title: Underoath

text: Underoath (stylized as Underøath or UnderOath) is an American rock band from Tampa, Florida. It was founded by lead vocalist Dallas Taylor and guitarist Luke Morton on November 30, 1997, in Ocala, Florida; subsequently, its additional members were from Tampa, including drummer, clean vocalist and last remaining core member Aaron Gillespie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, keyboardist Christopher Dudley, lead guitarist Timothy McTague, bassist Grant Brandell, lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, and rhythm guitarist James Smith. Originally, the band identified as a Christian group; they have since distanced themselves from Christianity.


title: Underoath

text: The band's lineup shifted frequently during its early years. Taylor recorded "Act of Depression", "Cries of the Past", and "The Changing of Times" with the band and remained with the group until his departure in 2003; Chamberlain replaced him as lead vocalist, and the lineup has remained mostly stable since. The band then released "They're Only Chasing Safety" and "Define the Great Line", and both earned gold certifications by the RIAA. These two albums remain their most commercially successful releases, and provided them with mainstream status; the latter of the two holds their highest "Billboard" 200 entry, peaking at no. 2. Following their sixth studio album, "Lost in the Sound of Separation", which also reached a top-ten peak on the "Billboard" 200, Gillespie left the group and was replaced by former Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison. Their seventh album, "Ø (Disambiguation)", was released in 2010; Chamberlain and McTague provided more prominent clean vocals in Gillespie's absence. On October 2, 2012, Underoath announced that they would be disbanding in 2013; they played their final show that January.


title: Underoath

text: On August 17, 2015, the band announced they had reunited; in doing so, Gillespie returned to the lineup. After performing at A Day to Remember's Self Help Fest in 2016, Underoath announced their eighth studio album, "Erase Me", would be released 2018. It was their first album in 8 years and their first in 10 years with Gillespie; the band also publicly abandoned their Christian musical approach starting with this record. The follow-up, "Voyeurist", was released in January 2022.


title: Underoath

text: On November 30, 1997, Underoath formed with Dallas Taylor, and guitarist Luke Morton, in Ocala, Florida. Morton devised the name Underoath "from somewhere in the Bible." Drummer Aaron Gillespie, who attended Morton's church, was then asked to play with them. Gillespie agreed, and the group recruited guitarist Corey Steger and bassist Octavio Fernandez; the band members were all in high school.


title: Underoath

text: After a year of playing at festivals and touring the area around Florida, Underoath signed to Alabama's Takehold Records in 1999. Around this time Luke Morton had left the band without appearing on any of their formal recordings. They released their debut "Act of Depression" that July, and it sold over 2,000 copies.


title: Underoath

text: In 2000, keyboardist Christopher Dudley joined Underoath, and the five-song, forty-minute long record, "Cries of the Past" was released, quickly selling 3,000 copies. In 2001, Corey Steger left the band; he died in a car accident on March 17, 2021. Takehold Records was bought out by Seattle's Tooth & Nail Records and Underoath was subsequently signed to the label's subsidiary, Solid State Records. In January 2002, bassist Grant Brandell joined Underoath. The band then began working on their Solid State debut, "The Changing of Times", with "Cries of the Past" producer James Paul Wisner. The album was released on February 26, 2002, and produced one single: "When the Sun Sleeps". Dallas Taylor explained that the lyrics on "The Changing of Times" were about "people playing with other people's emotions and how it can leave you bitter" and "struggling through life's hardships and trying to find God in all of it."


title: Underoath

text: In 2003, Underoath supported the album's release with their first inclusion on Warped Tour, however their participation in the tour came to an end when Taylor (under controversial conditions) was asked to leave the band. Dudley explained at that time that Taylor could no longer tour with Underoath for various reasons and left on his own decision. Under speculation of a potential breakup, the band then went on a supporting tour with Atreyu in August 2003 with Matt Tarpey as the temporary lead vocalist, while at the time being a part of Winter Solstice. In October 2003, at the CMJ Fest in New York City, the band reappeared with Spencer Chamberlain, formerly of the band This Runs Through, as the new lead vocalist. Chamberlain had toured with Underoath when fronting his former band and at one time was roommates with Dudley; their previous friendship with Chamberlain was considered when making him lead vocalist. Gillespie explained that before Chamberlain had been in the band, the group members "didn't really get along", however, after Chamberlain joined "everything was just normal, we clicked". After Chamberlain became a permanent member, Underoath discussed the possibility of changing the name and becoming a new band. Ultimately, the members decided to remain as Underoath.


title: Underoath

text: After taking the end of 2003 off from touring to begin working on an album, the band scheduled time in February 2004 to begin recording.


title: Underoath

text: During the early months of 2004, Underoath returned to the studio with Chamberlain as lead vocalist and producer James Paul Wisner. "They're Only Chasing Safety" was released on June 15, 2004, and proved to be a more commercial success for the band, going onto outsell the previous three albums combined. The album sold close to 100,000 copies in its first week of release and was certified gold by the end of 2005, selling more than 487,000 copies. With Gillespie being the only original member, "They're Only Chasing Safety" had been a vast change in sound and rhythm from what they performed earlier on. "Reinventing Your Exit" and "It's Dangerous Business Walking out Your Front Door" were released as the album's two singles and both songs spawned music videos that received frequent airplay on MTV2 and Fuse.


title: Underoath

text: In March 2005, Underoath participated in the inaugural Taste of Chaos tour, and shortly after, embarked on their first headlining tour. The band premiered two brand-new songs during the length of the tour. They played a part of the Warped Tour, but declined to perform for the entirety of the tour in order to take time to record another album. Underoath made their first covers of national magazines appearing on "CCM Magazine" in July 2005 and then "Alternative Press" in September, and in October, "They're Only Chasing Safety" was re-released in a two-disc set with four formerly unreleased songs. Also included was re-mastered album artwork by Jacob Bannon of Converge, and a DVD with over two hours of footage of the band touring in support of the album. As of 2005, "They're Only Chasing Safety" has sold more than 218,000 copies, with the re-release selling an additional 279,000 copies, making a combined sales of more than 500,000 copies in the US alone.


title: Underoath

text: The title for their fifth album, "Define the Great Line" is presented upon the theory of an individual having "to find that line and that way to live your life." The band had been writing for the album two weeks after the release of "They're Only Chasing Safety". Matt Goldman, who produced albums for Copeland and Norma Jean, and Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist for Killswitch Engage, enlisted as producers. Chamberlain noted that the vocals for the album would sound less like an imitation of former vocalist Taylor, but more like the vocals of Chamberlain's former band. The lyrics were also meaningful to Chamberlain because they had been written about "things that have molded him into who he is today".


title: Underoath

text: An unfinished version of the album was leaked onto BitTorrent websites and P2P services months before the release date. Drummer Aaron Gillespie, during the short time after the recording of "Define the Great Line", recorded the debut album for his side-project The Almost, which was produced by Seattle producer Aaron Sprinkle and was released April 3, 2007. In April 2006, the band had been courted by several major record labels, instead re-signing with Tooth & Nail Records because they felt that major labels "don't get heavy bands" and "we don't really agree with a lot of the business practices major labels employ sometimes." On April 21, Underoath flew to Sweden to work with Popcore Films, to create music videos for "In Regards to Myself" and "Writing on the Walls"; the latter was chosen as the lead single for the album and was later nominated for the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video. Dudley commented that the videos were "high-energy videos and more intricate than any video we've ever done."


title: Underoath

text: Released on June 20, 2006, "Define the Great Line" sold 98,000 copies in its first week and debuted on the "Billboard" 200 Chart at No. 2, the highest debut for a Christian album since 1997. With the debut of "Define the Great Line", Underoath simultaneously released a special edition version of the album featuring special artwork and a DVD that includes another behind-the-scenes movie and a "making of" video. "Define the Great Line" was certified Gold by the RIAA on November 11, 2006, representing 500,000 shipped units of the album. The album was also released on vinyl however, this edition was limited to only 3,000 copies.


title: Underoath

text: The band was scheduled to spend June and July 2006 on the main stage of the Warped Tour, but on July 28, 2006, it was announced that Underoath was dropping off the remaining dates of the tour. A statement from the band stated that the members "felt it necessary to take some immediate time to focus on our friendship, as that's more important than risking it for the sake of touring at this time." In an "Alternative Press" cover story on Underoath, Michael "Fat Mike" Burkett told the magazine that Chamberlain had confided in him that Underoath's band members had been "having a lot of arguments over their religious beliefs." Burkett admitted to Punknews.org that he had poked fun at the band for their beliefs, but emphasized that he befriended Underoath's band members at the start of the tour and had a personal policy of not making jokes on-stage about anyone he was not friends with or did not like personally. It was also spread that the band's withdrawal from the tour was due to Chamberlain's rumored drug problems and time spent in rehabilitation, to which Gillespie responded, "If there was something serious going on like that and he was in rehab, we'd have to tell the press. But it's just not true." Underoath toured extensively throughout Europe, Australia and Asia in the late 2006, from February to April in 2007 toured with Taking Back Sunday and Armor for Sleep.


title: Underoath

text: Underoath shot videos for the songs "You're Ever So Inviting" and "A Moment Suspended in Time" in February 2007; both videos have been released and "You're Ever So Inviting" won MTV's Battle of the Videos on May 23, 2007. Underoath performed a Canadian tour followed by the Taste of Chaos World Tour, and also played at the 2007 Cornerstone Festival. On July 17, 2007, Underoath released their "777" DVD to the US market. Underoath also played the Warped Tour 2007 from July 24 to August 9, and in August 2007, toured Australia and East Asia. During a tour with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Poison the Well, and Every Time I Die, Gillespie went through emergency surgery on an infection in his hand. Instead of cancelling shows, Underoath recruited Kenny Bozich, the drummer of Gillespie's band, The Almost.


title: Underoath

text: Underoath lead vocalist Spencer Chamberlain was featured on the cover of the "Warped Tour 2008 Tour Compilation" album.


title: Underoath

text: During the September 2007 tour, Chamberlain stated various times that the band will release a new album in mid-2008. It was later confirmed that it would be released on September 2, 2008. Recording for the album began in March 2008 and ended in April 2008. McTague said that the album, "Lost in the Sound of Separation", would be considerably heavier than "Define the Great Line".


