Marvel Strike Force / Characters

Character list for the game Marvel Strike Force.

Characters are divided according to their faction (e.g. Avengers, Hydra), or under groupings (e.g. while Iron Man and War Machine are under Avengers as well as Power Armor, but Rescue and Ironheart are only under Power Armor).

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A-Force

A team of powerful heroines dedicated to defending Arcadia following the formation of Battleworld.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Captain Marvel (Brawler), also under Kree and Military
Jessica Jones (Controller), also under Defenders
Nico Minoru (Controller)
Spider-Woman (Blaster)

Advanced Idea Mechanics

Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M. for short) is a legitimate corporation dedicated to the advancement of technology.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Scientist Supreme (Support)
Graviton (Controller)
AIM Security (Protector)
AIM Infector (Controller)
AIM Monstrosity (Brawler)
AIM Assaulter (Blaster)
AIM Researcher (Support)

Faceless Mooks: All of AIM's Minion characters wear face-concealing headgear.
For Science!: Their entire reason for existing.
Gravity Master: Graviton is this to a T. He can use his gravity manipulation powers to slow down the enemy team, stop them from taking turns, and even extend their debuff durations.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Part of A.I.M.'s gimmick is that they can take advantage of the opponent's attempts to inflict status conditions on them. For example:
- Scientist Supreme grants ability energy to any A.I.M. allies on her turn that have a negative effect, and her special ability flips all negative effects into their positive equivalents along with extending pre-existing positive effects.
- Assaulter gets a bonus attack on his special, where he attacks again for every negative effect on the target.
- Infector can apply any negative effects on himself to the target with his basic attack.
- Researcher gets a boost to her Speed Bar whenever an A.I.M. ally gains a negative effect (even if it was self-inflicted).
- Security can transfer one negative effect from herself and all A.I.M. allies to any enemy that attacks her. The catch is that she needs Scientist Supreme as an ally, and the effect only works while Security is at 75% Health or above
Mad Scientist: Scientist Supreme's passive ability is literally called "Mad Science."
Sinister Minister: Graviton is described as being this. He at least has the look for it.
Villain with Good Publicity:

Asgardians

Inhabitants of the other-dimensional world of Asgard.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Thor (Blaster), also under the Avengers
Loki (Controller)
Hela (Controller), also under Undying
Sif (Protector)
Heimdall (Brawler)
Mighty Thor (Controller)
Valkyrie (Brawler)

Affectionate Nickname: The Undead Asgardian that accompanies Hela has been given the name 'Greg' by the Marvel Strike Force community.
Berserk Button: Attacking Thor's allies seems to be one if his passive is anything to go by. Whenever an Asgardian or Wave I Avenger ally takes a hit, he gains 1 Charged, and once he reaches 5, he unleashes a deadly counterattack.
Gathering Steam: Thor's passive allows him to gain 1 stack of Charged every time an ally Asgardian (or Wave I Avenger) is attacked, which lets him unleash a powerful attack once he reaches 5.
- With the inclusion of Mighty Thor, all Chargeable Asgardians (herself, Thor and Valkyrie) gain a Charge stack every time she or a Hero Asgardian ally attacks an enemy.
- Speaking of, Mighty Thor can use 5 Charged at the end of every turn to attack the enemy with the highest damage that does not have Trauma, and in War, it also applies Trauma while ignoring Defense Up.
- Valkyrie can use her Charge stacks to fuel her Ultimate ability, or as an emergency heal if one of her Hero Asgardian allies (or herself) falls in battle.
Healing Factor: A common effect in their passives is this; on their turn, they gain 5% of their health back, plus an additional 5% for each Asgardian ally (barring summons). With a full Asgardian team, this equates to each Asgardian gaining a quarter of their health on their turn.
No-Sell: Heimdall's passive ability makes them all completely immune to being blinded (technically, it raises their resistance against the effect by 10,000%).
Obvious Rule Patch: Originally, the Undead Asgardian's passive only granted a heal on its death. However, it was discovered that Black Panther's passive allowed him to gain an infinite number of turns as long as he always killed the Undead Asgardian, shutting down the Asgardians completely. As a result, the Undead Asgardian's passive gained an additional effect that reduced the enemy team's Speed Bar by 10%.
Physical God: This is a given, since they are all Norse gods and goddesses.
Stone Wall: When they were first introduced as a full team, they were lauded as the 'Gods of War Defense', and for good reason. Between Sif's taunting, Loki's ability to hide low-health teammates until they recover, and the team's ability to heal up to 25% of their health every time they take a turn, they are very difficult for an unprepared team to take down.
Suicide Attack: The Undead Asgardian has a special attack it can use if it lasts for long enough without being taken down, called Dark Sacrifice. When used, it inflicts heavy Piercing damage and two stacks of Bleed, at the cost of killing the Undead Asgardian. But since it heals the most injured Asgardian ally and lowers the enemy team's Speed Bar on death, plus the fact that Hela will immediately summon another one, this isn't a issue.
We Have Reserves: The Undead Asgardian will not stay dead as long as Hela's still on the field. And this isn't limited to the one she summons; any Undead Asgardian on her team will benefit from this effect.
- Putting her on War Defense adds another level to this: If an Asgardian ally falls in battle, Hela will summon another Undead Asgardian to take their place, meaning she can have up to five on the field.

Avengers

Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Ant-Man (Controller), also under Pym Tech
Black Panther (Brawler), also under Wakanda
Black Widow (Controller), also under SHIELD
Captain America (Protector), also under SHIELD
Phil Coulson (Controller), also under SHIELD
Falcon (Blaster), also under Power Armour
Nick Fury (Support), also under SHIELD
Hawkeye (Controller), also under SHIELD
Hulk (Protector)
Iron Man (Blaster), also under Power Armour
Thor (Blaster), also under Asgard
War Machine (Blaster), also under Power Armour
Scarlet Witch (Controller)
Vision (Controller)

The team has a further subdivision called Wave I - Avengers, composed of the six original members of the Avengers team: Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Other than the name, there is no connection to the Young Avengers. The Secret Avengers, on the other hand, do appear under the heading (though they offer or gain no benefits when part of the party with the Avengers).

Adaptational Wimp: Several members of the Avengers are One-Man Army-level heroes, but aren't quite up to that level in-game.
- The Avengers as a team are considered one of the worst teams in a meta sense.
Can't Catch Up: A meta example, as the Avengers are hopelessly outmatched by most other teams due to a lack of synergy. As an example, if making a team made up of the MCU roster (i.e. Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Iron Man), Cap grants an additional 20% health and heals 10% of the team's HP if a member is K.O.ed, Hulk's Taunt additionally grants him 3 Counters, Iron Man gains 5% Damage per Avenger (and his Rocket Barrage becomes more powerful thanks to Cap), and Black Widow and Hawkeye's Passives grant each other Assist Now. In comparison, the members of the Fantastic Four grant everyone in the team 10% armour (The Thing), 20% Damage to all members (Human Torch), 60% Focus and Resistance to all members plus Assist Now to a random FF member on any other member's turn plus removing the Blind debuff (Mr Fantastic) and 20% additional health plus automatic counterattacks when an FF member protected by a barrier is attacked (Invisible Woman).
The Leader: Averted. The Avengers have no "leader"-type character like Starlord (Guardians of the Galaxy), Cyclops or Storm (X-Men), Magneto (the Brotherhood) or Scientist Supreme (A.I.M.), whose leadership is either shown by passive buffs (Magneto grants Speed Up to all Brotherhood members when any member is attacked, Mr Fantastic granting Assist Now to a random member of the FF on every member's turn) or through their abilities (Cyclops' "To Me!" ability explicitly shows him ordering an attack, Baron Zemo can call for support fire from a Hydra Grenadier who is on his team).
Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Captain America naturally has the highest Block rate (i.e. reduces damage by blocking an enemy attack), which can grow even higher with fellow Avengers on the same team.
- Falcon uses his wings as shields, but unlike Cap he doesn't have an improved Block chance the more Avengers are on his team. Instead, he gains improved Block chance when Power Armor characters (e.g. Iron Man and War Machine) are present.
Super Team: Easily the one with the largest roster in the game.
- Unfortunately this also leads to a bit of a Jack of All Stats situation: most of the members listed actually give more benefits to, or gain benefits from, other categories except for the Avengers. For example, Falcon gets improved Block chances per Power Armor ally but offers an Avengers team no passive benefits at all, while Scarlet Witch's Ultimate ability Chaos Wave becomes more powerful in the presence of Supernatural allies. Nick Fury and Phil Coulson likewise provide the Avengers with no benefits at all, instead being geared towards supporting a SHIELD team.

Bionic Avengers

A team composed of several members of the Avengers Initiative and their close allies, all of whom make use of their cybernetics to keep the world at peace.

There members and roles in-game are:

Iron Man (Legendary, Blaster), also under Avenger and Power Armor
Vision (Controller)
Hulkbuster (Protector)
Viv Vision (Support)
Deathlok (Blaster)

Black Order

Thanos's most loyal and ruthless followers, they scour the universe for the Infinity Stones, all to serve their master.

