Fraternity (comics)
The Fraternity is a fictional secret society in both the 2003 limited series Wanted by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones, and the 2008 film based on the comic.
Comics
In the comics, The Fraternity consists of supervillains who joined forces in 1986 to kill all the superheroes and take over the world. It is lead by five villains: megalomaniac mad scientist Professor Solomon Seltzer, sadistic amoral [...] Mr. Rictus, time-traveling bigot The Future, anachronistic autocrat The Emperor, and primeval immortal Adam-One.
Film
In the film, the Fraternity of Weavers is an ancient guild of assassins, formed in a Cathar monastery in eastern Moravia.
According the Fraternity's leader, Sloan, every culture in history has a secret code. One which cannot be found in traditional texts. A thousand years ago, a clan of Cathar weavers discovered a mystical language hidden in the fabric of threads woven by a special loom. They called themselves "The Fraternity." What's hidden is a binary code. If there is a mistake in the weaving and a vertical thread is on top it's a 1, if it's below then it's a 0. Decrypted, the code gives the name of a person that fate itself has decreed must be assassinated. It's a mode of necessity to maintain balance in the world. The Fraternity believe this is to forge stability out of chaos. The code of the Fraternity is "kill one and maybe, save a thousand." The specific loom that weaves the fabric with the encrypted names of the targets is called "The Loom of Fate."
Many of the members of the Fraternity possess a special ability that only a few people in the world possess. When under stress, their heart beats in excess of 400 beats per minute, sending abundant amounts of adrenaline into the bloodstream. This allows them to see and react faster than normal. The other ability Fraternity assassins possess is the power to "curve" bullets. They can instinctively shoot a gun in a manner that actually guides the bullet's path around objects to hit its target.
See also
- Bible code