As the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown, the Avengers roster has expanded with it. Though there were originally only six members on the team, that number has nearly tripled in the years since The Avengers. In a franchise that runs entirely on how brilliant its characters are, this has been a great joy, as it's allowed audiences to get to know new figures who will play major roles in the series even after the original heroes have long been retired.

The franchise is known throughout the film industry for being nearly infinitely quotable. Though it's full to the brim with little quips and pearls that are easy to remember, every once in a while, a character says something that goes right to the core of their character. Let's take a look at ten quotes that summarize the person who said them.

10 "If We Can't Protect the Earth..."

Tony Stark, The Avengers

If We Can't Protect the Earth, You Can Be Damned Well Sure We'll Avenge It

Tony Stark was one of the most reluctant members of the Avengers when the team formed. Originally, Nick Fury deemed him a poor candidate for the team despite his abilities and the suit that could have saved the world (in part due to what he believed to be fundamental personality defects). Rather, he signed on as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., and it was only once Loki began invading the planet that he was once again asked to join. Always unable to let the greater good suffer when he could do something to prevent it, he agreed.

Once he committed to the Avengers, however, Tony was all in, becoming their de facto leader (though whether that was because he took control of every situation or because they wanted him to be in charge remains unclear). This quote said during the Chitauri invasion of New York, summarizes everything fans know about Tony's character. Even when he falls short, he can't bring himself to quit. He rarely stops fighting unless he's risen victorious, and even when he claims to have quit, like in Endgame, he can't stop himself from trying to solve any problem he encounters. Thus, in explaining the Avengers' philosophy, he also captured his essence.

9 "I'm With You..."

Steve Rogers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I'm With You 'Til The End of The Line

The relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes motivated a lot of Steve's arc in the early stages of the MCU. He lost his best friend during a doomed mission in World War II and mourned him throughout his early appearances. However, Bucky re-entered his life in the most unexpected way possible. He resurfaced during Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a super soldier like Steve - but one who had been brainwashed into working with HYDRA rather than given agency to choose where his loyalties lay. Throughout the film, he works tirelessly to bring Bucky back to himself, as he knows his best friend is still in there somewhere and wants to help him.

Bucky isn't the only character Steve never gave up on, however. Loyalty was both his greatest strength and his fatal flaw. He's with everybody he knows until the end of the line. Once someone befriends Steve Rogers, they're his friend for life. He spends later entries to the MCU defending Bucky to the point of alienating others. Though he may often prioritize his job and the greater good over his personal feelings, he struggles to do that regarding the people he cares about, thus making this quote the perfect window into his heart.

8 "The Radiation's Mostly Gamma..."

Bruce Banner, Avengers: Endgame

The Radiation's Mostly Gamma. It's Like I Was Made for This.

Throughout his arc, Bruce Banner struggled to find a reason to be alive. He reveals in The Avengers that he struggled immensely with his mental health, especially after his transformation into the Hulk. He constantly dealt with the fear that he was going to harm someone he cared about during one of his rages, and struggled to determine what the purpose of still being alive was if the thing that was supposed to help him protect the world actually made him so much more of a threat to it. He found something resembling a purpose while on Sakaar, but it wasn't quite enough. Upon his return to Earth, he struggled more than he previously had.

However, the reason for all of this became clear by the events of Avengers: Endgame. Though the Nano Gauntlet was the only way to defeat Thanos, it was far too much of a risk for anyone to use because of how much radiation it emitted. He was the only person who could have handled this situation without dying, as the leakage from the stones was enough that it would have immediately killed anyone who tried to use it without being prepared (such as in Tony Stark's case). This gave him a purpose again. Bruce suddenly knew what all his suffering had been for. Everything that happened to him led up to this moment.

7 "I Don't Judge People..."

Natasha Romanoff, Avengers: Endgame

I Don't Judge People By Their Worst Mistakes.

