Characters / S.H.I.E.L.D.

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Rick Stoner

Alter Ego: Richard "Rick" Stoner

Notable Aliases: Fallen Angel

First Appearance: Fury #1 (May 1994)

• Retcon: Thanks to the march of Comic-Book Time. Fury was originally the first director of S.H.I.E.L.D., but various changes to continuity mean otherwise.

Nick Fury

Alter Ego: Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury

Notable Aliases: Scorpio, Gemini, The Unseen

First Appearance: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963)

See here for more info.

Dum Dum Dugan

Alter Ego: Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader Dugan

Notable Aliases: Libra

First Appearance: Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963)

See here for more info.

G. W. Bridge

Alter Ego: George Washington Bridge

Notable Aliases:

First Appearance: X-Force #1 (August 1991)

See here for more info.

Sharon Carter

Alter Ego: Sharon Carter

Notable Aliases: Agent 13, Fraulein Rogers, Gaea-1, Irma Kruhl, "The Most Dangerous Spy in the World," Ronnie, Shary, Iron Patriot

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #75 (March, 1966)

The sister/niece of Steve's World War II love interest Peggy Carter, who works alongside Steve as an agent of SHIELD. The two have an on-again, off-again love affair, which is currently off due to her catching a bad case of dead... except, nope, it was a fake out, she was alive the whole time, she just aged ten years in another dimension and spent her time raising Steve's son. Consider it on again.

She first appeared in Tales of Suspense #75 (March, 1966). In her initial appearance, Sharon was involved in a conflict between SHIELD and AIM. A fellow agent of SHIELD had managed to steal powerful explosive "Inferno-42" from the terrorist organization. He passed it on to Sharon for safekeeping, while AIM hired Batroc the Leaper to go after her. Cap accidentally got involved in the conflict, following Sharon around due to her supposed resemblance to one of his Love Interests from World War II. Subsequent issues of this storyline established that Sharon is actually the niece of said love interest, Margaret "Peggy" Carter, and that Sharon herself is quite capable of outmaneuvering opponents.

Sharon was soon developed into the main love interest for Cap. In issue #95 (November, 1967), Cap revealed his Secret Identity to her and offered his marriage proposal. Sharon turned down his offer, pointing out that she is already married—Married to the Job, that is. She continued to serve as a regular supporting character until Captain America vol. 1 #233 (May, 1979). There she is forced to commit suicide as part of a plot by hypnotist Doctor Faustus. That was supposed to be the end of the character, and she remained dead for nearly two decades, until she turned up quite alive in issue #445 (November, 1995), courtesy of writer Mark Waid. Sharon was Faking the Dead for years, and her return was part of a major storyline of the time.

Sharon has remained a prominent character in books featuring Cap and/or SHIELD since The '90s. Most of her key storylines have been written by Mark Waid and Ed Brubaker. She co-starred with Nick Fury in the mini-series "Fury/Agent 13" (1998) and became a part of the black-ops team Secret Avengers in 2010.

She was seemingly killed off again by Cap writer Rick Remender, shortly after proposing to Steve, but she ended up surviving, along with Steve's adopted son, Ian. However, she was in Dimension Z, where time is wonky, and she's aged enough for it to show on her face. With Steve losing the serum and looking every one of his ninety-some-odd years, they've decided to take a well-earned break from fieldwork, although they continue to work logistics for the Avengers.

Outside of comics, Sharon has appeared in the 1960s Captain America animated anthology series. She also appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a prominent character in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, portrayed by Revenge star Emily VanCamp.

