History Characters / MCUHYDRALeadership

[[/folder]]

[[folder:In General]]

[[/folder]]
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[[folder:Stephanie Malick]]
!!''Stephanie Malick''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stephanie_malick_mcu.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Bethany Joy Lenz
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E13PartingShot Episode 57: Parting Shot]]'')

Gideon Malick's daughter and heir and a member of HYDRA.
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* BlondesAreEvil: She never does anything heinous on screen, but she's a member of HYDRA, where being a fascist power seeker is a requisite
* DaddysLittleVillain: She has been raised to be a HYDRA leader and shares her father's vision.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite being a member of the aforementioned fascist cult, she genuinely cares about her father. That is until the [[spoiler: BrokenPedestal moment in which she chooses Hive over her father after the latter is exposed as a coward who cheated his way out of being sacrificed to Hive all his adult life.]]
* TheFundamentalist: Unlike her father, who cares more about power than the Hydra faith, she is a true believer in Hydra's role as servants of Hive and chooses the latter over her father.
* SacrificialLamb: She [[spoiler:is killed by Hive to punish Gideon for having betrayed his brother instead of being willing to be sacrificed to Hive.]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:She's killed in her second appearance.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:HYDRA Council]]

[[[folder:Stephanie Malick]]

[folder:Hive]]

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!!Science Division

[[folder:Johann Schmidt/Red Skull]]
!!Johann Schmidt / ComicBook/RedSkull
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/red_skull.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!"'']]
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/schmidt_johann.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Quite simply, gentlemen, I have harnessed the power of the gods."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/HugoWeaving
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''

->''"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind! Unlike you, I embrace it proudly! Without fear!"''

A brilliant yet completely insane German scientist during World War II. He's the head of the Nazi party's deep science division HYDRA. His pursuit of power from Myth/NorseMythology turned him into a greater threat than UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself. Being a SuperSoldier [[PsychoPrototype prototype]] doesn't hurt either.
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%%* AllGermansAreNazis
* AmbitionIsEvil: When your ambition is to rule the world because you believe yourself to be a higher form of life, it can be fairly called 'evil'.
* ArtifactOfDoom: In his hands, the Tesseract most certainly dangerous.
* AxCrazy: Everyone recognizes him as insane and his methods of employee discipline are horrific.
* BadassBaritone: He's a PsychoPrototype of a SuperSoldier that speaks in a deep voice, as expected from Hugo Weaving.
* BadassBoast: When giving his speech to his soldiers in preparation for the launch of the Valkyrie.
-->'''Skull:''' Tomorrow HYDRA shall stand master of the world, borne to victory on the wings of the Valkyrie. Our enemies weapons will be powerless against us. If they shoot down one plane, hundreds more shall rain fire upon them! If they cut off one head... Two more shall take its place! Hail HYDRA!
* BadassBookworm: A German scientist, he can dent metal with his fists after taking the prototype of the super serum.
* BadassLongcoat: As fits any Nazi officer, Schmidt is often seen in a black leather trenchcoat.
* BadBoss: Fully expects his soldiers to fight and die for the cause of HYDRA[[note]]read: ingest a cyanide pill.[[/note]] and should one fail him and ''live''... See YouHaveFailedMe.
* BaldOfEvil: Post-procedure he's just a red skull though his false face still has hair.
* BeneathTheMask: During his first confrontation with Captain America, he takes off his false skin and consigns it to the flames, at last revealing and fully embracing his identity [[spoiler: and further dispensing any pretenses to Nazi loyalty]].
* BigBad: He forms HYDRA, seeks out the Tesseract and plots to take over the world including Germany.
* BodyHorror: To paraphrase [[WebVideo/RedLetterMedia Mr. Plinkett]], "Oh my God, what's wrong with the Red Skull's face?!"
* BrutalHonesty: When the Nazis visiting his base to see what the hell he's up to figure out he's a traitor, he admits it straight away.
* CardCarryingVillain: Unlike the subtler modern-times villains faced in ''Winter Soldier'' or by the likes of Tony Stark, Red Skull isn't trying to fool anybody. He's a murderous megalomaniac with a skull for a face, and proud of it. [[spoiler:Zola even points out how much of a failure Red Skull's blatantly evil approach to world domination was, and how the new HYDRA has found vastly greater success with Alexander Pierce's subtler velvet glove approach.]]
* ClarkesThirdLaw: He came up with it ''before [[Creator/ArthurCClarke Clarke]] himself''. That's why he knew he could use the Tesseract to make scientific weapons.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: Played with. Schmidt is only called "Red Skull" once in ''The First Avenger'', and he doesn't care for the name. It's averted in ''The Winter Soldier'', where he is exclusively referred to as the Red Skull.
* CompositeCharacter: Of the Skull, Baron Strucker, and the first Baron Zemo.
* CoolCar: His transport is a coupé that looks like a mix between a Mercedes-Benz and a Bentley. [[WatchThePaintJob Quite proud of it, too!]]
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Despite his supreme arrogance, Schmidt shows extreme cunning at several points of the film.
** At the outset of the film, upon finding the Tesseract in a tomb, he immediately sees it's a fake as the Tesseract isn't something you simply bury.
** When Zola questions why he sent an assassin to kill Erskine and take the super serum, Schmidt reasons that the serum is the only defense the allies have against the Tesseract and if they take it away from them, they will have no chance of victory.
** After seeing Cap [[OneManArmy take down soldier after soldier]] when invading his base, Schmidt [[KnowWhenToFoldEm decides]] to simply activate the SelfDestructMechanism rather than try to fight this guy. Prison break? No problem. Rampaging SuperSoldier? No thanks. Same for when he has Cap at his mercy - no complex torture or death trap, just a Tesseract-pistol shot to the head. His only problem was the JustBetweenYouAndMe speech; it was a few seconds too long.
** During their final confrontation on the Valkyrie, Schmidt decides to take the pragmatic route and simply shoot Cap from behind with a Tesseract-powered cannon. Cap's reflexes saved him from a certain death.
* DeadpanSnarker: When a soldier says his unit "fought to the last man" he replies "Evidentially not," and kills him.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: He used to be an executive for Hitler until he and HYDRA broke off on their own and renounced the Nazis entirely, fulfilling said agenda.
%%* EmpoweredBadassNormal
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: When he captures Cap at his mountain base, he pauses to ask him just what made him so special that Erskine would actually make him a SuperSoldier. Steve merely replies that he's just a kid from Brooklyn, enraging Schmidt enough to give him a quick NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* EvilCounterpart: Much like Cap, he had been injected with the serum. Unlike Cap, he [[spoiler:betrays his own country]], has nothing but contempt for those lesser than him, and is hell-bent on world domination.
* EvilerThanThou: He manages to pull this on the ''Nazis'': He thinks that they will never get him as far as he wants, so he separates himself and HYDRA from them and goes on his world-domination quest without them.
* EvilMakesYouUgly: It does when an imperfect SuperSoldier Serum encounters pre-existing evil.
* EvilPlan: Use the Tesseract to create super weapons and take over the world.
* EvilSoundsDeep: A EvilerThanThou Nazi psychopath with a deep voice.
* ExactWords: He states that HYDRA was formed to eliminate ''his'' enemies. This does not go unnoticed by his Nazi auditors.
* FacialHorror: His entire head is a deformed, red skull shape, albeit with eyes, due to taking the unfinished SuperSoldier serum.
* FauxAffablyEvil: The first thing he says to [[ArchEnemy Captain America]] is "I am a great fan of your films!".
* {{Foil}}: A pitch-perfect foil for the Captain. Steve's a kid from the streets, the Red Skull is a high-ranking Nazi elite. Steve is a HumbleHero, Johann overflows with {{Pride}}. The Captain takes on the identity of a whole nation, [[spoiler: the Red Skull is disloyal to the party]].
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Initially just a Nazi scientist, the serum turned him into a ''real'' asshole.
* GeniusBruiser: A brilliant scientist and military tactician and also strong enough to put a dent in Steve's metal shield.
* AGodAmI: Has one hell of a god complex and gets deflated whenever Cap calls him out on it or acts humble despite his own commensurate super power.
* HellBentForLeather: A great deal of his wardrobe is leather, especially his longcoats.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Inverted. The Red Skull is already convinced that he is special, that he was ''worthy'' of the serum. He sees in Captain America his [[GoodCounterpart opposite number]], another god like him... so during his second encounter with the Captain, he demands to know what makes the Captain special, and the answer is his BerserkButton.
-->'''Steve:''' [[HumbleHero I'm just a kid from Brooklyn]].
* IWasQuiteALooker: He apparently looked better before taking the serum.
* LackOfEmpathy: It's because he views other humans as ants. Why should a superior being care about something so insignificant?
* LargeHam: When he losing control of his temper or the situation or both, he looses his cool. "YOU ARE FAILING!"
* LatexPerfection: His normal human face was evidently an example of this but it's actually averted at a few points: the neck sometimes has problems fastening so that the red flesh can be seen underneath.
* {{Narcissist}}: Has one of his minions paint a portrait of him with entrails.
-->'''Artist:''' This want not meant for eyes of ordinary men.\\
'''Red Skull:''' Precisely.
* NaziNobleman: While he doesn't identify with the Nazi party anymore, he undeniably likes to invoke the Nobleman half.
* NeverFoundTheBody: It's unclear as to exactly ''what'' happened to Schmidt after he grabbed the Tesseract. In-universe, however, he's presumed to be dead.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Schmidt does not mess around when it comes to facing Cap. When he sees Steve rampaging through the base, he immediately activates the self destruct sequence to kill him and the escaping prisoners all at once. When he captures Cap at his mountain base, there's no elaborate death trap or ColdBloodedTorture, just a quick NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and a Tesseract-powered pistol to the head. And when Cap arrives on the Valkyrie and reaches the control room, Schmidt sneaks behind him to get off another Tesseract-powered shot.
* TheNoseless: Justified; he's a skull and the nose is made of cartilage rather than bone.
* ObviouslyEvil: He's a genocidal Nazi control freak with no empathy, a giant trenchcoat and a freaking skull for a head. Everyone, even Zola, can tell from the start that he's bad news.
* OmnicidalManiac: His plan for bombing his enemies includes ''Berlin''. No place is safe from him.
* PersonalityPowers: The Super Soldier Serum "... amplifies everything inside. Good becomes great. Bad becomes worse." Thus, a psychopathic Nazi who gave ''UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler'' the creeps essentially becomes an OmnicidalManiac and even crazier than ever, with power to match his madness.
* PetTheDog: Yes, you read that right. After causing his base to self destruct, Schmidt gives Zola his personal car to drive out.
* PragmaticVillainy: Schmidt could have easily left Zola to die, but instead gives him the keys to his CoolCar... Because someone has to drive it out of the exploding base.
* PsychoPrototype: His serum was flawed (and he's evil) so it made him more psycho then he already was.
* ReassignedToAntarctica: After Schmidt's transformation, Hitler "gives" him a secret base in the Alps. The Red Skull knows that he's really being exiled. [[ReassignmentBackfire However, it gives Schmidt enough privacy to turn HYDRA into his personal army.]]
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Black trenchcoat with a red HYDRA symbol on it. And that's not even mentioning his head.
* RedRightHand: He has a fleshy mask to cover it.
* SanitySlippage: Towards the end his craziness goes UpToEleven.
* SkullForAHead: It's in the name and he doesn't like it.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: For the MCU as a role. Despite appearing in only one film, the repercussions of his actions extend far beyond his lifetime. Schmidt's discovery of the Tesseract ultimately leads to Thanos turning his attention to Earth (leading to the events of both Avengers films), and his reformation of HYDRA later destroyed SHIELD and plunged the world into a state of uncertainty. It is likely that, without Schmidt's influence on history, the spread of superhuman and world-changing conflicts would not have come to dominate Earth at the turn of the 21st century.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Expresses the view that the strong should rule and the weak are expendable in the tie-in comic. However, his social Darwinism isn't tied to Nazi racist ideology, and he in fact indicates he's not a racist... mostly because he doesn't care about humanity at all anymore, so the distinction of race is meaningless to him.
* TheSociopath: Feels free to ignore morality and empathy because he was serumed - he is ''above'' humanity now. Why should he care for human morality?
* TheStarscream:
** Fully intends to usurp Hitler, and has his minions chanting "Hail HYDRA". Eventually he's revealed to have Berlin as one of his targets for annihilation, and kills the Nazi officers who come to look through his projects.
** ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' reveals [=HYDRA=]'s ultimate purpose is to worship and serve an ancient {{body surf}}ing slug. Though this is very much retroactive continuity, it's pretty clear from Schmidt's overall philosophy that he'd have absolutely no interest at all in this if he were even aware of it.
* SuperSoldier: Same as Steve. The serum helps magnifies everything about the subject, including their personalities and inner qualities (good becomes great, bad becomes worse). Schmidt, being decidedly insane and hungry for power, had all of his physical qualities enhanced but gained his grotesque appearance as a result of his psychotic personality. Steve, by contrast, became the paragon of humanity both physically and personality-wise, in part due to his genuine kindness and humility. That was why Erskine chose him for the project in the first place.
* TearOffYourFace: Inverted. To show what he really looks like, he tears off his ''own'' face (or at least the false one) to show to Cap.
* {{Ubermensch}}: Schmidt proclaims himself (and Captain America) to have left humanity behind, rejects outside ideologies in favour of one of his own design, and believes himself to be superior to lesser men.
* TheUnfettered: A given for a sociopathic {{Ubermensch}}; Schmidt was willing to wipe out millions of innocent people to prove his delusions of godhood.
* UnskilledButStrong: He's a scientist first, and when he tangles with Cap it's clear his hand-to-hand combat training isn't at the level of guys like Winter Soldier or even Batroc the Leaper. He can still trade punches with Cap on an even basis since they're both products of the same super serum.
* VillainousBreakdown: "'''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVmBAd76kak YOU ARE FAILING!]]''' We are close to an offensive that will shake the planet, and yet we are continually delayed because you cannot outwit a simpleton with a shield!"
* VillainousFriendship: His interactions with Zola imply this. Despite his contempt for those he views inferior, Schmidt is almost always polite to the doctor and treats him with respect. He even seems to regard him as a friend or at the least as a close confidant, asking his opinion on a portrait of him. Schmidt even gives the doctor his personal car to drive out of the exploding base. Though he gets annoyed by the doctor's failure to stop Cap, he instead vents his anger on a soldier. Of course, this could fall under PragmaticVillainy as he requires the doctor's scientific expertise. Also, Zola knows that Schmidt is a certified psychopath and knows full well the Skull will not hesitate to kill him if he finds him to be a liability. [[spoiler: But even then, the sequel shows that Zola is still carrying on Schmidt's legacy in a way.]]
* VillainousLegacy: As Steve was the world's first superhero, the Red Skull was effectively the first super''villain'', and his actions indirectly influenced future conflicts. He causes the events of ''The Avengers'' via his discovery of the Tesseract and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s recovery of it, and as the arc reactor is implied to be based on Howard Stark's research on the Tesseract, he also played a hand in influencing the events of the ''Iron Man'' films and all that Tony Stark did with the technology. Furthermore, the fact that his assassin caused the super soldier serum formula to be lost by killing its creator means others try to replicate it, resulting in the events of ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''. [[spoiler:And then in ''The Winter Soldier'' we find out HYDRA outlived him and has continued on under new leadership, and it's implied that they continued with their ''own'' super-soldier program -- though more accurately a super-''assassin'' program.]]
* VillainsOutShopping: He recognizes Captain America on security monitors and calls to him by name, saying he's a fan of his films. These observations beg the question of what he does in his spare time. Considering that the people said films likely pit the Captain against are the Nazis that Schmidt has broken away from, that statement may not even be sarcasm, and he might enjoy them for more than their corniness.[[note]][[TruthInTelevision It also doubles as a reference of sorts to the secret "decadent" tastes of various real-world dictators]], such as Hitler's love of pulp cowboy novels and Stalin obsessively watching gangster movies.[[/note]]
* VisionaryVillain: He has a vision of a world united under a single banner: his own.
--> '''Schmidt:''' I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!
* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Averted. In their second confrontation, Skull pauses to ask a small question that one can forgive him for asking (what about Steve made Erskine choose him), and then he pulls out a sidearm and decides to get it over and done with.
* WickedCultured: Shows an appreciation for folklore (for business purposes) and has his picture painted the old fashioned way.
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Though he manages it well and in fact it's [[PowerBornOfMadness all but stated by Zola]], who notes that the sanity (or lack thereof) of his plans are irrelevant, because he can carry them out anyway.
* WorthyOpponent: He tries to regard Captain America as this, but not only does Steve not care for it, but when Steve [[HumbleHero states that there's nothing special about him]] (in contrast to Skull's "ubermensch" speeches), the Red Skull has finally had enough.
* YouHaveFailedMe
-->'''HYDRA grunt:''' We fought to the last man!\\
'''Schmidt:''' Evidently not. ''[shoots the lone survivor]''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dr. Arnim Zola]]
!!Dr. Arnim Zola
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arnim_zola_ca_2208.png]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/TobyJones
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' | ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' | ''Series/AgentCarter''

