There is always something beneath the surface.
Behind it all, behind the mighty, the amazing, the incredible, the fantastic and even the uncanny, there exists dangers and threats that are rarely seen because they hide in the shadows or are too massive for most of the world to comprehend. Yet there is one organization that has taken it upon itself to safeguard the human race against the known and unknown.
They are security, they are shelter…
They are S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. note is the source of most, if not all, of the Spy Fiction in the Marvel Universe. It is the nebulous espionage organization that for decades was known as the "House that Nick Fury built". It first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August, 1965). The organization is a United Nations or sometimes United States backed paramilitary and intelligence organization, whose acronym originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division but was changed in the 1990s to stand for Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the acronym was defined as the "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division".
There have been numerous series revolving around and featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. throughout the years, including long standing features in multiple Captain America runs. In the 2010s, Jonathan Hickman began delving deeper into the organization's history; first in Secret Warriors and then in two bimonthly mini-series. Another series launched in December 2014, essentially being an in-universe version of the first season of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show with Agent Coulson leading a team to investigate whatever weird stuff S.H.I.E.L.D. needs investigating; this was later relaunched under the show's title of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. However, the entire organization has now been defunct due to Secret Empire incident. Recently, due to the events of Reckoning War, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been rebuilt, this time under the command of Nick Fury, Jr.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has also been a large part of several Marvel adaptations, including Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spider-Man (2012). S.H.I.E.L.D. features notably in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as an important part of the series, being a recurring element in several movies and the focus of two TV spinoffs, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has appeared in the following:
- Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 1 (1968–1971)
- Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 2 (1983–1984)
- Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 3 (1989–1993)
- Kitty Pryde: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1997–1998)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 1 (2010)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 2 (2011)
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol 3 (2014-2015)
- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2016)
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s appearances contain examples of:
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In General
- Actually a Doombot: The Life Model Decoys, convincingly human robots made to protect the director in case of assassination, or if they're just feeling prickly. It's also been used to save Nick Fury from the hands of death from time to time.
- Applied Phlebotinum: The Helicarrier runs on...look what's important is that the villains of the story want to steal it, or did before helicarriers just became something to shoot down for drama.
- The Ageless: The Infinity Formula is used to explain why the characters from Marvel's World War II comic books can show up in the post Fantastic Four comic books as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents still in their physical primes. Those taking the formula still tend to develop a few white or grey hairs, however.
- The Alcatraz: They've built and maintained a few, such as the Raft, an extension of the real life Ryker's Island, the Cube, a slightly illegal black site used to detain aliens "indefinitely" (until Marvel Boy took over it), or pleasant Hill, a town created by a sapient cosmic cube that served as a Gilded Cage that brainwashed super villains into productive members of society.
- The Artifact: The Helicarrier used to be a singular vehicle that served as the main base of S.H.I.E.L.D. because every member of the United Nations refused to house permanent S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. S.H.I.E.L.D. would be increasingly shown as a defacto arm of the United States, however, making the Helicarrier redundant. So instead Helicarrier became helicarriers, big, pretty flying fortresses that get taken down to show how powerful the main threat of this current quarter is.
- Badass Normal: Most agents don't have superpowers but that doesn't stop them from being a force to be reckoned with in a world filled with mutants, gods, aliens, and super soldiers.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Jonathan Hickman's ancient version of S.H.I.E.L.D. is constructed entirely from this trope.
- Benevolent Conspiracy: Back during the days of Ancient Kemet, Imhotep formed the Brotherhood of the Shield and the Brotherhood of the Spear, whose jobs were to prevent the downfall of civilization and end of the world. S.H.I.E.L.D. and S.P.E.A.R. are the members of this conspiracy who held onto these ideas, except for the conspiracy part, for the most part, still engaging in Cloak and Dagger operations, but otherwise being known to the public. Hydra(corrupted by Nazis), A.I.M.(corrupted by mad scientists) and the Secret Empire(corrupted by politicians) are the parts of the conspiracy that stayed secretive and abandoned their benevolent goals, though A.I.M. is far more open with it's activities than the Hydra and the Empire.