title: Underoath

text: In October 2007, Underoath had begun filming their third person documentary "Survive, Kaleidoscope". "The Audible Diversion Group", a small film team, shot footage of the band as they followed Underoath on their September tour and the entirety of the "We Believe in Dino-Tours". The film was shot in 720p high definition 16:9 widescreen format. Underoath released the "Survive, Kaleidoscope" live CD/DVD on May 27, 2008. The album reached No. 81 on the "Billboard" 200. The band recorded the concert footage at a performance in Philadelphia at the Electric Factory in October 2007.


title: Underoath

text: During mid-2008, Underoath joined the 30-city Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour with bands such as Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, and DragonForce. The tour began on July 9, 2008, and concluded in Buffalo, New York, on August 19, with Underoath headlining the tour's stop at the Hot Topic venue. After the release of "Lost in the Sound of Separation" on September 2, 2008, Underoath began headlining tour in support of the album, along with Saosin and The Devil Wears Prada, and in various markets, P.O.S, Person L, and The Famine.


title: Underoath

text: In its first week, "Lost in the Sound of Separation" debuted at No. 8 on the "Billboard" 200 charts, selling around 56,000 copies in the US alone. In December 2008, Underoath won Best Hardcore/Screamo Artist at the Rock on Request Awards and embarked on their first South American Tour. The band played six concerts in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Colombia, and played at Warped Tour 2009. On international tours in 2009, Underoath began writing pieces of new songs for their fifth studio release. The songs "Desperate Times, Desperate Measures" and "Too Bright to See, Too Loud to Hear" were released as the two singles from the album.


title: Underoath

text: During a late 2009 interview, guitarist Timothy McTague stated that the band had "just started writing songs that may be included on the next record", and that they are hoping to enter the studio late summer or early fall 2010. Underoath is set to release their live album "Live at Koko" exclusively to their UK audience via their UK merchandise site. On February 25, 2010, Underoath stated they were finishing writing their new album.


title: Underoath

text: On April 5, 2010, the band announced the departure of their final founding member, drummer and vocalist, Aaron Gillespie. Aaron played his final show with the band in Milan, Italy, on April 6.


title: Underoath

text: On May 10, 2010, through their official MySpace blog, Underoath announced that they will be entering the studio on May 24 to record their follow up to "Lost in the Sound of Separation", which was aimed to be released later that year, with producers Matt Goldman ("Lost in the Sound of Separation" and "Define the Great Line") and Jeremy SH Griffith. Following the departure of Gillespie, Underoath recruited ex-Norma Jean drummer Daniel Davison for the recording of their new album. Davison's first tour with the band was "The Cool Tour" featuring As I Lay Dying and Blessthefall. The band then announced that the new album, "Ø (Disambiguation)", will be released on November 9, 2010, through Tooth & Nail Records. On September 9, 2010, it was announced that Underoath had signed to Roadrunner Records for worldwide distribution outside of the US and Canada.


title: Underoath

text: On September 14, 2010, the band held a listening party for "Ø (Disambiguation)" at Swinghouse Studios in Los Angeles. Danny Sugimoto of spitInthemud.com remarked that the album "feels darker and more chaotic than ones prior, yet with a tasteful sense of calm mixed within."


title: Underoath

text: Underoath embarked on their headlining November tour on the 2nd of the month. On November 23, vocalist, Spencer Chamberlain began to suffer from foodborne disease. His position in Underoath was substituted by Tyler Smith of The Word Alive for the show scheduled that day.


title: Underoath

text: On October 18, 2011, a compilation, "Play Your Old Stuff", was released, containing three previously released albums: "The Changing of Times", "They're Only Chasing Safety" and "Define the Great Line", along with new artwork.


title: Underoath

text: On October 2, 2012, the band announced through their Twitter account that they would be disbanding in 2013. In addition, the band released a career-spanning compilation album, "" on November 6, 2012.


title: Underoath

text: On October 9, 2012, they announced their farewell tour with mewithoutYou, As Cities Burn, and letlive. as opening acts.


title: Underoath

text: On January 26, 2013, Underoath played their final show at Jannus Live in St. Petersburg, Florida. Aaron Gillespie also performed on the songs "Emergency Broadcast :: The End is Near" and "Reinventing Your Exit".


title: Underoath

text: In January 2015, the band launched a campaign to finalize production of documentary film about their farewell tour of 12 shows, posting two trailers on that subject to their YouTube channel.


title: Underoath

text: In July 2015, Underoath began teasing the phrase "rebirth is coming" and an accompanying cryptic video across their social media accounts. The audio portion to the cryptic video, when played backwards, turned out to be the chorus for "It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door" off the band's 2004 album "They're Only Chasing Safety", and a countdown timer ending on August 24, 2015, later appeared on the band's website.


title: Underoath

text: On August 17, 2015, the band's first show since disbanding in 2013 was announced, headlining the Self Help Fest in San Bernardino, California on March 19, 2016, along with A Day to Remember. In an interview article for "Alternative Press", it was confirmed that the band was reuniting, including Gillespie's return to the lineup.


title: Underoath

text: "Erase Me" was released via Fearless Records on April 6, 2018. The band released "Rapture", the second single from the album, on March 19. The band kicked off with the No Fix tour in support of the album in late April 2018 with Dance Gavin Dance. The lead single of the album, "On My Teeth", received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance; it lost to High on Fire's "Electric Messiah".


title: Underoath

text: On July 14, 2021, the band released "Damn Excuses", the lead single from their ninth album "Voyeurist". The album will mark their first in nearly four years, their longest gap between albums without breaking up. It was originally intended for release in October 2021 but was pushed back by three months due to vinyl production delays. On August 4, 2021, the band released the second single from the album, "Hallelujah".


title: Underoath

text: On September 22, 2021, the band released the third single "Pneumonia" and revealed it was written exactly one year prior to release. The single was also partly inspired by the passing of guitarist Tim McTague's father. "Voyeurist" was released on January 14, 2022.


title: Underoath

text: Underoath's members identified as Christian in their earlier years and stated during that time period that they were a Christian band. However, as vocalist Spencer Chamberlain explained in 2006, "[We are Christian but] in a different way. We're not like your average Christian band." He explains that Christianity is the "backbone of our lives, especially in the way that we handle certain things, but it's not so much the backbone of our lyrics. It's not like every song is a lesson from the Bible or something. It's just normal life struggles." Keyboardist Christopher Dudley stated that a majority of Underoath's audience is not Christian, nor are the bands with whom they would often tour. Though the band has been noted for "setting precedent in both Christian rock and beyond", only a portion of their albums are sold in the Christian marketplace. Chamberlain said, "I look at us as just another band in the secular market like with all these other hardcore bands and we just happen to be a Christian band that has different beliefs." However, in an interview with "Alternative Press", Drummer Aaron Gillespie stated that "I'm definitely a Christian, but I don't think Underoath should be a 'Christian band'" The band has since openly distanced themselves from Christianity and organized religion.


title: Underoath

text: Upon releasing their comeback single, "On My Teeth", from "Erase Me", the band's first song to feature profanity in their entire career, the band updated their Spotify profile to read "The band who once openly—and without apology—professed their faith-based worldview onstage nightly, have since moved beyond the realm of seemingly impenetrable polemics. At various junctures, "Erase Me" illustrates those moments of sanctuary, anxiety, betrayal, and conflict that inevitably arise when humanity grapples with belief systems." In a 2018 interview, Spencer Chamberlain stated that, "my journey and my role in playing in a Christian band, I held a huge burden and I got burnt badly and was treated awfully. I'm not saying religion is wrong for everyone, but for me it was wrong. It ruined my life, turned me into a drug addict and people were awful to me the whole time. I never felt more alone in my life than when I was Christian."


title: Underoath

text: Underoath have been labeled as metalcore, hardcore, post-hardcore, emo, screamo, and Christian metal. The band's style has changed over the years, as explained by AllMusic: "since their inception, Florida's Underoath have evolved from a run-of-the-mill Christian metalcore band into a fluid, dynamic, and energized rock group that adeptly blends emotive melody, charged punk rock rhythms, and a chunky, engaging bottom end." Jesus Freak Hideout also took notice of this, mentioning in a review that "Underoath's sound has evolved a lot - from metal to emocore to straight-up hardcore."


title: Underoath

text: As demonstrated on their first release, "Act of Depression", Underoath initially played a combination of hardcore and metalcore mixed with black metal and death metal. The band kept a similar sound on their second album, "Cries of the Past", featuring occasional traces of black metal, but the band later moved away from this style to embrace a more melodic-leaning post-hardcore sound. On the follow up release, Underoath stood "at the heavy metal crossroads on "The Changing of Times", a hardcore album that parallels classic arena rock." The band experimented with electronic elements, with Casey Boland of "Alternative Press" noting that the album "was an Olympic pole vault-like leap forward for Underoath," and that the band was "welcoming the process of evolution." He also noted the addition of Aaron Gillespie's clean singing, which offered "a compelling counterpoint and presaged a swarm of bands adopting the sing-scream dichotomy that would become the hallmark of 'screamo.'" Cross Rhythms noted the growing popularity of the band, and described them as playing "an interesting mix of hardcore and indie rock, utilising loops, keyboards, acoustic guitars and melodic vocal harmonies, amongst the onslaught of heavy guitars and screeching hardcore vocals."


title: Underoath

text: Underoath underwent an extreme overhaul preceding their fourth release, "They're Only Chasing Safety", with Dallas Taylor and Octavio Fernandez leaving the band and Spencer Chamberlain taking over lead vocal duties. This marked a radical shift for Underoath, "as the band ditched its formerly metal leanings for the decidedly friendly confines of screamo," a change with ignited a debate over which was better, "old" or "new" Underoath. A review by Alex Henderson of AllMusic classifies the album under an alternative rock style which could be described as screamo, post-hardcore, or melodic hardcore, and which differed from full-out metalcore. In another review, Andrew Segal of Cross Rhythms described the album as nu metal, and said that, while on the heavier side of the rock scale, the album is well produced and "shows more signs of intelligence than the [nu-metal] genre is often credited with."


