Phil Coulson Phillip "Phil" Coulson (portrayed by
Clark Gregg) was the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in charge of Project T.A.H.I.T.I., meant to bring a potential dead Avenger back to life using a drug derived from an ancient alien corpse. Following his death in
The Avengers, Fury resurrected Coulson using T.A.H.I.T.I. Coulson puts together a team of agents, and they travel the world dealing with strange new cases. During this time,
Hydra is revealed to have infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury makes Coulson the new Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and tasks him with rebuilding the agency "the right way". It is later discovered that Phil Coulson is dying due to the side effect of having Ghost Rider in him during the final battle with Aida. Following the final battle with the gravitonium-enhanced Glenn Talbot, Coulson retires to live out his last days on Tahiti with May. Phil Coulson was created for
Iron Man; He becomes "The Doctor", also known as Leopold,
Hydra's remorseless second-in-command, and has a relationship with Aida, who now goes by
Ophelia / Madame Hydra. After taking the position of Head of Hydra following Aida's incapacitation, he creates for Aida a machine to become a real person. He is forced out of the Framework by S.H.I.E.L.D., after which point Fitz is traumatized from his behavior there as The Doctor. Due to multiple stressful factors across separate timelines in the fifth and sixth seasons, Fitz experiences a psychic split that enables his "Doctor" personality from the Framework to temporarily resurface. In the first timeline Fitz, on their orders, proceeds to dissect Daisy Johnson, while in the second timeline, The Doctor falls in love with the
id of Jemma Simmons.
Jemma Simmons Jemma Anne Simmons (portrayed by
Elizabeth Henstridge) is brought on to Coulson's team as a life sciences (both human and alien) specialist, and has a close bond with Agent Fitz, the two having graduated from the S.H.I.E.L.D. academy together. She grows to mistrust all things alien and superhuman, but shows her loyalty to Coulson despite this when they are faced with the rival S.H.I.E.L.D. faction. Following the fight against the Inhumans, Simmons is absorbed by the
Kree monolith, a portal to the alien planet Maveth. There, she falls in love with Will Daniels, who sacrifices himself so she can return to Earth. Simmons eventually moves on from Daniels and begins a relationship with Fitz and eventually marries him. After Fitz is killed, Simmons joins the mission to find the preserved body that Enoch had. They temporarily reunite until the Chronicoms kidnap them to force them to figure out time travel so they can save their home planet. However, Enoch rescues them and helps them save their friends and builds a time machine to help them stop the Chronicoms from changing history. Following the mission's success, Fitz and Simmons retire from S.H.I.E.L.D. to raise their daughter, Alya. Henstridge was also cast in November 2012. The character was originally envisioned as the "nagging worrywart" on the team, but changed when Henstridge brought an enthusiasm to the role the producers were looking for. She described her character as "a biochem expert. She's young and hungry and she's a great woman to play because she's intelligent and focused and curious and she doesn't apologize for it. She's got a wonderful relationship with Fitz. They kind of bounce off each other." Henstridge was named
TVLine's "Performer of the Week" for the week of October 25, 2015, for her performance in "
4,722 Hours", particularly for carrying the episode herself.
