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-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
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-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies [[Characters/MCUAvengersFamilies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]Family]]
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*AdaptationalVillainy: An interesting case, as Melina is the villain Iron Maiden in the mainstream comic books continuity, but a supporting hero in the mainstream MCU timeline. Captain Carter Timeline's Melina is closer to the mainstream comic books Melina.
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[[folder:Captain Carter's Black Widows]]
!!''Ingrid''
!!''Helen''
!!''Agnesa''
[[/folder]]
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!!Variants
[[folder:Captain Carter's Melina Vostokoff]]
!!''Melina Vostokoff''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Soviet Russian, Russian
!!!'''Affiliation(s):''' Red Room
!!!'''Voiced By:''' Creator/RachelWeisz
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''
The head of the Red Room and former maternal figure of Natasha Romanoff
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*DisneyVillainDeath: She falls to her death during the destruction of the Red Room headquarters' destruction
[[/folder]]
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!!''"Dorothy "Dottie" Underwood" / Ida Emke / ComicBook/BlackWidow''
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!!''"Dorothy "Dottie" Underwood" / Ida Emke "Ida Emke" / ComicBook/BlackWidow''
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* CanonForeigner: While she shares similarities to comic-based Black Widows such as Natalia Romanova and Yelena Belova, Dottie herself was created specifically for the show.
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* CanonForeigner: While she shares similarities to comic-based Black Widows such as Natalia Romanova - particularly during the Cold War years she was depicted as a [[DirtyCommunists Dirty Communist]] villain - and Yelena Belova, Dottie herself was created specifically for the show.
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Rm, Foils should be from the same work and preferably should interact in any way. The contrast should be intentional, and the creators of the two movies didn't even have each other's scripts.
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* {{Foil}}: To Xu Wenwu, who's also a ContrastingSequelAntagonist to him. Both are leaders of a secretive organization that run the world from the shadows (Dreykov the Red Room and Wenwu the Ten Rings), both originate outside of the United States (Dreykov is Russian and Wenwu is Chinese) and both have children with special abilities. However, while Wenwu sincerely loved his daughter (despite ParentalNeglect due to [[FreudianExcuse his wife's death]]) and is driven by [[AntiVillain a desire to unite his family]], Dreykov is a soulless husk of a human being who only loves himself, using his daughter as a tool to dispose of when it suits him and his only motivation is power and control. Additionally, while both are powerful leaders, Dreykov is a cowardly NonActionBigBad who died in a very undignified manner, while Wenwu was [[WorldsBestWarrior heralded as one of the greatest warriors in Earth history]] who personally conquered much of the known world and [[HeroicSacrifice he died honorably]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath for the sake of his children.]]
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The Voiceless is the better trope that fits Antonia/Taskmaster, since she never talks until the very end.
Deleted line(s) 379 (click to see context) :
* TheQuietOne: Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing.
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* TheVoiceless: She doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father, Dreykov's, brainwashing. The one time she does talk after her brainwashing is undone is asking Natasha, "Is he gone?", before passing out.
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Changed line(s) 25,26 (click to see context) from:
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' | ''WesternAnimation/MarvelZombies''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' | ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]'' | ''WesternAnimation/MarvelZombies''
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* PsychopathicWomanchild: Dottie’s behavior when she drops her adorable and wide-eyed CountryMouse persona screams of this.
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* PsychopathicWomanchild: Dottie’s Dottie’s behavior when she drops her adorable and wide-eyed CountryMouse persona screams of this.
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* AntiVillain: For the most part, the Widows are brainwashed, conditioned killers who were given no choice in their circumstances. Dreykov's modern Widows, as seen in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'', are under his chemically-induced control and totally incapable of disobeying him, only acting as antagonists until they're freed from Dreykov's control.
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* EvilIsPetty: When Natasha demands to know her mother's name, he strings her along as though he's trying to remember the name before saying her gravestone read "Name Unknown".
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* EvilIsPetty: EvilIsPetty:
** Dreykov had Alexei imprisoned without ever bothering to tell him why; Alexei remarks that, for all he knows, Dreykov did it because Alexei made an offhand comment about his hairstyle.
** When Natasha demands to know her mother's name, he strings her along as though he's trying to remember the name before saying her gravestone read "Name Unknown".
** Dreykov had Alexei imprisoned without ever bothering to tell him why; Alexei remarks that, for all he knows, Dreykov did it because Alexei made an offhand comment about his hairstyle.
** When Natasha demands to know her mother's name, he strings her along as though he's trying to remember the name before saying her gravestone read "Name Unknown".
* HatedByAll: No one who knows Dreykov expresses the slightest liking for him; even Alexei, his former friend, hates Dreykov for throwing him in prison for thirty years for some reason. Even his own daughter, [[AbusiveParents for good reason]], is ''relieved'' to hear that he's dead.
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* WouldHitAGirl: Although he is usually a NonActionBigBad, he repeatedly punches Natasha when she starts to disrespect him.
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* WouldHitAGirl: Although he is usually a NonActionBigBad, he repeatedly punches Natasha when she starts to disrespect him. Even this doesn't make Natasha shut up, however; she just mocks Dreykov for not even being strong enough to break her nose ([[BatmanGambit which is why she provoked him into punching her to begin with]]).
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* SweepsWeekLesbianKiss: She kissed Peggy, though without any romantic feeling whatsoever. Instead, it's just a way to [[KissOfDeath knock her unconscious]].
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* SweepsWeekLesbianKiss: She kissed Peggy, though without any romantic feeling whatsoever.whatsoever ([[AmbiguouslyBi probably]]). Instead, it's just a way to [[KissOfDeath knock her unconscious]].
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* AbledInTheAdaptation: The comics version of Taskmaster suffers from a unique form of amnesia that causes him to forget previous skills and even his own past as his involuntary mimicry grants him new abilities. The film's version doesn't have any issues with her memory, as her abilities come from a completely different source.
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* AdaptationalUgliness: In the comics, Tony Masters' face is unmarred under his mask, whereas Antonia Dreykov is badly scarred and one of her eyes is discolored.
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* AntiVillain: Taskmaster is just another of Dreykov's programmed puppets; she has no choice but to obey him, Natasha feels immense guilt for her part in what Antonia's life has become, and once she's freed of Dreykov's programming, all antagonism on Taskmaster's part is gone.
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* ChekhovsGunman: "Dreykov's daughter" was first mentioned by Loki all the way back in [[Film/TheAvengers2012 the first Avengers movie]], but she doesn't appear and the details of Natasha's involvement with her aren't shown until [[Film/BlackWidow2021 Natasha's solo film]] (four years later in-universe, nine years in the real world).
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* EasilyForgiven: Despite Natasha being responsible for her disfigurement, once Antonia has her own mind back, she doesn't show any resentment or anger, simply being relieved that her father is dead.
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* AdaptationDeviation: This incarnation of Taskmaster shares ''very little'' with the Taskmaster of the source material. Everything from MCU Taskmaster's name, origin, personality, motivations, and gender has been completely overhauled. Even her infamous ability to copy fighting styles is mechanically different from how it functions in the comics.
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* AdaptationDeviation: This incarnation of Taskmaster shares ''very little'' very little with the Taskmaster of the source material. Everything from MCU Taskmaster's name, origin, personality, motivations, and gender has been completely overhauled. Even her infamous ability to copy fighting styles is mechanically different from how it functions in the comics.
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* AmbiguousGender: Taskmaster's costume covers her whole body and she doesn't speak, giving no hints of her gender. The promotional material for the film is no help, as it deliberately avoids listing Taskmaster's actor. In the third act, it's revealed that [[SamusIsAGirl this version of Taskmaster is a woman]].
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* AmbiguousGender: Ambiguous only in the sense that [[SamusIsAGirl the fact she's a woman is deliberately held back for most of the movie]]. Taskmaster's costume covers her whole body without obvious TertiarySexualCharacteristics and she doesn't speak, giving no hints of speak which both serve to obscure her gender. The promotional material for the film is no help, played into this as well, as it deliberately avoids avoided listing Taskmaster's actor. In the third act, it's revealed that [[SamusIsAGirl this version of whom Taskmaster is a woman]].was played by on posters and trailers.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Her skull helm is kept on her for most of the movie, making her more sinister than Natasha and her allies. She briefly takes the helmet off for TheReveal of her identity, then puts it back on when sent to work; it only comes off for good right at the end when Natasha takes it off so she can blast her with the red gas.
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* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: When Antonia is locked in a Red Room cell, Natasha tries to reach out to her. It doesn't work.
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:''' It’s okay, it’s okay. I know you’re still in there. And I’m not gonna leave you, okay.
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:''' It’s okay, it’s okay. I know you’re still in there. And I’m not gonna leave you, okay.
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* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: When Antonia is locked in a Red Room cell, Natasha tries to reach out to her. It doesn't work.
work, but a fresh dose of {{Deprogramming}} gas does the trick.
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:'''It’s It's okay, it’s it's okay. I know you’re you're still in there. And I’m I'm not gonna leave you, okay.okay?
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:'''
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* MaskingTheDeformity: Taskmaster wears a metal, skull-like helmet that fully covers the face. This hides the fact that [[spoiler:SamusIsAGirl, specifically Antonia Dreykov, who still bears the scars from Natasha's assassination attempt on her father, leaving half her face with burns and her eye discolored]].
to:
* MaskingTheDeformity: Taskmaster wears a metal, skull-like helmet that fully covers the face. This hides the fact that [[spoiler:SamusIsAGirl, SamusIsAGirl, specifically Antonia Dreykov, who still bears the scars from Natasha's assassination attempt on her father, leaving half her face with burns and her eye discolored]].discolored.
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* NotSoStoic: For most of the film she is quiet, calm and collected, fighting her enemies with precision and discipline. When locked in a cell aboard her father's base, however, she becomes violently angry and starts banging on the glass trying to break out. When her mask is taken off during Natasha's final fight with her, her face is twisted with rage.
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Second bullet tropes are not permitted. See Example Indentationin Trope Lists
* AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
* AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
* AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
* AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
* AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
* AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
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** AdaptationNameChange: The Taskmaster of the comics is an American man named Anthony "Tony" Masters. In the MCU, she's a Russian woman named An'''toni'''a Dreykov.
** AdaptationPersonalityChange: Taskmaster in the comics is a brash DeadpanSnarker who likes to chat with his opponents, and holds a strict JustBusiness view of his missions. Here, she's TheQuietOne and is purely mission-focused due to brainwashing.
** AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
** AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
** AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
** AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
** AdaptationPersonalityChange: Taskmaster in the comics is a brash DeadpanSnarker who likes to chat with his opponents, and holds a strict JustBusiness view of his missions. Here, she's TheQuietOne and is purely mission-focused due to brainwashing.
** AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
** AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
** AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
** AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
to:
** AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
** AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
** AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
** AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
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* MaskingTheDeformity: Taskmaster wears a metal, skull-like helmet that fully covers the face. This hides the fact that [[spoiler:SamusIsAGirl, specifically Antonia Dreykov, who still bears the scars from Natasha's assassination attempt on her father, leaving half her face with burns and her eye discolored]].
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Changed line(s) 397 (click to see context) from:
-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
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-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]][[Characters/MCUYelenaBelova her]] page.
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* GenocideSurvivor: She survived the Snap as seen when Yelena gets brought back to life and sees her having been married and adopted a child prior to the Blip.
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* BoyishShortHair: She has short black hair.
* GenocideSurvivor: She survived the Snap, as revealed by Ana during her conversation with the newly-resurrected Yelena.
* GenocideSurvivor: She survived the Snap, as revealed by Ana during her conversation with the newly-resurrected Yelena.
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* TheChosenMany: ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' reveals the Red Room chooses its Widows by assessing their genetic potential as infants.
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** Natasha's fight with the whole unit after Dreykov sicked them on her eventually went south for her, with her only surviving being pummeled because Dreykov ordered them to make Natasha suffer first, and then Yelena managed to de-brainwash the whole lot of them in the nick of time.
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** Natasha's fight with the whole unit after Dreykov sicked sicced them on her eventually went south for her, with her only surviving being pummeled because Dreykov ordered them to make Natasha suffer first, and then Yelena managed to de-brainwash the whole lot of them in the nick of time.
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* UnwantedAssistance: Yelena douses her with the red powder antidote, not knowing she's no longer under the influence of Dreykov, so she's just annoyed by it.
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* UnwantedAssistance: Yelena douses her with the red powder antidote, not knowing she's no longer under the influence of Dreykov, so she's just annoyed by it.that they've stained the rug.
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Changed line(s) 134 (click to see context) from:
* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: The man can barely throw a punch. Luckily for him, he has an army of Widows and the Taskmaster at his disposal.
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* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: The man can barely throw a punch. Luckily for him, he has an army of Widows [[EliteMooks Widows]] and the Taskmaster at his disposal.disposal, and his brainwashing and pheromones usually protect him from them.
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Weapon Of Choice is now a disambig
Deleted line(s) 288 (click to see context) :
* WeaponOfChoice: She hid a knife and used it to stab Dugan, who thankfully wore a bulletproof vest.
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!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Nanna Blondell
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!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Nanna BlondellCreator/NannaBlondell
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Changed line(s) 393 (click to see context) from:
->See the [[Characters/MCUBlackWidow Black Widow]] page.
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->See the [[Characters/MCUBlackWidow Black Widow]] [[Characters/MCUNatashaRomanoff her]] page.
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Read this article
and I thought I might add it
and I thought I might add itChanged line(s) 25,26 (click to see context) from:
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
Widow|2021}}'' | ''WesternAnimation/MarvelZombies''
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* HeManWomanHater: He's a huge misogynist who sees women as disposable objects.
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* CurbStompBattle: She utterly demolishes Red Guardian during their fight.
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* DestinationDefenestration: She tosses Alexei through a glass wall during their battle.
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Wenwu and Dreykov are "different but same".
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* {{Foil}}: To Xu Wenwu, who's also a ContrastingSequelAntagonist to him. Both are leaders of a secretive organization that run the world from the shadows (Dreykov the Red Room and Wenwu the Ten Rings), both originate outside of the United States (Dreykov is Russian and Wenwu is Chinese) and both have children with special abilities. However, while Wenwu sincerely loved his daughter (despite ParentalNeglect due to [[FreudianExcuse his wife's death]]) and is driven by [[AntiVillain a desire to unite his family]], Dreykov is a soulless husk of a human being who only loves himself, using his daughter as a tool to dispose of when it suits him and his only motivation is power and control. Additionally, while both are powerful leaders, Dreykov is a cowardly NonActionBigBad who died in a very undignified manner, while Wenwu was [[WorldsBestWarrior heralded as one of the greatest warriors in Earth history]] who personally conquered much of the known world and [[HeroicSacrifice he died honorably]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath for the sake of his children.]]
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Changed line(s) 299,300 (click to see context) from:
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
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!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
Widow|2021}}'' | ''Film/{{Thunderbolts}}''
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Reverting edit of ban-evader
* TheQuietOne: Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing.
Deleted line(s) 381 (click to see context) :
* TheVoiceless: While she is not physically mute, Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing. And when she is finally freed from her father's brainwashing, she only has one line, asking Natasha, "Is he gone?", before losing consciousness.
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Deleted line(s) 363 (click to see context) :
* TheQuietOne: Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing.
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* TheVoiceless: While she is not physically mute, Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing. And when she is finally freed from her father's brainwashing, she only has one line, asking Natasha, "Is he gone?", before losing consciousness.
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Adding Edit Note
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%%No putting tropes in spoiler titles per Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers. If a trope name is too spoilerific, pothole it in another trope or don't list it at all.
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%%Zero-context examples are not allowed on wiki pages. All such examples have been commented out. Please add proper context before uncommenting them. Examples must explain *how* they are examples.
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Launching Page
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[[center: [- [[Characters/MarvelCinematicUniverse Main Character Index]] > Villainous Organizations > '''Red Room''' -]]]
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!!''Spoilers for all works set prior to Film/SpiderManNoWayHome are unmarked.''
[[foldercontrol]]
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!The Red Room
[[folder:In General]]
!!''The Red Room''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_widow_550x295.png]]
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Soviet program designed to indoctrinate young girls into trained assassins--each agent being granted the title of "Black Widow". It was originally under the control of a Soviet organization called "Leviathan", with its origins dating at least as far back as the late 1930s. In modern times, it came under the leadership of Soviet General Dreykov, and following the fall of the Soviet Union, the program (and its agents) was transformed into his personal system of provocateurs, assassins and intelligence network, devoted to increasing his influence on the global stage.
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* AmazonBrigade: The purpose of the Red Room is to make an army of all-female spies and soldiers. In ''Black Widow'', they provide armies of punchable henchwomen to fight, though in most other incarnations agents act alone.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Those who go through the program are conditioned into killers. Modern widows are controlled through subjugative chemicals instead of psychological conditioning.
* ColdSniper: Widows are trained snipers capable of killing targets from afar.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Both incarnations beat this mindset into the Widows. For example, the original generation of children were forced to sleep with one hand chained to their bed every night, with at least one adult Widow carrying on this tradition even when out in the field.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Whenever we see an individual Black Widow in action (be it Natasha, Yelena, Melina, or Dottie), we see them as OneManArmy-level fighters, capable of neutralizing/defeating multiple opponents at once. When it's an entire unit of them fighting a lesser number of targets, the results tend to be mixed.
** When they pursued Natasha and Yelena, the latter two still survive and give them enough trouble.
** Natasha's fight with the whole unit after Dreykov sicked them on her eventually went south for her, with her only surviving being pummeled because Dreykov ordered them to make Natasha suffer first, and then Yelena managed to de-brainwash the whole lot of them in the nick of time.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Girls from all over the world were kidnapped to fill the ranks of this organization. Dreykov doesn't care about their ethnicity or where they come from because he sees all of them as equally disposable and replaceable.
* EveryScarHasAStory: The first generation of Widows all sport a single scar all the way around their wright wrists, a remnant of their childhoods when they were each forced to sleep with one hand chained to their beds. This practice was evidently discontinued in later generations, as modern Widows do not have these scars.
* EvilVersusEvil: Organizes a mission to steal research from a S.H.I.E.L.D. cell that is actually one of HYDRA's secret cells within S.H.I.E.L.D..
* FormerRegimePersonnel: Originally the Red Room was part of the Russian KGB, under the banner of the Leviathan group, training girls to be part of the Soviet intelligence network. By the time of ''Black Widow'', however, the Red Room is completely detached from Russia and is not directly in service to any world government, instead being an independent global mercenary operation. Presumably when Dreykov came into power, since he runs it to follow his own agenda rather than for any loyalty to his home country.
* GunKata: Seen in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' (image above) where the widows are practicing techniques with guns. The widows are trained in a mix of ballet and martial arts along with gun play.
* HiredGuns[=/=]ProfessionalKiller: Judging by Clint Barton's less-than-surprised reaction to [[spoiler:learning that a Black Widow was hired to carry out a hit on him]], as well as Yelena Belova's own reaction to learning that an ex-Widow's luxurious apartment was paid for by a career as one of these, it is clear that [[spoiler:after the fall of the Red Room]], mercenary, assassin, and saboteur work is an exceedingly common career path for ex-Widows.
* MirrorCharacter: To [[Characters/{{MCUHYDRA}} HYDRA]]. Both are {{Sinister Spy Agenc|y}}ies that are frequently antagonized by S.H.I.E.L.D. and were created by their respective governments (Nazi Germany for HYDRA in its current form, Soviet Russia for the Red Room) as a means of developing strategic advantages before [[FormerRegimePersonnel going rogue]]. Both worked to create super soldiers (Wanda and the Winter Soldier with HYDRA, Red Guardian, the Black Widows and Taskmaster for the Red Room) who would go on to work against their interests as superheroes. Both have developed an advanced, [[WeAreEverywhere seemingly unstoppable network of agents]] used to control the world from the shadows, only to be undone when all of their secrets are leaked and their leadership killed (both ironically by Natasha).
* ProtectionRacket: [[spoiler:The gist of how the post-Soviet Red Room operates; Dreykov gets what he asks for from a given country, or he sends in some Widows to cause some carnage.]]
* QualityOverQuantity: A subversion: when specifically compared to the Winter Soldier program of HYDRA, they seem to take the quantity side. For their part, the Red Room has arguably more success. After all, it was reliance on the Super Soldier Serum that clearly played a part in the instability of their Winter Soldiers (forcing them to be put on ice), whereas [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels save Natasha]], the Red Room leadership has managed to keep control of their Widows for the good part of at least three decades.
* TheSpartanWay: All girls abducted by the Red Room are subjected to TrainingFromHell and brainwashing techniques. 19 of every 20 girls do not survive the program. Those that survive are lethal, ruthless assassins.
* SpySchool: The Red Room was launched specifically to create the perfect spies on-behalf of the Soviet government, later creating spies for its own agenda after going rogue.
