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"Most of it was encrypted. Not easy to decipher. But I have experience and patience. A man can do anything if he has those."

These select few manage to stand out from the crowd in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to sheer intelligence and audacity.

Sections by release date. For examples from The Amazing Spider-Man Series, see here; for the Spider-Man Trilogy, see here; for Sony's Spider-Man Universe, see here; for the Spider-Verse, see here.

All spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!


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Franchise-wide

    Examples 
  • Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, is the least physically powerful hero to have ever been part of the Avengers, but more than makes up for his lack of superhuman capabilities with his master archery, cunning mind and ruthless nature. A long-time agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who played a critical role in the recruitment of Natasha Romanoff to his organization's fold, Clint went on to overcome Loki's brainwashing and officially join the Avengers to save the world from the Chitauri invasion. Later assisting in the takedown of Ultron and inspiration of Wanda Maximoff to heroism, Clint allies with Captain America in the "Civil War" conflict, convincing Wanda and Scott Lang to join Cap's side in combating the Sokovia Accords. At his lowest point following "the Snap" claiming the lives of his family, Clint becomes the brutal "Rōnin", carving a bloody path of death across the globe to kill as many criminals as he can, dismantling entire organizations before once more teaming with the Avengers to travel through time and reverse the Snap and Thanos's invasion. In his later outing, Clint saves Kate Bishop from the Tracksuit Mafia, turns lieutenant Maya Lopez on the Tracksuit's leader to splinter the group, and tutors Kate on taking up the Hawkeye mantle once the Tracksuits are decimated by his schemes, with Clint hoping to finally retire with his family in peace.
  • Loki Odinson, the God of Mischief and adoptive brother of Thor, proves to be one of the trickiest and most beloved characters in the entire MCU. In his introductory appearance, Loki successfully brings Frost Giants into Asgard to trick his brother into attacking Jotunheim. After Thor is subsequently exiled and Loki learns the truth of his parentage to the Jotunn king Laufey, the trickster god proceeds to take over Asgard during Odin's sleep and goads his birth father into attacking, betraying him to destroy Jotunheim and win Odin's approval before using illusions to engage in a battle with Thor. After a brutal yet disastrous attack on Earth, a captive Loki assists Thor against the Dark Elves, faking a betrayal to have Malekith remove the poisonous Aether from Jane Foster, before faking his own death in the process of slaying Kurse in order to secretly overthrow Odin and take over Asgard in his guise. After his failures, Loki finally grows enough to save the Asgardians and fight alongside Thor to destroy their monstrous sister, before being accosted by the Mad Titan Thanos. Loki attempts a ruse to trick and kill Thanos, his final words even in defeat being to declare himself as "Odinson" and defiantly inform Thanos he will never win.
  • Nebula, one of the Children of Thanos, spent her life in the shadow of the sister she hated and loved, Gamora. Training with Gamora and painfully "upgraded" with every fight she lost, Nebula later takes the chance to betray her hated father and assist Ronan the Accuser in his coup, nearly killing her sister before escaping the chaos. Upon being captured by the Guardians, Nebula uses the encroaching threat of the Ravagers to secure her release, only to instead subdue Yondu and Rocket so she can pursue her sister. However, after finally defeating Gamora, Nebula reconciles with her and helps defeat the insane Ego before setting out to confront her father. Though captured after nearly killing him, Nebula escapes Thanos's clutches and orchestrates a trap for him on his home world, nearly bringing him to his knees. Later aiding the Avengers in undoing Thanos' decimation of the universe, getting captured by a past incarnation of her father in the process, Nebula convinces the variant of her sister to turn on Thanos and kills her own alternate self to save existence. With the future secured, Nebula participates in one last mission to defeat the vile High Evolutionary before retiring to lead the people of Knowhere, bringing about the happiness and joy long denied in her upbringing at last.
  • Thanos the Mad Titan, after the death of his home world, is obsessed with proving his hypothesis of saving the universe by cleaving its population in half, ensuring plentiful resources for the prosperity of the survivors. Forming an army of fanatics, Thanos travels from world to world, killing off half the populations of each, while taking children to raise as new warriors in his army, including his favorite daughter Gamora. Seeking the all-powerful Infinity Stones to achieve his mission in one snap of his fingers, Thanos tricks and traps the heroes to always stay one step ahead in claiming the Stones, even sacrificing Gamora to claim the Soul Stone despite how it destroys him to do so. Attacking Wakanda and repeatedly showing brilliant and effective use of the Stones, Thanos completes his gauntlet and performs the snap, before then destroying the Stones to prevent his work from being undone. When a past variant of himself from 2014 learns of the Avengers' efforts to reverse his machinations, Thanos has his daughter Nebula infiltrate their ranks by posing as her future self, resolving to claim the Stones from them in the ultimate battle for the fate of all existence so he can wipe out the universe to make a new, grateful one in its place.
  • Wilson Fisk is one of the MCU's most brilliant and skilled street-level threats. In his introductory series, Fisk runs a complex scheme to make himself the hero to Hell's Kitchen, all while bringing organized crime under his thumb for the supposed betterment of the city. Falling prey to his own insecurities and impulsivity, Fisk is defeated and imprisoned, but slowly rebuilds himself as more dangerous and clever than ever. Shedding his former flaws, Fisk becomes a force to be reckoned with, arranging for the Punisher to dispose of his obstacles, outmaneuvers and crushes all his opposition and arranges for his own release from prison under 'house arrest' where he still dominates organized crime as the true kingpin. Steadily manipulating others into his grasp, he arranges for Benjamin Poindexter to impersonate Daredevil on several murders as to frame him, all while rising even further and even getting his hooks into FBI agents. Even when temporarily defeated, he makes a deal with Daredevil for the safety of his beloved Vanessa and seals it with an honorable handshake. Returning to power following the Blip, Fisk has asserted total control over crime in New York, operating through his puppets the Tracksuit Mafia, Eleanor Bishop and Maya Lopez to eliminate all obstacles to his reign, having even used the Rōnin for his ends while never overlooking even the smallest threats to his empire and striking fast to eliminate them.
  • Baron Helmut Zemo was once a baron of Sokovia. Overcome with grief over losing his family during the Avengers' battle with Ultron, Zemo decides to enact vengeance against them. Knowing he is no match for them in strength, Zemo instead devises an intricate plan to break them up by launching an attack on a UN conference, framing Bucky Barnes for it while extracting information from him. Zemo uses a media leak to trick Tony into following Steve and Bucky to the HYDRA compound in Siberia so he can accomplish his real plan to provoke Tony into a murderous rage against Steve and Bucky, fracturing the Avengers. In spite of being captured by T'Challa, Zemo still wins, gracefully accepts his capture, and even offers to let T'Challa kill him to avenge his father. Later, Zemo allies with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes to bring down a new batch of super soldiers, giving them aid yet manipulating them, destroying the serum, and ultimately wiping out the last super soldiers from behind bars. Zemo stands out in a world full of super-powered and supernatural beings with only his intelligence, able to cement himself as one of the work's most successful villains.
  • Talos is a ruthless, brilliant Skrull war general out to bring his people prosperity. Responding to the aggressive Kree's conquest of their world, Talos becomes a successful tactician as he strikes major blows against the Kree, culminating in ambushing their best squad to kidnap "Vers", aka Carol Danvers, and read her memories. Tracking Danvers to Earth, Talos skillfully infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. before ultimately convincing Danvers of the Kree's corruption and becoming her ally. After using his strategic disguise abilities to help Danvers take down the Kree Starforce and rescue Talos's people from extermination, Talos hides his people on Earth under the nose of Nick Fury himself. Years later, Talos disguises himself as Fury to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Director's absence, uncovering Mysterio's treacherous ways with the help of Spider-Man and avoiding an assassination attempt without breaking a sweat. When the wretched Gravik usurps control of the Skrull council, Talos aids Fury in dismantling his genocidal schemes, doing whatever he can to ensure hope and survival for the Skrulls and humanity alike.

