Black Cat (Marvel Comics)
Black Cat (Felicia Hardy) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard, and Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979).[4] Felicia Hardy is the daughter of Walter Hardy, a world-renowned cat burglar. She trained herself in various fighting styles and acrobatics and, after deciding to follow in her father's footsteps, adopted the costumed identity of Black Cat. She has the subconscious ability to affect probability fields, producing "bad luck" for her enemies. Throughout her history, Black Cat has sometimes been an enemy, love interest, and an ally of the superhero Spider-Man.[5][6]
Black Cat
The Amazing Spider-Man #194 (July 1979)
- Marv Wolfman (writer)
- Keith Pollard (artist)
- Dave Cockrum (artist)
Felicia Sara Hardy[1]
Human mutate
Felicity Harmon
Felicia Harmon
Party Hardy
Black Cat
- Superhuman strength, agility, balance, and vision
- Psionic ability to alter probability fields to cause bad luck toward others
- Skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant
- Highly skilled gymnast and acrobat
- Expert burglar
- Utilizing grapnels, sharp retractable claws, climbing pitons, and contact lenses granting the ability to see in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum
The character was originally depicted as a supervillain and adversary of Spider-Man, but over time the two fell in love, which motivated her into becoming both an antiheroine, and his partner. However, their relationship grew complicated after it became apparent that Black Cat was only attracted to the alter ego of Spider-Man and had little to no interest in the hero's civilian life as Peter Parker. After their break-up, Black Cat maintained her role as one of Spider-Man's most trusted allies and for years the pair shared an on-again, off-again romance.[7]
Since her original introduction in comics, the character has been featured in various other Marvel-licensed products, including video games, animated television series, and merchandise.
Powers and abilities[edit]
Initially, the Black Cat had no superhuman abilities. Later, a test induced by the Kingpin gave her the psionic ability to affect probability fields; essentially, she could produce "bad luck" for her enemies.[85][86][87] The "bad luck" power entails that under stress she is subconsciously able to cause anyone in her immediate vicinity that she perceives as a threat to be susceptible to freak accidents, like guns jamming and exploding, or tripping on objects. This ability also had the side effect of eventually causing problems for anyone spending long periods of time around her.
Doctor Strange eventually tampered with her powers that briefly removed her bad luck abilities, along with the unwanted side effect. However, this magical tampering temporarily endowed her with cat-like abilities, giving her night vision, retractable talons in her fingertips, superhuman speed, strength, agility and endurance, proportionate to a cat.[88][89] Her psionic "bad luck" powers and former temporary abilities were eventually restored by Doctor Tramma through the use of cybernetics.[89][90][91][92]
The Black Cat has reflexes, agility, and stamina of an Olympic level acrobat. She is physically very strong and athletic and has great physical endurance.[93][94] She is an excellent street fighter capable of taking on several armed assailants and incapacitating them without being injured herself. She is trained in several martial arts styles, including Judo and Goju Ryu Karate. Hardy is a talented photographer; while dating Spider-Man she takes pictures of the hero that he admits are better than his own work.
The Black Cat has also acquired several devices from the Tinkerer that increase her agility and heighten her strength.[39] She wears earrings that interact with the balance centers of her brain to grant her enhanced agility. She has contact lenses that let her see in various ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as infrared and ultraviolet. Her costume contains micro-servos that enhance her strength above normal human levels. The gloves of her costume contain steel micro-filaments, which form retractable claws at the fingertips when she flexes her fingers (triggering a magnetic surge which condenses the filaments into polarized talons) which enable her to tear through most surfaces and easily scale walls. Using this equipment, the Black Cat has been able to beat enemies who have superhuman abilities.
The Black Cat has a miniature grappling hook device hidden in the "fur" of each glove, designed by her father Walter Hardy which enables her to swing from buildings in a manner similar to Spider-Man, though not quite as fast. She can also use the cable from this device as a tightrope, wall scaling device, swing line, or as a weapon in combat.[95]
Other versions[edit]
House of M[edit]
An alternate version of Felicia Hardy appears in the House of M reality. She appears as the Black Cat, having gained her powers through the Kingpin.[172] She, alongside Elektra, Bullseye, Gladiator, and Typhoid Mary, are among the Kingpin's top assassins,[173] however she is a double agent for Luke Cage's Avengers and feeds them information whenever she can.[174] The Kingpin knows this and has Bullseye and Elektra beat her, while he throws her out a window. She survives and tells Luke that they have been set up, along with the Wolfpack and the Dragons. She stays with the group and is a more vocal member of Luke Cage's resistance. She takes part in the final battle at Genosha.[175]