Their members and roles in game are:

Corvus Glaive (Brawler)
Cull Obsidian (Protector)
Ebony Maw (Legendary, Support)
Proxima Midnight (Controller)

Additionally, Thanos both provides and receives many benefits from this team despite technically not being a part of it. Therefore, any tropes applying to him will be added here.

Adaptational Wimp: With the Infinity Gauntlet and Infinity Stones in hand, Thanos is capable of wiping out half of all life in the universe with just a snap of his fingers. He's nowhere near this powerful in-game, likely because having half your team wiped out instantly would make them impossible to fight against. In-story, this is explained by the Infinity Stones used all coming from different universes, therefore the resonance that normally occurs when brought together (which is why they're so much more powerful together than apart) doesn't happen.
Adapted Out: Supergiant, another Black Order member, is nowhere to be seen, likely due to the five character limit on teams, as well as the fact that this version is based on the MCU version (which likewise omits her completely).
Badass Fingersnap: Empowered Thanos will, if he finishes the match by using his Ultimate, perform his iconic finger snap to reduce the remaining enemies to dust. See it in action here.
Battle Couple: Proxima and Corvus are married, and their basic attacks let the other attack in tandem with them.
Colony Drop: For his Ultimate, Empowered Thanos uses the Infinity Stones to tear a moon apart and pummel the opposing team with the resulting debris.
Composite Character: Of a sort; their designs mainly take inspiration from their comic counterparts, but the colors of the Infinity Stones are taken from their Marvel Cinematic Universe designs.
Hoist by Their Own Petard: Empowered Thanos's second ability allows him to flip any enemy buffs into debuffs while simultaneously flipping debuffs inflicted on his own team into buffs.
Life Drain: Ebony Maw's Ultimate does this to the enemy team, in addition to slowing them down and speeding his Black Order allies up.
Super Mode: Putting Thanos in a team with the four Black Order members grants him the Empowered status, giving him devastating new abilities.

Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

A renegade group of mutants (and Juggernaut) led by Magneto that opposes the teachings of Charles Xavier, instead believing that mutants are superior to humans and therefore deserve to lord over them.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Magneto (Legendary, Controller)
Juggernaut (Protector)
Pyro (Blaster)
Sabretooth (Brawler), also under the Marauders
Mystique (Controller), also under the Marauders
Toad (Controller)
Blob (Protector)

Adaptational Wimp: Honestly speaking, usually in comics and other media both Juggernaut and Magneto are more than powerful enough to fight entire teams of heroes solo. Naturally, they're nowhere near that powerful in the game.
Bash Brothers: Toad and Blob form one of these.
Glass Cannon: One of the first teams to be introduced that had no way to heal if things went south. The team's strategy is centered on disrupting and demolishing the enemy before they can set up, then picking off the stragglers. If something goes wrong, the Brotherhood doesn't have a reliable way to bounce back.
Hidden Depths: During Blob and Toad's event campaign, Blob observes he's used to people assuming he's stupid because of his size and bulk. It doesn't make it any less hurtful.
Playing with Fire: Pyro.
Token Human: Juggernaut is the only non-mutant member. He's also the only one who has a Mystic origin (as opposed to a Mutant origin like the others).

Darkhold

A loosely-affiliated group of sorcerers and spellbinders who are dedicated to studying the secrets of the Darkhold, a book containing a wide array of forbidden spells.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Morgan Le Fay/Pestilence (Controller), also under Horsemen
Scarlet Witch (Controller), also under Supernatural
Doctor Strange (Heartless) (Blaster)
Wong (Protector)
Agatha Harkness (Support)

Evil Counterpart: Heartless Strange is this to his regular variant; in losing Palmer instead of the use of his hands, this variant of Strange goes on to do anything in his power to bring her back, at the cost of his heart and his morals.

Dark Hunters

The Dark Hunters are some magical-based beings, and on this team are:

Baron Mordo (Controller), also under Supernatural
Ghost Rider (Brawler), also under Supernatural
Elsa Bloodstone (Blaster), also under Supernatural
Doctor Voodoo (Support)
Morbius (Controller)

Adaptational Wimp: Ghost Rider is often depicted as being immune to many mortal forms of attack (e.g. gunfire) by virtue of being demonically possessed. In-game, he's as vulnerable to debuffs like Blind or Bleed as any other flesh-and-blood character.
Badass Biker: Ghost Rider. His Hell-Cycle move involves ramming enemies with his bike. A unique animation sometimes plays if he finishes an enemy off with a basic attack, where he rams them into the air before wrapping a flaming chain around their legs and dragging them off. His victory pose has him casually sitting on his bike (though this sometimes looks silly if it clips into a nearby character).
Badass Longcoat: Elsa Bloodstone wears one.
Berserk Button: Missing a shot appears to be this for Elsa - if an opponent dodges her attack, her passive activates and she takes a free attack on her enemy.
Blue Blood: Elsa is an aristocrat dedicated to hunting down monsters.
Dark Is Not Evil: While frightening, the Dark Hunters fight against evil magics and the like. Even Morbius, who is identified as a Villain under the game's category system, is at worst an anti-hero who preys on criminals instead of the innocent.
Dual Wielding: All of Elsa's main attacks let her do this.
- Her basic attack 'Bloody Good Guns' involves her unloading her Uzis into her target.
- Her Special attack 'Trick Shot' lets her dual-wield sniper rifles (unless there is only one enemy and they don't have enough health to survive the first shot).
- Her Ultimate attack 'Scatterguns' sees her dual-wield shotguns.
Symbol Swearing: Used in the name of Elsa's Passive.
Walking Armory: Elsa carries a sniper rifle on her back, a pair of Uzis and a shotgun.

Deathseed

Their members and roles in-game are:

Psylocke (Brawler), also under Uncanny X-Men
Magneto (Legendary, Controller), also under Brotherhood
Dark Beast (Controller)
Archangel (Blaster)
Nemesis (Support)

Evil Counterpart: Dark Beast is much more sociopathic and manipulative than the X-Men's favorite blue genius.
Token Good Teammate: Psylocke, being the only Hero on the team.

Defenders

Their members and roles in-game are:

Luke Cage (Protector), also under Heroes for Hire
Jessica Jones (Controller), also under A-Force
Iron Fist (Brawler), also under Heroes for Hire
Daredevil (Brawler), also under Shadowland

While not a member, the Punisher provides and gains buffs when teamed with them.

Punisher (Blaster), also under Military

Crutch Character: They're probably the first team a new player will assemble. They perform fairly well early in the game and against unorganized teams, but begin to lose their value as players unlock better teams. Additionally, with the team members now allocated to different teams (Luke Cage and Iron Fist were moved to Heroes for Hire, Punisher to Military, Daredevil to Shadowland, and Jessica Jones to A-Force), the team is now more-or-less defunct to late-game players.
Sixth Ranger: Punisher

Dormammu

The Lord of the Dark Dimension and master of the Flames of Faltine. Archenemy to Doctor Strange.

Evil Overlord: Has the look and the raw power. Despite being identified as a Support character, his abilities and passives are geared to make him much more dangerous than other Support characters like Doctor Strange.

Eternals

The Protectors of Humanity from the threat that is the Deviants, given this charge by the Celestials themselves.

Those who appear in the game are:

Ikaris (Blaster)
Sersi (Controller)

Battle Couple: Ikaris and Sersei gain multiple benefits from being on a team together.
Eye Beams: One of Ikaris's powers.
Lightning Bruiser: The game has many examples, but these two are an exceptional instance—when paired up they are able to act multiple times quickly, unleashing a barrage of powerful moves that damage and debuff everything on the other side. Their power and combos make them nearly unstoppable in their specialized game mode of Arena and still very strong in any other game mode. This is particularly displayed by Ikaris, who in addition to being this in gameplay terms, is also one in the lore with his Superman Substitute powers. He shows this off in-game by repeatedly blasting targets with his eye-lasers before flying into them with diving punches.

Fantastic Four

Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four were altered by cosmic rays, granting them incredible powers they use defending Earth against extra-terrestrial and inter-dimensional threats.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Mr. Fantastic (Controller)
The Thing (Brawler)
Human Torch (Blaster)
Invisible Woman (Protector)

While not members, the following characters are closely linked to the FF (in game terms they grant and receive buffs and other special effects when teamed up).