Lance Hunter Lance Hunter (portrayed by
Nick Blood), an
SAS lieutenant turned mercenary, joins post-Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D. at the request of Coulson following a recommendation from his ex-wife
Bobbi Morse. Despite a tumultuous relationship with Morse, Hunter becomes a full-time S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, and risks his life to save her when she is kidnapped. Following an incident in Russia involving the near-assassination of Prime Minister Olshenko, Hunter and Morse decide to disavow themselves from S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect Coulson and the team. Hunter continues doing mercenary work, with Fitz eventually reaching out for Hunter to free him from General Hale's base while posing as a lawyer. Hunter helps Fitz rescue Coulson and the team when they are transported to 2091 where their trail led them to Enoch. Lance Hunter, created by
Gary Friedrich as the British version of Nick Fury for
Captain Britain Weekly, was confirmed in September 2014 to be a member of the principal cast for the second season. Blood was announced as cast at the 2014
San Diego Comic-Con, where the character was described as not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but a mercenary. On his character joining the cast, Blood explained that "each different character, the original characters, has a different kind of response to [Hunter]. Generally I think they're slightly wary, a little bit suspicious, [but also] a little bit amused by him. Because the nice thing about him coming into this group is that Lance doesn't really care that much of what people think of him. So he's very much himself and very comfortable in it. He doesn't bow down to the etiquette of the S.H.I.E.L.D. hierarchy." Talking about Hunter's integration into the team following an offer from Coulson to become a full-time agent, Blood said, "I feel Hunter probably feels very independent, still, so I don't think he would like to admit that he's not an outsider, that he's a part of it....He doesn't have too much respect for authority and titles, particularly in this world, but I think he takes each decision as it comes. If Coulson does something he respects, that's all good. If he doesn't, he's going to say something. But I think he sees that [Coulson is] trying to do the right thing, and he's got a lot of respect for him in that sense". Also, on Hunter's on-again, off-again relationship with Morse, Blood said, "I think the dynamic's great. I think it's really good and there is a lot of truth in it of those relationships you have where it's kind of, "can't live with each other, can't kill each other," and that sort of thing." After Hunter kills a man in "
A Wanted (Inhu)man", Blood said, "I think that's probably newer for the audience than it is for Hunter. I think Hunter, in his past, has probably done some morally questionable acts....not to say he's ever been a vicious, vindictive, or immoral person. I think he's just kind of straddled that line between right and wrong." Blood left the series following the season three episode "
Parting Shot" to star in the spin-off show ''
Marvel's Most Wanted. As that series was not picked up in May 2016, it was announced in September 2017 that Blood would return to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' during season five. On where Hunter's been when he returns to help Fitz get to 2091 to rescue Coulson and the team, Blood said, "he's been up his usual tricks, doing some mercenary work and bickering with Bobbi.... He doesn't necessarily have access to all the bells-and-whistles and gadgetry that S.H.I.E.L.D. did, so he has to use his charm and his wit to break down doors, and call in a few favors from his dodgy friends".
Bobbi Morse Barbara "Bobbi" Morse (portrayed by
Adrianne Palicki) is Hunter's ex-wife and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. A founding member of the "real S.H.I.E.L.D." after disobeying Fury's orders to save hundreds of S.H.I.E.L.D. lives, she infiltrates Coulson's group for reconnaissance. Coulson sends her undercover within Hydra, where she gave up the location of Agent 33 rather than risk the lives of many other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She later agrees, along with her fellow "real S.H.I.E.L.D." leaders, to combine their faction with Coulson's. Ward then kidnaps her in an attempt to force her to confess to giving up 33 to Hydra, but when Morse is unrepentant, Ward sets a trap for Hunter which will see him killed in front of her. Morse takes the bullet for Hunter, barely surviving. Following an incident in Russia involving the near-assassination of Prime Minister Olshenko, Morse and Hunter decide to disavow themselves from S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect Coulson and the team. At the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con, the character of
Bobbi Morse / Mockingbird, who was first introduced in
Astonishing Tales #6 by
Gerry Conway, was revealed to be appearing in the second season. That August, Palicki was cast as Morse in a guest role, to appear in the episode "
A Hen in the Wolf House", but with the potential to return. Palicki, a comic fan, was approached by the showrunners specifically for the part, and at first hesitated to take the role, thinking "I will never be able to play another Marvel character if I go forward in this role." Palicki already had martial arts and gun training, but had to learn to use the character's signature
arnis sticks, and noted similarities between Morse's fighting style and that of
Scarlett Johansson's
Black Widow from the MCU films. Palicki was promoted to series regular with the season two episode "
