History Characters / AgentsOfSHIELDTheCentipedeGroup

* AntiHero: He is initially set up to be one of the GoodIsNotNice variety. He has anti-social tendencies, but Coulson sees something in him that made him choose Ward for TheTeam. As it turns out, he was a villain all along. In Season Two, he's trying to pull a HeelFaceTurn, [[spoiler: and hands [[TheDragon Bakshi]] over to Coulson's team after escaping, but he commits several extremely unheroic acts which make him come across as more of a WildCard than a genuine hero.]]
** In the season finale, [[spoiler: he subverts this trope hard, dispensing with all heroics and becoming a straight-up villain.]]

* BerserkButton: Don't mess with Skye. Don't even think about it.
** But since she shot him in the back in "What They Become", he doesn't care what you do with her.
** But don't call him a Nazi. Or call him a dirty coward who uses his abusive family background as an excuse for not taking responsibility for his own action.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Coulson mentions that Ward's anti-social tendencies aren't surprising, given his family history. This is hammered home in "The Well": his older brother was one hell of a cruel asshole even as a child.

* HazeFeelTurn: In Season 2. [[spoiler: He makes a full-on FaceHeelTurn by the end, becoming the new potential head of HYDRA.]]

* HiddenHeartOfGold: In season 2, he has Team Coulson's best interests at heart, albeit in his own twisted way. He also recognizes that Agent 33 was a victim of emotional abuse and takes her under his wing. He refuses her sexual advances, knowing that she's just acting out to gain affection, and helps her reclaim her identity.
** And then the finale subverts this as, while he does truly care for Agent 33, his idea of helping her is [[spoiler: corrupting and using her like Garrett did to him, and finding "closure" for her through the torture and murder of Bobbi Morse.]]

** He later takes Agent 33 under his wing and helps her reclaim her identity in the wake of her brainwashing at Whitehall's hands.

** Hell even before Garrett he had issues. He drove a thousand miles just to try and burn his brother alive in the family home. His options after that act of attempted murder where hard time which would have darkened his psyche even more. Or Garrett which did the same but with a purpose.

** He genuinely seems to have developed a loving relationship with Kara, given that he walked right into Coulson's hands when Deathlok napped her. Coulson even names this as a reason why he thinks that he isn't completely beyond redemption. Ward ultimately leaves Kara with S.H.I.E.L.D., recognizing that's he's not a good influence on her and wanting her to recover her past. [[spoiler: Which turns out to be a foul play, but the trope is still played straight.]]

* EvilDuo: In the latter half of season 2 is shaping up one with [[spoiler:Agent 33.]]

* LoveRedeems: InvokedTrope. Ward is being actively helpful to Team Coulson so he can endear himself to Skye and tells her such. He goes so far as to sever any ties he had with HYDRA so he can provide them with a high ranking member to interrogate and comments that he is going to continue to do so. [[spoiler: Not anymore.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: As with Loki and [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Battle of New York]] [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld in the movies]], the series treats his betrayal of Team Coulson as this, beginning with the murder of Victoria Hand at the end of "Turn, Turn, Turn" and culminating in the ocean drop in "Ragtag". Coulson, Fitz-Simmons, and Skye all make it perfectly clear that Ward burned every last bridge with Team Coulson with especially that last act, and when Senator Ward asks for custody of his brother in exchange for S.H.I.E.L.D. not being officially declared an enemy of the Earth, Coulson is familiar enough with the younger Ward's treason to be all too [[{{Irony}} happy to comply]]. By the end of "The Dirty Half-Dozen", [[spoiler:even he considers himself beyond redemption and, in one last attempt at something noble, leaves Kara in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s care because he believes she deserves better]].[[invoked]]

* PetTheDog: Dumping Fitzsimmons into the ocean may have been intended to give them a fighting chance while making it look like to Garrett he killed them, as he notes in "Making Friends and Influencing People".

* PutOnABus: At the end of the first season, he is taken into custody by the U.S. military. WordOfGod has stated that they decided ''not'' to kill him off because they feel there's more left to tell with his story. Sure enough, he returned for the second season.

* TheSociopath: Played with. He is capable of feeling empathy and even love, but he is also a ConsummateLiar who doesn't even blink while casually betraying, torturing or killing people.