Films

    Examples 
  • Iron Man: The Big Bads of the first two films:
    • Iron Man: Obadiah Stane has been the unflappably cheery, true mastermind of Stark Industries for decades, capitalizing on Howard and Tony Stark's brilliant inventions to create an empire of arms dealing and war profiteering. Growing ever more power hungry, Stane hires the Ten Rings terrorist cell to assassinate Tony in the middle of Afghanistan so that Stane can assume sole control of Stark Industries and begin selling weapons to both sides of wars across the world. After Tony survives the attack and tries to use his new arc reactor to end the arms dealing business, Stane cleverly locks Tony out of company decisions and wipes out the Ten Rings cell to eliminate loose ends. Stane soon enough steals Tony's arc reactor to create his "Iron Monger" suit, nearly murdering Tony and Pepper to cover up all of his crimes and create a whole new line of unstoppable weapons.
    • Iron Man 2: Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, is the son of Anton Vanko, a disgraced colleague of Howard Stark. Vowing to destroy Tony Stark's reputation for his father's pitiable fate, Ivan developed his own arc reactor from his father's designs with limited materials and attacked Iron Man at a Grand Prix in Monaco for the sole purpose of disproving Iron Man's invincibility. Despite losing, Ivan observed that Tony was suffering from palladium poisoning and was content with knowing that Tony would be dead soon before being broken out of prison by Tony's rival Justin Hammer, making a deal to team up to take Tony down. Taking advantage of Hammer's resources while pretending to be incompetent, Ivan created Hammer Drones and his own Powered Armor for Hammer's presentation before hijacking the drones' programming and setting them loose on the crowd. Joining the fray, Ivan's suit proved a match for Iron Man and his friend War Machine, and despite losing again, Ivan used his death to set off explosives in every piece of machinery he made, nearly killing both. With his determination and skills, Ivan Vanko proved to be the ultimate match to Iron Man.
  • Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Alexander Pierce is the U.S. Secretary of Defense, a member of the World Security Council, and a commanding member of HYDRA, who have evolved from a Nazi science cult to a fascist conspiracy group dedicated to bringing about One World Order under their banner. Pierce had the Winter Soldier assassinate his old friend Nick Fury so Pierce can take control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Project Insight, intending to use the project to massacre hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people, who could stand in HYDRA's way. Along the way he frames Captain America as a rogue agent who has to go on the run, kills his fellow members of the World Security Council, and shoots his housekeeper just for walking in on a meeting he has with the Winter Soldier. He does all of this with calm, affable composure towards his enemies, attempting to make them understand that Utopia Justifies the Means.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) & Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Yondu Udonta, a former Kree battle slave and later Ravager, was hired to kidnap the children of Ego to deliver them to him for a fortune. Upon realizing the children were being murdered, Yondu rescued the last of them, Peter Quill, and raised him as a flawed but devoted father. Yondu proceeds to hunt down the Power Stone in Peter's possession, keeping a step ahead of nearly everyone before showing little but pride in Peter swapping the Stone out for a troll doll. After a mutiny in the second film, Yondu is able to almost singlehandedly avenge his loyalists and wipe out his enemies before heading to save Peter from Ego and ultimately proves instrumental in stopping the mad Celestial. Acknowledging Peter as his true son, Yondu chooses to give his life for Peter, honored at the end with a funeral as a true Ravager.
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming: Adrian Toomes was once a hard-working man who made a living salvaging Chitauri technology from The Incident. After having his occupation taken by Damage Control, he became a career criminal, taking the moniker of the Vulture, and turning what was left of his salvaging company into an underground arms dealership that would steal and weaponize said technology to sell to criminals. Toomes made sure not to leave any evidence to track his operations, while also ensuring they weren't so big that the Avengers would view them as a threat; this process results in Toomes' criminal business lasting for eight years without any problems. However, when he faces a challenge in Spider-Man, Toomes takes to personally fighting the hero on several occasions, with Spider-Man barely surviving each time. He is also able to uncover Spider-Man's civilian identity simply by analyzing Peter's behavior, and finds an opportunity to intimidate Peter from interfering with his operations. When this fails he sends The Shocker to delay Peter from foiling his latest heist, and once again personally fights the hero during his caper. Although threatening to kill Peter and his loved ones, it's shown that Toomes greatly respects him, showing gratitude for saving his daughter's life, as well as his own, by not selling out his Secret Identity in prison, cementing Toomes as one of his most honorable yet cunning foes.
