Characters / MCU: S.H.I.E.L.D. – Leadership

Main Character Index > Heroic Organizations > S.H.I.E.L.D. > Leadership (Nick Fury) | Team Coulson (Phil Coulson | Daisy Johnson | Melinda May | Leopold Fitz | Jemma Simmons) | S.S.R. (Peggy Carter | Howling Commandos) | Other Agents

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Spoilers for all works set prior to the end of Avengers: Endgame are unmarked.

Founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.

• Colonel Chester Phillips
• Peggy Carter
• Howard Stark

Directors of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Keller

Director Keller

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Ben Mendelsohn

Voiced By: Ricardo Mendoza (Latin American Spanish dub), Toshihiko Seki (Japanese dub), Sérgio Rufino (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Appearances: Captain Marvel

A high-ranking member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and by 1995, he was the agency's Director. Following an incident in Los Angeles, Keller was compromised when his identity was assumed by Skrull commander Talos.

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• Bound and Gagged: According to Talos, he was knocked out and left tied up somewhere.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He's shown to have been the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D in The '90s, but hasn't been seen since.
• Impersonation-Exclusive Character: The majority of his screentime is actually just Talos impersonating him.
• Last-Name Basis: He's on one with Fury, like everyone else. It gives Talos away when he calls Fury by his first name.
• Minor Major Character: Despite being the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he is Out of Focus in Captain Marvel due to being compromised and impersonated by Talos.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted. He shares a surname with Agent Damon Keller.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Talos left him somewhere Bound and Gagged, but it's unclear what happened to him next. He probably continued on as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. until Fury took over.

Jeffrey Mace / Patriot

Director Jeffrey Mace / Patriot

"I try to live by a simple rule: A team that trusts is a team that triumphs."

^{Click here to see him as Patriot}

Species: Enhanced human / Inhuman

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Jason O'Mara

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (first appears in Episode 68: "Meet the New Boss") | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot

The new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. after Coulson stepped down due to personal reasons.

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• Adaptation Species Change: His original comic counterpart was a normal human but this version is an Inhuman. Subverted: he's only pretending to be an Inhuman; his powers actually come from a serum. He's a genuine Inhuman in the Framework, though, thanks to his wish that he had "real superpowers I could use to kick your (the Superior's) ass."
• Age Lift: The comics Mace was one of the replacement Captain Americas to replace Steve after he disappeared. This Mace is a present day character.
• Becoming the Mask: A Fake Ultimate Hero who is trying to become a real one.
• Berserk Button: If he wants the truth, he wants the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. And don't even think about pulling any of that Exact Words bullshit on him, lest he lose his patience with you (just ask Coulson). Racism and intolerance are also major do-not-push buttons for him. He gets seriously offended and pissed at Nadeer's casual racism towards Inhumans, despite only pretending to be one himself at that point, and completely derails his own PR stunt just to put her in her place.
• Brutal Honesty: Although he values Coulson's advice and experience, he point blank tells the man that he has a blind spot when it comes to his teammates and friends.
• Character Catchphrase: "A team that trusts is a team that triumphs." He says it so often than Coulson's team gets completely sick and tired of it by the second episode.
• Character Death: In the Framework, he gives his life to help a kid escape from a collapsing building, which causes his death in the real world.
• Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: In the comics, Jeffrey operated under the codename Patriot, and also spent some time as a Legacy Character for Captain America. He is not called by either of those names in the MCU, although it is mentioned that Coulson wanted the new director to be like Cap, and "Patriot" is the codename of the project that gave him his powers. Subverted once he's found in the Framework, as Coulson geeks out that he's meeting the Patriot as he is widely known, though Mace asks him to call him Jeffrey.
• Composite Character: While he already had similarities to other characters besides the Mace of the comics, "The Patriot" reveals that he's one of both the Jeffrey Mace and Eli Bradley versions of the Patriot. Like Eli, Mace has superhuman strength and durability, derived from using a superpower-inducing drug he regularly injects. The serum being derived from Mr. Hyde's formula also calls to mind Jack Flag.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In-Universe and Played for Laughs, but it's really more like Color Coded For Your Inconvenience. As part of his PR campaign to rebrand S.H.I.E.L.D. as a more legit and family friendly organization, he changes the old clearance level system to what he dubbed the "spectrum of security", where instead of rank and number, every agent is assigned a color that details their clearance level. And there are a lot of colors in the world, with his system not taking into account wavelength relationships, or even gradients for that matter. All it does is confuse and annoy every agent over who gets to do what.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Both the dispenser and recipient of one. When he takes on a crazed May, it doesn't even result in a fight - he simply suppresses her with zero effort. Not long after that, he ends up on the receiving end of a completely hopeless fight against the Ghost Rider.
• Desecrating the Dead: After his death in the Framework causes him to die in the real world, his corpse is pulverized and thrown in the ocean by Ivanov to frame Daisy for his murder. Talbot later mentions being horrified by the sight after his body washes up on a beach.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Throughout the entire season, he tries to gain Team Coulson's approval, doing everything he can to do good (like reinstating Daisy as a legitimate agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and despite all that they never really accept him as one of their own. Framework!Mace lampshades this by asking Simmons what she knows about him as a person, with her not being able to give a proper answer. Sadly, it takes him performing a Heroic Sacrifice to finally prove himself as a true hero.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Goes out like the hero he always wanted to be, holding up a collapsing building in the Framework long enough for Coulson, Simmons, Trip, and Ward to escape with the kids. Not only that, but witnessing it is the direct main cause for Framework May's Heel–Face Turn.
• Endearingly Dorky: Averted. It's an image he constantly tries to project as part of his PR campaign and efforts to come off as likable and personable, and one of the main reasons Coulson's team doesn't trust him. Once the truth about his powers gets out, it's revealed that not all of it was a lie: He's genuinely a kind, decent man trying to do some good - he's just not the dork he initially appeared to be.
• Expy: As a boy scout with super-strength and classical all-American goods looks, he's clearly patterned after Captain America, given that his comic book counterpart assumed the title for a while. The process is complete by "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", when he starts sporting a Captain America-esque battle outfit and leads S.H.I.E.L.D. in the field. That said, his by-the-book nature and obsession with PR make him a bit of a Foil for the fierce individualist Steve Rogers, and his pro-government stance and darker costume imply U.S. Agent was an inspiration as well. It's later revealed that it was actually invoked in-universe; Talbot was literally told to "find the next Captain America" when searching for Coulson's replacement.
• The Face: Of the new legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D.; in the words of Coulson himself "a powered person that people could trust". He himself thinks of this role as "team mascot".
• Fake Ultimate Hero: The public believed he saved lives during the Vienna bombings, but it's a lie. He's so determined to keep it from being uncovered that he exempts Simmons from lie detector tests to avoid risking his own credibility. It turns out that an extremely heroic act for which he gained fame — using Inhuman Super-Strength to save somebody from being crushed by falling debris — didn't actually happen. Someone just happened to snap a picture just as he tripped and fell into the shot, with his arms positioned in such a way that from the camera's perspective looked like he was holding up the debris, which was actually in no danger of crushing anyone. To his credit, he tried to explain what really happened at first, and only decided to go along with it because he thought that he could use his reputation to actually do some good.