Namor (Brawler)
She-Hulk (Brawler)
Doctor Doom (Controller)
Silver Surfer (Blaster)

Action Bomb: The Doombots have a built-in self-destruct mechanism, which Doom can trigger with his Special, 'Doomsday Dictator'.
Amazonian Beauty: She-Hulk. Notably, her in-game model was tweaked some time after she was introduced to the game after complaints that for someone known for both her strength and beauty, her model was...not quite up to those standards.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: The Thing's abilities effectively boil down to: Hit the enemy, hit the enemy multiple times, hit the enemy really hard, and hit the enemy when they hit the Thing (plus a small Armor boost to the appropriate allies).
Badass Armfold: Doctor Doom's idle stance.
Badass Family: Their passives are designed to buff the entire team, representing how close-knit they are. Invisible Woman grants 20% additional Health, Human Torch gives everyone 20% additional damage (and his Heating Up ability grants everyone Offense Up), The Thing gives the team 10% armor, and Mr Fantastic grants 60% Focus and Resistance in addition to granting Assist Now to a random member on each FF member's turn (while also removing the Blind debuff and removing a single buff from 3 random enemies).
Chrome Champion: Silver Surfer
Cool Board: The Silver Surfer's board definitely counts.
Death from Above: Mr. Fantastic's Ultimate Ability has him target an enemy with an orbital satellite, blasting them. If She-Hulk is in the party, the satellite attacks two enemies instead.
Enemy Mine: When the playable Doctor Doom was first announced, Scopely's developers explained that they designed him to work with a Fantastic Four team based on the many times they've joined forces against worse threats in the comics.
- Likewise, while classified as a Villain under the game's system Namor has generally been a reliable ally to the FF in the past.
Gathering Steam: Not the Fantastic Four themselves, but Silver Surfer is designed to counter characters that rely on Charge stacks, as his Ultimate attack is currently the only attack in the game to clear a target's Charge stacks.
- For a straight example, She-Hulk gains a Charge level every time one of her Fantastic Four allies or herself gets hit, unleashing a devastating counterattack whenever she hits full Charge.
Mama Bear: At full level, the Invisible Woman's Passive Ability has her counterattack any enemy who attacks an FF member protected by her Force Field.
Magitek: Doctor Doom explicitly uses both technology and magic in his attacks, this being the reason why he is listed under both Tech and Mystic categories.
Me's a Crowd: Doctor Doom summons a Doombot every turn, which is built to be a near-perfect physical duplicate of the original. They don't copy his moveset, but they're still able to support the original through sheer firepower and granting stack of Deflect upon death.
Megaton Punch: Fitting the Thing his attacks all include at least one of these.
Sigil Spam: Human Torch's Ultimate Move hits all enemies... and burns the Fantastic Four's logo into the ground to boot.
Sixth Ranger: Namor, She-Hulk, Doctor Doom, and Silver Surfer are all designed to work as a fifth member of the team.
Summon Bigger Fish: Done literally by Namor's Ultimate Ability, which has him summon a sea monster to attack all enemies.
Super Family Team: The best example in comics.
Time Master: Doom's repertoire includes Time Platform, which he uses to effectively rewind time for some of his allies. To wit, he heals himself and the most injured non-summoned ally for 100% of Doom's health (which is effectively a full heal for Doom himself), he gives himself and the ally with the highest damage three consecutive turns, and clears all negative effects from himself and the prior allies.

Gamma

A group of heroes and villains who all share one common connection: Their exposure to Gamma radiation has left them with the ability to transform into incredibly resilient brawlers.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Hulk (Protector), also under Avenger
She-Hulk (Protector)
Abomination (Brawler)
Brawn (Support)
Red Hulk/War (Brawler), also under Horsemen

Guardians of the Galaxy

An intergalactic Ragtag Bunch of Misfits formed to protect the galaxies from threats.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Star-Lord (Legendary, Controller)
Rocket Raccoon (Blaster)
Gamora (Brawler), also under Infinity Watch
Groot (Support)
Drax (Protector)
Mantis (Controller)

Bare-Fisted Monk: Mantis.
Bash Brothers: Groot and Rocket Raccoon.
Battle Couple: Based on the MCU, Gamora and Starlord. Drax and Mantis is also implied.
Combination Attack: When Groot is present, Rocket Raccoon's Ultimate changes so he fires a massive Gatling gun at all enemies, with Groot acting as a bracing platform.
Dual Wielding: Star-Lord wields two blasters. Drax is armed with two knives.
Two Girls to a Team: Mantis and Gamora.

The Hand

A clan of deadly ninjas and assassins trained in lethal combat and the mystic arts.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Nobu (Controller), also under Underworld
Elektra (Brawler), also under Shadowland
Hand Sentry (Protector)
Hand Swordsman (Brawler)
Hand Sorceress (Support)
Hand Archer (Blaster)
Hand Assassin (Controller)

Black Magic: The Hand are proficient in arcane magic.
Can't Catch Up: So far the only team to have been around since the start of the game and to have never received a rework so far.
- Taken even further when Nobu finally got an update... and ends up getting conscripted to the much more powerful Underworld team, leaving the playable minions behind.
Smoke Out: When a Hand character gains Stealth, it usually involves this effect. They even gain a distinct red silhouette as opposed to the normal holographic blue effect.
Stock Ninja Weaponry: Katanas, shuriken, sais and bows make up the Hand's basic physical armaments.
We Have Reserves: Nobu can summon more Hand Minions as long as he has the energy for it.

Heroes for Hire

Members of a team that combines superheroics with private investigation, willing to provide security and justice for innocent civilians... for a price.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Luke Cage (Protector), also under Defenders
Iron Fist (Brawler), also under Defenders
Coleen Wing (Brawler)
Misty Knight (Controller)
Shang Chi (Brawler)

Artificial Limbs: Misty Knight has a prosthetic right arm.
Auto-Revive: In War Defense, all members of the team gain 2 stacks of Charged (with the exceptions of Coleen and Misty, who get 3 thanks to Shang Chi). If they take a fatal blow while Charged, they automatically revive themselves.
Katanas Are Just Better: Coleen gets by perfectly using her katana.
Megaton Punch: Used by both Iron Fist and Misty Knight in their ultimate attacks.

Horsemen

A quartet of deadly individuals bearing even deadlier powers, each member representing one of the four blights humanity will face before the end of the world. And commanding them is the malevolent mutant conqueror: Apocalypse.

Their members and roles in game are:

The Horseman of Pestilence: Morgan le Fay (Controller), also under Darkhold
The Horseman of Famine: Rogue (Protector), also under Unlimited X-Men
The Horseman of War: Red Hulk (Brawler), also under Gamma
The Horseman of Death: Archangel (Blaster), also under Deathseed

Brainwashed and Crazy: During the Famine Scourge event, Rogue gets brainwashed after Apocalypse forces some of his power onto her, then has her memories of the encounter removed to turn her into his sleeper agent inside STRIKE.
- The same fate is what happened to Archangel
Deal with the Devil: As part of his usual MO, Apocalypse offers power to those he deems worthy enough to become one of his Horsemen.
- Morgan le Fay, dragged from the past and having much of her power sealed away by the likes of Scarlet Witch and Doctor Strange while forced to work with them, is more than eager to accept as the first of the Horsemen.
- Defied with Rogue, as she's too heroic to serve Apocalypse of her own free will. Instead, Apocalypse brainwashes her and turns her into a sleeper agent.
- Red Hulk accepts Apocalypse's offer in order to get revenge on Nick Fury and Hulk, the former for refusing to let him be in charge, and the latter for being celebrated as a hero.
- Archangel, immediately after attempting to murder Apocalypse, is betrayed by Rogue and forced into joining.
Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Self-explanatory, as all of the members are given names to represent one of the four afflictions.
Life Drain: Not in the usual sense - Rogue's Mutant ability allows her to drain the life force of anyone she makes direct physical contact with. This translates into her Gloves Off Special Ability, which stacks a ton of debuffs onto the enemy while applying the opposite positive effects to Rogue herself.
Meaningful Name: To date, all members of the Horsemen have in-game abilities that fit with their associated scourge.
- Morgan le Fay is able to remove her enemies positive effects and spread negative ones across their team, fitting her role as Pestilence.
- Rogue is able to drain the power of her targets with a mere touch, leaving them weakened and fatigued, a perfect fit for Famine.
- As a Brawler, Red Hulk is built to do as much damage as possible, as quickly and as often as possible, demolishing the enemy team. Fittingly, he also gets additional capabilities in Alliance War.
Playing with Fire: Red Hulk's body is apparently capable of generating extreme levels of heat, to the point that fire can occasionally be seen coming out of his mouth in his idle animation.
Power Incontinence: If the name of her Special Ability is any implication, Rogue's Mutant ability is always active, so she needs to wear gloves all the time.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Apocalypse is described as having been sealed away, and has been calling out to particular individuals to help set him free.
Time Master: Morgan le Fay is able to use temporal manipulation magic to her advantage in battle, such as being able to drain everyone's Speed Bar, potentially disrupting her opponent's plays.
Volcanic Veins: Red Hulk's hands and arms glow when he's sufficiently riled up.

HYDRA

A secret organization that has been around since World War II, led by the ruthless Red Skull. Their goal is world domination and they live by the motto 'Cut off one head, and two more shall take its place'.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Red Skull (Controller)
Baron Zemo (Controller)
Crossbones (Protector)
Winter Soldier (Blaster)
Hydra Rifle Trooper (Blaster)
Hydra Grenadier (Blaster)
Hydra Armored Guard (Protector)
Hydra Sniper (Blaster)
Hydra Scientist (Support)

Action Bomb: Crossbones
Artificial Limbs: Winter Soldier's cybernetic arm.
Gameplay and Story Segregation: Even after becoming playable, Red Skull is never portrayed as an ally in any of the events or campaigns. Considering he's a shameless Nazi and absolute monster, it's understandable why Scopely wouldn't want to give him any sympathetic features at all.
Irony: Baron Zemo's main purpose is to annihilate any Minion enemies in his path. His basic attack calls an assist from Hydra Grenadier, a HYDRA Minion.
Kill Sat: Baron Zemo seems to use one for his Passive skill. Though it's kind of hard to tell since the ground just explodes spontaneously from underneath the enemy team.
Malevolent Masked Man: All of them, sans Red Skull.
Nebulous Evil Organization: Possibly the most famous one in comics history.
Standard Evil Organization Squad: When made up completely of named characters.
Suicide Attack: Crossbones's Ultimate involves blowing himself up (based how his MCU counterpart triggered the events of Civil War by detonating himself. Unlike his very dead MCU version, the move also grants him Deathproof, ensuring he survives the explosion.
The Musketeer: Baron Zemo fights using a sword and a handgun.
Those Wacky Nazis: Red Skull is an actual WWII Nazi.
We Have Reserves: Red Skull starts battles with charges. Every time a HYDRA mook is killed off, he summons a new one with deathproof and loses one charge. In War Defense, he has incredibly high defense so long as he has minions on the field, so those reserves have to be cleared before the battle can be won.