* WeAreEverywhere: [[spoiler:Dreykov tells Natasha that his network of Widows covers the whole world, and he can have them cause catastrophes anywhere from his tablet.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Leadership
[[folder:General Dreykov ('''Unmarked Spoilers''')]]
!!''General Dreykov''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e5576a7a_be5d_4287_8c6f_861a59f2e875.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"With you, an Avenger under my control, I can finally come out of the shadows using the only natural resource that the world has too much of: [[StrawMisogynist Girls.]]"'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/RayWinstone
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
-> ''"These world leaders, these great men, they answer to me and my Widows."''
An ex-Soviet general who now controls the Red Room to serve his own personal agenda.
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* AbusiveParents: He sees himself as a father figure to all the girls selected for the Black Widow program, whom he orders abused and forced into training TheSpartanWay so that only one in every 20 girls survives to be ReforgedIntoAMinion. He controlled Natasha and others of her generation through psychological manipulation, and in later cases uses chemical and surgical means that rob them of their free will. He even has the “widows” subjected to involuntary hysterectomies so they'll have no way to have children of their own, further tightening his control over them. And that's '''without''' discussing what he did to his actual daughter...
* AmbitionIsEvil: Dreykov's crimes are all motivated by his insatiable desire for more power, because he's such a control freak that he'll settle for nothing less than the total domination of everyone else.
* ArchEnemy: The closest Natasha has to one. He was responsible for kidnapping her as a child, killing her biological mother when she got too close to her, brainwashed her into becoming an assassin and breaking up her "family" when S.H.I.E.L.D. closed in on them.
* AssholeVictim: Given everything he has done, his "girls" including Taskmaster, his own daughter, don't mourn him the slightest bit.
* BaddieFlattery: He can't help but be impressed when he sees a young Natasha Romanoff grab a gun and threaten to kill his henchmen to protect her "sister".
-->'''General Dreykov:''' That one, she has fire in her.
* BerserkButton: Don't call him weak. Don't laugh at him. Don't tell him to stop.
* BigBad: Of ''Black Widow''. He's the past and present handler of the Red Room, which also gives him a personal connection to the heroes.
* BigBadWannabe: His personal cowardice and attempts to come off as a threat to the whole world seem pathetic, especially when his stated agenda of ruling it by acts of terror seems small-scale and repetitive in comparison to previous villains. Notably, it's pointed out that all of his plans are doomed because of his lack of foresight; the real problem is the damage he does trying to accomplish them.
* TheBully: His character boiled down to the nuts and bolts is a man who picks on and abuses those he knows can’t fight back against him and when the tables are turned and someone does land a blow on him he’s shown to be a sniveling coward.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: He doesn't remember Natasha's real mother's name. When pressed, all he can recall is the location they buried her, with a makeshift headstone marked "Unknown".
* CanonForeigner: He's a CompositeCharacter of the ''many'' Red Room heads from the comics, and as such doesn't have a direct analogue to any specific character. Subsequently, the "Dreykov" name and identity is a completely original concept from the MCU.
* CompositeCharacter: He shares attributes of various Red Room handlers and other KGB stereotyped characters from the comics. The pheromones that prevents Widows from attacking him notably brings to mind Vassily Ilyich Ulyanov, who led the North Institute that targeted the Widows and utilized a similar tactic in a perfume form.
* ControlFreak: In the extreme. For example, everyone he's talked to for the past few decades has been physically incapable of refusing his orders.
* CreateYourOwnHero: He is the one who took Natasha from her biological family and turn her into his Black Widow. Eventually, Natasha defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. and fought back against Dreykov. When she finds out he survived, Natasha is bent on finishing the job.
* CreativeSterility: Brainwashing his daughter into being Taskmaster is just a copy of HYDRA's Winter Soldier program, which only just further proves how pathetic he truly is as a schemer.
* DiabolicalMastermind: Dreykov used to work for the USSR, but by the time of ''Black Widow'' he seems entirely out for himself, commanding a vast network of stormtroopers and brainwashed assassins that he dreams of using to control the world from the shadows. He even has a SupervillainLair and fancy office.
* DirtyCoward: He only acts like a big man when he knows those he antagonizes can't fight back. Once the illusion of being untouchable is broken, he's left crawling on the floor holding his hands up trying to protect himself.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Possibly. Alexei says Dreykov may have had him imprisoned just for asking repeatedly to be the Red Guardian again, or wanting to reform the Communist Party, or even for making a snarky comment about Dreykov's hair. Even this is just speculation.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: {{Downplayed|Trope}} if not {{subverted|Trope}}. He actually seems furious about what the attempt on his life did to Antonia. It's literally his ''only'' glimmer of basic empathy in the whole film. Even then, it's completely undercut by the fact that he mind-controlled said daughter into Taskmaster, and even left her to die when the Red Room was exploding.
* EvilFormerFriend: He ''used'' to be on good terms with Alexei, until he decided to rat him out to Russian authorities for whatever reason.
* EvilIsHammy: He gloats, he taunts, and overall is very unrestrained to show he wants to make his presence felt and feared.
* EvilIsPetty: When Natasha demands to know her mother's name, he strings her along as though he's trying to remember the name before saying her gravestone read "Name Unknown".
* EvilOldFolks: He seems to be at least in his 60s, and he's certainly a nasty piece of work.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He has Ray Winstone's gravelly voice and is a truly vile person.
* FakingTheDead: Natasha tells Yelena that she and Clint killed Dreykov in Budapest, but they NeverFoundTheBody. Sure enough, Dreykov survived.
* FatBastard: He's noticeably overweight, and definitely a bastard.
* FauxAffablyEvil: When he and Natasha come face-to-face, he acts cordial to her, though he drops that facade when he [[LackOfEmpathy gleefully]] talks about her biological mother's death at his hands.
* FormerRegimePersonnel: Following the fall of the Soviet Union, he has made himself an influential figure in world affairs regardless of ideology, thus making deals with powerful figures like Putin, Clinton or Condoleeza Rice.
* ForTheEvulz: He doesn't really have any clear motivation for his crimes except to change the world the way he sees fit.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: He runs an army of brainwashed child assassins and wears a pair of horn-rimmed glasses that prominently fly off when he's killed.
* HateSink: He lacks any redeeming qualities whatsoever and is solely portrayed to invite revulsion from the audience. He lacks the charm or sympathetic qualities of previous villains, instead just being a pathetic, despicable man who constantly abuses others so he can feel big.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He claims to have given the Widows a purpose in life because the world treated them like "trash". This is the same man who shows a willingness to kill Widows if they're too injured to continue their missions or fail to meet his standards in training. And given Natasha's mother tried to find her, it's entirely possible some of those girls were abducted and have family still looking for them.
* InsaneAdmiral: He's a high-ranking officer in the Russian Military, and he's a cruel and sadistic sociopath who has no remorse about brainwashing countless young girls to turn them into unfeeling weapons, including his own daughter.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He only cares about being in control of everything.
* {{Jerkass}}: Dreykov is an arrogant, misogynistic, cowardly, sociopathic wretch who only cares about himself and consistently exploits and abuses everyone around him, even those close to him.
* KarmicDeath: Years after escaping from the explosion Natasha had previously set for him, which had also permanently disfigured his daughter, Dreykov is KilledOffForReal in another explosion, this time caused by Yelena.
* KickTheDog: Dreykov is a ''puppy-kicking machine.''
** He imprisons Alexei for over thirty years, letting him rot in a HellholePrison for what could easily be no reason. The fact that Alexei himself has no idea why and Dreykov never even contacted him is what elevates this. Keep in mind, ''Alexei was a close friend and one of his best agents.'' Who knows what he'd do to an enemy...
** He mocks Natasha about her mother's murder (heavily implied by his own hand) and refuses to divulge any information to her, even though it's clear all she really wants is closure. It's unclear if he actually didn't know anything about her or if he's just twisting the knife, but he's still a slimy prick regardless.
** Despite professing to care about her, his treatment of his daughter is appalling and he ultimately leaves her to die in the Red Room without a second thought.
* LackOfEmpathy: He has feelings toward no one but himself, not even his own daughter.
* LastNameBasis: We never learn his first name. In fact, we only know that Dreykov is his last name thanks to his daughter also having it.
* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: It bears repeating: when he and his daughter survived an assassination attempt (which left the girl mutilated), the little girl was ReforgedIntoAMinion. Pretty stone-cold pragmatic and utilitarian for the leader of the Red Room, but undeniably disgusting for a father to ever consider doing.
* MonsterOfTheAesop: In this case representing parental abuse, violence against women (in various forms) and government corruption.
* {{Mundanger}}: What puts him apart from the other MCU villains. While the other villains are gods, superpowered people, super soldiers and crapshoot A.Is, all Dreykov is is a misogynistic old man who just so happened to control a training regiment.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Natasha believed that she had killed Dreykov in an explosion, as the final step in her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D. Yelena points out that Natasha never searched for his body, to which Natasha responds that there wouldn't have been a body left behind to search for. As it turns out, Dreykov and his daughter survived.
* NonActionBigBad: He's an old man, with no real combat ability. This actually works against the good guys, as a key aspect of the heroes' plan is him hitting Natasha hard enough to disable her olfactory nerve, and he's ultimately too weak to do so.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: It has been pointed out by more than one fan on Twitter that Dreykov bears quite a resemblance to disgraced film producer [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]], particularly in light of the exploitation and domination of women they have in common.
* OnlyOneName: Dreykov is his surname. We never learn his first name.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He has loads of mind-controlled female soldiers, dismissing the "girls" he has kidnapped and mind-controlled as just a resource. It's possible he was just twisting the knife, but given the human trafficking and abuse motifs running through the film, it's pretty obvious he actually meant it.
* PragmaticVillainy: Forgoes any attempt at revenge against Natasha because he knows that the only way to carry out any large scale supervillainy on Earth is to stay away from the Avengers' radar.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Because Natasha did not see his body, she assumed Dreykov has been dead for more than 10 years until Yelene reveals that he is still alive. The fact that he is able to stay under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar that long is impressive.
* ResolvedNoodleIncident: Dreykov was first referenced in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', where Loki mentions an incident involving Natasha and his daughter. In ''Black Widow'', he is the film's BigBad and his daughter's fate is further fleshed out.
* SmugSnake: Natasha points out that for all his boasting he's ultimately forced to hide in the shadows in fear and he has no real end goal for his ambitions. His fury at her taunts proves they struck home.