title: Underoath

text: For their fifth album, "Define the Great Line", Underoath abandoned the pop choruses of the previous album and instead demonstrated a heavier and more eclectic style, updating their sound with "weird" time changes and ambient post-metal passages. According to Sputnikmusic, while the album is basically a modern metalcore recording, it incorporated other influences including post-metal guitar leads on several tracks and ambient electronica on tracks such as "Salmarnir." AllMusic stated that the band found the "delicate middle ground between throat-shredding grindcore and My Chemical Romance/From Autumn to Ashes-style emo-punk," and Cross Rhythms described the album as "an impressively versatile project where metal riffs and emo breakdowns, screamo noise and memorable hooks collide in a veritable sonic feast."


title: Underoath

text: Underoath's sixth album, "Lost in the Sound of Separation", established Spencer Chamberlain as the front-man, and saw the band incorporating some industrial elements. With the departure of the last original member of Underoath, Aaron Gillespie, the band underwent their "biggest shift in sound for the band in a long time." On their release, "Ø (Disambiguation)", Underoath featured a darker and more immersive approach than their previous albums, and used a heavy atmospheric and ambient sound and also utilized groove sections on some tracks. Then on "Erase Me", the comeback album for the band and Aaron Gillespie, they presented a more alternative rock direction in contrast to their metalcore back catalog.


title: Underoath

text: Bassist Grant Brandell has explained that Underoath's music has been influenced by various bands such as Refused, At the Drive-In, Jimmy Eat World, Radiohead and Isis. When Taylor left Underoath following the release of "The Changing of Times", an album that somewhat foreshadowed the changes to come for the band, the group's style took a considerable change as new vocalist Chamberlain joined. With Chamberlain, the writing dynamic change in the band – now Gillespie and Chamberlain wrote the lyrics they sang – and Underoath released "They're Only Chasing Safety". Then "Define the Great Line" was released in which Chamberlain noted that his vocals sounded less like himself imitating Taylor's vocals, and more similar to the vocals of his previous band, This Runs Through. "Alternative Press" stated, "[Chamberlain's] bellow [is] more carnal and guttural, [and] his high end more tuneful than whiny."


title: Chinese name

text: Chinese names or Chinese personal names are names used by individuals from Greater China and other parts of the Chinese-speaking world throughout East and Southeast Asia (ESEA). In addition, many names used in Japan, Korea and Vietnam are often ancient adaptations of Chinese characters (from Kanji, Hancha, and Chữ Hán respectively) in respect to the influences they have garnered geographically or have historical roots in Chinese, due to China's historic cultural influence in ESEA.


title: Chinese name

text: Modern Chinese names consist of a monosymbolic (single-symbol) surname (xìngshì; ), which comes first, followed by a given name (míng; ), which is almost always disyllabic, consisting of two characters. Prior to the 21st century, most educated Chinese men also used a "courtesy name" or "style name" (zì; ) by which they were known among those outside their family and closest friends. Respected artists or poets will sometimes also use a professional "art name" (hào; ) among their social peers.


title: Chinese name

text: From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a person's given name (without being disrespectful). In general, using the given name connoted the speaker's authority and superior position to the addressee. Peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures—particularly emperors—used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and for different speakers. Those possessing names (sometimes even mere homophones) identical to the emperor's were frequently forced to change them. The normalization of personal names after the May Fourth Movement has generally eradicated aliases such as the school name and courtesy name but traces of the old taboos remain, particularly within families.


title: Chinese name

text: Although some terms from the ancient Chinese naming system, such as "xìng" () and "míng" (), are still used today, it used to be much more complex.


title: Chinese name

text: In the first half of the 1st millennium BC, during the Zhou dynasty, members of the Chinese nobility could possess up to four different namespersonal names ("míng" ), clan names ("xìng" ), lineage names ("shì" ), and "style" or "courtesy" names ("zì" ) as well as up to two titles: standard titles ("jué" ), and posthumous titles ("shì" or "shìhào" ).


title: Chinese name

text: Commoners possessed only a personal name ("ming"), and the modern concept of a "surname" or "family name" did not yet exist at any level of society. The old lineage ("shi") and clan names ("xing") began to become "family names" in the modern sense and trickle down to commoners around 500 BC, during the late Spring and Autumn period, but the process took several centuries to complete, and it was not until the late Han dynasty (1st and 2nd centuries AD) that all Chinese commoners had surnames.


title: Chinese name

text: Although there are currently over 6,000 Chinese surnames including non-Han Chinese surnames (, "xìng") in use in China, the colloquial expression for the "Chinese people" is Bǎixìng () "Hundred Surnames", and a mere hundred surnames still make up over 85% of China's 1.3 billion citizens. In fact, just the top three—Wang (), Li (), and Zhang ()—cover more than 20% of the population. This homogeneity results from the great majority of Han family names having only one character, while the small number of compound surnames is mostly restricted to minority groups.


title: Chinese name

text: Chinese surnames arose from two separate prehistoric traditions: the "xìng" () and the "shì" (). The original "xìng" were clans of royalty at the Shang court and always included the 'woman' radical . The "shì" did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the Jiang () and Yao () families, the original "xìng" have nearly disappeared but the terms ironically reversed their meaning. "Xìng" is now used to describe the "shì" surnames which replaced them, while "shì" is used to refer to maiden names.


title: Chinese name

text: The enormous modern clans sometimes share ancestral halls with one another, but actually consist of many different lineages gathered under a single name. As an example, the surname Ma () includes descendants of the Warring States–era bureaucrat Zhao She, descendants of his subjects in his fief of Mafu, Koreans from an unrelated confederation, and Muslims from all over western China who chose it to honor Muhammad.


title: Chinese name

text: Traditionally, a married woman keeps her name unchanged, without adopting her husband's surname. A child would inherit his or her father's surname. This is still the norm in mainland China, though the marriage law explicitly states that a child may use either parent's surname. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to combine both parents' surnames. Due to Western influence, some areas of greater China, such as Hong Kong and Macau, have also adopted the tradition of a woman changing her last name, or prepending her husband's to her own.


title: Chinese name

text: Chinese given names (, "míngzi") show much greater diversity than the surnames, while still being restricted almost universally to one or two syllables. Including variant forms, there are at least 106,000 individual Chinese characters, but as of 2006, in the People's Republic of China Public Security Bureau only approximately 32,000 are supported for computer input and even fewer are in common use. Given names are chosen based on a range of factors, including possession of pleasing sound and tonal qualities, as well as bearing positive associations or a beautiful shape. Two-character "ming" may be chosen for each character's separate meaning and qualities, but the name remains a single unit which is almost always said together even when the combination no longer 'means' anything.


title: Chinese name

text: Today, two-character names are more common and make up more than 80% of Chinese names. However, this custom has been consistent only since the Ming dynasty. About 70% of all names were only one character long during the early Han and that rose beyond 98% after the usurping Wang Mang banned all two-character names outright. Although his Xin dynasty was short-lived, the law was not repealed until 400 years later, when northern invasions and interest in establishing lineages revived interest in such longer names. The Tang and Song saw populations with a majority of two-character names for the first time, but the Liao between them and the Yuan afterward both preferred single character names. The restoration of Han dominance under the Ming, promotion of Han culture under the Qing, and development of generation names established the current traditions.


title: Chinese name

text: Given names resonant of qualities which are perceived to be either masculine or feminine are frequently given, with males being linked with strength and firmness and females with beauty and flowers. It is also more common for female names to employ diminutives like "Xiǎo" or doubled characters in their formal names, although there are famous male examples such as Li Xiaoping and Yo-Yo Ma. People from the countryside previously often bore names that reflect rural life—for example, Daniu (, "Big Bull") and Dazhu (, "Big Pole")—but such names are becoming less common.


title: Chinese name

text: It is also considered bad form to name a child after a famous person, although tens of thousands might happen to share a common name such as "Liu Xiang". Similarly, owing to the traditional naming taboos, it is very uncommon in China to name a child directly after a relative, since such children would permit junior family members to inappropriately use the personal names of senior ones. Ancestors can leave a different kind of mark: Chinese naming schemes often employ a generation name. Every child recorded into the family records in each generation would share an identical character in their names. Sixteen, thirty-two, or more generations would be worked out in advance to form a generation poem. For example, the one selected in 1737 for the family of Mao Zedong read:


title: Chinese name

text: This scheme was in its fourteenth generation when Mao rejected it for the naming of his own children, preferring to give his sons the generational name An (, "Lofty", "Proud") instead. A similar practice was observed regarding the stage names of Chinese opera performers: all the students entering a training academy in the same year would adopt the same first character in their new "given name". For example, as part of the class entering the National Drama School in 1933, Li Yuru adopted a name with the central character "jade" ().


title: Chinese name

text: Depending on the region and particular family, daughters were not entered into the family records and thus did not share the boys' generation name, although they may have borne a separate one among themselves. Even where generation names are not used, sibling names are frequently related. For example, a boy named Song (, "Pine") might have a sister named Mei (, "Plum"). In some families, the siblings' names have the same radical. For example, in the Jia () clan in "Dream of the Red Chamber", a novel mirroring the rise and decline of the Qing Dynasty, there is Zheng (), She (), and Min () in the first generation, Lian (), Zhen (), and Huan () in the second, and Yun (), Qin (), and Lan () in the third.


title: Chinese name

text: More recently, although generation names have become less common, many personal names reflect periods of Chinese history. For example, following the victory of the Communists in the Civil War, many Chinese bore "revolutionary names" such as Qiangguo (, "Strong Nation" or "Strengthening the Nation") or Dongfeng (, "Eastern Wind"). Similarly, on Taiwan, it used to be common to incorporate one of the four characters of the name "Republic of China" (, "Zhōnghuá Mínguó") into masculine names. Periodic fad names like Aoyun (奧運 奥运; "Olympics") also appear. Owing to both effects, there has also been a recent trend in China to hire fortune tellers to change people's names to new ones more in accordance with traditional Taoist and five element practices. In creating a new Chinese name, it is sometimes the practice to analyze the number of strokes in the characters used in the potential name and attempt to use characters that produce specific totals of strokes.