Natasha Romanoff has spent a long time trying to atone for her past. As she states in the original Avengers film, she has "red in her ledger," and she'd like to "wipe it out." By all rights, she doesn't believe she has the right to be a hero, even though she wasn't in the Red Room by choice and everything she did was because she was trained to be a deadly weapon from a young age. There's so much blood in her past that she fears that there's nothing she can do to make it better, no matter how hard she tries. She commits herself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of goodness and doing the right thing in hopes of eventually remedying some of the wounds she inflicted on both others and herself during her time in the Red Room. She keeps the Avengers upright singlehandedly in the five years between Infinity War and Endgame and ultimately gives her life so that the rest of the world may survive.

One of the most poetic moments in her character arc occurs at the start of Avengers: Endgame. Clint Barton, her best friend and the man who saved her from the Red Room's tyranny, snapped after the loss of his family in the Blip. Natasha was the only person who could recover him. Echoing precisely how he saved her when he was sent to eliminate her, she finds him in Tokyo and brings him back to his destiny as a hero. When he tries to fight back, she informs him that in her eyes, a person's worst mistakes don't define them. She extends the same courtesy to the rest of the world that it did for her, and now does everything in her power to see the good in everyone because someone found it in her.

6 "If You Step Out That Door..."

Clint Barton, Avengers: Age of Ultron

If You Step Out That Door, You're an Avenger.

Clint Barton was, at the beginning of the MCU, criminally underutilized. In Thor, when he was first introduced, he was a minor antagonist trying to stop the titular character from trying to steal the 0-8-4 from a compound in New Mexico - making audiences root against him (even though he ultimately did end up cheering Thor on during this mission). Then, when he was re-introduced in The Avengers, he spent a lot of the movie under mind control working against the Avengers themselves. Audiences didn't get the chance to latch onto him the way they did other characters.

By the events of Age of Ultron, however, Marvel put forth considerable effort to make Clint feel just as fleshed out as his companions. Much like he did for Natasha all those years ago, he finds the best in Wanda and Pietro despite their tireless efforts to eliminate him and the rest of his team. His greatest strength comes from his capacity for empathy. He can't let anyone stay in a situation that doesn't suit them; it's just not in his nature. Therefore, he tries to recruit the suffering youths to the Avengers and does so by letting them know that there's a place for them if they're willing to take it. He's a shelter in so many of the raging storms and continues to hold that position through the rest of the franchise.

5 "I Choose to Run Toward My Problems..."

Thor, Thor: Ragnarok

I Choose to Run Toward My Problems and Not Away...Because That's What Heroes Do."

Thor's evolution has been one of the most interesting to watch in the MCU. When he was first introduced, he was often reduced to comic relief. He didn't understand anything about human culture, since he hadn't ever really interacted with it before. Arrogance and cockiness governed him. He played by his own rules and didn't necessarily work for the good of the team in most situations. Rather, he prioritized himself and the good of his people and believed he knew more than everybody else. This gave him a place to evolve from as the movies continued and he softened a bit.

His true character shines in Thor: Ragnarok, the most successful of his solo endeavors. His father's death forced him to reckon with the immature way he handled some situations in his past, and he swore to never do any of that again. He was tired of fleeing from the things that plagued Asgard to do something that he considered more enjoyable. As he says to Valkyrie (who, interestingly, has some of the same flaws that Thor did early in his life), he begins to face his problems head-on rather than flee from him. He's comfortable being a hero now.

4 "You Break the Rules..."

Wanda Maximoff, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

You Break the Rules and Become a Hero. I Do It and I Become the Enemy. That Doesn't Seem Fair.

Wanda's past in the MCU has always been a touch rocky. When she was first introduced in Age of Ultron, she certainly didn't seem like she would become a hero in future installments. Even once she joined the Avengers, she struggled to control her powers in the aftermath of her brother's death and everything that happened in Sokovia. Her relationship with Vision was one of the only things that kept her from going off the deep end, as he grounded her when she felt like she was going to lose sight of herself and the rest of the world. Losing him in Endgame ripped open every old wound she thought she healed from long ago.