- Breaking the Fellowship: Particularly in modern series, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a habit of getting dissolved whenever they screw up so badly or are corrupted too much to be effective. The first time had Fury dismantle the original gathering when a group of LMDs gained sentience and took over. The second time was caused by the fallout of Secret Invasion and the third due to the fallout of Secret Empire.
- Canon Immigrant:
- Agent Phil Coulson from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- And, depending on your definition, Samuel L. Jackson lookalike Nick Fury Jr.
- Many members of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. cast made their way to the comics in the 2014 series (except Grant Ward, who had to wait until 2016 for his turn).
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Several characters associated with S.H.I.E.L.D. disappeared from the comic books with little explanation in the 2000s, to make way for the Maria Hill crew. Several of these characters then disappear from the comic books in the mid 2010s, to make way for the Phil Coulson crew.
- Cloak and Dagger: No matter how many crimes Real Life spy agencies (or S.H.I.E.L.D. itself) commit, S.H.I.E.L.D. will still make it look badass
whether the writer likes it or not. - Cool Car: Bullet-proof, rocket-proof, loaded with gadgets, and just as a little extra, they can fly. The first time we saw one, it was a modified Porsche. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s got style.
- Depending on the Writer:
- Their sense of integrity and competence can highly vary between the stories they are in (both comics and adaptations) as they can be a highly effective team against the forces of evil or a Lawful Stupid force that is more of a hindrance to other heroes than help. Sometimes, it simply depends on which agent you're dealing with.
- Whether the organization is international, UN-funded or entirely American. Amusingly, their original name (Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division) suggested that they were a division of the real-world S.H.A.P.E. (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe) and were thus NATO-based, an option that seems to never come up in modern comics or adaptations.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Originally no one nation really wanted responsibility for running or even hosting S.H.I.E.L.D., the prevailing attitude being that its very existence was both redundant and a invitation for Hydra attacks. This quickly quickly gave way to the United States being very supportive of S.H.I.E.L.D., and then to S.H.I.E.L.D. being a defacto United States organization, to S.H.I.E.L.D. being an actual United States organization.
- Elaborate Underground Base: They love these. In the earlier comics it was accessible through a special chair in a certain barbershop that would descend into the floor. S.H.I.E.L.D. has since had several incarnations that sometimes have their bases above ground, however.
- Flying Aircraft Carrier
- The helicarrier, whose design was commissioned to Mister Fantastic, Iron Man and, retroactively, Forge, is the most iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle. It was originally built because no member of the United Nations wanted to be the headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D., so Stark Industries proposed a mobile base.
- They have other flying fortresses such as their flying saucers, for striking fear into the hearts of A.I.M., and Blackeye 1, which had a whisper drive stealth system and storm cloud concealment system to aid in the tracking and containment of vampire outbreaks.
- Fun with Acronyms: One of the most notorious examples of it. This extends to related organizations S.T.R.I.K.E.note , S.W.O.R.D.note , S.T.A.K.E.note , W.A.N.D.note and A.R.M.O.R.note . Parodied with H.A.M.M.E.R., which never had its meaning definednote and characters in-universe made jokes that nobody knew what it stood for.
- How about S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, which has gone through a few variations?
- Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-enforcement Division from when it first appeared in 1965 through the end of The '80s.
- Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate starting in 1991 when the organization was rebooted following the events of Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D..
- Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division in the 2000s, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. (The word "Homeland" having become in vogue since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security after the 9/11/2001 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center.)Maria Hill: What does S.H.I.E.L.D. stand for?
Agent Ward: Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Maria Hill: What does that mean to you?
Agent Ward: It means someone really wanted our initials to spell S.H.I.E.L.D. - In Fantastic Four volume 7, Maria Hill remakes S.H.I.E.L.D. as Super Human Intelligence: Extra-Legal Division
- Jack Kirby's original artwork had Nick Fury as "The Man Called D.E.A.T.H."note . When the artwork was eventually used for the 50th anniversary, The Man Called D.E.A.T.H. was instead the mysterious figure who recruited S.H.I.E.L.D. directors.note
- How about S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, which has gone through a few variations?