Tropes embodied by Agent Carter

• Action Girl: As long as we're not talking about her Silver Age persona, Sharon's one of the best in the Marvel Universe. Sharon is a trained athlete and extremely competent martial artist, adept at various fighting techniques. She is highly trained in espionage, weapons, firearms, and computers.
• Action Mom: Nearly became one, but had to abort her child to avoid it being targeted by Red Skull's plan to resurrect himself.
• Amazon Brigade: Involved in a couple. First she was leader of SHIELD's "Femme Force", an all-female strike team in the seventies. During Ta-Nehisi Coates' run she was revealed to be involved in a highly secretive secret society of female heroes known as the Daughters of Liberty which stretched back centuries, and was an offshoot of the Daughters of Light, which was older.
• Back from the Dead: Was considered dead in the comics from 1979 to 1995, but came back literally the first issue Mark Waid had on Captain America. Writer Ed Brubaker once commented that he was glad Mark Waid had resurrected Sharon during his run, or else Brubaker would have had to do it himself.
• Badass Normal
  • She has no superpowers.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: After over fifty years in comics as a highly trained paramilitary spy, she gains increased physical abilities from a ritual started by Selene Gallio and reversed by Shuri.
• Batter Up!: As Destroyer, her weapon is a bat made of neganite.
• Battle Couple: She and Captain America.
• Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: In the espionage stories of the 2000s, Maria Hill serves as the Brawn, Sharon as the Beauty, and Victoria Hand as the Brains.
• Blessed with Suck: Aja-Adanna used the power of Selene to restore the damage done to Sharon's body in Dimension Z. Unfortunately, that came with Hearing Voices of Selene's victims. Thankfully not all of them ever, but enough to fill a legion, and they're all begging Carter to avenge them.
• Blue Blood: As close as they get in the US. Her family is referred to by Wilson Fisk as "Virginia royalty".^note One of the first families of Virginia really is the Carters.
• Brainwashed and Crazy:
  • Her original reason for cause of death.
  • Sharon was brainwashed into killing Captain America and actually did fire that apparently ended Cap's life. Of course, that bullet wasn't as fatal as first thought.
• Career Versus Man: This used to be something coming between her and Steve, because she was keen on keeping her job. His marriage proposal came with the understanding that she would retire from action. She was not interested.
• Convenient Miscarriage: Averted. Following the Civil War (2006), Sharon discovered that she was pregnant. She was then taken captive by Red Skull and, after a fight, was found stabbed in the abdomen. The next issue revealed that she had done it to herself to keep her baby away from the Skull.
• Darker and Edgier: After being betrayed by SHIELD, she was forced to do unpleasant things to survive; some violent, others degrading. Once Cap found out that she was alive, he soon discovered that this wasn't the same Sharon he had come to known.
• Death Faked for You: Yeah, remember when Sharon burned herself to death^note long story, though it involves brainwashing and evil neo-Nazi cults? Turns out that SHIELD faked that in order to get her to another mission overseas. Needless to say, Sharon was none too pleased.
• Expy:
  • Just like Peggy, she was initially one of Betsy Ross, Cap's occasional Love Interest in the original 1940s comics. Particularly Betty's stint as FBI Agent X-13 before Ross became the bullet proof super hero Golden Girl. However, Sharon's character evolved in a somewhat different direction.
  • An expy of Sharon known as "Agent X" appeared in several episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series as Nick Fury's right hand woman.
• Faux Action Girl: Sometimes in the Silver Age. Even when she was leading a platoon of female agents, she was the one that got knocked out. At other points, she easily dispatched multiple assailants.
• Fear Is the Appropriate Response: One of the things that annoys her about Steve Rogers, and Peggy, is that she feels they don't fear for their lives enough. Sharon admits that every time she puts her life on the line it scares her but she does what she has to do because it's the right thing to do. She does try to keep a stern face under pressure, but when piloting a vehicle, wearing Powered Armor or the Destroyer mask she's free to "relax" and let her covered face show her true emotions
• Generation Xerox: Her aunt Peggy Carter was a heroine of World War II and in a romance with Captain America. Sharon grew up to become a hero in her own right and got involved in a romance with the same long-lived hero.
• I Can Still Fight!: Sharon was willing to take a more passive, administrative and diplomatic role after being artificially aged up. That was until she saw Selene Gallo advertising a pyramid scheme on live television while professing the virtues of a religion "Gallo" did not believe in and using a piece of Carter's soul as a necklace. After that, Sharon was ready to march over to Adamsville Ohio and throw hands with Selene personally, though enough friends saw her seeing this to keep Carter from taking the bait.
• I Warned You: After Wilson Fisk tries to deal with Hydra and loses big time, he is approached by the Power Elite to help rebuild if he joins them. Sharon warns Fisk this is a bad idea and offers him a way out, but he refuses, so she lets him squirm when he realizes she's right, and they're as out of his league as Hydra was.
• Identical Grandson: She was introduced as a younger version of Margaret "Peggy" Carter, an older Love Interest of Cap. Originally Peggy was said to be her older sister, later said to be her elderly aunt. Before Peggy died of dementia she looked old enough to be Sharon's grandmother.
• Immune to Mind Control: Some time after getting mind-controlled into killing her love, she trained herself to resist the influence of the culprit, Doctor Faustus. This came in handy during the Secret Empire event where she got some revenge on Faustus, as well as disable the HYDRA fleet in one fell swoop.
• Lack of Empathy: Not for everyone, but for Norman Osborn's former assistant Victoria Hand specifically, such as in Age of Heroes #3, where hand is working sick, covering her mouth and nose when she coughs and sneezes, but Sharon still only reacts with annoyance and revulsion.
• The Lad-ette: In the 1990s she dropped all pretenses of grace while gaining a much greater appreciation for alcohol and violence. This has been scaled back since the 2000s
• Legacy Character
  • The pseudonym "Agent Thirteen" had previously been used by her aunt Peggy in the 1940s. Both of them are based on the actual 1940s 'Captain America Comics'' character Betty Ross, who was Agent X-13.
  • Adopted the mantle of Destroyer during Jackson Lanzing's run. She's the fourth hero of the 616 comics to have the title, not counting the many villains and weapons and Drax, and in usual Marvel tradition, she has absolutely nothing to do with the first man to be called such, just as the second one didn't, though Sharon initially wore a white skull like most of the other destroyers.
• Light Is Good: Sharon is a hero and is often seen wearing a white Spy Catsuit.
• The Lost Lenore: Occasionally, during her near twenty years spent dead, for Steve.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: To an extent, with Cap in some newer comics. Especially true for Mark Waid's run in the 1990s. Sharon was the tough character who saved Cap out of trouble, was willing to Shoot the Dog and, generally, was cynic, bitter and had shades of a '90s Anti-Hero. Cap was the sensitive All-Loving Hero who Didn't Like Guns and was upset when the government was mean to illegal immigrants. Averted in the Silver Age and during much of Brubaker's run, where she's still tough, but more feminine.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Upon realizing her role in Cap's apparent death, all Sharon can do is tearfully wonder what she just did.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: During All-New Marvel NOW!, she's abducted by Arnim Zola into another dimension where time passes more quickly. Ultimately reversed during Ta-Nehisi Coates 's runwhere it is revealed there are protections in place for that and Sharon's deteroriation was due to her soul being gradually siphoned away by Alexa Lukin, which was then rapidly restored once Lukin was caught.
• Power Armour: Operated the Iron Patriot armor to battle Selene Gallio. She later gets a pure-white armor designed for her.
• Rape as Drama: All but explicitly stated to have suffered sexual abuse after she was captured upon that one fateful failed mission. Much later, she suffers rape by fraud at the hands of Hydra Cap.
• Redundant Rescue: In Captain America vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra Mook that Sharon was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Upon her reintroduction in the mid-90s, she became focused on killing Nick Fury herself to get revenge for the aforementioned betrayal.
• Shoot Your Mate: In an early Silver Age story, was forced into a straight-up scenario by Baron Zemo, who had captured Cap and gave her a loaded gun, but managed to subvert it. After some very brief quiet anguish, she took a third option by making eye contact with Cap and giving him a subtle cue to move, shooting just in time to barely miss him as he broke loose and jumped the troops who were guarding him. In the chaos that ensued, it took a while to subdue him again, and Zemo was satisfied that she'd been ready to kill him, now trusting her loyalty. (This was early enough in the series that he didn't know about their personal relationship.)
  • Notably, while written in over-the-top 1960s comics prose, the scene remains strong today because Sharon didn't flinch, and couldn't be sure if Cap had understood her sign to move, as she had to make it very subtle while enjoying Zemo's full attention. Arguably, it was her Establishing Character Moment as a badass secret agent that she could pull it off convincingly, and it also shows that her Silver Age persona wasn't so weak and useless as it's often flanderized nowadays.
• Silver Vixen: She tries to find a silver lining in being artificially aged, thinking she at least won't have to worry about being constantly checked out by guys. This doesn't happen, prompting her to start using a wheel chair in public even though she doesn't really need it
• Someone to Remember Him By: She discovered she was pregnant thanks to Captain America, just following his death in Civil War (2006).
• Spy Catsuit: The catsuit is the basic uniform for agents in the spy agency SHIELD, for men and women. Besides the standard black uniform, Sharon also uses a white uniform tailored for her.
• Strong Family Resemblance: With her elderly aunt Peggy when she was younger.
• Swapped Roles: In Captain America volume 7, she's aged well past her prime due to time dilation in Dimension Zand Alexa Lukin gradually extracting parts of her soul. It is revealed in volume 10 that while this happened, Kobik had accidentally brought her aunt Peggy back to life and then gifted Peggy with the body of a young woman, meaning Peggy now had to do what Sharon could no longer. Due to not being treated well in Dimension Z, Sharon was less physically capable than the elderly Peggy had been, though Sharon wasn't prone to boughts of catatonia.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Averted throughout — surprisingly enough, even in her original Silver Age stories, when Cap would usually firmly adhere to it. Not that she was murderous or anything, like the Darker and Edgier '90s version sometimes appeared, but she was perfectly willing to use her sidearm when it was needed. One example comes from a story where the Red Skull's heavily armed Nazi assassins had ambushed Cap, who put up a fair fight but was about to be shot by the last man standing. Sharon got him first.
  Nazi Agent (To Cap): Even your shield cannot save you now!
  Sharon: No—But this can!
• Took a Level in Badass: Under Mark Waid she became a hardcore mercenary/free agent.
• Took a Level in Jerkass
  • When she returned from the dead, as compared to her previous characterization. Somewhat justified, in that she had spent several years left behind in hellish third-world countries in between, fighting with primitive guerrillas in an atrocious civil war and ultimately locked up in a thinly disguised North Vietnamese death camp, which left her pretty well broken by the time she was able to escape.
  • Also, has been rolled back again somewhat since the 1990s. She's retained many of the traits introduced since that decade, but also gotten back those she had before then, creating a more rounded character with a less abrasive personality
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: With Steve, at times. Often with him finding what he thinks is an opportunity to "slow down" and her disagreeing
• Weakness Turns Her On: She admits she likes seeing Steve Rogers vulnerable, just so long as he's not in any real danger and he's willingly showing it to her.
• Working the Same Case: While arguing with Steve Rogers over information she refuses to divulge him regarding the missions she had been sending him on after having him broken out of the Myrmidon, Steve gets an emergency call from his lawyer, Bernie Rosenthal, and darts out to solve a Cop Killer case. Turns out that's what Sharon would have had Steve working on anyway, and they're both apologetic upon seeing each other again with this revelation
• You Are Number Six: Her codename is Agent 13. She drops it when S.H.I.E.L.D. is disbanded, however, liking the title but noting it's of no significane beyond sentimentality

Maria Hill

Alter Ego: Maria Hill

Notable Aliases: Director Hill, Agent/Special Agent Hill, Mary Huell, Commander Hill, Deputy Commander Hill, Sub-Director Hill, Deputy Director Maria Hill

First Appearance: New Avengers #4 (March 2005)

Maria Hill first appeared in New Avengers #4 (April 2005), where after the scandalous affair of the Secret War and its disastrous effect on New York City, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury goes into hiding. Hill, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent viewed by the leaders of several nations as being both an efficient agent and, more importantly in their eyes, not directly loyal to Fury or any of his core group, is appointed interim Executive Director, being expected to be loyal to United States interests before those of the United Nations, which S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to serve before any other country.

