In the Dark Ages, the Asgardians came to Earth, visiting the peoples of Northern Europe and teaching them language and culture. And protecting them from Frost Giants. Early Norse cultures learned much from these visits, although in time the Asgardians would withdraw and their memory would fall into legend.
The 1940's were a tumultuous time. Depression years and racial disharmony in Europe sparked a Second World War that pressed various factions into a technology race. While Nazi forces occupied much of Central Europe, a detachment calling themselves HYDRA were making gains in unconventional warfare. Their leader Johann Schmidt actually managed to procure a Tesseract, and in studying this device HYDRA scientists were able to devise new and deadly weapons for their war effort. In America, Abraham Erskine and Howard Stark were poised on verge breakthroughs that would set the stage for the world of the modern "superhero". Erskine had developed a "Super-Soldier" serum that was to transform a soldier from an ordinary man into something altogether stronger, faster, and more resilient. As a result of this experimental process, Steven Rogers became the world's first superhero, "Captain America", but not without cost. Erskine was assassinated and most of the remaining samples of the serum were destroyed before the project could be pushed into widespread use. The war was won, not with super soldiers, but with many countless lives and simple, bloody warfare.
Howard Stark, who had assisted with Erskine's program went on to develop numerous advances in technology. Learning from the recovered Tesseract, he went on to develop prototype arc reactors, powerful sources of energy in their own right. He eventually died in a car accident, leaving his business empire to his young son, Tony, and Stark Industries grew into a world renowned supplier of weapons technology.
The dawn of the superhero age might have looked like a brief spark to those who grew up reading the exploits of Captain America, but it was soon to flare into a far brighter flame. The secrets of Erskine's formula had baffled scientists for decades until Dr. Bruce Banner explored a new direction and bombarded himself with gamma radiation to prove his theories. His experiment was successful in augmenting the human form, but the extent of the mutation was far beyond anything anyone could have anticipated. Banner was transformed into a raging green beast that was later dubbed the "Hulk".
In response to threats posed by such things as the Hulk and the Tesseract, governments of the world formed the World Security Council, which in turn channeled resources into a world-spanning security agency they named, Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.).
The young Tony Stark had spent the years since his father's death learning the role of businessman and further developing his father's company. An inventive genius himself, he was personally responsible for many of the innovations that made Stark Industries a world leader in weapons technology. On a trip to Afghanistan his convoy was ambushed, and he was held captive and forced to develop weapons for terrorists. He escaped from his captors by building a battlesuit for himself rather than the missile they wanted, but the whole incident had a profound effect on him. He turned his company away from the path of violence, while constructing a series of high-tech battlesuits that he wore into battle himself. Tony's vigilante actions had the effect of ushering in a new superhero age, and taking a leaf from the press he began publicly referring to his heroic persona as "Iron Man".
S.H.I.E.L.D. soon took an interest in Iron Man's activities. They approached Stark on several occasions and reviewed him for potential inclusion into a select group of individuals, but ultimately withdrew from seeking his personal involvement due to his erratic nature. Instead they turned their attentions to exploring weapons technologies. Their mandate was to protect the world from such powerful threats as the Hulk and to this end they began to grow from a clandestine police agency into a powerful military force.
The Asgardians, thought to be nothing more than a myth after centuries of absence, returned once again to the world when the heir to the throne of Asgard found himself banished until he could prove himself worthy to rule Asgard. While his initial appearance went unnoticed to all but a few scientists, his hammer Mjolnir caused quite a stir after it impacted in Puente Antiguo, New Mexico, and also drew the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor did eventually reclaim his birthright and announced that S.H.I.E.L.D. could thereafter count him as an ally.
Alliances would be needed again soon enough. Thor's brother, Loki, made a surprise appearance and stole the Tesseract away from S.H.I.E.L.D. In a desperate bid to counter this threat, S.H.I.E.L.D. reactivated an old plan to assemble a group of extraordinary individuals. They called on Tony Stark and Bruce Banner for their scientific expertise. Captain America, reawakened after decades of being frozen in Arctic ice, was called upon to be a super soldier once more. Thor, and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Romanoff and Barton stepped in to round out the new team. Calling themselves the Avengers, they were able to defeat Loki and repel the Chitauri invasion.