->''"The sanity of the plan is of no consequence. Because he can do it."''

Weapons designer for HYDRA, and right hand man to Schmidt.

* AdaptationalWimp: In comparison to the vile version of him in the comics, Zola is portrayed as a PunchClockVillain and nothing more. [[spoiler:Until ''The Winter Soldier'' reveals it was all an act. Zola was in fact instrumental in HYDRA's resurrection and infiltration of S.H.I.E.L.D, and is revealed to have gleefully tortured several soldiers including Bucky.]]
* AntiVillain: Works for the Nazis, and then for HYDRA, but has no real desire for conquest; he just wants to create inventions and save his own skin. Subverted though, in that he confesses to be remorseless near the end of the first film and [[spoiler:in the sequel, much more than that]].
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He isn't the PunchClockVillain he says he is.
* BookEnds: His face first appears in the franchise as a sickly, distorted monocolor image on some sort of giant lens in his laboratory [[spoiler:and last appears as a crude, distorted monocolor-screen image in ''Winter Soldier'']].
* BoxedCrook: [[spoiler:He was recruited to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. after the war, along with other Nazi scientists. This proved to be a '''very bad idea''', as he used the opportunity to rebuild HYDRA within S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.]]
* BrainUploading: [[spoiler:He uploads his consciousness in a vast bank of computer in the 1970.]]
* BystanderSyndrome: As mentioned, he only ''makes'' HYDRA's weapons. Beyond that is another matter entirely. [[spoiler:The sequel throws this out the window]].
* TheCameo: [[spoiler:He appears in TheStinger to the season finale to ''Agent Carter''. He proposes an opportunity to team up with Dr. Fennhoff.]]
* CyanidePill: The only HYDRA agent they ever catch who doesn't use one. [[spoiler:In the sequel, though, he ''does'' end up committing suicide in the name of HYDRA.]]
* TheDragon: A non-combatant version, to the Red Skull.
* DragonAscendant: [[spoiler:Reforms HYDRA from within S.H.I.E.L.D. after being captured.]]
* EvilCounterpart: To Dr. Erskine, and also Howard Stark as scientist.
* EvilGenius: His designs are above what Howard Stark or Schmidt could design alone.
* EvilVegetarian: When [[spoiler:Col. Phillips]] offers him a steak, Zola refuses it, saying meat doesn't agree with him. However, he may have been lying since he suspected the meat was poisoned. (It wasn't.)
** This becomes hilarious in hindsight when [[spoiler:he uploads his mind into a databank of computer tapes, after which his insidious infiltration and corruption of S.H.I.E.L.D. only grew.]] Not only did meat disagree with him, it was ''holding him back.''
* FauxAffablyEvil: While quite polite and dorky, he still willingly backs Red Skull. [[spoiler:Crops up again when he's talking to Captain America and Black Widow- he "politely" gloats and then laughs in their face as he expects them all to die]].
* ForScience: He just builds the awesome glowing blue machines. HYDRA and Schmidt are the ones who actually ''use'' them.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: His glasses add to the MadScientist look.
* GreaterScopeVillain: [[spoiler:The first one to Alexander Pierce. He appears for a grand total of two scenes in the sequel, but without him, the plot would've been drastically different.]] See also PredecessorVillain below.
* TheHeavy: While not the main villain, he's the one who designs the Skull's entire arsenal of futuristic weaponry and without him, nothing the Skull planned would have been possible. [[spoiler:He retains this role in the sequel, being the main who turned Bucky into the Winter Soldier as well as the man who wrote the algorithm that lies at the heart of HYDRA's EvilPlan to kill millions of people they deem a threat. Less directly, he also helped HYDRA to take over S.H.I.E.L.D.]]
* HerrDoktor: A Swiss scientist who makes mad science weapons.
* MadScientist: Though he's [[OnlySaneMan much saner]] than [[AxCrazy Red Skull]], he loses all concerns for safety when he realizes the Tesseract's potential. [[spoiler:Even more prominent in ''The Winter Soldier'', where he is shown to be behind the creation of the Winter Soldier, and when he became fatally ill in the '70's, transferred his mind into a computer so he could survive and continue serving HYDRA]].
* ManipulativeBastard: [[spoiler:An implicit requirement for being able to convert SSR/S.H.I.E.L.D. agents over to the very organization they were fighting, one that arose ''from the Nazis''. ''Series/AgentCarter'' implies he may have had some help in this regard, though hypnosis...]]
* MinionWithAnFInEvil: He's uncomfortable in Red Skull's work enviroment and doesn't commit any evil beyond building the weapons. He just happens to work for a lunatic. [[spoiler:The sequel, though, shows that while he's not as evil as Red Skull, he's still a ''very'' bad man. He's the one who makes Bucky into the Winter Soldier, and he's complicit in numerous murders as well as a decades-long conspiracy helping HYDRA to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D.. Worst of all, Zola writes a computer algorithm that helps to identify any and all potential threats to HYDRA's New World Order, numbering in at least the tens of millions, in order that they can be murdered.]]
* MistakenNationality: Because of his accent and who he was working for, both Steve and the audience assumed he was German. Turns out he's Swiss.
* TheMole: Deliberately joined S.H.I.E.L.D. with the intention of raising HYDRA inside it.
* MythologyGag: His first appearance on screen is that of a distorted head in a screen, mirroring his most iconic incarnation. Later he's seen taking paper with the designs of said robot body. [[spoiler:In ''The Winter Soldier'', the camera attached to the computer his uploaded self is occupying looks like the camera on his comics counterpart's robot body.]]
* NonActionGuy: Lampshaded by Zola himself.
--> '''Zola:''' I merely develop the weapons, I cannot fire them!
* NotAfraidToDie:
** Averted. [[spoiler:Philips points out that Zola didn't have a personal cyanide pill to swallow when he got captured, unlike so many other HYDRA agents, which means he prefers to live. This makes him easy to blackmail.]]
** [[spoiler:However, after cheating death for more than forty years with a BrainUploading, when a missile heads his way to kill Captain America, Black Widow, and himself by proxy, he tricks them into listening to his EvilGloating until he believes it's too late to stop, then just laughs and gleefully accepts his fate as the price of success.]]
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: In ''The First Avenger'', he comes off more as a PunchClockVillain who was afraid of Red Skull, but smart enough to make weapons from the Tesseract. [[spoiler:In the sequel, he's sowed the seeds and created a far more dangerous plan and army to take over the world.]]
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Engineered HYDRA's weapons, [[spoiler:turned Bucky Barnes into an ageless cybernetic [[OneManArmy killing machine]], [[BrainUploading uploaded his own consciousness to a computer]] ''as early as the 70's'', and created a predictive analytics algorithm that puts its real world counterparts to shame.]]
* OnlySaneMan: Compared to Schmidt, who's unrelentingly called insane throughout the film - even by Zola himself. [[spoiler:Turns out, while he never bought into Red Skull's little personality cult, he ''was'' a true believer in HYDRA's cause.]]
* PredecessorVillain: Becomes this in ''The Winter Soldier'', as we learn that [[spoiler:he originally orchestrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s corruption and concocted the film's EvilPlan before current BigBad Alexander Pierce took the reins]].
* PunchClockVillain: He has no stake in Schmidt's operation, but who else is gonna to give him a Tesseract? Think of the opportunities! Subverted in ''The Winter Soldier'' as keeping him alive as an Allied scientist allowed him to manipulate S.H.I.E.L.D. from the back end and rebuild HYDRA as a shadow group, poised to bring about Schmidt's new world order using the United States' own technology.
* ReluctantMadScientist: He'd rather build his designs in a environment that did not require chanting 'Hail Hydra'. The sequel reveals that he was only "reluctant" to work for [[BadBoss Red Skull]]; he's quite happy to be a MadScientist and is ideologically proud to work for [=HYDRA=], especially since its implied that the Skull's successors treat him with more respect than did the Skull himself.
* TheStarscream: DoubleSubvertedTrope. While he does seem alarmed by Red Skull's SanitySlippage, he maintains a firm belief in his ideals. Despite that, he isn't willing to throw his life away for the cause, and sells Red Skull out for his own safety -- and, as revealed in ''Winter Soldier'', to revive HYDRA right under its enemies' noses.
* TookALevelInBadass: Dr. Zola takes multiple levels of this after the war ends and he's recruited [[spoiler:to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., being responsible for the decades-long HYDRA plan to covertly take over the world by making them smarter and more competent.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: His torture of the American soldiers is shown [[spoiler: in ''Winder Soldier'']] which casts him in an even nastier light that proves himself to be a bigger threat than he let on.
* TheUnfettered: [[spoiler:In ''The Winter Soldier'', Zola refused to allow ''death'' to stop him from furthering HYDRA's goals; he simply transferred his mind into a computer and went right on working.]]
* VillainTeamUp: In 1946, [[spoiler:Zola's cell was eventually shared with another supervillain, Dr. Fennhoff, a talented hypnotist and leader of Leviathan. Zola offered him a chance for escape by combining their skills, and by proxy uniting Leviathan and HYDRA.]]
* VirtualGhost: [[spoiler:In TheSeventies, he was able to upload his brain into a lot of mainframe computers before dying. Despite some additions such as an USB port, it's mostly an old-fashioned {{Zeerust}} ghost that appears through tube monitors.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: [[spoiler:For ''The Winter Soldier'', where his very appearance is a huge spoiler, let alone the details.]]