Hill quickly establishes new policies on super-powered heroes, as requested by the President of the United States and his peers in other national governments: to end S.H.I.E.L.D. support for the heroes. These policies are in full effect when Hill tries to prevent The Avengers from re-forming following the breakout at the Raft super-villain prison. However, Captain America's champion status allows him to form any team he wants for any mission he sees fit, while Spider-Woman's status as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent gives her access to any files that the Avengers may require. With these two situations meaning that the Avengers could operate independent of Hill's authority while retaining access to the relevant information they need to complete their mission of tracking down the Raft escapees, Hill is convinced to leave the situation alone.

In the wake of events in the Savage Land, the Avengers suspect Hill of being complicit in various crimes, but lack the evidence to prove her wrongdoing, while Hill herself suspected the latest incarnation of the Avengers of harboring an illicit agenda in connection with, among other things, the "House of M" affair, to the point that she abducted Spider-Man and The Vision to question them about the situation even when dealing with the Collective. She eventually earns Iron Man's respect when she ignores the President's orders to nuke an island the Avengers were on at the time.

In the 2006–2007 miniseries Civil War (2006), Captain America refuses to assist Commander Hill in preparations to arrest any superheroes who refuses to comply with the Superhuman Registration Act, seeing such activity as politically motivated, but Hill, arguing that Captain America must obey the will of the American people, attempts to arrest him, but he fights his way out and escapes. After the Act passes into law, Hill is one of its leading enforcers. She blackmails Wonder Man into actively supporting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s crusade to hunt down the superheroes opposed to the Registration Act. She sends Kree supersoldier Noh-Varr, already brainwashed, to capture the Runaways. She directs the Thunderbolts to capture Spider-Man after he goes rogue. After foiling an attack on Stark Tower, Hill admits to Tony Stark that she does not want her job as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and thinks she should not have been offered it in the first place. She suggests that the only other person besides Nick Fury who should lead the organization is Stark himself. At the conclusion of the Civil War, Tony Stark is appointed the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D., with a displeased Hill his acting deputy director.

After being made Deputy Director, Maria Hill becomes a core member of Stark's S.H.I.E.L.D. cabinet and assists Stark in dealing with a sudden rise in various terrorist groups who have gained access to hyper-advanced biological weapons. Unlike the rest of the cabinet, Hill remains skeptical of a single conspiracy behind all these attacks. Subsequently, however, Hill becomes much more trusting in Stark's leadership, a trusted agent in her role as Deputy Director, and far less bound by conventional process, particularly after a confrontation with Dum Dum Dugan, in which he forces her to confront the fact that she was apparently willing to take actions that would allow innocent people to die while still sticking to "the book" because the alternative was to disobey orders. She eventually risks her career by locking down the United Nations under S.H.I.E.L.D. martial law so Stark can escape a tribunal going against him and track down the Mandarin.

During the 2008 Secret Invasion (2008) storyline, after the Helicarrier is disabled by Skrull invaders, Hill, who is left in charge in Stark's absence, confronts a number of extraterrestrial Skrulls, shapeshifters who can assume the appearance of anyone or anything, who are revealed to have replaced a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. The Skrulls execute Hill, but this "Hill" is revealed to be a Life Model Decoy of Hill. Hill then activates the Helicarrier's self-destruct system, killing all the Skrull infiltrators on board, escaping via jet pack.

In the aftermath of the Skrull Invasion's failure, during the Dark Reign storyline, S.H.I.E.L.D is disbanded by the President, and Hill and Tony Stark lose their jobs, replaced by the newly appointed director Norman Osborn who then reforms the fallen S.H.I.E.L.D. into H.A.M.M.E.R. Hill tries to go about having a normal life, but Osborn dispatches H.A.M.M.E.R. to arrest her. She joins her former boss, Tony Stark, as a fugitive after he stole the Superhuman Registration Database, and he sends her on a mission to retrieve a hard drive and deliver the data to Captain America via Black Widow, all the while evading H.A.M.M.E.R. agents. They are eventually captured when H.A.M.M.E.R. intercepts an e-mail from Stark, but they are rescued by Pepper Potts, disguised as Madame Masque.

Following the apparent death of Nick Fury, she was appointed commander, then acting director, and finally director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following Daisy Johnson's actions that involved the Secret Avengers invading A.I.M. Island.

• Iron Man: Rise of Technovore (2013)
• Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers (2014)
• Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher (2014)

Live-Action

• Marvel Cinematic Universe (2012 – present), portrayed by Cobie Smulders:
  • The Avengers (2012)
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 – 2015)
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
  • Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
  • Avengers: Endgame (2019)
  • Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) ^note as impersonated by Soren
  • What If…? (2021)
  • Secret Invasion (2023)

Video Games

• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009)
• Marvel: Avengers Alliance (2012)
• Marvel Heroes (2013)
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes (2013)
• Avengers Academy (2016)
• Marvel's Avengers (2020)
• Marvel Snap (2023)

Web Animation

• Marvel Rising Ultimate Comics (2019),^note episode: "Quake" voiced by Vanessa Marshall

Western Animation

• Iron Man: Armored Adventures (2009 – 2012)
• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010 – 2012), voiced by Kari Wuhrer.
• Avengers Assemble (2014)

