Alpha Flight: Sasquatch is a second-tier hero of the Thing/Hulk type and a brilliant scientist who's usually in full command of his mental faculties when transformed. Notably also a genius bruiser before developing superpowers (he was a football player — American, not soccer. As though that wasn't implied by the "bruiser" part).
Ant-Man: Dr. Hank Pym, founding member of the Avengers, could easily make the top ten list of most brilliant scientific minds on the planet. In his identities as Giant-Man and Goliath, he is a towering behemoth, able to go toe-to-toe with some of Marvel's heaviest hitters. However, he usually sticks to being a Science Hero.
Black Panther: The Black Panther's a tactical genius and one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe. He's also an accomplished scientist and scholar, in addition to actually running the country of Wakanda.
Black Panther’s Arch-Enemy Erik Killmonger is an abnormally tall and well-muscled young man who has proven himself to be just as strong, if not stronger than, the title protagonist. He's also a brilliant strategist and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most prestigious schools in the United States.
Black Widow: Having been given Training from Hell to peak human levels and a Super Serum, Natasha is a deadly combatant but she’s highly tactical as well as an expert hacker, weapons expert, a master of disguise and fluent in multiple languages. In earlier comics, Nat actually focused on outsmarting her foes, until Xenafication kicked in and she balanced smarts with ass-kicking.
Captain America: Though he might seem dumb compared to his buddy Iron Man, Steve is actually highly intelligent. To back up his enhanced physical prowess, Cap is a master strategist, expert martial artist, weapons expert, talented hacker, and professional sketch artist. It’s elaborated the Super Serum boosted Cap’s mental processing meaning he learns information much faster than any normal man. Fittingly Batman was Cap’s opponent in the Marvel Versus DC crossover.
Similarly Bucky Barnes and Nick Fury have displayed genius tactics as well as peak human abilities in many comics.
Daredevil: An early issue of Daredevil from the original Stan Lee run subverts this twice. A Mad Scientist Karl Stragg helps a brawn-for-brains criminal Ox escape from prison and lures him into his hide-out to try out his new device. Ox thinks the device will make him a Genius Bruiser but gets backstabbed, as the device actually switches their bodies, giving Stragg Ox's physique as a bonus to his intelligence. Thinking he himself has become an example of this trope, Stragg goes on a crime spree yet discovers that now, simply smashing stuff somehow gives him more pleasure than actually thinking things through. He barely makes use of his intelligence, letting it gradually degenerate. At the climax, he fights Daredevil and furiously hurls himself at him, only for Daredevil to dodge and for Stragg, having forgotten that they're on a rooftop, to fall to his death.
The Thing is usually in the shadow of Reed Richards brain-wise. However, it should be (but often isn't) noted that he attended the same college as Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom. He has completed a doctorate in aerospace engineering and he is implied to have another Master's degree in a STEM field (he was an astronaut, and NASA requires astronauts to have a minimum of two relevant Master's degrees). He has been shown to be perfectly capable of cobbling together a cosmic ray projector when called upon, is the one who translates Reed's Techno Babble into Layman's Terms about 75% of the time and while he can't replicate a lot of what Reed does, he can usually grasp the general thrust of what is being attempted. As for his "bruiser" credentials, The Thing is one of the handful of beings that has managed to fight the Hulk to a standstill.
Doctor Doom is a supreme example of this, yes the “doctor” part isn’t just a fancy title Victor has earned multiple doctorates and considered equal to super-genius Reed Richards. Doom is also highly proficient in both science and magic being a Evil Sorcerer in Powered Armour who has gone up against Earth’s strongest heroes as well as cosmic beings and managed to triumph more than once. While his arrogance does get the better of him, Doom is still considered one of the most diabolically intelligent villains in the whole Marvel Universe.
Contrary to his name, The Brute (a villain of the 1970s Fantastic Four) is not The Brute. He is the Reed Richards of Counter-Earth, the duplicate Earth created by the High Evolutionary in the Warlock comics of the late 60s, and just as smart as the original. The difference is that when he got his fateful exposure to cosmic rays, instead of getting stretch powers, he gained the power of Hulking Out, allowing him to transform into an 8ft tall, 1000lbs purple-skinned ape-man capable of going toe to toe with the Thing... without losing any of his intelligence when he transforms.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Groot has a broad-ranging education including in-depth knowledge of quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering, though this is subject to some debate; He can apparently only say "I am Groot!" and a known madman is the only source for most of the information regarding his intelligence Not the only one anymore.