[[folder:Secretary Alexander Pierce]]
!!Secretary Alexander Pierce
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alexander_pierce_1511.png]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/RobertRedford\\
'''Film Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''

->''"See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. We knew that despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a really better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down. And that makes enemies."''

A member of the World Security Council and old comrade of Nick Fury. He is one of the primary heads of Project INSIGHT, and leads an investigation on all suspects of the assassination attempt on Nick Fury... including Captain America.

* AdaptationalVillainy: In the comics, Pierce is a standard, good guy agent. In the movie, he's not only the BigBad of the second film, but also a part of HYDRA.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Comic Pierce has black hair, the movie version has Redford's natural red.
* AgeLift: Pierce is a young man in the comics, somewhere in his thirties, and not even half of Redford's age.
* BadassBoast: His retort to Nick Fury's line in BrokenPedestal below.
-->'''Alexander Pierce:''' You already did. You will again, when it's useful.
* BigBad: Of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. He calls for the hit on Fury, gives orders to the Winter Soldier, and plans to use Helicarriers and Zola's algorithm to place the entire world under his control.
* BigBadFriend: To Nick Fury, whom he has a long history with and whom he tries to have killed rather quickly.
* BrokenPedestal: He was the man who appointed Nick Fury as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and was TheMentor to him. The revelation that he was EvilAllAlong greatly upsets Nick.
-->'''Nick Fury:''' You know, there was a time when I would have taken a bullet for you.
* CelebrityParadox: Redford's long career combined with the size of the MCU would make it pretty hard to avoid, and sure enough ''Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid'' has been mentioned on ''Agents of SHIELD''.
* CompositeCharacter: The film's Pierce is an amalgamation of several different characters from the Marvel Universe; Alexander Goodwin Pierce, as far as the name goes, Robert 'Rebel' Ralston, in being an old friend of Fury's who was in an oversight position over S.H.I.E.L.D., not to mention being drawn to look like Redford for a time, and Aleksander Lukin, the Winter Soldier's master. His motives and high position evoke shades of Number One of the Secret Empire arc, while he physically resembles Arnold Brown, the leader of HYDRA during the Strange Tales story arc where the organization first appeared.
* CoolOldGuy: The fact that he's Robert Redford is reason enough, but he also argues defiantly with the World Security Council and has a good sense of humor.
* CorruptBureaucrat: When it comes down to it, this is all he is, but the corruption is in a different way than most. Think of a kill list. People who, it's been decided, threaten the world's order enough that they must be killed to uphold it. From that, he's extrapolated the concept of figuring out what makes a person threaten world order, then removing the people who fit that profile in their dozens, or hundreds, or millions before they become threats. Never mind "innocent until proven guilty". Never mind those on kill lists have usually actively resisted less lethal alternatives. It's just another step...
* DeadpanSnarker: His remark about pointing out Algiers on a map qualifies. This is apparently a habit of his; at one point, one of the World Security Council asks Pierce to get any "snappy remarks" out of the way early.
* DeathGlare: Despite his usual [[FauxAffablyEvil friendly-seeming demeanor]], he can demonstrate a pretty chilling one, such as during Captain America's RousingSpeech and when Pierce kills the World Security Councilors.
* DetectiveMole: He puts himself in charge of investigating Fury's "murder."
* DissonantSerenity: This is his reaction to shooting his maid, who has walked in on him chatting with The Winter Soldier:
-->'''Pierce:''' ''[in a completely calm tone]'' Oh, Renata; I wish you'd ''knocked.''
* DyingAlone: After being shot by Fury, he's left to die in in the ruins of his office as the helicarriers and his plans crumble to pieces around him, proclaiming loyalty to HYDRA with his final breath.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: His first appearance, meeting with the Council. He's standing while they're sitting passively, and while they're argumentative, stuffy, and obstructive, Pierce sees through all of it and delivers catty zingers at their expense. Lastly, there's this exchange, which greatly foreshadows TheReveal later on.
--> '''Councilman:''' This Council takes piracy seriously.\\
'''Pierce:''' [[BrutalHonesty Really? I don't.]] [[WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison I don't care about one ship. I care about the fleet.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
** His daughter, whose near death at the hands of terrorists was what motivated his StartOfDarkness. When he saw how his inaction would've cost her her life and how Fury's unauthorized heroics saved her, Pierce decided he'd rather have the power to stop threats before they occur, whatever the cost, and this may have contributed to his turning to HYDRA.
** He also expresses regret about the death of his maid, even though he personally was forced to shoot her after she stumbled on his meeting with Winter Soldier.
* EvilOldFolks: One of the oldest people in ''The Winter Soldier'' (Robert Redford was 76 at the time of filming) and the head bad guy.
* EvilRedhead: Pierce has Redford's red hair, and is the current leader of HYDRA. Better than having a red face like the previous leader.
* FamousLastWords: "Hail HYDRA."
* FauxAffablyEvil: At first, Pierce seems like another Nick Fury. He rails against the World Security Council much like Fury, has a friendship with Fury and is a fan of the Avengers. The reality is, he's a manipulative {{Jerkass}} who is a member of a dictatorial regime that was spawned in Nazi Germany and he himself is responsible for God-knows how many deaths over the years.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: A bespectacled remorseless mass murderer and HYDRA leader.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of the first season of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''. The first season's BigBad is a mysterious DiabolicalMastermind who calls himself the Clairvoyant, who is actually a HYDRA mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. That means this guy is his boss, but is uninvolved with his EvilPlan.
* HannibalLecture: After Natasha takes over his meeting, puts him at gunpoint and Nick Fury walks in, he gives one of these at the end of the movie. He tells Fury that seeing his aggressive stance on terrorism earlier in their lives is what inspired Pierce to actively stamp out any and all threats to peace. Giving that meant joining HYDRA, Fury is noticeably upset at the notion.
* HumbleHero: Turned down the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Because he sees it as just the right thing to do. Problem is, he's more about "peace through overwhelming power".
* KarmicDeath: Shot twice by Nick Fury, the man he tried to kill and whose "death" set the motion of the events in the film.
* KickTheDog:
** When his housekeeper unexpectedly returns and stumbles onto his meeting with the Winter Soldier, he shoots her twice with only the most minor of regrets.
** While trying to get a mission report from the Winter Soldier, Pierce slaps him in the face when he proves unresponsive, then has him subjected to a painful memory wipe, indifferent to the Soldier's screams of agony as he walks away. This ''disturbs'' the HYDRA agents watching, which includes Brock Rumlow, and they're all normally very apathetic.
* KnightTemplar: Seems to genuinely believe that HYDRA's work is for the good of mankind.
* TheManBehindTheMan: The one who's pulling the strings of the Winter Soldier. He is also HYDRA's modern day leader.
* ManipulativeBastard: He's successfully manipulated S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, and does a good job for manipulating the World Security Council, Captain America and even seasoned chessmaster Nick Fury.
* MoleInCharge: He is HYDRA's mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. and he's ''Fury's boss''. After Fury's death, his control of S.H.I.E.L.D. is essentially rock-solid.
* TheNeedsOfTheMany: He justifies his plot to have HYDRA shoot 20,000,000 people by saying their deaths will save billions.
* NonActionBigBad: Unusually for a superhero movie, Pierce does not ''appear'' to have any physical combat capabilities. However, he knows how to use guns and hidden kill-gadgets, and given that he is in command of virtually all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s resources (including legions of SWAT teams, ''multiple'' helicarriers, and [[OneManArmy The Winter Soldier]]), he is still extremely dangerous.
* OhCrap: Multiple ones, during the Finale.
** First when Natasha reveals that she infiltrated the Council and takes out his guards. Pierce can only watch in surprise.
** Then, when Nick Fury reveals he survived the assassination attempt. Pierce respond with a grimace but tries to save face with a quip.
--->'''Pierce:''' [[BlackComedy Did you get my flowers?]]
** Last when, Black Widow shocks herself to disable Pierce's kill-device on her. This time his shock of trying to figure out what just happened buys time for Fury to grab a gun and shoot him.
* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: Pierce is notable for that time he turned down the Nobel Peace Prize by saying that peace is a goal that must be continuously striven for and such a worthy goal does not need prizes. By this point in the film he's already been revealed as the head of HYDRA, and we know that HYDRA's ideas of peace are not the kind that would warrant the Peace Prize. Nick is suitably disgusted when he says the line.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Introduced as friend and superior of Nick Fury's, a member of the World Security Council, despite not appearing among them in ''The Avengers''. Almost all the WSC members seen here are new, though, so it's possible ''The Avengers'' either didn't show all the members or there was a change in staff in the time since.
* RunningBothSides: For most of ''The Winter Soldier'', he's in charge of both the legitimate S.H.I.E.L.D. and the American division of HYDRA.
%%* SharpDressedMan: Wears a gray three-piece suit.
* SmugSmiler: When Fury turns up alive, he can only smirk. Alan Dale's World Security Councillor even calls him a "smug son of a bitch" which is a very accurate description.
* TwoFirstNames: Alexander and Pierce.
* TheUnfettered: The ends justify the means for Pierce, so he doesn't bother limiting his means; early in ''The Winter Soldier'', he tries to have his old friend Nick Fury assassinated by police officers. Then there's Project INSIGHT.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity:
** He turned down a Nobel Peace Prize because he supposedly felt that peace wasn't something you achieve and then get a prize for; it's something you must forever strive to attain and defend.
** He remained a very high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent until Rogers exposed him as the leader of HYDRA.
* WalkingSpoiler: Being an essential character in the ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' movie, a great deal of his role consists of spoilers.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Pierce ''believes'' himself to be one of these, but it falls short when one considers that the intended targets of Project Insight were all people who stood to threaten HYDRA, rather than the world as a whole.

[[folder:John Garrett / The Clairvoyant]]
-->See the [[Characters/MCUHYDRATheCentipedeGroup Centipede Group page]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wolfgang von Strucker]]
!!Baron Wolfgang von Strucker
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolfgang_von_strucker_ws_1092.png]]

->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/ThomasKretschmann
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''

->''"It's not a world of spies anymore, not even a world of heroes. This is the age of miracles, doctor. And there is nothing more horrifying than a miracle."''