• Foreshadowing: The heroic act under Fake Ultimate Hero directly above is the way he dies for real in the Framework - using his Super-Strength to hold up debris from crushing someone, at the cost of his own life.
• A Father to His Men: Part of his deal with Senator Nadeer was that Simmons would help her Inhuman brother whose terrigenesis ended up botched for some reason; but when he needs Simmons back and Nadeer is reluctant to comply, he's furious and worried for her safety.
• Fearless Fool: His over-reliance on his serum results in him doing some spectacularly reckless things, like say, trying to take on the Ghost Rider by himself, or rushing into deeply-fortified and guarded enemy territory to get the serum back. Both were extremely humbling experiences, to say the least.
• First-Name Basis: No one seems to call him Director Mace but rather by his first name, Jeffrey. The same goes for him speaking to Coulson as Phillip or Phil, rather than Coulson.
• Heel Realization: In "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics", he gets one after being confronted by Coulson and Daisy over that deal he made with Senator Nadeer regarding Simmons.
  Mace: In case you haven't noticed, Phil, we're not a team that trusts. We're not a team at all...
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the Framework, he gives his life to help a kid escape from the reeducation center, which causes his death in the real world. This seems to be in vain when the Framework is deleted along with everybody inside, but Coulson, Simmons, and May were in the same building, and his sacrifice did keep them alive, allowing those three to escape the Framework later.
• Hidden Depths: When he's first introduced, he appears to just be another incompetent Perpetual Smiler leader picked by people who don't know anything about what S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to do. By the end of the episode, he's revealed himself as an Inhuman, and while it's later revealed that he wasn't actually an Inhuman, but was given powers through a serum by a project to pretend to be one, it was out of him actually wanting to help, and subsequent episodes show him to be a very serious and effective leader.
• It's Personal: Some racist remarks by Senator Nadeer right in the middle of a debate lead him to out himself publicly as Inhuman and appeal to the public to trust people like him. Only it turns out that he's not an Inhuman. However, he initially agreed to go with the lie because he does believe that Inhumans deserve equal rights.
• Irony: He goes on and on about the importance of trust, but the reforms he's made to S.H.I.E.L.D. mean nobody really trusts anyone in the organization any more. Also, he is lying about being an Inhuman.
  Mace: Trust must be earned with random non-invasive testing.
• Mauve Shirt: The creators, in confirming his death and that he was indeed dead, implied that they added him to the series to sacrifice for a situation someone wouldn't leave alive at a time they're not willing to sacrifice an established member of Team Coulson.
• The Men First: He doesn't hesitate to push his subordinates aside and risk his life for them when he encounters an enhanced threat, like Ghost Rider.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Fitz makes modifications to Mace's battle suit that enable it to serve as the delivery system for the Patriot Serum, so the really conspicuous briefcase is no longer necessary. It also has devices for monitoring his vital signs in case his health goes south while using it.
• Mr. Fanservice: Spends the entirety of the episode in which he's being interrogated by the Superior shirtless.
• My Greatest Failure: Being a Fake Ultimate Hero with no genuine superpowers. This is corrected in the Framework, and he gets to go out doing something genuinely heroic.
• My Greatest Second Chance: As of "No Regrets", the only regret that the Framework has truly corrected belongs to Mace. It creates a similar situation to the incident in Vienna where he gained his fame, only with him actually saving someone, using real Inhuman powers. He reacts without hesitation and faces his death with dignity.
• Mythology Gag: The project and serum that give him his powers are named after his comics alter ego, the Patriot.
• Nice Guy: He is quite friendly and reasonable, even though he puts some restrictions on Team Coulson.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By outing himself as Inhuman and winning over the public, he made himself a very easy target for Senator Nadeer, who beats the Rider to the punch in no selling his reveal and demonstrating that yes, the most powerful chief of security in the world CAN be intimidated.
• Perpetual Smiler: He is almost never seen without a smile of some kind.
• Properly Paranoid: The division of departments and lie-detector tests for his inner circle are all about detecting another HYDRA infiltration or some other group. In regards to his shock that Dr. Radcliffe had built an android, Aida, without his permission, he's proven right at the end of "The Laws of Inferno Dynamics" when Aida snaps a guy's neck and then cleans up an unconscious Agent May, of whom she had made an LMD.
• Puppet King: Once the sham behind his powers and reputation is revealed, Coulson leaves him in place to handle the PR and politics of the S.H.I.E.L.D. front office, but makes clear that Coulson is the one calling the shots from now on. He's okay with this, as he feels guilty about lying in the first place, and makes a real effort to be useful.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: He invokes this trope as part of his PR plan; in his view the public should occasionally see the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. kicking ass alongside his agents. He's not actually better than them at fighting and doesn't have any special powers, but he wants the public to think that he is and that he does.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Whatever else he might be up to, Jeffrey definitely appears reasonable. He wants Coulson to lead the tour group not as a demeaning punishment, but because Coulson knows more about the S.S.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. than anyone else, which is needed to impress the visitors. He quickly adjusts when Simmons tells him not to visit the containment cells, comes up with a better idea and then credits someone else for having it. He only uses as much force as needed to knock May out (and then quickly checks her vitals). He doesn't flip out on Coulson for going after Daisy alone, and seems honestly apologetic that they have to treat her as a wanted fugitive.
• Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: He lied about his superpower origins because he wanted the public to have a better image of Inhumans then what Nadeer was putting out and he joined S.H.I.E.L.D. under false pretenses because he wants to be a genuine hero.
• Slave to PR: S.H.I.E.L.D. is under the UN's jurisdiction, so he has to be this by necessity. Which is why he's so hell bent on capturing Daisy, a rogue agent that is making the organization look bad. Unfortunately, it comes back to bite him in the ass when Senator Nadeer blackmails him after he messes with her during their live debate. Fortunately, it also comes in handy. When Daisy is cornered by the press in the aftermath of an operation, he not only defuses the situation for S.H.I.E.L.D. but also erases all of Daisy's bad PR.
• Smug Super: Due to his overly-dominating physicality, he goes into his fight against Ghost Rider thinking it'll be over quickly. And it was - the Rider viciously kicked his ass all over the cargo bay.
• Super Serum: At first he presented himself as an Inhuman, but as it turns out the real source of his powers is a serum derived from Calvin Zabo's Hyde formula. The serum's effects are temporary, necessitating his assistant carrying vials of it in a suspiciously inconspicuous briefcase, both of which are with him at all times.
• Super-Strength: He easily grabbed May by the neck and knocked her out with one blow.
• Super-Toughness: He was able to withstand Melinda May's attacks without being moved. Even when May resorted to hitting him with a lamp, it caused him no injury. Even an extensive beating from the Ghost Rider caused him no visible injuries.
• Took a Level in Badass: In the Framework, he's an actual Inhuman with superstrength, and enough fighting skills to defeat May (who also had superstrength at this point) in a matter of minutes. He's also finally got the leadership training to be an effective leader of the resistance.
• Underestimating Badassery: His super-strength makes him very confident in his ability to suppress situations. Effectively used against a crazed May, but when he tried to take on Ghost Rider, while he did get in a few good hits at first, he got his ass kicked utterly.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He starts off this way, as Talbot only gave him a very basic course in combat training, forcing him to rely on his strength in most fights. He later starts training for real and shows progress. This changes in the Framework, where he has the actual fighting prowess to defeat high level HYDRA agents.

Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie

Director Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie

"Like I told my man here, when you want something in life, you gotta grab it and walk out like you own it."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Henry Simmons

Voiced By: Raúl Solo [Disney dub], Víctor Hugo Aguilar (Season 2) and Raúl Solo (Season 3 onwards) [Sony Dub] (Latin-American Spanish dub), Paulo Bernardo (Brazilian Portuguese dub)

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (first appears in Episode 23: "Shadows") | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot

"We can't afford to lose our best agents in one fell swoop... not here, not tonight!"

A mechanic and equipment specialist Coulson recruits for S.H.I.E.L.D. who would go on to succeed him as Director.

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• 10-Minute Retirement: His decision to quit after Coulson becomes the man in charge of the combined S.H.I.E.L.D.s becomes a temporary one when the Inhumans attack.
• Adaptation Dye-Job: His comics counterpart has gray hair. Here, he's bald.
• Adaptation Name Change: He goes by "Al" rather than "Mack" in the comics. Ironically, rather than solving any naming issues, the new nickname violates the One-Steve Limit, since there was a minor character named Agent Mack in Season 1.
• Age Lift: His comics counterpart is a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Here, he looks younger.
• Ambiguously Evil: He and Bobbi are double agents for Gonzales' S.H.I.E.L.D., which is separate from Coulson's branch and trying to overthrow him. Mack shares their penchant for Fantastic Racism, though he still clearly care about Fitz and tries to protect him, and wanted to avoid conflict with Hunter.
• Amicable Exes: He claims that all of his exes are "awesome", though he seems to retract that statement when reminded that he once had to pretend to like quinoa for a year.
  Mack: [utter seriousness] That was a dark time.
• Badass Boast: "I'm the guy who kills Gordon."
• Bald of Authority: Takes the role reluctantly halfway in Season 3. Proves to be a firm but fair leader who manages to take down a major HYDRA asset and bring his team home safely. And then in the Season 5 finale, Daisy officially assigns him this role after determining that she isn't fit to lead the team after Coulson becomes terminally ill.
• Bayonet Ya: Mack can flip the axe-head on his Shotgun Axe around to turn it into a more traditional bayonet, which he uses to kill Kasius.
• Berserk Button: Don't tell him he was a bad father or didn't care about his daughter. Gunner, when Yo-Yo and Mack find out he was expecting a child, repeatedly insults Mack, asserting that it's a good thing he's not a father. Mack, who lost his daughter years ago, flips out and savagely beats him.
• Big Brother Instinct: He slips into the role starting with Bobbi; it's implied he's been there to help with her relationship with Hunter for a long time. Then he helps Fitz manage his aphasia. Starting in Season 3, he's become this for Daisy as well; telling people to back off when they get on her case and helping her with Inhuman team building, and alongside Coulson (her father figure) and Lincoln (her love interest), one of the three most determined to save her from Hive's infection. There's also a lot of Halo playing with both Fitz and Daisy. "Watchdogs" reveals he has a younger brother he's very close to who he's been unable to spend time with thanks to his work with S.H.I.E.L.D., and he's greatly troubled by it.
• Black and Nerdy: When Hartley's team and Team Coulson come back after a violent encounter with Absorbing Man, Mack's primary concern is whether or not the agents managed to retrieve some technology he could play around with. He's visibly upset when Triplett tells him no. He also plays Gears of War and is itching for a chance to get to work on Lola.
• Bound and Gagged: He's taped up by Elena Rodriguez in "Bouncing Back".
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Becomes this after touching an alien defensive mechanism that makes him attack Coulson and the rest along with giving him enhanced strength and durability. It wears off an episode later.
• Brutal Honesty:
  • In a good way, as the imaginary Simmons notes that it's quite refreshing how unlike everyone else, he doesn't walk on eggshells around Fitz. It's enough that Fitz starts to use him as a sounding board rather than the imaginary Simmons.
  • With Simmons herself after she returns. He's the only one who's not afraid to confront her directly about the fact that she apparently abandoned Fitz right after he told her how he felt and nearly died saving her life. As with Fitz, he's still fairly kind in his delivery, even if what he has to say is undeniably brutal.
  • He has no problem telling Coulson to his face that he doesn't trust him after Skye's powers are revealed.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He takes it upon himself to keep Fitz grounded.
• Cool Car: He owns a classic Rolls Royce that he restored himself. Coulson still won't let him touch Lola, though.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: He ends up on the receiving end of a couple of these throughout the series.
  • In late Season 3, when Daisy is under Hive's sway, she uses her powers to deliver one of these to him and is only stopped by May.
  • In the mid-season finale of Season 5, after Kasius drinks the Odium and kills Future Yo-Yo, Mack squares off with him, and manages to hold his own for some time, but Kasius, being on the Odium, no-sells all of Mack's attacks and eventually overpowers him, delivering a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown only stopped by the timely intervention of Simmons.
  • In the Season 6 finale, Mack takes on Sarge by himself after Sarge had both delivered a fatal wound to May and unlocked his godlike potential, which was completely immune to point-blank quake blasts from Daisy and manages to fend for himself for some time strictly because Sarge makes absolutely no attempt to fight back, and once he does it's with obvious minimal effort and he simply steamrolls over Mack until Izel's death distracts Sarge enough that Daisy, May and Mack are able to Combination Attack him and kill him.
  Sarge: You put up a good fight, Director, but we're no match now.
  Mack: I've been through...enough of these to know...we always come out on top.
• Cutting the Knot: He has the presence of mind to simply lop off Coulson's hand to save him from the effects of the Terrigen crystal.
• Deadpan Snarker: He's more than capable of dishing out sarcastic quips when he wants to.
• Deep Cover Agent: Along with Bobbi, he's revealed to be working for a separate branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. that considers itself the "real" S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Demonic Possession: Halfway into Season 2, he gets possessed and augmented with Kree tech to serve as the temple's protector, allowing only Inhumans to pass and kill trespassers. It passes as soon as Daisy and Raina undergo Terrigenesis. Played straighter and more literally when he briefly serves as a host to the Spirit of Vengeance in "Deals With Our Devils", although it returns to Robbie Reyes by the end of the episode.
• Embarrassing Nickname:
  • It's revealed in "Watchdogs" that his brother Ruben calls him Alfie; Ruben himself goes by Mack in his own circle of friends.
  • Mack was dubbed "Mackhammer" in his academy days, on account of a love of MC Hammer that he made the mistake of revealing. The whole team ribs him for it.
• The Engineer:
  • Mack is a skilled mechanic and loves to play around with technology, allowing him to bond with Fitz. Unlike Fitz, however, Mack doesn't have a natural affinity for technology and requires things like schematics and instructions in order to know how to make and repair things. Mack also doesn't have a formal engineering education like Fitz's, meaning that he can't help Fitz find the exact terminology when the latter's aphasia gets in the way, and unlike Fitz, who tends to work rather fast, its noted that Mack is a rather slow methodical worker. Despite this, its revealed he was the Head Engineer on the Iliad, indicating his skills are pretty developed.
  • In Season 3, he makes himself a unique shotgun-axe that serves him well through the battle with Hive, the ghosts, and the Watchdogs.
• Everyone Has Standards: Mack is without question one of the nicest and sweetest guys in the series, if not the entire MCU. But even he has his limits. And when those said limits involve, say, a virtual-reality simulation fantasy scenario where a digital duplicate of Daisy throws herself upon the player (read: Deke Shaw) for hugs and smooches, he's not going to react well to it. If anything, he'll give Tranquil Fury a whole new meaning.
• Exact Words: When he was questioned by Coulson (pre-season) and asked if he was loyal to S.H.I.E.L.D., he said he was. He didn't specify which S.H.I.E.L.D., though, and more importantly he doesn't (or at least didn't, at the time) consider the ship that Coulson's running to be the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D. in his eyes.
• Fake Guest Star: He's appeared in every episode of Season 2 to date and usually has as much screen time as the lead cast, but is still credited as a guest star, along with B. J. Britt (Triplett) and, later, Adrianne Palicki (Bobbi). It's averted in Season 3, as he was Promoted to Opening Titles.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • As Season 2 progresses, he develops a dislike of anything "alien" after Kree technology causes both his temporary brainwashing and Triplett's death. He eventually resolves to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. because he just doesn't trust Coulson. When he changes his mind, Coulson puts him in charge of securing and researching alien artifacts, on the grounds that a man who refuses to trust anything of alien origin will always be careful around them. By Season 3, while he's aware of the danger of alien tech, he's pretty much over this. It helps that he's Daisy's partner and they're pretty damn close, with him dubbing her "Tremors".
  • He absolutely refuses to consider any kind of machine as a living being.
• Fighting from the Inside: Despite being Brainwashed and Crazy, he's able to tell Coulson to run. Mack also temporarily halts his rampage when faced with Fitz begging him to snap out of it.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With pretty much everyone but Fitz (even there, they bonded during battle, but it was from a supporting role rather than directly in the line of fire), Mack gained trust and friendship via fighting alongside. Though shown to be friends with them prior, his close loyalty to Real S.H.I.E.L.D.'s members came about following the battle of The Iliad, while his past grievances with Coulson and Lincoln dissolved after fighting Gordon and Lash alongside them respectfully. Lincoln outright states that fighting Lash beside him gave him some measure of trust (albeit, mostly because it meant Lash wasn't him).
• Frontline General: As with many of the S.H.I.E.L.D. directors before him, he both leads the agency and goes out into the field himself, just as he did from before he became the director.
• Genius Bruiser: He's a highly skilled engineer and mechanic and he's also built like a brick wall. Fought against HYDRA insurgents, held his own against Gordon with just an axe, and is still willing to kick some alien ass with little to no help.
• Genre Savvy: He's seen enough films over the years to know that robots always rise up and turn on their makers, leaving him very distrustful of Aida and unsurprised when she seemingly turns on them. He even mentions to Yo-Yo that his life insurance policy has a special clause for "death by robot", with a very generous payout for his brother if that happens. In a world after Ultron, it makes sense.
  • In the Season 5 premiere, he is adamant against splitting up the group to explore the space station infested with killer aliens the team has materialized in, directly citing the Alien franchise and knowing that the Black Dude Dies First. (Though as that trope's page notes, the Alien franchise actually has only had the black guy as the first to die only once.)
• Gentle Giant: Tallest and most muscular member of the team but he prefers to leave the fighting to others and is content to stay behind with his engines and tools.
• Good Is Not Soft: Despite being a very nice and morally upstanding member of the team, he will not hesitate to kill in order to fulfill the given objectives. And with an axe no less.