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Ghost, real name Ava Starr, is a former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative who used the phasing abilities she got as a young child on multiple missions with success. With help from Dr. Bill Foster, Ava seeks to obtain Dr. Hank Pym's Quantum technology in order to extract the matter needed to reverse her painful condition and save her life. On multiple occasions, Ghost uses her prowess with her invisibility abilities to track down the heroes and steal the shrunken lab from them, while also utilizing her creative combination of powers and fighting skills against both Ant-Man/Scott Lang and the Wasp/Hope van Dyne in their efforts to take the lab back. Nearly succeeding in getting the energy while knowing full well that it could destroy Janet van Dyne, who is trapped in the Quantum Realm, Ghost has a change of heart after a returned Janet uses her abilities to temporarily heal her and provide the opportunity to find more energy, with Ava merely happy both for her new lease on life and that Foster remains by her side.
  • Black Widow (2021): Melina Vostokoff is an experienced Black Widow of the Red Room, having gone through the program's conditioning five times. Joining an undercover family in America to steal details on the Winter Soldier program, Melina is injured in their eventual escape but manages to coach a young Natasha on flying their plane. Surviving and becoming a Mad Scientist, Melina works on perfecting the Red Room's mind control to force future Widows into becoming killers against their will. Melina agrees to help destroy the Red Room upon reuniting with her "family", quickly formulating a plan with Natasha and informing her of Dreykov's defenses. Switching places with Natasha before being captured, Melina frees Alexei and Yelena while she hacks into the Red Room's systems, calmly destroying one of the Room's engines to send them into a controlled crash when she's locked out. Escaping in a jet with Alexei, the injured-but-alive Melina reunites with her daughters on the ground, taking the freed Widows and Taskmaster with her as the family escapes Ross' forces.
  • Eternals:
    • Arishem is the leader of the Celestials, a race of ancient, god-like beings responsible for generating cosmic forces and shepherding the spread of life throughout the universe. Taking it upon himself to ensure the continuation of this all-important cycle, Arishem seeds new Celestials within planets so they may feed off the energy generated by intelligent life. Using the World Forge, Arishem personally constructed the monstrous Deviants and the synthetic Eternals, the former to hunt predators that may endanger sapient life and the latter to cull the Deviants' omnicidal hunger. With an army of loyal, near-immortal beings at his command to oversee countless growing Celestials throughout the universe, the Prime Celestial wipes the Eternals' minds after each "emergence" and sends them to repeat the cycle on other worlds, using their old memories to study the malfunctioning Deviants. Although the Eternals of Earth destroy Tiamut to save the planet from its apocalyptic birth, Arishem declares his intention to spare humanity if shown that they're worthy of life, vowing to return for judgement.
    • The Deviant Kro was trapped under the ice for centuries, escaping the Eternals' purge. Thawed out on the eve of Tiamut's emergence, Kro kills Ajak and absorbs her healing power, using it to enhance his fellow Deviants before setting out to confront their former hunters. Kro manages to kill Gilgamesh in a surprise assault on Druig's settlement and achieves true sapience, learning of the Deviants' true purpose as mere failed experiments and vowing to avenge his fallen brethren. Adapting to his newfound powers with ease, the lone Deviant mimics Gilgamesh's voice to put the maddening Thena into a trance, coming within seconds of slaying his third Eternal within a single week.
  • Thor: Love and Thunder: Gorr the God Butcher was once a loyal worshipper of his people's god Rapu. However, when most of his people die—including Gorr's young daughter, Love—Rapu is revealed to be nothing but a callous jerk. An enraged Gorr is chosen by the Necrosword, which can kill gods, and after killing Rapu, decides that all gods must die. Gorr starts his crusade by kidnapping the children of New Asgard to use as bait for Thor, knowing that Thor's Stormbreaker axe is the key to reaching the wish-granting cosmic entity Eternity, which will allow him to kill all the gods in one fell swoop. After hurting Thor's friends to force him to recall Stormbreaker, Gorr manages to obtain the axe before Thor and company can retreat. In the final battle, even though Jane Foster uses Mjolnir to destroy the Necrosword, Gorr manages to reach Eternity. However, after being told by Thor that all he wants is love and actually seeing the love between Thor and a dying Jane, Gorr uses his wish to resurrect his daughter, dying happily after Thor agrees to raise Love.
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Namor, the sovereign ruler of the underwater kingdom of Talokan, is a mutant worshiped as a god. Disgusted by the cruelties of the surface world, Namor resolved to protect his kingdom and people, even if it meant invading the surface. When an American crew attempts to harvest vibranium in an underwater deposit using Riri Williams' technology, Namor kills them, leading to Wakanda being accused of the terrorist attack. Electing to execute Riri for her invention, Namor effortlessly bypasses Wakanda's security system to make an ultimatum to Shuri and Queen Ramonda. Despite his willingness to provoke a war between Talokan and Wakanda, Namor expresses genuine respect for Shuri, even consoling her over the loss of her brother. He then ends the film in triumph, revealing that his surrender was a calculated move to push Wakanda into a corner so that when the time came, Wakanda would be forced to ally with him.

