The Defenders is a Marvel Comics superhero team (or un-team).
The Defenders have a long and varied history. The team grew out of a couple of team-ups between Doctor Strange, The Incredible Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Silver Surfer in the early 1970s. The first three became the team's founding members; it should be noted that all of them were among the most powerful of Marvel's heroes who did not belong to a team yet. However, this was an unlikely alliance, as all three (and the Surfer, who briefly joined later) were more used to acting alone, especially Hulk and Namor, both of whom are more correctly antiheroes.
As mentioned, the Silver Surfer was quickly written out after his brief tryout with the team,(as at the time, Stan Lee considered him to be his pet character and was not keen on letting other writers use him) and new characters were introduced to flesh out the roster. Nighthawk, originally a Captain Ersatz for Batman but then reinvented as one for Hawkman; Daimon Hellstrom, the horror-themed hero Son Of Satan; Hellcat, originally a character from Marvel's comedy/romance comics reinvented as a Cat-themed heroine (using the costume of The Cat, who herself had become Tigra); Gargoyle, an elderly man who, while trying to cheat death, ended up trapped in the body of a demon; and The Valkyrie, a Norse goddess trapped in the body of a woman known to Hulk and Strange were brought onto the team, while Sub-Mariner was soon demoted to a recurring character within the title as opposed to being a consistent member. The group itself had loose guidelines for membership, as technically, everybody who helped them was a 'Defender' (this was lampshaded in a story where a membership drive — started without their permission or knowledge — led to a mess as both heroes wanting to join, and villains trying to pretend they were Defenders, ran into each other.) Still, the heroes listed above were the most commonly associated with the team. They tended to meet in Doctor Strange's New York brownstone, and later, in the wealthy Nighthawk's estate.
This age of the series was famous for its bizarre stories and villains; most notably: The Headmen, a group of villains with weird heads; The Elf With A Gun, a mysterious elf-like character who went around shooting people for no reason (and whom The Defenders never actually met!) and Vera Gemini, a demonic cult leader who was based on Blue Öyster Cult's songs! These stories were largely written by Steve Gerber and David Anthony Kraft, who shepherded the group for the 1970s and the early 1980s.
In the early 1980s, Marvel decided to revamp the book. Nighthawk was killed off (later upgraded to a Convenient Coma), Hellcat and Daimon Hellstrom married and retired, and a (bogus?) prophecy that Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer would bring about the end of the world led them to leave the team. Beast (having already joined up a while back,) Valkyrie and Gargoyle reformed the group with two of the other founding member of the X-Men (Angel and Iceman), along with the morally ambiguous Moondragon, the young Atlantis warrior Andromeda, and Cloud, a gas based alien who shape-shifted into both a man and woman during its time with the Defenders. Based in Colorado, in Angel's mansion, this incarnation lasted two years before the title was canceled so that the X-Men characters could be be freed up for the upcoming X-Factor series. The entire team, save for Angel, Beast, and Iceman, died saving a possessed Moondragon.)
In the early 1990s, Marvel attempted to revive the Defenders as "Secret Defenders". This new series would have Doctor Strange organize squads of random heroes (including Wolverine, Spider-Man, Darkhawk, the second Spider-Woman, Ghost Rider, Hulk, Luke Cage, Deadpool, and many others) for one-off missions. The team made their first appearance in Fantastic Four #374 when Spider-Man, desperate to bring in the Human Torch for arson and everyone is having poor luck doing so, turns to Dr. Strange for help, who reassembles the rest of the "New Fantastic Four" (Hulk, Wolverine and Ghost Rider) to fight the Fantastic Four. Despite being considerably hyped by Marvel, the series did not do well and with the title launching coinciding with the launching of the more successful "Midnight Sons" horror sub-line (in which Doctor Strange could not take part due to Secret Defenders), it was decided to remove him from the book so that his title could be folded into the Midnight Son line. The title was then revamped with Doctor Druid as the new leader and a group of new heroes, but this new direction did little to revive interest in the book and it was quietly canceled by the end of its second year.