Maria Hill provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents: Her father, Ed, was a firm believer in Maternal Death? Blame the Child!, and is the reason she is such a cold and troubled person.
• Action Girl: One of SHIELD's top field agents before getting assigned to command and control.
• Actually a Doombot:
  • Shortly after she became head of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury broke into her room and told her if she ever suspected something was up that she should replace herself with an LMD immediately. She took it to heart - a few months later, Nick Fury sent his Caterpillars to abduct her. They got an LMD instead, which Fury was counting on.
  • During Secret Invasion (2008) the Skrulls seemingly execute her, only to realise that what they killed was a Life Model Decoy. Which Hill then blows up.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She has dark hair, and also is very aloof and poised with those she interacts.
• Badass Normal: She is one of the very few normal humans that can stand face-to-face with supervillains, that include Killer Robots and Physical Gods, without fear. Par for the course with SHIELD agents.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: With Stark. It finally culminated in them sleeping together during the "World's Most Wanted" story arc.
• BFG: She uses a massive bazooka as she rescues Thor in Siege.
• Body Double: Shortly after Maria was made director, Nick Fury broke into her quarters, and once he'd determined she wasn't a Skrull, gave her some advice. Namely, if she ever felt the situation wasn't right, she should make use of an Life Model Decoy. During Secret Invasion, this saves her life.
• Boyish Short Hair: Maria's a definite tomboy, and has the haircut to match.
• Brainwashing for the Greater Good: She created a town called Pleasant Hill with a cosmic cub..."patented Kobik technology" that physically transforms those who enter it into productive but harmless forms while filling them with False Memories. Designed to be unescapable, the super villains placed in Pleasant Hill manage to escape anyway and are so offended by the experience they form an "Army of Evil" to destroy Manhattan in revenge.
• By-the-Book Cop: She's a strict follower of the law as it is written and playing by the rules, which creates friction between her and Fury due to his more Military Maverick style, and several times she's filed reports criticizing his actions. This was the reason why she was appointed interim Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place - she's loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. law, not to Fury or any of his trusted people. Lampshaded by Dum Dum Dugan.
• Captain Crash: Helicarriers have a tendency to fall out of the sky whenever she's in command. Though to be fair the things tend to not have the greatest safety record for anyone else, either.
• Commander Contrarian: Automatically plays this role towards whoever is in charge of her.
• Cronyism: Part of her abrasive attitude is that she knows she was fast tracked to the Director of Shield position not out of merit but precisely because she didn't know enough about the world at large to put anyone else's interests before the United States, even though S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be a United Nations organization. She tries to do exactly what's expected of her and bully all others for 'Murica, but it's not a happy job for Hill.
• Depending on the Artist: In her first appearances, she had Boyish Short Hair, brown eyes and big lips. Later storylines would zigzag on this design and a more youthful-looking one with smaller lips, slightly longer hair and sometimes blue or grey eyes. Her Ms. Fanservice features can also vary depending on the artist. Her hair especially can shift between issues that are supposed to take place around the same time; the image for this page was an instance when the artist wanted her to have longer hair, but she's usually depicted with very short hair. At times, her hair length varies to differentiate her from Daisy Johnson.
• Depending on the Writer: There is no denying that even on her better days, Maria can be a Jerkass among jerks, but just how much of a jerk she can be shifts depending on who's writing her. Brian Bendis tends to write her as being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold - for example, knocking out Spider-Man so the psychic division can pick his brain for info the Avengers weren't giving (because for some reason, they didn't trust her), then having her people use that information to help the Avengers, or refusing to nuke Genosha while the Avengers were on it, even after being given an order by the U.S. president. And then there are folks like Nick Spencer, who writes Maria as needlessly kicking the dog or committing pointlessly petty acts as a seeming hobby, so much so that you'd think it was an addiction for her.
• Dramatic Irony: Whenever Maria Hill is forced to work against the government, like when Norman Osborn is head of S.H.I.E.L.D. or when the cosmic cube-warped, Hydra-loyal Captain America took over America. Maria Hill clearly hates working against the law, as she favors a draconian interpretation of it, but even she has standards.
• Establishing Character Moment: Ringing up the newly formed New Avengers to tell Captain America that as far as she's concerned he, Captain America, has no right to reform the Avengers without her say-so, and she ain't giving it.
• Everyone Has Standards: Despite her strict adherence to authority, she refuses to work for Norman Osborn or Secret Empire Captain America when they are her superiors when she realizes what depraved monsters they are.
• Foil: To Nick Fury. Where Nick is a Cowboy Cop who is very close with the superhero community (to the point of having regular steak nights with some of them), Maria is a By-the-Book Cop who is distant at best, rude at worse to superheroes.
• Freudian Excuse: Her present day cold and hostile personality can be attributed to the abuse from her father growing up, who blamed Maria for the death of her mother.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: In spades. Nobody liked working with her when she first debuted, and it took a very long time for people to warm to her. Even those within S.H.I.E.L.D. dislike her, and cheered at the sight of her being fired in the wake of Secret Invasion.
• Hate Sink: Maria Hill was introduced in the 2000's as an uncooperative Jerkass who earned the disdain of everyone around her. Her Establishing Character Moment in New Avengers has her nuking what she believes to be a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. cell, an act of violence so extreme it causes Captain America to snap and need to be held back by Wolverine of all people. Her perceived lack of competence as Nick Fury's substitute also causes her to be loathed by her subordinates and the superhero community at large, as pointed out when the Skrull Queen mentions that nobody knows or cares about Maria Hill. To further nail how despised she is in-universe, when she is fired following the events of Secret Invasion (2008), her co-workers openly cheer and mock her for it. Ironically, this event would mark a turn in Maria's characterization, as she starts to be portrayed in a more positive light once she becomes part of the supporting cast of Invincible Iron Man (2008).
• Heel Realization: Has had a number of these over the years. When she set up the brain-washing reality-warping Pleasant Hill prison, she fully expected to be put into it herself for building it. And a 2017 story in Jessica Jones reveals she put an enormous bounty on her own head that would go active the instant she left S.H.I.E.L.D. She did this after her first mission for Nick Fury.
• Hero Antagonist: She's frequently used as opposition whenever a writer needs a hero to perform some legally grey act.
• I Hate Past Me: Downplayed. When she remembered that she had issued an enormous bounty on her own head years ago in the event that she left S.H.I.E.L.D., Maria cancelled the bounty and scolded her younger self for her naïve, self-righteous attitude.
• Inspector Javert: Especially during the Civil War storyline. She is not a villain, but she sincerely believes the law is always right, even when others disagree, even if the law is still a bill not yet voted on. If a hero toes out of line even a little bit, she'll be the first to try and give them a bad day.
• Iron Lady: She's part of the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D., and as such stoic and no-nonsense almost all the time.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On her better days, she is on the Avengers' side, but she doesn't exactly make things easy for them. Case in point: Knocking out Spidey so the psi-department could pick his brains for sensitive information Iron Man and Cap weren't giving... so she could use it to help the Avengers with the problem of the week.
• Jet Pack: Used one to escape a helicarrier explosion.
• Just Following Orders: Earned a lot of hatred from the superhero community for enforcing the Registration Act. She justifies herself by saying she's just following the instructions of Congress and the President.
• Knight Templar: While not quite evil, she still fits this to a degree, with her insistence that superheroes must register in Civil War (2006) becoming one of her signature character traits (after which she became a steady and unavoidable character of the Marvel Earth), and her occasional stonewalling of their efforts.
• Lawful Stupid: At times she spends more time antagonizing superheroes, forcing them to comply with the law, than actual villains.
• Modern Major General: She's a great scout, spy, soldier, pilot and colonel. Basically she's great at being anything other than the Interpol Secretary General-spymaster combination she's supposed to be.
• Ms. Fanservice: Zig-zagged, sometimes she's portrayed with a very athletic build, a very notable chest and a nice rear but other time she's drawn with a slender build and a smaller chest.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: In Civil War, Cap wasn't keen on the registration but simply told her he wasn't going to hunt any heroes who didn't join, remaining neutral. Her response was to have him detained seeing it as treason. Cap tried to end the stand off peacefully, but when she didn't relent, he ended up escaping, figured this little action justified his beliefs and went on to lead the anti-registration side. So technically she's more or less the reason things ended up escalating in the first place. And the real dumb thing about this? The bill hadn't been voted on when she did this.
• Number Two: To Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., she is officially the second in command. She later became this to Daisy Johnson, much to her displeasure. Eventually, she'd return to being head of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Odd Friendship: She and Tony Stark gradually developed one.
• Patriotic Fervor: In Fantastic Four volume 7, Maria reforms SHIELD not as the United Nations Sanctioned organization that answers to the World Security Council, but a wing of the CIA dedicated to using super humans to advance US interests. This technically makes SHIELD less powerful than it had been before, but Hill doesn't care.
• Power Hair: Depending on the Artist, but she tends to have short hair.
• Promoted to Scapegoat: The Skrulls had a hand in her replacing Nick Fury, knowing full well when everything went to crap she'd get the blame (then they'd kill her).
• Psychological Projection: Maria Hill asks if Carol Danvers is sexually pleasuring Director Tony Stark for favors, after Danvers starts Operation Lightning Storm. Danvers is too shocked by the accusation to get angry before Hill leaves her quarters. Hill later ends up sleeping with Stark herself.
• Red Herring: Maria Hill commits many actions that would be considered felonies in the real US, and is loathed by many characters in the story because of it, but one can almost always trust Maria to own her actions, at least until they've actually backfired on her. Whenever it is implied she might be behind some conspiracy against our heroes or their societies it's always revealed to be an actual super villain instead
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: As S.H.I.E.L.D. director, Maria Hill assumes S.W.O.R.D. head Abigail Brand will be against her every step of the way because Commander Brand was a Nick Fury loyalist. Abigail does oppose Maria wherever possible, but she hated Nick too. Brand just hates Hill more because of Hill's perceived incompetence and unquestionable capitulation to USA.
• Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: When Carol Danvers starts Operation Lightning Storm, it immediately earns Danvers the ire of Maria Hill, as Danvers took Agents Baines and Locke off of Hill's Helicarrier to do it. Still, with AIM bombing cities, Maria lets Carol know that she won't be destroying Carol's career any time soon, so long as Darvers stay out of Hill's way, going forward.
• Spy Catsuit: Her basic uniform as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Stoic: She usually behaves seriously, professionally, and level-headed.
• Straight Man: Always composed and serious, even in the face of Fury's irritation or Tony Stark's wisecracking. This verges on The Comically Serious at times.
• Sucksessor: Pretty much everyone hates her as head of SHIELD for not being Nick Fury.
• Undying Loyalty: She and Stark might not be able to stand each other most of the time, but there is no doubting Maria's loyalty to him, and to SHIELD as a whole.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: To a degree. For Maria, almost any method that will ensure overall global security, peace and order is worth it, seeing the compromises involved as necessary. For this reason, she has an I Did What I Had to Do attitude whenever she is confronted by heroes over her decisions and she never apologizes for them regardless of how immoral they are or how much harm they bring. However, Maria will draw the line whenever someone abuses the law for self-serving, harmful purposes or whenever too many innocent lives are blatantly threatened.
  • In Civil War (2006), she fully endorsed and enforced the Superhuman Registration Act in an effort to bring the superhero community, traditionally a political Wild Card, more firmly under the control of the American government with the aim of bringing more social stability to the country.
  • In Avengers Standoff, she personally commenced and managed the Pleasant Hill initiative in an effort to pacify supervillains who have repeatedly escaped conventional incarceration. To do this, Maria tricked both Steve Rogers and Captain America (Sam Wilson), "convinced" certain politicians and scientists to look the other way, and enlisted the aid of Kobik to maintain the false reality of Pleasant Hill by giving the supervillains new, peaceful identities. When the initiative fell apart, her first act was to sweep all evidence of the entire incident under the rug and convince the heroes who helped to control the situation to keep quiet. All that results in her dismissal from S.H.I.E.L.D., however brief it may be.
  • In Civil War II, she is a important supporter of Captain Marvel's plan to use Ulysses' power to stop crimes before they even happen. Maria's support gave Captain Marvel the political muscle to convince the American government, including the President, that Precrime Arrest is a sound idea.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: That's one way of looking at her characterization. In spite of her antagonistic relationship with superheroes, one could still argue that she's doing it for the right reasons.
• With Friends Like These...: Tony frequently accused her of undermining him more during his tenure as SHIELD Director with her support than his enemies did with their active opposition, to the point he offered Bandit's New Warriors jobs.