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

    Examples 
  • Grant Ward is the most personal foe Team Coulson ever faced. Introduced as the apparently stony but caring new recruit to Coulson's team, Ward bonds with his allies and assists them in all manner of successful missions, before being revealed as a deep cover HYDRA agent who has been playing his team all along. Twisted by his childhood abuse and surrogate father John Garrett, Ward is a cold, calculating machine with genuine affability towards enemy and ally alike, who has dedicated himself to "helping" others from the constraints of morality and the past. Ward regularly alternates between sworn enemy of Team Coulson and a necessary evil they ally with to take on bigger threats, always thinking several steps ahead and evading any attempts at capture or justice. After the loss of more than one loved one on the battlefield with S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward assumes control of HYDRA and weeds out many of the weakest links to create a formidable rival to S.H.I.E.L.D., before coming face-to-face with Gideon Malick himself and working with the man to travel to Maveth and return Hive to Earth. In the end, Ward views all of his suffering—including his approaching death—as a welcome necessity to finally finding his place in the universe as part of HYDRA's "grand plan."
  • Enoch is a Chronicom Anthropologist sent to record human evolution. Learning of an encroaching extinction-level event, Enoch forcibly abducts the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and sends them to a dystopian Kree dictatorship in the year 2091 in order to prevent the end of the world, while leaving Fitz to rot in jail until he is needed. Cryogenically freezing Fitz to bring him to the future, the two infiltrate the Kree Inhuman auction to save Fitz's teammates, with Enoch sacrificing himself to return them to the present. With the timeline changed, Enoch helps Fitz go on the run, before reluctantly betraying both him and Simmons to the Hunters in order to learn how to time travel and save Chronyca-2 from destruction. Later rescuing his friends, Enoch defeats a Hunter sent after him before stealing his skin to infiltrate the Chronicom forces and once again save FitzSimmons. Having stolen a Chronicom Time Stream, the three spend years preparing to stop the Hunters, returning to the time they left to put their plan into motion. Enoch secretly scatters throughout history pieces of a time machine later used to successfully execute the rest of their plan, before sacrificing himself once more so that S.H.I.E.L.D. can escape a time loop, dying content that he is and always has been their friend.
  • Season 2: Jiaying is the mother of Skye/Daisy Johnson and the leader of the Inhuman community known as Afterlife, who developed a grudge against humanity after being tortured by Daniel Whitehall for her immortality. Jiaying uses her husband Cal's desire to reassemble their family to bring Skye into the fold, and when Skye's distaste for Cal's instability prevents the reunion, Jiaying plays off her teammates' fear of her newly developed Inhuman abilities. Introducing Daisy to her new home, she trains her to see her powers as a beautiful thing. When Jiaying discovers the Monolith on the Iliad, she plans war with S.H.I.E.L.D. and lures them with peace talks, even offering Cal as a trojan horse prisoner. She pretends to negotiate with Gonzales, only to kill him with a terrigen crystal, wound herself, and have Afterlife strafed to begin a war. Jiaying takes over the Iliad and threatens to kill everyone on board with terrigen crystals unless the carrier's S.O.S. beacon is expanded, leading S.H.I.E.L.D. into a trap. Confronted by Daisy, Jiaying declares her intent to spread the terrigen gas worldwide, feeling that it would be the only way to keep Inhumans safe.
  • Season 3:
    • Andrew Garner is a psychologist and an Inhuman researcher who becomes an Inhuman himself. Developing an urge to transform into the monstrous Lash and kill other Inhumans, he keeps up appearances with his colleagues at S.H.I.E.L.D. and evades detection from both them and the ATCU, using an Inhuman-detecting mole in the government to find his victims before silencing him when he's discovered. Cornered by HYDRA assassins, Garner transforms into Lash and kills them, setting the store ablaze to cover his tracks. Upon being discovered by his ex-wife May, Garner kidnaps her and overpowers S.H.I.E.L.D. and the ATCU's efforts to stop him, ultimately only being detained when May talks him down as a distraction. Finding himself in HYDRA's custody, Garner convinces Simmons to set him free to protect her, proceeding to slaughter both HYDRA's forces and the Inhumans they're holding in stasis. After spending months on the run, Garner hands himself into S.H.I.E.L.D. to be used as one last shot at taking out Hive, putting the abomination on the backfoot and setting Daisy free from his influence in his final moments.
    • The man once known as Alveus, upon Kree experimentation, was forever transformed into "Hive." Through sheer intellect and force of will, Hive drove the Kree from earth, rallying all Inhumans to his side in the process, and though banished from earth by treacherous followers, Hive nonetheless laid the groundwork for the formation of HYDRA, the death cult organization that has haunted the world for centuries after. In the present, Hive manipulates himself back to earth with help from Gideon Malick, and immediately amasses a small following of Inhumans. Using Malick before murdering him once he outlives his usefulness, Hive stays one step ahead of S.H.I.E.L.D. throughout the series, even turning Daisy Johnson to his side and using her as a mole. Though driven temporarily insane, Hive is revealed to have exaggerated even this as a plot to be captured, then use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s own devices to enact his final plan of turning a chunk of humanity into Inhumans so as to create a perfect, peaceful paradise. Hive's final moments are spent calmly reflecting that he truly wanted what was best for Inhumans, and dies realizing and admitting that perhaps humanity isn't as deserving of destruction as he once thought.
  • Season 6: The Chronicom Hunter Malachi is The Dragon to Atarah in her efforts to undo the destruction of their homeworld. Assigned to capture Fitz and Enoch to figure out how they successfully changed Earth's future, Malachi lies in wait at their final destination and efficiently adapts his plan when instead confronted and captured by S.H.I.E.L.D., escaping to contact the other Hunters when they locate Fitz and teleporting away with him in the ensuing chaos. After Atarah recklessly traps FitzSimmons in a mind prison so the pair can recreate their time travel technology, Malachi decides it would be best to first conquer a new homeworld as a backup and kills Atarah for her incompetence, reassigning the remaining Chronicom Anthropologists across the cosmos to Hunters to swell their forces and hunt the traitorous Enoch. Malachi uses copies of FitzSimmons' memories to begin his invasion of Earth by attacking the Lighthouse, using the stolen knowledge of S.H.I.E.L.D. protocols to effortlessly massacre his opposition. Standing in stark contrast to his superior's Stupid Evil methods, Malachi's strategies allow the Chronicoms an almost total victory ruined only by the failures of his allies.
  • "Self Control":
    • The Life Model Decoys of Phil Coulson, Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie and Jeffrey Mace are insidious duplicates programmed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. by Holden Radcliffe and Aida. In collaboration with the Watchdogs, the LMDs plan to bring every Inhuman known to S.H.I.E.L.D. into custody to keep them safe from the terrorists, all as an excuse to lure them out to be executed. When Daisy and Jemma learn the truth, the LMDs quickly cut the building's security feeds to prevent them from spying on their actions before turning the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. against the pair by framing them as the fakes, while having the May LMD guard the base's hangar with explosives. Though the Mace LMD is defeated, the duplicates of Coulson and Mack take advantage of the battle to sneak up on Daisy and injure her, attempting to convince her to surrender lest she bleed out. The LMDs' primary objective is to subdue Daisy and Jemma with as little bloodshed as possible and download them into the paradise of Radcliffe's Framework, with their efforts ultimately only undone by Coulson's love for May influencing his LMD into trusting that her heroic duplicate will understand their mission.
    • The Life Model Decoy of Leopold Fitz stands out as particularly devious even amongst his fellow robotic fakes. Taking advantage of Jemma's assumption that Daisy is the fourth LMD that has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s leadership, the Fitz LMD forestalls what would have been a messier attempt to replace Jemma and isolates her with the supposed purpose of stopping the fakes. Though this leads to Jemma learning that one of them is a duplicate, the fake Fitz quickly takes up an act of confusion and terror, postulating that Jemma may be an LMD programmed to not even realize she's fake, and—upon being forced to cut himself to prove he's real—fakes a major injury to lower Jemma's guard before knocking her out. Even when Jemma gets the upper hand, the Fitz LMD quickly switches between agonized screams of pain and distress to coldly choking her out as she tries to deactivate him, before attempting to appeal to her love for him. Sharing the real Fitz's love for Jemma and wanting only to reunite the pair in the Framework, the Fitz LMD proves to be a terrifying master actor in his service to Radcliffe's plans.

