History ComicBook / TheDefenders

In November 2013, it was announced that Marvel would be producing a Defenders TV series for {{Creator/Netflix}}. Confirmed characters include [[InNameOnly such familiar faces as]] ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}, Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, ComicBook/JessicaJones, and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]. While it uses the Defenders name, it's more akin to Marvel's short lived Marvel Knights team, which focused on street-level and darker heroes. In January 2017, a comic book based on that same roster was announced, which will be written by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis. Tropes for that series should go [[ComicBook/TheDefenders2017 here.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Defenders|2021}} (2021) #1

* ''[[ComicBook/TheDefenders2017 The Defenders]]'' (2017-2018) #1-10

In 2018, it was announced the the original Defenders were getting a series of five one-shots that connected as part of a larger story. It was called ''ComicBook/BestDefense''.

* DressedInElement: Cloud possessed cloud-based weather powers, and wore a 'costume' consisting of strategic wisps of cloud swirling around her/his body like CensorSteam.

As mentioned, the Silver Surfer was quickly written out after his brief tryout with the team,(as at the time, Stan Lee considered him to be his pet character and was not keen on letting other writers use him) and new characters were introduced to flesh out the roster. Nighthawk, originally a CaptainErsatz for Batman but then reinvented as one for ComicBook/{{Hawkman}}; Daimon Hellstrom, the horror-themed hero "Son of Satan"; [[Comicbook/PatsyWalker Hellcat]], originally a character from Marvel's comedy/romance comics reinvented as a Cat-themed heroine (using the costume of The Cat, who herself had become [[CatGirl Tigra]]); Gargoyle, an elderly man who, while trying to cheat death, ended up trapped in the body of a demon; and The Valkyrie, a Norse goddess trapped in the body of a woman known to Hulk and Strange were brought onto the team,[[DemotedToExtra while Sub-Mariner was soon demoted to a recurring character within the title as opposed to being a consistent member.]] The group itself had loose guidelines for membership, as technically, everybody who helped them was a 'Defender' (this was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in a story where a membership drive -- started without their permission or knowledge -- led to a mess as both heroes wanting to join, and villains trying to pretend they were Defenders, ran into each other.) Still, the heroes listed above were the most commonly associated with the team. They tended to meet in Doctor Strange's New York brownstone, and later, in the wealthy Nighthawk's estate.

!Tropes seen in the Pre-2017 Defender series:

Not to be confused with the AnimatedSeries ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'', or with the 1960s TV show ''The Defenders'', which was about a group of lawyers. Or, for that matter, the more recent TV show ''Series/{{The Defenders|2017}}'', which is also about lawyers.[[note]]This is merely about a Satanic cult, bathed in impenetrable ancient ritual involving pitiless human sacrifice, scheming for world domination out of lust for money and power. So no room for confusion, then.[[/note]]

Not to be confused with the AnimatedSeries ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'', or with the 1960s TV show ''The Defenders'', which was about a group of lawyers. Or, for that matter, the more recent TV show ''The Defenders'', which is also about lawyers.[[note]]This is merely about a Satanic cult, bathed in impenetrable ancient ritual involving pitiless human sacrifice, scheming for world domination out of lust for money and power. So no room for confusion, then.[[/note]]

* DemotedToExtra: This happened to '''all''' of the original members (plus Silver Surfer,) at one point or another in the original volume. Surfer was the one that got hit hardest, barely appearing in the book after joining the team for a few issues early on, but the others suffered from it too. [[PutOnABus Namor left in #14, while Doctor Strange left after the first Annual,]] and [[TheBusCameBack while both of them showed up again,]] [[CommutingOnABus it took a while for them to become as prominent as they used to be.]] Hulk didn't have as much of this as the others, being a consistent member well until #94, but after that, he didn't appear as much as he used to. While the book may originally been about Hulk, Strange, and other A-Listers, it ended up being more about C and D-listers like Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, and others, all of which got more focus than the founding members by the end of the group's original incarnation.

This age of the series was famous for its bizarre stories and villains; most notably: The Headmen, a group of villains with weird heads; The Elf With A Gun, a mysterious elf-like character who went around shooting people for no reason (and whom The Defenders never actually met!) and Vera Gemini, a demonic cult leader who was based on an actual rock and roll band (Music/BlueOysterCult)'s songs! These stories were largely written by SteveGerber and David Anthony Kraft, who shepherded the group for the 1970s and early 1980s.

* GirlsBehindBars: Happens to Valkyrie during the 70's SteveGerber run.

In the early 1980s, Marvel decided to revamp the book. Nighthawk was killed off (later upgraded to a ConvenientComa), Hellcat and Daimon Hellstrom married and retired, and a (bogus?) prophecy that Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer would bring about the end of the world led them to leave the team. Beast (having already joined up a while back,) Valkyrie and Gargoyle reformed the group with two of the other founding member of the ComicBook/XMen (The Angel and Iceman), along with the morally ambiguous Moondragon, the young Atlantis warrior Andromeda, and Cloud, a gas based alien who shape-shifted into both a man and woman during its time with the Defenders. Based in Colorado, in Angel's mansion, this incarnation lasted two years before the title was canceled so that the X-Men characters could be be freed up for the upcoming ''ComicBook/XFactor'' series. The entire team, save for Angel, Beast, and Iceman, [[HeroicSacrifice died saving a possessed Moondragon]].)