title: Chinese name

text: In mainland China, Chinese names have been romanized using the Hanyu Pinyin system since 1958. Although experiments with the complete conversion of Chinese to the Pinyin alphabet failed, it remains in common use and has become the transcription system of the United Nations and the International Organization for Standardization. Taiwan officially adopted Hanyu Pinyin as one of their romanisation schemes in 2009, although it continues to allow its citizens to use other romanisations on official documents such as passports, of which Hanyu Pinyin remains unpopular. The system is easily identified by its frequent use of letters uncommon in English, such as "q", "x", and "z"; when tones are included, they are noted via tone marks. In Pinyin, is written as Máo Zédōng.


title: Chinese name

text: Proper use of Pinyin means treating the surname and given name as precisely two separate words with no spaces between the letters of multiple Chinese characters. For example, "" is properly rendered either with its tone marks as "Wáng Xiùyīng" or without as "Wang Xiuying", but should not be written as "Wang Xiu Ying", "Wang XiuYing", "Wangxiuying", and so on. In the rare cases where a surname consists of more than one character, it too should be written as a unit: "Sima Qian", not "Si Ma Qian" or "Si Maqian". However, as the Chinese language makes almost no use of spaces, native speakers often do not know these rules and simply put a space between each Chinese character of their name, causing those used to alphabetical languages to think of the "xing" and "ming" as three words instead of two. Tone marks are also commonly omitted in practice.


title: Chinese name

text: Many overseas Chinese, Taiwanese and historic names still employ the older Wade–Giles system. This English-based system can be identified by its use of the digraphs "hs" (pinyin "x") and "ts" (pinyin "z" and "c") and by its use of hyphens to connect the syllables of words containing more than one character. Correct reading depends on the inclusion of superscript numbers and the use of apostrophes to distinguish between different consonants, but in practice both of these are commonly omitted. In Wade–Giles, is written as Mao Tse-tung, as the system hyphenates names between the characters. For example, Wang Xiuying and Sima Qian are written in Wade as "Wang Hsiu-Ying" and "SsuMa Ch'ien".


title: Chinese name

text: Pinyin and Wade–Giles both represent the pronunciation of Mandarin, based on the Beijing dialect. In Hong Kong, Macau, and the diaspora communities in southeast Asia and abroad, people often romanize their names according to their own native language, for example, Cantonese, Hokkien, and Hakka. This occurs amid a plethora of competing romanization systems. In Hong Kong (and other British administered territories) during British colonial rule, Chinese families usually adopted English spelling conventions for their names: "Lee" for , "Shaw" for , and so forth. In Macau, Chinese names are similarly sometimes still transliterated based on Portuguese orthography and Jyutping. It is common practice for the Chinese diaspora communities to use spaces in between each character of their name.


title: Chinese name

text: It is common for many different Chinese names to have the same transliteration when tone is not marked (and therefore come from different Chinese characters).


title: Chinese name

text: For example, English spelling of the Chinese first name Ming has many different associated Chinese characters, all of which have different meanings. Therefore, when the name is written in Chinese, a person called Ming can have a completely different name from another person who is also called Ming.


title: Chinese name

text: From their earliest recorded history, the Chinese observed a number of naming taboos, avoiding the names of their elders, ancestors, and rulers out of respect and fear. As a result, the upper classes of traditional Chinese culture typically employed a variety of names over the course of their lives, and the emperors and sanctified deceased had still others.


title: Chinese name

text: Current naming practices are more straightforward and consistent, but a few pseudonyms or alternate names remain common.


title: Chinese name

text: When discussing Chinese writers, Chinese and Japanese scholars do not consistently use particular names, whether they are private names or alternative names.


title: Chinese name

text: Traditionally, babies were named a hundred days after their birth; modern naming laws in the People's Republic of China grant the parents a month before requiring the baby to be registered. Upon birth, the parents often use a "milk name" (, "rǔmíng"; , "xiǎomíng")—typically employing diminutives like "xiǎo" (, "little") or doubled characters—before a formal name is settled upon, often in consultation with the grandparents. The milk name may be abandoned but is often continued as a form of familial nickname. A tradition sometimes attached to the milk name is to select an unpleasant name, to ward off demons who might wish to harm the child.


title: Chinese name

text: Nicknames (, or , "wàihào") are acquired in much the same way they are in other countries. Not everyone has one. Most that do received theirs in childhood or adolescence from family or friends. Common Chinese nicknames are those based on a person's physical attributes, speaking style, or behavior. Names involving animals are common, although those animals may be associated with different attributes than they are in English: for example, Chinese cows are strong, not stupid; foxes are devious, not clever; pigs are lazy, but not dirty. Similarly, nicknames that might seem especially insulting in English—such as "Little Fatty" ()—are more acceptable in Chinese. One especially common method of creating nicknames is prefixing "Ā-" () or "Xiǎo" () to the surname or the second character of the given name. "Ā-" is more common in the south and abroad, while "Xiǎo" is common throughout China. Both "Ā-" and "Xiǎo" are distinguished from "Lǎo" (, "old" but see below for usage). Nicknames are rarely used in formal or semi-formal settings, although a famous exception is A-bian.


title: Chinese name

text: English is taught throughout China's secondary schools and the English language section is a required component of the "Gaokao", China's college entrance examination. Many Chinese teenagers thus acquire Western names, commonly of English origin, which they may keep and use as nicknames even in Chinese-language contexts. Chinese may adopt English names for a variety of reasons, including foreigners' difficulty with Chinese tones and better integration of people working in foreign enterprises. Established English names chosen by Chinese may also be those rarely used by native English speakers.


title: Chinese name

text: In Hong Kong, due to its century-and-a-half-long British rule, many people pick English names as early as attending English classes in kindergarten, or even have the English alias embedded in official documentation. One example is actor Chan Kong-sang, who in English goes by the name Jackie Chan. More unusual names made and adopted by Hongkongers are created by modifying normal English names – either by deleting, inserting or substituting specific letters (e.g. Kith, Sonija, Garbie), or by emulating the phonetic sounds of the Chinese name (e.g. Hacken Lee from Lee Hak-kan ()). English aliases are widely used at schools, at work, and in social circles.


title: Chinese name

text: Usage of English aliases is also a common occurrence in Malaysia and Singapore, both of which are former British colonies. An English alias can be accepted as part of the name in official documentation, but whether to include such is an option to individuals.


title: Chinese name

text: Among Chinese diaspora residing in Western countries, it is becoming common practice for parents to give their children a Western name as their official first name, with the Chinese given name being officially recorded as a middle name.


title: Chinese name

text: As binomial nomenclature is also called "xuémíng" in Chinese, the school name is also sometimes now referenced as the "xùnmíng" () to avoid confusion.


title: Chinese name

text: Upon maturity, it was common for educated males to acquire a courtesy name (, "zì" or , "biǎozì") either from one's parents, a teacher, or self-selection. The name commonly mirrored the meaning of one's given name or displayed his birth order within his family.


title: Chinese name

text: The practice was a consequence of admonitions in the "Book of Rites" that among adults it is disrespectful to be addressed by one's given name by others within the same generation. The true given name was reserved for the use of one's elders, while the courtesy name was employed by peers on formal occasions and in writing. The practice was decried by the May Fourth Movement and has been largely abandoned.


title: Chinese name

text: Pseudonyms or aliases () or pen names () were self-selected alternative courtesy names, most commonly three or four characters long. They may have originated from too many people having the same courtesy name.


title: Chinese name

text: Some—but by no means most—authors do continue to employ stylized pen names. A noted example is the exile and dissident poet Zhao Zhenkai, whose pen name is "Bei Dao" (, "North Island").


title: Chinese name

text: Posthumous names () were honorary names selected after a person's death, used extensively for royalty. The common "names" of most Chinese emperors before the Tang dynasty—with the pointed exception of Shi Huangdi—are their posthumous ones. In addition to emperors, successful courtiers and politicians such as Sun Yat-sen also occasionally received posthumous titles.


title: Chinese name

text: The temple name () of the emperor inscribed on the spiritual tablets of the imperial ancestral temple often differed from his posthumous name. The structure eventually became highly restricted, consisting of a single adjective and either "zǔ" () or "zōng" (). These common "names" of the emperors between the Tang and the Yuan are their temple ones.


title: Chinese name

text: The era name (, "niánhào") arose from the custom of dating years by the reigns of the ruling emperors. Under the Han, the practice began of changing regnal names as means of dispensing with bad luck and attracting better. Almost all era names were literary and employed exactly two characters. By the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors had largely dispensed with the practice and kept a single era name during their reign, such that it is customary to refer to Ming and Qing emperors by their era names.


title: Chinese name

text: Within families, it is often considered inappropriate or even offensive to use the given names of relatives who are senior to the speaker. Instead, it is more customary to identify each family member by abstract hierarchical connections: among siblings, gender and birth order (big sister, second sister, and so on); for the extended family, the manner of relationship (by birth or marriage; from the maternal or paternal side).


title: Chinese name

text: The hierarchical titles of junior relatives are seldom used except in formal situations, or as indirect reference when speaking to family members who are even younger than the person in question. Children can be called by their given names, or their parents may use their nicknames.


title: Chinese name

text: When speaking of non-family social acquaintances, people are generally referred to by a title, for example Mother Li () or Mrs. Zhu (, ). Personal names can be used when referring to adult friends or to children, although, unlike in the West, referring to somebody by their full name (including surname) is common even among friends, especially if the person's full name is only composed of two or three syllables. It is common to refer to a person as "lǎo" (, old) or "xiǎo" (, young) followed by their family name, thus Lǎo Wáng () or Xiǎo Zhān (). Xiǎo is also frequently used as a diminutive, when it is typically paired with the second or only character in a person's name, rather than the surname. Note that because old people are well respected in Chinese society, "lǎo" (old) does not carry disrespect, offense or any negative implications even if it is used to refer to an older woman. Despite this, it is advisable for non-Chinese to avoid calling a person xiǎo-something or lǎo-something unless they are so-called by other Chinese people and it is clear that the appellation is acceptable and widely used. Otherwise, the use of the person's full name, or alternatively, their surname followed by xiānsheng (, mister) or nǚshì (, madam) is relatively neutral and unlikely to cause offense.