• The Heart: He looks like the muscle, but his introduction makes it clear that his real gift is his compassion and desire to go above and beyond for people. His aspect as playing this role for the team is ultimately why Daisy cedes leadership to him.
• Heel Realization: Starting with "The Frenemy of my Enemy", it finally starts getting through to him that maybe Real S.H.I.E.L.D. is actually part of the problem when he notices they're more obsessed with taking out Coulson (who is relatively small fry) than stopping HYDRA (who are meant to be their actual enemies). It doesn't stop him from quitting when Coulson comes out on top... only for him to come back almost immediately; Coulson jokes that he guilted Mack into it after he had to amputate Coulson's hand.
• Hot Men at Work: Lampshaded when Fitz and the hallucination of Simmons discuss Mack's attractiveness, helpfully accompanied by a shot of Mack wearing a muscle-emphasizing undershirt while he works in the garage.
• I Choose to Stay: Chooses to stay in the Framework even after realizing it's a Lotus-Eater Machine, refusing to abandon his daughter even though he knows that she isn't real either. Hearing that his real daughter is dead just reinforces his decision to stay.
• In Name Only: Beyond sharing a full name with them, he doesn't resemble the Alfonso Mackenzie of the comics at all. Tropes Are Not Bad comes into play though, as Mack ends up being a very fleshed out character compared to the rather minor comic character he's based on.
• Insult of Endearment: Elena nicknames him "Turtle Man" because of his slow working speed, which is rather unfair considering she has Super-Speed. She continues calling him that after their Relationship Upgrade and it has clearly become affectionate by then.
• Irony: After discovering that Coulson has alien blood in him in "The Writing on the Wall", he expresses some distrust in Coulson's leadership, especially after seeing how crazed he became from the compulsion to carve symbols. Two episodes later, he gets possessed by a Kree defense system that turns him into a superhuman that mindlessly protects the underground Kree city. This experience only hardens his opinion that Coulson shouldn't be trusted.
• Jerkass Has a Point: While his jerkass moments mostly only occur on the topic of alien influence and technology, in "S.O.S.", Mack is immediately proven right on his insistence that "we are not opening that damn box in a thousand years."
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Originally he was a nice guy who was helping Fitz with his brain damage. Then he began distrusting Coulson due to the alien blood in him. Then came the incident at the Kree City and his Fantastic Racism became his most pronounced trait. He's still a good guy, but perhaps not as nice as we originally thought he was. Although this part of his character pretty much disappears after Season 2.
• The Kirk: While still pretty empathic, he is also usually the one who rein's in the rest of the team when they get too emotional.
• The Lancer:
  • Evolved into this, sharing the role with May. Even when May returns, he's shown to be the one Coulson relies on to both keep himself in line and acts as his personal backup when needed.
  • As of Season 3, he serves as this to Daisy. He has become her partner, best friend, and sounding board when it comes to the Secret Warriors.
• Large and in Charge: One of the physically largest members of S.H.I.E.L.D., and as of Season 6 onwards, its director.
• MacGyvering: The unofficial first iteration of his Shotgun-Axe was him duct-taping a kitchen cleaver to an old shotgun.
• Made of Iron: Mack has a history of being the receiving end of savage beatings and still getting up. Whether it's being beat on by a mad Kree exile in a possible future, taking on inter-dimensional invaders with superhuman strength or time travelling Chronicoms looking to end humanity. Mack has taken an astonishing amount of physical harm and keeps on going.
• Minored In Ass Kicking: He's mostly an engineer, but can definitely kick some ass when called upon.
  Reuben: You're really good at this stuff, huh?
  Mack: [tiredly] I'm a mechanic. I hate "this stuff."
• Mix-and-Match Weapon: The shotgun-axe that he made himself!
• The Mole: He was actually loyal to a rival S.H.I.E.L.D. faction who was working to take down Team Coulson from within. After the rival factions reconcile their differences, this goes away, and Mack is fully loyal to Team Coulson from then on out.
• Nice Guy: He's friendly and really makes an effort to talk to Fitz and tries to help him out. He even succeeds in recognizing that Fitz knows of a way to take down Creel, but is having trouble because of his brain damage.
• New Job as the Plot Demands: Started out on the Iliad as the Chief engineer, he then joined Roberto Gonzales organization and went undercover as a technician to infiltrate Coulson's organization. After dealing with the Inhumans attack on the Iliad, Coulson assigns him to watch over all the alien artifacts SHIELD acquired. He then serves as a field agent initially partnered with Daisy, and then Coulson, when the latter steps down as director. After Coulson falls ill and Daisy declines to be director, he takes over as director of SHIELD.
• The Nicknamer: Fitz is "Turbo", Daisy is "Tremors", Alisha is "Ginger Ninja", Gordon is "No Eyes", and Lincoln is "Sparkplug" (in the Framework, he gives this nickname to his daughter Hope). He later calls the Secret Warriors "Power Rangers" and Elena in particular "Yo-Yo". Flint is dubbed "Pebbles". Deke is dubbed "Lemons." Elena gives him a taste of his own medicine by dubbing him "Turtle Man".
• Non-Action Guy: Interesting variation. Mack is a very skilled and natural fighter, but he doesn't like violence at all and avoids it. As the series goes on he becomes more willing to do it and is eventually made a full field agent, but he notes twice that he hates violence, and when Daisy is brainwashed and listing the problems with S.H.I.E.L.D., she specifically notes how they turned him into a soldier even though he's only meant to be an engineer.
• The Not-Love Interest: An interesting case of this; as Fitz and Simmons go through their Romance Arc, Mack fulfills the role of the Romantic False Lead for Fitz. He and Fitz bond while Simmons is undercover in HYDRA and the drama that plays out between the three seems very much like a Love Triangle with Simmons acting very jealous and Mack appearing as a tempting potential partner.
• One-Steve Limit:
  • Not to be confused with the one-off character of Agent Mack from the first season.
  • To add even more confusion, his ex-girlfriend (and the mother of his dead daughter) is named Nicole. "Nicole Mackenzie" is also the name of an unrelated Caucasian woman and minor character from Season 1.^note Though we don't know what Mack's ex-girlfriend's ethnicity was, but it's presumably African-American, judging from how Hope looks like in the Framework.
• Only Sane Man: Mack is probably the most normal member of Team Coulson and is also the most resistant to accepting all the strange phenomena they constantly encounter.
• Outliving One's Offspring: In 2006, Mack and his ex had a daughter named Hope, who died four days after being born. Mack has been able to grieve and move forward, but still feels the loss. Enough for the Spirit of Vengeance to possess and suppress him.
• Promoted to Opening Titles: For Season 3.
• Race Lift: He's white in the comics.
• Real Men Love Jesus: When trying to form an understanding and reach common ground with Elena Rodriguez, Mack talks about how he had never seen it before, but that he was beginning to think that the Inhuman mutations all around the world are part of God's plan for helping humanity.
• Religious Bruiser:
  • Reveals in Season 3 that he is actually quite religious and that it helps him get through the work he does and the things that he has to deal with, and is certainly capable in the 'bruiser' department.
  • Come Season 4 and this marks him as the odd one out on the team, as he's rather open minded about Robbie's claim that he made a deal with the Devil to become the Ghost Rider. As Mack says, as he believes in God, he has to believe in "the other thing."
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When the S.H.I.E.L.D. civil war ends with Coulson still in charge and "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D. in an advisory role, Mack quits because he still doesn't trust Coulson. He even admits that, in spite of all their assumptions about Coulson being wrong, he still thinks Coulson's pursuit of alien technology is foolish and won't be a part of it.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: He's normally dressed in grease-stained clothing and can usually be found elbow deep in machinery. When he dresses up in a suit and brings out a classic Rolls to sell a cover, he looks like a completely different person.
• Shipper on Deck: Averted in two cases.
  • Despite most of the team supporting FitzSimmons, Mack is strongly opposed to Simmons presence, believing that she abandoned Fitz when he needed her. He seems to soften up by Season 3.
  • He also opposes Bobbi and Hunter getting back together. Despite knowing that both love each other, he worries because he's seen what their past breakups have done to them.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: He certainly thinks so, especially when said shotgun is also an axe.
• Super-Strength: When he's Brainwashed and Crazy from one of the Kree city's defense mechanisms, he's granted superhuman strength. It goes away when the brainwashing does.
• Take Up My Sword: Does this in a metaphorical way for Gonzales by primarily using an axe in "S.O.S."
• There Are No Therapists: He's clearly suffering some serious PTSD after the events in the Inhuman city, but beyond Fitz and Bobbi, no one seems to do much to help him which contributes to his decision to vote to take down Coulson's leadership.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: The second half of Season 2 shows him increasingly irritable and hostile, though given what happened to him its not hard to sympathise with him. He becomes considerably nicer in Season 3, being especially protective towards Daisy and sympathetic towards Joey.
• Took a Level in Kindness: While still weirded out by alien stuff, Mack has become much more understanding and nice towards the new Inhumans. He and Daisy are even best friends and partners now, to boot.
• Translator Buddy: He is the first person to confront Fitz's aphasia head on and make an effort to try and understand what Fitz is trying to express, be it through interpreting the true meaning behind Fitz's words (such as by realizing that Fitz saying "I didn't solve this today!" means "I solved this in the past but I can't remember which design.") or by running through lists of words or design schematics until Fitz hears or sees what he's thinking of. It takes a significant amount of effort on the parts of both men, but it does help Fitz to open up in the wake of his trauma.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • He and Hunter bicker a lot, but it's all in good fun.
  • He later pokes gentle fun at Fitz for not making sense, which is pretty bold when talking to someone who's suffered brain damage, but Fitz seems to appreciate it.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gives a massive one to Fitz and Radcliffe after they create Aida, citing his paranoia of a robot uprising after watching so many movies about it. After Aida (predictably) goes rogue, he and Yo-Yo agree to force Radcliffe to watch all of the Terminator movies, including Salvation.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He's deathly afraid of robots staging an uprising, and even has a life insurance clause in case of a Robot Apocalypse. It's justified after Ultron and Sokovia, as well as Properly Paranoid given, well, Aida.
  • This comes up again Season 7: The Totally Excellent Adventures of Mack and the D", as Mac has to go toe to to not only with a murderous robot, but one specifically modeled after the 80's movie villain robots he's constantly citing.
• Willfully Weak: That Non-Action Guy thing is self-inflicted. He is fully capable of easily rendering someone unconscious with a chokehold and can fight alongside Bobbi just fine, but he doesn't like violence and so avoids it as much as possible.
• The Worf Effect: Ever since he's started working in the field, he's fallen victim to this, being the physically largest member of the team and often the first one taken out of commission.
• You Are in Command Now: The director of S.H.I.E.L.D., as of Agents Season 6.