As part of the Comicbook/MarvelNOW relaunch, the Defenders flag was flown by Valkyrie at the head of the all-female ''Fearless Defenders'', a title which originated in the ''Comicbook/FearItself'' tie-in, ''The Fearless'' but it was cancelled at issue 12.

* AdventurerArchaeologist: Annabelle Riggs, who was introduced in ''Fearless Defenders'' #1.

* StayInTheKitchen: A variant in ''Fearless Defenders''. A bunch of male heroes with relations and connections to the current team met and planned to have an "intervention" to the women on why this new team was a bad idea, before they're all bluntly called out by retired heroine Shamrock on how they're just whining that Valkyrie, Misty, and the others just didn't tell them about it first.
** Flash Thompson comes across as the most etty when it comes right down to it, especially when it's revealed [[spoiler: he's mad that Annabelle Riggs, who is now sharing Valkyrie's body, essentially cockblocked him.]]

In November 2013, it was announced that Marvel would be producing a Defenders TV series for {{Creator/Netflix}}. Confirmed characters include [[InNameOnly such familiar faces as]] ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}, Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, [[Comicbook/{{Alias}} Jessica Jones]], and [[ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]]. While it uses the Defenders name, it's more akin to Marvel's short lived Marvel Knights team, which focused on street-level and darker heroes. In January 2017, a comic book based on that same roster was announced, which will be written by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis

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!Tropes seen in the 2017 series.

* AntiVillain: Felicia is not only freaked out by Diamondbacks level of violence but also saves Luke after he is poisoned.
* BackFromTheDead: Diamondback, not only is he now alive and well he CameBackStrong and is able to fight evenly with Jessica and move faster then Matt and Danny.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: It apparently never occurs to DB that Black Cat would save Luke instead of letting him die.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the end of the first issue of the 2017 iteration, Black Cat reunites Luke Cage with Diamondback, who was thought dead for the longest time. Diamondback puts Cage through a CurbStompBattle and as he constantly smashes Cage's head into the floor, Cat has lost her cool and realized she's done something terrible.
* ShoutOut: The opening of issue 1 is a homage to the famous WebComic/CtrlAltDel loss.jpg meme.

In the early 1980s, Marvel decided to revamp the book. Nighthawk was killed off (later upgraded to a ConvenientComa), Hellcat and Daimon Hellstrom married and retired, and a (bogus?) prophecy that Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer would bring about the end of the world led them to leave the team. Beast (having already joined up a while back,) Valkyrie and Gargoyle reformed the group with two of the other founding member of the ComicBook/{{X-Men}} (The Angel and Iceman), along with the morally ambiguous Moondragon, the young Atlantis warrior Andromeda, and Cloud, a gas based alien who shape-shifted into both a man and woman during its time with the Defenders. Based in Colorado, in Angel's mansion, this incarnation lasted two years before the title was canceled so that the X-Men characters could be be freed up for the upcoming ''Comicbook/{{X-Factor}}'' series. The entire team, save for Angel, Beast, and Iceman, [[HeroicSacrifice died saving a possessed Moondragon]].)

In the early 1990s, Marvel attempted to revive the Defenders as "Secret Defenders". This new series would have Doctor Strange organize squads of random heroes (including {{Wolverine}}, SpiderMan, ComicBook/{{Darkhawk}}, the second Spider-Woman, Comicbook/GhostRider, Hulk, Luke Cage, {{Deadpool}}, and many others) for one-off missions. The team made their first appearance in ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #374 when Spider-Man, desperate to bring in the Human Torch for arson and everyone is having poor luck doing so, turns to Dr. Strange for help, who reassembles the rest of the "New Fantastic Four" (Hulk, Wolverine and Ghost Rider) to fight the Fantastic Four. Despite being considerably hyped by Marvel, the series did not do well and with the title launching coinciding with the launching of the more successful "Midnight Sons" horror sub-line (in which Doctor Strange could not take part due to Secret Defenders), it was decided to remove him from the book so that his title could be folded into the Midnight Son line. The title was then revamped with Doctor Druid as the new leader and a group of new heroes, but this new direction did little to revive interest in the book and it was quietly canceled by the end of its second year.

!Tropes seen in the (various) Defender series:

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: At the end of the first issue of the 2017 iteration, Black Cat reunites Luke Cage with Diamondback, who was thought dead for the longest time. Diamondback puts Cage through a CurbStompBattle and as he constantly smashes Cage's head into the floor, Cat has lost her cool and realized she's done something terrible.

''The Defenders'' is a MarvelComics superhero team.

''Not to be confused with the AnimatedSeries ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'', or with the 1960s TV show ''The Defenders'', which was about a group of lawyers. Or, for that matter, the current TV show ''The Defenders'', which is also about lawyers.''[[note]]This is merely about a Satanic cult, bathed in impenetrable ancient ritual involving pitiless human sacrifice, scheming for world domination out of lust for money and power. So no room for confusion, then.[[/note]]

* AnimalThemedSuperbeing: Hell Cat and Nighthawk fit under the ''Animal Alias'' type and Moondragon is the ''Mythical Monster Motif'' type.