* TookALevelInJerkass: In the season one finale. Taunts Skye that she is as bad as he is and threatens to simply take what he needs from her. During the fight with May he keeps taunting her, leading to her crushing his larynx just to shut him up.

* MoralEventHorizon:
** His in-universe crossing point is in "Seeds" when he manipulates Seth and Donnie into creating an ice machine. This causes Seth to get killed and Donnie to become a [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals Gifted]]. After that, Coulson warns him that if his plane ever goes into S.H.I.E.L.D. airspace, he will be shot down at once. As in, S.H.I.E.L.D. will ''shoot to kill''.
** His second in-universe crossing comes when he shoots Skye. After that, an enraged May beats the tar out of him.

* HeelFaceRevolvingDoor: So very much. He is easily the most unpredictable character in the entire series. He infiltrated Team Coulson (that's bad), he actually grew fond of them and risked his life several times to save them (that's good), he betrayed them anyway and killed several people by doing so (that's bad), then he gave them information on HYDRA (that's good), but escaped from custody and probably killed more people by doing so (that's bad), then he helped SHIELD capture Sunil Bakshi (that's good), afterwards he killed his abusive brother and parents and made it look like a murder-suicide (that's bad), then he infiltrated HYDRA and helped Skye to escape (that's good), after ending up with Kara/Agent 33 he kills several people in order to stay undercover and help Kara get her revenge on Bakshi (that's bad), when Coulson is on the run he joins forces with him once again and viably assists his team (that's good), and now he is helping Kara to torture and possibly kill Bobbie for revenge (that's bad).

** After losing his "liege lord", so to speak, he decides to become Sky's Dark Knight by keeping his promise to her, slaying dragons like Bakshi, and protecting her from villains like Whitehall. However, she refuses to be his Bright Lady and shoots him in the back.
** "Love in the time of Hydra" sees him become this for Agent 33 A.K.A Kara. He becomes a pillar of strength for her, finds someone to repair her damaged mask, helps her rediscover her identity, and manhandles Bakshi (again), and all seemingly without ulterior motive; he even rejects sexual favors when she used Skye's face. Kara, for her part, is much more willing to be his Bright Lady (or Dark Lady as the case may be).

** While Coulson, May, Skye, and Fitz have all made it clear that the trope title very much applies to their feelings towards him, Ward insists that he genuinely wants to help them and regrets the harm he did to them now that Garrett is gone. So far, they're not buying it. Though in "S.O.S." there's ''is'' one truth he admited, he misses being on a team. [[spoiler:Just not Coulson's.]]

* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Ward was unbalanced before he met Skye but with Garrett's death the only thing he has driving him is his fixation on Skye.
* LoveRedeems: InvokedTrope. Ward is being actively helpful to Team Coulson so he can endear himself to Skye and tells her such. He goes so far as to sever any ties he had with HYDRA so he can provide them with a high ranking member to interrogate and comments that he is going to continue to do so.

* SingleTargetSexuality: He's slept with May as part of a gambit to gain her trust and had sex with Lorelei while under her influence, but it seems as if the only person he's actually attracted to, and wants to pursue for personal reasons, is Skye.

** While Coulson, May, Skye, and Fitz have all made it clear that the trope title very much applies to their feelings towards him, Ward insists that he genuinely wants to help them and regrets the harm he did to them now that Garrett is gone. So far, they're not buying it.

** He genuinely seems to have developed a loving relationship with Kara, given that he walked right into Coulson's hands when Deathlok napped her. Coulson even names this as a reason why he thinks that he isn't completely beyond redemption. Ward ultimately leaves Kara with S.H.I.E.L.D., recognizing that's he's not a good influence on her and wanting her to recover her past.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Played with. It turns out he loved that dog Garrett ordered him to kill, and admits aloud that he does care for Fitz and Simmons. Apparently this only means he prefers trying to kill all three from a distance.

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Played with. It turns out he loved that dog Garrett ordered him to kill, and admits aloud that he does care for Fitz and Simmons. Apparently this only means he prefers trying to kill all three from a distance, although whether he killed the dog or Garrett did is left unclear. Whether he's this trope or JerkWithAHeartOfGold is also unclear.

