Marvel fans around the world know the name of the heroes who have defined the Avengers. From the robotic suits of armor used by Tony Stark’s Iron Man to the legendary sacrifices of Captain America and the mythological power and royalty of Asgard’s Thor, these heroes are the classic Avengers.

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Yet while their names are known, they are not always the most powerful. In fact, the most powerful or memorable heroes often end up being the female members of the team, who prove time and again they can turn the tide of battle as well as anyone else can— if not more so.

Updated on September 16th, 2021 by Scoot Allan: The Avengers have consistently added new characters to the roster over the years to further bolster the team so they can face off against the deadliest threats in the universe, resulting in the inclusion of a number of powerful female members. With so many great characters to explore, we wanted to highlight a few more female Avengers based on their powers and strength to see which character is the most powerful.

20 Black Widow Is A Highly-Trained Special Agent With An Electric Widow's Bite

Black Widow running through lasers

Another powerful female member of the team is none other than Black Widow. Natasha Romanova is a former mercenary and assassin-turned hero. Having been brainwashed in Russia’s Red Room to be a skilled assassin, she fought her programming and instead turned to heroics, serving on the Avengers for years after.

Her skills as an assassin are unmatched, and not only is she skilled as a fighter but is great for stealth work as well, making her perfect for undercover work on the Avengers missions and beyond. She is truly a major powerhouse for the entire team.

19 The Wasp Is The First Female Avenger And Her Powers Have Continued To Grow

The Wasp using her bio-sting powers

One of the first standout female members has to be one of the original Avengers themselves, Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp. The former wife of Hank Pym/Ant-Man, Janet is a powerful hero who is able to not only shrink down in size but is able to fire blasts of bio-electric energy.

But believe it or not, Janet is a lot more integral to the Avengers than some would think. Janet and Hank were the ones who made the suggestion that they form a team of heroes after teaming up with Iron Man and Thor to defeat Loki, all the way back in their first comic together. She came up with the team name and became a founding member of the team itself.

18 Jocasta Is A Powerful Android Created By Ultron Who Joined With The Mighty Avengers

Jocasta running through a forest in Marvel Zombies

It is a miracle that Jocasta did not turn out evil. She was created by Ultron specifically to serve as his romantic partner, making her both the daughter and potential lover of one of the evilest entities in the galaxy.

Despite this, Jocasta is a hero who has served on multiple Avengers against some of the worst villains the team has ever faced. Being an android, Jocasta can interface with computer networks, while her metallic body has arm cannons and a level of strength most humans could never hope to achieve.

17 Tigra Gained Her Cat-Like Abilities After She Was Mystically Transformed By An Ancient Tribe

Tigra from the Avengers

Moving on to one of the team’s long-running heroes, the next powerful female member of the Avengers is none other than Greer Grant Nelson/Tigra. Originally gaining superior strength and mental capabilities from an experiment, she had a brief career as a crime fighter known as the Cat.

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However, Greer soon underwent a complete transformation after having been injured in a battle with HYDRA agents using radiation weapons. A tribe of Cat People used a combination of science, magic and mental power to transform her into the Tigra at her request, and she became a half-human, half-animal hybrid hero from then on out.

16 Jessica Jones Is A Former Hero Turned Investigator That Worked With Luke Cage's New Avengers

Jessica Jones and her daughter Danielle Cage

There is a long complicated history between Jessica Jones and the Avengers. Then again, all of Jessica’s history has been filled with complications, but she has never let that stop her. When she was a teenager, Jessica’s family crashed their car into a vehicle carrying radioactive materials. Her family was killed, but she gained superpowers like enhanced strength, durability, and flight.

She tried to become a superhero but was almost immediately captured by the villain known as Purple Man, who used his mind control powers to torture her and force her to fight the Avengers. Since then, she married fellow hero Luke Cage and has stood alongside him as a member of the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers teams.

15 Firestar Is A Mutant With The Ability To Generate & Manipulate Deadly Microwave Radiation

Firestar flying through the city

Angelica Jones first appeared as Firestar in the comics following her debut on TV's Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, though she was originally trained as one of Emma Frost's Hellions. After she left the group she joined the New Warriors, though she eventually made her way to the Avengers.

Firestar's mutant ability allowed her to generate and manipulate deadly microwave radiation, which even threatened her own life until Hank Pym was able to regulate her mutant energies. Firestar didn't stay with the team for long, but she earned her place as one of the most powerful Avengers.