Aftershocks". In approaching Morse's costume, Foley "looked at all of her comic appearances and really wanted to try to bring elements of the look from the comics into the costume that we're doing now for the show...but we had to change it, obviously, for practicality, because it had to fit into our world. It had to have a kind of tactical feeling to it too so that it made sense in our universe. She's got rivets that are in the straps across her chest, and those are there as a tribute to the buttons that go down the side of her [most recent comics] costume". The character's comics costume is traditionally navy blue and white, which was changed to navy blue and grey for the series. Three sets of the costume were produced; two for Palicki to wear, and one for her stunt double. Foley used "lots of stretch panels" and leather to ensure freedom of movement in the character's many action sequences. With the reveal of Morse's loyalty to the "real S.H.I.E.L.D." faction, Palicki explained that the character was "not doing anything wrong in her [own] eyes...This was a choice she made. She's been through hell with these people. She does care about Coulson's team. She's torn because of Hunter and she has a soft spot for Coulson. But at the end of it, she really is a true soldier and she feels there has been a compromise and she needs to take care of it." Bell, in response to a question on whether Morse had more secrets than those revealed during the second season, stated that "she and Hunter have been keeping secrets from one another, evidently for years. And one of the things I find interesting about her is she seems to be more of an ideologue—she's loyal to an idea—and sometimes, the short term of what appears to be betrayal or short term conflict is often because of what she views as the greater good. And that's an interesting character to have in a world where Coulson is much more "we need to protect or save that person." Are you loyal to a person? Are you loyal to the guy in the bunker next to you? Or are you loyal to the larger concept of what we're fighting for?" When asked about her character potentially appearing in an MCU film, Palicki said "that was one of the things that was discussed when I was coming on for the part, and you know, we'll see what happens. It's such a nice world that we live in that crossover can happen so often now which in the past it never really did so, to see these worlds come together on the small screen and the big screen is really cool." Palicki left the series following the season three episode "Parting Shot" to star in the spin-off show ''Marvel's Most Wanted''. Palicki was named as an honorable mention for
TVLines "Performer of the Week" for the week of March 20, 2016, for her performance in "Parting Shot".
Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie (portrayed by
Henry Simmons), a S.H.I.E.L.D. mechanic under Robert Gonzales, is a founding member of the "real S.H.I.E.L.D.", and infiltrates Coulson's group with Morse. After being briefly mind-controlled by Kree technology Mack's distrust in alien and the superhuman is deepened, and he decides to leave S.H.I.E.L.D. when his fellow leaders agree to join forces with Coulson. However, following the war with the Inhumans, Coulson convinces Mack to stay, and places him in charge of all alien materials. Coulson makes Mack acting director of S.H.I.E.L.D. when he goes after Ward and Hydra. In the Framework, Mack's daughter Hope is still alive. After being used by Hydra to reveal Johnson is from the real world, he seeks out the S.H.I.E.L.D. resistance to help them. When the exit point from the Framework is found, Mack chooses to stay behind, saying that the time he spent with the Framework version of Hope was real enough for him. He later leaves the Framework when Hope disappears amongst the Framework's collapse. After the death of Coulson, Mack becomes the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. During the seventh season, Mack takes part in the mission to prevent the Chronicoms from rewriting history. One year after the mission's success, Mack continues to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. from a new Helicarrier. In August 2014, Simmons joined the cast as Mack, a recurring character inspired by one that first appeared in
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3. He was promoted to series regular for the third season. Simmons described Mack as "a big guy. That is, he has a big heart, but when it comes down to it and business has to get done, there's another side of him that gets it done....He wants to make a difference, so that's why he wants to be a part of this team". On the different dynamic that a mechanic brings to the S.H.I.E.L.D. team, Simmons said "I think my guy does have a little bit of a different element, [because] the other people have the stress of the everyday life or death danger situations. Mack doesn't have that quite yet. He has the stress of getting things done because he wants to contribute, but he's not out there in the field....They might have their quips and everything, but everything is very serious. I see that my guy brings a little bit of a different color to everything. He has a little bit more humor to him, he's a little bit more laid back." On Mack's stance on violence, Simmons confirmed that "Mack really is a guy that does not like violence at all, but, when pushed, it's "by any means necessary." He doesn't enjoy it, but he'll do what he has to do." After Mack's allegiance to the "real S.H.I.E.L.D." faction is revealed, and as his distrust of Coulson grew throughout the second season, Simmons spoke of Mack's feelings towards Coulson: "He respects Coulson. And I think he genuinely likes Coulson. But I think he just believes that Coulson is not the right man for the job....look, I'm loyal, but if the head is going about doing things that really aren't in our job description, and he's using us to do things for personal reasons, and then one of my brothers dies because of it? Yeah, I have a problem. And everyone else should, too....when Coulson is in his most crazed state and on the verge of killing Sebastian Derik, no one has ever seen Coulson like that. Skye witnessed it, but she has a different relationship to him; there's like a father/daughter thing going. So out of the whole team, I was the only one to see him like that, completely out of control. I tried to explain it to Hunter—if that happened in that instant, what's going to happen when everything is on the line? How is he going to act?—and Hunter kind of brushed it aside. But that's another reason why Mack is very, very deeply skeptical." In season six, Mack becomes the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Simmons "love[d] the challenge of being the director of S.H.I.E.L.D." but felt "the one thing that can hinder Mack's ability to lead is his reluctance to put the people he loves in the line of danger," which leads to "Mack's toughest decision as director."