** Literally, as Garrett ordered Ward to kill his dog after being accepted to a S.H.I.E.L.D. academy. He doesn't do it. [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe]].

* BreakHerHeartToSaveHer: Ward knows that his past actions have made him irredeemable, so he leaves Kara at S.H.I.E.L.D., believing Coulson to be the better man to help her rebuild the life she lost to HYDRA.

* AffablyEvil: He maintains the chummy attitude he's previously been using in a civilian disguise, as seen during his interactions with Coulson and Fitz after his true identity is revealed. It's best exemplified when Ward is experiencing a VillainousBSOD after killing Victoria Hand; Garrett keeps laughing and joking as he tells Ward about an old mission he was on, not caring about what's happening to Ward. His humour and "friendliness" seem to be real, but its outweighed by the selfishness and LackOfEmpathy.

* AbusiveParents He was considered a father figure to Ward, and kidnapped him from a government facility when he was a teenager. Garrett proceeded to emotionally and physically abuse him for fifteen years.

* HeelFaceDoorSlam: [[spoiler:Every single original member of Team Coulson (except for May, mainly because she has yet to interact with him on-screen in season two) makes it quite clear that he can ''never'' make amends for what he did and will ''never'' be considered a part of the team ever again.]]

** He genuinely seems to have developed a loving relationship with Agent 33, given that he walked right into Coulson's hands when Deathlok napped her. Coulson even names this as a reason why he thinks that he isn't completely beyond redemption.

* GenreBlind: [[spoiler:Believing Bakshi would remain loyal to him after being brainwashed if he was allowed to try to infiltrate HYDRA. "Deluded son of a bitch", indeed.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: As with Loki and [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Battle of New York]] [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld in the movies]], the series treats his betrayal of Team Coulson as this, beginning with the murder of Victoria Hand at the end of "Turn, Turn, Turn" and culminating in the ocean drop in "Ragtag". Coulson, Fitz-Simmons, and Skye all make it perfectly clear that Ward burned every last bridge with Team Coulson with especially that last act, and when Senator Ward asks for custody of his brother in exchange for S.H.I.E.L.D. not being officially declared an enemy of the Earth, Coulson is familiar enough with the younger Ward's treason to be all too [[{{Irony}} happy to comply]].[[invoked]]

'''Warning: Major unmarked spoilers for ''Film/TheAvengers'', ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', and Season One of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. below.'''

* MoralEventHorizon: As with Loki and the Battle of New York [[Film/TheAvengers in the ]][[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld movies]], the series treats his betrayal of Team Coulson as this, beginning with the murder of Victoria Hand at the end of "Turn, Turn, Turn" and culminating in the ocean drop in "Ragtag". Coulson, Fitzsimmons, and Skye all make it perfectly clear that Ward burned every last bridge with Team Coulson with especially that last act, and when Senator Ward asks for custody of his brother in exchange for S.H.I.E.L.D. not being officially declared an enemy of the Earth, Coulson is familiar enough with the younger Ward's treason to be all too [[{{Irony}} happy to comply]].[[invoked]]

* BigBad: As the leader of Project Centipede in Season One, he is the man behind all of their wrong doings, as well as having Ward infiltrate SHIELD.

* BodyHorror: He wears turtleneck sweaters to conceal some rather large neck scars. His left side is also cybernetically augmented in some fashion, similar to the comics where he became one to save his life. He's revealed to be Deathlok Mk. 1 in "Ragtag," after having to stuff his guts back in and duct tape the wound shut when SHIELD was unable to extract him after his injury.

* TheChessmaster: The Clairvoyant seems to be fifteen steps ahead of virtually everyone else on the show. Even after his ties with SHIELD are severed, Garrett is still able to play every other faction like a fiddle. He becomes ''more'' dangerous in a lot of ways, since he doesn't have to hide and is able to just openly raid SHIELD bases.

-->'''SHIELD Agent:''' How did HYDRA know you were here?\\

* TheOmniscient: Exhibits some form of Mundane Omniscience, which is where the name comes from. According to Po and Raina, the Clairvoyant can somehow learn about anything or anyone they need to further their plans, as well as other important information, but he may or may not choose to reveal this information until the time is right. It's later revealed that the source of this omniscience is S.H.I.E.L.D. security clearance, and--as shown to eerie effect in ''The Winter Soldier''--SHIELD has been gathering a ''lot'' of data on a lot of people.