* TheSociopath: He treats the Widows like tools to be discarded if they don't live up to his standards or cease to be useful. He outright compares girls to a natural resource. He manipulates people through brainwashing, from mundane methods to outright mind control. He arranged for Alexei, his long time friend and collaborator, to be thrown in prison for reasons only known to Dreykov himself, in spite of everything he'd done for him. He shows explosive anger when mocked. Even his daughter is eventually used as a tool and turned into Taskmaster. Despite seeming to care, he allows her to die when the Red Room is falling. Natasha makes a point of identifying his sociopathy, and even she, who specialises in getting inside the heads of very bad people, seems appalled by the degree to which he just ''doesn’t'' care.
* SpotTheImposter: He easily manages to figure out that Melina Vostokoff is in fact Natasha Romanoff wearing a Nano Mask.
* TheSpymaster: One of the darkest the MCU has shown so far. He has mind-controlled women placed all over the world, who he has ordered trained from childhood to be assassins, and he makes sure they have no "distractions" from his missions by sterilizing them.
* StrawMisogynist: What else do you call someone who claims the one thing the world has too much of is girls?
* SuddenlyShouting: He's always soft-spoken, but does scream his head off when his BerserkButton gets pushed.
-->'''Dreykov:''' DON'T! TELL ME! TO STOP!
* {{Troll}}: He edges into this when he has the advantage, such as allowing Natasha within shooting distance of him before using his pheromones to stop her, and suggesting she use a knife just so he can block that, too.
* UnexplainedRecovery: It's never made clear how he managed to survive the explosion of his building in Budapest.
* UngratefulBastard: He had Alexei Shoskatov, his friend and a longtime collaborator, imprisoned for life after everything he'd done for him. Alexei doesn't even know ''why''!
* UnseenNoMore: Dreykov was first mentioned in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' by Loki, but he didn't actually appear in the film. He finally makes a full-fledged appearance in '''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He's seen as a respected advisor and political figure. The opening montage shows him meeting with various heads of state such as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and Condoleezza Rice, showing he's had a major influence on world affairs.
* WalkingSpoiler: The marketing did a rather solid job hiding the fact that he's the film's main villain.
* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: The man can barely throw a punch. Luckily for him, he has an army of Widows and the Taskmaster at his disposal.
* WouldHitAGirl: Although he is usually a NonActionBigBad, he repeatedly punches Natasha when she starts to disrespect him.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Any Widow who fails training, is too injured to continue or is freed from mind control is killed on his orders. Sometimes he even forces Widows to commit suicide through his control system.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After ordering the Widows to kill Natasha, he leaves them behind to die in the exploding Red Room, not intending to come back for them nor '''his own daughter'''. He can always "make more".
* YouKilledMyMother: He had Natasha's biological mother executed for trying too hard to find her daughter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Madame B.]]
!!''Madame B.''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madame_b_mcu.png]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/JulieDelpy
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] As an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]]
A past head of the Red Room, the secret organization who trained Black Widow to become the assassin she is today.
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* AffablyEvil: Speaks in a soft, European accent... which makes her scene all the more creepy.
* BadBoss: Let's just say she isn't going to win any "Children's Caretaker of the Year" awards.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Does not appear nor even get mentioned in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* EvilMentor: Served in this role to Natasha Romanoff during her training in the Red Room.
* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: She doesn't appear in any of the advertising with the exception of the second trailer, in which she is the hand slamming Natasha onto the operating table.
[[/folder]]
!!Black Widows
!!!1930s recruits
[[folder:Dottie Underwood]]
!!''"Dorothy "Dottie" Underwood" / Ida Emke / ComicBook/BlackWidow''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dottieunderwood.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I used to be so jealous of girls like you. I would have done anything to walk like you, to talk like you. But now I can be anybody I want."'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BridgetRegan, Veronika Bonell (young)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
Orphaned at a young age in Russia, "Dottie" was enlisted by Leviathan and trained as part of the secret Black Widow program. The smartest, strongest and most resilient in her class, she's a trained assassin, ballerina and sleeper agent stationed in New York. She becomes Dr. Ivchenko's most trusted weapon and Agent Carter's most deadly adversary.
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* AmbiguouslyBi: While she doesn't have an explicit romance with anyone, she does get flirty with her enemies at times, including Howard Stark, Jack Thompson, Jason Wilkes, Jarvis, and Peggy Carter. She has a romantic night with Howard, but that was probably more for her mission than any romance. Also, she is an assassin with various methods on how to kill or knock a person out without much if any evidence, yet she chooses to kiss Peggy with her knockout lipstick. The way she sneaks around Peggy's room could be described as StalkerWithoutACrush or even StalkerWithACrush depending on how you look at it. Vernon even points out she clings to Peggy being her only ally at this point when she is captured.
* {{Archenemy}}: Peggy's most recurring enemy, and the one she feels most responsible for handling.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Dottie has inadvertently rescued Peggy from unfortunate ends twice. The first time she murdered Krzeminski and Zandow just as they were piecing together that Peggy was a double agent. The second time Dottie killed Mr. Mink before he broke into Peggy's room.
* TheBaroness: For Leviathan, especially in flashbacks to World War II, where she's seen in leather gear and happily executing men for her commanding officer.
* BoxedCrook: Her role in the second half of Season 2, when Peggy requires her services to get her hands on some Zero Matter.
* BraidsOfAction: She sported two when she was a child, during her Black Widow training.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Black Widow training program evidently left her '''highly''' unstable.
* CanonForeigner: While she shares similarities to comic-based Black Widows such as Natalia Romanova and Yelena Belova, Dottie herself was created specifically for the show.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: The show's creators have stated that, while Dottie is technically a Black Widow, she's never explicitly referred to as such in the show. However, a commercial for the fifth episode calls the organization that created her "the Black Widow program."
* CountryMouse: As part of her cover, she claims to be a small-town girl from Iowa and acts like it when around the other girls.
* CreepyBlueEyes: She tends to stare straight forward, unblinking and intense. Her eyes get even creepier when she's not putting up an act, frequently staring in ways that don't suggest much sanity behind them.
* CuteAndPsycho: In her Dottie persona, she comes across as a sweet, bubbly and over-enthusiastic ditz. Even after her real identity is revealed, she has the air of an excited child about her, albeit in a terrifying way.
* DarkActionGirl: She's revealed to be one when she kills Mr. Mink; she wall-jumps right onto Mink, killing him and taking his gun with great ease. From there on, she frequently proves herself to be a formidable physical threat.
* DeepCoverAgent: She's so effective SSR takes a while to discover her. Given how the training methods worked, shades of ManchurianAgent might be included.
* DeviousDaggers: Is shown to wield a small knife both during WWII to slice the throat of a man refusing to cooperate with Leviathan, and when she attempts to kill Peggy after having knocked her out.
* TheDragon: She serves as Doctor Fennhoff's right-hand woman, doing most of the dirty work for Leviathan while the good doctor works behind the scenes.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: She dyed her hair into brunette to imitate Peggy's in Season 2, and her skin looks slightly paler than usual.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: After she ditches the Dottie persona once and for all by making an attempt on Peggy's life, she switches to pinning up her hair and wearing a nice-looking suit. She even gets [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7d5939d3bc3db84fac1b7180e193d5bc.jpg her own]] hat to further emphasize her status as Peggy's villainous {{Foil}}.
* EvilCounterpart: For Peggy, with both of them being secret agents, as well as skilled fighters. They use other people's underestimations of their skill to their advantage; Peggy does this by using her coworkers' sexist assumptions about her abilities while Dottie does this by ObfuscatingStupidity and acting like a ditzy CountryMouse. They are capable of imitating UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents when undercover and are OnlyKnownByTheirNickname. However, their fighting styles are radically different, with Dottie relying on SheFu acrobatics, whereas Peggy relies on her fists, [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]], and brute force. Additionally, Peggy chose to become a secret agent, while Dottie was {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a ChildSoldier at a young age by her Russian trainers.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Overlapped with EvilCostumeSwitch, she has changed hairstyle once she ditched "Dottie" persona, from feminine-looking long curly hair to pinned up hair.
* FakeAmerican: In-universe - she's actually Russian. More specifically, a Soviet agent.
* FakeGuestStar: Debuts in the third episode and is in every episode from then on (six total, the same number as Angie).
* FakePregnancy: At one point, she pretends to be expecting so she can buy a baby carriage to gas a theater with.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Dottie's friendliness might have you fooled initially, but the more you see of her, the clearer it becomes that it's really just an act.
* FemmeFatale: Invoked. Black Widows are designed to slip past a target's defenses by appearing to be a harmless child or a sexy lady. Before the show's begun, "Dottie's" already done the act on Howard Stark and does so again later on a perverted dentist.
* GlassCannon: She can hit hard and fast, but can't take the same level of punishment as Peggy. Justified as she has the thin physique of a ballerina, and was trained for infiltration and assassinations, not to have the stamina of a soldier.
* HiddenVillain: When she kills Kreminski and Zandow in "Time and Tide", the dark night and shadows keep her identity from being revealed.
* HoneyTrap: Served as one to lure Howard Stark into revealing his secrets.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Dottie is a psychopathic assassin and spy trained since childhood, who murders on a whim and is one of the most dangerous people in the series, if not the world. And she is ''terrified'' of Whitney Frost and what she can do with Zero Matter. All it takes is Whitney using her powers on her, and Dottie breaks.
* IHaveManyNames: Has two identities that we know of - the one she used as Howard's fling ("Ida Emkey"), and the one she used as Peggy's neighbor ("Dottie Underwood"). Since it's doubtful that either of these is her real name, she probably has at least one more.
* IJustWantToBeYou: Dottie displays a disturbing obsession towards Peggy's personal life and appearance, even pretending to be her in front of a mirror. In Season 2, she even dyes her hair and dresses exactly like Peggy.
* KickTheMoralityPet: In the flashback, young Dottie shares some bread with a girl bunking next to her. In the next scene, they're forced to fight, and when Dottie wins she's ''ordered'' to snap the poor girl's neck.
* LegacyCharacter: She's the 40s' Black Widow, and the flashback to her training reveals she's not the first. There may well have been hundreds of undercover Black Widows through the 20th century.
* MeaningfulName:
** "Dotty" is an older slang term for someone who's mentally unbalanced. Dottie Underwood's definitely not playing with a full deck of cards.
** "Underwood" is likely a reference to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwood_Typewriter_Company Underwood Typewriter Company]]. Her associates are seen communicating using special typewriters with transmitters.
* MurderousThighs: How she kills [[BigBadWannabe Otto Mink]] while he's trying to break into Peggy's apartment.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Knocked through a window onto the wing of a plane, but apparently survived the fall in good enough condition to get up and escape within a matter of minutes.
