While the world easily knows the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, or the Hulk, the Avengers have featured over 120 official across several different named teams. Across the team’s 81 years of publication history, the Avengers have been Marvel’s most influential and long-standing source of stories and comic titles of all time.

However, not all of the titular team are as publicly notable, often because the Avengers’ rotating cast of heroes tend to frequently shift. That said, the Avengers have strict standards for ittance, so here are the ten most underrated Avengers in Marvel history.

1 Swordsman

Jacques Duquesne is a morally ambiguous master of bladed combat and one of the Avengers’ earliest . Debuting on the team in 1965, only two years after the team’s founding, Swordsman has bounced back and forth between villain-for-hire and a noble hero when needed. Despite not having any powers, Duquesne is an Olympic-level athlete who consistently proves himself to be an unsuspecting threat and asset. Swordsman unfortunately met his demise after he single-handedly freed the Avengers from Kang the Conqueror before sacrificing himself to save Mantis from Kang’s lethal energy blast.

Sure, Jacques Duqense is not a superpowered titan like others on this list, but that doesn’t take away from his interest as a character. The Swordsman is in essence no different than Hawkeye, an unpowered individual who struggles to find his moral boundaries but steps up to face literal gods and monsters despite his inherent disadvantage. In an ocean of heroes who depend on their powers to save the day, Jacques Duquesne is a rare treat that deserves a good comeback in the future.

2 Hellcat

Patsy Walker is one of Marvel’s oldest characters, originally being featured in a series of romance-comedy stories published by Marvel’s predecessor, Timely Comics. When reintroduced into Marvel Comics, Hellcat was canonized as a celebrity figure whose original comics were considered fictional adaptations of her own life. After years of training alongside the Avengers, gaining a suit that augments her natural abilities, and becoming a paranormal investigator alongside her then-husband Daimon Hellstrom, Hellcat developed a slew of supernatural, psionic, and physical abilities that make her a versatile hero on any team.

Hellcat is a powerhouse of a character who can undoubtedly stand equal to the likes of Blade or Moon Knight. More importantly, Patsy Walker is interesting. To have a character who originally started her comic career as a cheap two-dimensional woman who was only defined by her romances, and then evolve her into a snarky, supernatural, hell-diving detective is an insane thing to have done. That said, Marvel pulled it off perfectly.

3 Machine Man

Originally appearing in the comic adaptation of 2001: Space Odyssey, by Jack Kirby, Machine Man is an ultra-powered sentient-machine whose augmentations make him capable of multiple feats including gravity manipulation, multi-energy conversion and projection, and internal firearms. While an often unknown fact, Machine Man was the final catalyst that pushed Tony Stark to consider the 50 States Initiative and his position within the marvel Civil War. After believing that Machine Man was an agent of Obidiah Stane, Stark went on a violent rampage, nearly killing his own employees, before Machine Man intercepted to stop the enraged Iron Man.

Considering the profound and long-lasting impact that Civil War I played in both the Marvel Comics Universe and the MCU, Machine Man deserves significantly more credit and representation in modern comics. Yes, his design is a bit antiquated and goofy by today’s standards, but that’s nothing worth holding back an older character from returning to the modern day with a little more importance. Machine Man could make a stellar return to aid in any one of Marvel’s current back-to-back apocalyptic events that have overwhelmed the comics in recent years.

4 Stingray

Stingray, aka Walter Newell, is one of Marvel’s most charming yet unknown characters. After earning his Ph.D. in Marine Biology, Newell worked as an oceanographer overseeing the development of an underwater agricultural city. Newell later met Namor the Submariner and the two became quick allies. Somewhat abandoning his role within the U.S. Government, Stingray has since acted as a key hero for Atlantis and any underwater Avengers operations. His primary abilities come from his exoskeleton battlesuit, which grants him superhuman durability, powerful electrostatic discharges, enhanced swimming speed, and general protection against radiation.

Like the Swordsman, Walter Newell is simply an ordinary man. He has no powers or super enhancements past what his suit allows him to. Namor has never given Walter a mystical power or introduced him to underwater gods. Newell is just a man, but that’s what makes him awesome. Even the simple fact alone that Walter subjects himself to an environment that would kill him in an instant if his suit were to ever fail, makes him a hero worth remaining on the Avengers roster.

5 Crystal

An Inhuman with psionic powers that allow her to control the four primary elements, fire, water, earth, and air, Crystalia Amaquelin is practically Marvel’s equivalent of the Avatar. While primarily known for being the sister of Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans, Crystal has been a pivotal hero featured in the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Inhuman storylines. Arguably her greatest impact in Marvel Comics, it was Crystal who first introduced the precognizant Inhuman Ulysses to the Avengers, the catalyst that would spark the second Avengers Civil War between Iron Man and Captain Marvel.

ittedly, Crystal has had a lot of coverage over the years and has been an important key character in Marvel’s biggest events. However, she is rarely ed as an Avenger. What sets the Avengers apart from other teams is that they are an amalgamation of heroes from all backgrounds. When an Inhuman or a Mutant turns away from their own dedicated teams, even if for a moment, to an organization designed to protect all people, that means something. Yes, Crystal is a champion to the Inhumans, but she has also consistently proven herself to be a champion for all.

