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IC INFO
⬑ Character Name: Natasha Romanoff (Natalia Alianovna Romanova)
⬑ Canon: Marvel Cinematic Universe
⬑ Canon Point: Immediately post-Captain America: Civil War, following her last appearance at the hospital.
⬑ Age: She was born in 1984, and if the movies run in real time like it's been suggested, she would have been 32 at the time of her canonpoint.
⬑ History: MCU Wiki.
⬑ Personality: On the surface, Natasha is a tightly-bound bundle of behaviors cultivated from a long history of being a spy. Tony Stark's immediate read on her is that she's "quiet, reserved, an old soul", and that's not entirely inaccurate, but everything about her personality is derived from an evolution of that original read.
Natasha is no doubt duplicitous, and that means it's anyone's guess as to how honest she's being at any given time. Everything about her prioritizes self-control to the point of ruthless pragmatism: the way she speaks, her body language, even her expressions. She's all about economy and fulfilling the requirements of the job. Her first meeting with Bruce Banner, where it's revealed she's legitimately scared for her life in the face of a man who seemingly has no flaws she can exploit, is categorized by an approach that cycles between friendly-casual, (βFor a man whoβs supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle,β) to flirty (βIβll persuade you.β), to what seems like a level of honesty (βIs she a spy too? They start that young?β βI did.β). She's capable of dissecting "exactly what [people] want to hear". Natasha likes having the upper-hand, is discreetly, even intensely paranoid, and one can easily intuit that it's a way of keeping herself alive. It's been ingrained in her for a long time, considering she was raised in a top secret Russian facility for child soldiers.
She's come a long way from that. In Winter Soldier, Natasha's read on everything is skewed. She doesn't have the upper-hand; she's lost in the woods. Even though the film has been painting both Natasha and Steve as friends, it's not until the moment he explicitly says that he trusts her that she finally accepts it in a way that feels true. She progresses from being actively duplicitous and cycling through the elements of her personality that fit best ("The truth isn't all things to all people all the time.") to reaching some sort of understanding within herself. She has friends now! That tightly held paranoia gives way to a part of herself that's capable of great loyalty at an interpersonal level. Avengers: Age of Ultron sees her stop coldly mining vulnerability as a tool to use and opening herself up to the genuine possibility of "running [away]", whatever that might mean to her, to a life that's different and much more personal at heart. But this openness and development, while new to Natasha, never gets in the way of who she is. She throws the potential love interest off a cliff and goes to get the goddamn job done. Saving the world, the mission— she realizes that's more important than what she wants to do. She prioritizes and she picks what's Right. Natasha's efficiently pragmatic, capably determined, and not averse to risking her life to save others by sticking to her own guns.
She's still the person she was; she still likes having the upper hand, and part of her brain is still wired to check her six. But Natasha's core strength lies in her ability to both be dishonest and care intensely about people at the same time. Her past and current friendships, and her history as a "reformed villain" (as framed by the Russo brothers), have all contributed towards cementing her as an incredibly empathetic person who understands just how important life is. Civil War emphasizes a lot of this internal evolution. She checks in to make sure Tony Stark is okay, even if it's with a certain guarded air, and she "didn't want [Steve] to be alone" after a devastating loss. It's a far-cry from that person who so prioritized that upper hand. Still, she maintains herself as a realist; she tells Steve Rogers that if they don't go along with the Accords, that it'll be "done to them later". She faces facts, and plans accordingly.
But it's a loss anyway. In the end, her sense of home or family or whatever she's put herself into building with the Avengers has been shaken by in-fighting, and she leaves after choosing personal loyalties (Steve Rogers and co.) over professional responsibilities. Natasha goes through life exhibiting a sense of her uncanny timing and a strong sense of self preservation even in the face of very real legal consequences (i.e., becoming a war criminal), but she doesn't show regrets over making that duplicitous choice and having to go on the run, instead acknowledging to Tony Stark that they "chose wrong" by letting political escalation ruin their personal connections. She knows when she's made a mistake, and she has a strong, if subtle, internal compass to guide her through. She's long stuck to her own individual truths, her own agendas; she's many, sometimes opposing and contradictory, things at any given time. But Natasha moves on and accepts the costs of her actions. She progresses, doesn't bargain, doesn't turn herself over into a a system that doesn't fit her moral code. Tucking tail just isn't something she really does. She's the Black Widow— she just keeps fighting on, like she always has, to her own sense of right and wrong.
⬑ Appearance: As PB'd by Scarlett Johansson.
⬑ Powers: As a baseline human buoyed only by genre-specific feats of greatness, Natasha doesn't have any powers, but she does have a lot of abilities/skills. Such as:
⬑ Character Name: Natasha Romanoff (Natalia Alianovna Romanova)
⬑ Canon: Marvel Cinematic Universe
⬑ Canon Point: Immediately post-Captain America: Civil War, following her last appearance at the hospital.
⬑ Age: She was born in 1984, and if the movies run in real time like it's been suggested, she would have been 32 at the time of her canonpoint.
⬑ History: MCU Wiki.
⬑ Personality: On the surface, Natasha is a tightly-bound bundle of behaviors cultivated from a long history of being a spy. Tony Stark's immediate read on her is that she's "quiet, reserved, an old soul", and that's not entirely inaccurate, but everything about her personality is derived from an evolution of that original read.