The Incredible Hulk: The amount of genius varies on which personality is in control, although they have been known to borrow one another's skills if necessary. Even the Savage Hulk is a Combat Pragmatist who can use the environment to his advantage, and despite declarations, he is not just "HULK SMASH!"
He started out as brilliant physicist Dr. Bruce Banner, before the radiation accident that turned him into the Hulk. Different personalities, including that of Dr. Banner himself, took control of the Hulk's body at different points and showed varying levels of brains and brawn, depending on which one was currently running things. They would occasionally borrow each others' skills, with Banner lending Joe Fixit his memories and computer skills when Fixit needed to figure out who had poisoned the Hulk and who was about to kill them. It Makes Sense in Context.
At the start of the "Secret Wars" arc, the heroes are teleported to a remote corner of the universe, Reed Richards immediately announced what has happened and how it must have been done, and Hulk, who currently possesses Banner's mind, only snarls "That's obvious, Richards!" while The Thing and Johnny Storm are still trying to catch up with what Reed just said.
Merged Hulk, A.K.A "The Professor," is a Split-Personality Merge of the three main personas that retains Banner's intelligence. This form is perhaps best remembered as the one used in the early Marvel vs. Capcom games.
Also, numerous writers have taken note that innocents are never hurt during Hulk's violent rampage, and have since implied that even when he's a neanderthal-like monster, Bruce Banner's mind is constantly doing calculations to ensure that his actions never cause anything but collateral damage to buildings. Somewhat confirmed in Greg Pak's Hulk run, in which while fighting his son Skaar, the Hulk slammed the ground as if to attack, but was really aiming to pile up sand to shore up a collapsing building.
Ultimate Hulk reveals that he retains his genius-level intellect in his fight with Abomination.
Also demonstrated in Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine (which took place before that fight but due to delays wasn't finished until considerably afterward) where Ultimate Hulk is shown relaxing casually, offering Logan some hot cocoa.
Hulk's cousin, Jennifer Walters, aka She-Hulk, is both a super-strong super-heroine and a practicing lawyer.
Dr. Leonard Samson is the hero population's go-to psychotherapist and also strong enough to trade blows with an enraged Hulk.
His Rogues Gallery aren't slouches in this regard either. Recurring villain Controller is an engineering genius who designed the mind controlling slave discs and would eventually become bonded with an exoskeleton that made him phenomenally large and powerful. It's been joked that he went to MIT on a wrestling scholarship.
Boris Bullski, the original Titanium Man. A master spy and KGB agent, he stands well over seven feet tall and can lift 1.5 tonnes without the armor.
Iron Clad should be classed as one of these. Although he is rarely shown to be intelligent, he is supposed to have designed spaceships prior to gaining his powers.
The Mighty Thor: The God of Thunder himself is a surprising case of this. He generally seems like nothing more than a Hot-Blooded viking oaf but he's actually extremely crafty and intelligent when he needs to be having outsmarted his Trickster God brother Loki on numerous occasions as well as pulled off the Batman Gambit on the likes of Malekith and Enchantress. Thor's talents are also not limited to kicking ass, chucking ale and bedding warrior women; as Thor is also an excellent cook, can detect toxins by just by smell and even retains the medical expertise of Dr. Donald Blake even when he's not stuck as the doctor.
Thor becoming this trope is also very much part of his Character Development, as prior to being banished to Earth he was pretty much an arrogant musclebound jerk who let his strength to do all the work and Odin wanted him learn humility as well as just learn in general. In the Distant Finale Old King Thor has built his own time machine and has tech that would impress the likes of Reed Richards and Tony Stark.
Mockingbird: Bobbi Morse is a biochemist who helped out in a project to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that created Captain America. She's also been injected with a special formula that increased her strength and durability, was trained as a spy for S.H.I.E.L.D., and has been a member of The Avengers.
The Punisher MAX: Barracuda. During his time in the military, he showed exceptional intelligence and cunning while leading his team in toppling whole governments by themselves.
