BLACK CAT

 

BLACK CAT

Real Name: Felicia Hardy

First Appearance: The Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #194, July 1979

Powers: The Black Cat was originally a burglar who employed a grappling line, glass cutters, and other simple tools. Her trademark was that she rigged the scenes of her crimes in advance with various traps, allowing her to convince pursuers that she possessed the superhuman power of causing bad luck. When she later went on a search to acquire genuine super-powers, the Kingpin's scientists ironically found a way to grant her that very power. In addition to marginally heightened strength, speed and agility, Felicia now generated a "bad luck" aura at all times, a negative probability field which automatically focused itself on any people or objects in her environment that would do her harm. Once afflicted by this aura, weapons directed against her would cease functioning properly or backfire, and any person with malicious intent might stumble, trip themselves up, suddenly fall victim to a falling piano, etc., until they ceased any action or intention against her. This power was extraordinarily effective, so much so that she could simply stand still or ignore her opponent completely and they would end up harming themselves. There were some drawbacks to her power: Opponents who acted only to defend themselves would not succumb to the bad luck effect. Furthermore, her bad luck aura would accumulate around people she spent time with, making her power hyper-sensitive to them. Spider-Man became perpetually clumsy around her, and even the slightest argument or bad feelings between the two of them would set off her powers and jinx his actions further. Eventually, Spider-Man remained under a constant cloud of bad luck for weeks even after he separated from the Black Cat. With assistance from Dr Strange, Spider-Man had the bad luck field removed, but the resulting backlash cost Felicia her powers as well. As a side effect, she instead gained the "proportionate abilities of a cat": Superhuman strength, speed, agility, endurance, reflexes, balance and coordination. Her senses became highly acute, giving her enhanced hearing and smell, night vision, and even the power to detect Strange's astral presence. She could also flex her fingernails, extending then into tough, razor sharp claws. She later permanently lost these abilities to a power-canceling mechanism employed by the Chameleon.

 

After a few months as a civilian, she commissioned the Tinkerer to re-design her a set of gadgets to approximate superhuman powers. Balance compensators disguised as earrings enhanced her agility and sense of equilibrium, so that she always landed on her feet. New contact lenses gave her telescopic vision, night specs, and allowed her to see various spectra of invisible light. She was also equipped with auditory implants that gave her enhanced and directional hearing, and motion-sensitive fibers in her mask that pinpointed movement in her immediate vicinity. Micro-circuitry built into the lining of her costume gave her increased strength, and the metal mesh of her gloves could be reconfigured into three-inch long claws instantly by flexing her fingers. She also used a wire-guided grappling claw which fired from the back of her hand and a selection of projectile talon-knives.

 

Later, Felicia restored her "bad luck" powers with the help of Doctor Tramma, who installed a cybernetically-controlled quantum probability pulsator in her body. This mechanism allows the Cat to consciously influence probability in her environment, whereas previously her power was a reflexive reaction to threats or danger. This allows her to radiate "bad luck" to affect everyone in her vicinity, or target specific people or objects. The Black Cat was also outfitted with retractable cybernetic claws made of an unknown metal.