History Awesome / Thunderbolts

** Then later, they get attacked by ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules, trying to get his revenge on Atlas for how he once crippled him. After a long battle where it's pretty clear the Thunderbolts are losing despite good teamwork, Hawkeye ends the fight by standing in front of them and warning Hercules that he'll have to go through him if he wants to kill Atlas. And he refuses to move, even when the super-strong greek god threatens to kill him along with them. This pretty much what gets him the Thunderbolts' respect.

* When the original team's rebellion against Zemo begins succeeding, Moonstone confronts Baron Zemo personally. After a year's worth of issues where every word out of her mouth was a lie, a manipulation, or some kind of psychological trick, Moonstone finally lets out [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech what she truly, honestly thinks about Baron Zemo]] while beating him to death with PunctuatedPounding:
--> "Let me EXPLAIN something, Zemo. Let me tell you why I undermined your leadership at every turn. I've got a pretty simple philosophy of life. You want to hear it? It's this: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Get. CAUGHT!]] Oh, I was stupid at first - I thought my powers made me invincible...so I ended up getting a record, getting caught. I was willing to ride it out, serve my sentence and start anew - but you press-ganged me into your scheme, and there went that. Still, it was a good scheme - posing as heroes - and we made it WORK. We had it all - public support, adulation - the perfect cover to pull any NUMBER of scams - and you went and blew it over just ONE! ''Who CARES about ruling the world?! Who wants to do that much '''[[AndThenWhat WORK]]?!''''' We could have run this con out for YEARS before it got old! But no, you couldn't be smart - not when you could play Hitler like your idiot father!"

* {{Quicksilver}} gets one at the end of the Comicbook/{{Siege}} event. 'Perfect warrior' Mr. X has just gotten hold of 'ultimate weapon' Gungnir, and bear in mind this is a guy who killed a god ''before'' he got his hands on the Spear of Heaven. Quicksilver deals him a CurbStompBattle without pausing for breath:

!!Examples from the Daniel Way/Charles Soule (MarvelNOW) [=retool=]:

* Deadpool finally realises at the end of the mission to assassinate the Paguero crime family why he's been obsessing over a small pizza place he knows in New York, where the pizza isn't even that good. [[spoiler: The Pagueros own the joint and use it as a hide out, and Deadpool recognised the Pagueros from their photos on restaurant's wall. He promptly guns down all three of the family's heads when they stumbled into the joint, casually outdoing years of the Punisher's work.]]
* The Leader comes up with a plan to take out the entire team when they're on a road trip in the Battle Van. He borrows a lighter from Ross, then would use his ability to radiate gamma rays to overload and knockout him out. Leader would then the lighter set Deadpool aflame, scaring away the Venom Symbiote, and throw Ross into the blaze, having hidden the fire extinguisher. Finally when the Punisher and Elektra in the front seats are forced to stop and help, Leader would fall out then throw the team's grenades into the blaze. But even more impressively the Leader abandons this plan, as he realises [[GenreSavvy his dwindling super-intelligence cannot account for every facet of this violent plan nor unpredictable human nature]], and that such a plan is worthless if Mercy simply vaporises him.

* Deadpool finally realises at the end of the mission to assassinate the Paguero crime family why he's been obsessing over a small pizza place he knows in New York, where the pizza isn't even that good. [[spoiler: The Paguero's own the joint and use it as a hide out, and Deadpool recognised the Pagueros from their photos on restaurant's wall. He promptly guns down all three of the family's heads when they stumbled into the joint, casually outdoing years of the Punisher's work.]]

* During a mass break out attempt on the Raft [[spoiler: Luke Cage vs Purple Man, who has beaten teams of Avengers before.]]

** The outcome of the deal once Mephisto is enthroned is incredible too. Mercy appears in Hell, at which point as Leader predicted she begins annihilating damned souls and ignoring the Thunderbolts. Thanks to a sub-clause in the contract Deadpool retrieves a new feather through an inter-dimensionary portal. However it's soon revealed to be an angel feather, as a horde of angels wielding flaming swords swarm through the portal. Mephisto promptly pledges eternal torture for the Thunderbolts, at which point Leader points to a sub-clause, which ensures that any retaliation would make Leader ruler of Hell. Checkmate. Mephisto gives in and sends them away.

* Trapped in Hell, the Leader draws up an extensive contract with Mephisto to release him and the rest of the team if they help him regain the throne of Hell. He shows his genre-savviness by refusing to agree on the deal with a handshake, knowing that Mephisto would quickly turn an ambiguous deal against them.