Infinity Watch

An alliance of some of the universe's greatest warriors, created to guard the Infinity Stones from those who would use them for evil.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Gamora (Brawler), also under Guardians of the Galaxy
Nebula (Brawler)
Phyla-Vell (Protector), also under Kree
Moondragon (Support)
Adam Warlock (Legendary, Support)

Auto-Revive: Gamora, Nebula and Adam all share an ability to revive once when they are defeated. And in Nebula and Gamora's cases, the health they regain is directly proportional to the amount of Infinity Watch allies they have.
Battle Couple: Phyla-Vell and Moondragon are confirmed to be a couple in this game.
BFS: As of the Infinity Watch update, Gamora has swapped out her Godslayer for a massive blade that's almost as long as she is tall.
Cool Sword: Phyla-Vell's Quantum Sword definitely counts. She's even able to create duplicates of it to strike multiple foes at once.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
- Phyla-Vell has no way to apply Taunt to herself, which is unusual for a Protector, and her kit is mainly focused on applying Defense Up to her allies and Offence Down to her enemies.
- Adam Warlock also counts, since his kit makes him more of a Controller than a Support character, due to him constantly applying negative status effects to his enemies.
Physical God: Phyla-Vell is a Kree Eternal with all the god-like powers that implies.
Psychic Powers: Moondragon uses these to help the team. Interestingly, her powers are listed as Skill-based instead of the usual Mystic tag.
The Smurfette Principle: Gender-inverted. Adam is the only male member of the Infinity Watch.
Soul Power: Adam Warlock's powers revolve around this.
Super Mode: Like Thanos before her, Gamora received an Empowered mode that gives her incredibly deadly abilities. Unlike Thanos, however, she doesn't need the other members of the Infinity Watch to access it (though it definitely does help).

Inhuman

Descendants of ancient humans experimented on by the Kree whose powers are awakened by exposure to the substance known as Terrigen Mist, the Inhumans are led by the moon-based Royal Family.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Black Bolt (Legendary, Blaster)
Crystal (Blaster)
Karnak (Controller)
Ms Marvel (Brawler), also under Young Avengers
Yo-Yo (Protector), also under SHIELD
Quake (Controller), also under SHIELD

Make Me Wanna Shout: As always, Black Bolt's most powerful attacks revolve around his destructive voice.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Unusually for a Protector, Yo-Yo doesn't have any way to draw attention away from her more vulnerable allies. Instead, she inflicts Offense Down on an enemy whenever they take an action, cutting their offensive ability in half. This effect made her one of the best Protectors in the game, if her being made Premium Orb-exclusive for a long time after her introduction is any indication.
- Ms Marvel also counts, since despite being a Brawler, her skill set makes her a hybrid of Brawler and Protector.
Permadeath: Black Bolt can prevent enemies from reviving, provided he deals the final blow. His passive ability is tailor-made to help him do just that.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Black Bolt, Crystal and Karnak are all members of the Inhuman Royal Family.
Super-Strength: It's made very clear by their animations that Black Bolt's punches hit very, very hard.
Weak, but Skilled: Karnak's playstyle in a nutshell.

Kree

Members of an imperialistic star-spanning empire, the Kree are divided into the so-called Blue Kree and Pink Kree.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Captain Marvel (Blaster)
Korath The Pursuer (Blaster), also under Mercenary
Kree Cyborg (Blaster)
Kree Noble (Support)
Kree Oracle (Support)
Kree Royal Guard (Protector)
Minn-Erva (Support)
Phyla-Vell (Protector), also under Infinity Watch
Ronan the Accuser (Brawler)
Ultimus (Brawler)

Adapted Out: In the comics, Phyla-Vell is the posthumous daughter of the Kree hero Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel (born after his death to cancer). However, in the game it's implied that Carol Danvers is based on the MCU version, where Mar-Vell was not a noted and famed hero and female to boot.
Big Bad: Ultimus takes the role of main antagonist throughout most of the game before Doctor Doom and Apocalypse take over as the overarching villains.
The Medic: Minn-Erva's abilities revolve around healing and revival.
Rubber-Forehead Alien: The Kree basically resemble blue-skinned humans.
Super Mode: Captain Marvel has access to the powerful Binary Form through her Ultimate, where she gains additional stats and deals damage to her enemies every time she ends her turn. It lasts as long as she has Charged to spare.

Marauders

A band of loosely allied evil mutants under the leadership of Mister Sinister.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Mister Sinister (Support)
Mystique (Controller), also under Brotherhood
Sabretooth (Brawler), also under Brotherhood and Weapon X
Stryfe (Protector)
Madeline Pryor (Controller)

Additionally, despite not being a member of the Marauders, Emma Frost shares many synergies with this team. Therefore, any tropes applying to her will be added here.

Sixth Ranger: Emma Frost.
Spot the Impostor: Mystique basically challenges the enemy team to a game of this as her Ultimate. The enemy team loses every time.
Stance System: Emma Frost's Diamond Form functions like this. While she's Charged, she gains additional defences but loses access to her psychic abilities. When out of Charged, her defences are down but she's able to flip positive effects into negative ones instead of simply clearing them.

Masters of Evil

Their members and roles in-game are:

Ultron (Blaster), also under own folder
Titania (Protector)

Mercenaries

Exactly What It Says on the Tin, these are the mercenary characters who'll work for anyone for a paycheck.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Bullseye (Blaster)
Deadpool (Brawler), also under X-Force
Killmonger (Blaster), also under Wakanda
Korath the Pursuer (Blaster), also under Kree
Mercenary Lieutenant (Support)
Mercenary Riot Guard (Protector)
Mercenary Sniper (Blaster)
Mercenary Soldier (Blaster), also under Military
Taskmaster (Controller), also under Underworld

While not a member, the Kingpin has synergy with Mercenary characters, reflecting his willingness to hire them to do his dirty work.

Kingpin (Protector), also under Underworld
Mercenary Bodyguard (Protector)

Consummate Professional: Taskmaster. Whichever version is encountered (be it the STRIKE-aligned one who runs a training facility or any number of brainwashed versions) has a strict desire to get the job done.
Evil Minions: Kingpin can summon up to three Mercenary Bodyguards, who immediately use Taunt.
Faceless Goons: The four Mercenary Minion characters (also described as being members of a group called the Dark Watch) wear masks that hide their identities completely.
- Kingpin's Mercenary Bodyguards also have their faces obscured by a goggle-and-gas mask combo.
From Camouflage to Criminal: Just about all the Mercenaries are implied to be ex-military.
- In gameplay terms, however, only the Mercenary Soldier is actually classified as a Military character.
Just You and Me and My GUARDS!: Kingpin only has one actual offensive move: his basic attack. However, he can summon up to three bodyguards to his side, and his basic attack has a chance of getting supported by an ally. He can also buff his allies, additionally having one of them attack an enemy (this chance doubles if there are Mercenary or Villain character in his party).
Malevolent Masked Man: All the Mercenary characters wear masks, and none of them are particularly pleasant to be around. Except maybe Deadpool.
Man of Wealth and Taste: Kingpin, dressed in a dapper suit and carrying a jewel-tipped cane.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Despite being classified as a Protector, Kingpin has no abilities that draw enemy attention away from his teammates. On the other hand, he can summon Mercenary Bodyguards who cast Taunt as soon as they appear.
Psycho for Hire: Bullseye, as per his usual charaterisation.
Token Good Teammate: Deadpool is the only Hero listed under the Mercenary grouping.
We Have Reserves: Given enough time, Kingpin can summon bodyguards to replace fallen ones.

Military

A loose grouping of characters with links to various militaries.

Black Widow (Controller), also under Avengers, SHIELD
Captain America (Protector), also under Avengers, SHIELD
Killmonger (Blaster), also under Wakandan, Mercenaries
Mercenary Soldier (Blaster), also under Mercenary
Punisher (Blaster)
Red Guardian (Protector)
War Machine (Blaster), also under Avengers, Power Armor
Yelena Belova (Blaster)

Military Superhero: Captain America, Red Guardian and War Machine.