Agent Carter

    Examples 
  • "Dottie Underwood" is a Red Room graduate and accomplice to Fennhoff. Seducing Howard Stark so that he would show her his vault of inventions, Underwood later befriends Peggy Carter as her neighbor. Spying on Carter without detection, Underwood makes contact with Fennhoff and helps him to capture Stark, evading arrest from both Peggy and other S.S.R. agents. Upon finally being captured, Underwood easily resists giving up information and humiliates her interrogators, before being broken out by Peggy to help spy on Whitney Frost. Underwood continues to laugh off torture when captured by Frost's minions, only breaking when Frost uses her Zero Matter powers on her. Psychotic yet flirtatious, especially in her rivalry with Peggy, Underwood ends the series a free woman after escaping both Frost and Peggy's custody.
  • Season 1: "Dr. Ivchenko", in reality Johann Fennhoff, is a high-ranking Leviathan agent who orchestrated the theft of Howard Stark's inventions. Posing as a kindly psychologist prisoner of Leviathan, the "rescued" Fennhoff befriends S.S.R. chief Roger Dooley, giving him advice on his collapsing marriage while gradually brainwashing him and making contact with Leviathan operative Dottie Underwood. Often allowing his victims to experience one last pleasure before killing themselves, Fennhoff has Dooley give him access to the recovered Stark weapons and takes the Midnight Oil, having Dooley put on a suicide vest as a distraction while he meets up with Underwood. After capturing Stark, Fennhoff reveals that he seeks revenge for the death of his brother, planning to hypnotize Stark into releasing the Midnight Oil on New York so his guilt afterwards will destroy him.

