Natasha Romanoff

Natalia Alianovna "Natasha" Romanoff (Russian: Наталья Альяновна "Наташа" Романов) was one of the most talented spies and assassins in the entire world and a founding member of the Avengers. As a child, she was indoctrinated into the Red Room by General Dreykov, and briefly lived as the surrogate daughter of Alexei Shostakov and Melina Vostokoff while they were undercover in the United States of America. After the Destruction of the North Institute, she underwent extensive psychological conditioning, before graduating from the Red Room as a Widow. Working as an operative for the KGB, she was targeted by S.H.I.E.L.D., before given the chance to ultimately defect to the organization by Clint Barton by assassinating Dreykov. Romanoff succeeded, although having to use his daughter Antonia Dreykov's life as collateral damage would haunt her for the rest of her life.