14 Smasher Is A Powerful Intergalactic Member Of Shi'ar's Imperial Guard Who Briefly Joined The Avengers

Izzy Kane as the Imperial Guardsmen named Smasher

While she is less well-known than other female members of the Avengers, Izzy Kane/Smasher is a force to be reckoned with. Izzy is a college student from Iowa who has very little in the way of combat experience. However, she quickly stepped up to help Captain America and the other Avengers on a mission in space after she took on the role of Smasher.

She became a superhero after finding a pair of high-tech alien goggles called Exospex left behind by a fallen member of the Shi’ar Imperial Guard. With the help of the Exospex, Smasher has increased strength, durability, speed, and the ability to travel through the void of space.

13 Moondragon Is A Powerful Telepath & Warrior Who Worked With The Avengers And The Guardians Of The Galaxy

Moondragon using her telepathic abilities

One of the female members of the team that has a truly complex history is Moondragon. Otherwise known as Heather Douglas, she was the lone survivor of an attack on her and her parents by Thanos after they witnessed his arrival on Earth. Her father’s spirit was later reborn into Drax the Destroyer.

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Trained by the Priests of Shao-Lom on the planet Titan after being rescued by Thanos’s father Mentor, Heather gained superior telepathic powers. While having a complex history of being swayed to the side of villainy and later helping the Avengers defeat Thanos, Moondragon is a powerful hero who often turns the tide in battle.

12 Spider-Woman Has Enhanced Strength, Pheromone Manipulation, And An Energized Venom Blast

Spider-Woman in her new costume

The next hero to take flight as one of the Avengers' most powerful heroes is none other than Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman. One of the most skilled fighters in the Avengers roster, Jessica Drew has a complex history not only with the team but in Marvel Comics in general.

Given powers after her father sought a cure from a rare disease she had, she was placed into stasis and aged at a decelerated rate after the experiment and emerged decades later. After a time where she was brainwashed into serving HYDRA, she went on to become a spy and hero, and a good friend of Carol Danvers.

11 Ms. Marvel Is An Inhuman Shapeshifter Who Can Enlarge Herself Or Portions Of Her Body

Kamala Khan embiggening her fist as Ms. Marvel

Not to be confused with Carol Danvers herself, Ms. Marvel became a hero after the Terrigen mist was released by the Inhumans into the world. Otherwise known as Kamala Khan, Ms. Marvel is a teen hero who has the power to shapeshift and has a healing factor, and is able to use her abilities to alter her size and shape.

Known as Marvel’s first Muslim superhero to become the head of her own comic series, Kamala has quickly gained a following in the Marvel universe and has joined the Avengers for a time before creating her own team of Champions alongside Miles Morales/Spider-Man and Sam Alexander/Nova.

10 Squirrel Girl Has The Proportionate Abilities Of A Squirrel & Worked With The U.S.Avengers

Squirrel Girl frosting a cake with squirrels

it might be surprising to some fans, but one of the most powerful Avengers is a woman named Doreen Green, whose mutant abilities gave her the proportionate strength and speed of a squirrel as well as the ability to communicate with her furry friends.

As Squirrel Girl, Doreen has held her own against incredibly powerful villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus as well as other heroes like Wolverine. Squirrel Girl joined Sunspot's team of U.S.Avengers that worked for the government's A.I.M/American Intelligence Mechanics. A movie adaptation of the character has been kicking around for years but never seems to get off the ground.

9 Brunnhilde Is A Super-Strong Asgardian Warrior Known As Valkyrie Who Joined The Secret Avengers

Valkyrie wielding her sword with the Avengers

While she might be best known as the first female member of the Defenders, the Asgardian named Brunnhilde is also a long-time ally of the Avengers known as Valkyrie. She also joined Captain America's team of Secret Avengers, where she remained when Hawkeye later took over the team.

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As an Asgardian, Brunnhilde shares their enhanced strength and speed as well as a powerful healing factor, though her strength surpasses most other Asgardians due to her training and other abilities. She also is a member of the powerful warriors known as Valkyrie who ushers fallen spirits to the Asgardian afterlife, giving her a powerful mystical connection to Death.

8 Crystal Is An Inhuman Elemental Who Has Worked With The Avengers & the Fantastic Four

Crystal Inhuman

The next member of the Avengers who deserves a place as one of the most powerful female members of the team is Crystal of the Inhuman royal family. The sister of Queen Medusa, Crystal has the ability to control and manipulate the four elements of the world, including air, fire, earth, and water.

While known for her relationships with the Human Torch and Quicksilver, the latter of which brought her a daughter named Luna, she also is a powerful member of the Avengers. It was during this time that her daughter Luna was taken by Magneto’s acolytes, forcing her and the Avengers to save her alongside the X-Men.