In the wake of the Battle of New York, the world had become a changed place. Some feared the prospect of threats from beyond the known world, but the next threat of significance was a series of terror bombings around the globe. Authorities searched in vain for the culprit behind it, and were confounded by the series of hijacked television broadcasts that followed. When the Florida Man was captured, it fell to Tony Stark to uncover the identity of the terrorists, and ultimately to end the threat they posed
Heroes:
Captain America
Iron Man
Thor
The Hulk
Hawkeye
Black Widow
Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver
The Vision
War Machine
Falcon
Daredevil
Ant-Man
The Wasp
Jessica Jones
Luke Cage
The Punisher
Elektra
Black Panther
Spider-Man
The Winter Soldier
Ghost Rider
Doctor Strange
Iron Fist
Valkyrie
Captain Marvel
Cloak and Dagger
Supporting Cast:
Nick Fury
Pepper Potts
Happy Hogan
Phil Coulson
Thaddeus Ross
Betty Ross
Leonard Samson
Erik Selvig
Darcy Lewis
May Parker
Dr. Henry Pym
Janet Van Dyne
Foggy Nelson
Karen Page
Ben Urich
Claire Temple
Stick
Christine Everhart
Chess Roberts
President Matthew Ellis
Former Vice President Rodriguez
Senator Stern
Everett Ross
Father Lantom
Ace Peterson
Josie
Helen Cho
Laura Barton
Cassie Lang
Maggie Lang
Jim Paxton
Luis
Dave
Kurt
The Ancient One
Wong
Karl Mordo
Christine Palmer
Jeri Hogarth
Marci Stahl
Trish Walker
Misty Knight
Colleen Wing
Bobby Fish
Malcolm Ducasse
Gabriel Reyes
Ian Boothby
Samuel Sterns
Stanley Lieber
Harley Keener
Ned Leeds
Liz Toomes
Flash Thompson
Michelle Jones
Aaron Davis
Doris Toomes
Joy Meachum
Ward Meachum
Davos
Korg
Miek
Shuri
Nakia
Okoye
T'Chaka
Ramonda
M'Baku
Jonathan Pangborn
Adina Johnson
Otis Johnson
Melissa Bowen
Francis Xavier Delgado
Liam Walsh
Brigid O'Reilly
Evita Fusilier
Bernard Sanjo
James Lucas
Nandi Tyler
Mark Bailey
Dr. Bill Foster
Jimmy Woo
Maria Rambeau
Monica Rambeau
Doctor Wendy Lawson
Goose the Cat
World Security Council
The Department of Damage Control
The Asgardians
The Inhumans
The Masters of the Mystic Arts
The Dora Milaje
WHiH World News
Organizations:
The Avengers
The Defenders
The Inhuman Royal Family
The Runaways
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Special Operations Command Center
Villains:
Iron Monger
Whiplash
Justin Hammer
The Abomination
Loki
The Destroyer
Laufey
The Red Skull
Arnim Zola
Thanos
The Other
The Mandarin
Aldritch Killian
Eric Savin
Ellen Brandt
Malekith the Accursed
Algrim the Accursed
The Collector
Georges Batroc
Alexander Pierce
Crossbones
Franklin Hall
Donnie Gill
Blackout
Carl "Crusher" Creel
Calvin Zabo
Wilson Fisk
James Wesley
Leland Owlsley
Madame Gao
Nobu Yoshioka
Vladimir Ranskahov
Anatoly Ranskahov
Ultron
Baron Strucker
Ulysses Klaue
Yellowjacket
Kilgrave
Colonel Helmut Zemo
Diamondback
Cottonmouth
Black Mariah
Shades
Dormammu
Kaecilius
The Vulture
The Shocker (Jackson Price)
The Shocker (Herman Schultz)
The Tinkerer
Mac Gargan
Harold Meachum
Alexandra Reid
Surtur
Hela
Fenris
Skurge
The Grandmaster
Topaz
Erik Killmonger
W'Kabi
Graviton
Bushmaster
Comanche
Cockroach
Rosalie Carbone
Ghost
Sonny Burch
Mysterio
Villainous Groups:
The Black Order
HYDRA
A.I.M.
The Hand
The Jotun
The Chitauri
The Ten Rings
Hammer Drones
The Dark Elves
The Vulture's Crew
The Watchdogs
The Zealots
The Slicing Talons
The Berserkers
The Dogs of Hell
Anvil Security
Locations on Earth-199999:
Avengers Tower
New Avengers Compound
Stark Industries
Tony Stark's Mansion
Stark Expo
The Triskelion
Kamar-Taj
New York Sanctum
Midtown School of Science and Technology
Wakanda
Sokovia
Culver University
Pym Technologies
Hammer Industries
The Raft
Nelson and Murdock Law Office
Fogwell's Gym
Josie's Bar
New York Bulletin
Melvin Potter's Workshop
Saint Patrick's Cathedral
Ryker's Island
Metro-General Hospital
Alias Investigations
Trish Walker's Apartment
Pop's Barber Shop
Genghis Connie's
Harlem's Paradise
Colon's Gym
Rand Enterprises
K'un-Lun
Chikara Dojo
Hand Compound
Hogarth, Chao and Benowitz Office
Midland Circle
Micro's Hideout
Church of Gibborim
Atlas Academy
Wizard
Items of Interest:
The Tesseract
The Aether
The Power Stone
The Mind Stone
The Eye of Agamotto
The Soul Stone
Other Files:
The Multiverse
Space
The Deceased