title: Chinese name

text: Within school settings and when addressing former classmates, it is common to refer to them as older siblings, e.g. elder brother Zhao () or e.g. elder sister Zhang () if they were of senior classes, or simply to show respect or closeness. The opposite (e.g. younger brother Zhao) is rarely used. This custom spawns from traditional forms of respectful address, where it was considered rude to directly address your seniors.


title: Chinese name

text: Whereas titles in many cultures are commonly solely determined by gender and, in some cases, marital status, the occupation or even work title of a person can be used as a title as a sign of respect in common address in Chinese culture. Because of the prestigious position of a teacher in traditional culture, a teacher is invariably addressed as such by his or her students (e.g. ), and commonly by others as a mark of respect. Where applicable, "Teacher Surname" is considered more respectful than "Mr/Mrs/Miss Surname" in Chinese. A professor is also commonly addressed as "teacher", though "professor" is also accepted as a respectful title. By extension, a junior or less experienced member of a work place or profession would address a more senior member as "Teacher".


title: Chinese name

text: Similarly, engineers are often addressed as such, though often shortened to simply the first character of the word "engineer" – . Should the person being addressed be the head of a company (or simply the middle manager of another company to whom you would like to show respect), one might equally address them by the title "zǒng" (), which means "general" or "overall", and is the first character of titles such as "Director General" or "general manager" (e.g. ), or, if they are slightly lower down on the corporate hierarchy but nonetheless a manager, by affixing Jīnglǐ (, manager).


title: Chinese name

text: Because the small number of Chinese surnames leads to confusion in social environments, and because some Chinese parents have a desire to give individuality, some Chinese have received unusual given names. As of April 2009, about 60 million Chinese people have unusual characters in their names. A 2006 report by the Chinese public security bureau stated that of about 55,000 Chinese characters used in the People's Republic of China, only 32,232 of those are supported by the ministry's computers. The PRC government has asked individuals with unusual names to change them so they can get new computer-readable public identity cards, and the diversity prevents them from receiving new identity cards if they do not change their names.


title: Chinese name

text: Beginning in at least 2003, the PRC government has been writing a list of standardized characters for everyday usage in life, which would be the pool of characters to select from when a child is given his or her name. Originally the limits were to go in place in 2005. In April 2009, the list had been revised 70 times, and it still has not been put into effect.


title: Chinese name

text: Wang Daliang, a China Youth University for Political Sciences linguistics scholar, said that "Using obscure names to avoid duplication of names or to be unique is not good. Now a lot of people are perplexed by their names. The computer cannot even recognize them and people cannot read them. This has become an obstacle in communication." Zhou Youyong, the dean of the Southeast University law school, argued that the ability to choose the name of one's children is a fundamental right, so the PRC government should be careful when making new naming laws.


title: Chinese name

text: While the vast majority of Han Chinese names consist of two or three characters, there are some Han Chinese with longer names, up to 15 characters. In addition, transliteration of ethnic languages into Chinese characters often results in long names.


title: Chinese name

text: Han family names in Taiwan are similar to those in southeast China, as most families trace their origins to places such as Fujian and Guangdong. Indigenous Taiwanese have also been forced to adopt Chinese names as part of enforced Sinicization. The popularity distribution of family names in Taiwan as a whole differs somewhat from the distribution of names among all Han Chinese, with the family name Chen () being particularly more common (about 11% in Taiwan, compared to about 3% in China). Local variations also exist.


title: Chinese name

text: A traditional practice, now largely supplanted, was choosing deliberately unpleasant given names to ward off bad omens and evil spirits. For example, a boy facing a serious illness might be renamed Ti-sái (, "Pig Shit") to indicate to the evil spirits that he was not worth their trouble. Similarly, a girl from a poor family might have the name Bóng-chī (, "No Takers").


title: Chinese name

text: Nicknames (, "gín-á-miâ", "child names") are common and generally adopt the Southern Chinese practice of affixing the prefix "A-" () to the last syllable of a person's name. Although these names are rarely used in formal contexts, there are a few public figures who are well known by their nicknames, including former president A-bian and the singer A-mei.


title: Chinese name

text: Among Chinese Americans, it is common practice to be referred to primarily by the Western name and to use the Chinese given name as an often-omitted middle name.


title: Chinese name

text: In Malaysia and Singapore, it is equally acceptable for Western names to appear before or after the Chinese given name, in Latin characters. Thus, the Singaporean President Tony Tan might see his name written as "Tony Tan Keng Yam" or "Tan Keng Yam Tony". Individuals are free to register their legal names in either format on their identity cards. In general use, the English name first version is typically preferred as it keeps the correct order for both systems; however, for administrative purposes, the government agencies tend to place the English name last to organize lists of names and databases more easily, similar to the Western practice of organizing names with the last name first followed by a comma ("Smith, John"). In Singapore, there is an option to include the Chinese characters on one's National Registration Identity Card.


title: Chinese name

text: The Hong Kong printed media tend to adopt the hybrid name style—for example, Andy Lau Tak-wah—although some people prefer American-style middle names, such as Steven N. S. Cheung, or simply use English names like Henry Lee. On official records such as the Hong Kong identity cards, family names are always printed first in all-caps Latin characters and followed by a comma for all names, including Chinese ones. Thus, the examples above would have identity cards that read "LAU, Tak-wah Andy" or "CHEUNG, Steven Ng-sheong", with the position of the given names determined at the time of application. Non-Chinese names are printed in similar style: "DOE, Jane".


title: Chinese name

text: In Indonesia, one of the countries with the largest Chinese diaspora population, the Indonesian Chinese in Indonesia and in diaspora has mostly adopted Indonesian-sounding variations of Chinese names due to decades of regulation and acculturation. Conversely, the usage of these Indonesian-sounding Chinese names are not restricted for surnames, and many are used liberally between other surnames since many Indonesian Chinese did not keep track their Chinese (sur)names anymore, and even used by non-Chinese people (with some names being borrowing from regional languages and names).


title: Chinese name

text: Chinese people, except for those traveling or living outside China, rarely reverse their names to the western naming order (given name, then family name). Western publications usually preserve the Chinese naming order, with the family name first, followed by the given name. Beginning in the early 1980s, in regards to people from Mainland China, western publications began using the Hanyu Pinyin romanization system instead of earlier romanization systems; this resulted from the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China in 1979.


title: Chinese name

text: Although it is generally possible to guess the gender of Chinese names from the choice of Chinese characters used, it is almost impossible to guess the name's gender when it is romanized. For example, 王晓明 is more likely a male name but the romanized name Xiaoming Wang could correspond to many Chinese names (王晓明, 王小明, 王晓鸣, 汪晓明 ...), and thus it is near-impossible to guess the gender of the name.


title: Chinese name

text: The usual presentation of Chinese names in English differs from the usual presentations of modern Japanese names, since modern Japanese names are usually reversed to fit the western order in English. In English the presentation of Chinese names is similar to those of Korean names. As of 1989, Pinyin became the preferred romanization system in works discussing contemporary China, while English-language books relevant to Japanese history still used the Wade–Giles system to romanize Chinese names more often than other romanization systems. As of 1993, Wade–Giles was still used in Taiwan. Unlike mainland Chinese, Taiwanese people usually place a dash between the two characters of the given name, similar to Korean names. This is also the case for the standard styling of Hong Kong Chinese names, where the given name is hyphenated. Names of Malaysian Chinese and Singaporean Chinese people are often romanized inconsistently, usually based on dialect pronunciation, but are usually expressed in three parts (e.g., Goh Chok Tong).


title: Chinese name

text: For people with just a single given name or with compound surnames and single given name, the western name order may add to the complication of confusing the surname and given name.


title: Chinese name

text: According to the "Chicago Manual of Style", Chinese names are indexed by the family name with no inversion and no comma, unless it is of a Chinese person who has adopted a Western name.


title: Chinese name

text: In the Japanese language, Chinese names can be pronounced either approximating the original Chinese, the Local reading () of the characters, or using a Sino-Japanese On'yomi reading () to pronounce the Chinese characters. Local readings are often written in katakana rather than kanji, but not always. For example, (Mao Zedong) is pronounced "Mō Takutō" using an On'yomi reading, whereas Beijing () is spelled with kanji but pronounced "Pekin" (), with a local reading (which may also be considered a post-Tōsō-on reading), rather than "Hokkyō" (which would be the Kan-on reading).


title: Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe: M–Z

text: Mary MacPherran (portrayed by Jameela Jamil), also known as Titania, is a social media influencer with incredible strength who is obsessed with She-Hulk, ultimately becoming her rival.


text: Makkari (portrayed by Lauren Ridloff) is an Eternal who can move at superhuman speeds. She is implied to harbor romantic feelings for Druig.


text: The character is the first deaf superhero in the MCU. Actress Lauren Ridloff stated that she started running and muscle-building to have "the symmetry of somebody who looks like a sprinter."


text: Malekith the Accursed (portrayed by Christopher Eccleston) is the king of the Dark Elves who faces Thor in 2013.


text: Mar-Vell (portrayed by Annette Bening) is a Kree scientist who rejected her species' war with the Skrulls. She fled to Earth in the 1980s and adopted the alias of Dr. Wendy Lawson, a physicist at Project Pegasus. Using the Tesseract, she sought to develop an experimental engine that would have allowed the Skrulls to settle beyond the reach of the Kree Empire. She is killed by Yon-Rogg, though she is able to instruct Carol Danvers to destroy the engine before Yon-Rogg is able to seize the device. The Supreme Intelligence later takes on her appearance while conversing with Danvers.


text: Flint Marko (motion-captured by Jon Watts, voiced by Thomas Haden Church), also known as the Sandman, is a small-time thief from an alternate reality who received an ability to transform into sand.


text: Church reprises his role from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 3" (2007) in ""; footage of when Marko is cured is taken directly from that film.


text: Phineas Mason (portrayed by Michael Chernus) is a weapons maker and part of a salvage company alongside Adrian Toomes, Herman Schultz, and Jackson Brice. When the salvaging company goes out of business due to the Department of Damage Control, Mason helps Toomes steal leftover technology from the Avengers' battles and build advanced weapons out of the technology, such as Toomes' flight suit and modified versions of Brock Rumlow's vibro-blast emitting gauntlets. While his assistants were defeated by Spider-Man and arrested by the authorities, Mason's fate is left unknown.