New Warriors

Young, virtuous, and mystically enhanced, the New Warriors serve as the next generation of heroes.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Cloak (Controller)
Dagger (Support)
Deathpool (Brawler)

Badass Cape: Cloak, naturally.
Battle Couple: Cloak and Dagger form one.
Canon Foreigner: Deathpool was created for MSF.
Dark Is Not Evil: Cloak and Deathpool both look intimidating, but are both very heroic.
Missing Mom: During her mini-campaign, Deathpool explains that her mother Death vanished when she was 'born'.
Original Generation: Deathpool.
Sinister Scythe: Deathpool is armed with one, but she's a hero.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: STRIKE Deadpool convinces her that her parents wouldn't have wanted her to spend the rest of her life filled with vengeance.
You Killed My Father: Deathpool is in pursuit of a Thanos that murdered her father Deadpool for stealing Death's affections away from him.
- Notably, when STRIKE's Thanos is called in to face Deathpool's Thanos, he takes the time to ask if she has any problems fighting alongside him. She replies that her beef is with her Thanos, and she'll fight at anyone's side so long as she can take him down.

Power Armor

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sin_ttulo_21.png

From left to right: Rescue, Ironheart, Iron Man, War Machine, Falcon

A team that fights using highly advanced suits of technological armor, usually courtesy of Stark Industries.

Their members and roles include:

Iron Man (Legendary, Blaster), also under Avengers and Bionic Avengers
Falcon (Blaster), also under Avengers
War Machine (Blaster), also under Avengers and Military
Rescue (Support)
Ironheart (Blaster)

Chest Blaster: Both Iron Man and Ironheart get this as their ultimate abilities.
Deflector Shields: Rescue has the ability to create Barriers on herself and her allies, which take damage for the characters until it depletes. She was the first character to ever utilize this mechanic.
More Dakka: A common theme of this team is the fact they unleash loads of firepower on the enemy. Rescue is the odd one out, but her Ultimate ability boosts her teammates damage.

Pym-Tech

Using technology developed by the scientist Hank Pym, these combatants are a loosely-affiliated group of individuals that use their advanced technology to combat their foes, using their Sizeshifter abilities to turn the tide in their favor.

Their members and roles include:

Ant-Man (Controller), also under Avengers
Wasp (Blaster)
Yellowjacket (Blaster)
Stature (Protector)
Ghost (Controller)

Crippling Overspecialization: In general, they're a decent team, but they only really shine in Dark Dimension, behind which most of their abilities are locked. For example, the effect of Wasp's passive outside of Dark Dimension boils down to 'Gain +25% Dodge Chance' and nothing else.
Intangibility: Ghost's abilites center around this.
Sizeshifter: The vast majority of the characters on this team can alter their size to give themselves an edge in combat. The only one who can't do this is Ghost.
Token Evil Teammate: Yellowjacket is the only fully villainous member of the team: Ant-Man, Wasp and Stature are all heroic figures, and although Ghost is also classed as a Villain, her design indicates that she's the same tragic girl desperate for a cure to her condition as her MCU counterpart.
Two Girls to a Team: Gender-inverted. Ant-Man and Yellowjacket are the two males of the team.

Ravagers

A spacefaring group of pirates and thieves led by Yondu Udonta that live by only one rule: Steal from everybody.

Their members and roles include:

Yondu (Support)
Star-Lord (T'Challa) (Blaster)
Ravager Boomer (Blaster)
Ravager Bruiser (Protector)
Ravager Stitcher (Support)

Can't Catch Up: These characters were one of the only teams to have never received a rework since their introduction at the game's launch.
- With the Web Warriors update, the team has now received a rework in addition to a new member: Star-Lord T'Challa.
Impossible Thief: The team's main gimmick post-rework is stealing from the opponent, whether that be their Health, positive effects, or even their Ability Energy!
Rubber-Forehead Alien:
Space Pirates: What they are.
Token Good Teammate: Star-Lord T'Challa is the sole heroic member of the Ravagers.

Secret Avengers

A subsection of the Avengers who prefer to take down their opponents through stealth and sabotage over direct displays of opposition.

Their members and roles include:

Captain America (Sam) (Protector)
Sharon Carter (Controller)
Maria Hill (Support)

—-

Legacy Character: Sam Wilson donning the mantle of Captain America. His Passive skill is even called "Captain's Legacy".
Stone Wall: The main gimmick of this team is that they're hard to take down, with Sam providing Deflect stacks and Maria healing whenever an ally successfully blocks an attack. Ordinarily, this would be fine... but the Secret Avengers are a Raid team, where the main objective is to clear each node before the time runs out and each node having a 5-minute timer. As such, they tend to be paired with other high-damage Skill characters like Kestrel or Zemo.

Shadowland

Inspired by the Shadowland storyline, a series of comics where Daredevil takes control of the Hand and slowly descends into villainy, this team is created with the intent of bringing this story to life within the game.

Their members and roles include:

Daredevil (Brawler), also under Defenders
Elektra (Brawler), also under Hand
Night Nurse (Support)
White Tiger (Brawler)
Moon Knight (Brawler)

Animal-Themed Superbeing: White Tiger.
Glass Cannon: The team is built to be a War Offence team. As such, it focuses on dealing as much damage as possible to the enemy, and while Night Nurse gives them a degree of sustainability, most of the members are relatively frail.
Heal Thyself: In addition to Night Nurse's healing, White Tiger is able to heal herself by using her Ultimate.
Randomized Damage Attack: Moon Knight's ultimate a random amount of damage to all enemies, anywhere between a specified minimum and maximum value.
Shout-Out: Overlaps with Punny Name, as all of the names for White Tiger's skills are references to the song Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.
Token Evil Teammate: Elektra is the sole villain of the team (unless one counts Daredevil, as per the inspiration behind this team).
You Don't Look Like You: In the comics, Night Nurse usually wears a stereotypical nurse's dress. Here, she has a completely new look that resembles a first-response medic.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, a counter-terrorism and intelligence agency tasked with protecting the world from global threats.

Their members and roles include:

Nick Fury (Legendary, Support), also under Avengers
Agent Coulson (Controller), also under Avengers
Quake (Controller), also under Inhumans
Yo-Yo (Protector), also under Inhumans
Black Widow (Controller), also under Avengers and Military
Captain America (Protector), also under Avengers and Military
Hawkeye (Controller), also under Avengers
Maria Hill (Support), also under Secret Avengers
S.H.I.E.L.D. Assault (Blaster)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Medic (Support)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Operative (Support)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Security (Protector)
S.H.I.E.L.D. Trooper (Blaster)

In addition, despite not having the S.H.I.E.L.D. tag, Kestrel is an affiliate of S.H.I.E.L.D. and shares synergies with Nick Fury. Therefore, any tropes describing her will be placed here.

Artificial Limbs: Coulson's left arm is cybernetic.
Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Oddly, Coulson gets this if he's on the winning team, with the camera focused on his ass and his back to what used to be the enemy.
Canon Foreigner: Kestrel was created specifically for MSF.
Cool Shades: Coulson wears a pair of shades.
Eyepatch of Power: Nick Fury.
Faceless Goons: The Assault and Trooper wear full-face helmets, while the Medic wears a mask over her nose and mouth.
Finger Firearms: One of Coulson's kill animations reveals that his left hand can fire laser blasts from the tip of his index finger.
Gender Flip: The S.H.I.E.L.D. Medic seen in the supplementary character videos is clearly male, whereas the one in the games is female.
Mythology Gag: Coulson has a specific synergy with the Medic. She has a random chance to revive a SHIELD agent; she'll always revive Coulson. As of the series finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Coulson has died twice and been brought back to life three times (it's complicated).
Permadeath: Killing an enemy with Kestrel's Ultimate prevents them from being revived. If charged, she also prevents spawns, which can have a big impact on characters that rely on spawns, like Hela or Phoenix.
Thinking Up Portals: Kestrel's signature weapon is the Portal Cannon, which she can use to open gateways to alternate dimensions.
Unflinching Walk: Coulson's Ultimate emulates this. He tosses an explosive towards the enemies and turns his back as it explodes, for no other purpose other than to look cool.

Sinister Six

The deadliest foes of Spider-Man, united in their hatred of the Wall-Crawler.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Doctor Octopus (Legendary, Support)
Electro (Blaster)
Green Goblin (Blaster), also in Underworld
Mysterio (Controller)
Rhino (Protector)
Shocker (Blaster)
Swarm (Controller)
Vulture (Brawler)

All of the above are also listed under the Spider-Verse category.

Animal-Themed Superbeing: Barring Electro, Green Goblin and Shocker, they all have an animal theme to them.
Back from the Dead: When Mysterio dies he summons a couple of weak illusions that can attack with his basic skill—but one of them also has a special ability that will revive him at full health if it's left alive for too long.
Evil Old Folks: Vulture.
- Swarm is an actual, honest-to-goodness WWII Nazi scientist who's on First-Name Basis with the freaking Red Skull.
Five-Man Band:
- The Leader: Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin jostle for this role.
- The Lancer: If not leader, Doc Ock or Green Goblin act as this for the other. Vulture also has shades of this.
- The Smart Guy: Mysterio and Swarm.
- The Big Guy: The Rhino and Shocker.
- The Heart: Electro. Compared to the others, she doesn't hate anybody in the team, meaning she's the one who helps refocus them when they get into in-fighting. It doesn't hurt that she's also the most powerful member of the team.
Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Doctor Octopus may be helping STRIKE against Ultimus (and later Doctor Doom), but he doesn't bother hiding the fact it's all about self-preservation.
Master of Illusion: Mysterio. It helps him in his role of Controller: blinding or debilitating his enemies.
No-Respect Guy: Shocker.
Shock and Awe: Electro.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: The only thing keeping them together is their hatred of Spider-Man.
Those Wacky Nazis: Swarm is an actual Nazi scientist from World War II.
Use Your Head: Rhino's two strongest attacks involve using his head to attack.