Lincoln Campbell Lincoln Campbell (portrayed by
Luke Mitchell) is an Inhuman doctor with the ability to control electric charges. He helps Skye adjust to her new life post-terrigenesis, and his later attempt to protect her from S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra leads to his capture and experimentation at the hands of Dr. List. Skye saves his life, and when she turns on Jiaying once realizing her true intentions, Campbell is shortly convinced to do the same. Following Jiaying's death, Campbell attempts to live a normal life, convinced that his Inhuman abilities are a curse, but is hunted by the ATCU and becomes a fugitive. He subsequently joins S.H.I.E.L.D. for protection and to be near Skye—now going by Daisy Johnson and with whom Campbell forms a relationship—and becomes a Secret Warrior. Campbell chooses to sacrifice himself to save the team and the world from Hive's plan by taking Hive and a nuclear warhead to space in a quinjet where the weapon can detonate without affecting Earth. Daisy mentioned that Lincoln has a sister named Amanda who Daisy sends relief money to. Mitchell was introduced as Lincoln Campbell, a recurring character, in the second season. He was promoted to series regular for the third season. Regarding the character's introduction, Bell stated that "Meeting Luke's character in the Inhuman world is just setting up a new dynamic. We're taking Skye into a group with a whole bunch of different people. So far, we've seen that there's a guy with no eyes, and there's a woman who now is covered in thorns. And as in the
X-Men world, there are a handful of people who look more like them, but a lot of them turn out to be just attractive people with powers. And we thought, "Hey, let's have some of those as well!" We were looking for a new character to come on, and Luke just really impressed us. He was a good actor, had a nice quality, and we felt he might be a good person to sort of usher Skye into this other world." Heading into season three, Mitchell explained that "the Lincoln that the audience was introduced to in season two was a side of Lincoln, and that side of Lincoln was not necessarily a lie or the truth or whatever, but we all put on different faces in different environments...I think in that environment Lincoln was very much under the spell of the Inhuman Elders. He played his part in the hierarchy there and he believed in the cause, which then was exposed to be evil. Then in season three, it's like, wow, how is he dealing with the events in season two?" On seeing Lincoln's darker side in the third season, Mitchell said, "I think we're going to see a lot more of Lincoln's issues with his past pop up, in particular possibly some anger issues that have been unresolved. They pop their heads up from time to time. Certainly in matters of conflict, in pressure situations". On the relationship that Campbell develops with Johnson, the only person who can "keep him somewhat in check when it comes to his anger", Mitchell said, "he wants to make something of his life, but he doesn't see anything without Daisy in the picture", and "if something were to happen to Daisy, I think Lincoln wouldn't stay in S.H.I.E.L.D. Daisy is his life. He'll do anything to get her back." This is seen when he agrees to wear a "murder vest" as a fail safe, and when he disobeys orders to test an experimental antitoxin on himself—"Once he does that, and it doesn't work, then they put him in the containment module for his own benefit, because his immune system is done. It becomes incredibly frustrating." Mitchell added, "He makes these decisions, but you still see the fear in him when he does this. It's not just bravado....There's a deep well of emotion in him." The episode "
Bouncing Back" opens with "a mysterious flash-forward to three months in the future, showing an unidentified S.H.I.E.L.D. agent seemingly dead in space", leading to a "four-episode event" for the final episodes of the season, marketed as
