Warlord

It was long an open secret that Sheku Koroma, President of Sierra Leone, was actualy the supervillain Warlord, leader of the War Machine. In the 1990s Koroma headed the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone’s civil war; under his direction the RUF committed the most inhuman atrocities against Sierra Leonine citizens in a campaign of fear to control the populace and prevent support for the democratically elected government. Koroma’s forces engaged in wholesale looting and theft, random killings, the conscription of child soldiers, mutilation and the amputation of limbs by machete, rape, and sexual slavery.

Koroma eventually took over the entire country after he somehow obtained a suit of powered armor of extraterrestrial origin and dubbed himself the Warlord. Funded largely by "blood diamonds" and drawing on the technical secrets of his armor, in the past few years Koroma has expanded his interests beyond Africa and established himself as an international dealer in energy weapons. He has benefited greatly from the fall of VIPER and has been purchasing or stealing many of the weapons of that organization for resale and to arm his elite guard. He has also hired a cadre of superpowered mercenaries known as the War Machine.

For a long time, Koromo cannily avoided direct conflict with the U.S. or U.S. heroes, but when the African hero the White Rhino defended a group of protestors in Freetown from Koroma’s forces, Koroma donned the Warlord armor and assembled the War Machine. They defeated the Rhino and hours later, the Warlord personally executed him on state television. He has also successfully fought back the London Watch and British military forces.

During the events of World in Flames, Koroma allied himself with Doctor Destroyer, using his submarine fleet to launch missiles at U.S. spy sattellites. Once his involvement was discovered, the U.S. launched a cruise missile strike against Freetown.

Following the attack, both the Punishers and the New Champions also travelled to Freetown to bring Warlord to justice. Using a double, the Warlord staged a parade, during which Harbinger assisanted the double. The New Champions infiltrated Warlord's submarine but were defeated by his War Machine. It is believed Feral Cat may still be his prisoner.

Since the failure of Destroyer's scheme, Warlord has allowed most of the world to believe that Sheku Koroma (his secret identity) was killed by Harbinger. He has found that his schemes go far beyond the nationalist identity he had originally cultivated to gain control of Sierra Leone. Along with his Shadow Army, he has now gained control of much of a significant portion of coastal West Africa (see From the Ashes) and prefers to manage these conquests from "behind the throne" through figurehead dictators and powerless assemblies.