S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) was an international peacekeeping, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency sanctioned by the United Nations. They are led by a director who reports to the World Security Council made up of members from various nations. Founded to combat technologically advanced threats on world security (specifically the menace of Hydra), they remained throughout the years on the front lines, fighting terrorism, supernatural threats and extraterrestrial menaces as an international intelligence agency.
In 1960, American business and weapons manufacturer Howard Stark, a member and agent of the Brotherhood of the Shield, started elaborating the idea of a secret counter-terrorism espionage organization devoted to protect the world from several worldwide threats, recording his own thoughts and purposes to leave them as a legacy to his adopted son Anthony.
The very existence of S.H.I.E.L.D. was made public in 1965 when its Director, Rick Stoner, was apparently killed by some Hydra operatives, resulting in the selection of a replacement. Nick Fury was then nominated as the agency's public Executive Director, reporting only to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Executive Council, composed by politicians and businessman from several states and countries.
As director, Colonel Fury took a very active hand in S.H.I.E.L.D. operations, often going into the field himself on their most important missions. Supporting him, aside from the thousands of rank-and-file S.H.I.E.L.D. agents working around the world, were a core group of capable officers. Fury's aide-de-camp was the man who had filled the same function for his Howling Commandos in World War II, the boisterous Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan. Another ex-Howler joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in the person of Gabe Jones, whose presence had made the Howlers the Army's first racially integrated unit. There was also the by-the-books Jasper Sitwell, who balanced and sometimes clashed with the more emotional members of the command staff. The brilliant Sidney 'The Gaffer' Levine acted as head of Research & Development, designing many high-tech specialty gadgets to supplement the weapons and vehicles provided by Stark Enterprises. Later, Laura Brown, the daughter of the Imperial Hydra, defected from Hydra to join S.H.I.E.L.D.. Jimmy Woo, hero of clashes with the villainous Yellow Claw, served as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s FBI liaison agent. Clay Quartermain was a resident 'pretty boy' super-agent. La Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine ('Val' to her friends), a member of the European jet-set, proved to be equally skilled, as well as one of Fury's lovers. Another prominent member was Sharon Carter (Agent 13), a frequent partner and eventual lover of Captain America.
The equipment of S.H.I.E.L.D. has always been at least as distinctive as its membership. A series of flying fortresses invariably known as the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier served as the mobile headquarters of the organization. Other vehicles such as hoverfliers, flying cars and tunneling vehicles rounded out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vehicle complement. Agents carried a variety of personal gear as well. Fury's weapon of choice was a 300-round .15 caliber pistol specially designed to fire explosive-tipped needles. Tear gas boutonnieres, explosive shirts, rear-view periscope hats, camera-phone watches, jetpacks, cigars laced with various chemical compounds (including flash bombs), and other tools of the spy trade insured that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents always had access to the right equipment. One of the most distinctive inventions of The Gaffer was the Life-Model Decoy (LMD), an extremely lifelike android designed to emulate the behavior of a specific individual, usually used to replace someone in danger of being killed. During the Cold War S.H.I.E.L.D. also maintained a large headquarters in New York City, as well as other bases in every major city in the Western world, and hidden outposts in many Communist countries.
Various specialized teams of agents have been utilized, such as the Psi Division and Super Agents. At one time, S.H.I.E.L.D. had command over an incarnation of the Hulkbusters. Throughout the years, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents have left the service to perform acts both heroic and villainous. Some went rogue, such as Mentallo, becoming threats to society. Others, like Quasar, joined the superhero community. Since the early days, S.H.I.E.L.D., through Fury, has maintained close ties to groups like the Avengers and Fantastic Four, and with individuals like Captain America, Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), and Wolverine, ensuring that a capable and varied pool of special operatives were readily available. That said, S.H.I.E.L.D. often came into conflict with members of the superhero community who worked through less than legal means or against government aims. Fury's friendships with many superheroes conflicted with his duties in these cases.

Director of SHIELD Colonel Nick Fury	Head of SHIELD Maria Hill	Agent Phil Coulson	Agent Melinda May	Agent Sum

Agent Val Cooper	Vigilante Aiden Pearce	Agent Megan Haddad

S.W.O.R.D.