Others

• Peggy Carter
• Nick Fury
• Phil Coulson
• Deke Shaw

Commanders and High-Ranking Agents

Maria Hill

Commander Maria Hill

"We get into a situation like this again, what happens then?"

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Cobie Smulders

Voiced By: Marisol Romero [main movies and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Disney dub], Gabriela Ornelas [Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Sony dub] (Latin-American Spanish dub); Cristina Mauri [main movies], Cecilia Santiago [Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.] (European Spanish dub), Laura Blanc (European French dub), Ariane-Li Simard-Côté (Canadian French dub), Márcia Coutinho (Brazilian Portuguese dub), Takako Honda (Japanese dub)

Appearances: Captain America: The First Avenger^note Archive footage from The Avengers in The Stinger | The Avengers | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Avengers: Age of Ultron | Avengers: Infinity War^note  In The Stinger | Avengers: Endgame | Spider-Man: Far From Home^note As an impersonation by Soren and an illusion by Mysterio, the real Hill never appears in the movie | Secret Invasion

"Who would bring those people together and not expect what happened?"

Nick Fury's aide and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Deputy Director and also held the title of "Commander."^note Not exactly revealed until Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s episode "The Magical Place" Clear-minded and pragmatic, she carries out his orders, though his seemingly reckless approach doesn't increase her trust of him.

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• Action Girl:
  • In her first few minutes on screen in The Avengers, she takes on Loki and his crew of thugs.
  • By Captain America: The Winter Soldier, she saves Nat, Steve, and Sam from imminent execution, as well as very casually shooting two soldiers who were trying to sneak up on her, without even getting up from her chair.
  • One of her cameos in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has her beating half a platoon of special forces soldiers in physical combat.
• Adaptational Heroism: In this universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. is officially disbanded before the Civil War even happens, and her antagonistic role toward superheroes is transferred to General Ross, so she doesn't really get the opportunity to display the infamous bitchy attitude she had in the comic.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Is much more nicer and approachable than the occasional bitch her comics version is.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • She's on way better terms with the Avengers than in the comic books.
  • Instead of being his successor as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., she's Nick Fury's second-in-command since her introduction in The Avengers (2012).
• Advertised Extra: She appears prominently in the trailers and promo material for Secret Invasion despite only appearing in the first episode, where she is Killed Off for Real at the end of the episode.
• Affirmative Action Girl: It doesn't really balance it out, but it does help to decrease Black Widow's Smurfette rating in The Avengers.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She's usually serious and has dark brown hair.
• Ambiguous Situation: Her fate after the events of Endgame is somewhat unclear. While Nick Fury is seen commanding a group of Skrulls in space after attending Tony Stark's funeral, Maria isn't seen alongside him, with it being unknown whether she's still on Earth after Soren impersonated her in Spider-Man: Far From Home. She returns in person in Secret Invasion.
• Back for the Dead: After being impersonated by Soren in Spider-Man: Far From Home she returns in person in Secret Invasion - only to be Killed Off for Real in the end of the very first episode.
• Back from the Dead: She is a victim of Thanos' snap before she is revived by Bruce Banner.
• Badass Normal: Would have to be in order for Nick Fury to trust her to use a truck and a small team to chase after Loki and the Brainwashed and Crazy Hawkeye.
• By-the-Book Cop: This creates friction with her and Fury due to his more Military Maverick style, and several times she's filed reports to the WSC criticizing his actions. Even after she develops undying loyalty to Fury, she still retains this: notably she's not in any particular mood to join Fury or Coulson in their fight against HYDRA.
• Call-Back: During Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. she says she's helping Stark "privatize global security" which connects to something Tony said back in Iron Man 2, only he said "world peace."
• Cheated Death, Died Anyway: She's brought Back from the Dead by the Blip, only to be Killed Off for Real by Gravik in Secret Invasion.
• Commanding Coolness: In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s episode "The Magical Place", it's revealed her title as Deputy Director is "Commander".
• Communications Officer: The link between Fury and multiple S.H.I.E.L.D. operations.
• Composite Character: In the comics, she succeeds Nick Fury as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., in the movies, she mainly serves as his loyal second in command, a role more common with Dum Dum Dugan in the comics. Also, her working at the security for Stark Industries after the downfall of S.H.I.E.L.D. makes her one with Bethany Cabe.
• The Cynic: In contrast to the more idealistic Coulson. When S.H.I.E.L.D. goes bust, she seems more resigned to give up the fight against HYDRA, be content to work for Tony Stark, and play ball with the government as much as she can. Coulson stills prefers to fight on, even if he has no official support or sanction.
• Deadpan Snarker: At times.
  Tony Stark: [simulating an eyepatch while looking at two screens] How does Fury even see these?
  Maria Hill: He turns.
• Despair Event Horizon: S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapses seem to be this for her. She goes to work for Tony Stark; but she briefly joins Coulson in order to get Skye back, but that's it. She tells Coulson "there is no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore" after he asks her for backup to go after the Centipede sector of HYDRA. She tells him he's on his own and goes back to her new civillian life. She either came back from it or was pretending because both Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 and Age of Ultron show her continuing to work with Coulson and for Fury.
• Death by Adaptation: In the comic version of Secret Invasion, Maria Hill seemingly dies by being shot to death from the Skrulls, only for her to be revealed as a Life Model Decoy, and are wiped out by the real Hill. In the MCU, Maria is shot in the stomach for real by Gravik, dying of her wounds early in the show.
• Dressing as the Enemy: One of the mooks that guard the arrested Cap, Black Widow and Falcon turns out to be Hill in disguise, about to save them. She makes a snarky comment on the helmet being uncomfortable.
• Establishing Character Moment: Not long after her introduction, after hearing Nick Fury get shot, she leaves with a small team and a truck, to chase after Loki, and the Brainwashed and Crazy crew of an unnamed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Hawkeye, and Erik Selvig to try to take back the Tesseract without even being ordered. She ends up with her truck facing the opposition head-on, with them firing at each other through windshields until she is forced to move away, surviving a crash not long after.
• First-Name Basis: She's notably one of the only trusted allies of Fury who allows her to call him Nick. As Captain Marvel would retroactively reveal, Fury never allows anyone else to call him that, not even Carol Danvers herself.
• Guest-Star Party Member: In her second Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. appearance, she assists Coulson's team as they attempt to recover their kidnapped communications specialist and their stolen plane.
• Hauled Before a Senate Subcommittee: She had to undergo a Congressional hearing after S.H.I.E.L.D. was taken down in The Winter Soldier.
• Important Haircut: Cuts her hair by the end of Age of Ultron when she rejoins S.H.I.E.L.D., so the throwback to the first film is complete.
• Incoming!: She shouts this in warning in Age of Ultron when an Ultron sentry attacks the Helicarrier.
• It's Personal: In Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., learning that Ward is a traitor when she personally vetted him is enough for her to immediately turn on Talbot when she had previously been helping him.
• Killed Off for Real: In Secret Invasion, she's murdered by Gravik.
• The Lancer: Her primary role in the comics is to disagree with Fury, because he needs someone who will stand up to him, challenge him, and make sure he's not heading down the wrong path. This is downplayed in the MCU, because she gets less screentime, but she still makes it a point to stand up to Fury when scripting permits.
• Mission Control: For the helicarrier assault team in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the Avengers in Age of Ultron.
• The Mole: For the World Security Council in deleted scenes, though she sides with Fury in the end. In a blink and miss it moment, as she is trying to shut down the "rogue bird," you can see the WSC override has locked her out of the system.
• Ms. Fanservice: Gets some Male Gaze in her first appearance in The Avengers. Also, through her action sequences in said film, it is clear that Beauty Is Never Tarnished aside from some minor wounds. Later appearances tone that down and play out her Action Girl role more, and while Ward makes a crack towards her in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that "if Fury wanted eye candy, he should have chosen Romanoff", it's clear that it's more of a show of how contemptuous Ward (revealed as a HYDRA mole) is rather than anything else.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In "Nothing Personal", she tries to help Coulson's following by brokering a deal with the US Military, leading them to Providence and Coulson's team as a show of good faith to ensure they all get fair trials. It's a sound plan in theory. However, when Coulson reveals that Garrett is still alive, Ward killed Victoria Hand, they both raided the Fridge, and by bringing in the military Maria is preventing him and his team from saving Skye from them, she realizes she has made a miscalculation. To her credit, she then proceeds to immediately help Coulson fight off the soldiers and aid his team with their mission.
• No Body Left Behind: Is disintegrated along with half the universe after Thanos completes the Infinity Gauntlet.
• Not So Above It All: While she's very straight-laced in her first appearance, subsequent ones played up her quirky side more often.
  • When she lets loose at the party early in Age of Ultron, cracking jokes on Tony and Thor alongside Rhodey, and this gem when she's a bit tipsy.
    Maria: Steve! He said a bad language word!
  • When she was doing personnel assessments for Coulson's team, she left Grant Ward's personality and psych profile section blank and instead drew a porcupine. Coulson mistook it for a "poop with knives sticking out of it."
• Not So Stoic: She usually behaves quite seriously and professionally, but "usually" is the operative word here.
  Agent Ward: I don't think Thor is technically a god.
  Maria Hill: Yeah, you haven't been near his arms.
• Number Two: To Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D., she is the official second-in-command.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Coulson loves to poke fun over her horrible porcupine drawing. He's also miffed she joined Stark Industries instead of joining his team, calling her a "sellout".
• Put on a Bus: The Maria Hill in Spider-Man: Far From Home is the Skrull Soren impersonating her. Unlike with Fury, however, the real Hill is absent for the entire movie and her actual whereabouts are unknown until Secret Invasion.
• Secret-Keeper: She was one of the few people who knew that Fury was alive from the beginning. If What If...? and the Captain Marvel comic prequel are any indication, she's also one of the few people who knew about Captain Marvel's existence before Carol showed up in Infinity War.
• Sell-Out: Coulson calls her one for joining the private sector instead of his team.
• Spanner in the Works: Led the U.S. military to Fury's secret base in Canada, interrupting Coulson's rescue attempt of Skye and denying his team any further use of it as a refuge.
• The Stoic: She usually behaves quite seriously and professionally.
• Terrible Artist: Her attempt to draw a porcupine in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ended up looking to Coulson like "a poop, with knives sticking out of it".
• Undying Loyalty:
  • By the time of The Winter Soldier, she's developed this towards Fury. She becomes The Lancer after Coulson's "death", firmly supporting Fury's actions. She's one of the few people he trusted with the truth of his survival.
  • As revealed in Age of Ultron, she only pretended to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. for Stark Industries. She was still working for Nick Fury the entire time, and is first to rejoin him aboard the re-commissioned Helicarrier. Tony Stark was less than enthused.
• The Watson: In The Avengers, most of her quotes are questions about how to deal with what's going on.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • She gets this from Coulson on multiple occasions: covering up his resurrection and then leading the U.S. military to the secret Providence base.
  • Coulson is also upset that she joined the Private Sector instead of his team, calling her a "sellout".
  • Tony Stark, the man she sells out to, is not happy when he learns joining his company was a ruse until Fury was able to build a new S.H.I.E.L.D.

