| “ | My brother had cystic fibrosis. He suffered terribly. I saw firsthand the horror of genetic disease. If it's just one person or humanity itself, I feel it's my calling to ease their suffering. | ” |
| — Dr. Campbell to Senator Montez[src] | ||
Dr. Roderick Campbell was a recurring character and the main antagonist during the first season of FOX's The Gifted.
He was the head scientist and researcher for Trask Industries, a private contractor of Sentinel Services. He was working on mutant research in taking mutants and enhancing their abilities in order to control and weaponize them. His top priority was to acquire the two Strucker children in order to weaponize their joint power for his own ends. However, shortly after accomplishing this within the Hound program, he died in a plane crash caused by Polaris.
Character Description[]
"A mutant researcher contracted by the Sentinel Services. Professorial, intense and intimidating, Dr. Campbell has a morally dubious mission yet to be revealed."[1]
Early Life[]
Four years ago, before going to give a lecture about human evolution, Roderick had been running late as he had been checking up on his brother Jack. His cystic fibrosis was acting up again and he tried telling him to go and see the doctor as he was getting worse but his brother told him that it wouldn't help. He was already well passed his expectancy mark as it was. He told Roderick to not worry about him and just go to the meeting as he was already late. He then went and gave a small history lesson about the concept of evolution using the Neanderthal and Early humans comparisons and how they related to the emergence of the mutants. He claimed that the humans defeated the Neanderthals when they had greater strength and even bigger brains because they out cooperated them. He said that they would only defeat the mutants by staying united in the same fashion.
Season 1[]
Campbell learns of the Struckers and wants to acquire them.
In rX, Dr. Roderick Campbell entered the researchers lab, and requested that Joshua look up whatever files existed of mutant siblings. He recalled an incident during the 60's in Rio that stood out. May 21st, 1962, 'Mutant Terror in Rio De Janeiro', the article read. During which time a manhunt was underway for a brother-sister mutant duo. Dr. Campbell then asked for the whereabouts of the Strucker children (Andy and Lauren Strucker), two mutant siblings that destroyed a school's gymnasium earlier that week. With Sentinel Services still searching for the mutant fugitives, Dr. Campbell insisted that he speak with the head agent on the case.
In Exodus, Dr. Roderick Campbell called Agent Turner of the Sentinel Services, who so happened to be familiar with his work. It was his understanding that Agent Turner had a bit of a setback the previous night with the fugitives escaping. Agent Turner admitted that while this was true, they're also moving two prisoners to a detainment facility in order to gain the information needed to bring the escaped fugitives into custody. Dr. Campbell confessed that his reason for calling was his interest in Andy and Lauren, the Strucker children. He's aware that Agent Turner's team was already in possession of some of his resources. With that in mind, he would like to suggest a partnership in order to gain access to the two young mutants. Unfortunately, Sentinel Services didn't hand suspects over to contractors.
Campbell goes and makes an alliance with Agent Jace Turner.
In got your siX, Roderick Campbell was called by Jace Turner to seek a partnership in pursuing the Struckers and finding the Mutant Underground. However, Jace had been asked to take a leave of absence and Campbell told him that he had connections in Washington that could get it revoked. He came to the Sentinel Services main office with one of his Hounds to meet with Turner and told him that he got his leave revoked. He then asked to have the file on the Strucker children and have access to them as before, which he felt he could have as they were now working together, though made a subtle hint that if he refused then Campbell would force Turner to take his leave. Turner told him that he could have the information and they moved to get started.
He then attended a board meeting of the Sentinel Service personnel where Agent Turner briefed them about the theft of information from the federal building done by Reed Strucker and Eclipse. Turner asked to have cell phones tapped and monitored, which he viciously ordered was to be done without a court order.
Campbell sits with Turner as they argue their case against the Department of Justice attorney.
In eXtreme measures, Campbell was made to attend a hearing organized by a Department of Justice officer that was opposing their methods of surveillance and usage of the Hounds in vicinity of the general public. Turner tried to argue that they were hunting terrorists but the officer pointed out that they were using martial efforts to actually look for criminal suspects in the suburbs of Atlanta. When the officer moved for their programs to be cancelled as she would be making a formal request to the state court, Campbell made a subtle look to the Hound he had present. The officer then had an aneurysm in her brain that sent her to the hospital.
Later on, Agent Turner called him as he had noticed how Campbell was during the hearing. While Turner was against what happened, Campbell tried to brush it off as a tragic event that he had no hand in. Turner said that it was too suspicious and the Department of Justice would just send another law official but Campbell pointed out that it would be weeks before they would which would allow them to proceed as planned. He then ended the conversation by pointing out that Turner's daughter Grace would be proud of him standing up for their actions today and hung up.