Ironically, before Secret Defenders launched, Marvel tested the waters not once but twice with two storylines involving the reunion of the original core Defenders. An arc in the pages of Incredible Hulk denounced the prophecy that drove the founders away from the team and the group later regrouped in the 1992 mini-annual event "Return of the Defenders", as evil demons hijacked Namor's body (sticking the hero inside Rick Jones' body) as part of a plot to summon their evil master. But the original Defenders would not be given their own title until 2002. Written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Erik Larsen, the title had the four heroes "cursed" to teleport to random fights on behalf of the spirit of Earth known as Gaia. The series was critically and commercially unsuccessful and the title ended with a six part arc in which the book was retitled "The Order" and it was revealed that the curse from issue one was part of a greater scheme to manipulate the Defenders into turning evil and conquering the world for an evil sorcerer.
More successful, however, was Keith Giffen and Kevin McGuire's 2005 "Defenders" mini-series, which had the four face off against Dormammu and his sister Umar. The series recast the franchise as a comedy book, a la Giffen and McGuire's critically acclaimed Justice League International run, with the characters largely acknowledging the absurdity of lives as super-heroes and super-villains as well as exploring why the main four (Surfer, Namor, Hulk, and Strange) continued to associate with each other despite having nothing in common.
After the events of Civil War, Joe Casey wrote a new mini-series called "The Last Defenders", which had Nighthawk struggling to rebuild the team after being assigned to the state of New Jersey by Iron Man. The series itself explored the fan notion of the "lameness" of the original team's later members versus the bonds that existed between them: heroes assigned to the team quit on Nighthawk due to them not wanting to be associated with the "Defenders" brand and Iron Man himself constantly refused Nighthawk's attempts to recruit past Defenders like Valkyrie on the basis that said past members did not have the necessary star quality. Though the roster of the group would be finalized at the end of the mini-series, later writers (including Dan Slott, who wrote She-Hulk's ongoing book at the time) ignored it and the group vanished from sight until a Casey series called Vengeance debuted in 2011.
However, that hasn't stopped other writers from using the concept, as Jeph Loeb reunited the founders again in the pages of "Hulk", pitting Strange, Surfer, Hulk, and Namor up against "The Offenders", a quartet organized by the villainous Red Hulk that consisted of himself, Baron Mordo, Terrax, and Tiger Shark.
The 2011 crisis crossover Fear Itself teased a Defenders reunion in tie-in series "The Deep," where Strange, Namor, and Surfer (together with the mutant Loa and Lyra, Hulk's daughter) joined forces to stop Attuma, one of the eight Worthy. The tease was followed up by an announcement that Matt Fraction would be behind a new Defenders book debuting at the end of 2011 with the additions of Iron Fist and Red She-Hulk to the classic lineup. Unfortunately, this book ended after twelve issues.
As part of the Marvel NOW! relaunch, the Defenders flag was flown by Valkyrie at the head of the all-female Fearless Defenders, a title which originated in the Fear Itself tie-in, The Fearless but it was cancelled at issue 12.
In 2018, it was announced the the original Defenders were getting a series of five one-shots that connected as part of a larger story. It was called Best Defense. In 2021, they were given another mini-series written by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez, Defenders (2021).
In November 2013, it was announced that Marvel would be producing a Defenders TV series for Netflix. Confirmed characters include such familiar faces as Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. While it uses the Defenders name, it's more akin to Marvel's short lived Marvel Knights team, which focused on street-level and darker heroes. In January 2017, a comic book based on that same roster was announced, written by Brian Michael Bendis. Tropes for that series should go here.
Not to be confused with the Animated Series Defenders of the Earth, or with the 1960s TV show The Defenders, which was about a group of lawyers. Or, for that matter, another TV show called The Defenders, which is also about lawyersnote , but semi-related to the Netflix mini-series The Defenders for reasons explained below.