Tony Stark

Alter Ego: Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark

Notable Aliases: Iron Man

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963)

Norman Osborn

Alter Ego: Norman Virgil Osborn

Notable Aliases: Green Goblin, Iron Patriot, Gobby, Overload, Super-Adaptoid, Mason Banks, Goblin King, Hobgoblin, Red Goblin

First Apperance: The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964) ^note As Green Goblin; The Amazing Spider-Man #37 (June 1966) ^note as Norman Osborn; Dark Avengers #1 (March 2009) ^note As Iron Patriot; Superior Spider-Man #17 (November 2013) As Mason Banks[[/note]]; The Amazing Spider-Man #798 (April 2018) ^note As Red Goblin

Steven Grant "Steve" Rogers

Alter Ego: Steven "Steve" Grant Rogers

Notable Aliases: Nomad, The Captain

First Appearance: Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941)

Daisy Johnson

Alter Ego: Daisy Louise Johnson

Notable Aliases: Quake, Cory Sutter, Gabrielle Wewer, Skye

First Appearance: Secret War #2 (July 2004)

Daisy Louise Johnson, otherwise known by her superhero alias Quake, is a Marvel Comics character created by Brian Michael Bendis and Gabriele Dell'Otto.

Daisy first appears in the 2004 limited series Secret War, introduced as an associate taken under the wing of Director Nick Fury who helps his secret strike team (consisting of Black Widow, Wolverine, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, and Captain America) overthrow the Latverian government led by Doctor Doom. Despite only being a teenager upon introduction, she's notable for having been given Level Ten clearance at S.H.I.E.L.D., an accomplishment only attained by Fury himself, and Black Widow.

She later shows up as supporting character in Bendis' New Avengers, where she gains the "Quake" codename after helping The Avengers defeat Magneto with her powers. During the Secret Invasion (2008) story, she's seen helping Fury recruit soldiers to defeat the Skrulls invading Earth.

When Nick Fury establishes his team of "Secret Warriors" a few years later, Daisy is recruited as their commander. While serving on the team, Daisy learns that the villainous organization HYDRA has secretly been controlling S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, and that her love interest James Taylor James (also known as Hellfire) was a HYDRA sleeper agent, using her to obtain S.H.I.E.L.D. intel. Following a brief split under varying circumstances, Daisy ultimately reunites the team.

Daisy continued popping up in the Marvel Universe during the Siege, Fear Itself, and Avengers vs. X-Men events, while also featured in the main Avengers title written by Bendis. During this time, she's chosen as Director of the newly-rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D., recruiting Phil Coulson and Nick Fury Jr. to their ranks. Her tenure as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. comes to an end during Secret Avengers, where she's chastised for leading an (assigned) attempted assassination of a United Nations representative and replaced by Maria Hill.

She later shows up working alongside the Winter Soldier, when he replaces the (dead) Nick Fury as the Man in the Wall. More recently, Daisy appears as a regular character in 2016's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. title.

Originally introduced as the daughter of villain Calvin Zabo / Mr. Hyde, Daisy's powers were established as either being a product of his unstable DNA from radiation or that she was born a mutant. Her lineage was later retconned in an issue of S.H.I.E.L.D., where it's established that Daisy's mother was a woman of Inhuman origin, who ultimately passed those genes onto Daisy herself, and her father's experiments allowed her to have access to her powers without terrigen.

Daisy shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the American Broadcasting Company television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (played by Chloe Bennet), where she's been a primary character since the first season. Introduced as an orphaned hacker (and canon foreigner) self-named "Skye", Coulson recruits her to join S.H.I.E.L.D. on a probationary basis. This iteration of the character resembles her 616-based counterpart, albeit superficially; this reality's Coulson recruits her to S.H.I.E.L.D. (instead of the other way around) and serves as her mentor in the way Nick Fury did in the comics. She also has a complicated romantic history with a secret HYDRA sleeper agent, though here, it's not JT. Lastly, she's placed in charge of Project Caterpillar in season three, working to extract and recruit people of Inhuman origin on Earth. She also embraces her birth name, Daisy, during this time, and starts using it officially.

It's worth noting that Daisy's (new, retconned) backstory in the comics was informed by Skye's on the show. During the second season, Skye accidentally goes through Terrigenesis while on a mission, activating her latent Inhuman genes and giving her the seismic abilities she's known for. She also learns of her true parentage — mad scientist Calvin "Zabo" Johnson, and Jiaying, the leader of an Inhuman faction based in China, who was previously presumed dead at the hands of HYDRA.