Spider-Verse

A collection of web-slingers and villains from Spider-Man's rogues gallery, from this universe and beyond.

All members of the Sinister Six
All members of the Symbiotes grouping
All members of the Web Warrior grouping
All members of the Tangled Web grouping
Kingpin (Protector), also under Underworld
Mister Negative (Controller), also under Underworld

Can't Catch Up: In a meta sense, Spider-Man himself. While everyone else who was initially part of the Spider-Verse category (Venom, Carnage, Miles Morales) eventually gained secondary groupings that greatly bolstered their versatility (e.g. Venom and Carnage gain great bonuses when part of a Symbiote team alongside Anti-Venom, Scream and Symbiote Spider-Man), Spidey himself had no such update.
- Now no longer the case as of the Web Warrior update, which gave Spidey some much-needed synergies (as well as updating Miles Morales, who was already a part of the Young Avengers).
Spider-Sense: This is reflected by giving Spider-Man (along with Symbiote Spider-Man and almost all the Web Warriors) an up-to-25% chance to dodge enemy attack.

Supernatural

A loose affiliation of characters united by how loosely natural laws apply to them.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Doctor Strange (Support)
Elsa Bloodstone (Blaster), also under Dark Hunters
Ghost Rider (Brawler), also under Dark Hunters
Mordo (Controller)
Scarlet Witch (Controller), also under Avengers and Darkhold

Adaptational Wimp: Doctor Strange, as Sorceror Supreme, is the most powerful magic user on the planet. As a Support character, however, he's hopelessly outmatched against most enemies without someone else to actually inflict damage. He has no offensive moves barring his basic ability (for reference, his second ability involves flipping or removing enemy buffs, while his Ultimate involves reviving a fallen comrade and healing his party members).
- Ghost Rider is often depicted as being immune to many mortal forms of attack (e.g. gunfire) by virtue of being demonically possessed. In-game, he's as vulnerable to debuffs like Blind or Bleed as any other flesh-and-blood character.
Badass Biker: Ghost Rider. His Hell-Cycle move involves ramming enemies with his bike. A unique animation sometimes plays if he finishes an enemy off with a basic attack, where he rams them into the air before wrapping a flaming chain around their legs and dragging them off. His victory pose has him casually sitting on his bike (though this sometimes looks silly if it clips into a nearby character).
Badass Longcoat: Elsa Bloodstone wears one.
Berserk Button: Missing a shot appears to be this for Elsa - if an opponent dodges her attack, her passive activates and she takes a free attack on her enemy.
Blue Blood: Elsa is an aristocrat dedicated to hunting down monsters.
Dual Wielding: All of Elsa's main attacks let her do this.
- Her basic attack 'Bloody Good Guns' involves her unloading her Uzis into her target.
- Her Special attack 'Trick Shot' lets her dual-wield sniper rifles (unless there is only one enemy and they don't have enough health to survive the first shot).
- Her Ultimate attack 'Scatterguns' sees her dual-wield shotguns.
Gun Nut: All of Elsa's offensive moves involve her collection of firearms.
Informed Ability: Mordo was listed as a Martial Artist during an event, but none of his moves, animation or passives reference this at all.
Symbol Swearing: Used in the name of Elsa's Passive.
Walking Armory: Elsa carries a sniper rifle on her back, a pair of Uzis and a shotgun.
Winds of Destiny, Change!: Scarlet Witch's Passive allows her to spread a debuff from one enemy to an adjacent enemy... only it's random which debuff is inflicted. Fitting the trope namer, sometimes this is extremely useful (e.g. spreading Blind to Thor just before he tries to inflict his Ultimate attack), at other times not so much (e.g. spreading Blind to Daredevil or Heimdall, who are immune to Blind).

Symbiotes

Members of an alien race who have bonded with human hosts, granting them superhuman abilities based on the amazing Spider-Man.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Anti-Venom (Support)
Carnage (Brawler)
Scream (Controller)
Symbiote Spider-Man (Brawler)
Venom (Controller)

All of the above are also found under the Spider-Man-themed Spider-Verse category.

Alternate Self:
- Symbiote Spider-Man is explicitly a Peter Parker who has permanently bonded with his symbiote.
- Anti-Venom and Venom are both Eddie Brock. There has so far been no in-game explanation about this.
"Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Scream's entire mini-campaign kicks off because Venom is an asshole and refuses to help Scream when she comes to him pleading for help in controlling her symbiote. Doctor Doom offers her a hand...
Flat Character: There has been no explanation about Symbiote Spider-Man at all. He's just... there.
Glass Cannon: All of the Symbiotes are relatively frail, and are thus easy to take down on their own. However, the defense boost gained from Venom, plus the Speed Bar boosts and Speed Up from Carnage and Scream, respectively, quickly turns them from this trope to Lightning Bruisers.
Heal Thyself: All of the Symbiotes have a way to heal themselves and their Symbiote allies, which mitigates their frailty.
- Venom heals himself every turn as part of his Passive, then, if his health is at 95% or higher, he gives himself and the other Symbiotes 2 turns of Defense Up.
- Carnage heals himself and his Symbiote allies every time an enemy drops below 25% health, in addition to boosting their Speed Bars.
- Scream heals herself and her Symbiote allies and gives them Speed Up every time someone dies. You read that right, whenever any character, including one of your allies, dies.
- In addition to his healing Special, Anti-Venom's passive gives him Regeneration every turn, which he can easily spread to the rest of his team through his Ultimate.
- Finally, Symbiote Spider-Man heals himself and all Symbiote and Spider-Verse allies for a low amount of health whenever his teammates inflict a negative effect onto the enemy team, which they will be doing often, in addition to giving his Symbiote allies Drain on all of their attacks. However, this only works in Raids or in Dark Dimension.
Life Drain: Symbiote Spider-Man gives all his Symbiote allies Drain on their attacks if he's used in Raids or in Dark Dimension. Additionally, Anti-Venom's Ultimate also has Drain, and it stacks with the aforementioned Drain given by Symbiote Spider-Man, resulting in Anti-Venom healing for double the damage dealt at max level while in Raids or Dark Dimension.
Megaton Punch: Symbiote Spider-Man's attacks are designed to look a lot more painful than regular Spidey's.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In Scream's mini-campaign, Venom's refusal to help her leads to her joining forces with Doctor Doom... and also leads to the destruction of a colony of peaceful alternate reality symbiotes who had successfully made peace with their hosts.

Tangled Web

A team of web-slinging battlers hailing from different points across the timeline.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Spider-Weaver (Protector)
Spider-Man 2099 (Controller)
Spider-Man (Noir) (Blaster)

Original Generation: Spider-Weaver is the third original character added to Marvel Strike Force, after Kestrel and Deathpool.

Ultron

An army of powerful drones under the command of a singular mind: The malevolent artificial intelligence known as Ultron.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Ultron (Blaster)
Ultron Accelerator (Controller)
Ultron Fabricator (Support)
Ultron Fortifier (Brawler)
Ultron Incinerator (Blaster)
Ultron Reinforcer (Protector)

Badass Cape: Ultron has a red cape built into his body.
Balance Buff: After becoming a playable character, some of Ultron's abilities were changed to make him a more powerful character.
- His Special ability originally summoned 2 random Ultron minions, then gave him a positive effect based on which ones were summoned. Now, he can summon up to three and give them and himself Defense Up.
- His Ultimate originally dealt increased damage for every positive effect he had at the cost of removing them. Now, he gains 1 Ability Energy for every positive effect he had when he used it, letting him use his most powerful abilities sooner.
- His Passive had a random chance to revive him, and has since been upgraded into a guaranteed revival, provided he started the match with full health.
- Even the Ultron minions he summoned got buffed, as they now increase Ultron's Speed Bar by 25% when they use their Specials in addition to granting him a positive effect, and a different bonus if he already had the positive effect.
King Mook: Ultron is this for the Ultron drones.
Promoted to Playable: Originally, Ultron was an enemy-only character in Campaigns. The introduction of Dark Dimension gave players a way to recruit him to their roster, and summon Ultron Fabricators, Incinerators and Acellerators to their side of the battle. So far, the Ultron Fortifier and Reinforcer have not been given the same treatment.
We Have Reserves: Ultron generally doesn't mind if his minions fall in battle, since it gives him beneficial effects. One of the loading screen information entries even states that, left unchecked, Ultron's factories can produce an entire army in a single day.

Underworld

A team composed of the head honchos of the criminal underworld.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Kingpin (Protector), also under Spider-Verse
Nobu (Controller), also under Hand
Green Goblin (Blaster), also under Sinister Six and Spider-Verse
Taskmaster (Controller), also under Mercenary
Mister Negative (Controller), also under Spider-Verse

Katanas Are Just Better: Nobu and Mister Negative both wield katanas.
King Mook: While it's not unusual for a team to have a summoner-type character, the Underworld team is unique in that it has THREE; Kingpin, Nobu, and Mister Negative.
Zerg Rush: The team's main strategy seems to focus on summoning as many minions as physically possible before going on the attack with an intense numbers advantage.

