Felicia Hardy
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| Nicknames: | Fel, Licia | Codename: | Black Cat |
| Age: | 22 | Species: | Mutant |
| Sexual Orientation: | Bisexual | Romantic Orientation: | Sweet |
| Face Claim: | Katherine McNamara | Writer: | Violet |
Personality:
Felicia is not the warmest person on the planet, keeping everyone at arms length has become such a habit that she rarely lets anyone in anymore. While she is nice enough and approachable, one may find that they may never truly know anything about her, no matter how much time they spend with her. She keeps her life a closely guarded secret, even from those she calls friend. She can be very assertive, never afraid to speak her mind or defend those around her, especially from bullies, she hates bullies. She tends to work better on her own, hating to depend on others in a team setting since getting kicked out of gymnastics and this only got worse after her father was arrested and those she thought were her friends turned their backs on her. She can be very charming and persuasive when she needs to be, using her wiles and silver tongue to get what she needs.
Appearance:
Felicia is rather petite, the perfect athletic frame for a gymnast, though she hasn't competed in years. Her natural hair color is blonde, but in more recent years she had taken to dying it red randomly. Felicia stands at 5'5" tall, though she loves to wear heels which adds a couple of inches. Her eyes are a bright hazel that seem to change depending on what color she's wearing as it might bring out a certain color more. As she grew up a member of the elite, she does not skimp on the quality of her wardrobe.
Powers & Abilities:
Tychokinesis - a "bad luck" aura that protects her when she perceives a threat.
Feline Graces - Enhanced balance and agility, as well some durability and enhanced strength.
Retractable Claws - Her nails can extend into claws about two inches long and are made of a very hard bone material.
Skills - Expert Thief, Escape Artist, Adept Martial Artist, and Champion Gymnast.
Items & Resources:
Cat Suit - The material is a mix of heavy leathers and kevlar materials designed to protect her against stabbing and the worst of the damage from a gunshot, though it will still hurt like a bitch, and only small caliber firearms.
Cat Ears/Eyes - The ears function to help her filter and pinpoint sounds, even those beyond the normal human capacity, much like a cat might as they hunt. The lenses of her mask can be adjusted to help her see in low light with night vision, infrared, and ultraviolet settings.
Grappling Hook - One of her most cherished possessions, her grappling hooks were designed by her father.
Utility Belt - Felicia wears a belt with various sewn in pockets. These pockets hold all the tools of her trade: lock picks, glass cutter, small tool kit, etc. etc. Of course there is also a reinforced pocket for her phone and extra pockets to hold her loot
Home Reality:
Comic 616 with some slight modifications
History:
Born the daughter of the infamous Cat Burglar, Walter Hardy, Felicia never knew her mother. Walter refused to speak of her and Felicia never did figure out if her mother had died, or had simply abandoned them. Unable to stand the pained look in her father's eyes, Felicia eventually stopped asking altogether. Walter did his best to foster confidence in his daughter, and to never settle for second best. If she wanted to play basketball then why should she settle for being a cheerleader, unless that was what she wanted. Felicia kept him on his toes, even as a toddler. Her abilities wouldn't truly manifest until much later but her favorite past time was to perch on the stairs as her father came home and leap into his arms. She had no idea of her father's true profession as a thief but he did teach her little things: How to pick someone's pocket, how to pick a lock, slight of hand, how to move without making sound.
When she was five, Walter took her to see her first gymnastics match, and Felicia fell in love. She begged her father to let her learn and he never had the heart to deny his little girl anything. She quickly became a champion gymnast, continuing to compete up until the age of 12 when one of the parents accused her of being too good and she was accused of cheating and barred from the team. Her little heart was broken, banned from doing the thing she loved, and some part of her grew more selfish in the following months. Walter enrolled her in a different school, to allow her to start over, but there was a part of her that would never truly heal from being shunned by those she considered her friends. It forced her to keep everyone at arms length.
This would serve to protect her in the coming years until her 16th birthday when her father was arrested at her party. Up until that point she still had no knowledge of her father's double life, screaming for the police to let her father go. As she flew into a rage, hellbent on attacking them, her Uncle was suddenly there, restraining her and keeping her from doing something completely stupid. He wasn't truly her Uncle, but he had always been there, her father's best friend and mentor she would later find. Uncle Fox was what she called him, and he took her in after her father was sent to prison. He told her all about her father's night time job, as well as his own alter ego as the Black Fox. Her perspective on life changed, she felt like an orphan, her father was a convicted criminal she visited every week in prison, and now she was being raised by another convicted (retired) criminal.
Graduation came and went, and Felicia was accepted to Empire State University. She didn't exactly know what she wanted to do for her career yet but her father had made her promise she would go to college as he never had. With most of the family fortune spent on her father's law fees, Felicia began to use some of her skills to make more money, scamming people at pool in neighboring towns became a quick favorite. And then she met Ryan. He was charming, kind, everything she'd ever read about in her romance novels and they struck up a relationship. A few months into their courtship, Felicia's life would take a terrible turn.
As she and Ryan were cuddled up watching a movie, Ryan began to get a bit too intimate. At first Felicia was fine to go along with it, but when things went further than she was comfortable with she began to protest. Ryan grew hostile, turning into someone Felicia didn't even recognize. Once Ryan's assault was over, Felicia made a rather hysterical call to her Uncle who came to collect her and return her to their mansion home. Her Uncle tried to get her to report it, but Felicia knew she would be dismissed as the daughter of a criminal and refused. She continued her college education but she was careful to change up nearly everything about her studies and her life to avoid Ryan. An anger grew inside her, unable to find a way to cope with it, she began to lash out until finally her Uncle had to step in and teach her an outlet. The Black Fox began to train her in martial arts, to help her regain her confidence, so that she would never feel helpless again. As they trained, it became obvious that Felicia held new abilities, Ryan's assault had triggered her dormant Mutant abilities. Her personality would also change, she hardened, became more sarcastic and easy to anger, but she also grew more focused. Though she never told her Uncle, Felicia's new goal was to make Ryan pay for what he'd done, to make him suffer as she had.
She reached out to the friends she'd made through University, paying them to help her create her new persona, usually through stolen goods. Piece by Piece, the Black Cat began to come together. She even found someone capable of casting acrylic to make fang caps for her teeth, they used them for cosplay and that story was easy enough to run with.
It was her Uncle that gave her the finishing touch, the very same grappling hooks invented and used by her father. It took a bit of training to get used to them, but her natural mutant abilities helped immensely. The Black Cat began to make a name for herself, even being recruited by other out laws in jobs and on occasion working with others to achieve their goals. She secretly had her first newspaper headline framed, complete with a shadowy picture of her leaping between buildings.
Now she has two goals in mind. Free her father from prison, and kill her rapist. She's not sure which one she wants more but she's been tracking Ryan and she still visits her father every week, though she never told him what happened to her.