6 Darkhawk

One of Marvel’s most prominent and popular characters of the 1990s, Darkhawk, aka Chris Powell, was inspired to take up crime fighting after noticing the rampant corruption in the NYPD. In his first pursuit of heroic justice, Powell discovered an amulet that allows him to assume control over a weaponized android from the Darkforce Dimension. As Darkhawk, Chris has a wide array of powers, including flight, teleportation, size alteration, rapid healing, and a general spectrum of mystical abilities granted to him by the nature of the Darkforce Dimension.

Short and simple, Darkhawk is cool. Darkhawk is the epitome of the ‘90s brand of comic book heroes who can access a slew of seemingly unrelated powers because it makes the character look cool. Historically, he’s not a developed character which is probably why he didn’t make it past the 1990’s in the first place, but that’s not the character’s fault. Marvel is unapologetically the comic company that gives a chance to allow the wacky characters to thrive. While he doesn’t get the love the character deserves, it doesn’t take away from both how powerful and how interesting Darkhawk is.

7 Echo

Now made more popular thanks to the Hawkeye and Echo shows on Disney+, Maya Lopez is one of the most representative heroes in Marvel’s catalog. Not only is she Marvel Comics’ first deaf and indigenous superhero, she is also the MCU’s first amputee hero. While not necessarily a superpowered individual, Echo possesses Olympic-level athletic skills and photographic reflexes that allow her to instantly copy any form of martial skill, similar to the villain Taskmaster. As a deaf woman, Maya has an extremely refined ability to read people’s lips even from far distances or outside the corner of her eye.

Outside of her reflexive skills, Maya Lopez is another character on this list who proves themselves capable of standing next to giants with or without superpowers. That said, Echo was once chosen by the Phoenix Force to become its host. The Phoenix was attracted to Maya’s adaptability to the easiness at which she learned how to wield the cosmic power. Ultimately, Echo relinquished her powers as the Phoenix to defend the Multiverse from the cosmic entity known as the First Firmament.

8 Sunspot

Despite his seemingly naive idealism and impulsive behavior, Roberto “Bobby" da Costa is considered a highly valued member of the X-Men and the U.S. Avengers. Sunspot is an exceptionally powerful mutant who is able to constantly absorb and transform solar energy into a range of superpowers including heat and light manipulation, plasmatic radiation, and superhuman strength and flight. For a moment, after retiring from superheroics, da Costa used his sizable inherited fortune to acquire A.I.M. and reform the villainous company into a research and development organization for the Avengers.

Sunspot is a genuine hero with a heart of gold, despite his previous entanglements with certain mutant extremist groups like the Hellfire Club. Bobby makes a genuine effort to ground himself as a reminder to keep the best interest of the helpless in mind. A true follower of Charles Xavier’s dream of a unified world, Bobby uses his wealth and public status as an X-Men to both secretly and publicly pull the strings of the social economy to provide mutants and humans with the resources they need to thrive.

9 Doctor Voodoo

Jericho Drumm is one of the most unique and interesting supernatural characters in Marvel’s paranormal arsenal. After leaving Haiti to pursue an education in psychology, Drumm returned to find his brother Daniel, a voodoo houngan, dying. Drumm promised to visit Daniel’s mentor, Papa Jumbo, where he was taught the voodoo arts. After bonding with his deceased brother’s spirit, Doctor Voodoo has gone on to become one of Marvel's most powerful sorcerers, even taking over the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme for a while. As a master houngan himself, Drumm possesses specialized voodoo magic that not even Doctor Strange has access to.

Now, Jericho Drumm has become one of Stephen Strange’s closest allies and advisors. He currently serves a smaller role compared to his days as the Sorcerer Supreme, by serving as the principal of the Strange Academy. Drumm’s vast accumulation of magical knowledge and a genuine drive to help and empower the young and the weak, make Doctor Voodoo a somewhat unique Avenger. Especially compared to Doctor Strange, Jericho has fully dedicated himself to helping others rather than furthering his own goals, no doubt caused by the feeling that he could have helped his brother avoid his grim fate.

10 Quake

Originally having been granted her powers from biomanipulation by her supervillain father, Daisy Johnson was later retconned into an Inhuman after the character’s star appearance in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show. Outside of her Omega-level equivalent seismic manipulation powers, Quake has been one of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's most prominent and high ranking agents, possessing a Level 10 security clearance alongside Nick Fury and Black Widow. During the Avengers Civil War, Quake worked alongside Fury to recruit relatives of notable heroes and villains to fend off the Skrull invasion.

Compared to Nick Fury, Black Widow, and even Phil Coulson, Daisy Johnson does not lead her life with the same level of constant deceit as her counterparts. Quake understands that S.H.I.E.L.D. plays a crucial role in the endless chaos of the Marvel universe, but often opposes the organization’s multi-layered web of lies that are almost solely held by one man. Daisy is honest and that can often be a rare quality, even among the Avengers.