* NotSoAboveItAll: She seems genuinely offended that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Howard doesn't remember her]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Whenever she's in the company of the other residents of The Griffith, she acts like TheDitz, but underneath it all, she’s a lethal assassin.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: To date, she's only known by her alias "Dottie" and her true name has yet to be revealed.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Whitney Frost's danger level is conveyed quite effectively by how Dottie is completely terrified of her.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: Dottie’s behavior when she drops her adorable and wide-eyed CountryMouse persona screams of this.
** When she sees a toy she likes, she'll murder you for it and then play with it like a little kid… while your body rots under her bed. Just ask Mr. Mink.
-->'''Dottie''': Is that pistol an automatic? ''I want that.''
** After successfully acquiring the intel she was looking for in Peggy’s room, she sits in front of Peggy’s mirror and starts playing make-believe.
--->'''Dottie:''' ''[in front of the mirror, in an English accent]'' Hello, [[IJustWantToBeYou I'm Peggy Carter.]]
** She can only sleep at night if she ''handcuffs'' herself to her bed, having been conditioned to do it ever since her handlers would chain her to sleep as a kid.
** What she says right before she kills a dentist by [[EyeScream putting his own drill through his eye]]:
--->'''Dottie:''' I've never used one of ''these'' before. ''Open wide.''
* RogueAgent: She's forced to become one in Season 2 after being burned by Leviathan, and decides to go into the private sector.
* SamusIsAGirl: Her first onscreen assassination hides her appearance. It's not until the 6th episode that Peggy deduces the "Hidden Killer" was a woman.
* ScarsAreForever: Dottie has scars on her right wrist from being handcuffed to a bed since she was 9. Justified, though, as it's something she keeps doing each night.
* SheFu: Her fighting style is quite acrobatic, in contrast to Peggy's, which sticks to solid punches and kicks.
* ShoutOut: Her name, her country background, and naivety are homages to Dorothy from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
* StatuesqueStunner: In addition to being very beautiful, she's the tallest woman on the show.
* SweepsWeekLesbianKiss: She kissed Peggy, though without any romantic feeling whatsoever. Instead, it's just a way to [[KissOfDeath knock her unconscious]].
* TearsOfFear: Even she can't keep herself from this when Whitney sends Zero Matter through her body.
* TooKinkyToTorture:
** Her usual response to someone threatening her with torture is a condescending smile and mockery. She even tells Vernon Masters that she's pulled out her own teeth and burned herself with a ''blowtorch''.
** Subverted with Whitney. Dottie is in so much pain that she ''cries.'' Justified, as exposure to the agony of Zero Matter was something the Red Room could never train her for.
* TragicVillain: Despite her deceit and bloodthirstiness, Dottie's been brainwashed since childhood to think that way, and was even forced to kill the only person she showed genuine kindness to.
* TrainingFromHell: Courtesy of her Russian trainers. At the age of maybe nine, she killed a fellow trainee the same age and with whom she shared stolen bread, probably her only friend. It's the same training that Natasha Romanoff, the future Black Widow, received.
* {{Tykebomb}}: She's a grown-up child assassin from a program designed to produce child assassins.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: According to Bridget Regan, this is what Dottie was thinking when she saw a photograph of scrawny Steve Rogers in Peggy's room.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The last we hear of her in Season 2 is when she escapes the back of the car Peggy and Jarvis had put her in while transporting Ana to the hospital. At the end of the series, she's still at large.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: She does one against Carter in "A Sin to Err", pretending to be an innocent bystander while nearly caught by the SSR when she attempted to kill Peggy.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Come Season 2, she's been burned by Leviathan due after the disaster with Dr. Fennhoff. The Soviet Government refuses to confirm her existence when SSR attempts a prisoner trade, and Peggy correctly deduces she can't return to the Soviet Union for fear of being executed.
* YouFightLikeACow: Towards the end of her fight with Carter, Dottie taunts her in this manner.
-->'''Dottie:''' I thought you'd be better.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anya]]
!!''Anya''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anya_7.jpg]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Caitlin Carmichael
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
One of the girls trained as assassins in the Red Room Academy during the [[TheGreatDepression 1930s]]. She befriended a young "Dottie Underwood".
----
* {{Brainwashed}}: She and other girls in Red Room are fed subliminal messages with their language training, and are kept malnourished along with being chained to their beds.
* ChildSoldier: She was an assassin in-training in Red Room.
* FightingYourFriend: She sparred against her friend, Dottie, who was ordered to kill her after she lost the sparring match.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Subverted, Dottie at least still has a dream involving her, although it's never explicitly shown whether Dottie still remembers her or not.
* OnlyFriend: She appeared to be one for young Dottie; or Dottie was this for her.
* MoralityPet: Possibly for Dottie, who shared bread with her. Killing her may also drove Dottie to lose innocence and sense of humanity, caused her to be a ruthless assassin she is in her adulthood.
* NeckSnap: During fighting class, Anya sparred against Dottie. The headmistress watched their battle. During the battle, Dottie got the upper hand and had Anya in a headlock. When the headmistress nodded her head, Dottie snapped her neck, killing Anya instantly.
* PosthumousCharacter: She already died in 1937, long before the main story.
[[/folder]]
!!!1940s recruits
[[folder:Eva]]
!!''Eva''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eva_jpg.jpg]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Chiara Aurelia
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
A girl trained as an assassin in the Red Room Academy.
----
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Black Widow training program caused her to be rather unhinged. She wasn't entirely focused while Dum Dum Dugan was trying to talk to her until she suddenly attacked him with a knife.
* ChildSoldier: She's trained in Red Room Academy to be an assassin. She even helped adult Leviathan soldiers during the shootout with a sniper rifle that she used to kill Agent Mike Li and injure Happy Sam Sawyer.
* ColdSniper: She used [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin-Nagant Mosin-Nagant M91/30 Sniper]], a Russian SniperRifle, to ambush Peggy's team when they were engaged in a shootout against Leviathan soldiers. With precision, Eva shot two times before escaping, one to kill Mike Li and another one to injure Happy Sam Sawyer in the leg.
* CreepyChild: Even before she's revealed to be a child assassin, she's not entirely stable.
* DarkActionGirl: She's a child who's trained to be an assassin.
* EnfantTerrible: She looks like an adorable little girl, but she also doesn't hesitate to kill people due to the brainwashing.
* TheFakeCutie: SSR and Howling Commandos found her while she was seemingly crying. They thought she was a hostage and offer help. While they're distracted by her rather mentally-unbalanced attitude, she suddenly attacked them and killed one of them, Junior Juniper.
* HeroKiller: She killed one Howling Commando, Junior Juniper, and one SSR operative, Mike Li.
* LittleMissBadass: Not only managed to kill one of the Howling Commandos, but she also managed to escape their capture with a swift movement.
* MindControlEyes: ''Very'' subtle, but her eyes look rather empty in a few shots due to the brainwashing. Just look at her picture for an example.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. She shares her first name with another Russian antagonist from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Eva Belyakov.
* WeaponOfChoice: She hid a knife and used it to stab Dugan, who thankfully wore a bulletproof vest.
[[/folder]]
!!!Modern recruits
[[folder:Taskmaster '''(Unmarked Spoilers)''']]
!!''Antonia Dreykov / ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a7967ff9_3992_4032_bd80_9e035c242954.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Is he gone?"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her unmasked]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_widow_taskmaster_unmasked.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human (cybernetically enhanced)
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/OlgaKurylenko, Andy Lister (in suit), Ryan Kiera Armstrong (young)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
General Dreykov's daughter and an elite operative of the Red Room who possesses a photo-reflexive memory, allowing her to mimic any skill or fighting style with pinpoint accuracy after seeing it only once. Serves as her father's ultimate weapon, and is only deployed against very dangerous targets.
----
* AdaptationDeviation: This incarnation of Taskmaster shares ''very little'' with the Taskmaster of the source material. Everything from MCU Taskmaster's name, origin, personality, motivations, and gender has been completely overhauled. Even her infamous ability to copy fighting styles is mechanically different from how it functions in the comics.
** AdaptationNameChange: The Taskmaster of the comics is an American man named Anthony "Tony" Masters. In the MCU, she's a Russian woman named An'''toni'''a Dreykov.
** AdaptationPersonalityChange: Taskmaster in the comics is a brash DeadpanSnarker who likes to chat with his opponents, and holds a strict JustBusiness view of his missions. Here, she's TheQuietOne and is purely mission-focused due to brainwashing.
** AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
** AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
** AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
** AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
* AllYourPowersCombined: Taskmaster is able to reproduce the abilities of all the Avengers whose abilities don't come from true superpowers or very exotic tech. This means that fighting Taskmaster is like fighting a combination of Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Panther (the Taskmaster suit has a bow, a shield, and claws, though not vibranium).
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Her fighting skills surpass even those of Natasha, whom she dominates during each of their fights. She also manages to overpower the SuperSoldier Red Guardian without too much trouble.
* AmbiguousGender: Taskmaster's costume covers her whole body and she doesn't speak, giving no hints of her gender. The promotional material for the film is no help, as it deliberately avoids listing Taskmaster's actor. In the third act, it's revealed that [[SamusIsAGirl this version of Taskmaster is a woman]].
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Taskmaster's signature "power" is that she's able to use her photographic memory to replicate the fighting style of anyone she's observed, which at the time that ''Black Widow'' is set in, appears to be '''at least''' everyone present for [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar the airport battle]]. Moves she copies include:
** Black Widow's flip.
** Hawkeye's archery.
** Captain America's shield-throwing, including his characteristic pick-up.
** Black Panther's claws and acrobatics.
** The Winter Soldier's knife skills, including the knife flip he did in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.
** Spider-Man's acrobatics, kicks, and landing.
** Iron Man's pose while in the air.
* BagOfHolding: Compared to the comics version, who is a WalkingArmory, Taskmaster's weapons are collapsible and are stored in her backpack.
* BeautyInversion: She's played by Creator/OlgaKurylenko with burns and mismatched eyes.
* BizarreAndImprobableBallistics: Taskmaster's shield manages to follow Natasha and Yelena down an escalator in a way that's ridiculous even by Captain America's standards, especially since it's not explicitly stated to be made out of AppliedPhlebotinum like vibranium.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: After subduing Red Guardian, she deploys a retractable knife blade from her gauntlet to finish him off.