* EvilAllAlong: Implied when he reveals his true colors in "Turn Turn Turn", and confirmed in "Ragtag" when we learn that Garrett recruited him for HYDRA years before he became a DoubleAgent inside SHIELD.

** Literally, as Garrett ordered Ward to kill his dog after being accepted to a SHIELD academy. He doesn't do it. [[AmbiguousSituation Maybe]].

** It is also used as a suffix to indicate direction or bias. Which becomes important as he goes from acting in a SHIELD-ward manner to a HYDRA-ward one, inverting the first example in the process.

* PlayingBothSides: Hints have been dropped that he may be the MCU's incarnation of The Taskmaster, having betrayed both SHIELD and HYDRA and now being on the run from ''both''.

* ReformedButRejected: He consider himself "helpful" in Season Two by providing intel and delivering presents. Team Coulson considers him a loose cannon because he's not as reformed as he thinks. [[spoiler: Framing your brother for the murder of your parents is not something a good son of SHIELD would do.]]

* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: He becomes this (with the additional murder of his brother Christian) in "The Things We Bury".]]

* StalkerWithACrush: [[spoiler: After escaping from USA federal custody]], he acts like this around Skye. He tells her he's watching her, calls her with unknown numbers and leaves little presents that involve dead bodies. Once she shoots him in the back in "What They Become", he finally gets the message that it's not mutual, as he tells Agent 33 in "Love in the Time of Hydra" when she tries to have hanky panky with him while wearing Skye's face. He says "I'm not crazy", because he'd have to be delusional to think he and Skye still have a future.

* WildCard: [[spoiler:Ward becomes this after escaping from federal custody. First, he captures a well-known HYDRA member for SHIELD and then, he goes back to HYDRA with the implication of working for SHIELD while at the same time working against SHIELD. After the death of Daniel Whitehall in "What They Become", he and Agent 33 become complete wild cards, not even beholden to HYDRA either.]]

* WrongGenreSavvy: In Season Two, he seems to be trying to turn himself into TheAtoner, but he's an accomplished liar and also slightly unhinged, so it's hard to tell how sincere he is. He doesn't seem to get that he can't atone on his own terms, and he genuinely seems to think that Skye will eventually forgive him for killing a bunch of innocent people, betraying SHIELD, and mentally crippling Fitz if he tries really hard. Coulson eventually tells Ward that he'll never be forgiven and that the only reason they keep him around is for information.

** Turning Donnie Gill into Blizzard by hiring him and then cutting him loose when SHIELD found out.

* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Ultimately subverted; Ward's belief that she sold out her fellow agents turns out to be false (the op just went bad) and she isn't willingly working for her episode's villain. Given that Ward is an ''actual'' agent working for the episode's ultimate villain (the Clairvoyant), it's highly likely he wanted to get rid of a loose thread while breaking down SHIELD's loyal members.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: he genuinely seems to have developed a loving relationship with Agent 33. Coulson even names this as a reason why he thinks that he isn't completely beyond redemption.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He tries to convince Skye that, despite being a HYDRA plant and lying "to everyone about everything", his feelings for her are genuine. She doesn't buy it.

* ExactWords: He's skilled at saying something that a mark will interpret as "A" when he means "B".
** In "The Only Light in The Darkness" he convinces Eric Koenig that he came to Providence "for Skye". Eric interprets this as him having feelings for her (which he does), but he's ''really'' there to capture her on Garrett's orders.
** In "Writing on the Wall" [[spoiler: he tells Bakshi that he can get the man "close enough to Coulson to put a bullet in his head". Bakshi thinks this means delivering Coulson to him on a silver platter, when in fact, it was the other way around. He lampshades this during a phone call with Skye.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: For Coulson in the second half of Season 2. [[spoiler:While going after the remaining HYDRA figureheads still unaccounted for, Coulson says to Hunter and Deathlok that he has go and get Ward to find Dr. List, the HYDRA scientist they are looking for.]]