S.W.O.R.D. (an acronym for Sentient World Observation and Response Department) was a counter terrorism and intelligence agency which dealt with extraterrestrial threats to world security. S.W.O.R.D. was a subdivision of S.H.I.E.L.D. but appeared to be largely autonomous of its parent organization. Since the departure of Nick Fury as director of S.H.I.E.L.D., relations between the two organizations became strained.
The head of S.W.O.R.D was Special Agent Abigail Brand. Its primary command-and-control HQ was aboard the orbital space station known as the Peak. S.W.O.R.D. was known to have at least one undercover operative in the X-Mansion: Shadowcat's pet dragon, Lockheed.

Director of SWORD Abigail Brand	Head of Science Beast	Agent Lockheed	Agent Death's Head	Captain Jack Harkness

International Operations

International Operations was an American intelligence agency that was founded by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1964 with the purpose of safeguarding the interests of the United States.
International Operations soon fell under the leadership of Director Miles Craven and became an independent organization focusing on researching superhumans.
International Operations first discovered the Gen-factor, one of the sources responsible for superhuman powers. Gen-factor was experimented on many test subjects in which it resulted in many either dead or turned insane, or in some cases heavily and physically mutated. Gen-factor was also exposed to Team-7 by Miles Craven on a fake mission, claiming later that it was a chemical weapon used by their enemy. Most of Team 7 started to develop superpowers, except for Michael Cray, whose powers wouldn't manifest until 20 years later. Other members went insane or committed suicide, but in the end only seven members of Team 7 had developed superpowers while retaining their humanity. These seven would sired children that inherited their fathers' powers and became known as Gen 13.

Director of I.O. Ivana Baiul	Sideways Bob	Verge	Edge	Edge

Thunderbolts

The Thunderbolts were a team of reformed super-criminals. However, the team was originally conceived by Baron Helmut Zemo under the identity of Citizen V in a cover to steal the cities resources and to place themselves in a position of trust by convincing the authorities that they were heroes. He recruited Goliath as Atlas, Moonstone as Meteorite, Beetle as Mach-I, Fixer as Techno, and Screaming Mimi as Songbird. However the team later reformed and became a true force for good in the world.

Director Karla Sofen	Dark Knight Michael Lane

S.H.A.D.E.

S.H.A.D.E. was created as a one-time elite espionage operation by President Lyndon Johnson. Over the decades, it survived in a minimalist form, as a low budget cleanup operation headquartered at the secret Essex Airbase.
The activities of S.H.A.D.E. are unknown until the present day, but what is known is that their budget was repeatedly slashed with the rise of superhumans. However, when all the heroes were occupied with the Infinite Crisis, S.H.A.D.E. became aware of the imminent attack of the Sheeda. When the Sheeda flagship appeared over New York City, they were reinstated as the American government's go-to agency for bizarre goings-on (particularly in light of the news that Checkmate, their predecessor organization, had gone rogue under the leadership of Maxwell Lord).

Father Time	Americommando	Barracuda	Bigfoot	Chief Justice

Destroyer	Doll Man	Embargo	Frankenstein	Lady Frankenstein

Propaganda	Railgun	Spin Doctor	The Face	The Ray III

Vincent Velcoro	Warren Griffith	G.I. Robot	Cache

Force of July

Agents of the government espionage organization, the American Security Agency, the Force of July operated under the personal supervision of the ASA's director, B. Eric Blairman. The ASA's purpose — to eliminate all subversive activities contrary to the best interests of the United States— brought the Force into repeated conflict with the group known as The Outsiders, whom the Force wrongly believed were subversive agents. Each member of the Force possessed not only a unique super-power, but top government clearance and virtual carte blanche to use any means necessary to achieve their goals.
Not truly villains, the Force's members were simply fanatic in their patriotism. They did not realize that Blairman's motives were none-too-pure. Blairman had birthed Project Orwell, whose satellite would have enabled him to spy on people via their televisions. This brought the Force into conflict with the Outsiders, who destroyed a satellite. Afterward, the Force was left under a mountain of debris.
The team was absorbed into a special S.H.A.D.E. special team called First Strike.

Major Victory	Lady Liberty	Silent Majority

Government Agents

Director, Task Force X Amanda Waller	Director, Blood Project Alexander Graves	Assistant, Blood Project Alan Keever	Agent, ARGUS Steve Trevor	Agent, Task Force X Rick Flagg

Agent, CBI Sarge Steel	Director, D.E.O Mister Bones

Freedom Fighters

The Freedom Fighters are a team of American super-heroes led by Uncle Sam. They were formed during World War II to fight against the Nazi army, although their adventures fighting evil have continued into the modern era whenever the nation needs them.