text: Rick Mason (portrayed by O-T Fagbenle) is an ally from Natasha Romanoff's S.H.I.E.L.D. past who helps her in 2016 while she is a fugitive.


text: Ebony Maw (voiced and portrayed via motion capture by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) is an adopted son of Thanos and member of the Black Order who is killed in space after being defeated by Tony Stark and Peter Parker. A past version of Maw from 2014 travels through time with Thanos' forces to stop the Avengers from foiling his plans. However, they are all disintegrated when Stark uses the Infinity Gauntlet.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Avengers: Infinity War". An alternate version of Maw appeared in "Avengers: Endgame". An alternate version of Maw appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Pietro Maximoff (portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is Wanda Maximoff's twin brother. They are introduced as Hydra assets, both acquiring superhuman powers after volunteering to be experimented upon by the Mind Stone, with Pietro gaining superhuman speed. Harboring a lifelong hatred for American arms manufacturer Tony Stark, whose bombs killed their parents, they side with Ultron against the Avengers before later switching sides. In the final conflict with Ultron, Pietro dies a hero's death, saving the lives of Clint Barton and a Sokovian boy. In 2023, the witch Agatha Harkness forces Westview resident Ralph Bohner to impersonate Pietro in order to get close to Wanda within her created alternate reality.


text: The character's reception has been lukewarm with complaints that the character or his power was not developed enough compared to the comic book version or 20th Century Fox's "X-Men" film series version.


text: , the character has appeared in two films: "" (mid-credits cameo) and ""; as well as in flashbacks and recaps in the Disney+ series "WandaVision".


text: Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were born to Iryna and Olek Maximoff in war-torn Sokovia, with Pietro stating that he is "twelve minutes older." Iryna and Olek were killed by a Stark Industries bomb, leading the twins down a dark path leading to the creation of Ultron, though they aided the Avengers when Ultron's true plan to destroy Sokovia and the world was revealed. Pietro was killed saving the life of Clint Barton, and Wanda's life continued in tragedy after her romantic partner Vision was killed by Thanos.


text: In grief, Wanda created a fictional reality based on the sitcoms she watched as a child, featuring a perfect life with her and Vision. In this reality, called the Hex, Wanda gave birth to twins, Billy and Tommy Maximoff (portrayed by Baylen Bielitz and Gavin Borders as young children respectively, and Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne as slightly older children). Soon, it is discovered that Billy has magical powers similar to his mother, and Tommy has superhuman speed like his uncle Pietro. Ultimately, Wanda comes to terms with reality and takes down the Hex, saying goodbye to her children. However, she is corrupted by the Darkhold and uses it to try and find a universe where her children actually exist.


text: One such universe was designated as Earth-838, where Billy and Tommy (once again portrayed by Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne) live happily with Wanda as a single mother, though they are terrified of Earth-616's Wanda when she reveals herself as the Scarlet Witch. While the Wanda of Earth-838 maintains her powers, Billy and Tommy don't seem to have supernatural abilities.


text: As of 2022, versions of Billy and Tommy Maximoff have appeared in the Disney+ series "WandaVision" and the film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness".


text: M'Baku (portrayed by Winston Duke) is the leader of the renegade Jabari Tribe, who shun Wakanda's technological society and have a religious reverence for gorillas, such as decorating their armor with white gorilla pelts and worshiping the ape god, Hanuman, as a part of a complex Indo-African religion rather than the Panther god Bast. In "Black Panther", M'Baku challenges T'Challa for control of Wakanda. When he is defeated in combat, the latter convinces him to yield. M'Baku returns the favor by looking after the wounded T'Challa following the latter's fight with N'Jadaka and agreeing to look after Ramonda. He initially declines T'Challa's request to help fight N'Jadaka, but ultimately reconsiders and leads the Jabari into battle against him. Following N'Jadaka's death, M'Baku is granted a place on Wakanda's national council.


text: Later, in , he and the Jabari join the battle against Thanos' Outriders; M'Baku survives the Blip. In 2023, he joins the final battle against a past version of Thanos.


text: , the character has appeared in four films: "Black Panther", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Avengers: Endgame" and "".


text: Proxima Midnight (voiced and faced by Carrie Coon, motion-captured by Monique Ganderton) is Thanos' adopted daughter. She joined her father in his quest for the six Infinity Stones, initially attacked the "Statesman" with her brothers, helping to kill the Asgardians aboard in order to retrieve the Space Stone. While attempting to claim the Mind Stone, she and Corvus Glaive attack Wanda Maximoff and Vision, but are repelled by Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson, and Natasha Romanoff. During a second attempt at the Mind Stone, Proxima fights Romanoff and Okoye, but is ultimately killed by Maximoff. A past version of Midnight from 2014 travels through time with Thanos' forces to stop the Avengers from foiling his plans. However, they are all disintegrated when Tony Stark uses the Infinity Gauntlet.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Avengers: Infinity War". An alternate version of Midnight appeared in "Avengers: Endgame". An alternate version of Midnight appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Miek (voiced by Stephen Murdoch) is a Sakaaran insectoid warrior. This version of the character is a larva-like creature as opposed to a humanoid roach like in the comic books, and initially uses an exoskeleton equipped with blades in combat. Having been freed from the Grandmaster's prison, Miek fights alongside Thor and Korg and joins the Asgardian people in their journey to Earth after the destruction of Asgard. Along with Korg, he survives Thanos' attack on the Asgardian starship and the Blip. He finds a new home with the Asgardians in New Asgard in Norway. Miek participates in the final battle at the destroyed Avengers Headquarters against Thanos and his army. Sometime later, Miek metamorphoses to a female form, and she organises tourism in New Asgard.


text: , the character has appeared in three films: "", "Avengers: Endgame" and "Thor: Love and Thunder". An alternate version of Miek appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Mobius M. Mobius (portrayed by Owen Wilson) is an agent of the Time Variance Authority specialized in the investigation of particularly dangerous "time variant" criminals. He befriends a 2012 variant of Loki.


text: Anton Mogart (portrayed by Gaspard Ulliel) is a wealthy antiquities collector living in Egypt and an old acquaintance of Layla El-Faouly. Marc Spector and El-Faouly meet with him in order to find the map to Ammit's tomb. He betrays them when Arthur Harrow arrives and is seemingly killed by Spector.


text: Karl Mordo (portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a sorcerer and a former member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. A close ally to the Ancient One, he assists in recruiting and training their future sorcerers. In this role, he trains Stephen Strange, using the Staff of the Living Tribunal as his weapon. He also helps Strange fight against Kaecilius. The Ancient One notes that Mordo's strength must be balanced by Strange since Mordo is unable to recognize the need for moral flexibility and compromise. In 2016, disillusioned with the teachings of the Ancient One after learning that the latter's immortality has been the result of her drawing on the energy of the Dark Dimension and Strange further breaking nature's laws, he decides to leave his fellow sorcerers. He comes to believe that all magic perverts and disrupts the natural order, thus causing him to set out to stop others from using it. Mordo later visits former Master Jonathan Pangborn and steals the energy that he uses to walk, stating that the world has "too many sorcerers".


text: In an alternate universe designated as Earth-838, Mordo is the Sorcerer Supreme and a member of the Illuminati, following the betrayal of his universe's Stephen Strange.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Doctor Strange". The Earth-838 version of Mordo appeared in "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness".


text: Karli Morgenthau (portrayed by Erin Kellyman) is the teenage leader of the anti-nationalist terrorist group the Flag Smashers, who were made Super Soldiers with the help of the Power Broker (Sharon Carter) and use violent tactics such as bombings to achieve open borders for refugees in the Baltic states. She is killed by Carter after she attempts to kill Carter and Sam Wilson.


text: Najma (portrayed by Nimra Bucha) is Kamran's mother, and the leader of the Clandestines, who want to return to their home dimension at any cost necessary.


text: Nakia (portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o) is a former Dora Milaje, a member of the War Dogs, and T'Challa's lover. Having often been sent on missions around the world and witnessing the hardships experienced by many people, she grows in the belief that Wakanda should actively help them. Nakia returns to Wakanda upon hearing that T'Challa's father, T'Chaka, was killed. She stays after T'Challa is crowned king and asks that she accompany him to one of their missions. After N'Jadaka seizes the throne and orders the heart-shaped herbs which grant the power of the Black Panther to be burned, Nakia steals one. Although Ramonda urges Nakia to consume it in order to challenge N'Jadaka, Nakia plans to offer it to M'Baku so that he can challenge N'Jadaka with his army. M'Baku reveals that his people have recovered T'Challa, so Nakia gives the herb to T'Challa, healing him and restoring his powers as the Black Panther. Nakia then assists in the insurrection against N'Jadaka, dressing as a Dora Milaje soldier at Shuri's insistence. Following N'Jadaka's death, Nakia resumes her relationship with T'Challa and accepts a position running a Wakandan outreach center in California at the location of N'Jobu and N'Jadaka's former apartment. Sometime after, Nakia and T'Challa have a child, also named T'Challa, and decide to have him be raised away from the throne. After Thanos' attack on Wakanda and the ensuing Blip, Nakia leaves Wakanda and raises her child in Haiti.


text: Namor (portrayed by Tenoch Huerta) is the king of Talokan, whose people refer to him as the feathered serpent god K'uk'ulkan. In 1517, his mother Fen ingested a vibranium-laced herb in order to gain immunity from smallpox while pregnant with her son. The effects of the herb caused her and the rest of Yucatán's people to develop blue skin and grow gills that restricted their ability to breathe air on the surface, thus forcing them to relocate underwater and establish Talokan as a new civilization. The herb additionally caused her son to undergo a mutation at birth, which gave him pointed ears and winged ankles enabling him to fly, as well as hybrid human physiology that enabled to him to breathe oxygen and water simultaneously. Motivated by his hatred of the surface world, and a recent discovery of a vibranium detection device designed by Riri Williams in the ocean that put his nation at risk, he initially attempted to forge a military alliance with the nation of Wakanda to protect Talokan while supplying their people with his army due to its similarly isolationist nature in exchange for the custody of Williams, to which both Queen Ramonda and Princess Shuri decline.


