History Main / HeroesRUs

* The Heroes' League from ''Webcomic/WhiteDarkLife'' is a coalition of heroes organized to counter a LegionOfDoom that sought to wipe its members out. Notable members include [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]], VideoGame/{{Sonic|TheHedgehog}}, Franchise/{{Kirby}}, and VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}. In between clashes with said LegionOfDoom, the Heroes' League spends much of its time [[WeHelpTheHelpless righting wrongs, performing public services, and fighting other villains]].

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse has [=SHIELD=], a non-government organization dedicated to dealing with super-powered threats founded by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark after Captain America disappeared in 1945. It was made up primarily of non-powered agents (although the original Ant-Man and the Wasp may have been agents as well) until the creation of [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Avengers initiative]]. The organization dissolved in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' when it was revealed that the entire organization was infested with Hydra moles. In its place rose [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron the Avengers]] as a separate organization funded by Tony Stark, the ranks of which fluctuates but includes a roster of 6-9 superheroes at one time and a few non-powered support agents (Nick Fury and Maria Hill, for example). After ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', there are only 2 active Avengers - Vision and War Machine - while a few other heroes (Nomad, Falcon, and Black Widow) do vigilante work under the nickname "Secret Avengers". [=SHIELD=], meanwhile, [[Series/AgentsOfShield continued under the leadership of Phil Coulson]], [[spoiler: at least until the events of Season 5]], although as a much smaller organization. After the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:both organizations have been decimated, with only the original 6 Avengers plus War Machine making it through the Snap, and who knows how much of [=SHIELD=]]]. Following ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' [[spoiler: the Avengers seem to be more or less disbanded after the deaths of Captain America and Iron Man, and while it's still not clear how much S.H.I.E.L.D. still exists, sister organisations S.W.O.R.D. and S.A.B.E.R. are still operating.]]

* The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse has [=SHIELD=], a non-government organization dedicated to dealing with super-powered threats founded by Peggy Carter and Howard Stark after Captain America disappeared in 1945. It was made up primarily of non-powered agents (although the original Ant-Man and the Wasp may have been agents as well) until the creation of [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the Avengers initiative]]. The organization dissolved in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' when it was revealed that the entire organization was infested with Hydra moles. In its place rose [[Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron the Avengers]] as a separate organization funded by Tony Stark, the ranks of which fluctuates but includes a roster of 6-9 superheroes at one time and a few non-powered support agents (Nick Fury and Maria Hill, for example). After ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', there are only 2 active Avengers - Vision and War Machine - while a few other heroes (Nomad, Falcon, and Black Widow) do vigilante work under the nickname "Secret Avengers". [=SHIELD=], meanwhile, [[Series/AgentsOfShield continued under the leadership of Phil Coulson]], [[spoiler: at least until the events of Season 5]], although as a much smaller organization. After the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', [[spoiler:both organizations have been decimated, with only the original 6 Avengers [[note]]If Hawkeye survived; his status is still unknown[[/note]] plus War Machine still alive, and who knows how much of [=SHIELD=]]].

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Superheroes are all signed with agencies that help fund and promote them.

* A villainous variation: The ''WesternAnimation/LeagueOfSuperEvil'', whose acronym is L.O.S.E.

* The Office Of Secret Intelligence (OSI) from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', who even have their own theme song. It's a cross between ''Franchise/GIJoe'', S.H.I.E.L.D. and Music/VillagePeople.

Common types of Heroes R Us include TheChosenMany, SuperTeam, TheOrder, ArtifactCollectionAgency, {{NGO}}, AdventureGuild, and LaResistance, as well as [[CreatureHunterOrganization organizations that]] [[WhoYouGonnaCall hunt the paranormal]], and these which aren't defined beyond "WeHelpTheHelpless". Commonly overlaps with CrazyWorkplace, which an organisation of super-powered beings is almost bound to be.

Common types of Heroes R Us include TheChosenMany, SuperTeam, TheOrder, ArtifactCollectionAgency, {{NGO}}, AdventureGuild, and LaResistance, as well as [[CreatureHunterOrganization organizations that]] [[WhoYouGonnaCall hunt the paranormal]], and these which aren't defined beyond "WeHelpTheHelpless".

* ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' features the Master Detectives, all of which serve the NonGovernmentalOrganization of the WDO, being sent across the world in multiple agencies branching from the parent. And indeed, just like the trope, agents are recruited and funded on their trips to wherever they need to go to investigate. And [[InterpolSpecialAgent they are above jurisdiction, allowing them total freedom to investigate anywhere]]. Well, except when sent to investigate [[CityInABottle Kanai Ward]], featuring the Nocturnal Detcetive Agency, the game's agency of focus, where the Peacekeepers deny that freedom.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Médecins_Sans_Frontières Médecins Sans Frontières (aka Doctors Without Borders)]] sends highly trained medical professionals to war zones and poor countries experiencing public health emergencies. They will typically go to places that even [[UsefulNotes/TheRedCross the International Red Cross]] won't touch, and for several months they were the only organization working to stop the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
* The Peace Corps.
* A real-life flaw of such units is exposed in the non-fiction book ''See No Evil''. Former CIA agent Robert Baer tells how he was attached to a special unit, authorized by the President to track down terrorists. The unit failed because the CIA station heads kept refusing to share information with it, so they spent all their time running about trying to develop their own sources instead of doing the job they'd been created for.
* Private Intelligence Agencies and Private Military Corporations like to present themselves as real-life equivalents to this trope.
[[/folder]]

* The Justice Brigade of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, a world renowned team of superheroes. The Knights of Purity are supposed to be this, teams of baselines in power armor protecting regular people from supervillains, but most mutants see them as the enemy. (They may be right, or it may be a mixed bag: in "Loose Cannons" a Knight is trying to kill the protagonists to hide his screw-up, but in "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl", a team of Knights saved Chaka from The Lamplighter.)

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' provides examples of both types.
** In terms of organizations of heroes, the Protectorate is the national organization of heroic [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals parahumans]] in the United States, with the Wards serving as its junior division. There are other such organizations in other countries, such as the Guild in Canada, and smaller local groups like Brockton Bay's New Wave.
** The PRT is a heroic organization of non-parahumans which both supports the Protectorate and acts as oversight [[spoiler:although the Director of the PRT is secretly Alexandria and the whole organization was founded and remains more or less controlled by Cauldron]]. They also field well-trained agents to act as backup for heroes.

* The Worlds Welfare & Works Association, better known as the [=3WA=], are the unfortunate employers of the ''LightNovel/DirtyPair''.

* The Worlds Welfare and Works Association ([=3WA=]) from ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' is an agency of the galactic government that sends out teams of problem solvers called Trouble Consultants.

** Originally, they answered to a [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness mysterious trio]], and had international authority; but during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'', they acted pretty much as an American Law Enforcement branch, answerable to the US President. It's possible the organization has been redesigned (as was the case with Creator/DCComics' ''ComicBook/{{Checkmate}}'')... or somebody made a mistake.\\\

* The Speedwagon Foundation in ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' dedicates part of its funds to investigating the supernatural as well as helping the Joestars in any way they can.