Victoria Hand

Agent Victoria Hand

"No single agent is that important."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Saffron Burrows, Rachele Schank (in 1983)

Voicted By: Queta Calderón (Latin-American Spanish dub), María Jesús Nieto (European Spanish dub)

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (first appears in Episode 7: "The Hub")

A famous S.H.I.E.L.D. operations agent in charge of The Hub. She has a cold and secretive demeanor.

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• Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Victoria Hand is a My Country, Right or Wrong type of character, which leads her to become Norman Osborn's right-hand woman, although she ends up working with the good guys after Osborn's downfall. The TV version still retains some of the comic version's less pleasant qualities, which makes it seem like she would be revealed to be a villain, but she turns out to be Good All Along.
• Back for the Finale: She returns in the Grand Finale of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., stationed at the bar along with other agents after the Chronicoms attack their bases in 1983.
• Batman Gambit: Does this in "The Hub". She sends Ward and Fitz in there without an extraction plan, which hinges on either Ward and Fitz escaping themselves or, failing that, Coulson and the others finding about the extraction plan (or lack thereof, in this case) and moving in to pick them up once their job is done.
• By-the-Book Cop: In contrast to the more pragmatic, emotional Coulson. In fact, she suspects that Coulson is HYDRA because of all the rules he breaks.
• Character Death: Killed by Ward while trying to deliver Garrett to The Fridge.
• Commander Contrarian: Often against and obstructing most of Coulson's decisions.
• Double Tap: After seeing someone walk away from a double gut shot, Ward puts a bullet in her chest and then two in her head to to make sure she's dead.
• Embarrassing Nickname: She considers the nickname "Vic" (given to her by Garrett) condescending. Hartley later refers to her by the same nickname, but Hand isn't on-screen to complain.
• Good All Along: As Simmons is relieved to learn, she's actually hunting for HYDRA agents; however, she honestly believes that Coulson is with HYDRA.
• Good is Not Nice: "HYDRA won't show mercy. Neither can we."
• Hide Your Lesbians: She is a lesbian in the comics, and lover of Isabelle, but here she is killed by Agent Ward before there is any in-universe confirmation that she is a lesbian.
• Inspector Javert: She has major suspicions about Coulson's allegiance because of all the rules he's broken in past episodes, not to mention his secretiveness and failure to be forthcoming with S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership.
• Meaningful Name: Roughly translates as "winning hand."
• Mentor Archetype: In the Framework, she was the one to recruit Grant Ward into S.H.I.E.L.D. instead of John Garrett. In both cases Ward was a Boxed Crook who developed Undying Loyalty to the person who spared him from prison, but while Real!Ward became a villain under Garrett, Framework!Ward became a hero under Hand.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: She's unhelpful at best, although outright lying about the extraction plan is pretty awful. It's a cover for even more ruthless behavior — for example, she orders the Bus to be taken down, so she can kill everyone onboard, because she believes they're all HYDRA agents. Mostly, it serves to set her up as a Red Herring as to being The Clairvoyant — she's not.
• Red Herring Mole: She's not the Clairvoyant, although she's set up to look like it.
• Sacrificial Lion: The first character of note to (indisputably) die in the show; the fact that Ward is the one to kill her hammers home just how deep HYDRA influence within S.H.I.E.L.D. truly is.
• Secret Test of Character: Her HYDRA mole act was intended as a test of loyalty. Her subordinates passed.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Coulson and his team, due to her "by the book" way of doing things and their more maverick tendencies.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: She didn't bother giving Fitz and Ward an extraction because she thought Coulson's team wouldn't need one. It's not clear if she expected them to escape on their own or for Coulson to figure it out and rescue them, but either way Coulson wasn't happy that he wasn't told.
• We Have Reserves: Has no problem with sending Fitz and Ward on a dangerous mission without planning an extraction for them.