The apparent leader of HYDRA after the events of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and the death of Alexander Pierce.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Is completely bald, scarred and often gaunt in the comics. He's played by the attractive Kretschmann in film, and he's buzzcut rather than bald.
* AdaptationalWimp: In the comics, Strucker is a big name villain and a serious physical threat in the comics. Masterminding the events of ''The Winter Soldier'' and being mentioned in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' appeared to set him up as one of the next big villains in the MCU. Come ''Age of Ultron'', Strucker is shown to be a DirtyCoward who quickly surrenders and is taken out by Captain America moments after running into him. [[spoiler: Then he's KilledOffscreen by Ultron.]]
* BadBoss: He leaks information about remaining HYDRA bases to buy himself time for his own plans while effectively selling out his underlings.
* BigBadWannabe: Despite all of the build up, he's easily captured at the beginning ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[spoiler:and doesn't even get an on-screen death, instead being KilledOffScreen]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In ''The Winter Soldier'' he is portrayed as a menacing and cold DiabolicalMastermind and clearly a major threat. ''Age of Ultron'' abandons those traits altogether, portraying him as a BigBadWannabe DirtyCoward who's nothing more than a glorified DiscOneFinalBoss.
* TheChessmaster: He's the man who orchestrated the entire scheme with HYDRA and S.H.I.E.L.D., and not only that, he escaped entirely unscathed the havoc caused by the plot's unveiling in ''The Winter Soldier''.
* DirtyCoward: Pretty shamelessly, unless he was aiming for ISurrenderSuckers below.
-->'''Strucker:''' We will not yield. The Americans send their ''circus freaks'' to test us. We will send them back, in bags. NO SURRENDER!\\
'''HYDRA Soldiers:''' NO SURRENDER!\\
'''Strucker:''' ''[quietly, to Dr. List]'' I'm going to surrender...
* DecompositeCharacter: The Red Skull takes over his comic counterpart's position as founder of HYDRA, and he probably wasn't anywhere near World War II.
* DemotedToExtra: Is the founder and preeminent head of HYDRA in the comics. The movies make Red Skull the founder, and ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' implies he's actually one of a council. In a specific film example, he was originally the BigBad of ''The Winter Soldier'', as is evident in abandoned storyboards before Robert Redford was cast and the role was re-written to be Pierce instead.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He's the primary threat of the first act of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', and is succeeded by the titular character shortly afterward.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Strucker is quickly dealt with in ''Age of Ultron'''s opening act, and the next time we see him, [[spoiler: he's already been killed by Ultron to cover his tracks]].
* EarlyBirdCameo: Appears in the stinger of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', before being featured more prominently in the opening of ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''.
* EvilGenius: Strucker is an accomplished scientist working for HYDRA.
* EvilWearsBlack: Like most of the rest of HYDRA in the films, Strucker wears a black uniform similar to the green one HYDRA had in the comics.
* FaceHeelTurn: According to the ''Age of Ultron'' prelude comic, he was originally a genuine S.H.I.E.L.D. agent before becoming dissatisfied with the organization and being recruited by HYDRA.
* GoYeHeroesGoAndDie: When the Avengers are [[CurbstompBattle quickly making their way to his HQ]], he encourages his men to fight to the end and that they will not surrender. He then immediately turns to Dr. List and whispers that they're going to surrender.
* GreaterScopeVillain: He's this to ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' Season 2, as dialogue suggests he's superior in the organization to [[BigBad Whitehall]] and the HYDRA council. He's on Team Coulson's hit list but they have other, more immediate, targets.
* HighClassGlass: Wears one just like in the comics. This one seems to be actually a high tech lens and not a straight monocle.
* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:After telling Ultron that he can obtain more vibranium from Ulysses Klaue, Ultron murders Strucker to cover his tracks. The Avengers find his body with "PEACE" written on the wall in his cell.]]
* ISurrenderSuckers: Despite claiming to surrender, he has Scarlet Witch on standby ready to attack Cap. It doesn't work.
* NewEraSpeech: His "age of miracles" monologue is a downplayed version of this since he's only thinking about his two new bio weapons (Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch).
* ObviouslyEvil: Von Strucker's Nazi-esque appearance wouldn't be out of place in a 1940's film serial.
* OmnidisciplinaryScientist: Besides human experimentation using Loki's staff, Strucker was also working on a variety of scientific endeavours. In particular, it was his robotics projects that inspired Tony Stark to create Ultron. Tony thinks that the mind inside the scepter (revealed to be the Mind Gem) is what was truly doing all the thinking.
* OverlordJr: ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' reveals that he has a son named Werner von Strucker. Ironically, Werner says that his father kept him as far away from HYDRA as possible, and Werner ended up instead being a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob who spent his father's money. It was someone else who groomed him for HYDRA leadership.
* StarterVillain: For ''Age of Ultron'' he is the first threat that the Avengers take down, and from him they steal Loki's Scepter. This leads to Ultron.
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler: In his second MCU appearance, he's the villain of the prologue, but is then suddenly KilledOffscreen by Ultron.]]
* TheVonTropeFamily: Wolfgang ''von'' Strucker.
* WalkingSpoiler: He doesn't appear until a mid-credits scene, and his presence spoils the role of HYDRA in ''The Winter Soldier''.
* WeHaveReserves: He plans to leak intel to Captain America about other surviving HYDRA bases so Rogers will be distracted taking them out while he completes his plan.

[[folder:Daniel Whitehall/Werner Reinhardt]]
!!''Doctor Daniel Whitehall/Werner Reinhardt''
[[quoteright:290:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/whitehall_daniel.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Discovery requires experimentation."'']]
->'''Portrayed by:''' Creator/ReedDiamond
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows Episode 23: "Shadows"]]'')

->''"Freedom. Equality. Individual rights. These principles make mankind a plague on this planet. Think of a forest. It dries up and catches fire with the first spark. Now, mankind would fight that fire, believing every individual plant perfect in its own individual way. But it's the fire that's perfect."''

A prominent member of HYDRA in 1945 and, somehow, in the 21st century as well.

* ArcVillain: Though he starts off as Season Two's BigBad, he doesn't last beyond "What They Become".
* AscendedExtra: Daniel Whitehall is a relatively new villain in the Marvel comic universe, having only debuted in 2009 (though he's the replacement/successor to long-time HYDRA agent Commander Kraken, who debuted in 1970). Here, he's the BigBad of Season Two and one of the heads of HYDRA.
* BigBad: At the onset of Season Two, he appears as one of the heads of HYDRA and is the lead villain searching for the Obelisk.
* BigBadDuumvirate: At the end of "A Hen in the Wolf House", Whitehall teams up with the Doctor to kill Coulson and his team, and he later brings Ward into the fold in "The Things We Bury".
* BreakThemByTalking: He delivers one to Agent 33 about HYDRA's philosophy of TheEvilsOfFreeWill to wear down her resolve while brainwashing her.
* CatchPhrase: "Discovery requires experimentation."
* ColdBloodedTorture: He boasts about [[VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}} Deathshead]]-levels of torture, like how he once operated on a conscious woman on-and-off for a full week, and how [[LackOfEmpathy the hardest part was keeping her awake enough to feel the pain]].
* {{Determinator}}: He's been after the Obelisk since ''1945''.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He spearheads the search for the Obelisk, and later the hidden city, in the first half of Season Two. After he's killed by Coulson, he leaves a hole that could be filled by the Doctor, Ward and Agent 33, or Jiaying, with the position of BigBad ultimately going to Jiaying.
* TheDreaded: His subordinates are terrified of failing him, and rightly so, given his penchant for ColdBloodedTorture and utter lack of anything resembling a conscience. Even the usually unflappable Raina is scared of him.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The first half of "What They Become" is spent building up to a final confrontation between the Doctor and Whitehall. Just before the big showdown, Coulson arrives and shoots Whitehall on sight, killing him instantly and pissing the Doctor off.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** On the receiving end of this after his death, as one of the HYDRA leaders speaks ill of him at the subsequent meeting, and even Agent 33 realizes that he was a terrible master.
** While his objections aren't remotely moral in nature, Whitehall wants nothing to do with the "ancient cult" facet of HYDRA, preferring the scientific aspects established by the Red Skull. He even tried to convince a young Gideon Malick to abandon the cult in favour of Whitehall's vision for HYDRA.
* FakeAmerican: In-universe, he dropped the German accent and adopted an American name after being released from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody.
* FauxAffablyEvil: His introduction has him cheerfully chatting with a subordinate even as Agent Carter and the [=SSR=] are closing on their location, even reassuring the subordinate and telling him not to be scared because the Red Skull is now dead. He doesn't even get particularly upset when the [=SSR=] arrests him, but his veneer of good manners thinly disguises a psychopath who expects everyone around to obey him completely out of MindControl or sheer terror, and it's rare for him to open his mouth without speaking about torture, mass-murder or power.
* ForScience: "Discovery requires experimentation."
* FourEyesZeroSoul: He's seen calmly cleaning his glasses during the evacuation of his HYDRA camp. He repeats the action after receiving word that Creel has obtained the Obelisk in the present day. He calmly orders the vivisection, organ extraction and then dumping of Skye's mother.
* HealingFactor: While never shown demonstrating it, this is why he's OlderThanTheyLook, having extracted it from Jiaying and applied it to himself.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Regarding the Obelisk. Despite searching for it for decades he knows nearly nothing about what it really is and needs The Doctor to show him how it functions. He's also unaware of who The Doctor actually is, showing no recognition when they meet despite the fact that The Doctor apparently knows him. Instead of being recruited by the SSR like Zola, he was kept in captivity until 1989, when Alexander Pierce released him. He also encountered the Doctor's wife who he first met in 1944 but hadn't aged a day since, and experimented on her to take her immortality for his own, killing her in the process.
* MadDoctor: It's not clear what kind of doctor he is, though he references performing surgery ([[ColdBloodedTorture as torture]]) and is interested in scientific research (into weapons of mass destruction).
* TheManBehindTheMan: He appears to be running a portion of HYDRA in the present day after the demise of Alexander Pierce, though Ward implies that Whitehall's a subordinate to Baron Strucker.
* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: While imprisoned, he still has considerable influence over not only the Red Skull's HYDRA, but also Malick's Hive-worshipping HYDRA.
* MoralEventHorizon: Why Agent Carter decided against using him for anything and instead locked him up for life; his human experimentation with the Obelisk didn't just disgust the audience. [[invoked]]
* MuggingTheMonster: Between the Absorbing Man and Mister Hyde, Whitehall - despite his only superpower being not aging - surrounded himself with people who can arm-wrestle with Thor and the Hulk, and yet managed to believe he was totally in control the entire time.
* OlderThanTheyLook: He appears alive at the end of "Shadows"... set nearly ''seventy years'' after his appearance in a flashback at the beginning of the episode. It's revealed that he did in fact age naturally into an old man while in custody until Alexander Pierce freed him under the pretense of "medical release". He and HYDRA tracked down a woman who didn't get killed by the Obelisk and who hadn't aged a day- Skye's mom. Whitehall vivisected her to rejuvinate himself and then tossed her corpse into the woods.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: He lets his many agents do his dirty work for him. The only two things he has done personally are: go after Raina and brainwash Agent 33.
* RaceLift: He was British in the comics and worked as British intelligent agent during World War II. In MCU, he's instead a German HYDRA Officer during World War II. Then again, "Daniel Whitehall" is his real name in the comics, while here his real name is Werner Reinhardt and "Daniel Whitehall" is an alias.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: For a villain, anyway. He has no problem with his agents changing their plans or [[YouHaveFailedMe failing their mission]], such as when Agent 33 failed to catch Raina or when Ward took Skye from the Quinjet. However, he won't tolerate direct disobedience.
* RealityEnsues: Whitehall is a monstrous HYDRA leader with incredible resources at his command. How does he die? From Coulson putting a couple of bullets in him while Whitehall's back was turned.
* RememberTheNewGuy: He was apparently a very high-ranking member of HYDRA in the 40's and part of the inner circle of the ComicBook/RedSkull, despite the fact that he's neither seen nor mentioned in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' and only appears in the MCU starting with the second season of ''[=AoS=]''.
* {{Sadist}}: Boasts to Raina that he's perfected the art of performing surgery without anesthesia- ForTheEvulz- without them falling unconscious from the pain. He also seemed to greatly enjoy mentally breaking Agent 33. His underlings range from those who are utterly terrified of him to those who he controls completely with brainwashing as well.
* TheSociopath: Very sadistic, FauxAffablyEvil, [[MadDoctor experimenting with the obelisk using human test subjects and then continuing with the same methods when it becomes apparent that they don't work]] simply ForTheEvulz. That, coupled with the fact that he's TheUnfettered, makes him this.
* SoftSpokenSadist: He always talks in a calm, almost monotone, manner.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: A few camera angles with the right lighting give him this.
* ShutUpHannibal: Rare evil to evil version. When he corners Raina and she tries to negotiate, he just shuts her up with a little remote torture device.
-->'''Whitehall:''' You should know, I'm not like the people you're used to dealing with. I'm not so easily confused.
* StupidJetpackHitler: A HYDRA leader who ran a base in Austria filled with a good number of future 084s -- including the first official 084 according to S.H.I.E.L.D. records.
* SurprisinglySuddenDeath: After spending a good deal of Season 2's first half on the Doctor's quest for brutal revenge against him, he gets a deliberately anti-climactic and unsatisfying death from Coulson with a couple bullets he doesn't even see coming.
* ThoseWackyNazis: A first-generation member of HYDRA, which spun out of the Nazi party, but essentially kept the major themes along with a touch of StupidJetpackHitler.
* TotalitarianUtilitarian: Believes that there should be a single world order run by HYDRA dedicated to eradicating TheEvilsOfFreeWill and anything resembling liberty or freedom.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He didn't get to live to see it (or really care), but his visection of Jiaying would mean doom for plenty of innocent people down the line.
* VillainousFriendship: Despite being a sadistic sociopath and former Nazi, Whitehall was held in surprisingly high regard by his HYDRA peers. List even admits to missing him after Whitehall was killed, and the HYDRA council honors him with a toast, saying that he had joined the Red Skull in the afterlife.
* WhiteHairBlackHeart: He's a sadistic HYDRA scientist with white hair. It doesn't appear to be age-related either, as he still has it even as a middle-aged man during 1945.
* YoureInsane: Gets this from The Doctor, who declares his methods in trying to figure out the Obelisk (specifically, repeating methods he knew didn't work) "the very definition of insanity".