With her grief still haunting her every step and the loss of the perfect (albeit false) life she reconstructed for herself in WandaVision, it should be no surprise that she began to struggle with villainy in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She worked to reconstruct everything that she lost at the end of WandaVision, as she knew her family was still out there somewhere in the multiverse. When Doctor Strange tries to confront her about this, she lets him know that she is tired of operating under the double standard that certain people, like him, can do whatever they want with no consequences, while she has to suffer for them. It's the central philosophy of her entire villain arc.

3 "I Wish to Understand It..."

Vision, Captain America: Civil War

I Wish to Understand It. The More I Do, the Less It Controls Me.

Vision spends most of his time in the MCU searching for knowledge. He wanted to find a sense of identity outside the stone in his head, as he didn't want his entire identity to be derived from it rather than from the personality he constructed. Though he didn't understand humans when he first came to life, he saw beauty in humanity and sought to comprehend their behavior. Mercy governed him rather than violence like Ultron's, and he looked for the good in every situation, understanding both sides of every conflict to prevent unnecessary outbreaks.

Even though when he said this, he was talking about the Mind Stone in his head, perhaps in determining why humans behaved the way they did, he wanted to ensure that he would never be under their control as well. He always valued the source of identity he found, after all. He spent a lot of time trying to figure out who he was independent of the pieces of himself he inherited from the people who made him up, and in doing so, he made himself more difficult to control. He would not become a weapon in S.H.I.E.L.D's hands.

2 "Look, When You Can Do the Things that I Can..."

Peter Parker, Captain America: Civil War

Look, When You Can Do the Things that I Can, but You Don't, and Then Bad Things Happen, They Happen Because of You.

One of the greatest strengths of Spider-Man's appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that they chose not to rehash his backstory for the third time. The Amazing Spider-Man made this mistake, as it showed everything that Spider-Man did only a few things prior, and thus wasn't able to tell as great of a new story with the limited runtime that remained after the incorporation of the origin story. Instead, audiences meet Peter when he's already gotten his powers, already lost his beloved uncle, and tried to figure out how to adjust to his new normal of life with abilities that he does not yet know how to control. This gives him more time to have a unique journey (and it works since the Spider-Man films are some of the best-received in the franchise).

Even though it wasn't shown on screen, Uncle Ben's death continued to haunt Peter Parker throughout his appearances in the MCU. He states his heroic philosophy in his very first scene in the franchise, and it governs all his actions. Peter works tirelessly to prevent bad things from happening to the rest of the world, no matter what he must sacrifice on a personal level to do this. He will never let anyone he loves meet the same fate as his uncle - which makes it all the more upsetting when he can't save Tony Stark or Aunt May from a tragic demise. Everything he does is to ensure that never again can the blame fall on him for something that he could have stopped from happening.

1 "I Have Nothing to Prove to You."

Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel

When audiences first meet Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel, she has no real concept of who she is outside of being Kree. Everything she does is to serve the group who saved her life, as she believes she owes everything to them. She can't remember anything that happened before the Kree found her, and therefore, it was easy for them to convince her that her highest priority should be them at all times. They told her that emotions would be her greatest weakness, and hid any traces of her previous identity from her in fear that she would find out the truth about her past.

However, her world is upended when she realizes that the Kree not only did not have her best interests in mind but were the true villains in the conflict against the Skrulls and that they eliminated her mentor, whose loss scarred her for years. This leads her to a confrontation with Yon-Rogg, the man who brought Carol into the Kree and trained her in their ways. He encourages her to tap into the full extent of her powers and destroy him, proving that she's no better than him. Carol rises above this. She doesn't need to show off her abilities to be worthy of possessing him. Her standing up to her abusers is one of the most powerful moments in the film and a defining moment for everything that follows in her character arc.