Undying

Their members and roles in-game are:

Hela (Controller), also under Asgardians
Iron Man (Zombie) (Brawler)

Wakandans

Citizens of a hidden country in Africa called Wakanda, the source of the strongest and most versatile metal on Earth, Vibranium.

Their members and roles include:

Black Panther (Brawler), also under Avengers
Okoye (Controller)
Killmonger (Blaster), also under Mercenary and Military.
M'Baku (Protector)
Shuri (Legendary, Support)

Big Scary Black Man: M'Baku, fitting his role as Protector of the team.
Bodyguard Babes: Okoye is one.
Brother–Sister Team: Black Panther and Shuri.
Malevolent Masked Man: Killmonger wears a mask and is the sole Villain of the Wakandan team.
The Musketeer: Killmonger will mostly fight using an assault rifle, but he switches to a Vibranium sword for his Ultimate.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Be honest, would you want to mess with a man named Killmonger?
Royals Who Actually Do Something: Both Black Panther and Shuri are Wakandan royalty (the king and crown princess, in fact).
The Runt at the End: Killmonger counts in multiple ways; he's the only Villain on the Wakandan team, he's the only one to use non-Wakandan equipment (a military-grade assault rifle), and he's the only one who doesn't perform the Wakandan salute as his victory pose (Though this last one is justified, since he's based on the MCU version of the character who never performs the salute due to being raised outside of Wakanda).
Token Evil Teammate: Killmonger, the only villain who is part of the team.
Tron Lines: Black Panther gains these when he receives Charge.
Unobtanium: Vibranium, naturally. It's worth noting that all characters have a specific 'rare' material that they need to take them up to their higher Gear Levels. For all five Wakandans, that material is Vibranium.

War Dogs

Their members and roles in-game are:

Black Panther (Brawler)
Okoye (Controller)
Shuri (Legendary, Support)
Black Panther (1MM) (Brawler)
Nakia (Controller)

The above characters are all also listed under the Wakandans tag.

Weapon X

Subjects of the secretive Weapon X program, a project designed to create living superweapons through genetic enhancement, cybernetic augmentation, or a combination of the two.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Wolverine (Brawler, also under X-Men)
Sabretooth (Brawler, also under Brotherhood and Marauders)
Omega Red (Legendary, Controler)
Lady Deathstrike (Brawler)
Silver Samurai (Protector)

Adapted Out: Silver Samurai originally had a Rising Sun logo on his chest in his model and his ability artworks. After concerns were raised, it was promptly removed.
Brainwashed and Crazy: Wolverine, while wearing the Weapon X costume.
Combat Tentacles: Omega Red fights using a pair of Carbonadium tentacles in addition to his Mutant enhancements.
Cyborg: Some of the members have clear cybernetic enhancements, such as Omega Red's Carbonadium tentacles and the circular... things dotted around Wolvie's body in his Weapon X costume. Lady Deathstrike is also an example, since her abilities are Tech-based instead of Mutant-based and one can see some cybernetics replacing the skin on her arms.
Femme Fatalons: Lady Deathstrike has a set of deadly claws growing from her fingers.
Katanas Are Just Better: Silver Samurai brings two katanas into battle, one of which is even red.
The Runt at the End: Most of the Weapon X members have the Mutant origin trait. The sole exception is Lady Deathstrike, who has the Tech trait instead.
Token Good Teammate: Wolverine is the sole heroic member of Weapon X.
Wolverine Claws: Wouldn't be Wolverine without them.

Web Warriors

A group of heroes all connected by their web-slinging, wall-crawling abilities.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Spider-Man (Brawler)
Spider-Man (Miles Morales) (Brawler) also under Young Avengers
Ghost-Spider (Controller)
Scarlet Spider (Brawler)
Spider-Punk (Brawler)

In addition, all characters listed here have the 'Spider-Verse' tag.

Autobots, Rock Out!: Spider-Punk's moves revolve around weaponising music against his enemies.
Car Fu: Scarlet Spider's Ultimate involves grabbing a car and smashing down on the enemy team, damaging all of them.
Flat Character: Scarlet Spider gets no characterisation at all during the Spider-Punk event, unlike Punk himself and Ghost-Spider.
Glass Cannon: The Web Warriors hit hard, but are completely reliant on their Spider-Sense and Life Drain granted by Scarlet Spider's passive (regains a percentage of health based on Scarlet Spider's maximum HP whenever any member damages an enemy) to stay alive. If an enemy can actually hit them, they go down fast.
Smurfette Principle: Ghost-Spider is the only female member of the team.
Spider-Sense: Each member of the Web Warriors has this, and part of Ghost-Spider's synergy is to grant Evade (i.e. a 100% chance of dodging) to the team.

X-Factor

A mutant-staffed investigative agency led by Jamie Madrox, a.k.a. Multiple Man, that uses their mutant abilities to investigate crimes and combat criminals.

Their members and roles are:

Multiple Man (Protector)
Longshot (Blaster)
Shatterstar (Brawler)
Polaris (Controller)

Critical Hit Class: Their schtick. Longshot, Shatterstar, and Polaris' passives all include more effects when enemies get crit.
Me's a Crowd: Multiple Man's Passive, Special, and Ultimate all spawn in Dupes.

X-Force

A darker, more lethal team than the X-Men, called upon when "protecting a world that hates and fears them" involves lethal force. Their leader Cable is the son of X-Men field leader Cyclops.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Cable (Blaster)
Deadpool (Originally Blaster, reclassified as Brawler)
Domino (Controller)
Negasonic (Controller)
X-23 (Brawler), also under X-Men

BFG: Cable is armed with one, and summons an even larger one for some of his attacks.
Combination Attack: When Deadpool is present, Cable's Ultimate attack's animation changes. He lifts the target into the air using his telekinetic powers, then both he and Deadpool blast the unlucky target.
Darker and Edgier: Compared to the X-Men. Deliberate, as X-Force is a Special Operations team compared to the X-Men.
Deadpan Snarker: Negasonic.
Dual Wielding: Deadpool uses two katanas and two handguns.
Having a Blast: Negasonic's powers.
Like Father, Like Son: Like his father, Cable is a humourless, straight-laced sort who focuses on his goals.
Winds of Destiny, Change!: Domino's mutant ability is luck manipulation, which she harnesses as giving Speed Bar boosts to her allies and granting them Evade every so often.
Wolverine Claws: X-23 has these, but unlike the original Wolverine, she has two knuckle claws per hand and a claw located in each of her feet.

X-Men

Founded by Professor Charles Xavier, the X-Men are a task force of mutants whose goal it is to defend the world from harm.

The X-Men are separated into three different teams: The Uncanny X-Men (who were simply called X-Men prior), the Astonishing X-Men, and the Unlimited X-Men.

Their members and roles are:

Beast (Uncanny, Astonishing, Support)
Bishop (Astonishing, Blaster)
Colossus (Uncanny, Protector)
Cyclops (Uncanny, Blaster)
Dazzler (Unlimited, Controller)
Fantomex (Unlimited, Blaster)
Gambit (Unlimited, Blaster)
Iceman (Astonishing, Controller)
Jubilee (Astonishing, Legendary, Controller)
Kitty Pryde (Astonishing, Protector)
Magik (Uncanny, Support)
Phoenix (Uncanny, Legendary, Controller)
Psylocke (Uncanny, Brawler)
Rogue/Famine (Unlimited, Protector)
Storm (Uncanny, Controller)
Sunfire (Unlimited, Blaster)
Wolverine (Uncanny, Brawler)
X-23, (Brawler), also under X-Force

Adaptational Heroism: Dark Phoenix is usually treated as a malevolent alter ego of Jean Grey. Here, she has the Hero tag.
An Ice Person: Bobby 'Iceman' Drake, naturally.
The Artifact: Storm's Passive still synergises with X-Force, since it was made during a time where the only heroic mutants were her, Wolverine, Cable and Deadpool.
Berserk Button: Hurting Phoenix (and by extension, Dark Phoenix) is this for Cyclops, as he will either attack anyone who lands a hit on her or call Wolverine to do it if he's a teammate. And should Phoenix be defeated, he'll also gain Offense Up and make Wolverine take his next turn immediately.
BFS: Magik brings a massive sword into battle with her.
Came Back Strong: When Phoenix dies, she summons Dark Phoenix to replace her.
Chrome Champion: Colossus.
Cool Shades: Jubilee sports a pair of pink visor shades, keeping in line with her retro aesthetic.
Dark Is Not Evil: Magik is referred to as 'The Darkchild' and sports a fairly imposing design. She's nonetheless on the side of good, as evidenced by her Hero tag.
Extra-ore-dinary: Colossus's skin is made of sturdy steel.
Eye Beams: Cyclops' powers let him fire devastating lasers from his eyes, and his visor helps him concentrate those powers to levels that befit the situation.
Gathering Steam: Storm and Cyclops both rely on massive Charge stacks to do incredible burst damage to the enemy team.
- Magik helps speed this process along by giving all her Chargeable Uncanny X-Men allies up to 10 Charged.
Having a Blast: Jubilee's powers involve her launching pyrokinetic plasmoids at the enemy. In Layman's terms, she's a weaponized fireworks factory.

