Hawkeye

"Well, I see better from a distance."

- Hawkeye

Clinton "Clint" Francis Barton, also known as Hawkeye, is a special agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Assigned by Nick Fury to watch over the Tesseract, he was brainwashed by Loki during the destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.. However, after the Attack on the Helicarrier, he was freed from Loki's mental control and joined the Avengers to fight against Loki's alien army in the Battle of New York, ending the War for Earth. After that, he continued to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Early Life
Clinton Barton was born on January 7, 1971, and spent much of his childhood on his family's farm. As he matured, Barton developed exceptional marksmanship skills and used them to great effect in the military arm of S.H.I.E.L.D., in which he was given the codename Hawkeye. In one of his missions, he thwarted the plans of mercenary Marcus Scarlotti.

Later, he was tasked to carry out the assassination of a young Russian agent codenamed "Black Widow". Instead of killing her though, he opted to let her live, and discovered her true name, Natasha Romanoff. The relationship between the two developed a lasting partnership that continued through bringing her in to work for S.H.I.E.L.D.

Sharpshooting Thor
Some time later, unnatural atmospheric events, followed by the discovery of an immovable hammer in an impact crater, caused him to be deployed to New Mexico as part of a security force to protect the object from the locals. Soon after his deployment, an intruder broke into the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound and fought his way to the mysterious hammer. Barton responded to the alarms by collecting a compound bow and claiming a high vantage point suspended from a crane. Despite making several radio transmissions warning that the intruder was reaching the hammer, Barton was never given a shoot order, forcing him to let his target go. Barton also commented into the radio, "Better call it soon, Coulson, 'cuz I'm starting to root for this guy," implying a certain level of self-given autonomy.

Upon orders from Nick Fury, Hawkeye broke into the Helicarrier to access the Avengers Initiative database in order to test its security.

Controlled by Loki
Hawkeye was called by Nick Fury and stationed at the main facility of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. in order to guard the Tesseract. Sometime later, the Tesseract opened a portal that brought Loki to Earth, who then used his Scepter to alter and control the minds of Hawkeye, Erik Selvig, and a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Under Loki's influence Barton believed that he willingly worked for Loki and helped him steal the Tesseract and escape.

He then acted as Loki's commander at his safe house, leading various other mind-controlled mercenaries and workers, and helping collect the materials that Dr. Selvig needed to utilize the Tesseract. Barton traveled to Stuttgart, Germany with Loki where he used his infiltration skills to help to steal a store of iridium needed to stabilize the Tesseract.

After Loki allowed himself to be captured by the Avengers, Hawkeye led a small group of mercenaries in an attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, using a stolen Quinjet to covertly approach the Helicarrier. Hawkeye destroyed an engine with an accurately placed explosive arrow and boarded the Helicarrier, where he further crippled the ship's systems. As he continued to make his way through the ship he was confronted by Natasha Romanoff, who knocked him out, breaking his connection to Loki and restoring his mind.

Battle of New York
Natasha Romanoff looked after Barton in the recovery room where he resolved to help fight back against Loki. Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America arrived in New York City just as the Tesseract portal opened. He helped Iron Man hold off Loki's army from the streets until the rest of the team arrived. He then took up a position on a building's top and fought from there, calling out enemy movements for his teammates. After the battle, the team captured a wounded Loki from Stark Tower.

Later, the team took a breather at the Shawarma Palace. They were interrupted by War Machine, who arrived too late to help in the battle. When the Avengers went their separate ways, Barton left with Romanoff.

