History Characters / MCUMelindaMay

* CloningBlues: The android equivalent of this trope. She has them ''hard'', having May's memories but knowing that she isn't May. She ultimately decides that even if she isn't real, her feelings are.

!!!'''Citizenship:''' Chinese-American

!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/MingNaWen

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mcu_may_s6.png]]

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* JustFollowingOrders: Her justification for keeping Coulson in the dark about his resurrection. This makes Coulson even more furious

* EasilyForgiven: Averted. Coulson was furious that she hid the truth about his resurrection from him and kept him LockedOutOfTheLoop. He point-blank told her she wasn't his friend anymore, although they eventually reconcile after awhile

An variant of Melinda May from a destroyed Earth.

* PowerPerversionPotential: May's empathic powers gave her an... interesting perspective on Elena and Mack's "[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow reunion]]". Despite Elena's embarrassment, [[CovertPervert May]] admits with a smirk that it's not ''all'' bad.

* MyGreatestFailure: Not killing Katya in Bahrain. As a result, Katya was sent to the US where she caused an incident that killed over 100 people, mostly students. This allowed HYDRA to easily take over by stoking people's FantasticRacism against Inhumans and presenting themselves as the best solution to the problem. Meanwhile, May now has an even ''bigger'' regret in ''not'' killing Katya since she could have prevented those 100 deaths by doing so and is now an Inhuman-hunting KnightTemplar loyally serving HYDRA.]]

* TokenGoodTeammate: To all the other LMDs, particularly in light of her HeroicBSOD, she's the only LMD having infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. in "Self Control" to have any real moral compass, even standing up to the LMD-Coulson and performing a HeroicSacrifice, blowing them both up to cover the escape of some flesh-and-blood S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

!! Spoilers for all works set prior to ''Avengers: Infinity War'' and ''Avengers: Endgame'' are unmarked.

* AndIMustScream: LMD May after learning what she is, but not being able to tell anybody because of her programming.
* CloningBlues: LMD-May has them ''hard'', having May's memories but knowing that she isn't May.

* HeroicSacrifice: LMD-May blows herself and LMD-Coulson up to stop the latter from getting to Jemma and Daisy.
* IDontWantToDie: LMD-May admits she doesn't want to die, but that doesn't stop her from committing suicide to destroy LMD-Coulson and protect Daisy and Jemma.
* ManchurianAgent: LMD May doesn't appear to know she's a fake, with her programming designed to operate sub-consciously so that she believes herself to be the real May. She discovers her metallic nature at the end of "The Patriot".
* TheMole: LMD May is, seemingly unwittingly, being used by Aida and Radcliffe to spy on S.H.I.E.L.D. and find the Darkhold.
* MurderSuicide: LMD-May takes herself and LMD-Coulson out with a bomb.

* TokenGoodTeammate: To all the other LMDs. She eventually performs a HeroicSacrifice against LMD-Coulson, blowing them both up to save the Zephyr.
* TomatoInTheMirror: The May LMD is unaware she's an LMD, programmed to believe she's the real May.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: LMD-May pulls a heroic version, siding against Radcliffe's vision and sacrificing herself to help Daisy and Simmons.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Radcliffe leaves LMD May at the mercy of S.H.I.E.L.D., since she's done her job of getting the Darkhold and has no further use. Additionally, he somewhat coldly tells her that she wasn't "built to last".

* AbortedDeclarationOfLove: During her explanation of why she kept TAHITI a secret from Coulson, she almost let it slip that her feelings for Coulson might be deeper than it friendship.

* ActionGirl: So much so that her nickname is "The Cavalry," even if she claims to hate being called that. Initially, she joined the team on the condition that she was only there to pilot the plane and provide nominal support. But after a few close scrapes, she eventually volunteers for field combat duty. "Repairs" and "Melinda" reveal May's reluctance is because she once rescued a S.H.I.E.L.D. team single-handedly, hence "The Cavalry" nickname, but is haunted [[spoiler:by having had to kill a young Inhuman girl mind-controlling the team]].

* BadassTeacher: She takes responsibility for training Daisy in the timeskip between Season 1 and 2. Judging from how many [[TookALevelInBadass levels in badass Daisy takes]] in Season 2 (going from knowing exactly one move and not being able to reliably release the safety from her gun to taking down ten men with a mixture of martial arts and gunplay in one scene), it's pretty clear May's training is more effective than Ward's for Daisy.

** May pulls one on ''everybody'' in "The Magical Place". She encourages Hand in kicking Daisy off the plane, knowing that Hand's by-the-book command style would prevent Daisy from being effective in any case. May also knows that the rest of the team will go behind her back to assist Daisy, and that Daisy herself will refuse to abandon the mission. Daisy goes off the grid and tracks down Coulson's location, just as May expected her to do.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: During the Framework Arc by removing May's regret indirectly caused a great deal of damage: because she didn't kill Katya, the insane Inhuman child in the warehouse at Bahrain where she was the only witness to what had happened, the girl would grow up to have a more public meltdown later in life, triggering world-wide anti-Inhuman prejudice and giving HYDRA a means to take over.

* BloodKnight: As May's only happy when she can fight someone, she eventually breaks out of the peaceful illusion (a spa day) she's trapped in by Radcliffe and Aida.

* BloodKnight: She loves to fight. When she was first placed in the framework after being abducted by Radcliffe and Aida, she is in a peaceful illusion (a spa day). As she's only happy when she can fight someone, she eventually realizes shes in an illusion and breaks out. This is dealt with by giving her a scenario where she seemingly escapes the Framework and fights her way out of the building.