Spider-Man: Spider-Man is agile, hardy, and capable of lifting ten tons (or 100 tons Depending on the Writer). The man behind the mask, Peter Parker, is also a scientific wiz (originally introduced as gifted while later writers say he has a genius-level intellect) who makes his own gadgets and tools, often built from scratch. Reed Richards, Bruce Banner and Tony Stark have all been surprised by how intelligent the Wall-Crawler is, even by their high standards.
The Kingpin is a self-educated, self-made man who rose from humble beginnings to become the greatest criminal mastermind in the New York underworld, he is also a hulking, monstrous brute who is physically a match for Daredevil and even Spider-Man, on occasion.
Norman Osborn studied chemistry and electrical engineering, went on to become a scientist as well as CEO, and created the Goblin Formula which made him superhuman (as well insane and even eviler). In Dark Avengers Norman shows off his diabolical intellect, acting like an evil fusion of Iron Man and Nick Fury, giving Marvel’s heroes besides Spidey immense trouble.
Otto Octavius is even more of one. A multi-disciplined scientist with a high degree in radiology, Otto is an Evil Genius whom even fellow villain Doctor Doom acknowledges and he backs up his intelligence with four powerful mechanical arms. Otto, like Norman, has proven to be a formidable adversary to the whole Avengers and becomes even more dangerous when he hijacks his nemesis Spider-Man’s body and uses Peter’s aforementioned abilities to his own selfish ends.
Curt Connors aka The Lizard, while he is animalistic in most comics, still retains his human alter ego intelligence and puts it to use trying to make reptiles supreme; other times he’s little more than a snarling monster. In later comics, Connors (much like Smart Hulk above) keeps his Curt Connors persona while in his Lizard form and still teaches at Empire State University.
Miles Warren aka The Jackal is a genius in the fields of biochemistry, genetics, and cloning. He’s also a very skilled martial artist and gymnast.
Adrian Toomes aka The Vulture, apart from being a guy in a powered wing suit, is brilliant in the fields of electronics and mechanics having a Master of Science degree in electrical engineering.
Herman Schultz aka The Shocker, as ridiculous as he looks, is a Genius Bruiser. While not on the level of Osborn or Octavius he’s a gifted engineer, having built his battle suit in prison from scratch, and regularly goes up against Spider-Man.
Rhino becomes this in one comic where he grows tired of being just The Brute and enhances his IQ, with this trope as a result. Though it was subverted, as with the new intellect Rhino became depressed and chose to revert to his old Dumb Muscle IQ.
Thanos: In the Marvel Universe, Thanos has constructed space vessels, cloned himself, and has often outsmarted superheroes and cosmic entities. He also has enough strength to hold his own against Thor and the Thing simultaneously, and looks like it too. But not Squirrel Girl.
Thunderbolts: Karla Sofen/Meteorite/Moonstone could be considered Doc Samson's evil counterpart. (Also a superpowered psychologist.)
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: While Squirrel Girl is no super-genius, she is a talented computer programmer (and uses this to defeat villains) and has social skills good enough to befriend people mid-fight.
Pictured on the main page: Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy aka "The Beast". Blue, huge, furry, super-strong (depends on the writer, but sometimes he's said to bench press 70 tons), agile, and Nobel-level intelligent (generally regarded as the preeminent biochemist in the Marvel Universe, and he gave himself the power upgrade that made him look like how he is today, only stronger than he was when he looked more human). As a bonus, he was played by Kelsey Grammer in the third movie.
Jean Grey: His name's Henry McCoy, dipstick- he reads poetry, swings from trees, knows the square root of a millionnote this is much less impressive than it sounds, and he's gonna kick your butt. Beast:[Cracks knuckles] Indubitably.
While not as brainy as Hank, Emma Frost has degrees in several fields, including a Bachelor of Science in Education with a minor in Business Administration from the prominent Marvel Universe's Empire State University. She turns to "bruiser" when assuming her diamond form, where she's more than a match for guys like Warpath.
Apocalypse, much like Thanos above in addition to being a hulking physical powerhouse is a super genius being a expert in biology, primarily genetic engineering and mutation, and technology. He crafted his armour out of Celestial technology and uses molecular altering powers to great effect, very few of the X-Men can hold their own against him let alone beat him. Also being 5000 years old he’s Omnilingual.