Netflix Series

    Examples 
  • Stick is a member of the Chaste and mentor of both Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios. Harboring Elektra, who is actually a Black Sky that the Hand seek, Stick murders a Chaste member who finds out. He also trains a young Matt to overcome his blindness and teaches him to fight, intending to recruit Matt into the Chaste. Years later, Stick would continue attempting to manipulate Matt into joining the Chaste, using Elektra to seduce him, as well as taking advantage of Matt having a common enemy in the Hand lieutenant Nobu Yoshioka. Tricking Matt into being a diversion, Stick kills Nobu's own Black Sky, merely a child. Stick later returns and saves Elektra from being near-fatally poisoned, but later sees Elektra has become a liability and decides to have her assassinated. Even captured and tortured by the Hand twice, Stick demonstrates Nerves of Steel and never breaks, even cutting off his hand to escape Alexandra. Guiding the Defenders in the war against the Hand, Stick learns that the Hand desire the Iron Fist, so decides to kill Danny Rand to prevent the Hand from capturing him, very nearly succeeding by paralyzing Luke Cage.
  • Madame Gao is a leader of The Hand who works with Wilson Fisk, first coming into conflict with the Defenders through her heroin trade in New York City. A manipulator extraordinaire, Gao operates by gaining leverage on powerful figures, having deeply ingrained herself into Danny Rand's family company and used it as a front for her drug trade. A charismatic leader, Gao's followers have unwavering loyalty to her, her drug factory workers having willingly blinded themselves as a sign of faith in her. Ever calm in the face of her enemies, Gao manipulates Danny and his friends when they capture her into doubting each other and mocks them by pretending to be under the effects of their truth serum. Though the Five Fingers of the Hand are usurped by the Black Sky, Gao is content using her to lead them to immortality and disposing of her afterwards, and meets her ultimate defeat with graceful acceptance.
  • Elektra Natchios is a lethal Chaste assassin and one of the most important, devilish figures in Matt Murdock's life. Raised since childhood to be a warrior, Elektra has dedicated her life to take down the villainous Hand organization, and uses everything from her incredible fighting skills to her cunning intellect to dismantle their operations worldwide. Gaining an affinity for Matt while nonetheless manipulating him to help her cause, Elektra makes an attempt to overcome her inherent bloodthirsty, ruthless nature by sacrificing her life to save Matt's and help him take down the Hand's New York sect. Resurrected by the Hand to be their new mindless killing machine, Elektra nonetheless regains her faculties, murders Alexandra, and assumes control of the Hand in her true role as the "Black Sky", nearly defeating the Defenders and gaining ultimate power for herself. Elektra ultimately lets go of her inner rage and lust for power to spend her apparent final moments with Matt inside a collapsing chamber, then vanishing with her body never found.
  • Daredevil (2015) season 1: James Wesley is Wilson Fisk's extremely competent right-hand man, who handles the everyday affairs of his boss's criminal empire. Able to skillfully blackmail, bribe, and threaten anyone he so chooses into carrying out his dirty work, Wesley simultaneously juggles interactions with the various crime lords of New York to gain their trust and partnership with Fisk. A genuinely loyal servant of Fisk's who would risk his own life to protect the interests of his friend and employer, Wesley's charisma and micromanagement helped Fisk get his empire off the ground and maintain its power even at Fisk's most vulnerable, impulsive period.
  • Luke Cage (2016): Hernán "Shades" Alvarez is a charismatic criminal of Harlem who, during his time at Seagate Penitentiary, ran a prison fight ring along with Comanche and a corrupt warden. Upon returning to Harlem, he became the Hyper-Competent Sidekick of the Stokes crime family and the arms dealer Diamondback, brokering deals for the former to gain high tech weaponry. Despite his loyalties, he has no problems turning against his masters when they turn against him, such as when he planned to kill Cottonmouth for his incompetence only to find Mariah Dillard committing the act; Shades helped her cover up the crime by framing Luke Cage and later Diamondback for the deed, efficiently disposing of any witnesses and successfully sending Luke back to prison. During that time Shades becomes enamored with Mariah and helps her become the leader of her crime family, only to become horrified of her decision to massacre an entire restaurant full of innocents, so much so that he orchestrates her entire downfall by becoming an informant for the police. Always maintaining his cool and suave demeanor, Shades even accepts his final defeat with grace.
  • Iron Fist (2017) season 2: Walker, a former sergeant in the U.S. military who developed Dissociative Identity Disorder, now works as a mercenary in New York City. Hired to kidnap Danny Rand by Davos and Joy Meachum, Walker meticulously studies him to learn how best to neutralize the powerful Iron Fist and successfully defeats him. Later convincing Joy to hire her to defend against the insane Davos, Walker keeps him on the back foot throughout all of their encounters, and is only prevented from outright killing him due to Danny's refusal to allow his "brother" to die. Always the clear dominant member in partnerships used to further whatever her goals happen to be at any given moment, Walker ends the series forgoing the money owed to her by Joy, instead threatening the billionaire into continuing to support her with her vast connections.

