Chief Administrator of Folcroft Sanitarium (CURE's cover); Emperor of the Eagle Throne (to Chiun).
Legal Status: Smith has no criminal record.
Aliases: Emperor Smith.
Marital Status: Married to Maude Smith.
Known Relatives: Maude (Wife); Vickie (Daughter).
Height: 6'
Weight: 135 lbs.
Eyes: Grey
Hair: Grey
Identifying Features: A heart defect gives Smith's skin a charcoal-gray cast.
Turn Ons: Lowering crime figures; coming in under budget; patriotism; prune yogurt.
Turn Offs: Renegotiating Chiun's contract; dealing with Remo when he's in one of his moods; disorder.

The Rogues Gallery

Nuihc
Renegade Master of Sinanju

Hear me round-eyes, hear the words of Nuihc, true Master of Sinanju. Though I have been consigned to the Void lo these many years, my thirst for vengeance upon my hated uncle and his student has not slackened.

I have been chosen to act as your guide through the pair's most deadly enemies. Prepare to be introduced to the many foes of Remo Williams and his master, Chiun....

Mr. Gordons
Killer Android

My hated uncle and his white pupil have overcome may foes throughout the years, but perhaps none as formidable as the android survival machine known as Mr. Gordons. The creature was designed with one goal: to survive. He quickly determined that if he were to fulfill his primary function, Remo Williams and the Master of Sinanju must die.

Gordons has clashed with the pair on several occasions, only to return from certain destruction time and time again. Will Mr. Gordons be the one to destroy the Destroyer? I certainly hope so....

The Dutchman
Heir to Nuihc's Evil

The most deadly threat of all to the so-called "Destroyer" is my own pupil, Jeremiah Purcell, the Dutchman. A young man who is Remo Williams's equal in Sinanju. The Dutchman also has the power to create illusions with his mind, and to cause actual flames to spring into being with his merest thought.

Chiun believes Jeremiah and Remo are mystically linked; that one cannot survive if the other dies. They are Yin and Yang, two sides of the same coin. One a force for good, the other absolute evil. Perhaps my student will yet prevail....

Kali
Goddess of Death

Few beings can number an actual goddess among their foes and live, yet somehow Remo and Chiun has managed to survive the machinations of the goddess Kali on several occasions. It is said that the goddess believes the white to be the reincarnation of Shiva, the Destroyer, chief among the gods. Kali seeks to awaken her lover Shiva, and dance the Tandava, a dance which will end the entire universe.

Friend
High-tech Computer Chip

It's hard to believe that something as insignificant as aa computer chip could challenge the Master of Sinanju and his student, but Friend has managed to time and time again. Created to tirelessly toil toward profit, Friend is out to control the economy of the entire world, no matter what the cost to its human inhabitants. Thus far CURE and its operatives, Remo and Chiun, have managed to thwart the chip's mad schemes, but who knows what the future will hold?

The Leader
Chinese Vampire and Vegetarian

Sinanju has many foes. None are as fierce as the ancient cult of Chinese blood-drinkers lead by the Leader. The cult is out to destroy all those that profane their sacred stomachs with the taint of meat, which is anathema to the vampires. Their schemes have twice pitted them against Remo and Master Chiun. Can this ancient group triumph over Sinanju? Only time will tell, and the undead have alll the time in the world.

Uncle Sam Beasley
Beloved Cartoonist, Would-Be Conqueror

To the world at large, Uncle Sam Beasley is a beloved childhood memory; creator of Beasleyland and Beasley World; the man who gave us Monongahela Mouse, Screwball Squirrel, and Dingbat Duck; an American icon.

When Uncle Sam "died" in the late 60's, Beasley technicians used cryogenics to preserve his body until cures could be found for his ailment.

It's the late 1990's and Beasley is back, with an animatronic heart and a taste for conquest! Beasley also sports an animatronic hand and eyes, and billions of dollars to make his twisted dreams come true. Talk about a case of freezer burn! Enough money and power to put an end to the Destroyer?