[[folder:Dr. List]]
!!''Dr. List''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/list_maos.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"Let's show them what we have accomplished. Send out the twins."]]

->'''Portrayed by:''' Henry Goodman
->'''Appearances''': ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E11Aftershocks Episode 33, "Aftershocks"]]''), ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''

A scientist and one of the leading figures of HYDRA, often representing the voice and interests of Wolfgang Von Strucker.

* AscendedExtra: His role in the movies is fairly brief. His only real function there is to be a loyal aide Von Strucker can confide his [[EvilPlan evil plans]] to. By guest starring in three episode of [=AoS=] as the GreaterScopeVillain, he ends up with more screentime than his boss.
* BigBadEnsemble: With Robert Gonzales and Jaiying in the second half of Season 2, who appears more often and is a more imminent enemy than List.
* TheDragon: He represents Strucker's interests and works on his behalf.
* DragonAscendant: With the deaths of Whitehall as well as the HYDRA councilors his standing within the organization has increased.
* EarlyBirdCameo: His first appearance was in TheStinger of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.
* EvilOldFolks: An evil man whose age is starting to show.
* ForScience: Though not as much as Whitehall, he has no compunction against experimenting on living people. He even respects Whitehall's dedication.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Set up as one for the latter half of Season 2, despite not appearing much. He's a leader in HYDRA and is Coulson's primary target to destroy HYDRA.
* TheMole: He was one of the many S.H.I.E.L.D. members secretly aligned with HYDRA.
* MouthOfSauron: Served as Strucker's in the HYDRA council.
* SharpDressedMan: After the deaths of the HYDRA council, his wardrobe improves.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He ends up getting knocked out by Iron Man in ''Age of Ultron'', but unlike Strucker, his fate after that point is not revealed. In a search for remaining HYDRA operatives in "S.O.S.", he's noted to be gone, so it's likely he was arrested like Strucker, if not killed along with him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sunil Bakshi]]
!!''Sunil Bakshi''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sunil_bakshi_aos_1795.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I'm part of a grand history."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Simon Kassianides
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows Episode 23, "Shadows"]]'')

->''"We grow stronger every day while S.H.I.E.L.D. clings desperately to a world it no longer understands. We will rip it from your hands."''

A HYDRA operative who gives the orders in the field as well as recruiting ''gifted'' individuals.
----
* AffablyEvil: He comes off as rather polite in his lectures.
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Played by a slightly darker white British actor of Cypriot descent, though his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakshi surname]] implies South Asian or Jewish ancestry.
* AssholeVictim: It's quite hard to feel sorry for his plight and ultimate demise after he's shown himself to be not just a loyal but also willing follower of Whitehall.
* BumblingSidekick: Even though he should by all accounts be a formidable villain, being Whitehall's Dragon, a senior leader of HYDRA, and the one who supervises HYDRA's brainwashed subjects, he has a surprising tendency to fail at every instance. It's a wonder that Whitehall kept him around, even if his failures weren't apparent from the start.
** He thought [[BadLiar Simmons]], of all people, could be trusted. He backpedals on this quickly, only for DeepCoverAgent Bobbi to reveal herself and get the jump on him instead.
** With Agent 33, he catches May in a trap and by all means should've held the upper hand, but after Coulson sees through their disguises, he fails to make any backup plans and tries to make a hasty extraction, but is quickly hit with an ICER and foiled as a result.
** Both Ward and a disguised Hunter are able to make quick work of him.
* CanonForeigner: Unlike his master, he has no comic book counterpart and was created specifically for the show.
* CompellingVoice: He uses a TriggerPhrase in order to keep brainwashed subjects in line.
* DirtyCoward: As soon as he winds up in a situation he has no control over, such as Hunter holding him at gunpoint, he is reduced to a simpering coward.
* TheDragon: Bakshi serves as Whitehall's second-in-command.
* DragonAscendant: Once Whitehall has been dealt with, he is effectively the head of HYDRA in Whitehall's region of the globe. However, he never actually gets to do anything, since he is a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D., then Talbot, then Ward, and then he's killed.
* DrivenToSuicide: Has a cyanide pill in his cheekbone, which he utilizes while being grilled by Bobbi. It didn't quite kill him.
* EvilBrit: Speaks in a noticeable British accent.
* EvilGenius: He's quite intelligent, to say the least.
* FightingFromTheInside: Is apparently resisting his brainwashing by Ward and Kara, leading to the capture of Deathlok and Lincoln by HYDRA. Then it turns out that he's really not. His acting was so convincing, even viewers thought he had legitimately returned to HYDRA.
* KarmicDeath: He is killed by Jemma, albeit accidentally or in self-defense with a Splinter Bomb, an item created by HYDRA to kill people horribly.
* TheHeavy: Has had considerably more screen time in season 2 than other HYDRA members, including [[BigBad his master]].
* HumiliationConga: He was already a ButtMonkey from the start, but after being betrayed by Ward and sold out to S.H.I.E.L.D., he can't seem to catch a break.
** Bobbi [[BreakHimByTalking breaks him by talking]] and gets him to indirectly spill Whitehall's secret behind his OlderThanHeLooks appearance. Following this, he fails to kill himself with cyanide.
** After Whitehall is killed, he is fooled into thinking there is a power struggle in HYDRA, [[BatmanGambit and following a faked breakout scheme]], he is manipulated into ordering the assassinations on the other HYDRA leaders before being recaptured and taken into military custody.
** His last brainwashed subject breaks him out of prison... except she is working with [[WildCard Ward]], and he quickly finds himself subjected to the same brainwashing. Worse, he is outright told he is expendable and it seems the procedure is little more than revenge and ForTheEvulz.
** To summarize: He failed to notice S.H.I.E.L.D. had infiltrated HYDRA's ranks until it was too late, couldn't stop S.H.I.E.L.D. from finding the underground city first, lost control of his brainwashed subjects, inadvertently let slip his master's secrets, undermined his entire leadership on his first day as DragonAscendant, and finally was HoistByHisOwnPetard when he was subjected to his own brainwashing procedure.
* {{Irony}}: The HYDRA agent that oversees brainwashed individuals was not only brainwashed himself, but manipulated into destroying HYDRA itself. [[UnwittingPawn Not that he needed brainwashing to already do that.]]
* NonActionGuy: He hasn't shown any incredible fighting prowess. When dealing with May, he catches her off-guard so Agent 33 can taze her, then tortures her while she's tied up. Once she's free, he wisely makes a break for it before being stunned by Coulson. In the next episode, he chases down Simmons while flanked by backup and given his lack of bruises later, seems he didn't opt to fight Bobbi himself ([[ActionGirl probably for a good reason]]).
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: Despite having a rather bad run of luck, he proves he can be quite the manipulator in "The Frenemy of My Enemy". Not only did he manage to either overcome or convincingly fake being brainwashed by Ward and Agent 33, he played along until he was in a position to get back into HYDRA free and clear, managing to capture both Deathlok and Lincoln after the two had worn themselves out fighting each other. This is subverted in the following episode when he's revealed to have been on Ward's side all along, and manages to sneak Coulson's team into HYDRA's base, even killing a HYDRA mook off-screen that was following him.
* OhCrap:
** His reaction after being found by the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents being tied up on a chair. This happened after Ward [[KickTheSonOfABitch beat him up off screen along with other HYDRA agents]].
** When Agent 33 breaks him out of prison, he is relieved to see that she is still loyal... then Ward appears right behind her.
* SharpDressedMan: Has thus far only been seen wearing a nice suit, even on a field mission (while his underlings have more proper attire).
* TakingTheBullet: Meets his end when Simmons tries to kill Ward with a splinter bomb in the penultimate episode.
* UndyingLoyalty:
** Bobbi thinks she's cracked his personal code and found out how to make him turn on Whitehall. As a final push, she asks "what kind of a man are you?" He replies, "A loyal one!" Then he bashes his head on a table to break open a CyanidePill hidden in his cheekbone.
** This is still a primary trait even after he is brainwashed by Ward. He meets his end by putting himself in the way when Simmons tries to kill Ward.
* UnwittingPawn: He's made into the patsy that takes down most of the leadership of HYDRA.
* WellDoneSonGuy: Bobbi's theory behind his loyalty to Whitehall is based on this sort of approval-seeking behavior. Her SherlockScan told her that he's estranged from his parents and a ray of acceptance and respect from Whitehall secured his devotion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:HYDRA Council]]
!!Octavian Bloom, the Baroness, the Banker, the Sheik
[[quoteright:345:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eb36b1785dd9229a5133ea8293ddbff8.png]]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Fred Dryer, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Joel Polis, Maz Siam
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appear in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E11Aftershocks Episode 33, "Aftershocks"]]'')

The various branch leaders of HYDRA alongside Daniel Whitehall under Baron von Strucker.
----
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' shows us that if you "Cut off one head, another shall take its place". What Team Coulson doesn't know is that the HYDRA leadership is still alive and well, even if they destroyed a very big branch of HYDRA. Coulson knows, though, since he sent Deathlok to scout out the remnants of HYDRA.
* BigBadDuumvirate: They are implied to be at equal footing with Whitehall. They only have this position for one episode before they die.
* BoomHeadshot: Bloom gets one from Lance Hunter.
* CanonForeigner: None of them seems to have comics counterparts, which is odd, because even in the comics, HYDRA has several branch leaders like them. Although since they are [[WeHardlyKnewYe short-lived]] in this series, this won't be a waste of characters.
* CosmopolitanCouncil: They're a surprisingly diverse group for HYDRA, including several ethnicities and both genders.
* DeadlyGas: The Sheikh is killed with poisonous gas.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: In a demonstration of HYDRA having moved beyond its Nazi roots, its leadership council includes a woman and a Middle-Eastern man. [[spoiler: Makes sense, because the earliest incarnations of HYDRA ''weren't'' Nazi at all.]]
* MouthOfSauron: Dr. List serves as Strucker's voice in the HYDRA council.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: The Banker is killed and disintegrated by a Splinter Bomb, the similar bomb that Marcus Scarlotti used to kill Agent Noelle Walters.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Save for Octavian Bloom, we never find out their real names.
* TheRedBaron: They all have titles such as The Banker, The Sheikh, The Accountant, and The Baroness.
* TakenForGranite: How the Baroness dies, after drinking champagne laced with the weaponized Diviner effect.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: All of them save List die thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s manipulations in the episode they are introduced.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mitchell Carson]]
!!Mitchell Carson
->'''Portrayed By''': Martin Donovan
->'''Appearances''': ''Film/AntMan''