7 She-Hulk Has The Super-Strength Of Her Cousin, Though She Is Usually Able To Maintain Her Intelligence

She-Hulk in her enhanced form

One of the most powerful female members of the Avengers is hands down Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk. The cousin of Bruce Banner/The Hulk, she received a blood transfusion from her cousin and gained his gamma-irradiated powers. However, despite her transformation and unlike Bruce, she has been able to retain her intellect and personality even in her Hulk form.

Not only does she work as a high-profile attorney, but she is a long-standing member of the Avengers and several of their off-shoot teams over the years. She-Hulk has the outstanding power of her cousin and is a skilled fighter and leader.

6 Storm Is An Omega-Level Mutant With Weather Manipulating Abilities Who Briefly Joined The Avengers

Storm using her lightning powers

While she is best known as one of the leaders of the X-Men, Ororo Munroe/Storm has also joined teams like the Fantastic Four and the Avengers over the years. Storm is a powerful omega-level mutant whose weather-manipulating abilities earned her worship as a goddess in Africa before she was recruited by Professor Xavier to join the X-Men.

While Storm was married to Black Panther, he nominated her for membership in the Avengers in his stead when Captain America asked him to join the team. She stayed with the Avengers until they were divided by the return of the Phoenix Force in Avengers vs. X-Men.

5 Monica Rambeau Is A Powerful Energy Manipulator Known As Spectrum With An Immortal Energy Form

Monica Rambeau as Spectrum from Marvel Comics

Monica Rambeau is one of the most powerful members of the Avengers who goes by the name Spectrum, but she previously bore the title of Captain Marvel. Monica is able to absorb, redirect, alter, and generate all kinds of energy.

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She can also turn her body into pure energy and move at the speed of light. Her powers even essentially make her immortal, and she has lent her abilities to other teams like the Mighty Avengers and the Ultimates over the years.

4 Jane Foster Wielded Mjolnir To Gain Incredible Asgardian Powers As The Mighty Thor

Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor

While Thor was one of the founding Avengers who is often involved in arguments over who is the strongest Avenger, he isn't the only character who has wielded the power of Mjolnir as an Avenger. Following his loss of the enchanted hammer in the Original Sin event, Jane Foster was able to possess Mjolnir and gain the powers of Thor.

She became the new Mighty Thor and worked alongside the All-New, All-Different Avengers where she demonstrated incredible abilities. While she ultimately gave up Mjolnir to stop Mangog, she later bonded with Undrjarn the All-Weapon to become a new version of Valkyrie.

3 Captain Marvel's Half-Kree Physiology Has Mae Her One Of The Strongest Avengers In The Universe

Captain Marvel flying through the air with luggage

The second most powerful female member of the Avengers is the cosmic hero Captain Marvel. Formerly known as Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers is a soldier and Air Force officer. After being exposed to energy from Mar-Vell of the Kree Empire, she gained cosmic powers of her own and became a hero.

It was eventually revealed that Carol was actually half-human and half-Kree which gave her superhuman strength, speed, agility, and flight. She is also able to tap into the cosmic power of a white hole, which is comprised of stellar energies. She can fly at light speed through space and has held her own against some of the most powerful heroes and villains in the Marvel universe.

2 Scarlet Witch Is A Powerful Reality-Manipulator Whose Powers Were Affected By Chaos Magic

Scarlet Witch using her abilities

The next most powerful hero in the Avengers from the female members' side of things is Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. The Scarlet Witch has a long history with the team and the Marvel Universe, for years believing she and her brother Pietro/Quicksilver, were the mutant children of Magneto.

However, years later it was discovered they were not mutants but rather, they gained their abilities from being experimented on by the High Evolutionary. This explains why her abilities are beyond anything the X-Men have ever seen. She is able to use and summon chaos magic and even alter reality as a whole, leading to her having a lasting impact on the Marvel world at large.

1 Captain Universe Wields A Power Known As The Enigma Force That Surpasses Most Other Cosmic Beings

Captain Universe possessing Tamara Devoux

The most powerful female member of the Avengers is not Captain Marvel, as many might think, but is in fact Tamara Devoux/ Captain Universe, a woman with powers surpassing almost anything else in the cosmos. A powerful cosmic energy known as the Enigma Force woke Devoux from a long coma and transformed her into Captain Universe.

She can alter matter and energy down to a molecular level and has a form of cosmic consciousness known as Univision that allows her to detect subatomic phenomena or perceive events on the far side of the galaxy. The Avengers are considered Earth’s mightiest heroes, but so long as Tamara is on the team, they have the power of the universe on their side.

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