Abilities
As Hawkeye, Clint has no known superhuman powers and abilities. Clint Barton is a skilled marksman with an exceptional ability in archery. He possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in various intense regular exercise and is considered athletic. He also possesses a custom-made bow, a modernized quick-release quiver, and quite possibly a number of specialty arrows. Hawkeye is able to fire six arrows faster than the average human can fire six bullets and is known to be a master archer with extraordinarily fast reflexes, exceptional dexterity, and near-perfect aim. He is also an excellent all-around marksman well versed in conventional firearms, and possibly has an uncanny knack for using miscellaneous hand-held objects as projectile weapons. Hawkeye is a veteran espionage operative, a formidable physical combatant, and an experienced fighter pilot, as he was able to pilot a Quinjet with ease alongside Romanoff.
 * Master Archer: Barton has trained himself to become a master archer specializing in the use of regular bows, longbows, compound bows, and crossbows with near-perfect accuracy. He is capable of firing multiple arrows at a single target in a few seconds, hitting multiple targets in a few quick strokes, and directly hit small targets in the greatest of distances.
 * Master Marksman: He possesses very keen eyesight, and his accuracy is virtually unerring. He was able to shoot down a Chitauri ship without even looking at it.
 * Expert Acrobat: Barton possesses exceptional human strength, endurance, and stamina. He is athletic, with very good reflexes and agility. This makes him capable of complex acrobatic maneuvers.
 * Expert Martial Artist: Barton is an excellent combatant, having been trained in various forms. He was able to fight Natasha Romanoff to a standstill, although she eventually bested him in combat. He was capable of overthrowing many of the Chitauri soldiers, alongside Black Widow, on the ground zero during the battle in New York with utilization of his recurve bow as well as his trick arrows.
 * Expert Strategist: Barton has been trained in military tactics, being able to command a team of operatives under the unwitting control of Loki to heist a vault in Germany and infiltrate the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier with esteemed success. Each of these actions required a diversion.

Equipment

 * Collapsible Recurve Bow: The bow is capable of folding on itself (most likely for either easier transport, concealment, or both) and has a selector and transmitter that allow Hawkeye to control his mechanical quiver. It also has a laser sight. In addition, he can use the bow as a sort of quarter staff in combat if he can't reach an arrow or is out of them.
 * Specialized Arrow Quiver: Hawkeye's quiver is supplied with a multitude of different arrow heads in the bottom. By dialling up an armament setting from a control on his bow, Hawkeye can cause the quiver to affix these special arrowheads. This effectively increases the capabilities from conventional arrows, to explosive arrows, a grapple line, and more.
 * : Hawkeye carries a Heckler & Koch P30 as his sidearm, using it to fire at Maria Hill's car while he escapes from the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility after being brainwashed by Loki.
 * Wristbow: Hawkeye used once the Wristbow as his weapon during a security exercise to test the security systems of the Helicarrier, where he was disguised as a mercenary who had to battle Natasha Romanoff.

Friends and Allies

 * S.H.I.E.L.D. (First Incarnation) - Employer (Former Relationships)
 * Nick Fury - Director
 * Maria Hill - Deputy Director
 * Phil Coulson - Colleague
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Colleague
 * Avengers - Teammates
 * Steve Rogers/Captain America - Team Leader and Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague
 * Tony Stark/Iron Man
 * Thor
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk
 * Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Former S.H.I.E.L.D. Colleague and Partner
 * Erik Selvig
 * Quicksilver
 * Scarlet Witch

Enemies

 * Marcus Scarlotti
 * Loki
 * Chitauri
 * Ultron
 * HYDRA
 * Wolfgang von Strucker

Trivia

 * In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Black Widow wore a necklace with an arrow pendant as a symbol of her friendship with Hawkeye.
 * In the comics, Hawkeye is the ex-husband of Bobbi Morse, but in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that role is filled by Lance Hunter.
 * Hawkeye shares his birthday with his actor, Jeremy Renner.
 * It is possible that Hawkeye is left-handed or ambidextrous, as when he was possessed by Loki in The Avengers, he was using his left hand to shoot at Maria Hill after the Tesseract was initially stolen, and during the Battle of New York, his Recurve bow was made to shoot left-handed. However, in Thor, Hawkeye was using a right-handed bow, though it is possible that he is simply the type of archer that is able to use either hand to shoot. Another explanation is that the style chosen by the production team differed for the two films.

Behind the Scenes

 * Hawkeye is the only Avenger that did not appear in a Phase Two movie prior to Avengers: Age of Ultron, and the only male Avenger to not star in a solo movie.