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Fallen Agent. A poster created by
Greg Land for the event recreated the cover of the "iconic"
The Amazing Spider-Man #121 that served as the first issue of the story arc "
The Night Gwen Stacy Died", and ahead of the season finale, Marvel released a series of videos that "memorialized" each of the potential character who could have been the Fallen Agent. The final episode of the season reveals that it is Campbell who dies, which the executive producers had known going into the season when forming the arcs for Lincoln, Daisy, and Ward. Bell said he "earned it", adding that Lincoln comes to a point where he realizes what his purpose is, with Whedon explaining that the decision was based on the fact that the series did not "want to be a body count show, but it is a real world with real stakes. What we had not done is the heroic death and the full-sacrifice death. This was a conscious decision. We also think that there's a poetry in the fact that the person doing it doesn't consider himself a hero. That's the beauty of the moment—it's not just for [Daisy], but it is, and it's not just for him, but it is."
Holden Radcliffe Holden Radcliffe (portrayed by
John Hannah) is a
transhumanist who believes in the improvement of humanity through enhancement. Due to his studies of parasites, Fitz and Simmons seek his help with counteracting Hive's abilities, but he is kidnapped by Hive first to help recreate the original Kree experiment that created the Inhumans. After a S.H.I.E.L.D. raid on Hive's base, Radcliffe escapes and agrees to cooperate with Coulson and Talbot. After being acquitted, Radcliffe transfers his
artificial intelligence AIDA into a
Life Model Decoy (LMD), an old S.H.I.E.L.D. project, which Radcliffe also names Aida. After seeing pages from the
Darkhold, Radcliffe begins using his LMDs, including Aida and a decoy of May, to try and take it for himself in an attempt to learn the secret to eternal life. Fearing for his safety, Radcliffe also creates a decoy of himself, and seeks protection from the
Watchdogs. Using the
Darkhold and the resources of the Watchdogs' Superior, Racliffe creates an entire digital world within the Framework. Feeling that Radcliffe may one day jeopardize the Framework himself, Aida slits Radcliffe's wrists and uploads his mind to the Framework as his body dies. Within the Framework, his consciousness resided on Ogygia with Agnes in exchange for not interfering with Aida's work as Madame Hydra. After redeeming himself, Holden is deleted amongst the Framework's collapse. Hannah recurred as Radcliffe during the end of the third season, before being promoted to the main cast for the fourth season. On Radcliffe transferring his
artificial intelligence AIDA into a Life Model Decoy, Whedon said, "Radcliffe has a good heart, but he's willing to do anything for science. He's excited about the prospect. He said Fitz and Simmons had friends die and maybe they didn't have to. He's clearly opening a box. Whether or not it's Pandora's box, we'll see. He thinks there's something beyond humans." Tancharoen added, "To someone like Radcliffe, he might believe that to be just the next step in human evolution. There are a number of people who are into body modification now, so what does that mean? What's the root of that?" Hannah felt portraying Radcliffe was "quite interesting", describing him as "someone who is not the up-down, white-hearted good guy" but still is not "a bad guy". He also noted the fatherly feelings Radcliffe has towards Aida, stating, "possibly as [their relationship] develops, as she proves there's almost a paternal... caring and sympathetic way in which that technology has developed self-awareness and how that self-awareness disappoints. A bit like you would with a child, where a child becomes aware of their own limitations, their own lackings. I would say there's certainly have a very benign kind of deity sense about it – a benign...not dictatorship about it, but a benign parental way about it."
Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez Elena Rodriguez (portrayed by
Natalia Cordova-Buckley) is a Colombian Inhuman who can move at super-speed for the duration of a heart beat, before returning to the point she started moving from. At a young age, she lost her father to drug dealers and had to live with her uncle Oscar and cousin Francisco. When one of the drug dealers raided her uncle's house, she hid her grandmother's necklace, at the cost of her uncle's life. She comes into contact with S.H.I.E.L.D. when they investigate her for stealing weapons from the corrupt members of the
National Police of Colombia after they killed Francisco. After joining the team, she grows close to Mack, who nicknames her "Yo-Yo" because of her powers. After signing the Sokovia Accords, Rodriguez returns to her life, with occasional monitoring by S.H.I.E.L.D. Rodriguez later helps Daisy Johnson and Jemma Simmons infiltrate the Framework. While helping the team defeat Izel, she became possessed by one of Izel's Shrikes before it dissolved upon her death. However, the experience left her unable to use her powers. As the team was traveling through time to defeat the Chronicoms, she visited a past version of Jiaying, who diagnosed her problem as the result of a mental block. Working with Melinda May, Rodriguez regained her powers and unlocked the ability to move at super-speed without bouncing back. Following the Chronicoms' defeat, she became one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agents working with Agents Piper and Davis. By February 2016, Cordova-Buckley was cast as "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, based on the comic Secret Warrior of the same name. Cordova-Buckley learned of the role after she had been cast in the series, and subsequently researched the comics for inspiration. She described the character, as she is initially introduced in the series, as a freedom fighter who "in a lot of ways she wants to help her people in Colombia and she wants to do good with her powers and she makes sure that she's very adamant on how she goes about things." She also noted the rarity of the character's spirituality, saying that she "has this whole spiritual connection to her powers which is rare to ever see in a super hero movie...She wants to use [her powers] as what she calls a blessing and a gift from God to help others, so it's a very unique approach to it all". When first portraying the character, Cordova-Buckley smiled whenever Rodriguez was about to use her abilities, to show an adrenaline rush and the feeling of having such power. After positive fan responses to this, the actress morphed this trait into a more mischievous personality for the character. Before the start of the fifth season, it was revealed that Cordova-Buckley had been promoted to series regular. Sofia Rabe-Martinez portrays a younger Elena.
Deke Shaw Deke Shaw (portrayed by
Jeff Ward) is "the ultimate survivor" and a "roguish scavenger" on the space station Lighthouse in the year 2091. With a sharp mind and quick wit, he has the ability to acquire items for a price. During the final battle with the Kree Kasius, Enoch and Deke sacrifice their lives to get Phil Coulson's team back to their own time. However, Deke was sent to the present with Coulson and found by Daisy. He later realizes that he is Fitz and Simmons' grandson. Following the battle with the gravitonium-enhanced Glenn Talbot, Deke leaves S.H.I.E.L.D. In season six, Deke establishes a
tech company by "borrowing" S.H.I.E.L.D. tech to make new innovations, such as using the Framework as a virtual reality video game. Despite this, S.H.I.E.L.D. kept tabs on him via Agent Trevor Khan, who worked undercover as his partner. Deke was targeted by Sarge's group, who mistook him for a Shrike carrier due to his strange readings before he was rescued by Mack and May. While helping the S.H.I.E.L.D. team thwart Sarge's plan to nuke Izel's shrikes, Deke fell in love with Sarge's associate Snowflake after Sarge abandoned her for the sake of his revenge. In season seven, Deke assists the S.H.I.E.L.D. team in stopping the Chronicoms from changing history before eventually volunteering to stay behind in an alternative timeline to help them return to theirs. Despite this, he becomes the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D. while working undercover as a rock star. Ward was cast in August 2017; his role was announced in November 2017. Ward had originally been cast as Virgil, a character who dies in the first episode. During the
table read of the episode, the main cast felt Ward "nailed it" as Virgil and wanted him to stay on as Deke, who had not yet been cast. The producers reached out to Ward after the reading to audition for Deke, and was ultimately cast in the part. At San Diego Comic-Con in 2018, it was revealed that Ward had been promoted to a series regular for the sixth season. ==Recurring characters==