- Gone Horribly Wrong: The Silvereye division of S.H.I.E.L.D. was created to deal with vampires but quickly became infiltrated by and taken over by vampires, who began using its resources to hunt Blade, then brainwashed him into a Human Weapon.
- Good Is Not Nice: They often like to go by this motto even in their more favorable depictions. Though of course whether the "Good" part has any credibility is Depending on the Writer.
- For example, references are made in the MCU to S.H.I.E.L.D. conducting assassinations, it hires characters such as Black Widow and Hawkeye who are described directly as being killers, and has on occasion sanctioned the murder of civilians such as in the Item 47. All for the greater good, so they say. That said, however, given the revelations in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Captain America: The Winter Soldier that many S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives are in fact working for Hydra, the extent to which the trope actually applies in this continuity is uncertain.
- Gadgeteer Genius: In the 60s, S.H.I.E.L.D. actually had an armorer named Boothroyd. Later on they got the Sidney "The Gaffe" Levine, who was retconned into being a former member of the WWII team Sky-Wolves. Somehow, neither has appeared recently.
- Good Policing, Evil Policing: The titular organization is a complex example of moral opposites in Law Enforcement because it's one of the more visible law enforcement factions in the Marvel Universe (other than the the NYPD) and it stands on both sides of this trope Depending on the Writer. For the most part, they are trying to maintain law and order in a universe full of super-powered crooks and succeeding, but more often than not (big examples being Civil War, Outlawed and Original Sin) they are there to cause the mess that the superheroes need to clean up and/or are jackbooted thugs enforcing the evil law du jour and employing tactics that are plainly illegal because whoever is the agency's leader at the time thinks that being in command and given the responsibility to "make the hard choices" means their choices are always indisputably "good".
- Government Agency of Fiction: Originally United Nations organization meant to safeguard against international criminals and terrorists. Then a basically a pattering ram of the United States Congress. Then an extension of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
- Grappling-Hook Pistol: Most S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are incapable of building swinging with them, but they can be used to scale walls, for Fast-Roping, and offensively if the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is out of bullets, or to restrain a target if the agent doesn't have handcuffs.
- Hero with an F in Good: On paper, S.H.I.E.L.D. is meant to be a force for Good in the Marvelverse and enforce order in the world, but more often than not is the cause of a variety of disasters, calamities, or monsters that end up having to be stopped by Marvel's superheroes in the first place. More than once has S.H.I.E.L.D. been the cause of a Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! scenario, hijacked by a villain for monstrous purposes, or committed some grievous attempt at violating These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know for power or political leverage, which has led to its dissolution more than once.
- High Turnover Rate: Ever since Nick Fury got ousted after Secret War, they've gone through a lot of replacement directors. (deep breath) Maria Hill, Tony Stark, Norman Osbornnote , Steve Rogers, Daisy Johnson, Maria Hill again, Sue Storm, and Nick Fury, Jr.
- Hubcap Hovercraft: Their hovercars are often depicted as working this way.
- Informed Attribute: S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be a United Nations organization that answers directly to the World Security Council. In practice, S.H.I.E.L.D. is functionally a United States organization with a few token foreign agents. The United Kingdom and China even have their own S.H.I.E.L.D. equivalents in S.T.R.I.K.E. and S.P.E.A.R. even though they should be redundant with the United Kingdom and China both being members of the United Nations. Since the 2000s, this has been justified as members of the United States Congress deliberately trying to turn S.H.I.E.L.D. into an organization that prioritizes United States interests over the wants and needs of the rest of the world. Maria Hill's rapid promotion from competent field agent to incompetent director can be thanked on representatives and senators counting on her United States jingoism, and alien skrulls who are counting on her inexperience allowing them to better infiltrate the organization. Following the Secret Empire takeover of the United States and the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D., Hill remakes S.H.I.E.L.D. as an extension of the United States Central Intelligence Agency, weaker than before but without any pretense of being responsible for anything outside of the United States.
