On January 3, 2026, xDemon left SWAT with a lockdown announced the next day, and Fwapo left on January 9th. We go into the various leadership changes and the current status of the army.
Background
Ganger90 founded Special Weapons and Tactics in 2009 as a band of rogues on the server, Mammoth. They eventually formed into a formal army. SWAT’s legendary status rose in 2012 in the second generation with the rise of S Cargo2. This generation reached the finals of the 2012 Club Penguin Army Central Champions Cup, despite losing to the Ninjas. They were not at the top throughout most of the original Club Penguin era, unfortunately. In the waning years of the era, however, Frozen Zuke managed to lead a generation that included Badboy, Tacodaily, and Stare3000.
In 2020, the army returned for one of its strongest generations under Sweater, Zuke, and Cargo. During this time, they joined the Warriors Alliance with the Golds, Dark Warriors, and Ice Warriors. They waged a massive war against the Doritos and their allies. However, due to a botched merger slightly later under a former leader, Badboy, they suffered dramatically. They persisted through this, however, with a return from Sweater. Further struggles led to leaders such as Mare and Aubz. This generation of leaders gave rise to a brand-new SWAT that remained strong for a couple of years.
With the addition of LEGOMAN, SWAT continued its strong leadership run. However, following multiple controversies and internal fights over 2024 and 2025, SWAT declined, despite multiple leadership changes. Post LEGOMAN’s run, a leadership group consisting of Holo2, Versa, and Subzero inducted WilliamW2010 as leader. William would be the only constant in SWAT from March 21, 2025.
Recent Changes
With Holo2, Subzero, and Versa stepping down throughout the year, we saw xDemon arrive in the army in Operation: Phoenix on December 14, 2025. During xDemon’s short reign of three weeks, he trained Fwapo and Ggogle, SWAT High Command members, to become leaders.
With xDemon stepping down, however, the army realized that they faced struggles in activity during recent events. This led to a lockdown announced to ensure that staff and troops had a break while leadership could figure out how to fix the army. However, just before the lockdown, they announced their alliance with Shadow Legionnaires, confirmed to be active. Initially, the leadership team during the lockdown would continue to be Fwapo, WilliamW2010, and Ggogle. Fwapo stepped down on January 9, unfortunately, leading to a semi-active Ggogle and WilliamW2010 to be responsible for taking the army out of this temporary setback and improving it. Following their individual retirements, xDemon and Fwapo both went to Void Troops, with xDemon joining as a 2ic and Fwapo as a 4ic. The future of SWAT is yet to be determined.
Club Penguin Army League reached out to both xDemon and Fwapo on their takes on the series of events to understand the future of SWAT.
Is there a reason you left the SWAT leadership?
xDemon: simplest said, the original intent was just me joining for a month to put everything together and set SWAT up for 2026. Once I felt like i’d accomplished that, having bought in a full HCOM and Staff team as well as leading the army to maxing 15+, i retired and handed leadership off to Ggogle and Fwapo
Fwapo: Behind the scenes are things I can not talk about
Did xDemon’s retirement from leadership affect SWAT in any major way?
Fwapo: Yes of course, xdemon was the person who got SWAT on its feet again and we have to honor him for it, but when he left obv there were alot of problems going on and one of them is the lack of leadership. At the start, things were flowing smoothly but personally i think I was alone (my admiration and respect for William) and also Ggogle is inactive so.
What do you think is the future of the army and do you think you will return any time soon?
xDemon: With Fwapo retiring and Ggogle MIA, William and his HCOM will be taking control. Due to the multiple retirements the army will definetly take a hit, but if they can get their act together with their staff team and recruitment efforts they could definetly pull the army up to 10+
Fwapo: I think its best if SWAT shuts down, its only too long before things die and I think its time, who knows maybe some time in the future will open again and we will see legends leading it.
Anything else to add?
xDemon: No
Fwapo: No
After talking to both former leaders, it is apparent that there were internal struggles within the SWAT leadership due to inactivity and losses. However, with the journey SWAT has had till now, it does not appear that this generation’s struggle is over yet. There does seem to be some grit, albeit with necessary changes to revive the greatness. Do you think that SWAT will make a comeback in the community after the lockdown? Will Ggogle and WilliamW2010 both come back strong and push the army to new heights?
