Personality[]
Described as the go-to agent of Nick Fury, Phil Coulson was described as the face of SHIELD, the organization dedicated to protecting Earth from danger both within and without. Appearing in four of the Marvel Cinema movies and a few film shorts, he portrays the image of a reliable and resourceful man who makes the best out of the situation he's given; he always gets the job done, no matter what. In one of the film shorts, he uses a bag of flour to disable a criminal who was holding a gun up at him, and in the Avengers movie he suggests to Nick Fury to use his death as a catalyst to bring the team together. And while this trait of his might force him to take actions that seem to bother more on the gray side of the spectrum between right and wrong (as seen in Thor when he takes on a bit of an antagonistic role against the protagonists by confiscating Jane Foster's research and imprisoning Thor when the man charges into the SHIELD base for his hammer), you can't deny that the man won't hesitate to get his hands dirty to accomplish things for the greater good.
This does not mean that he is a heartless robot who exists only to fulfill the wishes of SHIELD. In the Avengers movie, he quickly dissuades a worker who drops some precious SHIELD research while trying to escape the facility from stopping to pick it up, valuing the life of that one man over it. While this is just a very brief scene in the movie, it does highlight that he does know that the job isn't everything, and that the end does not justify the means if the cost is too much. Even in Thor, he refrains from giving the order to shoot the God, prefering to find out more about the situation before he makes any further decisions. And later on in the Avengers movie he ensures the safety of Jane Foster, Thor's love interest. I believe that Coulson places high value on life, and this reflects in his work as well. There's a line for Coulson, and if he can help it he won't cross it. Not to say that he wouldn't, but he'd just rather not.
While the nature of his work is rather serious, Coulson himself has demonstrated a sense of dry wit even when approached with a dangerous situation. After delivered a fatal wound from Loki, he proceeds to blast him with a gun he himself had fashioned. With a hole through his chest, all he says at that point with a hint of surprise and awe is "So that's what it does." Even when near-death, he regarded the whole situation as calmly as he could and as he has always done while working for SHIELD. His actor has mentioned that Coulson regards his job as just a normal one, despite all the danger he faces. This suggests bravery and a calm composure, something that is also shared with the other agents, like Nick Fury and Maria Hill. To quote the actor himself: "He's the guy who's tasked - a very disciplined guy in my opinion who possesses secrets that would turn your hair white - but at the same time he's tasked with handling these kind of diva superheroes, you know? "Oh, really, Asgard? Dude, just get in the car.""
However, there are always exceptions to the rule. And exceptions come in the form of two men: Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.
Phil has demonstrated that he can get short with people, especially those who try his patience. In Iron Man 2 he threatens to taze Tony Stark, a break from his usual composed demeanor. However, it is because he is firm with the man that Tony takes him seriously in Ironman 2, and by the time Phil leaves for New Mexico, he and Tony have at least developed some respect for each other. Still, he isn't very happy with dealing with Tony Stark, as seen in another film short where he displays reluctance to bring Tony in in his official position as a Consultant.
He is also a giant fanboy when it comes to Steve Rogers, the famous Captain America. There is another break from the usual portrayal of the character; audiences get to laugh as he fidgets nervously before asking the Captain to autograph his vintage cards. He also loses his usual cool, striking up very awkward conversation ("I watched you while you were sleeping") while barely containing his excitement that he is talking with his childhood hero.
Lastly, Phil Coulson is at heart, someone who truly pursues what he believes in. And what he believes in is the Avenger Initiative. He never gave up on it, not even when he was at death's door. He truly wanted what was best to protect the Earth and it's inhabitants, and it is his strong belief that the team, as dysfunctional and crazy as people thought they were, would be the ones to help save the world from domination by the aliens. He never gave up on Captain America either, offering encouragement to the hero when the man expresses some doubt about his ability to deal with the situation. And ultimately, it is this faith he has in the team that proves the catalyst to bring them together finally as the Avengers, the team of superheroes that he, along with Nick Fury, had fought for and finally achieved.
As a side note, he was also dating a cellist at the point of his death in the movie, proving that he does have some social skills. He also gets along well with Pepper Potts by the Avengers movie.
AU!Background[]
Philip Coulson was adopted from an orphanage as a baby. He lived with two Muggle parents who cared for him greatly and ensured he had nothing but a normal, healthy life as a young boy. But there were always these...strange incidents that happened every now and then. A book would fall from a shelf by itself, or his mother's flower beds would always regrow the day after they wilted. Minor incidences like these, while not particularly alarming and not very frequent, were still worrying to both his parents as they noticed that these occurances tend to happen when their adopted son was stressed. It was only when he was 11 when someone came to their house to offer a letter of acceptance to an American wizarding school did everything make sense. Phil was thus introduced to the wizarding world and attended a wizarding school near home; unlike the schools in the UK, American wizarding schools were public institutions that were set up in the dozens per state. He was lucky enough to live near one, and so he could always come back home after classes, excitedly sharing the day's lessons with his unnerved, but accepting parents.