Young Adult Series

    Examples 
  • Runaways (2017): Darius Davis is an affable L.A. gangster, betrayed years ago by Geoffrey Wilder after taking the fall for a murder charge. Taking over Geoffrey's gang after he left to join the PRIDE, Darius steers them to taking revenge on their former leader. Though failing to extort Geoffrey by holding a construction site hostage, Darius uses the opportunity to steal information from Geoffrey's phone and capture his son Alex, using him as a new negotiation piece while further turning him against his father, and is ultimately only foiled by the intervention of the rest of the Runaways and their newfound powers. Darius continues to keep tabs on the PRIDE's activities before agreeing to aid Alex in his feud with his parents, tricking him into leaving his prints on a murder weapon as "insurance." Despite genuinely coming to care for Alex, Darius apologetically hands him over to Geoffrey so they can bury the hatchet and help their community as they wanted to do so long ago—a sentiment ruined by Catherine Wilder impulsively murdering Darius. Even then, Darius' mentorship sees him remembered fondly by Alex, who uses his lessons to take down his parents.
  • Cloak & Dagger (2018): Mayhem, Detective Brigid O'Reilly's Literal Split Personality, represents all her murderous rage and inner darkness, yet resolves to direct her malice towards those who deserve it. Putting her skills to work investigating, dismantling, and butchering her way through the monstrous D'Spayre's sex trafficking ring, Mayhem even impersonates her passive self to gain access to police resources and trick Tandy into aiding her, while her brilliant detective work results in the rescue of dozens of victims. Despite her propensity for lethal measures—whether attempting to murder D'Spayre's comatose pawn or trying to slaughter entire gangs of the nascent loa's allies—Mayhem remains a strained yet ultimately stalwart ally of the titular heroes, sabotaging D'Spayre's efforts to Mind Rape them while trapped in the Darkforce and merging with her other self to protect the duo in their final confrontation with the wannabe god. Undeterred in her ruthless mission even with the trafficking ring shattered and her empathy restored, Brigid closes the series by stringing up Detective Connor's corpse in the police station as a warning to all who would follow in his corrupt wake.

Disney+ Series

    Examples 
  • WandaVision: Agatha Harkness is a witch who desires Wanda Maximoff's Chaos Magic for her own purposes. Infiltrating Westview and Wanda's sitcom fantasies, Agatha plays the role of "Agnes", engineering scenarios such a dog dying or "Pietro's resurrection" to emotionally string Wanda and Vision away from each other. Capturing Wanda in her basement, Agatha examines her past before attacking Wanda and her loved ones to absorb the Chaos Magic. In a last ditch effort, Agatha frees the people of Westview from Wanda's spell, guilt tripping Wanda into lowering the Hex and emotionally wrecking her into almost making a deal to allow her, Vision, and her twins to live in a more perfect fantasy to keep the latter three existing.
  • The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The "Power Broker", in reality Sharon Carter, is in charge of Madripoor and formerly the boss of Karli Morgenthau. Seeking revenge on the government which abandoned her, Sharon hires former HYDRA scientist Wilfred Nagel to recreate the Super Soldier Serum before being betrayed by Karli. Managing to find Karli's location at one point, with Karli only barely escaping, Sharon later kills Selby when she reveals too much information to the heroes and uses it to gain their trust, tricking Sam into agreeing to get her a pardon. Breaking Batroc out of prison, Sharon has him infiltrate the Flagsmashers to spy on them. Joining Sam and Bucky in their fight against the Flagsmashers, Sharon repeatedly shows her cunning, at one point planting a bomb full of poison gas on a Flagsmasher before killing Karli, while making it look like she did it to save Sam. Though left without a way to make more Super Soldiers, Sharon ends the show in a position that will allow her access to weapons to sell on the black market, telling her allies to "Start lining up buyers."
  • Loki (2021): He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, is the mastermind behind the Time Variance Authority (TVA), created to prevent multiversal wars between timelines and preserve a single Sacred Timeline. Filling the TVA with mind-wiped time variants that fought with him in the multiversal war against the various Kangs, these agents would be sent into alternate timelines, resetting events back to the Sacred Timeline while arresting, judging, and executing the variants causing the divergences. He Who Remains tracks the actions of Loki Odinson Variant L1130 and Sylvie Laufeydottir before having his assistant, Miss Minutes, confront the duo with the the proposal to live in their ideal world. Upon being confronted, He Who Remains gives the two the option of either taking over the TVA to ensure the stability of the timeline or killing him and allowing his own variants to wage war across timelines, which would invariably lead to one of them running the TVA all over again. Granting Loki the ability to timeslip before his death, He Who Remains posthumously forces him into one final choice: either allow his Temporal Loom that holds the timelines to explode and destroy the TVA and the branching timelines or kill Sylvie before she can kill He Who Remains, either choice giving him full control of the Sacred Timeline once again.
  • Moon Knight (2022):
    • Khonshu is the Egyptian God of the Moon and the patron of the eponymous Moon Knight. Cunning and ruthless to a fault, Khonshu nevertheless values the independence of humanity and strives to stop his hated rival Ammit from slaying millions around the globe based purely on their potential guilt. Khonshu wins his "Fists of Justice" through insidious manipulation; when his previous champion Arthur Harrow abandoned him, Khonshu earned the loyalty of Marc Spector by granting him a Leonine Contract after the latter had been betrayed and left for dead, transforming Spector into the Moon Knight. With his influence on Marc's life cast possibly even back to the day that Marc was a child, Khonshu ends up giving Marc and his alter Steven Grant their freedom—while concealing that he has a third alter, Jake Lockley, who has been loyal to Khonshu from the start. Khonshu ends the series cornering Arthur Harrow and allowing Jake to execute him, driving off ready to keep using Marc as his pawn for however long he sees fit.
    • Arthur Harrow is the delightfully pleasant leader of the Disciples of Ammit, seeking the restoration of Ammit and the cleansing of all evil from the face of Earth. A former avatar of Khonshu who grew disillusioned with the depravity he saw in the world and Khonshu's method of dispensing justice only after evil had been done, Harrow reshapes himself into a reserved, charismatic schemer and devotes his life wholly to Ammit. Harrow hopes to unleash Ammit from her prison and assist her in killing every last person on the planet who has, is, or ever will perpetrate evil, leaving only Harrow's diverse, educated followers to prosper in the aftermath. Outdoing Moon Knight and skillfully weaving his way around Khonshu's attempts to expose his scheme to the Ennead, Harrow successfully decimates the Ennead; duels Moon Knight and Scarlet Scarab at once; and offers himself up for judgement before Ammit upon her release, showing himself to be truly willing to die for his cause for the evil he has committed.
  • Secret Invasion (2023): Sonya Falsworth is the charming, witty and ruthless MI6 agent that is more than capable of keeping up with Nick Fury himself. Kidnapping Fury and disappointed that he seems to have lost his edge, she quickly discovers the bug he left on her owl ornament. Taking over a stalled interrogation, Falsworth casually asks where the secret exit is on a hunch, quickly breaks the Skrull operative and leaves as Gravik arrives to slaughter her men, having correctly predicted his attack. Tracking down and theatening Gravik's lead scientist into complying with her, Sonya even manages to unmask the Skrull posing as Rhodey, leading to his death. Ending the series teaming up with Gi'ah, Sonya intends to avoid Fury and Talos' fate by leaving "love and friendship" off the table.