- Marvel Feature vol 1 #1-3
- The Defenders vol 1 (1972-1986) #1-152note
- The Secret Defenders (1993-1995) #1-25
- The Defenders vol 2 (2001-2002) #1-12
- Defenders vol 3 (2005-2006) #1-5
- The Last Defenders (2008) #1-6
- The Defenders vol 4 (2012-2013) #1-12
- Fearless Defenders (2013-2014) #1-13
- Captain Britain and the Mighty Defenders (2015) #1-2
- The Defenders (2017-2018) #1-10
- The Defenders: The Best Defense (2018): a series of five one-shots connecting to form a larger story.
- Defenders (2021) #1-5
- Defenders: Beyond (2022)
Tropes seen in the Pre-2017 Defender series:
- Aborted Arc: The Last Defenders repeatedly implied (and in some cases even stated flat out) that the new team would become a tremendously important part of the Marvel Universe, and that they'd play a key role in resolving some sort of future crisis that would threaten all of reality. Suffice to say, the new team never caught on, and were replaced by Matt Fraction's Defenders just a few years later.
- Abusive Parents: In "Giant-Sized Defenders" #5, a kid returns home to tell his parents about the events of the issue, which he'd seen. His father's response is to decide the kid needs spanking for lying, because otherwise it'll encourage bad habits, even as his wife tries pointing out this is a massive overreaction. The man's name is Arnold Astrovik, and he doesn't get any better from there.
- Action Girl: Valkyrie, Hellcat, She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, Black Cat, and every member of the Fearless Defenders besides Annabelle.
- Alchemic Elementals: The Defenders once traveled back in time to the Crusades and fought oversized elemental gnomes summoned by a Saracen sorcerer.
- Alien Sky: In issue #27, Vance Astro and Valkyrie wind up in a swamp, rather than the middle of 31st century New York as they'd hoped. Vance pegs they're actually on another planet altogether, pointing out the two moons in the sky.
- Aloof Ally: The story in issues 26-29 introduces Starhawk to the Guardians of the Galaxy, and he begins as he means to go on; appearing suddenly, being incredibly vague who he is beyond being "the One Who Knows".
- Animal-Themed Superbeing: Hellcat and Nighthawk fit under the Animal Alias type and Moondragon is the Mythical Monster Motif type.
- In the 2011 series, Black Cat when she joins the cast.
- Arc Welding: Gerber's run reveals that the future of Guardians of the Galaxy is the same future as that of Killraven.
- Arc Words: For the 2011 series, The universe will break. Shut the engines down. Everyone you love dies. Fight to save everything.
- Aww Look They Really Do Love Each Other: The team may occasionally be at each other's throats than at enemies, but if one of them is actually in real danger the whole team goes on protective mode. Especially notable with Namor who,on one occasion looks exasperated to be summoned again...till he realises that Strange is wounded. The sub mariner's attitude instantly goes from How Dare You Bother Me to Tell Me Who Dared To Do This, somewhat to Strange's amusement.
- Badass in Distress: Happens to almost all members at least once, much to their exasperation.
- One issue kicks off with Dr Strange being kidnapped by a cult of Dormammu worshippers and Clea sending out an SOS call to the others to help rescue him.
- Similarly, Namor had his own turn at getting kidnapped for a sacrifice - to make things worse for the proud prince,unlike Strange who was aiding his own rescue in Astral form, he was unconscious and completely helpless for the duration of the issue.
- In issue #57, an AIM robot manages to capture the Hulk.
- Berserk Button: One issue kicks off with the Orb of Agamatto displaying an image of Ms. Marvel. Hulk sees it and mistakes it for Captain Marvel, who he'd tussled with a while back, and this sets him off. It takes a few pages for the others to calm him down.
- Body Horror: The Headmen consisted of villains that featured body parts with peculiar, if not largely bizarre, modifications.