text: N'Jadaka (portrayed by Michael B. Jordan), also known as Erik Stevens or Killmonger, is a former U.S. Navy SEAL lieutenant and the son of N'Jobu. His father was killed by T'Chaka for helping Ulysses Klaue smuggle vibranium out of Wakanda in order to arm oppressed peoples around the world and initiate revolutions. N'Jadaka later becomes an acquaintance of Klaue, before betraying and killing him to gain the trust of the Wakandan population. After bringing the dead Klaue, he challenges his cousin T'Challa to a duel over the throne, which N'Jadaka wins. However, T'Challa later returns to take back his throne, with the help of M'Baku, Okoye, and Shuri. T'Challa defeats N'Jadaka in combat and fatally wounds him, although he takes N'Jadaka to see the Wakandan sunset per his wishes. N'Jadaka dies after refusing to be healed, claiming that death is "better than bondage". Impacted by his cousin's death, T'Challa decides to finally open Wakanda up to the rest of the world. Following the deaths of T'Challa and his and Shuri's mother Ramonda, N'Jadaka's spirit meets with Shuri in the ancestral plane after she ingests a synthetic version of the heart-shaped herb, warning her of how close her desire for vengeance upon Namor is bringing her to being like him, with Shuri then assuming a Black Panther suit inspired by N'Jadaka's. The character has been widely praised as one of the MCU's best villains, with Ben Child of "The Guardian" comparing the character to the Terminator and Darth Vader.


text: , the character has appeared in two films: "Black Panther" and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". An alternate version of Killmonger appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?."


text: N'Jobu (portrayed by Sterling K. Brown) is the younger brother of T'Chaka and an agent of the War Dogs. After betraying his own people and aiding Ulysses Klaue with getting vibranium out of Wakanda with the intention of allowing oppressed people to possess its power, N'Jobu is confronted and killed by T'Chaka. His only son N'Jadaka eventually figures this out and plans to avenge his death and finish his work by becoming King.


text: Kraglin Obfonteri (portrayed by Sean Gunn) is a Xandarian and the first mate of Yondu Udonta's faction of the Ravagers. In 2014, following the mutiny of the other Ravagers, Kraglin remains loyal to Yondu and helps rescue the Guardians of the Galaxy from Ego. After Yondu's death, Kraglin acquires a similar cybernetic fin and Yaka arrow. In 2023, he is transported to Earth to join the Avengers and other heroes in the battle against a past version of Thanos. He later joins the Guardians as an official member.


text: , the character has appeared in four films: "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", "Avengers: Endgame" (cameo) and "Thor: Love and Thunder", as well as "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special". An alternate version of Kraglin appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?" He will return in the upcoming film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3".


text: Cull Obsidian (voiced and portrayed via motion capture by Terry Notary) is an adopted son of Thanos equipped with a chain hammer and an arm blade. He and Ebony Maw go to retrieve the Time Stone from Stephen Strange, who protects it with a spell that only expires in the event of his death. In the ensuing battle, Maw kidnaps Strange, while Wong tricks Obsidian into jumping through a portal, severing his hand as Obsidian tries to return. He is rescued off-screen and his hand is replaced by a cybernetic replacement by the time of the battle in Wakanda. Bruce Banner later defeats him in the Hulkbuster armor by sending him flying into the Wakandan energy shield, incinerating Obsidian on impact. A past version of Cull Obsidian from 2014 travels through time along with Thanos' army to fight the Avengers. He is stepped on and killed by Scott Lang during the final battle.


text: , the character has appeared in the film: "Avengers: Infinity War". An alternate version of Obsidian appeared in the film "Avengers: Endgame". An alternate version of Obsidian appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: , alternate versions of Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus, a brilliant scientist with four mechanical tentacles fused to his back, have appeared in the film "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and the Disney+ animated series "Spider-Man: Freshman Year". In "No Way Home", Alfred Molina reprises his version of Doctor Octopus, who arrives in the primary MCU reality due to Doctor Strange's malfunctioned spell, from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man 2" (2004).


text: Odin Borson (portrayed by Anthony Hopkins), also known as Odin Allfather, is the ruler of Asgard, son of , biological father of Thor and Hela, adoptive father of Loki, and husband of Frigga. He is based on Odin in Norse mythology. In 2013, he is removed from power by Loki and is placed under a spell to make him forget his past life before being put into a retirement home in New York City. He manages to break free of Loki's spell before heading to Norway instead of returning to Asgard, wishing to not be disturbed. When he is found by his sons, Odin warns them that his time has come and that Hela will be freed after his death. He bids them both farewell and soon disappears.


text: , the character has appeared in four films: "Thor", "Thor: The Dark World", "Thor: Ragnarok", and "Thor: Love and Thunder" (archival footage); as well as the Disney+ series "Loki" (archival footage). An alternate version of Odin appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Okoye (portrayed by Danai Gurira) is a Wakandan warrior and the former general of the Dora Milaje. She fights on T'Challa's side when N'Jadaka plots to usurp the throne and fights alongside the Avengers to combat Thanos and his army. After T'Challa's death, she and Shuri go to Boston to meet an MIT Student, Riri Williams, who built a vibranium-detecting machine and plans to take her to Wakanda. Later, she was removed from her post as a General as she couldn't protect Shuri and Riri who were kidnapped by Namor. Later Shuri bestows her with the Midnight Angel Armor and recruits Aneka and fights along with Wakanda against Namor.


text: , the character has appeared in four films: "Black Panther", "Avengers: Infinity War", "Avengers: Endgame", and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". Alternate versions of Okoye appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?" She will return in an untitled Wakanda series.


text: Aleta Ogord (portrayed by Michelle Yeoh) is the wife of Stakar Ogord and a member of his faction of Ravagers.


text: Stakar Ogord (portrayed by Sylvester Stallone) is a legendary Ravager captain and the leader of the Stakar Ravager Clan. Ogord saved Yondu Udonta from a life of slavery to the Kree and welcomed him to the Ravagers, but was later forced to exile him for engaging in child trafficking, thus violating the Ravager code. He joins the other Ravager clans at honoring Yondu during his funeral after his sacrifice to save Peter Quill. In a mid-credits scene, Stakar and Martinex reunite with their old teammates Charlie-27, Aleta Ogord, Mainframe, and Krugarr.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2". He will return in the upcoming film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3".


text: , alternate versions of Norman Osborn, a wealthy industrialist with an insane alternate personality, have appeared in the film "Spider-Man: No Way Home" and in the Disney+ animated series "Spider-Man: Freshman Year". In "No Way Home", Willem Dafoe reprises his version of Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, who arrives in the primary MCU reality due to Doctor Strange's malfunctioned spell, from Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy.


text: The Other (portrayed by Alexis Denisof) is an original character from the MCU and the grim leader of an alien race called the Chitauri. He is a servant of Thanos and uses telepathic powers. In 2014, he is killed by Ronan the Accuser.


text: Dr. Christine Palmer (portrayed by Rachel McAdams) is an emergency surgeon who is a colleague and former lover of Stephen Strange. In the alternate universe designated as Earth-838, Palmer works for the Baxter Foundation to analyze multiversal threats.


text: , the character has appeared in two films: "Doctor Strange" and "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness". Her Earth-838 counterpart appeared in "Multiverse of Madness", while another version of Palmer appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Jonathan Pangborn (portrayed by Benjamin Bratt) is a former Master of the Mystic Arts who was trained by the Ancient One but later chose to leave Kamar-Taj as he only wanted to heal his paralysis. Karl Mordo later drains him of his magic and his ability to walk, as Mordo claims that there are too many sorcerers.


text: May Parker (portrayed by Marisa Tomei), is Peter Parker's aunt and Ben Parker's widow. She discovers that Peter is Spider-Man, unlike previous cinematic iterations, when she enters the room and sees him in the costume. She was one of the victims of the Blip in 2018, but she is brought back to life and shows up at Tony Stark's funeral in 2023. Following that, she starts dating Happy Hogan. When villains from different universes arrive in hers, May temporarily houses Norman Osborn at the F.E.A.S.T. shelter where she works before assisting Peter in bringing the remaining displaced villains to Hogan's apartment so they can be treated. May is fatally wounded by a combination of an inflicted stab wound from being impaled by Osborn's glider and the impact of Osborn's grenade when Osborn's alternate personality, the Green Goblin, takes control, persuades most of the other villains to reject their cures, and stages an uprising inside Hogan's apartment. She gives the grieving Peter her parting advice, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility", before passing away.


text: , the character has appeared in five films: "", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Avengers: Endgame" (cameo), "", and "Spider-Man: No Way Home". An alternate version of the character will be introduced in the upcoming animated series "."


text: Karun Patel (portrayed by Harish Patel) is Kingo's human valet, a former vampire hunter who has been in Kingo's service for 50 years since mistaking him for one and trying to stake him.


text: Phastos (portrayed by Brian Tyree Henry) is an Eternal and an intelligent cosmic-powered inventor who helps humanity progress technologically behind the scenes before abandoning them to live in exile following the bombing of Hiroshima. By 2024, he lives under the human alias of "Phil" with a husband and a 10-year-old son.


text: Todd Phelps (portrayed by Jon Bass), also known by his online username "HulkKing", is a billionaire and the founder and leader of Intelligencia. He made plans to obtain She-Hulk's DNA through different minions. During the confrontation at a seminar hosted by Abomination, Phelps injected himself with the DNA and became a Hulk as Titania and Hulk also showed up. The transformation was undone when She-Hulk filed a complaint about it and her cousin's unexplained appearance to K.E.V.I.N. Todd and those involved are arrested as She-Hulk plans to see Todd in court.


text: Colonel Chester Phillips (portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones) is one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with Peggy Carter and Howard Stark. He leads the Strategic Scientific Reserve during World War II and is initially skeptical of Abraham Erskine's choice to administer the Super Soldier Serum to Steve Rogers, but later has a change of heart after witnessing Rogers' heroic actions.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Captain America: The First Avenger". An alternate version of Phillips appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Alexander Pierce (portrayed by Robert Redford) is the secretary of the World Security Council and the secret director of Hydra operating within S.H.I.E.L.D. He plans on using Project Insight to eliminate individuals that would oppose or threaten Hydra goals, those who are recognized as a threat to Hydra based on Arnim Zola's algorithm. When Pierce learns that Nick Fury is investigating Project Insight's confidential files, he dispatches the Winter Soldier to eliminate him and Steve Rogers. However, Pierce's plan is foiled by Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, and S.H.I.E.L.D. loyalists before Pierce is killed by Fury. In 2023, the Avengers time travel to 2012, where Pierce attempts to take custody of Loki and the Tesseract away from Tony Stark and Thor following the Battle of New York.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". An alternate version of Alexander Pierce has appeared in "Avengers: Endgame".