• Secret War (2004)
• Secret Warriors (2010 — 2013)
• Secret Avengers Vol. 2 (2013 — 2014)
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016)
• Secret Warriors vol. 2 (2017)
• Marvel Rising (2019)

Television

• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013 — 2020), played by Chloe Bennet (page)

Western Animation

• The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2012), voiced by Lacey Chabert
• Marvel Rising, voiced by Chloe Bennet:
  • Initiation (2018)
  • Secret Warriors (2018)
  • Chasing Ghosts (2019)
  • Ultimate Comics (2019)
  • Heart of Iron (2019)

Video Games

• Marvel: Avengers Alliance (2012)
• Marvel Future Fight (2015)
• Marvel Puzzle Quest (2016)

Daisy Johnson / Quake provides examples of:

• The Ace: Much to Maria Hill's chagrin, as seen in the quote above.
• Ambiguously Brown: In Secret Warriors (2017), she's got light brown hair and a skin tone just slightly lighter than Kamala's making her very ambiguous what her ethnic background is.
• Bad Vibrations: Her powers can create these, either intentionally or not.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Much of her initial characterization is informed by her precocious nature.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Daisy's original design◊ was inspired by Angelina Jolie in the film Hackers —- pretty easy to tell◊. Nowadays though, artists like to draw her looking like Chloe Bennet, for obvious reasons.
• Cool Big Sis: To the younger Secret Warriors, Yo-Yo and Phobos.
• Foster Kid: Has this origin.
• Good Is Not Nice: Being trained by Nick Fury as a shadow operative means she can often be quite quick to use her powers for lethal purposes, such as exploding Wolverine's heart, or trying to crush Pod of the A.I.M.vengers's internal organs, which would've killed Pod's host if not for the armor's protective nature.
• Jerkass Ball: Her interaction with the X-Men in 2017's Secret Warriors has her repeatedly insult them, then try to bring down their jet while swearing about how she hates Mutants.
• Jumped at the Call: She really wanted to be a superhero, and was crushed when she thought the New Avengers asking her for help was an audition, only to be told it was just a one-time thing.
• The Lancer: To Nick Fury.
• The Leader: She's the team commander of the Secret Warriors and Project Caterpillar.
• Phrase Catcher: When Bendis is writing, Daisy gets told she will one day be "one of the greats" but that it will suck for her to get there. Certainly, the suck part has definitely come true. Not so much the "great" part.
• Race Lift: On the show, Daisy is half-Chinese, while her counterpart in the comics doesn't seem to be of Asian descent. Artists have since taken to drawing her with Asian features though, as a means of synergizing with the show.
• Ret-Canon: Since Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. made her more prominent, her comics version has incorporated the changes the show brought about. This ranges from minor things like Daisy growing her hair out to match the show's version, to more major things like a Race Lift, making her an Inhuman and giving her the nickname "Skye".
• Retcon: The original reason given for her powers was she was Calvin Zabo's daughter, and his messed-up genes from being Dr. Jekyll messed up her genes. Eventually the 2014 S.H.I.E.L.D. series written by Mark Waid points out that timeline-wise, this'd make no sense, and that Daisy's an Inhuman.
• The Rival: Her and Maria Hill do not get along, in large part because of Daisy's youth. This got particularly bad in Secret Avengers, where Hill conspires to take advantage of Daisy's rash reaction to a close-friend's death to get her fired from Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., then tries to push to get her arrested on top of it.
• Spy Catsuit: She's known to wear these.
• Training from Hell: Nick Fury was not a gentle taskmaster, let's put it like that. Simulated torture and threat of death was just part of his training regime.
• Vibroweapon: She can control and manipulate vibrations to devastating effect. She once made Wolverine's heart explode.

Alexander Pierce

Alter Ego: Alexander Goodwin Pierce

Notable Aliases: Anthony Durami

First Appearance: Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 (August, 1988)

Agent Alisande Morales

First Appearance: Captain America and the Falcon #1 (May, 2004)

• One-Steve Limit: No known relationship to one Miles Morales.

Mockingbird

Alter Ego: Barbara "Bobbi" Morse Barton

Notable Aliases: Agent 19, the Huntress

First Appearance: As Dr. Barbara Morse: Astonishing Tales #6 (June 1971); Full appearance: Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972); As Huntress: Marvel Super Action #1 (January 1976); As Mockingbird: Marvel Team-Up #95 (July 1980)

See the Mockingbird page for more info.

Clay Quartermain

Notable Aliases: Special Agent Aspen

First Appearance: Strange Tales #163 (December, 1967)

• Dropped a Bridge on Him: He's murdered, off-screen, by the Red Hulk in Hulk #2.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Between John Byrne, Al Milgrom and Peter David in their runs on Hulk, which is a space of about twenty issues, he goes from opposing Hulk and Bruce, to wanting to cure them, to helping Bruce.
• Inspector Javert: When it came to tracking the Hulk, Clay could be extremely zealous. Sometimes, way too zealous (like that time he let an actually insane General Ross out of a mental institution so he could go attack Bruce).

Hawkeye

Alter Ego: Clinton Francis "Clint" Barton

Notable Aliases: Goliath; Golden Archer; Ronin

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #57 (September 1964) ^note As Hawkeye; Avengers #63 (April 1969) ^note As Goliath; Captain America #179 (November 1974) ^note As Golden Archer; New Avengers #27 (April 2007) ^note  As Ronin

See the Hawkeye page for more info.

Derek Khanata

First Appearance: Amazing Fantasy Vol. 2 #7 (June, 2005)

Derek is a Wakandan-born who entered SHIELD at the recommendation of the Black Panther. In his first appearance he recruits Scorpion and then becomes her field handler. Later, he became an associate of the Agents of Atlas.

• Facial Markings: Has Wakandan tattoos on his face.
• Family Man: He has a wife and two daughters.
• Friend on the Force: Helps the Agents of Atlas while they're on the run from SHIELD despite nominally being part of the organization.
• Persona Non Grata: After SHIELD was disbanded in the wake of Secret Invasion, Derek found it impossible to get a job anywhere else. Fortunately, Jimmy Woo remembers his friends, and the Agents of Atlas are far more accommodating.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran: He has some scars from a coup attempt in Wakanda, when he was younger.

Elena Rodriguez

Alter Ego: Slingshot

Notable Aliases: Yo-Yo Rodriguez

First Appearance: Mighty Avengers #13 (July, 2008)

Daughter of Johnny Horton, a.k.a. the first Griffin. Recruited for Nick Fury's Secret Invasion strike force against the Skrulls.

Erik Selvig

First Appearance: Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1 (April, 2016)

Erik Selvig is a character who was introduced within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He first appeared in the movie "Thor" and was introduced into the mainstream comic books a few years later. There, he worked as a doctor for S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Canon Immigrant: Like Phil Coulson, Selvig first debuted in the MCU before appearing in the mainstream comics.

Grant Ward

Alter Ego: Grant Douglas Ward

Notable Aliases: Iron Thief (editorial name)

First Appearance: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (January, 2016)

• Canon Immigrant: Like the rest of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series, he eventually made his way to the main comic books.
• Explosive Leash: Forced to wear an explosive collar now that he's back with S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Face–Heel Turn: Instead of always being The Mole like in the series, here he came to agree with Gorgon's ideals, siding with him over S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Powered Armor: Wore an Iron Man suit.

Jasper Sitwell

Notable Aliases: Agent 22

First Appearance: Strange Tales #144 (May, 1966)

A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that was trained by Nick Fury personally. He was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top interrogator and the sometimes partner of Jimmy Woo.

• Came Back Wrong: After his death in Winter Soldier vol 1, he came back as a zombie.
• Hot-Blooded: In the 60s and 70s, Sitwell was written as being very impulsive and gun-happy.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He dives inbetween Nick and Gorgon's sword, getting run through. He survives that.
• Love Triangle: Wound up in one between himself, Iron Man and Madame Masque. Jasper eventually went nuts from jealousy and tried to shoot Tony.

Jemma Simmons

Notable Aliases: Fitz-Simmons (with Leo Fitz), Ms. Steranko, Deathlok

First Appearance: S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 3 #1 (February, 2015)

Jemma Simmons is a level 5 S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist. She is one of the youngest and most prominent members of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s research division, along with her inseparable friend Leo Fitz. She, along with Fitz, were recruited to Coulson's Team by Melinda May.

• Canon Immigrant: Like Coulson, Fitz and May, she debuted in the MCU before the comics.
• Freudian Excuse: Her father was very controlling towards her.

Spider-Woman

Alter Ego: Jessica Miriam Drew

Notable Aliases: Arachne, Ariadne Hyde, Hunter

First Appearance: Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977)

See the Spider-Woman page for more info.

James "Jimmy" Woo

Notable Aliases Woo Yen Jet (Chinese name)

First Appearance: Yellow Claw #1 (October, 1956)

An agent of the FBI, who later joined SHIELD. Among other activities, he assisted in the pursuit of Godzilla. Woo's time at SHIELD ended when he was near-fatally injured pursuing his long-time nemesis, the Golden Claw.

