Marvel's Avengers have access to some of the most powerful and destructive abilities in its entire comic book universe. While it may be difficult to imagine ever needing a defense in the face of such overwhelming powers, strength is nothing if it can't break through an opponent's defense. Which makes defensive abilities just as important.

Having incredible destructive power is great when fighting supervillains, but the ability to obliterate an entire planet isn't exactly the most useful when it comes to saving civilians, or even protecting oneself. When Marvel villains are just as strong as the heroes, The Avengers' best defensive powers and abilities are the ones that guarantee heroes and civilians are able to survive a world at war.

14 Spider-Man's Spider-Sense

Amazing Fantasy #15 by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek

One of the best ways to avoid taking damage is to simply avoid being hit. Spider-Man not only has incredible increased agility but he also has a semi-psychic ability known by a different name. This iconic Spider-Sense warns Spider-Man about anything dangerous coming his way, seconds in advance. This makes Spider-Man incredibly difficult to hurt, as he's simply able to dodge anything coming at him. This ability does have a limit, however, as Peter isn't fast enough to dodge attacks from speedsters, but he is capable of detecting hidden snipers the moment someone fires a bullet at him.

13 Daredevil's Radar Sense

Daredevil #1 by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, Steve Ditko, Sol Brodsky, and Sam Rosen

While Spider-Sense is great, the one power that beats it is Daredevil's radar sense. Spider-Sense warns Spider-Man when danger is coming his way, but the danger has to be active. If someone shoots a gun at Spider-Man, his sense will go off and he'll avoid it. But Daredevil's radar sense can allow him to detect people with guns before he even enters the building. Daredevil doesn't need to be in active danger to be alerted to what's about to happen, and because of this, Daredevil's radar sense is just one step above Spider-Man's.

12 Moon Knight's Broken Mind

Werewolf by Night #32 by Doug Moench, Don Perlin, Howie Perlin, Phil Rachelson, and Ray Holloway

There are a lot of telepaths in the Marvel Universe, one filled with beings who can brainwash or read the minds of anyone they choose. It's an incredibly dangerous power, and there are very few defenses against it, but Moon Knight's mind isn't one people would want to touch. Not only does Moon Knight have dissociative identity disorder (DID), but his mind has also been touched by the Moon God Khonshu. Because of this, anyone who makes with Moon Knight's brain is in very real danger. This allows Moon Knight to have a level of protection against most telepaths that other characters can simply never aspire to.

11 Wolverine's Healing Factor

Incredible Hulk #180 by Len Wein, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Christie Scheele, and Artie Simek

If it's absolutely impossible to avoid an incoming attack, then the best case scenario is simply being able to heal from it. Wolverine has one of the strongest healing factors in the Marvel Universe, which means so long as his brain remains intact, he'll be able to regenerate from any injury. Or almost any injury, short of a cosmic level of total annihilation. So while Logan's mutation earns him a place among the Avengers' best defenders, it also comes with an explicit limit.

10 Captain America's Shield

Captain America Comics #2 by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Reed Crandall

Few defensive objects rank higher than Captain America's iconic shield. It's well-earned in its material alone, with its origin in Marvel's most powerful metals of vibranium and adamantium. This shield has stood up against some of the most powerful energy blasts around, and taken hits from beings like Thanos and the Hulk. While Captain America has often used the shield offensively, it's also got incredible defensive abilities, and Captain America wouldn't have survived this long without it.

9 Luke Cage's Invulnerable Skin

Heroes for Hire #1 by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Billy Graham, and Skip Kohloff.

Being able to avoid a punch is all well and good, but being able to ignore a punch is even better. Luke Cage doesn't need to use fancy agility to avoid the punches coming at him, he's capable of outright ignoring attacks from even heavy hitters like Iron Fist and The Thing. Not only that, but Luke Cage's skin allows him to ignore bullets of almost all calibers. While his invulnerability is certainly high, it's not the strongest. Certain things, like an overpowered medical laser, are capable of penetrating his skin, and while his skin is near invulnerable, his insides aren't.

8 The Thing's Rocky Carapace

Fantastic Four #1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein, Christopher Rule, Stan Goldberg, and Artie Simek

When it comes to of The Fantastic Four, there's no doubt that Ben Grimm is the most physically powerful. He has some major feats of durability under his belt, such as regularly going blow for blow with the Hulk himself. Not only that, but in Fantastic Four #7, by Dan Slott, Aaron Kuder, John Lucas, Marte Gracia, Joe Caramagna and Rachelle Rosenberg, the Thing managed to survive an energy blast by Galactus that was capable of cracking a planet in two. That's an incredible level of durability, but, he is weak to Adamantium, as Wolverine's claws have proven just as effective against his rock-like exterior.

7 The Invulnerability of Hercules

Young Allies #16 by Charles Nicholas and Allen Bellman

While Luke Cage and Ben Grimm's skin is certainly durable, it's nowhere near as strong as the divine skin of a God. Hercules has some of the most impressive invulnerability in comics, as he's managed to easily shrug off full power punches from Iron Man's strongest suits. His skin is completely impenetrable from both blunt and bladed objects. There's nothing that can hurt the Greek God of Strength other than his body being completely incinerated or his molecules being completely dispersed. That means all but the most powerful attacks could kill Hercules.

6 Quicksilver's Speed

X-Men #4 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, and Artie Simek

When it comes to purely defensive powers, all that matters is someone's ability to either take a hit or to avoid a hit. Having bullet-proof skin and a healing factor is great, but those powers only matter if someone is actively being attacked. Even if someone is incredibly durable, being knocked through a building during a fight can still cause collateral damage. But the Quicksilver is able to avoid all of this by simply running away. In his prime, Quicksilver is capable of outrunning Thor's lightning bolts and crossing continents in seconds. It's an incredible amount of speed and while it can certainly be used offensively, it also has incredible utility in avoiding fights and saving people.

5 Sentry's Invincibility & Regeneration

Sentry #1 by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, Jose Villarrubia, Richard Starkings, and Wes Abbott

There are tons of different forms of healing and invulnerability in comic books, but not a ton of characters have both invulnerability and a healing factor. That's what makes the Sentry so dangerous. Not only is his invulnerability through the roof, but even if someone did manage to hurt him and deal real damage, he's capable of regenerating at a molecular level. As long as Bob is in his Sentry form, it's nearly impossible to kill him. But even if someone might do the unthinkable and manage to finish the Sentry off, as Thor did in Siege #4, it doesn't matter, as Sentry is also immortal and will simply return to life eventually.