* BladeBrake: She does this at the end of the film to slow down her fall from the Red Room Academy. On a falling debris, no less.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Like the Widows, Antonia is completely under Dreykov's control until she's freed at the end of the climax of ''Black Widow''.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Antonia Dreykov survived Natasha blowing up the building and grows up to be Taskmaster.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: Dreykov does mention the Taskmaster protocol early on, but aside from that, the mysterious enforcer is barely called by any name ([[TheQuietOne not that Taskmaster's giving anyone much to work with in that regard]]). Natasha does call Antonia by her real name after she finds out, though.
* CompositeCharacter: She has aspects of various characters and ironically, very little of her own comic version:
** She has the codename and "power" of comics Taskmaster though with a heavy dose of DoingInTheWizard.
** Her status as the silent, cyborg assassin with personal connection to the heroes immediately bring to mind the Winter Soldier. InUniverse, the mind control tech forced on her was partially derived from the Winter Soldier program.
** Her other status as the abused child chemically mind-controlled by her own father into being TheDragon is word for word what happened to Jason Stryker from ''Film/X2XMenUnited''. Bonus point for both being unintentional cases of CreateYourOwnVillain, their fathers abandoned them the moment they outlived their usefulness and their last words express fear towards their fathers.
** Her "power" itself which is an onboard AI analyzes her opponent's moves before deploying countermeasure was lifted directly from Iron Man's tech from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''.
** She also shares a few backstory elements with Recluse, in that she is the daughter of the leader of the Red Room with a personal connection to Natasha since childhood.
* CoolHelmet: A full head helmet that keeps her entire head obscured, along with a scarf obscuring her neck, [[AmbiguousGender further disguising her gender]].
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Subverted. It appears at first that her robotic behavior is because of her cybernetic implants, but it's actually from the mental conditioning and mind control she has undergone.
* DaddysLittleVillain: She is [[BigBad Dreykov]]'s daughter and she acts as his most dangerous assassin, albeit unwillingly.
* DeviousDaggers: She brandishes a combat knife for close-quarters combat. Several of the moves she uses with it are copied from the Winter Soldier.
* DistaffCounterpart: To the Winter Soldier. Both are injured humans who were rebuilt using cybernetic components and brainwashed into being the unquestioning and efficient Dragon for a shadowy spymaster. She's revealed to be an InUniverse example, as it's directly stated that the limbic system reprogramming technology used to create Taskmaster was stolen from the Winter Soldier project.
* DittoFighter: A rare non-video game example due to her abilities, much like her comics counterpart. She is shown mimicking the fighting styles of Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye, among other people.
* TheDragon: She serves as her father's topmost enforcer, assuming command of the Black Widow army during particularly dangerous missions.
* DragonTheirFeet: Even after her father is incinerated, Taskmaster continues to hunt down Natasha until she's finally freed from her brainwashing.
* DramaticUnmask: Taskmaster finally gets unmasked in the final act, revealing herself to be the NotQuiteDead daughter of General Dreykov.
* EmptyShell: After Antonia ended up being in a building blown up by Natasha, her father used the fact she had physical and mental damage to erase her personality to turn her into an ultimate soldier, someone both heavily skilled and fully compliant to orders.
* TheFaceless: In promotional material for ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' like the trailers, Taskmaster's real face is never shown. Then again, [[WalkingSpoiler that would ruin the story]].
* FacialHorror: The explosion in Budapest severely disfigured her face, so much so that even her own father finds it difficult to look at her.
* FinalBoss: Since her father is a NonActionBigBad, Taskmaster is Natasha's opponent for the climax as she and Yelena escape the crashing Red Room.
* GenderFlip: Taskmaster is a man named Tony Masters in the comics, while this version of the character is Dreykov's daughter, Antonia.
* TheHeavy: Since her father, General Dreykov, is a NonActionBigBad due to his advanced age and lack of combat prowess, Taskmaster serves as his enforcer in the field who provides a direct physical threat to the heroes.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Inverted. Taskmaster's sword is the only tool in her arsenal that isn't directly lifted from an existing hero. ([[TheArtifact In the comics, it was copied from a hero called Swordsman.]])
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: When Antonia is locked in a Red Room cell, Natasha tries to reach out to her. It doesn't work.
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:''' It’s okay, it’s okay. I know you’re still in there. And I’m not gonna leave you, okay.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: By studying Hawkeye, Taskmaster can fire an arrow as well as him.
* InTheHood: It just wouldn't be Taskmaster without the signature hood.
* InvincibleVillain: Taskmaster never actually loses a fight, or even takes significant damage. Throughout the entirety of ''Black Widow'', the only thing the protagonists can really do is run from her or slow her down. She's eventually 'defeated' by removing the brainwashing, but this in itself only convinces her to stand down.
* LightningBruiser: Due to her cybernetic enhancements, Antonia is fast, strong, and tough enough to keep on fighting dangerous adversaries such as Natasha and Alexei without becoming exhausted.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Taskmaster uses a bulletproof metal targe to block incoming gunfire, even using it as a projectile to attack at a distance. It's obvious she copied this from Captain America, even using a lot of his motions and movements.
* MalevolentMaskedMan: She wears a mask during most of the film and she's a deadly assassin. Though, to be fair, she's not willingly malevolent.
* MasterSwordsman: She's very proficient with a sword, as shown during both her first fight and her last fight against Natasha.
* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: Her suit is mostly dark blue, contrasting with the white cloak that Taskmaster wears in the comics, and the skull iconography in her helmet is downplayed.
* MysteriousMercenaryPursuer: For most of the movie, we know virtually nothing about Taskmaster other than being an assassin sent by Dreykov after Yelena and Natasha. Her past, motives, name, face, voice and even gender are all shrouded in mystery until finally being revealed late in the film.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: She doesn't play around during her missions, not even wasting time gloating or talking to the opponents she fights.
* TheQuietOne: Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Taskmaster is treated as a general utility villain in the comics -- he debuted in the ''Avengers'', and has menaced a great number of heroes for a paycheck. Not only has he gone against the Avengers numerous times, but individually he's fought prominent members like Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, as well as other heroes such as Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Daredevil, Deadpool and various members of the X-Men like Wolverine, X-23, Daken, [[LongList etc]]. One of the notable characters he ''hasn't'' really fought against is Natasha Romanoff, whom she is TheHeavy to in ''Black Widow''. Ironically, the ''Taskmaster'' comic book launched at the end of 2020 depicts Natasha as a HeroAntagonist hunting him down, where it's established that Tasky is ''scared shitless'' of her and deliberately avoids situations that would put him in her crosshairs, as he considers her one of the most dangerous people in the world.
* SamusIsAGirl: Taskmaster's AmbiguousGender armor masks the fact that this version of the character is Antonia Dreykov.
* ShieldBash: Just like Captain America, she often uses her shield to strike her opponents. She notably does this to Red Guardian during their fight.
* SilentAntagonist: She spends most of the movie chasing the protagonists to kill them and she never says a single word, at least not before being freed from her brainwashing.
* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: Her mask looks like a stylized skull.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: While chasing Natasha and Yelena in Budapest, she brandishes a high-tech longbow and launches an explosive {{Trick Arrow}}s at them, which hones in on their car and detonates underneath. This move was obviously lifted directly from Hawkeye.
* SuperiorSuccessor: She seems to be a next level take on the Black Widows, possessing physical and mental abilities that surpass them (and most humans in general), all the while having less personal autonomy than his other brainwashed operatives.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Antonia bears many similarities to Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier: both are long thought to be dead figures from the heroes' past, who now serve as BrainwashedAndCrazy [[TheDragon Dragons]] before getting freed by the end of the movie.
* SympatheticSentientWeapon: The poor Antonia was forced by her own father to become his "greatest weapon" against her will.
* ThousandYardStare: When unmasked, Antonia is always sporting a blank, distant stare, signifying how she's an EmptyShell who's totally under Dreykov's control.
* ThreePointLanding: She does this during her fight against Red Guardian, mimicking Natasha's habit of doing it.
* ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks: Taskmaster has Captain America's fighting skills and a similar shield, which she is able to throw just as well.
* ThrowTheDogABone: After her life effectively ended following the explosion that almost killed her and her father subsequently turning her into his minion, she is finally freed of Dreykov's control, with the chance to start anew and even help other girls like her who are still under the control of the Red Room.
* TrickArrow: Much like Hawkeye, she occasionally uses explosive arrows.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Raised as a killing machine by her father after Natasha's failed attempt to kill them both.
* UngratefulBastard: Justified. She still tries to kill Natasha even after she released her from the cell she was locked in, but that's only because she was brainwashed and thus not in total control of her action. Once Natasha frees her from the brainwashing, she no longer wants to hurt her and is very much grateful.
* UnseenNoMore: "Dreykov's daughter" was mentioned by Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' as one of Black Widow's victims, but she didn't actually appear in the film. However, she finally makes a full-fledged appearance in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* UsedToBeASweetChild: From what little is shown during Natasha's flashback, Antonia appeared to have been a normal girl when she was a child, in sharp contrast to the ruthless assassin she would eventually become.
* WalkingSpoiler: Her identity is kept secret for most of the film and is only revealed towards the end. The promotion even hid who was portraying Taskmaster up until release.
* WeaponTwirling: Similar to the Winter Soldier, she twirls her knife after drawing it during her fight against Red Guardian.
* WolverineClaws: She has a set of sharp claws in her gauntlets, which can be popped out and retracted at will. The motions she uses to activate them are clearly lifted from Black Panther.
* YouKilledMyFather: Averted. At first, Antonia seemingly wants to hunt Natasha down for being indirectly responsible for her father's death. But after she is liberated from her brainwashing, she is incredibly relieved that her father is gone for good.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Natasha Romanoff]]
->See the [[Characters/MCUBlackWidow Black Widow]] page.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yelena Belova]]
-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Melina Vostokoff]]
-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lerato]]
!!''Lerato''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Liani Samuel
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
One of Dreykov's Widows, and Taskmaster's caretaker.
----
* TheCaretaker: She is seen uploading orders and encouraging the Taskmaster to smile. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, she goes straight to Antonia and holds her hand.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Oksana]]
!!''Oksana''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Michelle Lee
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Widow from Melina's generation, working to free those under Dreykov's control.
----
* {{Deprogramming}}: She possessed an antidote serum that Widows from Dreykov's control. She uses it on Yelena to free her, and gives her a few more to free the others.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Despite being lethally wounded by Yelena, she manages to free Yelena from the effects of the subjugation chemicals with the potion before she bleeds out.
* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: After being stabbed by Yelena, Oksana frees her from the Black Widow conditioning; with her dying words, she pleads for Yelena to do the same for the remaining Widows.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite dying in the very scene we see her in (as well as mostly being present to establish Yelena's skill set), she was the one responsible for freeing her of her brainwashing. This sets the stage for Yelena to team up with Natasha and [[spoiler:their adoptive parents]] to bring down the Red Room once and for all.
* TakeUpMySword: Persuades Yelena to do this with her last breath.
--> '''Oksana:''' Free the others.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: She dies in her first scene.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ingrid]]
!!''Ingrid''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Nanna Blondell
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Widow from Melina's generation. She makes the call to release the Taskmaster when Yelena is broken free.
----
* AndIMustScream: The Red Room's brainwashing left her fully conscious but subservient to General Dreykov. She is terrified of the fact that he has activated her termination program, forcing her to kill herself.
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: Though she's clinging to Natasha's hand during the ride on the chimney, she tries to use her knife to cut Natasha, leading to her fall.
* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Dreykov forces her to shoot herself in the head.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Is forced to commit suicide after injuring herself (a broken leg) during a chase after Natasha and Yelena.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Helen]]
!!''Helen''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Chinese
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Jade Xu
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' | ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''
One of Dreykov's Widows.
----
* FightClubbing: Years after being freed of the Red Room's mind control, she becomes a fighter in the Golden Daggers Club.
* NoNameGiven: Like most of the Widows Natasha rescues. However, she gets a name in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0haAPw1gvo Shang-Chi]]''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ana]]
!!''Ana''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Annie Hamilton
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}''
A former Widow who was believed to be still under the influence of Dreykov in 2018 when Yelena reached her.
----
* HappilyMarried: She got married at some point during the five-year period between [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the Snap]] and [[Film/AvengersEndgame the Blip]]. When Yelena returns, Ana tells her how happy she is in her new life.
* NotBrainwashed: Yelena breaks into her house to free her from the chemical control but Ana had not been under the influence for some time prior.
* ProfessionalKiller: She made her living this way for years. It's how she was able to afford her house and a $20,000 rug.
* UnwantedAssistance: Yelena douses her with the red powder antidote, not knowing she's no longer under the influence of Dreykov, so she's just annoyed by it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sonya]]
!!''Sonya''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Yssa Mei Panganiban
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}''
A former Widow who assisted Yelena with freeing field Black Widows from the Dreykov chemical influencing agent.
----
[[/folder]]
----
----
!!''Spoilers for all works set prior to Film/SpiderManNoWayHome are unmarked.''
[[foldercontrol]]
----
!The Red Room
[[folder:In General]]
!!''The Red Room''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_widow_550x295.png]]
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter'' | ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] In an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]] | ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Soviet program designed to indoctrinate young girls into trained assassins--each agent being granted the title of "Black Widow". It was originally under the control of a Soviet organization called "Leviathan", with its origins dating at least as far back as the late 1930s. In modern times, it came under the leadership of Soviet General Dreykov, and following the fall of the Soviet Union, the program (and its agents) was transformed into his personal system of provocateurs, assassins and intelligence network, devoted to increasing his influence on the global stage.
----
* AmazonBrigade: The purpose of the Red Room is to make an army of all-female spies and soldiers. In ''Black Widow'', they provide armies of punchable henchwomen to fight, though in most other incarnations agents act alone.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Those who go through the program are conditioned into killers. Modern widows are controlled through subjugative chemicals instead of psychological conditioning.
* ColdSniper: Widows are trained snipers capable of killing targets from afar.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Both incarnations beat this mindset into the Widows. For example, the original generation of children were forced to sleep with one hand chained to their bed every night, with at least one adult Widow carrying on this tradition even when out in the field.
* ConservationOfNinjutsu: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Whenever we see an individual Black Widow in action (be it Natasha, Yelena, Melina, or Dottie), we see them as OneManArmy-level fighters, capable of neutralizing/defeating multiple opponents at once. When it's an entire unit of them fighting a lesser number of targets, the results tend to be mixed.
** When they pursued Natasha and Yelena, the latter two still survive and give them enough trouble.
** Natasha's fight with the whole unit after Dreykov sicked them on her eventually went south for her, with her only surviving being pummeled because Dreykov ordered them to make Natasha suffer first, and then Yelena managed to de-brainwash the whole lot of them in the nick of time.
* EqualOpportunityEvil: Girls from all over the world were kidnapped to fill the ranks of this organization. Dreykov doesn't care about their ethnicity or where they come from because he sees all of them as equally disposable and replaceable.
* EveryScarHasAStory: The first generation of Widows all sport a single scar all the way around their wright wrists, a remnant of their childhoods when they were each forced to sleep with one hand chained to their beds. This practice was evidently discontinued in later generations, as modern Widows do not have these scars.
* EvilVersusEvil: Organizes a mission to steal research from a S.H.I.E.L.D. cell that is actually one of HYDRA's secret cells within S.H.I.E.L.D..
* FormerRegimePersonnel: Originally the Red Room was part of the Russian KGB, under the banner of the Leviathan group, training girls to be part of the Soviet intelligence network. By the time of ''Black Widow'', however, the Red Room is completely detached from Russia and is not directly in service to any world government, instead being an independent global mercenary operation. Presumably when Dreykov came into power, since he runs it to follow his own agenda rather than for any loyalty to his home country.
* GunKata: Seen in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' (image above) where the widows are practicing techniques with guns. The widows are trained in a mix of ballet and martial arts along with gun play.
* HiredGuns[=/=]ProfessionalKiller: Judging by Clint Barton's less-than-surprised reaction to [[spoiler:learning that a Black Widow was hired to carry out a hit on him]], as well as Yelena Belova's own reaction to learning that an ex-Widow's luxurious apartment was paid for by a career as one of these, it is clear that [[spoiler:after the fall of the Red Room]], mercenary, assassin, and saboteur work is an exceedingly common career path for ex-Widows.
* MirrorCharacter: To [[Characters/{{MCUHYDRA}} HYDRA]]. Both are {{Sinister Spy Agenc|y}}ies that are frequently antagonized by S.H.I.E.L.D. and were created by their respective governments (Nazi Germany for HYDRA in its current form, Soviet Russia for the Red Room) as a means of developing strategic advantages before [[FormerRegimePersonnel going rogue]]. Both worked to create super soldiers (Wanda and the Winter Soldier with HYDRA, Red Guardian, the Black Widows and Taskmaster for the Red Room) who would go on to work against their interests as superheroes. Both have developed an advanced, [[WeAreEverywhere seemingly unstoppable network of agents]] used to control the world from the shadows, only to be undone when all of their secrets are leaked and their leadership killed (both ironically by Natasha).
* ProtectionRacket: [[spoiler:The gist of how the post-Soviet Red Room operates; Dreykov gets what he asks for from a given country, or he sends in some Widows to cause some carnage.]]
* QualityOverQuantity: A subversion: when specifically compared to the Winter Soldier program of HYDRA, they seem to take the quantity side. For their part, the Red Room has arguably more success. After all, it was reliance on the Super Soldier Serum that clearly played a part in the instability of their Winter Soldiers (forcing them to be put on ice), whereas [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels save Natasha]], the Red Room leadership has managed to keep control of their Widows for the good part of at least three decades.
* TheSpartanWay: All girls abducted by the Red Room are subjected to TrainingFromHell and brainwashing techniques. 19 of every 20 girls do not survive the program. Those that survive are lethal, ruthless assassins.
* SpySchool: The Red Room was launched specifically to create the perfect spies on-behalf of the Soviet government, later creating spies for its own agenda after going rogue.
* WeAreEverywhere: [[spoiler:Dreykov tells Natasha that his network of Widows covers the whole world, and he can have them cause catastrophes anywhere from his tablet.]]
[[/folder]]
!!Leadership
[[folder:General Dreykov ('''Unmarked Spoilers''')]]
!!''General Dreykov''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e5576a7a_be5d_4287_8c6f_861a59f2e875.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"With you, an Avenger under my control, I can finally come out of the shadows using the only natural resource that the world has too much of: [[StrawMisogynist Girls.]]"'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/RayWinstone
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
-> ''"These world leaders, these great men, they answer to me and my Widows."''
An ex-Soviet general who now controls the Red Room to serve his own personal agenda.
----
* AbusiveParents: He sees himself as a father figure to all the girls selected for the Black Widow program, whom he orders abused and forced into training TheSpartanWay so that only one in every 20 girls survives to be ReforgedIntoAMinion. He controlled Natasha and others of her generation through psychological manipulation, and in later cases uses chemical and surgical means that rob them of their free will. He even has the “widows” subjected to involuntary hysterectomies so they'll have no way to have children of their own, further tightening his control over them. And that's '''without''' discussing what he did to his actual daughter...
* AmbitionIsEvil: Dreykov's crimes are all motivated by his insatiable desire for more power, because he's such a control freak that he'll settle for nothing less than the total domination of everyone else.
* ArchEnemy: The closest Natasha has to one. He was responsible for kidnapping her as a child, killing her biological mother when she got too close to her, brainwashed her into becoming an assassin and breaking up her "family" when S.H.I.E.L.D. closed in on them.
* AssholeVictim: Given everything he has done, his "girls" including Taskmaster, his own daughter, don't mourn him the slightest bit.
* BaddieFlattery: He can't help but be impressed when he sees a young Natasha Romanoff grab a gun and threaten to kill his henchmen to protect her "sister".
-->'''General Dreykov:''' That one, she has fire in her.
* BerserkButton: Don't call him weak. Don't laugh at him. Don't tell him to stop.
* BigBad: Of ''Black Widow''. He's the past and present handler of the Red Room, which also gives him a personal connection to the heroes.
* BigBadWannabe: His personal cowardice and attempts to come off as a threat to the whole world seem pathetic, especially when his stated agenda of ruling it by acts of terror seems small-scale and repetitive in comparison to previous villains. Notably, it's pointed out that all of his plans are doomed because of his lack of foresight; the real problem is the damage he does trying to accomplish them.
* TheBully: His character boiled down to the nuts and bolts is a man who picks on and abuses those he knows can’t fight back against him and when the tables are turned and someone does land a blow on him he’s shown to be a sniveling coward.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: He doesn't remember Natasha's real mother's name. When pressed, all he can recall is the location they buried her, with a makeshift headstone marked "Unknown".
* CanonForeigner: He's a CompositeCharacter of the ''many'' Red Room heads from the comics, and as such doesn't have a direct analogue to any specific character. Subsequently, the "Dreykov" name and identity is a completely original concept from the MCU.