However, all was not well within the wizarding world in America. A group of Dark Wizards had risen following the example set by Lord Voldemort to establish wizard control over Muggles. It was in his fifth year that Phil's parents fell victim to one of their attacks on the Muggle community, and subsequently Phil decided to pursue a career in Defence against the Dark Arts. His father and mother had already imparted a strong sense of right and wrong within him and he knew that he did not want anyone else to lose a beloved family member in this war. It made sense to him to join the Wizarding Administration for interNational Defence, aka WAND, when he graduated from school. After a few more years of training, he was qualified as the WAND equivalent of an Auror (called an Agent) and started working with fellow Agents to protect both the wizarding and Muggle community. While not born with an extraordinary amount of magical talent, Phil was a hard worker and he was very observant. He soon established himself as a resourceful, reliable Agent and took any job that was given to him in stride. He may not shoot the most flashiest of spells, or the strongest, but he knew which ones to cast to get the job done, and he demonstrated a knack of using the situation to his advantage. He also worked well with other Agents, not minding the support role he was often cast into. He didn't need the limelight; all he needed was to get the job done and save someone's life.
During the 10+ years he worked as an Agent he also got involved in a committed, long distance relationship with a Muggle woman, a cellist. However, he managed to keep the relationship under the radar from the enemy, and thus she was never a target.
Unfortunately, a mission gone wrong would turn his life upside down. A plot by the Dark Wizards to unlease werewolves on a small, rural and isolated Muggle town, was discovered by WAND and the Agents were sent immediately to intercept them. What WAND had not expected though was that the attack was lead by one of the lieutenants of the organization, an extremely skilled and deadly wizard who also happened to be the son of the ring leader. It was a long, hard battle that, while victorious, costs many Agents their lives. Coulson himself had been providing back up to his colleagues when they got news of some werewolves that had broken away from the fight to attack the town. With Agent Sitwell, the two were all that could be spared as they ran back to protect the Muggles. The big fight between the Agents and the Dark Wizards were revealed to be a distraction so that the lieutenant could sneakily go behind the backs of the Agents and destroy the town. In the end, Coulson and his partner had no choice but to kill the man to save the lives of some Muggles that were out trick-a-treating and in the process of protecting a young girl, Coulson was bitten by a werewolf and had his chest nearly ripped to shreads. Losing consiousness, he next awoke at the infirmary where he received the bad news. As a result of the bite, he had been infected with the werewolf's curse. He and his partner who had survived the fight were both blacklisted by the evil organization and for his own safety he could not stay in America.
The Director arranged to have Coulson transferred overseas to the safest place in the world he could think off: Hogwarts. It was also in the Director's hopes that the stunned Coulson could come to terms with what had happened and that Hogwarts, with its reputation of having developed the wolfsbane potion, would be able to help the Agent cope with his new condition. It was arranged with Dumbledore that Coulson would take on a job as a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in the coming school year and that the necessary precautions would be taken to ensure that both his safety, as well as that of the students, would be taken care off. It is with a heavy heart and a troubled mind that the listed-as-dead Agent heads off to Scotland, where he is to be introduced to his new colleagues at their staff retreat.
WAND[]
The AU version of SHIELD, WAND (the Wizarding Agency for interNational Defence) defers from other departments dedicated to fighting the dark arts because unlike most of them, WAND is an international organization under the Wizengamot. The top Aurors in WAND are called Agents, and they work directly under the head of WAND, Nick Fury. WAND's existance is top secret and strictly on a need to know basis. Most paperwork is done within WAND itself, and any that require WAND's name to be released to official government sources are purposely ambiguos to hide WAND's true goal: to protect both the wizarding and the mortal world from Dark Wizards. They handle very dangerous wizards and witches, and most of the Agents, when mentioned in memos and files, are referred to by their codenames to protect their identities and the lives of those who know them.
Members of WAND include:
Director Nick Fury
Agent Phil Coulson
Agent Maria Hill
Agent Sitwell
Relationships[]
Trivia[]
Phil is a giant fan of Albus Dumbledore. Over the years he has managed to obtain the entire Chocolate Frog Collector's Set of the great wizard, and one of his (happily achieved) dreams was to get the great man to sign it.
Phil's codename in WAND is Cheeseball, a reference to his birth state of Winsconsin.