Natasha is no doubt duplicitous, and that means it's anyone's guess as to how honest she's being at any given time. Everything about her prioritizes self-control to the point of ruthless pragmatism: the way she speaks, her body language, even her expressions. She's all about economy and fulfilling the requirements of the job. Her first meeting with Bruce Banner, where it's revealed she's legitimately scared for her life in the face of a man who seemingly has no flaws she can exploit, is categorized by an approach that cycles between friendly-casual, (βFor a man whoβs supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle,β) to flirty (βIβll persuade you.β), to what seems like a level of honesty (βIs she a spy too? They start that young?β βI did.β). She's capable of dissecting "exactly what [people] want to hear". Natasha likes having the upper-hand, is discreetly, even intensely paranoid, and one can easily intuit that it's a way of keeping herself alive. It's been ingrained in her for a long time, considering she was raised in a top secret Russian facility for child soldiers.
She's come a long way from that. In Winter Soldier, Natasha's read on everything is skewed. She doesn't have the upper-hand; she's lost in the woods. Even though the film has been painting both Natasha and Steve as friends, it's not until the moment he explicitly says that he trusts her that she finally accepts it in a way that feels true. She progresses from being actively duplicitous and cycling through the elements of her personality that fit best ("The truth isn't all things to all people all the time.") to reaching some sort of understanding within herself. She has friends now! That tightly held paranoia gives way to a part of herself that's capable of great loyalty at an interpersonal level. Avengers: Age of Ultron sees her stop coldly mining vulnerability as a tool to use and opening herself up to the genuine possibility of "running [away]", whatever that might mean to her, to a life that's different and much more personal at heart. But this openness and development, while new to Natasha, never gets in the way of who she is. She throws the potential love interest off a cliff and goes to get the goddamn job done. Saving the world, the mission— she realizes that's more important than what she wants to do. She prioritizes and she picks what's Right. Natasha's efficiently pragmatic, capably determined, and not averse to risking her life to save others by sticking to her own guns.
She's still the person she was; she still likes having the upper hand, and part of her brain is still wired to check her six. But Natasha's core strength lies in her ability to both be dishonest and care intensely about people at the same time. Her past and current friendships, and her history as a "reformed villain" (as framed by the Russo brothers), have all contributed towards cementing her as an incredibly empathetic person who understands just how important life is. Civil War emphasizes a lot of this internal evolution. She checks in to make sure Tony Stark is okay, even if it's with a certain guarded air, and she "didn't want [Steve] to be alone" after a devastating loss. It's a far-cry from that person who so prioritized that upper hand. Still, she maintains herself as a realist; she tells Steve Rogers that if they don't go along with the Accords, that it'll be "done to them later". She faces facts, and plans accordingly.
But it's a loss anyway. In the end, her sense of home or family or whatever she's put herself into building with the Avengers has been shaken by in-fighting, and she leaves after choosing personal loyalties (Steve Rogers and co.) over professional responsibilities. Natasha goes through life exhibiting a sense of her uncanny timing and a strong sense of self preservation even in the face of very real legal consequences (i.e., becoming a war criminal), but she doesn't show regrets over making that duplicitous choice and having to go on the run, instead acknowledging to Tony Stark that they "chose wrong" by letting political escalation ruin their personal connections. She knows when she's made a mistake, and she has a strong, if subtle, internal compass to guide her through. She's long stuck to her own individual truths, her own agendas; she's many, sometimes opposing and contradictory, things at any given time. But Natasha moves on and accepts the costs of her actions. She progresses, doesn't bargain, doesn't turn herself over into a a system that doesn't fit her moral code. Tucking tail just isn't something she really does. She's the Black Widow— she just keeps fighting on, like she always has, to her own sense of right and wrong.
⬑ Appearance: As PB'd by Scarlett Johansson.
⬑ Powers: As a baseline human buoyed only by genre-specific feats of greatness, Natasha doesn't have any powers, but she does have a lot of abilities/skills. Such as:
- β£ Master Spy / Assassin
Natasha Romanoff is a master infiltrator. This comes with and is not limited to conventions of the genre. She's an expert shot, has incredible endurance, peak human reflexes, is shown to be an extremely skilled fighter in hand-to-hand combat and an excellent gymnast. She is proficient in a wide array of weapons, including guns, explosives, garroting wire and knives, as well as the use of her custom-made Widow's Bites that are cartridges that look sort of like this. They're also capable of firing small, electronic blasts and taser disks a short distance. Additionally, Natasha can precision-drive motorbikes like she just popped off from Fast and the Furious, can pilot tanks/planes, and is a proficient hacker.
β£ Social Engineer
She can lie really really really really really really ridiculously good (in more than one language). She is also shown to have expert-level grasp on interrogation techniques and makes for a good evaluatory party where psychology (and team cohesion) is concerned.
β£ Survivalist
Natasha is shown several times throughout the franchise to have a great grasp on using things to her if not straight advantage, then her survival rate. She's an excellent strategist and great at improvisational thinking. When caged by Ultron, she improvises a radio to tap out some Morse code skills to get herself out of there — she's good at MacGyvering, even when stuck in a closed tank with a live grenade. (Seriously.)