* In the General Ross team, Deadpool finally realises at the end of the mission to assassinate the Paguero crime family why he's been obsessing over a small pizza place he knows in New York, where the pizza isn't even that good. [[spoiler: The Paguero's own the joint and use it as a hide out, and Deadpool recognised the Pagueros from their photos on restaurant's wall. He promptly guns down all three of the family's heads when they stumbled into the joint, casually outdoing years of the Punisher's work.]]

--> "Let me EXPLAIN something, Zemo. Let me tell you why I undermined your leadership at every turn. I've got a pretty simple philosophy of life. You want to hear it? It's this: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Don't. Get. CAUGHT!]] Oh, I was stupid at first - I thought my powers made me invincible...so I ended up getting a record, getting caught. I was willing to ride it out, serve my sentence and start anew - but you press-ganged me into your scheme, and there went that. Still, it was a good scheme - posing as heroes - and we made it WORK. We had it all - public support, adulation - the perfect cover to pull any NUMBER of scams - and you went and blew it over just ONE! ''Who CARES about ruling the world?! Who wants to do that much '''[[AndThenWhat WORK]]?!''''' We could have run this con out for YEARS before it got old! But no, you couldn't be smart - not when you could play Hitler like your idiot father!"

* When the original team's rebellion against Zemo begins succeeding, Moonstone confronts Baron Zemo personally. After a year's worth of issues where every word out of her mouth was a lie, a manipulation, or some kind of psychological trick, Moonstone finally lets out what she truly, honestly thinks about Baron Zemo while beating him to death with PunctuatedPounding:

* '''"[[ThirdPersonPerson TROLL]] [[HulkSpeak HAVE]] [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons DRAGON]]!"'''

* The showdown of "Faith In Monsters". You can't help cheering as just about every PsychoForHire in the team gets hit with the LaserGuidedKarma that they all had coming for a while.

** Somewhat mitigated by the fact that [[spoiler:the Purple Man]]'s powers had been turned off by drugs slipped into his food.
*** No. His powers worked, it's just that Luke Cage had nanites to make him immune.

* The team end up on a mission with Hyperion [[spoiler: and the entire issue deals with fighting him. Hyperion is basically an evil expy of {{Superman}}, with everything that implies. He regards the other Thunderbolts as completely worthless, especially Ghost, and proceeds to burn Man-Thing, break Juggernaut's legs, and drown Moonstone. He's later beaten up by Juggernaut (and actually breaks his hand trying to cave Juggs' head in), blasted by Moonstone, paralysed by Ghost, and, after a good CurbStompBattle on him, burned by Man-Thing.]]

* {{Quicksilver}} gets one at the end of the Comicbook/{{Siege}} event. 'Perfect warrior' Mr. X has just gotten hold of 'ultimate weapon' Gungnir, and bear in mind this is a guy who killed a god ''before'' he got his hands on the Spear of Heaven. Quicksilver deals him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown CurbStompBattle without pausing for breath:

* '''"TROLL HAVE [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons DRAGON]]!"'''

** Whilst we're talking about Siege, Amadeus Cho got a really good one against Mr. X. Mr. X can read minds so that he knows how someone is going to attack him. What does Amadeus do? He throws arrows at Mr. X, doing complicated calculations so that they'll hit him in just the right spots. The best bit of it is that Mr. X can still read Amadeus's mind, he just can't understand the calculations.

* John Walker, former US Agent, had recently had his [[HandicappedBadass left arm and leg amputated]]. He is assigned as warden of The Raft, a prison for super-criminals. A recent issue has a black out that results in some the convicts being released from their cells. Finding himself cornered and threatened, John leaps out of his chair and lays some serious hurt on the first cons to come near him, and even [[EyeScream rips some guy's eye out using his metal hook]]. The fight ends with John (who, remember, is one legged) standing steadily over the knocked out body of a prisoner, daring anyone to start some shit. None rise to the occasion.

* The team end up on a mission with Hyperion [[spoiler: and the entire issue deals with fighting him. Hyperion is basically an evil expy of {{Superman}}, with everything that implies. He regards the other Thunderbolts as completely worthless, especially Ghost, and proceeds to burn Man-Thing, break Juggernaut's legs, and drown Moonstone. He's later beaten up by Juggernaut (and actually breaks his hand trying to cave Jugg's head in), blasted by Moonstone, paralysed by Ghost, and, after a good CurbStompBattle on him, burned by Man-Thing.]]