- Brain in a Jar: Nighthawk temporarily got stuck in this state when he was abducted by the Headmen and had his brain removed from his body.
- Breakfast Club: The team has often included emo misfits.
- Captain Ersatz: See Shout-Out below.
- Censor Steam: Cloud used to generate her own.
- Combat Medic: Red Guardian, who also was a skilled surgeon (she was the one who put Nighthawk's brain back to his body when it was stolen during a horrific surgery by the Headmen).
- Cool Horse: Valkyrie's steed Aragorn, a white winged horse formerly owned by the Black Knight. Other Defenders have had a ride on his back, including Clea. (He bucked Nighthawk off once in a bit of Horsing Around).
- Crimefighting with Cash: Nighthawk, Iron Fist.
- Defenders, Assemble!: Many stories begin with someone, often Doctor Strange, contacting the other members and gathering them together.
- In The Deep mini, Strange manages to cast a spell in the climax that does exactly this with many of the past Defenders that weren't yet featured in the mini.
- Demoted to Extra: This happened to all of the original members (plus Silver Surfer,) at one point or another in the original volume. Surfer was the one that got hit hardest, barely appearing in the book after joining the team for a few issues early on, but the others suffered from it too. Namor left in #14, while Doctor Strange left after the first Annual, and while both of them showed up again, it took a while for them to become as prominent as they used to be. Hulk didn't have as much of this as the others, being a consistent member well until #94, but after that, he didn't appear as much as he used to. While the book may originally have been about Hulk, Strange, and other A-Listers, it ended up being more about C and D-listers like Valkyrie, Nighthawk, Hellcat, and others, all of which got more focus than the founding members by the end of the group's original incarnation.
- Deus Exit Machina/Worf Had the Flu: Dr. Strange was often knocked out or otherwise weakened so he could not win the battles easily for the team. Eventually he took a break from the Defenders to figure out what was going wrong with his magic.
- Silver Surfer does this within the 2011 series.
- Evil Costume Switch: As The Order, Dr Strange wore his full-face mask from the seventies, which had the effect of making him look less human, and Namor wore his black "Savage Sub-Mariner" costume from around the same period.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Ms. Marvel's involvement with the team in issue #57 comes about because of her prescience powers, which state the Defenders will be in trouble, but she doesn't know how.
- Failed Future Forecast: Steve Gerber's run manages a whole slew of them in one go. In the 80s, thanks to economic downturn, the aerosol industry goes out of control, utterly wrecking the Ozone layer, killing off a lot of farm animals and forcing everyone to walk around in protective clothing. However, there was still a mass epidemic of skin cancer, which mankind responds to with cyborg conversions. In the 90s, this led to a massive war fought by cyborgs for the few remaining food supplies, until a nuclear power station took out half of Canada. This led to the superpowers, including the still extant Soviet Union, to form a One World Government in 1996, which lasted until 2001 until the Martians invaded and enslaved mankind.
- Fainting Seer: Happened to Strange in issue#106 after a particularly intense vision, much to Wong's alarm.
- Forceful Kiss: Jack Noriss, who refuses to listen to Valkyrie repeatedly saying she's not his wife, eventually forces a kiss on her.
- Gagging on Your Words: A version of this in the 2011 series. Anyone that comes into contact with one of the Concordance Engines is unable to speak of them in the presence of others who are not also in on the secret.
- Genius Loci: Cloud (of the Beast's Defenders) turned out to be a sentient nebula with amnesia.
- Girls Behind Bars: Happens to Valkyrie during the 70's Steve Gerber run. Didn't work out well at all for anyone concerned.
- Head Blast: The villain Ruby Thursday had her head replaced with a red mass of "organic circuitry". The spherical mass can alter its shape so she can form tentacles or fire projectiles and energy blasts. She can also cause her head to explode and reform; she once generated an explosion so powerful it knocked out the Hulk.