A member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s 1989 board who tried to steal the secret of Pym Particles. He becomes Cross's investor in the modern day to get his hands on them again.
----
* AgeLift: In the comics, he's in his prime, to the point that he was the candidate to take over the role of Ant-Man. Here he's an old man in the present, and a contemporary colleague of Howard Stark and Peggy Carter.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Provides Cross with the contract for Yellowjacket suits and Pym Particles [[spoiler:for HYDRA's use]].
* InNameOnly: The only characteristics he shares with the comic character is working for S.H.I.E.L.D. and wanting to possess Ant-Man's powers.
* ItsPersonal: It is very much clear that he resents Hank for punching him in the face, even 26 years later.
* {{Jerkass}}: Uses Janet's HeroicSacrifice to mock Hank for failing to save her. [[spoiler:And that's before he's revealed working for HYDRA.]]
* KickTheDog: Mocks Janet's death right in front of Hank's face in the 80's. Hank gives him a bloody nose for it and Howard thinks he deserved it.
* ObviouslyEvil: Not to Cross's extent, but no one is surprised that the member of the board that took time to mock Hank's deceased wife turned out to be [[spoiler:part of HYDRA]].
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: After leaving S.H.I.E.L.D., he's become the head of one, and also works as an arms dealer. Then again [[spoiler:he's still a part of HYDRA]].
* TokenEvilTeammate: Even Peggy and Howard clearly don't like him that much - the latter makes it perfectly clear that he's got NoSympathy for his broken nose after Hank punched him for mocking his wife. [[spoiler:Turns very literal with TheReveal he's with HYDRA.]]
* UnexpectedCharacter: With the movie focusing on Hank Pym and Scot Lang, no one expected a villain of the third Ant-Man, Eric O'Grady to appear.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: He escapes with a vial of Cross's Pym Particles and isn't heard from again. Peyton Reed has revealed that he did get his comeuppance in the original script, but then the Marvel higher-ups asked for him to be left alive to be used in the future.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Karpov]]
!!Karpov

->'''Portrayed by:''' Gene Farber
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''

A Russian HYDRA Commander who was the Winter Soldier's handler during the early 90s.
----
* DefiantToTheEnd [[spoiler: He refuses to give information to Zemo even when he is going to kill him by drowning him in the sink]]
* MythologyGag: In the comics he was responsible for turning Bucky into the Winter Soldier. [[spoiler: While Zola took that role from him, he does appear having the Winter Soldier answer to him and was responsible for the creation of the other five Winter Soldiers.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: [[spoiler: Even after not being an active agent, he refuses to give Zemo the information he was looking for on a mission from HYDRA, even giving the "Hail Hydra" as Zemo left him dying.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Ancient Society

[[folder:The Ancient Society]]
!!''The Ancient Society''
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1800s_hydra.jpg]]

->'''Appearances''': ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E2PurposeInTheMachine "Purpose in the Machine"]]'')

->''"Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. HYDRA was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return."''
-->--'''Gideon Malick'''

This secret society was founded in ancient times centered around the fanatical worship of a powerful Inhuman that was exiled to the planet Maveth by ancient Inhumans. Ever since his banishment, the cult has been determined to bring him back to Earth to commence a planetary takeover. Over the centuries, the cult evolved, taking many forms, with its most recent incarnation coming into existence shortly after the rise of Nazism in 1940s where the cult took on the name HYDRA, which has become the organization's most colloquial label.
----
* AncientConspiracy: "Many Heads, One Tale" revealed that HYDRA is actually [[spoiler:descended from a cult worshiping an ancient Inhuman, who was banished through the Monolith thousands of years ago, and have been working towards retrieving him ever since.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: Most, if not all, members of the group in the mid-19th century are European noblemen.
* AsLongAsThereIsOneMan: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." [[spoiler:Considering the group has been around through ''millennia'', it's safe to say that the phrase is more than just a BadassCreed.]]
* {{Cult}}: They worship a specific ancient Inhuman who has been banished into a planet on the other side of Monolith.
* DrawingStraws: They draw lots (in this case, colored stones from a sack rather than literal straws) to see who will go into the Monolith to feed Hive. [[spoiler:At some point (Possibly but not necessarily starting with Malick's father), the white stone was scored so that [[DirtyCoward the leader of the group could always know which stone not to draw]].]]
* HumanSacrifice: When the society came in possession of the Monolith, they started sending men through the portal, hoping to save or at least serve their leader on the other side. But none of them ever came back.
* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:The {{retcon}} turning HYDRA from a Nazi splinter group into an AncientConspiracy was used in the comics years ago]].
* SigilSpam: The Hebrew word for "Death", seen in "Purpose in the Machine", is used in the group's castle to mark secret passages and other dangerous places. They also can't stop themselves from putting disguised variations of their symbols everywhere for millennia.
* VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler:The group's founded since millennia, and still exists through modern days.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: The society was a sort-of predecessor to HYDRA, and they have been around since millennia.
* WeAreEverywhere: In the mid-19th, their castle was in England and most of the members appear to be European (the nobleman named Manzini is most likely an Italian, for example). During World War II, they are centered in Germany. In the modern days, they are pretty much everywhere around the world.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grant Ward]]
!!''Grant Douglas Ward''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ward_grant_douglas.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"...while a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is considering right and wrong, HYDRA's already taken the shot."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BrettDalton
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D]]''

->''"There's not enough good left inside me."''

An anti-social Level Seven (formerly a Level Six) agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was said to have a strong moral foundation. He became a member of Agent Coulson's team that is assembled to investigate strange events around the world. However, he was really an agent of HYDRA loyal to John Garrett, who recruited him into both organizations at the same time. Following Garrett's defeat, Ward is imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Playground's basement prison, and is used as a source of information on HYDRA.

In the Season 2 finale, he steps up to take control of HYDRA due to the power vacuum caused by Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.
----

[[folder:Gideon Malick]]
!!''Gideon Malick''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/malick_gideon.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"Sometimes you sacrifice a player to save the game."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/PowersBoothe
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E6AmongUsHide Episode 50: "Among Us Hide..."]]'')

A former member of the World Security Council, ''Agents'' reveals that he's an old friend of Wolfgang von Strucker and one of the last remaining members of the old HYDRA.

* AscendedExtra: He previously appeared in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' as an unnamed member of the World Security Council.
* BigBadDuumvirate: With Ward since they are the only heads of Hydra left in season 3. [[spoiler: After the mid-season finale, he forms a new one with Hive. It doesn't last, however; Hive has him DemotedToDragon once his power is restored and then has him killed in "The Team" when he betrays him to SHIELD.]]
* BigBadWannabe: By himself Malick would be a pretty big threat on his own however he underestimates [[EvilIsNotAToy his ability to control Hive]] and believes that said EldritchAbomination would work with him. Over the course of the second half of season 3 [[spoiler: Hive strips him of his control on HYDRA , gathers his own Inhuman minions, kills Gideon's daughter in front of him and then finally kills Malick himself once he's [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived his usefulness]]]].
* BrokenPedestal: [[spoiler:He feels this way about Hive after he murders his daughter in front of him, even deciding that instead of resurrecting a god, he had freed the Devil incarnate.]]
* CommanderContrarian: To Nick Fury in ''The Avengers''. He was the Councilman that pushed Fury hardest to develop and use the "Phase Two" Tesseract-powered weaponry instead of the Avenger Initiative, and called Fury out on sending the Tesseract back to Asgard. Given his true allegiances, Malick's motives may have gone a little further than simple extremism.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Under Hive's control, Daisy hits him with her earthquake power until he's literally shaken apart cell by cell. It is so nasty that when he saw a vision of it, he thought it was Hive's own work.]]
* DemotedToDragon: [[spoiler:Once Hive recovers and starts taking the initiative, Malick is reduced to being another lackey, albeit one with a lot of resources.]]
* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler:His father used a scored stone in the ritual to ensure he was never sent into the Monolith. When Gideon learned of this, he continued the tradition, and his brother - who also knew and thought that Gideon had tossed that stone into a lake - was the next person to be chosen]]. Sheds whole new light on him convincing Ward to go too.
* TheDreaded: Loeb said about him: "Gideon is incredibly menacing and in him we have a character that even the stone-cold Grant Ward would fear." Even the ''president'' is too afraid to act directly against him.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: At the end of "Parting Shot", he's shown to have a daughter who he appears to care very much about. [[spoiler: It's later revealed that he cares about his family - but if it means that '''he''' can survive, he'll sacrifice them anyway.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He isn't pleased that Ward recruited Werner von Strucker before he was ready, and only sells Werner out because it's the pragmatic thing to do.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Malick finds out the hard way that he ''really'' should not have broken Hive out of its prison.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He speaks in a low, gravelly voice, courtesy of Powers Boothe.
* FalseFriend: Werner turns to him to try and gain protection from Ward's wrath. While Gideon assures Werner of his safety, he later arranges with Ward to hand over Werner as part of some greater deal.
* FictionFiveHundred: He's insanely wealthy thanks to business connections all over the world. [[spoiler:After his death, Hive was able to use Malick's wealth to buy out an entire ''town''.]]
* HonoraryUncle: Werner von Strucker says Gideon was nicer to him than his father ever was.
* ManipulativeBastard: Is so good at this that he convinces Grant Ward, a master manipulator himself, to go on a suicide mission for him.
* MoleInCharge: A HYDRA leader within the World Security Council, making him more powerful than Alexander Pierce himself. Also, [[spoiler:he helped found the ATCU and commands its Science Division by obfuscating Rosalind's oversight, using it to create Inhumans to further HYDRA's goals.]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: "Malick" sounds an awful lot like "malice".
* NotSoStoic: Thanks to an Inhuman which can show visions of death through physical contact, Malick loses his cool for the first time in a while.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: [[spoiler:Hive punishes Malick for his cowardice by murdering his daughter right in front of Malick.]]
* TheRemnant: The last of the old guard at HYDRA thanks to the actions of Team Coulson, the Avengers, and Grant Ward's New Hydra.
* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Coulson admits to Malick during the interrogation that he's right to believe that Hive is the devil, considering Coulson himself committed the sin that allowed him to return to Earth.]]
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He was a member of the World Security Council as he was able to keep his alliance with HYDRA hidden a ''long'' time, to the point that not even Coulson or the Avengers knew his true colors until [[spoiler: he made the mistake of telling Rosalind about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Tahiti program.]]

[[folder:Hive]]
!!Hive
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/it_parasite_icon.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Hive in its parasite form]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/it_2_icon.png[[/labelnote]] to see Hive [[spoiler:possessing Will's body]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote:Click here]]http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/it_3_icon.png[[/labelnote]] to see Hive [[spoiler:possessing Ward's body]]]]
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''

An ancient and powerful Inhuman who was banished through the Monolith centuries ago. HYDRA was originally founded to engineer its return to Earth.