* On another level, the fact that Marvel kept the team's secret under wraps until the end of the first issue. Even when you know the truth and you're re-reading it all these years later, the revelation that they're the Masters of Evil--and all that entials--still really hits you.

* {{Quicksilver}} gets one at the end of the Siege event. 'Perfect warrior' Mr X has just gotten hold of 'ultimate weapon' Gungnir, and bear in mind this is a guy who killed a god ''before'' he gothis hands on the Spear of Heaven. Quicksilver deals him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown CurbStompBattle without pausing for breath:

** Whilst we're talking about Siege, Amadeus Cho got a really good one against Mr. X. Mr.X. can read minds so that he knows how someone is going to attack him. What does Amadeus do? He throws arrows at Mr. X, doing complicated calculations so that they'll hit him in just the right spots. The best bit of it is that Mr. X can still read Amadeus's mind, he just can't understand the calculations.

-->"So you will be able to (breaks elbow) anticipate every move I make (breaks wrist) and do absolutely (breaks jaw) nothing about it (breaks hand) because I (breaks other hand) am (breaks ribs) the (breaks knee) fastest (breaks other knee) man (breaks leg) on (knockout blow) Earth."

** It was considered a CMOA even back then. The first issue of the series was put into a trade with the issue of the team's first appearance due to fan request.

* On another level, the fact that Marvel kept the team's secret under wraps until the end of the first issue. Even when you know the truth and you're re-reading it all these years later, the revelation that they're the Masters of Evil--and all that entials--still really hits you.

* The team end up on a mission with Hyperion [[spoiler: and the entire issue deals with fighting him. Hyperion is basically an evil expy of {{Superman}}, with everything that implies. He regards the other Thunderbolts as completely worthless, especially Ghost, and proceeds to burni Man-Thing, break Juggernaut's legs, and drown Moonstone. He's later beaten up by Juggernaut (and actually breaks his hand trying to cave Jugg's head in), blasted by Moonstone, paralysed by Ghost, and, after a good CurbStompBattle on him, burned by Man-Thing.]]

* John Walker, former US Agent, had recently had his [[HandicappedBadass left arm and leg amputated]]. He is assigned as warden of The Raft, a prison for super-criminals. A recent issue has a black out that results in some the convicts being released from their cells. Finding himself cornered and threatened, John Walker leaps out of his chair and lays some serious hurt on the first cons to come near him, and even [[EyeScream rips some guy's eye out using his metal hook]]. The fight ends with John (who, remember, is one legged) standing steadily over the knocked out body of a prisoner, daring anyone to start some shit. None rise to the occasion.

* During an Issue where the team end up on a mission with Hyperion [[spoiler:The entire issue dealing with fighting Hyperion, the newest member. Hyperion is basically an evil expy of {{Superman}}, with everything that implies. He regards the other Thunderbolts as completely worthless, especially Ghost, burning Man-Thing, breaking Juggernaut's legs, and drowning Moonstone. He's later beaten up by Juggernaut, actually breaking his hand trying to cave Jugg's head in, blasted by Moonstone, paralysed by Ghost, and, after a good CurbStompBattle on him, burned by Man-Thing.]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Moonstone''':"Coward. Can't have one of these on the team. You shouldn't know fear Hyperion. Because. Whoever knows fear..."]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Juggernaut''':"...burns at the touch of '''The Man-Thing'''."]]
* On another level, the fact that Marvel kept the team's secret under wraps until the end of the first issue. Even when you know the truth and you're re-reading it all these years later, the revelation that they're the Masters of Evil--and all that entials--still really hits you.

* John Walker, the former US Agent, beating down multiple prisoners while in a wheel chair. Do not screw with Warden Cripple.
*** Best part , the rest of the prisonaers bring him his chair afterwards.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Luke Cage vs Purple Man, who has beaten teams of Avengers before.]]
** John Walker, the former US Agent, beating down multiple prisoners while in a wheel chair. Do not screw with Warden Cripple.

** [[spoiler:The entire issue dealing with fighting Hyperion, the newest member. Hyperion is basically an evil expy of {{Superman}}, with everything that implies. He regards the other Thunderbolts as completely worthless, especially Ghost, burning Man-Thing, breaking Juggernaut's legs, and drowning Moonstone. He's later beaten up by Juggernaut, actually breaking his hand trying to cave Jugg's head in, blasted by Moonstone, paralysed by Ghost, and, after a good CurbStompBattle on him, burned by Man-Thing.]]