See the Agents of Atlas page for more info.

Leopold "Leo" Fitz

Notable Aliases: Fitz-Simmons (with Jemma Simmons)

First Appearance: S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 3 #1 (February, 2015)

• Canon Immigrant: Like Coulson, Simmons, Ward and May, he debuted in the MCU before the comics.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Averted, as he is often referred to as Leo, in contrast to his television counterpart's near-complete Last-Name Basis.

Melinda May

Alter Ego: Melinda Qiaolian May

Notable Aliases: The Cavalry

First Appearance: S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 3 #1 (February, 2015)

• Alliterative Name: Melinda May
• Canon Immigrant: Like Coulson, Simmons, Ward and Fitz, she debuted in the MCU show before the comics.

Monica Chang

First Appearance: "Avengers A.I." #1 (July, 2013)

• Canon Immigrant: She made her debut in the Marvel Ultimate comics as the second Black Widow, then she came to Marvel 616.

Black Widow

Alter Ego: Natalia Alianovna Romanova (Natasha Romanoff)

Notable Aliases: Natalie Rushman, Laura Matthers, Mary Farrell, Natasha Romanoff, Oktober, Yelena Belova

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense #52 (April 1964)

See the Black Widow page for more info.

Nick Fury Jr.

Alter Ego: Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury, Jr.

Notable Aliases: Marcus Johnson

First Appearance: Battle Scars #1 (November, 2011)

Once known as Marcus Johnson, Nick Fury Jr. is the second son of the legendary Nick Fury, and the leader of the Secret Avengers. With a military history and a knack for espionage, he has gone on to follow his father's footsteps as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Affirmative-Action Legacy: Nick Fury Jr. is the black successor to the original white Nick Fury.
• Artistic License – Military: Nick Fury Jr. was supposedly a West Point graduate and then went on to become an Army enlistedman. West Point graduates go on to be officers.
• Black-and-Grey Morality: Nick Fury Jr. isn't comfortable with it yet.
• Canon Immigrant: Battle Scars (a Fear Itself epilogue) introduces Marcus Johnson, a black marine sucked into the world of superheroes when it was discovered he's Fury's son (by way of a black agent the original Fury dated). By the end of the event - coincidentally just as the Avengers movie premiered - he'd lost his eye, shaved his head, and all in all become Ultimate Nick Fury in the non-Ultimate universe (it's even found out that his birth name is really "Nicholas Fury, Jr.").
• Empowered Badass Normal: Fury Jr. has the same anti-aging formula as the original.
• Eyepatch of Power: Wouldn't be Nick Fury without one.
• Eye Scream: Fury Jr. lost his in the events of the Battle Scars miniseries.
• Generation Xerox: Marcus Johnson's friendship with Phil Coulson mirrors that between Nick Fury Sr. and Dum Dum Dugan; from their past serving together in the military and joining S.H.I.E.L.D. He's also missing the same eye that his father is.
• Handicapped Badass: Missing an eye, like the original.
• Mythology Gag: Nick Fury, Jr.'s friendship with Phil Coulson in the comics universe unsurprisingly mirrors Nick Fury and Phil Coulson's friendship in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• The Lesser Of Two Evils: He takes up the task of hunting Captain America while the Power Elite are running the United States because Fury admittedly does not understand the nature of the conspiracy but knows enough to recognize that if he doesn't take charge of the mission someone worse than himself will.
• The Spymaster: Fury Jr. is still a rookie at this.

Phil Coulson

Alter Ego: Philip J. Coulson

First Appearance: Battle Scars #1 (January, 2012)

An agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and member of the Secret Avengers. He is a character that was introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before being imported over to the comic book universe.

• Adaptational Villainy: While his actions post-resurrection are suggested to be due to Mephisto tempering with his mind, Heroes Reborn (2021) also revealed that he was in Hell in the first place due to engaging in waterboarding as a soldier.
• And I Must Scream: At the end of Heroes Reborn, Mephisto drags him off to Hell to suffer inside the Hellahedron forever.
• Ascended Fanboy: The man enjoys talking superhero fanfics with Kamala Khan, another example of this trope.
• Bad Boss: After turning evil, he brainwashes the Squadron Supreme of America so they'll do what he wants. He guns down JJ Jameson and "Thunderbolt" Ross to frame the Wakandans, and sees the Squadron as nothing but pawns, even stating that it wouldn't really matter if a few of them were killed by his bombardment of Wakanda.
• Big Bad: Of the 2021 Heroes Reborn. He used the Hellahedron to change reality at the behest of Mephisto.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: It's hinted that Mephisto intentionally warped his soul during the revival. Every time Coulson's former personality surfaces and he has doubts, Mephisto reverts him to his current evil persona.
• Came Back Strong: After Heroes Reborn 2021 and seemingly being stuck in Hell, he's brought back to life as a seventh host in Infinity Watch having bonded with the new Death Stone.
• Came Back Wrong: Courtesy of Mephisto, the formerly good-natured man with an unending love of superheroes comes back as a dog-punting maniac who despises superheroes.
• Canon Immigrant: Easily the best known example of the MCU.
• Continuity Snarl: Originally, he joined SHIELD alongside Nick Jr. after being in the army. He's since been depicted as having been a SHIELD agent for a long time, being involved in Civil War and personally having a past with characters who should be before his time.
• Fallen Hero: After being killed by Deadpool during Secret Empire, Coulson sold his soul to Mephisto, becomes one of his agents on Earth, and uses the Pandemonium Cube to create a new, Americentric reality where he is more or less a dictator who keeps everyone in-line with Jerkass heroes that he can control while nearly everyone worships Mephisto.
• The Grim Reaper: He takes over Death's duties after being revived via the Death Stone that has her essence trapped in it by Thanos.
• Mundane Utility: He used the Pandemonium Cube to get rid of daylight savings time and cords, and made it so that restaurants don't just serve Roxxi Cola.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: In Heroes Return, he claims that he made the world safer despite the fact that his Squadron are ruthless with little concern for collateral damage, have made Canada into a wasteland, wiped out a ton of mutants and forced the survivors into hiding, and wreaked havoc in space via Doctor Spectrum. His inner monologue makes him sound like an egotist who simply enjoys playing God.
• Pet the Dog: Out of sentimentality he allowed Captain America to remain frozen in ice and still be commemorated by a statue. He eschews this when he later personally tries to kill Cap.
• President Evil: He created the altered timeline using the Pandemonium Cube.

• Parental Issues: His father is the super-villain known as the Tinkerer, and he does not approuve of this.

Roz Solomon

Alter Ego: Rosalind Solomon

Notable Aliases: Agent E-23

First Appearance: Thor: God of Thunder #12 (October, 2013)

• Ambadassador: Served as Midgard's representative at the Congress of Worlds.
• He Is Not My Boyfriend: Everyone she meets automatically assumes she's dating Thor, and she's quick to deny them despite her attraction to him. Thor never confirms nor denies any romantic feelings, but he holds an incredible respect for her.
• Red Herring: She was the main candidate for the identity of the female Thor. However, it wasn't her, and she would lose relevance very soon after Thor's actual identity was revealed.
• Running Gag: Has a tendency to crash Coulson's cars.

The Falcon

Alter Ego: Samuel Thomas "Sam" Wilson

Notable Aliases: "Snap" Wilson, Falcon, Blackwing, Blackbird, Captain America

First Appearance: As Falcon: Captain America #117 (September 1969); As Captain America: All-New Captain America #1 (November 2014)

See the The Falcon page for more info.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Alter Ego: Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine

Notable Aliases: Agent 14, Madame Hydra (III), Citizen V

First Appearance: Strange Tales #159 (August, 1967)

A woman of remarkable skills and talents in many areas, the Contessa became a leading member of SHIELD and Femme Force. She is also the long time lover of Nick Fury.

