When you think of the comic book superhero team the Avengers – especially now that they’ve hit the mainstream world in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – you tend to think of well-known characters like Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor.

Classically, of course, the Marvel team are comprised of characters of that stature, so it makes sense that those are the first names that spring to mind – but the team haven’t only been made up of such big names.

Hundreds of superheroes have been associated with the team over the years – and quite often they’re little-known characters that most people won’t even have heard of.

In this article, we’ll list who we believe are the least famous of all the characters to have ever been a member of the various Avengers teams over the years. Here are the ten least-known characters who’ve been Avengers…

Stingray

Stingray is the heroic alter-ego of Walter Newell – an oceanographer who was overseeing a project to build a domed city under the sea to harvest food for mankind.

He encountered Namor the Sub-Mariner whilst under the sea and was tasked with capturing him, having been led to believe the human-Atlantean hybrid hero was responsible for the disappearance of water from Earth’s oceans.

He built himself a power-suit to aid him with the capture, but soon realised Namor was innocent and sided with him. He went on to use his power-suit to become a hero in his own right and joined the Avengers teams known as the Secret Avengers and The Initiative, first becoming a part of the team in 1990’s Avengers #31. He has also been the caretaker of Avengers Island.