Wolverine, while he does lack the leadership skills of his pal Cyclops or the IQ of fellow brawler Beast, still displays a surprisingly intellect when he’s not being The Berserker. It helps he has lived well over two centuries; in that time has picked up multiple skills in martial arts, weapon and vehicle handing, computer expertise, is fluent in multiple languages and is a trained assassin. Of course, like his ArchenemySabretooth, this is Depending on the Writer as at other times Logan is depicted a mindless bruiser who lets his claws do all the thinking.
While not to the same levels as some examples in the Marvel Universe, X-23 (Laura Kinney's) intellect is described as "off the charts," and as a result of her upbringing is a highly-educated polyglot who never loses at chess and is one of the deadliest assassins in all of Marvel. She's also a gifted strategist who can analyze a situation when she steps into the room, formulate multiple plans for making everyone else inside it with her dead, and then choose the one with the best opportunity for success before she even closes the door behind her.
Rogue is definitely this, sure her thick Mississippi accent might fool you into thinking she’s an uneducated Brainless Beauty who's also a Flying Brick, but that’s not the case. Not only is Rogue quite the bookworm in her spare time, but she’s outsmarted extra-dimensional beings, flown spaceships, comes up with many plans and on top of that thanks to her Power Parasite ability she gets the skills and intellect of her foes. When she craftily combines the powers of her fellow X-Men in battle, Rogue becomes nigh-unstoppable.
Depending on the Writer, Sabretooth is either this or Dumb Muscle. When he is smart, he is often underestimated because of his arrogance and animalistic nature, but he speaks multiple languages, is skilled at hacking computers, and is a highly trained soldier and mercenary who fought in countless wars.
Downplayed but Kitty Pryde can be this in a few comics. Her Intangibility can be truly devastating when she’s serious and she’s expert hand to hand fighter being trained by Wolverine. Above all she’s a Playful Hacker being genius when it comes to technology, she’s also a talented tactician in later comics as she becomes the leader of the X-Men for a while.
Cable is a powerful BFG wielding Super-Soldier who has inherited his mother Jean Grey’s Mind over Matter powers but he’s also a genius tactician, master combatant, cybernetic engineer and battle commander... with a diploma in law.
You could make a strong argument that Deadpool, of all people, is one of these. Is he so crazy that he's come all the way around to smart, or so smart that he's come all the way around to crazy? Bottom line, he a viciously efficient fighter, an ambidextrous master of multiple martial arts, multi-lingual, genre-savvy, skilled at reading body language, and is capable of developing complex plans and making them work while chattering non-stop and getting distracted by a passing ice cream truck. Many people have noted, with considerable astonishment, that there is a remarkably effective mercenary underneath all that crazy. The people who know him are very careful not to underestimate him, and the people who don't know him often make just that mistake.
Marvel's Mr. Hyde (who has fought Thor, the Hulk, Daredevil, and many other heroes) is technically a Genius Bruiser; the intelligence of his civilian identity, criminal genius Calvin Zabo, is not lost when he transforms into his super-strong super-villain form. However, given his Hair-Trigger Temper in that form, he rarely ever needs to make use of Zabo's smarts.
Thunderball, aka Dr. Eliot Franklin, of the Marvel villain team the Wrecking Crew. Thunderball's intelligence is made all the more obvious by the fact that the rest of his team are rather dim-witted mooks. He also has a streak of good. He once smacked around the rest of the Crew to save John Porter of Damage Controlnote John had previously helped him recover his wrecking ball from the Lost & Found. Thunderball told the Crew that John had superpowers, which consisted of Thunderball hitting people with the lights out.
Minor villain, Imus Champion, was a Harvard MBA. He breezed through the program and with his business talent and genius intellect, he quickly became the 5th richest man on Marvel's Earth. Tired of that, he mastered many different martial arts and well...he's 9 feet tall and as strong as he's big. Imus Champion is the Big Bad for Conan the Barbarian in the War for the Serpent's Crown miniseries and he actually overpowers the mighty Cimmerian.
, and as seen in David Michellene's run on the character, is a man who doesn't skimp on his daily workout.