Rick Stoner

General Richard "Rick" Stoner

"This S.H.I.E.L.D. technology will make you think that the 1980s got here a bit early."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Patrick Warburton

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (first appears in Episode 99: "All the Comforts of Home")

A S.H.I.E.L.D. leader who oversaw the construction and implementation of the Lighthouse.

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• Adaptational Job Change: He was SHIELD's first director in the comics, rather than an admittedly high-ranking agent. He also only made it as high as Colonel.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: He was something of a Neidermeyer who antagonized Nick Fury in the comic, but is much friendlier in the show.
• The Cameo: Stoner appears as a recording projection in the Lighthouse.
• Crazy-Prepared: He's the one responsible for the creation of the Lighthouse, a SHIELD base constructed to withstand any sort of crisis - including an alien invasion. It was a good call as the Lighthouse would eventually serve Coulson's team within an alien invasion.
• Posthumous Character: We first learn of him in season 5, when he already died. Stoner only appears as hologram in the Lighthouse. In season 7 the team meets him while he is still alive via time travel.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: While he is understandably dubious about Coulson and May's claims about sentient time-traveling aliens (S.T.T.A.s as he calls them), he immediately changes his mind after they save him from a Chronicom attempt on his life.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Only briefly appears and his current status isn't even known, but he's responsible for the construction of the Lighthouse, which becomes the much-needed headquarters for S.H.I.E.L.D. as of the second half of Season 5 after the destruction of the Playground.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: When May attempts to get information out of him by flirting with him, he immediately and nervously shuts her down with what is obviously a verbatim HR course regarding sexual relations in the workplace, implying he may have gotten into trouble for such dalliances before.
• Unwitting Pawn: A loyal SHIELD agent who's being manipulated by Malick and the Chronicoms into building HYDRA's Project Insight decades early.

Robert Gonzales

Commander Robert Gonzales

"Secrets is what brought S.H.I.E.L.D. down the first time, and we won't let that happen again."

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Edward James Olmos

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (first appears in Episode 36: "Love in the Time of HYDRA")

"We're fighting a war with an enemy that is without honor. Sometimes, we make sacrifices for the greater good."

The commanding officer of the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft carrier Iliad. After S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he took it upon himself to reorganize whatever parts of the organization Coulson or Talbot hadn't touched into a new S.H.I.E.L.D. — the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D., as he calls it. Believing Coulson can't be trusted due to being brought back to life by alien tech, he seeks to remove Coulson from power and reform S.H.I.E.L.D. into what he thinks it should be. He has notable dislike of Gifted people and appears more focused on consolidating S.H.I.E.L.D. under one banner than fighting HYDRA.

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• Arc Villain: As the de-facto leader of the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D., he serves as this for the 2nd half of Season 2. Until he complies with a merging of his and Coulson's factions and is then killed by Jiaying.
• Ancestral Weapon: Possesses a pistol which belonged to his grandfather and was used in combat in the Second World War.
• Big Good: As opposed to his Arc Villain status, he is this for the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D., as he is a Reasonable Authority Figure who guides them through their darkest times.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He tries to come across as a Reasonable Authority Figure, but he proves himself hypocritical and racist in short order. Any attempt to call him on this is ignored. Furthermore, despite being part of a more democratic S.H.I.E.L.D. and claiming that he doesn't want to be in charge, he shows visible annoyance when the majority opinion turns against how he wants to do things.
• Canon Foreigner: He doesn't have a comic counterpart although he does share many similarities with Maria Hill as she was portrayed in Civil War.
• The Chains of Commanding: Gonzales does not seem to be very happy with what he's forced to do due to his position as Director of "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D. At the same time, however, he also doesn't like to be questioned on his methods.
• Commanding Coolness: His title is Commander Gonzales, and he commands S.H.I.E.L.D.'s aircraft carrier, the Iliad.
• Cool Old Guy: As antagonistic as he is towards Coulson, he gives off this vibe because he's a proven badass played by Edward James Olmos. He is also willing to join forces with Coulson in the end.
• Decomposite Character: His way of running S.H.I.E.L.D., down to how they view superhumans and extraterrestrials, is eerily similar to Maria Hill's run as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. during the Civil War storyline.
• Disc-One Final Boss: While Gonzales is a major antagonist in the second half of Season 2, he eventually allies with Coulson... and is soon after killed by Jiaying.
• Enemy Mine: In "The Dirty Half Dozen", he teams up with Coulson to take down HYDRA's remnant forces.
• Entitled Bastard: As part of his insistence that his S.H.I.E.L.D. is the real one, he expects Coulson and his team to extend him courtesies he pointedly refuses to show them, and is trying to paint the situation as them betraying S.H.I.E.L.D. by following Coulson.
• Handicapped Badass: Faces off against hundreds of HYDRA thugs while having a shattered leg.
• Heel–Face Turn: Joins forces with Coulson after the man willingly turns himself in and makes a deal.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his Jerkass-ish behaviour, he does care about the people under his command and even his bias towards Coulson had some justification, and before Jiaying murdered him to provoke a war was ready to be at peace with the Inhumans.
• Kill Me Now, or Forever Stay Your Hand: Pulls this tactic with Agent May prior to inviting her to take a seat on "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D.'s board. She declines to take the shot, claiming that he wouldn't be so stupid as to hand her a loaded gun; however, Gonzales reveals that it actually was loaded.
• Misplaced Retribution:
  • He blames Fury for the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D., specifically bringing up that Fury was responsible for the inception of Project Insight, and tells Coulson as such to his face. Coulson counters that HYDRA was responsible. Gonzales consistently deflects whenever this is brought up. While he is right to an extent, in that Fury's suggestion was the opportunity HYDRA was waiting for, he's intent on blaming Fury and Coulson for his problems, even in the face of rational arguments to the contrary.
  • Blames Coulson for Hartley's death, despite the fact it was caused because people didn't follow his orders, and wouldn't have even been at risk if Gonzales hadn't withheld the Illiad's resources from him. He also blames Coulson for a number of things which were obviously outside his control or implying he intended for them to happen, such as Skye becoming enhanced.
• Motive Decay: Originally he wanted to build a better S.H.I.E.L.D. that didn't suffer from the flaws of Fury's autocratic leadership, and thought (not unreasonably) that the GH Serum in Coulson had comprised him. Now he's obsessed with eliminating the potential threat of gifted people by putting them down, and he wants Coulson out of the picture because he's a threat to his leadership.
• Never My Fault: Without question, he is the aggressor in this equation. Coulson didn't even know he was still alive until he had taken over the Playground. Yet whenever Coulson or his team act against him, he stubbornly insists that they're the ones responsible for the conflict.
• Noble Bigot: Despite his mistrust against powered individuals he is still able to honestly negotiate peace and even sympathising with them on a personal level. Too bad Jiaying didn't appreciate it.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: When he strong-arms Coulson into making him S.H.I.E.L.D.'s representative to the Inhumans, it looks like his Fantastic Racism and distrust of Skye is going to ruin the negotiations and lead to war. However when he gets to the table, he actually takes a surprisingly conciliatory stance, returning a precious keepsake to Jiaying, and doing his best to find common ground with her. Unfortunately it turns out that Jiaying has no interest in peace as she then murders him and frames him for attacking her, causing a slide into open war between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Inhumans.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: "That man had an ax. Now I have it."
• Pet the Dog: He gives Jiayang a sentimental heirloom relating to her daughter during their meeting.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Despite the flaws in his logic, he seems to be a fairly reasonable boss. He treats Hunter well despite kidnapping him, and insists Bobbi is still trustworthy despite Tomas raising concerns that she could have done more to stop Hunter's escape. Further shown when he makes an apparently genuine offer to May to act as Coulson's advocate on his board, accompanied by offering up his life if she really thinks it would be for the best. May assumes it's a trick and gives the gun back, but he then shows her it really was loaded.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Always wears a three-piece suit, even when he's commanding the Iliad.
• Sore Loser: Major decisions are decided by a vote, and although he will still carry out the majority's will, he'll grumble about being outvoted.
• The Spymaster: His function to the "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D. is the same as Coulson and Fury for the old one, though he resents the secrecy and double-dealing that comes with the position.
• Still the Leader: On the day S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, he asserted that he remained the commander of the aircraft carrier, Iliad, which formed the nucleus of his own S.H.I.E.L.D..
• We Used to Be Friends: Has this attitude with Coulson, even though by his own admission they never met before "One Door Closes". Coulson also thinks highly of him, but calls Gonzales out on claiming to know him pre- or post-resurrection.
• You're Insane!: On his dying breath he calls Jiaying crazy because she will get everyone killed by starting a war.