- Jerkass: This appears to actually be a requirement if you want a job with this group. Averted in the movies, though, especially by Agent Coulson (who can be a jerk when he wants to be; he's just polite about it).
- MacGuffin: Has had many of them, one of the latest being the Human Machine in the new series
- Nature Clean-Up: In their more "international" depictions, S.H.I.E.L.D. will usually have a division dedicated solely to protecting ecosystems. Though given this is Marvel Comics, they'll still often end up getting kidnapped or fighting somebody.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: The organization and its secrets have been a source of many problems, metahuman or otherwise, in the Marvel Universe and has more often than not been a direct cause of the Villain of the Week by virtue of being connected to the group in some way. Notable villains like Taskmaster used to be agents of the group.
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: S.H.I.E.L.D. usually has one of these in the background pulling their strings, even when Nick Fury was in charge.
- Overly Long Name: The organization's full name in the comics has varied, but the movies present it as the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. Iron Man 1 used it as a Running Gag and, until the acronym was officially revealed at the end, a Stealth Pun.
- Pocket Rocket Launcher: Nick Fury uses a twin-barreled "rocket pellet" pistol in Strange Tales issue 151. It fires small rockets with enough power to "blow out a battleship."
- Psychic Powers: Sometimes S.H.I.E.L.D. has an Esper Divisions. Other times they have PSI-Ops. There's usually someone with some kind of Mind Manipulation on hand.
- Redshirt Army: Despite the fact that they are sometimes shown as Men of Sherwood or even Badass Army, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent usually serve just as victims to be easily killed by any villain. Any commander will not usually really care about the losses. It sometimes seems that they do not even care about casualties when they plan their actions. Many agents or soldiers are killed in large numbers for example on board of the Helicarriers that seem to serve mostly just so they can fall down and kill all their crew, and eventually hire more people later. How S.H.I.E.L.D. HR department manages to recruit anyone is a mystery.
- Retcon:
- Technically, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself started with a retcon reviving WW2 hero Nick Fury to be both their top agent and partial creator. Secret Warriors and the 2010 series dived into the organization's history, adding a lot more (see below).
- The first time S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared, Tony Stark was one of the founders, and among those who appointed Nick Fury as Director. The march of Comic-Book Time means this has been removed, and instead it's Howard Stark who helped found the organization's modern version.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Life Model Decoys. Roxxon Oil's knockoff deltite models ran into the problem of Rapid Aging, which Roxxon thought it could solve with Nick Fury's Infinity Formula, that thing meant for humans. The issue was apparently fixed with deltite L.M.D. agent 1-16 "Red", however.
- Sonic Stunner: Their "sound guns", for when covertly subduing a target isn't an option
- State Sec: A (usually) good guy version of one: A spy / law enforcement agency with a Airborne Aircraft Carrier and other quasi-military elements.
- Static Stun Gun: The S.H.I.E.L.D. electro-spear pacifies with...electricity
- Spy Catsuit: Form fitting black-blue catsuits, with white belts, boots and gloves. And they're standard requirement for all agents, even the fat ugly schlubs, though Agent 13 has an all-white one, and some agents, like Phil Coulson prefer to dress in a suit and tie.
- Spy Versus Spy: S.H.I.E.L.D. has a sworn enemy in the form of Hydra, which has infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. ranks several times. Hydra break away organizations A.I.M. and the Secret Empire often find their covert field agents at odds with covert S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as well.
- Sub Story: S.H.I.E.L.D. employs "rescue submarines" for agent extraction, and sometimes the story doesn't end with the agents in question simply jumping into the vehicle.
- Super Serum: In Wolverine and the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are regularly injected with mutant growth hormone to infiltrate the Jean Grey school. Given mutant growth hormone has to be regularly harvested from mutants, one wonders why S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't just send in the genetic donors.