* AGodAmI: Mostly from the perspective of others (HYDRA was founded as a cult based around it, and Malick directly refers to Hive as a god), but Hive is suggested to have a similar view of itself, referring to making "a believer" out of Giyera. The demeanors of its swayed Inhumans is also disturbingly reminiscent of a cult.
* AchillesHeel: Hive can't use a living person for a host, only a dead body, and it can't use Inhumans. It also either can't or [[ApeShallNeverKillApe refuses to]] feed on other Inhumans. It can keep its hosts functioning long after decay but requires to feed on other humans to heal the host (and the host can be killed properly with fire).
* AdaptationalBadass: And ''how''. In the comics, Hive was just one of several HYDRA leaders introduced in ''ComicBook/SecretWarriors'' who was a genetically engineered parasite monster whose only power, beyond turning a random host into a tentacle monster, was controlling and assimilating people with PuppeteerParasite creatures it spawned (which needed special labs to grow) and bringing back a recently dead Viper as a HumanoidAbomination (which he only demonstrated once). Here, he's the ''founder'' of HYDRA's original form, an immortal Inhuman, who can effortlessly devour humans, control Inhumans, and is functionally un-killable. Not to mention, while in the comics Hive took ''years'' to completely control a host and couldn't speak in an understandable fashion, here, Hive gains control of his hosts pretty quickly and can speak perfectly fine using them.
* AdaptationDeviation: In the comics, Hive was a bio-engineered monstrosity created to demonstrate HYDRA's ideals. Here, not only is it an Inhuman, but [[spoiler:HYDRA was originally a cult worshiping it. Even their famous skull and tentacles symbol appears to be a reference to it]].
* AdaptationOriginConnection: In the comics, Hive is the result of a HYDRA lab experiment, not an Inhuman.
* AffablyEvil[=/=]FauxAffablyEvil: Hive's tone of voice is always polite, if [[CreepyMonotone unsettling]], especially when addressing it's fellow Inhumans. Whether this affability is genuine or not is ambiguous, due in no small part to Hive's [[HiveMind complex]] [[MindHive mental state]], emotionless demeanor, and fondness for psychological torture.
* AlienBlood: It bleeds some brownish ooze.
* AllThereInTheManual: It being the MCU version of Hive was revealed shortly to the premiere of Season 3B, but even early on in these first few episodes its name has still not been spoken InUniverse.
* AmbiguousGender: Since it's an Inhuman, it presumably had a gender at some point, but centuries and countless bodies later, such things don't apply to it any more.
* AncientConspiracy: "Many Heads, One Tale" reveals that the being on the other side of the portal is actually an ancient Inhuman that was banished from Earth millennia ago. A cult soon rose up bent on finding the creature and bringing it back, a cult that over time evolved into something we're already familiar with: HYDRA.
* ApeShallNeverKillApe: He refuses to let other Inhumans be killed, sparing Lincoln after Giyera managed to knock him out. Of course, since it can MindControl Inhumans and was intentionally designed to be their leader, this may be less of a moral qualm than simple pride and power.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority: By far the most powerful and threatening Inhuman seen, and the most dangerous HYDRA leader in the entirety of the MCU, which is befitting given he was made to control and lead the Inhumans and was HYDRA's founder and first leader.
* BadassLongcoat: After regenerating, Hive shows a liking for long, black trenchcoats.
* BigBad: Takes the position from Malick once he regains his full power.
* BlackCloak: In one form, it wears a long and tattered black cloak with a correspondingly dark and concealing hood.
* BodyHorror:
** While possessing [[spoiler:Will, it walked around with a gaping leg wound, and while possessing Ward, it was emaciated and corpse-like, still showing signs of the injuries that killed Ward. Once it consumes five humans, Hive manages to restore Ward's body to health.]]
** Hive's method of killing people is to use its own cells to break down their bodies and assimilate their organic material. This is all done ''very'' graphically.
* BodySurf: When one host body is damaged beyond usefulness, Hive transfers to a new one, though it apparently can only do this [[ParasiteZombie with hosts who are already dead]] and aren't Inhumans. The "blood sacrifices" of early HYDRA were meant to provide it with a steady flow of new bodies to inhabit.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Hive's spores can infect the brains of other Inhumans, causing them to devote themselves to him. It's described as being similar to a drug addiction, releasing dopamine to make the victim feel as if his presence fulfills a need. The process is theoretically reversible, as the spores don't cause any damage.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: It is eventually revealed to be [[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Hive_(Earth-616) Hive]].
* CapturedSuperEntity: Was imprisoned on a distant planet ''for a very good reason''.
* CompositeCharacter: His backstory of being the ruler of the Inhumans who was forced into exile by his people, while his existence was hidden from the present day Inhumans and his large number of other powers, seems to have been taken from The Unspoken, a very unrelated character. Perhaps with a dash of ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} as well due to his Inhuman supremacist attitude.
* {{Cthulhumanoid}}: His true form, only seen from the back, has gray skin and Gorgon-like tentacles for hair.
* CreepyMonotone: After [[spoiler: it inhabits Grant Ward's body]].
* DishingOutDirt: On Maveth, it can summon sandstorms at will, and that's usually a sign that it's close by.
* TheDreaded: Everyone who isn't a HYDRA secret society true believer is scared shitless of this thing. It is stated that Jiaying was fully aware of his existence and did everything she could to keep him sealed up.
* EldritchAbomination: As an Inhuman, Hive must have been human at some point. Now, it's a worm-like parasite.
* {{Expy}}:
** Of [[CompositeCharacter two]] ''Series/{{Angel}}'' characters; a BigBad with plans of global domination that feeds on humans and brainwashes others into becoming his loyal and happy worshipers is similar to Jasmine , while his status as a God-like being long exiled from the Earth who has now returned by [[BodySurf possessing the body of one of the main characters]] brings to mind [[EldritchAbomination Illyria]].
** Hive being a worm-like parasite that uses bodies as hosts is similar to the antagonists of ''Film/TheHidden'' and ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''.
** It is also a Marvel supervillain who is a millennia-old former human given godlike powers by aliens, including the ability to enslave others of his own kind. In short, it is similar to ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}}.
* FanDisservice: Often appears shirtless in its third host [[spoiler:Grant Ward]]. He retains some of his muscles, but is also visibly decaying. [[spoiler:After he's healed, he appears naked, but also covered in blood and ooze from five stripped skeletons.]]
* GreaterScopeVillain: Of Season 3 [[spoiler:until it escapes to Earth in the mid-season finale]], as well as for HYDRA as a whole. It was an ancient Inhuman banished long ago, and HYDRA has been worshiping this thing since it was founded.
* HiddenAgendaVillain: Even Malick admits he doesn't know what Hive actually has planned. Given what Hive did to the planet he was trapped on, it can hardly be good for humanity.
* HiveMind: The precise mechanics remain unclear, but when it infects Inhumans, it "brings them into the hive." They don't appear to be able to share detailed knowledge in either direction, but the Inhumans understand Hive's will and are devoted to it to an almost religious extent. [[spoiler:Daisy Johnson]] describes it as like having a piece that's always been missing finally filled, and slips into using the RoyalWe when excited. [[spoiler: According to Fitz and Simmons, it's more like a drug addiction, and its victims are controlled by being kept on a perpetual "high" and are open to suggestion]].
* HumanResources: Hive can heal its hosts by taking living tissue from other humans. [[spoiler:Ward's body is healed by [[StrippedToTheBone stripping five humans to skeletons.]]]] However, it adamantly refuses to feed on its fellow Inhumans, though whether this is lack of ability or simply personal preference isn't made clear.
* HumanoidAbomination: Once Hive latches on to a human host and regains its strength, it demonstrates considerable, and quite horrifying power, with even its individual cells acting as an extension of its will.
* InsistentTerminology: Downplayed. While Hive is normally fine with being referred to as an Inhuman, when pressed it notes that it's technically a different type of creature, since it was a human directly modified by the Kree rather than a descendant like the others.
* InterrogatingTheDead: Hive assimilates the memories of its hosts. [[spoiler:It knew Fitz from possessing Will, and tracked down Malick in no time after taking over Ward.]]
* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure: [[spoiler:For Malick's cowardice, he gives his daughter Stephanie the kiss of death, which horribly disfigures her face. Considering everyone else Hive killed in a similar manner was turned into bloody skeletons, she got off easy.]]
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:Hive's idea of punishing Malick for his cowardice is to murder his daughter, Stephanie, right in front of Malick.]]
* KillAndReplace: It takes over the bodies of those it kills to impersonate them. How well this works seems to depend on how fresh the host is and its access to food, as it can't repair the bodies without a steady source of protein. An astronaut it used against Simmons and Will was ragged, likely from a decade of neglect, and when it took over [[spoiler:Will]] it couldn't do anything about a broken leg. [[spoiler:When it takes over Grant Ward's body, Hive manages to completely heal by taking the living tissue from five normal humans.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: Being the only EldritchAbomination in the series, this is a natch. Even when it's ''mentioned'', the mood gets noticeably darker, and most scenes that it appears in are accompanied by at least one form of BodyHorror.
* KnightTemplar: It describes it's mission as "creat[ing] the world Inhumans have always deserved".
* LongLostSibling: [[spoiler:A weird example. Since it's a MindHive of all its hosts, it is in some way all the sacrifices HYDRA sent through over the centuries--including Gideon Malick's brother, Nathaniel, who was sent through when Gideon rigged the lottery to save himself. Hive spends a good portion of "Paradise Lost" speaking as Nathaniel, even killing Gideon's daughter to teach Gideon the meaning of sacrifice]].
* MasterOfYourDomain: Once it has regained some strength, Hive demonstrates the ability to control its host's tissue for various purposes, releasing it as a cloud of individual cells. On other Inhumans, these cells infect the brain and make the Inhuman loyal to Hive above all else. With normal humans, it's to aid in feeding.
* MindHive: It contains all the memories and personalities of all its hosts, including the countless "Travelers" sent by HYDRA to feed it over the centuries. Normally, it maintains a distinct and calm personality, but it's unclear if that is Hive's original, "true" personality, or an aggregate of everyone it has absorbed.
* MonsterLord: It is one of the original Inhumans, hand-crafted by the Kree to lead their armies.
* NoNameGiven: As far as the season 3 midseason finale, "It" has not been named but is otherwise known as the dark Inhuman or just It. Promotional material released shortly before the beginning of season 3B identifies it as being the character "Hive", [[CanonCharacterAllAlong from the comics]]. In "Paradise Lost," an Inhuman researcher says it used to be called Alveus, Latin for Hive.
* NoSell: Lucio's power has no effect on him, though precisely why isn't made clear.
* NighInvulnerable: Hive is seemingly unaffected by bullets, since its hosts are already dead, and fire only forced it to find a new host.
* OneManArmy: The planet it was banished to was once populated with nine major cities. "It" reduced them to dust and desolated the planet by itself, though Hive implies that they destroyed themselves in a futile effort to kill it.
* PetTheDog: Insists that HYDRA doesn't kill [[ApeShallNeverKillApe any of his fellow Inhumans]] working with SHIELD.
* PhysicalGod: HYDRA worships it as a god, an opinion Hive itself does nothing to dissuade. [[spoiler:Malick]] eventually decides while it is a god, it was never one for humans, and it only cares about Inhumans.
* PronounTrouble: In addition to gender difficulties, it will sometimes alter the pronouns it uses for itself. Sometimes it says "I," sometimes "we," and sometimes it refers to its hosts as separate people while other times it speaks as them directly.
* PuppeteerParasite: Hive is actually a worm-like parasite that uses dead bodies as hosts.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Has existed and possessed its powers for ''centuries'', judging by the length of time that HYDRA and their predecessors have been trying (and failing) to return it to Earth.
* RoyalWe: Hive refers to itself as "we". Makes sense, considering it has its own memories plus the memories of its host (and possibly all of its previous hosts as well).
* {{Sadist}}: Hive is rather fond of psychological torture, and since it possesses the memories of every single person it has ever been a host for, it's capable of getting under the skin of a great many people. [[spoiler: Its treatment of Malick is particularly cruel. Hive manipulates him into committing his first hands-on murder, pretends to be his long-dead brother to mess with his head, and then finally brutally murders his daughter right in front of him for no good reason at all.]] Hive's particular method killing via its spores is also extremely painful, as they eat normal humans from the inside out.
* SanitySlippage: Induced this in Daniels' colleagues, causing their deaths one-by-one.
* SatanicArchetype: [[spoiler:After losing his daughter, Malick starts comparing him to Satan, and Coulson is all too ready to agree with him on that point. In fact Phil goes so far as to speculate the inverse--specifically, that ''Satan'' is an ''Alvean'' archetype.]]
* SealedEvilInACan: Trapped on an alien world, which HYDRA is seeking to reopen the portal to. [[spoiler:It escapes in the mid-season finale.]]
* TheStoic: Hive is always calm and collected.
* SuperPersistentPredator: The second your blood hits the air, Hive ''will'' start coming for you.
* SuperPrototype: Hive was one of the first Inhumans created by the Kree, and is, with little doubt, the most powerful.
* SuperpowerLottery: Most Inhumans have one power, Hive has several, very different and unusual abilities. Justified as the Inhumans, unlike mutants, are explicitly designed, and Hive was specifically designed to be the leader of the Inhumans and so his multiple powers are likely to ensure AsskickingEqualsAuthority.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Gideon Malick says Hive was destined to rule the world and that HYDRA was formed to be its army.
* WasOnceAMan: More than most Inhumans. They remain generally human shaped after Terrigenesis with just the occasional physical side effect, but Hive became a worm-like creature that inhabits the dead.
* WorfHadTheFlu: Centuries of being imprisoned have all but eliminated the supposedly vast power it once possessed. Fitz is able to disable its host with a flare gun, and it doesn't demonstrate itself to be any stronger than its host would be. Hive insists that, once it has regained its strength, it will prove that the stories about it are true. [[spoiler: He restores his strength by ''gorging'' on five humans.]]