- Hero Insurance: Apparently the Defenders had this.
- Doctor Strange: The Oath included a throwaway gag about Strange still being on the Defenders' group health insurance policy.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: As a foil to the Avengers, the Defenders were usually a low-profile — and consequently low-status — team.
- Heroes Unlimited: The Secret Defenders.
- Implacable Man: In the 2011 series, Nul, Breaker of Worlds. Later the Prince of Orphans, John Aman.
- Insistent Terminology: In the early days they were quite adamant that they were not The Avengers. They had no roster, charter, or even official recognition (until the Avengers/Defenders war, at least). As the occasional Note from Ed. pointed out, they were an "un-team."
- Jerkass Realization: Jack Noriss spends a while harassing the team and Valkyrie (who is in the body of his wife. It's complicated) being a nuisance, until Doctor Strange gets fed up and uses magic to freeze him in place while the Defenders go deal with the plot. On the plus side, the time frozen allows him to realize what a dumbass he's been and try to make amends.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Namor was often on the prickly line between this and Jerk with a Heart of Jerk.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: A Badoon guard tries taunting Valkyrie. He doesn't get halfway through before she opens his stomach with her sword.
- Kill It with Water: The giant gnomes fought in issue #11 are strong and resilient enough to give the Hulk a run for his money, but as Namor discovers, they dissolve into lifeless mud when they get wet.
- Konami Code: In the 2011 series. Yes, really.
- Lady Land: The Badoon homeworld is occupied entirely by the females of the species, who are quite content to stay there if it means not having to put up with the men.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The Defenders and the Wrecking Crew collectively look ready to shit bricks on the first page of issue #19 after Thunderball reveals that the gamma bomb the two teams were fighting over isn't in its protective casing, meaning it could be anywhere and could go off at any moment.
- Meta Origin: In the 2011 series, the Concordance Engines are part of multiversal magnet that helped many more miracles occur on the planet (causing Origin Stories to result in the superheroes we know instead of twisted freaks or corpses) as a ward against Death Celestials.
- Mobile Maze: Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum.
- Ms. Fanservice: Red She-Hulk.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the 2011 series, the Defenders managed to do this in the very first arc. They inadvertently messed things up so badly that the whole series had to retcon itself out of existence.
- The Nicknamer: The childlike Hulk had his own names for the rest of the team, Fish man (Namor), bird nose (Nighthawk), and sword girl (Valkyrie) among others.
- Planet Looters: Nebulon the Celestial Man, before he underwent Motive Decay and became obsessed with getting revenge on the Defenders.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: A plotline with the Guardians of the Galaxy, last seen in Marvel Two-in-One was an experiment to see if people wanted more of them, while at the same time resolving their plot.
- Prophecy Twist: The Hulk-Strange-Surfer-Namor team broke up because of a prophecy saying that if they ever worked together again, it would lead to a huge cataclysm. Much later, Doctor Strange said he'd found this to be a hoax . . . but the next time all four of them did work together was The Infinity Gauntlet battle, which was unquestionably a huge cataclysm.
- Also the prophecy ended up coming true when the four founders became "The Order" and tried to conquer Earth.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The core Defenders really only have two things in common: they're some of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, and they usually work alone. The heroes they attract to their banner tend to be... idiosyncratic as well. Perhaps they get together because no one else can put up with them?
- Lampshaded in the New Avengers, when Nighthawk interviews for a staff position and says "Clearly you guys are the Defenders."
- Reality Warper: The Concordance Engines in the 2011 series.
- Red Scare: Averted with the team's temporary member Red Guardian, who was a Soviet counterpart to Captain America.
- Refuge in Audacity: The entire Umar/Hulk affair.
- Reset Button: The 2011 volume ends with Doctor Strange traveling back in time and preventing himself from ever reassembling the Defenders, thus negating the events of the entire series.
- ReTool: The title has gone through this several times, notably with the New Defenders status quo during the 1980's.