- Super-Soldier: Super spy, technically, but S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tend to end up doing as much fighting as espionage, surveillance and scouting
- The Espur Division and or Psi-Ops are there for telepathy and other forms of psychic based Mind Manipulation after conventional means fail
- Project Delta used S.H.I.E.L.D. technology against it, creating a Life Model Decoy quickly promoted field Agent L-16 by moles within the World Security Consil whose job was to serve S.H.I.E.L.D. by murdering Nick Fury. She was stronger than Nick, programmed to be a superior fighter, and had back up bodies so she could continue to attempt to kill him if she failed. Not only was her combat programming inadequate, despite her strength, however, but S.H.I.E.L.D. captured one of her bodies while dismantling Project Delta, and in captivity she decided the serving S.H.I.E.L.D. could be done without the murdering Nick Fury. S.H.I.E.L.D. has gone on to create more Life Model Decoys that are designed to eliminate targets rather than serve as body doubles, such as agents Cheesecake and Beefcake.
- The Super Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were an entire unit with varied super powers. Were because all but Ivory were Hydra moles.
- After Latverian Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas began using her nation's resources to fund and promote criminal activity in the United States, Nick Fury recruited several super humans, via brainwashing and False Memories, to serve as an invasion force that would put a stop to her. The Secret War was a success, but Nick's recruitment tactics and invasion were just as illegal as Lucia's activities, so Fury was ousted from S.H.I.E.L.D...in favor of a not merely patriotic but nationalist successor that would seek to turn all super humans the United States into a private army for the Federal Congress. Just through legal means, this time.
- The Caterpillars were a team of relative unknowns whose potential super human abilities had not yet awakened or at least not yet reached their full potential. So secret even the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know about them, though their cover was blown when they helped stop Veranke's Secret Invasion
- Too Awesome to Use: The Overkill Horn, which detonates nuclear weapons prematurely at a distance and was only created so S.H.I.E.L.D. could have one before Hydra finished building their own. Once all trace of Hydra's weapon was destroyed, the S.H.I.E.L.D. horn was deemed classified and locked away in a location that was also classified.
- Too Dumb to Live: They have had their moments, especially in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions when they tried to use Carnage as a weapon and give it a lot more power and it worked as well as one would think it would.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm: After Secret War, Nick Fury was ousted and Maria Hill took his place. Not that Nick has ever been what you'd call nice on a good day, but Hill immediately turns out to be far more confrontational and obstructive than him (though exact levels of tyranny, again, depend on who's writing her).
- Unified Naming System: S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division) vs. A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and Hydra(as in the mythological creature). SHIELD's spinoff organizations also qualify, having names such as STRIKE (Special Tactical Reserve for International Key Emergencies), SWORD (Sentient World Observation and Response Department), ARMOR (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response Agency), and HAMMER (No actual acronymic meaning).
- United Nations Is a Superpower: Inconsistent between this and being a United States force. Its eventually explained that S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be a United Nations force, but forces inside the United States are constantly and often successfully trying to make S.H.I.E.L.D. prioritize their country.
- Unlimited Wardrobe: S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are best known for their tight jumpsuits, but the organization provides them with a wide variety of environmental protection gear sets, tactical combat gear, armor suits and disguises. Even the "sneak" suits come in a wide variety of styles and colors.
- The Worf Effect: A recurring sign of how dangerous a threat is that is takes down one of SHIELD's helicarriers. In Secret Invasion, Maria Hill gets fed up with this. It should be noted by the time of Livewires that only five helicarries had been wrecked, despite how many times they have fallen. The machines do tend to "get back up" after being knocked down, or at least get remain in tact enough to be gotten back up and running.Hill: I've had the exact same car since I was sixteen. The exact same car, never had a problem with it, but this thing falls out of the sky every other Thursday!
S.H.I.E.L.D. (2010)
See here for tropes.
S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014)
See here for tropes.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
See here for tropes.