I Have Many Names: Kitty Pryde has had several pseudonyms in the past, two of which (Shadowcat and Sprite) are referenced in her ability names.

The Leader:
- Cyclops and Storm for the Uncanny X-Men. Storm can grant a random assist to any member of the X-Men, while Cyclops' "To Me!" ability has him call upon his fellow X-Men to randomly attack enemies while he focuses on a primary target.
- Jubilee also appears to act as the leader for the Astonishing X-Men team.
Life Drain:
- Dark Phoenix can drain the life of her enemies to heal herself as her Special, 'Vitality Drain'.
- Magik grants her Uncanny X-Men allies Drain on their attacks, allowing them to keep their health topped up.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Two major examples;
- Usually, one of your characters dying is seen as a bad thing. Phoenix is the sole character where her dying is undoubtedly beneficial, since it lets her summon the powerful Dark Phoenix to the field.
- Typically, Blasters are damage dealers that prefer to not get hit. Bishop acts as the main tank for the Astonishing X-Men.
Permadeath: A self-inflicted example, as Phoenix cannot be revived when she falls in battle. Dark Phoenix, on the other hand, does not share this inherent restriction.
Playing with Fire: Phoenix has this to some extent, calling on a fiery avatar of the Phoenix Force as her Ultimate. These powers are more pronounced as Dark Phoenix.
Psychic Powers: Phoenix has access to incredibly powerful telekinetic and telepathic abilities.
Team Pet: Kitty Pryde takes Lockheed into battle with her.
Wolverine Claws: Wolverine, for obvious reasons. Also X-23, due to being involved in the same procedures Wolverine was subjected to.

Young Avengers

A loose gathering of young heroes.

Their members and roles in-game are:

Ms. Marvel (Brawler), also under Inhumans
Squirrel Girl (Support)
America Chavez (Brawler)
Spider-Man (Miles) (Brawler), also under Spider-Verse.
Echo (Brawler)
Kate Bishop (Controller)

Recurring antagonists

Villains who oppose STRIKE. They're arranged in the order they appear in the storyline.

Spider Supreme

An alternate version of Spider-Man who has taken over and leads his world's version of A.I.M., lending his twisted genius to Ultimus' campaign of multiversal domination.

Arc Villain: Plays this role in both the campaign (where he's encountered on a number of occasions when STRIKE pass through his world) and in events like Invisible Woman's Now You See Me event.
Emperor Scientist: He rules his world, using its resources and A.I.M.'s army of mad scientists to push the boundaries of science.
Eviler than Thou: When he encounters the Sinister Six during the Now You See Me event, he's genuinely happy to see them... because he felt he killed his Sinister Six too quickly.
Expendable Alternate Universe: Despite repeated encounters with the Spider Supreme, no one in STRIKE suggests that, you know, maybe taking down the twisted Spider-Man who leads an army of mad scientists with unlimited resources and zero morals might be a good idea. On the other hand, this could be chalked up to STRIKE having bigger fish to fry.
Faux Affably Evil: Spider Supreme comes off as being as friendly and jokey as the regular Spidey, but it's all an act to hide just how malicious he is.
For Science!: Ultimus doesn't even have to order him to develop superweapons or the like; Spider Supreme just does it because he can.
Genius Bruiser: Since he's an evil version of Spider-Man, he's one of these. He may even be even more of a genius than regular Spidey, since he actually leads A.I.M. and has no pesky morals holding him back.
Hero Killer: He outright says he's killed his world's version of the Sinister Six, and considering he's conquered the world with no native heroes appearing when STRIKE passes through his dimension...
Mad Scientist: Like many a leader of A.I.M., Spider Supreme has practically no scruples when it comes to scientific research and development.
Still Wearing the Old Colors: Despite ruling the world and being leader of A.I.M., Spider Supreme still wears the red-and-blue costume of regular Spidey instead of switching to A.I.M.'s organisational colour of yellow or some form of Evil Costume Switch.
- Out of universe, there's no real reason for Scopely to spend time and resources designing an original costume for Spider Supreme.
The Unfettered: Take Spider-Man, remove any sense of morality and responsibility, plus put him in charge of an army of mad scientists like AIM, and you get the Spider Supreme.

Ultimus

A Kree Eternal who has somehow become a Multiversal Conqueror thanks to his Conversion Engine: a machine that twists its victims into his loyal slaves. Having subjugated countless Earths, he now sets his eyes on Nexus Earth. With Nexus Earth under his control, he will be able to use the Nexus of All Realities to strike at any and all Earths in the multiverse.

Doctor Doom

The ruler of Latveria and master of both technology and magic, Doctor Doom does not see Ultimus as a threat, but an opportunity.

Following Ultimus' defeat at the hands of STRIKE, Doom makes his move by taking control of Nexus Earth and with it the Nexus of All Realities.

Batman Gambit: Doom chooses not to involve himself with STRIKE's war with Ultimus (save for haraunging STRIKE's commander into attacking Ultimus to avenge Latveria). Part of the reason for this is because he knows the so-called "heroes" will likely find a way to defeat Ultimus without his involvement, so there's no need for him to dirty his hands. Another reason is because he realises that if he simply sits back and observes, an opportunity to gain power for himself will no doubt reveal itself. ** And no such opportunity presents itself? STRIKE will still be weakened from their battles with Ultimus, meaning he could simply defeat them himself if he chose to.
Early-Bird Cameo: Doom initially appears in one of the Raids, directing the player to devastate Ultimus' forces in retaliation for attacking Latveria.
It's Personal: Ultimus earned Doom's wrath for attacking and devastating Latveria.
Opportunistic Bastard: While STRIKE battles Ultimus and his forces, Doom quietly bides his time and builds up a small cabal of followers including the Red Skull and Hydra, Nobu and the Hand, and the Scientist Supreme and A.I.M. in preparation for an opportunity. That opportunity comes when STRIKE launches their counterassault on Ultimus (which ultimately ends with them sealing Ultimus into a dead universe). While STRIKE strengthened the dimensional barriers in order to prevent Ultimus' forces from attacking Nexus Earth in their absence (those strengthened barriers being the only reason they felt confident enough to launch the counterattack), the barriers were no defense against someone already on Nexus Earth.
- By sheer luck, Ultimus' defeat broke his mental hold on his armies, leaving most of them vulnerable to a powerful enough will. Realising this, Doom quickly dominated as many of Ultimus' former minions as he could reach, building himself a sizable army with almost no effort on his part.

Three Dooms

A trio of alternate Doctor Dooms who have banded together to inflict their collective will on the multiverse. While they are simply referred to as The Three Dooms, they can be described as Tech Doom, Mystic Doom and Gamma Doom.

Decomposite Character: Each of the Three Dooms represents a different aspect of Doctor Doom himself.
- Tech Doom is a Doom who has given himself completely to the use of technology, morality or restraint be damned.
- Mystic Doom represents Doctor Doom's mystic side, having made alliances with demons for extreme magical power.
- Gamma Doom represents the most rarely seen aspect of Doom: that he's actually a dangerous physical combatant as well.
Dual Boss/ Wolfpack Boss: As the collective "final boss" of the Doom War chapter of the campaign, the player must defeat each of the Three Dooms and their chosen minions. In order:
- The Tech Doom will fight alongside technology based characters like the Vision.
- The Mystic Doom will enter the fray after all of the Tech Doom's party is defeated. He is accompanied by mystic characters like Baron Mordo.
- Finally, the Gamma Doom will face the player alongside characters known for their strength and endurance (e.g. the Hulk and the Thing).
Eviler than Thou: They pull this on Doctor Doom after he seized control of Nexus Earth and empowered himself with the Nexus of All Realities.
- Always a Bigger Fish: In turn, they suffer this when they get on the bad side of Dormammu thanks to their attempt to take control of the Dark Dimension.
Hero Killer: They've conquered and destroyed their own universes, killing everyone who stood in their way.
Hulk Speak: Gamma Doom has slight shades of this, but is much more articulate than the actual Hulk.
Sssssnaketalk: Mystic Doom talks like this.
This Cannot Be!: Their collective response when STRIKE escapes from their dimensional trap.

Dormmamu

The Lord of the Dark Dimension, master of the Flames of Faltine, and archenemy to Doctor Strange.

Be Careful What You Wish For: Invokes this when he tells the Three Dooms, "You wanted the power of the Dark Dimension? Congratulations. Here it is."
Deal with the Devil: Spider-Man refers to getting his help as "making a bargain". Also a Mythology Gag to Doctor Strange (2016).
First-Name Basis: He addresses Doctor Strange as "Stephen" by way of greeting... just before trying to kill him.
It's Personal: Is most displeased by the Three Dooms dragging Nexus Earth into the Dark Dimension as part of their attempt to try to tap into its power. He decides to demonstrate the power of the Dark Dimension they seek so badly... on them.
Oh, Crap!: Doctor Strange is horrified when he realises that the "help" Spider-Man spoke about getting turns out to be Dormmamu.
Summon Bigger Fish: He gets involved when Spider-Man alerts him to the Three Dooms' attempt to usurp control of the Dark Dimension away from him.

Characters / Marvel Strike Force

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