List of Defenders members

The Defenders are a loosely organized team of fictional characters mostly, but not solely, superheroes in the Marvel Universe. For much of their history, there was no clear distinction between "official," "honorary" or "associate" members or even allies. Thus, the Defenders had a reputation as being a non-team, a term which was coined in the pages of the comic. All could be considered Defenders. The following list attempts to make sense of their membership but may not be complete.

These characters helped form the team in Marvel Features #1 (December 1971).

A group of superheroes from the 31st century, the Guardians of the Galaxy time traveled to the 20th century. They served as associate members of the Defenders in Giant-Size Defenders #5 and Defenders #26–29 (July–November 1975).

The team had managed to keep its existence a secret from the general public until a television documentary film by supporting character Dollar Bill announced it to the world. Dollar made a special mention to the currently open membership for the team. Consequently, in Defenders #62 (August 1978), the currently active members were joined by a large number of former associates and new recruits. The majority of the latter served for a single mission before quitting in Defenders #64 (October 1978).

Taking advantage of the newfound notoriety of the team, a number of supervillains formed their own rival group of so-called Defenders in Defenders #63 (September 1978). They soon came to conflict with their heroic counterparts and consequently disbanded in Defenders #64 (October 1978).

In Defenders #125 (November 1983) the team was reorganized into a more formal organization, somewhat modeled after the Avengers. By this time, several former members had severed ties with the team.

By the time of Defenders #152 (February 1986), Moondragon had fallen under the control of the Dragon of the Moon. The Dragon led her to attack the Defenders. During the battle, the physical forms of Andromeda, Gargoyle, Interloper, Manslaughter, Moondragon, and Valkyrie were destroyed. Candace Southern retired. Angel, Beast, and Iceman were joined by Cyclops and Marvel Girl in forming X-Factor.

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