He then brought Agent Turner to Trask Industries where he introduced him to his collection of Hounds for their plan to infiltrate the Mutant Underground with them.
in threat of eXtinction, Campbell moved his Hounds to known mutant safehouses. However, he was notified that Chloe Tan, hadn't checked in and was likely compromised. He then quickly ordered for them to head for Chattanooga.
Campbell explained that with their lost Hound compromised, the Mutant Underground might have learned about Trask and would follow it to Otto Strucker, the father of Reed Strucker and grandfather of the Strucker children. His assistant didn't think that the Mutant Underground would risk going to Otto Strucker, especially with him being under surveillance, but Campbell believed they would as they would be desperate. He brought along Pulse and administered a drug to him in order to make him complacent and ordered for him to accompany him into Strucker's shop while using his power on the area.
Campbell meets with Otto Strucker.
Campbell entered the shop and admired a piece of antiquity as Otto Strucker came in from upstairs to greet them. Campbell quickly told Strucker that he was a fan and admirer of his work but the old man told him that he was an antiques dealer. He told him that he referred to his research back at Trask and that he was inspired by it to move on and enhance mutant abilities instead of suppressing them. He then asked where Reed Strucker was but Otto told him that he hadn't seen his son for years. Campbell told him that they would have to search his place regardless. But before his men could begin their search, Otto revealed himself as a mutant as he gathered energy in his hands despite Pulse using his. He then ordered for his men to shoot Otto and just managed to avoid the brunt of his blast in retaliation. Campbell was then escorted out to his van, wounded, and moved to get away.
In outfoX, Campbell was in the badly burned from the encounter with Otto Strucker. Instead of getting a doctor, one of his Hounds was brought in to siphon away his pain and injuries.
In eXploited, Campbell was healed of the burns, though scarred, and was back at Trask. He had been informed that Turner had managed to capture the Struckers and he requested that they be turned over to him. Turner argued that they were teenagers and weren't processed yet but Campbell reminded Turner that they had a deal. He then agreed to hand them over, along with Blink and Dreamer.
Campbell meeting with Lauren and Andy Strucker.
At Trask, both Andy and Lauren Strucker were taken to his office where Campbell told them that he was aware of them being the great grandchildren of Andreas Von Strucker. He also told them that he knew that they possessed the same powers as him and his sister Andrea and wanted them to demonstrate that power for him. Both of the Strucker children refused to do anything for him but he assured them that they will.
He had them placed in a blast resistant room made of adamantium and told them that he wanted them to use their power on it. Again they refused so he went and brought out a gun where he shot and killed Dreamer. He then held the gun over at Blink and told them to do it or he would kill her next. The Struckers saw they didn't have a choice and then joined hands to unleash their power. They managed to break through the adamantium that the room was lined with. His sensors recorded the data and he then had all the mutants put back in their cells.
Campbell is visited by Agent Turner as he demands all the mutants be given to back to him.
Campbell was told by an assistant that they had gotten all the readings they could from the room on the Struckers' power and he was confident that they could perfect the latest weapon he was developing. However, Jace Turner showed up and he told Campbell that he and Sentinel Services was seizing possession of every mutant in the facility. He then noticed the blood, as well as the fact that Dreamer wasn't in her cell, and Campbell told him that there was an incident where she had tried to escape. Turner however told Campbell to give them the mutants and that they weren't going to be leaving without them. The doctor saw that he had no choice but to hand them over.
In 3 X 1, Campbell caught Agent Turner at Week's funeral service and told him that it was now time to forego mercy and take more drastic action against the Mutant Underground, which Turner was now supportive of.
He took Turner to Trask Industries where he said that he didn't have much Hounds because Turner had taken most of his subjects before, including the Struckers. However, he informed him that studying the Struckers had given him a way to combine the abilities of two mutants together in order to create a much more effective and powerful weapon. Turner was worried about how legal this was, as the Department of Justice already had them on thin ice as it was, but Campbell wasn't too worried as he was sure that the right political backing would remedy that for them. However, they needed a demonstration.
Campbell with Turner as they watch his new manacles at work.
When Sentinel Services received a tip about the Mutant Underground station in Fairburn GA, Campbell and Turner went personally to oversee the testing of his newest device. It was a bio-manacle that actually linked the powers of two mutants together in order to have them unlock joint abilities that were stronger than anything either could accomplish alone. He watched as two of his Hounds used it to plow through the Mutants' defenses without Sentinel Service agents even getting in range of getting counter attacked. However, the mutants that they were looking for managed to escape from them.