* BrokenAce: May is [[IceQueen cold and reserved]] because of trauma in the past (which is the reason she initially shunned field work), but she is still ''easily'' the most formidable character in the series. She's smart, savvy, and [[ActionGirl destroys anyone short of superhuman (and even a few who are) in combat]].
* BrokenBird: The mission in Bahrain where she was forced to '''kill''' a gifted child whose powers drove her mad to save her agents transformed from a rule-breaking, fun-loving, kind woman into a stoic, cold and somewhat ruthless agent.
* CameBackWrong: After she returns from Izel's home dimension, she seems devoid of emotion and has gone full KnightTemplar on helping her team. She later is revealed to be able to feel other peoples emotions.

* DentedIron: After May gets [[TeleFrag tele-fragged]] in the Season 5 premeire, she is unable to get medical treatment or to get any sort of bedrest that would normally come with the wound she later diagnoses as a bilateral tear of the quadriceps. She instead continues walking on it, fighting Kree, Inhumans and Vrellnexians throughout the BadFuture in the first half of the season and is never mentioned to get any sort of actual medical treatment for her leg even after the team returns to the present. Daisy notes in "The Real Deal" that this certainly had irreversible effects on May's strength and that May would never be at 100% strength again, which May indicates is true with a wince. Despite this, [[{{Determinator}} May]] takes on Sleeper Mechs and Remorath all throughout the second half of the fifth season and defeats Sarge's entire team by herself in "Window of Opportunity".

* EasilyForgiven: Averted. Coulson was furious that she hid the truth about his resurrection from him and kept him LockedOutOfTheLoop. He point blank told her she wasn't his friend anymore, although they eventually reconcile after awhile

* EmpoweredBadassNormal: The Asgardian Berserker Staff makes her effectively unstoppable, when she gets a hold of it.

* FantasticRacism: She doesn't hate all gifted people just the Inhumans, but she does originally have some distrust of them - the ones who were indirectly responsible for her tramutization in Bahrain.

* HeroicBSOD: May is in the midst of an extended one at the beggining of ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', retired from field work due to emotional trauma, and only agreeing to join the team because Coulson promised her she was only being asked to pilot the Bus.

* {{Hypocrite}}: She gets mad at Coulson for keeping her LockedOutOfTheLoop about certain things when he becomes Director, mainly the Theta Protocol and that he's been seeing her ex. Coulson is more than happy to remind her that she kept him LockedOutOfTheLoop regarding his resurrection.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: She'll cite this trope when the team calls her out on some of more questionable actions like using an [=Icer=] on a scared gifted who was cornered by an angry mob and she joins Gonzales' S.H.I.E.L.D. as a way to protect Coulson's people....which the team ''really'' doesn't approve of.

* JustAMachine: May's attitude towards LMD-Coulson in the beggining, much to his frustration. She later grows out of this, treating him the same as she did Coulson.

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:May takes a fatal wound from Sarge in "The Sign" and dies in "New Life", only for Simmons, by her own indication, start the process of healing her, leaving May in a coma at the end of the season]].

* MemeticBadass: InUniverse. Students at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy add twists to her personal legend as a way of pranking the incoming freshmen. It's gotten to the point where nobody remembers the real details any more, except for Coulson who was there.
* TheMentor: Season 2 sees her taking on this role for Daisy and teaching her how to be a field agent. There are scenes of them sparring, sniping, and also lessons on how to stay in control of one's emotions. This becomes especially important when Daisy develops Inhuman powers because every new Inhuman needs a mentor to guide them through the change. It was supposed to be her biological mother but instead it's the TeamMom.

* MyGreatestFailure: Her biggest regret was [[IDidWhatIHadToDo killing Katya in Bahrain]]. While this mission may have made May a LivingLegend among S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, she still feels enormous guilt over having to kill a little Inhuman girl who was mind controlling and killing people.

* NotSoAboveItAll: In "The Well," she echoes Daisy's assertion that Thor is "dreamy," and not simply handsome, and at the end of "Repairs," she pulls a prank on Fitz.

* PowerIncontinence: How she first discovers her powers, unintentionally copying everyone elses emotions. This later evolves to the point where she can now feel people's emotions without even touching them, which obviously drives her crazy.

* ReluctantWarrior: She only joins the team after Coulson assures her she will only act as the team's pilot/wheelwoman. Otherwise she tried to avoid combat situations when she could (at first, anyway).

* SeenItAll: A lesser example, as she went on many of Coulson's early missions and seen many of the same things Coulson did, but she's also very stoic and doesn't show much in the way of emotion. In Season 6, when told that [[spoiler:an alien is jumping between bodies]], her response is "Of course there is".

* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: The Berserker Staff has no (noticeable) effect on her, since she hasn't repressed the trauma that drove her to her desk job. [[note]]Whether she's made any steps towards recovery is another matter, though it explains why she practices tai chi.[[/note]] However, she is noticeably less stoic and more expressive in battle than normal.

** Fury told her about about Coulson's resurrection and ordered her to keep tabs on him in case he came back wrong but not let Coulson know about it. When Coulson found out, he was understandably pissed off and gave her the cold shoulder for quite a while afterward.

* SpannerInTheWorks: It's implied that Aida programmed the Framework Daisy as a loyal HYDRA agent without her quake powers because she knew Daisy's powers were capable of opening the back door out of the Framework, which May derails when she sneaks a terrigen crystal to Daisy at the end of "No Regrets," giving the team the means to escape the Framework in "Farewell, Cruel World!"

!!Variants