Natalya Sokolova

Name: Natalya Sokolova "Black Widow"

Aliases (known):
Alina Ivanova
Svetlana Vokova
Nadya Vasilieva

Gender: Female

DOB: Unknown

POB: Unknown (somewhere in Russia)

Affiliations:The Avengers

Previous Affiliations: SSB (Soviet Special Branch)
                         
Family: Unknown

Fluent In:
Russian
German
English
French
Spanish

Skills:
Assassin
Espionage
Thief
Expert Marksman
Expert Safe Cracker
Interrogation
Pilot

Trained In:
Gymnastics
Acrobatics
Boxing
Wushu
Karate
Judo
Aikido
Savate
Jujutsu
Ninjustu

Abilities:
Enhanced Immune System
Enhanced Strength
Enhanced Endurance

Medical:
Sterilized
Suffers from PTSD associated with the torture and trauma she experienced at the hands of Tatiana, including horrific nightmares, sleepwalking, and an extreme aversion to the smell of peppermint

Background: Natalya was the brainchild of SSB Director Tatiana Kruglov who dreamt of creating the ultimate SSB agent. SSB agent Zoya Sokolova and Hydra agent Luca Schulz were carefully chosen for their abilities and qualities. Artificial insemination was used and into the embryo SSB scientists injected a single drop of the super soldier serum. A surrogate was then chosen to carry what Tatiana had begun to call the "SSB's New Weapon". Her development was very carefully monitored and she was born on a very cold December night. She would never meet her parents, but Tatiana granted her mother one request, to bear her last name. Natalya was raised by Tatiana within the SSB. She was privately tutored and begun her training at a very young age. She was allowed no friends and her entire life was monitored and charted.

Natalya was severely abused both physically and mentally by the SSB. Her uterus was removed when she was 10 and soon after Tatiana began to allow her agents to sexually assault and rape her. Tatiana wanted to make Natalya numb to any kind of abuse she might suffer as an agent and subjected her to all different types of torture…including a device simply called “the helmet”. The helmet used hallucinogenic drugs injected directly into the brain along with images, video, and sounds to brainwash the wearer and to “recondition” agents.

On her 15th birthday she passed her first important test - an execution style killing of one of their own who had become a traitor to their organization. She shot him straight through the front of the head in a room filled with other SSB agents. That night she received the SSB tattoo, which is invisible without the use of a special light. This tattoo, which is placed on the back of the neck identifies SSB agents to each other without revealing themselves to anyone else.

Natalya became the SSB's top agent and the exact number of kills she made is unknown to anyone outside of the SSB. She killed a number of SHIELD agents and stolen classified SHIELD documents, putting her at the top of their most wanted list. Eventually, SHIELD decided that she had to be stopped and they approached Avengers' member Logan to track her down and kill her. Using a piece of clothing SHIELD verified that had belonged to the Black Widow and a strong lead on where to find her, Logan located her in Vienna, where Natalya had been sent to kill a United Nations representative. However, when Logan saw her hesitate to execute the kill, he knew that the Black Widow wasn't just a mindless killer. After an intense fight, Logan was able to subdue Natalya and he brought her back to the Tower where he turned to Isabella for help. Isabella and Logan were able to convince the rest of the team to give Natalya a chance to prove herself and over time Natalya has proved to be an extremely valuable asset.