They were successful in apprehending 37 mutants and the test of the weapon was shown to a congressman and he was impressed. Campbell even told him that this was enough to shift action into retaliating against mutants now just in the country but even internationally. He was then asked to come to Washington so he could provide a demonstration there for them.
In eXtraction, Campbell had gone to the Humanity Today summit where he would go to try and get support from Senator Montez to take the Hound program national. He met with Senator Montez and an aid to discuss the results of his Hounds and the progress with his new joint manacles as they helped to capture mutants when they attacked the mutant station in Fairburn. He suggested that Montez could bring the program publically at Washington though he told Campbell that there was still a lot of opposition in a few states that support equal mutant rights. Campbell was sure that enough support would deem all of that irrelevant. To further sway Montez, he suggested that if it was truly a success than the man who presented it would be remembered very well in the next presidential run.
Before the summit began, Campbell was called by one of his scientists at Trask where they informed him that there was a vital piece of Otto Strucker's research on the gene suppression serum missing. He ordered that they find it and go through everything and everyone that Otto Strucker worked and contacted. Campbell sat through Montez promoting the Hound program at the summit and saw that there was a lot of people there showing favor and ready to pledge support.
When the summit was over, Campbell was made aware of signal disruption and sensed that something was wrong. He made ready to leave but was intercepted by Thunderbird, Eclipse and Blink. He then spotted a choir of children and quickly moved to take one in his arms and subtly pulled a gun on her that was in plain view of the mutants but not the children while he shouting to them that the mutants were attacking them and they had to run. Knowing the mutants wouldn't harm him with innocent children around him, he ducked into an elevator and escaped.
In X-roads, He reunited with Senator Montez and told them of the mutant attack but assured that they were being pursued. He then argued that the attack was proof positive that their actions were right as the mutants wouldn't have done this if it wasn't a threat. He then pushed for them to get to Washington and present the Hound program publically.
Campbell boarded a private plane with Montez and a good many of their financial and political allies to head to Washington. Montez asked if Campbell was sure that he would help make sure that it was he who made this happen during the time of the next presidential run and Campbell told him that he would. Montez then asked him how he got involved in all of this and he told him that it was because of his brother Jack's cystic fibrosis. He claimed that he saw firsthand how unforgiving genetics could be and wanted to scrub the disease of mutation off the face of the Earth. Montez told him that after they got to Washington, they would be that much closer to wiping out mutants.
As they were taking off, the plane started to experience heavy turbulence. Montez was freaking out while Campbell tried to remain calm. However, as they were airborne, Polaris used her power to destabilize the engines and cause them to overload and the plane exploded in mid-air with Campbell and everyone else.
Personality[]
Roderick Campbell is a ruthless man that seems to have little empathy for the plight of people. He is willing to do whatever it takes and exploit every advantage given to him to achieve his goals. He has proven this when he easily blackmailed Agent Turner with regaining his position in Sentinel Services and casually throwing his daughter at him to make him comply with his demands. He was even willing to hospitalize a Department of Justice attorney that stood in the way of his plans without batting an eye and took an innocent child in his arms while holding a gun on her to use her and other children as a shield to protect himself. He also is without sympathy, proven when he unhesitatingly shot Dreamer in the chest and mercilessly tortured Andy and Lauren Strucker. Campbell is also used to being in control but when the control slips away from him, he is quick to panic as he did when Otto Strucker was unaffected by his Hound's power and he quickly hid and ordered his men to kill him.
Physical Appearance[]
Dr. Campbell was a middle aged man with short brown hair and a beard. After the incident with Otto Strucker in Threat of Extinction, Campbell's face has a large burned scar. He has also shaved off his beard.
Abilities and Skills[]
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Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- rX
- eXodus
- got your siX
- eXtreme measures
- threat of eXtinction
- outfoX
- eXploited
- 3 X 1
- eXtraction
- X-roads
Trivia[]
- The series Roderick Campbell is a combination of both the "mainstream" universe version of the character with the cyborg mutant hunter Ahab, Campbell's own villainous future counterpart from the Days of Future Past timeline.
- The "mainstream" Campbell is a psychologist and Moira McTaggart's assistant at the Muir Island research facility and an ally of the superhero group Excalibur, who, after discovering the existance of Ahab, became obsessed with avoiding becoming him. In his last known apperance, however, he re-appeared transformed into Famine, one of the Four Horsemen of the mutant Apocalypse.
- The "mainstream" Roderick Campbell made his first appearance in the 1993 comic series titled "Excalibur #72".
- Ahab first appeared in the 1990 Fantastic Four Annual #23.
- Campbell's death in X-roads brought an end to the Hound program.
Gallery[]
