Most Underrated Avenger

[Darth Phoenix]

[QUOTE=Nomads1;527470]This is easy.

It's... Wait for it.... wait for it... Gilgamesh!
An Eternal whose strength and power levels rival Thor's and Hercules' (at their peak). Yet he barely was around for less then ten issues before a lava giant takes him out with one blow (thanks a lot Byrne). And, if that wasn't enough, He ends up being killed in the Crossing by a blue dwarf. Yeah, you read that right, by a freaking SMURF. Talk about tainting a character forever (and I'm not even sure if they retcooned his death as being a Space Phantom).
Gilgamesh has so much potential. Unlike Thor and Herc, who mostle spent the last few thousands of years in Asgard or Olympus, Gilgamesh could have been a sort of Highlander hero", roaming the Earth protecting humanity for the effects of the war between the Eternals and the Deviants. He could have been present for the greatest events in history, protecting the future of humanity from behind the scenes. He could be gay, since there is so little to his story to say otherwise. Lots of potential, IMHO, VERY underrated.

what he said and Photon

[Pat Thomas]

This is easy.

It's... Wait for it.... wait for it... Gilgamesh!
An Eternal whose strength and power levels rival Thor's and Hercules' (at their peak). Yet he barely was around for less then ten issues before a lava giant takes him out with one blow (thanks a lot Byrne). And, if that wasn't enough, He ends up being killed in the Crossing by a blue dwarf. Yeah, you read that right, by a freaking SMURF. Talk about tainting a character forever (and I'm not even sure if they retcooned his death as being a Space Phantom).
Gilgamesh has so much potential. Unlike Thor and Herc, who mostle spent the last few thousands of years in Asgard or Olympus, Gilgamesh could have been a sort of Highlander hero", roaming the Earth protecting humanity for the effects of the war between the Eternals and the Deviants. He could have been present for the greatest events in history, protecting the future of humanity from behind the scenes. He could be gay, since there is so little to his story to say otherwise. Lots of potential, IMHO, VERY underrated.

Peace

aven300.jpg

Let's face it, though; He has one of the worst names ever, and look at the costume. I wasn't reading at the time, but I'm sure fan reaction to him (or this team) wasn't
enthusiastic.

[Vic Vega]

The name is fine,it was that costume that had to go.

Either you kit him out like Conan or you go straight super hero-y like the way the rest of the Eternals
are styled.

This loiok tried to hit dead center between the two and failed.

[stingnewell]

Hmm

Stingray
Silverclaw
Firebird
Black Knight
Quasar
Living Lightning

[lobsterj]

D-man, obviously. One of the nicest guys around, partner to Captain America, recruited by Cap himself to be an Avenger, gave up his life to save the world (but ended up in the freezing ocean.) Unfortunately become a punchline for Marvel hacks who don't even stand close to Gruenwald's talent.

[MollyBarton]

So much love (or at least like) for Black Knight! He has an appreciation thread here, ya know.

[Beamish]

Moondragon - Cosmic powerhouse. She could have easily taken out Emma Frost and a lot of other X-Men in A vs X, but instead Bendis used her as a joke. She has such an interesting history, tied to so many other characters, she should be in a current book, somewhere.

Firebird - So much untapped potential. Interesting backstory and possible origin of powers. Can she die? Why is she immune to radioactivity? Her religious nature is certainly different and unique among heroes. She's a character that certainly needs to be explored.

[electr1cgoblin]

I want to add that I really like some of the characters that others have chosen, but simply didn't include them because I didn't think they conformed to the OP's question. Stingray, Moondragon, Quasar and others are great (and I wish I'd see more of them) but they were either Avengers for VERY short periods of time or have been reservists for the majority of the team's life and thus I didn't think of them as seminal members.

[Moriarty]

Firebird - So much untapped potential. Interesting backstory and possible origin of powers. Can she die? Why is she immune to radioactivity? Her religious nature is certainly different and unique among heroes. She's a character that certainly needs to be explored.

i always liked Firebird. can't believe i forgot to mention her.

[tkitna]

Sandman, and he should have stayed a good guy. He was really cool in the Silver Sable books.

[sprior93]

Two-Gun Kid, Doctor Druid, and Machine Man. The REAL Avengers, all the other fakers can take a hike.

[FrostyFlakes]

I'd go for Black Knight and Mockingbird.

One is noble and valorous but dorky adorable at times; the other just cracks jokes to no end. ME LIKEY!

Plus points for being science people.

[klinton]

So many these days.

There's an entire generation of fans weaned on the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' who actually believe that the Avengers revolve around Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America.

This undermines so many other characters who are fundamental to the Avengers canon, and it's only looking to get worse with the MCU's continued wider and wider divergence from the actual stories. The list is long and rather depressing. :/

[MollyBarton]

I'd go for Black Knight and Mockingbird.

One is noble and valorous but dorky adorable at times; the other just cracks jokes to no end. ME LIKEY!

Plus points for being science people.

Exactly why I adore Dane. He's the Dork Knight!

[FrostyFlakes]

Exactly why I adore Dane. He's the Dork Knight!

Oh man, it's kinda weird that I got introduced to him via Marvel Avengers Alliance; then I met a Tumblr friend who likes him and tells me everything about him. I was suddenly impressed.

That friend of mine even mentioned his dorky side which I totally liked.

So many these days.

There's an entire generation of fans weaned on the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' who actually believe that the Avengers revolve around Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America.

This undermines so many other characters who are fundamental to the Avengers canon, and it's only looking to get worse with the MCU's continued wider and wider divergence from the actual stories. The list is long and rather depressing. :/

Even though I'm inclined to Cap; that doesn't stop me from reaching out to the entire Avengers posse. Now, I'm pretty tempted to unleash a bucketload of practice artwork that will feature them at later point.

HIT ME UP WITH A LIST please; I would be happy to find out the entire fascinating Avengers posse outside of the big guns these days. I've known only a few of them so...

EDIT: Someone should make an Appreciation thread for them!