[[folder:Stephanie Malick]]
!!''Stephanie Malick''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stephanie_malick_mcu.jpg]]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Bethany Joy Lenz
->'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E13PartingShot Episode 57: Parting Shot]]'')

Gideon Malick's daughter and heir and a member of HYDRA.
----
* BlondesAreEvil: She never does anything heinous on screen, but she's a member of HYDRA, where being a fascist power seeker is a requisite
* DaddysLittleVillain: She has been raised to be a HYDRA leader and shares her father's vision.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Despite being a member of the aforementioned fascist cult, she genuinely cares about her father. That is until the [[spoiler: BrokenPedestal moment in which she chooses Hive over her father after the latter is exposed as a coward who cheated his way out of being sacrificed to Hive all his adult life.]]
* TheFundamentalist: Unlike her father, who cares more about power than the Hydra faith, she is a true believer in Hydra's role as servants of Hive and chooses the latter over her father.
* SacrificialLamb: She [[spoiler:is killed by Hive to punish Gideon for having betrayed his brother instead of being willing to be sacrificed to Hive.]]
* WeHardlyKnewYe: [[spoiler:She's killed in her second appearance.]]

[[folder:Karpov]]
!!Karpov

->'''Portrayed by:''' Gene Farber
->'''Appearances:''' ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''

A Russian HYDRA Commander who was the Winter Soldier's handler during the early 90s.
----
* DefiantToTheEnd [[spoiler: He refuses to give information to Zemo even when he is going to kill him by drowning him in the sink]]
* MythologyGag: In the comics he was responsible for turning Bucky into the Winter Soldier. [[spoiler: While Zola took that role from him, he does appear having the Winter Soldier answer to him and was responsible for the creation of the other five Winter Soldiers.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: [[spoiler: Even after not being an active agent, he refuses to give Zemo the information he was looking for on a mission from HYDRA, even giving the "Hail Hydra" as Zemo left him dying.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Ancient Society

[[folder:The Ancient Society]]
!!''The Ancient Society''
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1800s_hydra.jpg]]

->'''Appearances''': ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E2PurposeInTheMachine "Purpose in the Machine"]]'')

->''"Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. HYDRA was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return."''
-->--'''Gideon Malick'''

This secret society was founded in ancient times centered around the fanatical worship of a powerful Inhuman that was exiled to the planet Maveth by ancient Inhumans. Ever since his banishment, the cult has been determined to bring him back to Earth to commence a planetary takeover. Over the centuries, the cult evolved, taking many forms, with its most recent incarnation coming into existence shortly after the rise of Nazism in 1940s where the cult took on the name HYDRA, which has become the organization's most colloquial label.

* AncientConspiracy: "Many Heads, One Tale" revealed that HYDRA is actually [[spoiler:descended from a cult worshiping an ancient Inhuman, who was banished through the Monolith thousands of years ago, and have been working towards retrieving him ever since.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: Most, if not all, members of the group in the mid-19th century are European noblemen.
* AsLongAsThereIsOneMan: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." [[spoiler:Considering the group has been around through ''millennia'', it's safe to say that the phrase is more than just a BadassCreed.]]
* {{Cult}}: They worship a specific ancient Inhuman who has been banished into a planet on the other side of Monolith.
* DrawingStraws: They draw lots (in this case, colored stones from a sack rather than literal straws) to see who will go into the Monolith to feed Hive. [[spoiler:At some point (Possibly but not necessarily starting with Malick's father), the white stone was scored so that [[DirtyCoward the leader of the group could always know which stone not to draw]].]]
* HumanSacrifice: When the society came in possession of the Monolith, they started sending men through the portal, hoping to save or at least serve their leader on the other side. But none of them ever came back.
* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:The {{retcon}} turning HYDRA from a Nazi splinter group into an AncientConspiracy was used in the comics years ago]].
* SigilSpam: The Hebrew word for "Death", seen in "Purpose in the Machine", is used in the group's castle to mark secret passages and other dangerous places. They also can't stop themselves from putting disguised variations of their symbols everywhere for millennia.
* VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler:The group's founded since millennia, and still exists through modern days.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: The society was a sort-of predecessor to HYDRA, and they have been around since millennia.
* WeAreEverywhere: In the mid-19th, their castle was in England and most of the members appear to be European (the nobleman named Manzini is most likely an Italian, for example). During World War II, they are centered in Germany. In the modern days, they are pretty much everywhere around the world.

[[folder:Grant Ward]]
!!''Grant Douglas Ward''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ward_grant_douglas.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"...while a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is considering right and wrong, HYDRA's already taken the shot."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BrettDalton
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D]]''

->''"There's not enough good left inside me."''

An anti-social Level Seven (formerly a Level Six) agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was said to have a strong moral foundation. He became a member of Agent Coulson's team that is assembled to investigate strange events around the world. However, he was really an agent of HYDRA loyal to John Garrett, who recruited him into both organizations at the same time. Following Garrett's defeat, Ward is imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Playground's basement prison, and is used as a source of information on HYDRA.

In the Season 2 finale, he steps up to take control of HYDRA due to the power vacuum caused by Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

* BadassLongcoat: Wears these after regenerating.

* DefiantToTheEnd [[spoiler: he refuses to give information to Zemo even when he is going to kill him by drowning him in the sink]]

* MythologyGag: in the comics he was responsible for turning Bucky into the Winter Soldier. [[spoiler: While Zola took that role for him, he does appear having the Winter Soldier answer to him and was responsible for the creation of the other five Winter Soldiers.]]

A Russian HYDRA Agent.

folder:Karpov]]

* FreudianExcuse:
** Ward's AbusiveParents and BigBrotherBully are the reason he becomes an arsonist and attempted murderer, and later a HYDRA mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. All of that happened before Garrett got hold of him and promised him protection, only to subject him to more abuse.

** Somewhat {{subverted}} in season three when Thomas reveals that Ward was the one who hurt him by choice, not Christian; that Ward's version of projecting Thomas was to cripple their father; and his way of making up for his torment of Thomas was to try and kill Christian, who he blamed for what happened to Thomas instead of accepting responsibility. Thomas points out that Ward's choices got him where he is [[NeverMyFault even if Ward himself never admits it.]]

* ApeShallNeverKillApe: He refuses to let other Inhumans be killed, sparing Lincoln after Giyera managed to knock him out.

!!Leadership

[[folder:The Ancient Society]]
!!''The Ancient Society''
[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1800s_hydra.jpg]]

->'''Appearances''': ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' (first appears in ''[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS3E2PurposeInTheMachine "Purpose in the Machine"]]'')

->''"Thousands of years ago, an Inhuman was born on this planet that was destined to rule it, so powerful, so fearsome that others were consumed with dread, and so they banished it from the Earth, sent it through the portal to a distant planet. HYDRA was founded with the sole purpose of engineering its return."''
-->--'''Gideon Malick'''

This secret society was founded in ancient times centered around the fanatical worship of a powerful Inhuman that was exiled to the planet Maveth by ancient Inhumans. Ever since his banishment, the cult has been determined to bring him back to Earth to commence a planetary takeover. Over the centuries, the cult evolved, taking many forms, with its most recent incarnation coming into existence shortly after the rise of Nazism in 1940s where the cult took on the name HYDRA, which has become the organization's most colloquial label.
----
* AncientConspiracy: "Many Heads, One Tale" revealed that HYDRA is actually [[spoiler:descended from a cult worshiping an ancient Inhuman, who was banished through the Monolith thousands of years ago, and have been working towards retrieving him ever since.]]
* AristocratsAreEvil: Most, if not all, members of the group in the mid-19th century are European noblemen.
* AsLongAsThereIsOneMan: "Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." [[spoiler:Considering the group has been around through ''millennia'', it's safe to say that the phrase is more than just a BadassCreed.]]
* {{Cult}}: They worship a specific ancient Inhuman who has been banished into a planet on the other side of Monolith.
* DrawingStraws: They draw lots (in this case, colored stones from a sack rather than literal straws) to see who will go into the Monolith to feed Hive. [[spoiler:At some point (Possibly but not necessarily starting with Malick's father), the white stone was scored so that [[DirtyCoward the leader of the group could always know which stone not to draw]].]]
* HumanSacrifice: When the society came in possession of the Monolith, they started sending men through the portal, hoping to save or at least serve their leader on the other side. But none of them ever came back.
* MythologyGag: [[spoiler:The {{retcon}} turning HYDRA from a Nazi splinter group into an AncientConspiracy was used in the comics years ago]].
* SigilSpam: The Hebrew word for "Death", seen in "Purpose in the Machine", is used in the group's castle to mark secret passages and other dangerous places. They also can't stop themselves from putting disguised variations of their symbols everywhere for millennia.
* VillainousLegacy: [[spoiler:The group's founded since millennia, and still exists through modern days.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: The society was a sort-of predecessor to HYDRA, and they have been around since millennia.
* WeAreEverywhere: In the mid-19th, their castle was in England and most of the members appear to be European (the nobleman named Manzini is most likely an Italian, for example). During World War II, they are centered in Germany. In the modern days, they are pretty much everywhere around the world.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Grant Ward]]
!!''Grant Douglas Ward''
[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ward_grant_douglas.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"...while a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent is considering right and wrong, HYDRA's already taken the shot."'']]
->'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BrettDalton
->'''Appearances:''' ''[[Series/AgentsOfSHIELD Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D]]''

->''"There's not enough good left inside me."''

An anti-social Level Seven (formerly a Level Six) agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who was said to have a strong moral foundation. He became a member of Agent Coulson's team that is assembled to investigate strange events around the world. However, he was really an agent of HYDRA loyal to John Garrett, who recruited him into both organizations at the same time. Following Garrett's defeat, Ward is imprisoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. in The Playground's basement prison, and is used as a source of information on HYDRA.

In the Season 2 finale, he steps up to take control of HYDRA due to the power vacuum caused by Coulson's S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers.

-->''"You are deluded, Captain. You pretend to be a simple soldier, but in reality you are just afraid to admit that we have left humanity behind! Unlike you, I embrace it proudly! Without fear!"''

-->'''Steve:''' ''[[HumbleHero I'm just a kid from Brooklyn]].''

--> "This want not meant for eyes of ordinary men."
--> "Precisely."

-->'''Pierce:''' [[BlackComedy Did you get my flowers?]]

-->''"We grow stronger every day while S.H.I.E.L.D. clings desperately to a world it no longer understands. We will rip it from your hands."''

-->''"There's not enough good left inside me."''

* FreudianExcuse: Ward's AbusiveParents and BigBrotherBully are the reason he becomes an arsonist and attempted murderer, and later a HYDRA mole within S.H.I.E.L.D. All of that happened before Garrett got hold of him and promised him protection, only to subject him to more abuse.

-->'''May:''' We all had our traumas, Ward. Didn't turn any of us into psychopaths.\\

-->'''Ward:''' ''[pout]'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Grammsy?]]

* HumanoidAbomination: Once Hive latches on to a human host and regains it's strength, it demonstrates considerable, and quite horrifying power, with even its individual cells acting as an extension of its will.

* BigBadDuumvirate: Forms one with Malick since they are the only heads of Hydra left in season 3.

* BigBadDuumvirate: With Ward since they are the only heads of Hydra left in season 3. [[spoiler: After the mid-season finale, he officially takes over as the BigBad. It doesn't last, however; Hive has him killed in "The Team."]]

'''Warning: Major unmarked spoilers for Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier below.'''

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: His abusive childhood combined with Garrett's abuse made Ward the man he is today. Years later, it is accidentally killing Kara that turns Ward from an AntiVillain into a full-on BigBad.

[[folder:Stephanie]]

[[/folder]]