Anne Weaver

Agent Anne Weaver

Species: Human

Citizenship: British

Portrayed by: Christine Adams

Appearances: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (appears in Episode 12: "Seeds", Episode 17: "Turn, Turn, Turn", Episode 36: "Love in the Time of HYDRA")

A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy of Science and Technology.

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• Badass Teacher: Inevitable for being both S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy director. See Mama Bear below for example.
• Celebrity Paradox: Christine Adams has previously appeared in Doctor Who, which is particularly pleasing since Fitz-Simmons apparently love that show.
• Mama Bear: On the day S.H.I.E.L.D. fell, she took on an enhanced HYDRA operative by herself to protect her students. According to Calderon, she was doing pretty well when he arrived with Quinjets to save them.
• Never Found the Body: "Turn, Turn, Turn" implies that she dies during the uprising, but "Love in the Time of HYDRA" reveals her to be alive, well, and one of the founding board members of the new, "Real" S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: As the Academy director, she gives students a lot of freedom while at the same time keeping everyone safe.

Others

• Head of Defense Mitchell Carson
• West Coast Chief Daniel Sousa

The World Security Council

In General

The World Security Council

Appearances: The Avengers | Captain America: The Winter Soldier

"We're running the world's greatest covert security network and you're gonna leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks."

A secretive international group in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury reports directly to them... but he doesn't always agree with them.

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• The Bus Came Back: Gideon Malick (Powers Boothe), who went unnamed in his appearance in The Avengers and then was conspicuously absent in The Winter Soldier, returns (now with a name!) in the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
• Character Death: Alexander Pierce executes Councilmen Rockwell, Yen, and Singh when Nick Fury shows up to stop his plan. Gideon Malick returns in the third season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and two others don't appear in the film. Since she was replaced by Black Widow, however, Ms. Hawley (Jenny Agutter) may still be alive.
• Cosmopolitan Council: International Group. Out-of-universe, this is why the Pentagon didn't provide assistance during production.
• Face Framed in Shadow: You actually can see their faces, but it takes a bit of squinting. They are seen in full (four of them anyway) in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, though.
• Fantastic Racism: They distrust the Avengers on the basis of them being an untested "handful of freaks". They also initially refer to Loki as merely "the Asgardian", until Nick Fury corrects them. They also refer to Captain America as a "costumed mercenary".
• Horrible Judge of Character: They actually consider selecting Blonsky for the Avengers Initiative, citing that he is a war hero over the Hulk while blaming the latter for the destruction of Harlem, ignoring the fact that the Abomination is even harder to control than the Hulk.
• Lawful Stupid: Hence why Fury often elects to ignore their orders.
• Misaimed Fandom: invoked
  • The WSC wanted the Abomination on the Avengers instead of the Hulk, since they viewed Blonsky as a war hero and blamed Harlem's destruction on Banner. It takes a sneaky Batman Gambit from S.H.I.E.L.D. to have their request for Blonsky to be denied.
  • Later, Steve Rogers finds they've been collecting old HYDRA tech, as they've been studying them so they too can create Tesseract powered weaponry.
• N.G.O. Superpower: They don't seem to be accountable to any government - as they order a nuclear mission to New York City without consulting anyone. After S.H.I.E.L.D.'s collapse they were permanently disbanded and when S.H.I.E.L.D. was relegitimized the UN took to directly overseeing S.H.I.E.L.D..
• Nuke 'em: They decide to solve the Chitauri problem with a nuke.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Mostly to Nick Fury, hence why he elects to ignore their decisions.
• The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: Whoever they are, not much is known about them. They even appear shadowed when communicating with Fury.
• Override Command: The same override command that the pilot receives to launch the nuke locked Maria Hill out of the system before she could override the launch.
• Shown Their Work: When they decide to nuke Manhattan, they launch two jets just in case somebody manages to stop one. Such redundancy is standard real-life procedure when "delivering a package".
• Straw Character: In The Avengers, they are there to make Fury look right in spite of his Military Maverick attitude, most notably when they opt to immediately nuke New York rather than send in more military support, give the Avengers more time, or anything else. In Winter Soldier they are there for Robert Redford to be sarcastic at.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: In order to protect the whole world, they fired a nuclear missile at New York City to halt the Chitauri invasion.

Jakuna Singh

Councilman Jakuna Singh

Species: Human

Citizenship: Indian

Portrayed By: Bernard White

Voiced By: Antonio Gálvez (Latin-American Spanish dub), Jordi Ribes (European Spanish dub), Mathieu Buscatto (European French dub), Benoit Éthier (Canadian French dub)

Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Councilman Singh served on the World Security Council after the Battle of New York.

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• Character Death: He's killed by Pierce with the rigged security badges alongside Rockwell and Yen.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even they find Pierce's HYDRA scheme repellent. When Pierce gave one of them the hypothetical situation of their daughter being held at gunpoint by terrorists, about to be executed, and he could stop it with a flick of a switch, Pierce asks him if would. Sing retorts, "Not if it was your switch."
• Fake Nationality: Singh is Indian whereas Bernard White is Sri Lankan-American.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: He gives a succinct and powerful refusal to Pierce.
  Pierce: Let me ask you a question: what if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow, and you knew that they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution. And you could just stop it, with the flick of a switch, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you all?
  Singh: Not if it was your switch.

Douglas Rockwell

Councilman Douglas Rockwell

Species: Human

Citizenship: American

Portrayed By: Alan Dale

Voiced By: Mario Díaz Mercado (Latin-American Spanish dub), Joan Massotkleiner (European Spanish dub)

Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

"You smug son of a bitch."

Councilman Rockwell served on the World Security Council after the Battle of New York.

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• Adaptational Heroism: In the comics, Douglas Rocwkell is a lackey of the Red Skull. In the MCU, while not precisely heroic, he opposes Pierce when the latter reveals his allegiance to HYDRA.
• Character Death: He's killed by Pierce with the rigged security badges alongside Singh and Yen.
• Jerkass: A specialty of Alan Dale; he's the most blatantly disrespectful and angry member of the council.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's largely a replacement for (the then-unnamed) Gideon Malick; much like Malick's role in The Avengers, Rockwell is an argumentative and vocally critical American member of the council.

Chao Yen

Councilman Chao Yen

Species: Human

Citizenship: Chinese

Portrayed By: Chin Han

Voiced By: Erick Salinas (Latin-American Spanish dub), Christophe Desmottes (European French dub), Yves Soutière (Canadian French dub)

Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

"A breach like this raises serious questions."

A member of the World Security Council and one of the prime overseers of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations.

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• Adaptational Heroism: The comic books Yen was a minor Avengers villain involved in Black Widow's brainwashing. The MCU version opposes Pierce when he reveals his allegiance to HYDRA.
• Adaptational Job Change: From scientist to politician.
• Character Death: He's killed by Pierce with the rigged security badges alongside Singh and Rockwell
• Fake Nationality: Yen is Chinese whereas Chin Han is Singaporean.

Pamela Hawley

Councilwoman Pamela Hawley

Species: Human

Citizenship: British

Portrayed By: Jenny Agutter

Voiced By: Claudia Contreras (Latin-American Spanish dub), Margarita Ponce (European Spanish dub), Pauline Larrieu (European French dub), Isabelle Leyrolles (Canadian French dub)

Appearances: The Avengers | Captain America: The Winter Soldier

"We don't need hearings, we need action!"

A member of the World Security Council and one of the prime overseers of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations.

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• Never Mess with Granny: Councilwoman Hawley, who is played by an actress in her sixties, delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to the S.T.R.I.K.E. Mooks that accompany Pierce. Subverted when it turns out it's Black Widow, disguised as Hawley.
  Hawley: I'm sorry, did I ruin your moment?
• The Smurfette Principle: Hawley is the only woman in the council.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Councilwoman Hawley is not killed at the meeting in Winter Soldier that proves fatal for the other three members of the council; she is replaced by Black Widow in disguise. The whereabouts of the real Councilwoman Hawley are not revealed.

Others

• Gideon Malick
• Alexander Pierce

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