text: Virginia "Pepper" Potts (portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow) is the wife of Tony Stark. She is initially the assistant to Stark, later in the franchise being instated as CEO of Stark Industries. She is also friends with James Rhodes and Happy Hogan. Potts and Stark's relationship is initially professional but develops romantically throughout the franchise and they are engaged and eventually married, having their four-year-old child Morgan by 2023.


text: , the character has appeared in seven films: "Iron Man", "Iron Man 2", "The Avengers", "Iron Man 3", "Spider-Man: Homecoming", "Avengers: Infinity War", and "Avengers: Endgame". An alternate version of Potts appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?", voiced by Beth Hoyt.


text: Augustus "Pug" Pugliese (portrayed by Josh Segarra), is a member of the legal team at GLK&H, who works with Jennifer Walters and Nikki Ramos.


text: Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym (portrayed by Michael Douglas) is an entomologist and quantum physicist who created the Pym particle, a subatomic particle that changes the distance between atoms, allowing one to shrink and grow in relative size, while increasing strength. Hank Pym is the MCU's original Ant-Man, a role begun in 1963, during his tenure as a high-ranking scientist and operative at S.H.I.E.L.D.


text: As the Ant-Man, Hank Pym operated as a classified agent performing field missions on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D., using a self-designed shrinking suit powered by Pym particles that also gave him the ability to communicate with different species of ants. During one of these missions, his wife Janet van Dyne was lost within the Quantum Realm and presumed dead. Following the incident, Pym resigns from S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1989, after he suspects Howard Stark of attempting to replicate the Pym particle formula. Pym retires the Ant-Man suit and founds his own technology company in San Francisco. In 2015, after Darren Cross' takeover of the company, Pym subsequently recruits Scott Lang to take on the mantle of Ant-Man, with the assistance of his estranged daughter Hope van Dyne. Together, they prevent Cross from selling the Yellowjacket technology to Hydra.


text: Following Lang's alliance with the Avengers in 2016, Pym inadvertently violates the Sokovia Accords because of Lang's misuse of his technology, and becomes a fugitive along with Hope from the FBI. In 2018, with help from Lang and Hope, he subsequently succeeds in rescuing Janet from the Quantum Realm. However, shortly after, Pym, along with Janet and Hope, becomes a victim of the Blip. In 2023, Pym's findings on the Quantum Realm prove fundamental to the Avengers' plan to successfully navigate through time, during which Steve Rogers steals Pym particles from a younger Pym in an alternate 1970 timeline. Pym is later restored to life and attends Tony Stark's funeral with Janet, Hope, and Lang.


text: In an alternate universe, Pym dresses in the Yellowjacket armor and murders prospective Avengers Tony Stark, Thor, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and Natasha Romanoff as revenge on Nick Fury for Hope's death. He is eventually arrested and taken to Asgard by Loki for killing Thor. In another alternate universe, Pym ventures into the Quantum Realm and is infected by Janet with a zombie virus that is subsequently spread across Earth when they return.


text: , the character has appeared in three films: "Ant-Man", "Ant-Man and the Wasp", and "Avengers: Endgame". His alternate versions appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?". The character will return in the upcoming film "".


text: Meredith Quill (portrayed by Laura Haddock) is the mother of Peter Quill and the ex lover of Ego. She meets Ego, falls in love with him, and become pregnant with their son. She enjoys pop music, and gives Peter her walkman, along with her mixtapes. She later dies of brain cancer, unaware that the tumor was caused by Ego to ensure that she was not a distraction to him.


text: , the character has appeared in two films: "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2".


text: Irani Rael (portrayed by Glenn Close), also known as the Nova Prime, is the leader of the Nova Corps. In 2014, she leads the Corps to victory with the help of the Guardians of the Galaxy when Ronan the Accuser attempts to destroy her home planet of Xandar with the Power Stone.


text: Captain Maria "Photon" Rambeau (portrayed by Lashana Lynch) is a former United States Air Force pilot and a single mother of Monica Rambeau. She becomes Carol Danvers' best friend, who is presumed dead for six years after a plane accident. Maria is reunited with Danvers during the Kree-Skrull War and helps Danvers to remember her early life. Later, she helps found S.W.O.R.D. and becomes its Director until she dies of cancer in 2020.


text: In the alternate universe designated as Earth-838, Maria takes up the mantle of Captain Marvel instead of Danvers, serving as a member of the Illuminati until she is killed by Wanda Maximoff who dropped a statue on her after having her powers absorbed.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Captain Marvel". Her Earth-838 counterpart appeared in the film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness".


text: Captain Monica Rambeau (portrayed by Akira Akbar as a child and by Teyonah Parris as an adult) is the daughter of Maria Rambeau. As a child in 1995, she is inspired by Carol Danvers and thinks highly of her. She grows up to become an agent of S.W.O.R.D., which was founded by her mother. In 2018, she is a victim of the Blip. In 2023, she is restored to life and learns that her mother died three years earlier. She returns to work at S.W.O.R.D. and is tasked with investigating a missing-persons case in Westview. Upon arriving, she is sucked into Wanda Maximoff's alternate reality (the "Hex"), and remains there until she remembers the real reality and is promptly forced out by Maximoff. Outside, she continues to help S.W.O.R.D with the Westview investigation, but after she defends Maximoff several times, S.W.O.R.D's acting director Tyler Hayward kicks her off the investigation. She, Darcy Lewis, and Jimmy Woo go rogue. Only she and Woo escape Maximoff's Hex expansion. After re-entering the Hex, Monica's cells are rewritten, allowing her to absorb bullets and Maximoff's energy blasts.


text: , the character has appeared in the film "Captain Marvel" and the Disney+ series "WandaVision", where she adopted the alias Geraldine within Maximoff's Hex until she was forced out. She will return in the upcoming film "The Marvels".


text: Ramonda (portrayed by Angela Bassett) is the Queen Mother of Wakanda, wife of T'Chaka, and mother of T'Challa and Shuri. She stands by her son's side when he becomes King of Wakanda, but is soon forced into exile when N'Jadaka seemingly-defeats T'Challa in ritual combat and seizes the throne. T'Challa actor Chadwick Boseman noted that Ramonda "is one of the advisors that [T'Challa] would look to... for some of the answers of what his father might want or might do. She may not be exactly right all the time, but she definitely has insights." In 2018, she survives the Blip, becoming the Queen regnant of Wakanda, and in 2023, she reunites with her children after they are restored to life. Ramonda is reinstated as Queen regnant of Wakanda following the death of T'Challa. A year later, Wakanda is attacked by the nation of Talokan, their leader Namor floods the throne room of the palace, and Ramonda drowns after saving Riri Williams from the water.


text: , the character has appeared in three films: "Black Panther," "Avengers: Endgame" (cameo), and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". An alternate version of Ramonda appeared as the Queen General of Wakanda in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"


text: Nikki Ramos (portrayed by Ginger Gonzaga) is a paralegal working at GLK&H and the best friend of Jennifer Walters.


text: Razor Fist (portrayed by Florian Munteanu) is a high-ranking Ten Rings agent with a steel blade for a hand. He is sent by Wenwu to take Shang-Chi's pendant. Then he engages Shang-Chi when the Ten Rings target Xialing's pendant until Wenwu breaks up the resulting conflict. Razor Fist later accompanies him and Ten Rings on the assault on Ta Lo. When the Dweller-in-Darkness escapes his seal, Razor Fist orders the Ten Rings into working with the Ta Lo villagers to help battle the Dweller and his minions as he replaces his blade with one made of dragon scales. When Xialing takes over the Ten Rings and restructures it, Razor Fist retains his old position.


text: Judge Ravonna Renslayer (portrayed by Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a former Minuteman for the Time Variance Authority (TVA) codenamed Hunter A-23 who rose from the ranks to become a respected judge. She oversees the Loki "variant" investigation. Prior to joining the TVA, she was a vice-principal called Rebecca Tourminet in Fremont, Ohio.


text: , the character has appeared in the Disney+ series "Loki", with Mbatha-Raw also portraying a Tourminet variant.


text: Dr. Reed Richards is a scientist and inventor who has been dubbed "The Smartest Man Alive" by his peers.


text: In the alternate universe designated as Earth-838, Richards (portrayed by John Krasinski) is a member of the Fantastic Four and the Illuminati, which seek to pass judgment on Earth-616's Stephen Strange and America Chavez for their roles in the possible destruction of the multiverse. However, Richards is killed by Wanda Maximoff via shredding after Maximoff coldly muses that someone will be left alive to raise his children.


text: , the Earth-838 version of the character has appeared in the film "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness".


text: William Ginter Riva (portrayed by Peter Billingsley) is a former Stark Industries employee who is ordered by Obadiah Stane to replicate Tony Stark's arc reactor. Years later, in 2024, he joins Quentin Beck's crew to wreak havoc across Europe, helping him masquerade as a superhero named Mysterio, and controlling his drones. Following Mysterio's death, he leaks the identity of Spider-Man to J. Jonah Jameson, and uploads a copy of Mysterio's software onto a flash drive.


text: Jack Rollins (portrayed by Callan Mulvey) is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent secretly working for Hydra. In 2014, he was a member of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team and served as Rumlow's second-in-command, but was later revealed to be a sleeper Hydra agent and participated in the uprising. In 2023, the Avengers time travel to 2012, where Rollins and Hydra agents attempt to obtain Loki's scepter, but are tricked by the present time Rogers into giving it to him instead.


text: , the character has appeared in the film: "Captain America: The Winter Soldier". An alternate version of Jack Rollins has appeared in the film "Avengers: Endgame". An alternate version of Rollins appeared in the Disney+ animated series "What If...?"