- Rhyming Episode: In #115, the Beast, Gargoyle, Sub-Mariner and Valkyrie are accidentally sidetracked while attempting to return to Earth, and wind up in a dimension called 'The Land of Here and There': based on the works of Dr. Seuss. The local inhabitants all speak in rhyme, and Beast soon finds himself getting into the swing of things. The Comically Serious Sub-Mariner most assuredly does not.
- Secret-Keeper: In the 2011 series, the Defenders become aware of immensely powerful artifacts called Concordance Engines and must keep them hidden from the world.
- Secret Project Refugee Family: Cloud, Seraph and Harridan.
- Self-Deprecation
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The 2011 series ended with Doctor Strange going back in time to prevent that incarnation of the Defenders from ever forming.
- Shout-Out: Two episodes of the Justice League animated series were homages to the original Defenders, with Doctor Fate standing for Doctor Strange, Aquaman for Namor, Solomon Grundy for The Hulk, Amazo for the Surfer, and Hawkgirl for Valkyrie or Nighthawk.
- The comic artwork featuring Vera Gemini is homage to the Blue Öyster Cult. this picture
explicitly invokes the inner sleeve artwork of Agents of Fortune. (On which is found the track The Revenge of Vera Gemini). The five band members appear as the earthly manifestations of the Demon Lords. Vera herself occupies the position as croupier which on the original album photo is taken by Patti Smith. Captions, as well as the in-universe cult Harvester of Eyes, are Shout Outs to BOC tracks.
- The comic artwork featuring Vera Gemini is homage to the Blue Öyster Cult. this picture
- Squishy Wizard: Downplayed. Strange is adept at martial arts and can hold his own in a fight better than most humans can - but he is still physically the weakest member of the team. Nighthawk comments on this in an issue where the team had been knocked out by energy weapons and captured. Valkyrie is getting worried since Strange hasn't woken up even long after the others recovered. Kyle points out that unlike the rest of them he doesn't have a superhuman body and would take longer to recover.
- Sufficiently Advanced Aliens: The climax of the 2011 series reveals a race of aliens, all resembling Prester John, that placed Cosmic keystone machines known as Concordance Engines on Earth. These machines amalgamate timelines where freak accidents created superheroes instead of horrific tragedies, so that they could ward off Death Celestials from destroying everything.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: At times. The original three (Strange, Namor, and the Hulk,) plus the Surfer are all strong personalities who are used to working alone and none of them likes to admit that they need help. Often Strange has to magically restrain one or more team members (usually, but not always, Hulk and Namor)from attacking each other instead of the enemy.
- Tortured Monster: Nul.
- Trespassing to Talk:
- In issue #57, Ms. Marvel breaks into Nighthawk's apartment to warn him about an incoming AIM attack.
- Strange, of course, does this regularly either via Astral projection or telepathy. His teammates' reactions differ depending upon their mood and what he wants.
- Unfazed Everyman: Jack Norriss, who was the husband of Barbara (Valkyrie's first human host) and was constantly dragged into the team's weird adventures. It is noteworthy though that he also had his Badass Normal moments.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The Defenders on a good day. Some members are genuinely friendly, but others seem to like all the backbiting.
- Wackyland: The Land of Here and There.
- We ARE Struggling Together: At times the only thing the Defenders can agree upon is that the menace they face must be stopped.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: During Steve Gerber's run, Nebulon returns to Earth with the intent of bringing peace to mankind through a brainwashing-like method disguised as a pop psychology, making anyone that fell on his talk devoid of free will and individuality.
- Wham Line: Through a team-up with the Guardians of the Galaxy, a little kid stumbles upon the crashed Captain America and interacts with Martinex. As he's leaving, Marty asks the kid's name, and he reveals it's Vance Astrovik. As in the real name of Marty's teammate, Major Victory.
- The Worf Effect: Silver Surfer spends a issue or two being held hostage by Prester John in the 2011 series.