In the Secret Warriors series, it is shown that Hydra has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. right from the start, and Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine, an European socialite turned S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and love interest to Nick Fury, is their new Madame Hydra after having killed Viper (who Came Back Wrong).

She is a recurring character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where she is played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

• Action Girl: The Contessa is a superb hand-to-hand combatant and a brilliant marksman with firearms of most kinds.
• Deprogram: She managed to undo the brainwashing Hydra subjected Clay Quarterman to.
• Double Agent: Well, triple, actually. She is a Leviathan (formerly Soviet espionage group) mole infiltrating both SHIELD and HYDRA.
• Enemy Mine: She joins Doctor Doom's Thunderbolts as his Citizen V in order to get a chance to dismantle an LMD that had taken over her life.
• Faking the Dead: Following the fall of Leviathan, de Fontaine was imprisoned only to escape, only to end up in a Russian Gulag, where she died. Learning of her death, an organization known as the Outer Circle unleashed a Valentina Life Model Decoy to impersonate her while serving their interests, only for a masked Valentina to terminate the LMD, insulted that someone was using her face. The "Gulag" incident was just a ruse.
• Femme Fatale: In the Nick Fury - Agent of SHIELD series, she uses her feminine whiles against the organization's enemies. In Nick Fury Versus SHIELD, she keeps doing so, but Nick is now the "enemy".
• Gratuitous French: She's posing as an Italian countess, and while Valentina and Allegra are of Italian origin, "de Fontaine" is French.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Agent 14 bounces between ally and enemy to the protagonist, be that protagonist Steve Rogers, Nick Fury or Sharon Carter, on a regular basis
• Heroic Willpower: Agent 14 manages to hold out against Deadly Nightshade's Mind Control long enough to find a weakness to it and save the Helicarrier while other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are falling in line
• Horrible Judge of Character: During Steve Englehart's run on Captain America she becomes intractably convinced Captain America - Captain freaking America - is out to get or kill Nick Fury from jealousy.
• Inspector Javert: After the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is brought down by Onslaught, Valentina hinders Sharon Carter's dive to the sunken vehicle under the belief Sharon has gone rogue. Agent 13 is in fact gathering pieces of Fury's "corpse" to prove he was really and LMD.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She may have undermined Sharon Carter's leadership at every turn, but when Agent 13 was injured during a Hydra attack, Agent 14 personally ensured her conditioned stabilized before taking control of Femme Force. Valentina also pressured Captain America into taking her on a date while Sharon Carter was in the hospital, but when Carter was kidnapped from the hospital she assembled Femme Force to assist Captain America and Nick Fury in the recue.
• The Leader: The Contessa became the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Femme Force, an elite cadre of female agents, for a couple of missions before Sharon Carter retook control.
• Love Interest: For Nick Fury ,and their relationship continued for many years. Indeed, she is featured in a silent, one-page seduction sequence in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #2 that famously had two panels changed, at the behest of the Comics Code Authority.
• Operation: Jealousy: Jealous of Nick's on again off again relationship with Brown, Val flirted with sometime S.H.I.E.L.D. operative Captain America. When the the two intensely fought over Val, she interrupted the fight and explained her motives.
• Power is Sexy: Impressionable S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy student Valentina becomes attracted to director Nick Fury after watching him spar with Captain America. However, de Fontaine managing to get the best of Fury in her own sparring session just made her more attracted to him, so it might just be "Nick Fury is sexy" when it comes to her.
• Retcon: She was initially shown to be loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. to a fault, often defaulting to following even her most illogical orders first and finding out whether the organization had been infiltrated or compromised second. Then it's revealed she's actually not loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D. at all, but to Leviathan. After Leviathan's fall though, Valentina realizes she still loves Nick Fury inspite of everything, and starts working on regaining his loyalty.
• Sensual Slavs: A Russian who is pretending to be Italian, but a Russian willing to use seduction to lure her foes into traps nonetheless.
• Spanner in the Works
  • Scorpio defeated just about every S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, Valentina included, and successfully impersonated Nick Fury while leaving the real Fury to be executed. De Fontaine was able to postpone the execution long enough for Fury to recover and oust Scorpio from S.H.I.E.L.D., however
  • Steel Harris decided to defeat Nick Fury indirectly by killing Doctor Sternberg, who supplied Nick with regular doses of the Infinity Formula. A third agent then stole the notes on the Infinity Formula from Steel before Nick could apprehend him. Turns out Valentina already knew the Infinity Formula and how to administer it.
• Stripperiffic: Sometimes she's worn the standard Spy Catsuit, sometimes she goes around in her bra and pants and not much else.
• The Rival
  • Laura Brown defecting from Hydra to S.H.I.E.L.D. would be a good thing, except Laura Brown also has the hots for Nick Fury, and has known Nick longer, even if some of that time was as an enemy.
  • When the new Agent 13, Sharon Carter, is named leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Femme Force, Agent 14 does all she can to outshine 13 in the field, and or undermine 13's authority. De Fontaine even starts flirting with Captain America, partially to get under Carter's skin.
  • When S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded by the United Nations following the Project Delta disaster, De Fontaine joined the C.I.A. and started dating Alphonso Mac, while Nick began seeing Kate Neville. When S.H.I.E.L.D. was reinstated, however, Valentina began pursuing Nick again, inspite of Kate.
• Unwitting Pawn: During the Project Delta takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hydra, A.I.M. and Roxxon Oil, no attempt is made to replace Agent 14 with a deltite L.M.D. as she's does whatever she's told regardless and doesn't suspect an infiltration. That is until she sees evidence of "S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents" attempting to assassinate a non combative Nick Fury.
• Villain Killer: She assisted Nick Fury in killing Baron Stucker, eliminated traitorous S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Beck Lockhart and executed Viper, among others.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Every time she and Nick Fury manage to reconcile and become a happy couple, another writer will come behind whoever did this and shatter their bond.

Valerie Jessup

Alter Ego: Valeria Toomes

Notable Aliases: Valerie Merrick

First Appearance: Identity Disc #1 (August, 2004)

S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent and daughter of Adrian Toomes, the criminal known as the Vulture.

• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: Toomes is elderly and certainly no wall painting, but Valeria is quite attractive.

Victoria Hand

Alter Ego: Victoria Louise Hand

Notable Aliases: Ms. Hand

First Appearance: Invincible Iron Man Vol 2 #8 (February, 2009)

Victoria Hand was previously Norman Osborn's second in command as Deputy Director of H.A.M.M.E.R. She was inducted into the New Avengers as Steve Rogers believed she deserved a second chance.

• Badass Normal: If nothing else, she's got some nerves on her, being perfectly willing to mouth off to the assortment of psycopaths that are the Dark Avengers, while having no superpowers at her disposal should they get fed up of her.
• Birds of a Feather: Norman took her on because he liked her views.
• Bury Your Gays: Killed by the vengeful spirit of Daniel Drumm.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Seemed to honestly think Norman Osborn was a misguided soul who had some sound ideas about counter-terrorism and the like, who just needed someone to occasionally help him stay on the path.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: When your boss is Norman Osborn, this is expected.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Spidey never stops giving her grief over having worked for Norman Osborn. In fairness, Victoria doesn't understand just how personal their beef is.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Once, Victoria felt it was a very good idea to tell Nick Fury just how poorly she felt he was doing on matters like HYDRA, even sending him a sternly worded letter, over the advice of her girlfriend. This got Victoria reassigned to a crap posting and dumped at the same time. She later feels being assigned to liase with the New Avengers is Steve Roger's method of punishing her for working with Osborn.
• Straight Gay: She doesn't act butch nor particularly feminine and she's a lesbian.
• Token Good Teammate: She's probably the most moral person in Osborn's circle during his stint with the Dark Avengers. This is not saying much, sadly.