Clinton Barton

"I see better from a distance."

- Clint Barton

Clint Barton is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and part of the Avengers. He goes by the codename Hawkeye.

Thor
"You better call it Coulson, cause I'm starting to root for this guy."

- Clint Barton

Clinton Barton was serving in a military branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. when freakish atmospheric events, followed by the discovery of an immovable hammer in an impact crater, saw him deployed to New Mexico as part of a security force to protect the object. 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.

The Avengers
"You have heart."

- Loki Laufeyson

His mission complete in New Mexico, Barton was then assigned to guard the Tesseract at a S.H.I.E.L.D. research facility. When it began emitting increased levels of gamma radiation the entire facility was placed on high alert and most staff were evacuated, while Barton and a few others remained as rearguard for as long as they could. The emissions proved to be a precursor to the unexpected appearance of Loki Laufeyson, who had used it to reach Earth extradimensionally. Barton and the other guards were quickly overpowered and Barton was promptly enslaved into Loki's service.

For a time, Barton served Loki as a guard, enforcer, and assassin, completely without volition. When Loki was incarcerated in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Barton led a commando raid against the vessel to extricate him, as well as to directly add to the chaos that Loki was seeding within his enemies. The attack drew him into direct conflict with Black Widow, his staunchest ally, who both bested him in close quarters and scored a blow to his head that helped to dislodge Loki's hold over him.

Upon recovering from the ordeal, Barton vowed to put Loki down, going so far as to propose an arrow to the Asgardian's eye socket. To that end he willingly grabbed his equipment and offered to pilot Captain America and Black Widow to Loki's location, which had been determined as New York City. Once there, the trio formed up with Thor Odinson, Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk), and Tony Stark (Iron Man), to fight Loki together.

The group quickly found themselves embroiled in a battle for New York City against a huge invasion force of Chitauri that Loki had summoned using the Tesseract. Barton, now operating under the pseudonym of "Hawkeye" initially fought the alien warriors on the streets before switching to a higher vantage point atop a high-rise building to snipe at the alien air support. At one point he even took a shot at Loki, and although the aim was true, Loki simply snatched the arrow from the air before it struck. Hawkeye had planned in advance however, and had rigged the arrow with an explosive head that knocked Loki's transport out of the sky.

When the battle was over Hawkeye and the others parted company. He and Agent Romanoff returned to the service of S.H.I.E.L.D. until the next time the world would call on the Avengers.

Abilities
As Hawkeye, He possesses no superhuman powers. Clinton Barton is a skilled marksman with an exceptional ability in archery. As Hawkeye, Barton possesses the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engages in intense regular exercise and is considered athletic. As Hawkeye, Barton possesses an custom-made bow, 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. Hawkeye is 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.


 * 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. He has been known to hit an apple in the center of it. As Hawkeye, he practiced a minimum of two hours per day to keep his skills honed.
 * Expert Marksman: He possesses very keen eyesight, and his accuracy is virtually unerring; he was trained in his youth by Trick Shot with throwing blades, balls, bolas, and boomerangs. He now has near-perfect precision with any aimed or thrown weapon. He can hurl objects with extreme speed and accuracy, both in direct aim and complicated rebounds/interactions.
 * Expert Acrobat: Barton possesses exceptional human strength, endurance, and stamina. He is athletic, with very good reflexes and agility. This, combined with training as an aerialist and acrobat, makes him capable of complex acrobatic maneuvers.
 * Expert Fighter: Barton is an excellent combatant, having been trained in various forms quite possibly being in the military.

Relationships

 * Phil Coulson - S.H.I.E.L.D. superior.
 * Steve Rogers - Avengers teammate.
 * Tony Stark - Avengers teammate.
 * Thor Odinson - Avengers teammate.
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk - Avengers teammate
 * Natasha Romanoff - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally/Avengers teammate.
 * Nick Fury - Commander/ S.H.I.E.L.D. director.
 * Maria Hill - S.H.I.E.L.D. ally.
 * Jasper Sitwell - S.H.I.L.E.D. ally.
 * Pepper Potts - Ally.
 * Erik Selvig - Ally.
 * Loki Laufeyson - Enemy.
 * Chitauri - Enemy.

Appearances/Actors

 * Canon (2 films)


 * Thor (First appearance/cameo) - Jeremy Renner
 * The Avengers - Jeremy Renner

Behind the scenes

 * When Barton cameos in Thor he is shown as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent not a costumed hero.
 * Jeremy Renner's appearance was uncredited in Thor.

Trivia

 * It has been confirmed that Hawkeye and Black Widow have been teammates for a long time before the events of The Avengers. Although they will not have a romance in the film, it is possible that the two will become romantically involved in an Avengers sequel or another film, such as the rumored Black Widow or SHIELD solo films.