Natasha Romanoff

Natasha Romanoff in 2016 during the Clash of the Avengers

**Natasha Romanoff**  was a founding member of the Avengers, an American Spy, and a former Soviet agent.

## Biography

### Early Life

Natasha Romanoff was born in the Soviet Union in 1984. As an infant, she was drafted to the Red Room, and became a top Soviet spy.

### Defection to SHIELD

After years of work for the Red Room, Natasha was located by SHIELD, who sent Clint Barton to eliminate her. Instead of completing his mission, he decided to recruit Natasha for her espionage skills.

In order to complete her defection to the United States, Natasha had to take part in Operation Budapest, in which Natasha killed General Dreykov, the leader of the Red Room, along with his nine year-old daughter.

### Work at SHIELD

In 2009, Natasha was injured by the James Barnes in Ukraine during Operation Mozku

In 2010, Natasha ambushed a Ten Rings convoy, and destroyed their transport plane. Afterwards, she was assigned to watch Tony Stark to assess his compatibility with the Avengers Initiative. During the same mission, Natasha uncovered an illegal operation perpetrated Hammer Industries and its CEO

Later that same year, Natasha was tasked with located and recovering stolen Stark Industries technology in Russia.

### Time as an Avenger

#### Chitauri Invasion

In 2012, Natasha joined the Avengers when Loki invaded New York City. The Avengers successfully repelled the invasion, and Natasha was credited with closing the portal over the city.

#### Fall of SHIELD

During a team-up with Captain America, Natasha helped stop a terrorist threat to the Willis Tower during Operation Oracle.

During the Fall of SHIELD, Natasha helped Steve Rogers in leaking all of SHIELD's files, including her own.

#### HYDRA Offensive

When the Avengers began their offensive on HYDRA in 2015, Natasha used SHIELD files to locate the Sudanese HYDRA facility and the HYDRA research base, where they defeated HYDRA and recovered the Scepter

#### Ultron Incident

After the creation of Ultron, Romanoff helped tracked Ultron to Johannesburg, where the Avengers believed he was attempting to buy Vibranium that was smuggled from Wakanda. Once in Johannesburg, the Avengers fought the twins and Ultron, but were defeated as a result of Wanda Maximoff's mind altering abilities.

After the battle in Johannesburg, the Avengers followed Ultron to Seoul, where they chased him throughout the city in order to retrieve the Vibranium. The Avengers succeeded in the retrieval, then traveled to Sokovia, to stop Ultron from destroying the Earth. During the Battle of Sokovia, the Avengers destroyed Ultron, and prevented Sokovia from being crashed on the Earth, but not without the destruction of Sokovia.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Sokovia, Natasha helped train the Second Generation of the Avengers.

#### Sokovia Accords

In 2016, Natasha helped recover a bioweapon in an Avengers operation in Lagos, during which there were many civilian casualties, and which eventually led to the Sokovia Accords passage. Natasha elected to sign the accords, which created a divide within the Avengers. During the Clash of the Avengers, Natasha defected to Steve Rogers' side, and was forced to go on the run as a result. She later helped Steve Rogers break the non-signatory Avengers out of the Raft.

#### Thanos' Invasion

In 2018, the Avengers regrouped in Wakanda because of Thanos' Invasion, but failed to repel his forces, which resulted in the Snap

#### Snap Period

After the battle, many Avengers were either retired or dusted, and Natasha became the leader of the Avengers for the next 3 years.

#### Battle of Earth

In 2021, the Avengers assembled in order to find a way to reverse the Snap, and succeeded. Natasha later died during the battle against Thanos.

## Recognition

In 2012, Natasha Romanoff won the Nobel Peace Prize and the Medal of Honor and TIME Person of the Year for her role in the Battle of New York. She is also expected to posthumously win the Nobel Peace Prize, Medal of Honor, and TIME Person of the Year in 2021 for her role in the Battle of Earth.

## Legacy

Natasha Romanoff is remembered for her work as a hero, but also her espionage activities. Her overall view from society is mixed, with some praising her as a hero, while others focus on her background as a Red Room assassin.