What If…? (2021)

    Examples 
  • Uatu the Watcher is a charming, witty cosmic being in charge of surveying the multiverse. Uatu is a ruthless manipulator who punishes Strange Supreme for his misdeeds by leaving him alone at the end of his universe. Uatu later recruits the Guardians of the Multiverse to stop the omncidal aims of Infinity Ultron. Using the Guardians to lure Ultron back into his own world, Uatu arranges events for Zola to destroy him. Uatu also smartly foresees in advance that Prince Killmonger would try to steal Ultron's Infinity Stones and planned to have Killmonger and Zola clash for them, perpetually trapping them in crystal. Uatu also brings the Black Widow of Ultron's timeline and uses her to stop King Loki. Uatu later acts as an advisor for Captain Carter and intentionally leaves out what Strange Supreme has planned for her to allow Strange to revive his world at the cost of his life.
  • "What If... The World Lost its Mightiest Heroes?": "King" Loki shows himself to be just as cunning and competent a god as in the Sacred Timeline. Arriving on Earth after Thor's death, Loki decimates the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents sent against him before parlaying with Nick Fury to discuss finding Thor's killer. Disguising himself as Fury and luring out the murderer, Hank Pym, Loki surprises and brutalizes Pym in a duel, taking him down and leaving him to be arrested. Without ever losing his cheery disposition, Loki then summons his armies of Asgard and conquers all of Earth with ease, taking advantage of the weakened state Pym left it in, and is ultimately only beaten by the interference of the Watcher much later, after Loki has nearly taken down all of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well as Earth's last defenders.
  • "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?" & "What If... The Watcher Broke His Oath?": Erik "Prince Killmonger" Stevens here opts to use subtle and pragmatic means to achieve his goals. He saves the life of Tony Stark to denounce Obadiah Stane and gives himself access to Stark Industries robotics. Refining drones for his own purposes, Erik murders both Rhodes and Prince T'Challa of Wakanda, framing it as an assassination to enhance tension between the nations. Killing Tony Stark in a "Wakandan Assassination," he then kills Ulysses Klaue to return to Wakanda and become the Black Panther, preparing for war after achieving all he wanted. Later helping the Guardians of the Multiverse against the mad AI Ultron, Erik tries to seize the Infinity Stones at the end to remake the world how he desires it, even offering the Guardians a chance to join him on his crusade.
  • "What If... Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?": Nebula, a child of Thanos, keeps her mainline counterpart's efficiency while lacking the tragic machinations of her mental state. Joining the Nova Corps, Nebula aims to keep to the side of peace, a job she repeatedly holds to even when Xandar has been turned to a Wretched Hive. Investigating a plot of the possible threat of an invasion, Nebula uses both ingenuity and combat efficiency to advance, with her eventually breaking the criminal Yon-Rogg free and releasing the other prisoners to initiate a riot to allow them to escape. Despite being betrayed by Nova Prime and Yon-Rogg and almost killed, it's revealed their betrayal would've been for naught as Nebula had rigged the key that would've allowed Ronan to invade to instead backfire and destroy his ship.
  • "What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?": The Justin Hammer who faces off against The Freak is far more intelligent and charming than his Sacred Timeline counterpart. Hammer infiltrates and disables the security of Stark Industries and turns the Iron Legion into his own personal army. Hammer intends to steal Tony's Hulk formula and use it to become a superhero to revive his reputation and company. Hammer runs circles around the heroes and foils Maria Hill's attempts to apprehend him by sending in his robots to intercept her. Hammer also lures Happy Hogan/The Freak into a trap, planning to kill him and harvest his body which contains the serum. When foiled, Hammer reveals that he had kept the Hulkbuster Armor as a precaution and uses it to nearly defeat the Freak. Hammer stays a funny, charming villain throughout the episode and even takes his defeat with mere bemusement.


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