* CompositeCharacter: He shares attributes of various Red Room handlers and other KGB stereotyped characters from the comics. The pheromones that prevents Widows from attacking him notably brings to mind Vassily Ilyich Ulyanov, who led the North Institute that targeted the Widows and utilized a similar tactic in a perfume form.
* ControlFreak: In the extreme. For example, everyone he's talked to for the past few decades has been physically incapable of refusing his orders.
* CreateYourOwnHero: He is the one who took Natasha from her biological family and turn her into his Black Widow. Eventually, Natasha defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. and fought back against Dreykov. When she finds out he survived, Natasha is bent on finishing the job.
* CreativeSterility: Brainwashing his daughter into being Taskmaster is just a copy of HYDRA's Winter Soldier program, which only just further proves how pathetic he truly is as a schemer.
* DiabolicalMastermind: Dreykov used to work for the USSR, but by the time of ''Black Widow'' he seems entirely out for himself, commanding a vast network of stormtroopers and brainwashed assassins that he dreams of using to control the world from the shadows. He even has a SupervillainLair and fancy office.
* DirtyCoward: He only acts like a big man when he knows those he antagonizes can't fight back. Once the illusion of being untouchable is broken, he's left crawling on the floor holding his hands up trying to protect himself.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Possibly. Alexei says Dreykov may have had him imprisoned just for asking repeatedly to be the Red Guardian again, or wanting to reform the Communist Party, or even for making a snarky comment about Dreykov's hair. Even this is just speculation.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: {{Downplayed|Trope}} if not {{subverted|Trope}}. He actually seems furious about what the attempt on his life did to Antonia. It's literally his ''only'' glimmer of basic empathy in the whole film. Even then, it's completely undercut by the fact that he mind-controlled said daughter into Taskmaster, and even left her to die when the Red Room was exploding.
* EvilFormerFriend: He ''used'' to be on good terms with Alexei, until he decided to rat him out to Russian authorities for whatever reason.
* EvilIsHammy: He gloats, he taunts, and overall is very unrestrained to show he wants to make his presence felt and feared.
* EvilIsPetty: When Natasha demands to know her mother's name, he strings her along as though he's trying to remember the name before saying her gravestone read "Name Unknown".
* EvilOldFolks: He seems to be at least in his 60s, and he's certainly a nasty piece of work.
* EvilSoundsDeep: He has Ray Winstone's gravelly voice and is a truly vile person.
* FakingTheDead: Natasha tells Yelena that she and Clint killed Dreykov in Budapest, but they NeverFoundTheBody. Sure enough, Dreykov survived.
* FatBastard: He's noticeably overweight, and definitely a bastard.
* FauxAffablyEvil: When he and Natasha come face-to-face, he acts cordial to her, though he drops that facade when he [[LackOfEmpathy gleefully]] talks about her biological mother's death at his hands.
* FormerRegimePersonnel: Following the fall of the Soviet Union, he has made himself an influential figure in world affairs regardless of ideology, thus making deals with powerful figures like Putin, Clinton or Condoleeza Rice.
* ForTheEvulz: He doesn't really have any clear motivation for his crimes except to change the world the way he sees fit.
* FourEyesZeroSoul: He runs an army of brainwashed child assassins and wears a pair of horn-rimmed glasses that prominently fly off when he's killed.
* HateSink: He lacks any redeeming qualities whatsoever and is solely portrayed to invite revulsion from the audience. He lacks the charm or sympathetic qualities of previous villains, instead just being a pathetic, despicable man who constantly abuses others so he can feel big.
* {{Hypocrite}}: He claims to have given the Widows a purpose in life because the world treated them like "trash". This is the same man who shows a willingness to kill Widows if they're too injured to continue their missions or fail to meet his standards in training. And given Natasha's mother tried to find her, it's entirely possible some of those girls were abducted and have family still looking for them.
* InsaneAdmiral: He's a high-ranking officer in the Russian Military, and he's a cruel and sadistic sociopath who has no remorse about brainwashing countless young girls to turn them into unfeeling weapons, including his own daughter.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He only cares about being in control of everything.
* {{Jerkass}}: Dreykov is an arrogant, misogynistic, cowardly, sociopathic wretch who only cares about himself and consistently exploits and abuses everyone around him, even those close to him.
* KarmicDeath: Years after escaping from the explosion Natasha had previously set for him, which had also permanently disfigured his daughter, Dreykov is KilledOffForReal in another explosion, this time caused by Yelena.
* KickTheDog: Dreykov is a ''puppy-kicking machine.''
** He imprisons Alexei for over thirty years, letting him rot in a HellholePrison for what could easily be no reason. The fact that Alexei himself has no idea why and Dreykov never even contacted him is what elevates this. Keep in mind, ''Alexei was a close friend and one of his best agents.'' Who knows what he'd do to an enemy...
** He mocks Natasha about her mother's murder (heavily implied by his own hand) and refuses to divulge any information to her, even though it's clear all she really wants is closure. It's unclear if he actually didn't know anything about her or if he's just twisting the knife, but he's still a slimy prick regardless.
** Despite professing to care about her, his treatment of his daughter is appalling and he ultimately leaves her to die in the Red Room without a second thought.
* LackOfEmpathy: He has feelings toward no one but himself, not even his own daughter.
* LastNameBasis: We never learn his first name. In fact, we only know that Dreykov is his last name thanks to his daughter also having it.
* LetNoCrisisGoToWaste: It bears repeating: when he and his daughter survived an assassination attempt (which left the girl mutilated), the little girl was ReforgedIntoAMinion. Pretty stone-cold pragmatic and utilitarian for the leader of the Red Room, but undeniably disgusting for a father to ever consider doing.
* MonsterOfTheAesop: In this case representing parental abuse, violence against women (in various forms) and government corruption.
* {{Mundanger}}: What puts him apart from the other MCU villains. While the other villains are gods, superpowered people, super soldiers and crapshoot A.Is, all Dreykov is is a misogynistic old man who just so happened to control a training regiment.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Natasha believed that she had killed Dreykov in an explosion, as the final step in her defection to S.H.I.E.L.D. Yelena points out that Natasha never searched for his body, to which Natasha responds that there wouldn't have been a body left behind to search for. As it turns out, Dreykov and his daughter survived.
* NonActionBigBad: He's an old man, with no real combat ability. This actually works against the good guys, as a key aspect of the heroes' plan is him hitting Natasha hard enough to disable her olfactory nerve, and he's ultimately too weak to do so.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: It has been pointed out by more than one fan on Twitter that Dreykov bears quite a resemblance to disgraced film producer [[Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany Harvey Weinstein]], particularly in light of the exploitation and domination of women they have in common.
* OnlyOneName: Dreykov is his surname. We never learn his first name.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He has loads of mind-controlled female soldiers, dismissing the "girls" he has kidnapped and mind-controlled as just a resource. It's possible he was just twisting the knife, but given the human trafficking and abuse motifs running through the film, it's pretty obvious he actually meant it.
* PragmaticVillainy: Forgoes any attempt at revenge against Natasha because he knows that the only way to carry out any large scale supervillainy on Earth is to stay away from the Avengers' radar.
* ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Because Natasha did not see his body, she assumed Dreykov has been dead for more than 10 years until Yelene reveals that he is still alive. The fact that he is able to stay under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar that long is impressive.
* ResolvedNoodleIncident: Dreykov was first referenced in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', where Loki mentions an incident involving Natasha and his daughter. In ''Black Widow'', he is the film's BigBad and his daughter's fate is further fleshed out.
* SmugSnake: Natasha points out that for all his boasting he's ultimately forced to hide in the shadows in fear and he has no real end goal for his ambitions. His fury at her taunts proves they struck home.
* TheSociopath: He treats the Widows like tools to be discarded if they don't live up to his standards or cease to be useful. He outright compares girls to a natural resource. He manipulates people through brainwashing, from mundane methods to outright mind control. He arranged for Alexei, his long time friend and collaborator, to be thrown in prison for reasons only known to Dreykov himself, in spite of everything he'd done for him. He shows explosive anger when mocked. Even his daughter is eventually used as a tool and turned into Taskmaster. Despite seeming to care, he allows her to die when the Red Room is falling. Natasha makes a point of identifying his sociopathy, and even she, who specialises in getting inside the heads of very bad people, seems appalled by the degree to which he just ''doesn’t'' care.
* SpotTheImposter: He easily manages to figure out that Melina Vostokoff is in fact Natasha Romanoff wearing a Nano Mask.
* TheSpymaster: One of the darkest the MCU has shown so far. He has mind-controlled women placed all over the world, who he has ordered trained from childhood to be assassins, and he makes sure they have no "distractions" from his missions by sterilizing them.
* StrawMisogynist: What else do you call someone who claims the one thing the world has too much of is girls?
* SuddenlyShouting: He's always soft-spoken, but does scream his head off when his BerserkButton gets pushed.
-->'''Dreykov:''' DON'T! TELL ME! TO STOP!
* {{Troll}}: He edges into this when he has the advantage, such as allowing Natasha within shooting distance of him before using his pheromones to stop her, and suggesting she use a knife just so he can block that, too.
* UnexplainedRecovery: It's never made clear how he managed to survive the explosion of his building in Budapest.
* UngratefulBastard: He had Alexei Shoskatov, his friend and a longtime collaborator, imprisoned for life after everything he'd done for him. Alexei doesn't even know ''why''!
* UnseenNoMore: Dreykov was first mentioned in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' by Loki, but he didn't actually appear in the film. He finally makes a full-fledged appearance in '''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He's seen as a respected advisor and political figure. The opening montage shows him meeting with various heads of state such as Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and Condoleezza Rice, showing he's had a major influence on world affairs.
* WalkingSpoiler: The marketing did a rather solid job hiding the fact that he's the film's main villain.
* WeakBossStrongUnderlings: The man can barely throw a punch. Luckily for him, he has an army of Widows and the Taskmaster at his disposal.
* WouldHitAGirl: Although he is usually a NonActionBigBad, he repeatedly punches Natasha when she starts to disrespect him.
* YouHaveFailedMe: Any Widow who fails training, is too injured to continue or is freed from mind control is killed on his orders. Sometimes he even forces Widows to commit suicide through his control system.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: After ordering the Widows to kill Natasha, he leaves them behind to die in the exploding Red Room, not intending to come back for them nor '''his own daughter'''. He can always "make more".
* YouKilledMyMother: He had Natasha's biological mother executed for trying too hard to find her daughter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Madame B.]]
!!''Madame B.''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/madame_b_mcu.png]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/JulieDelpy
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[note]] As an illusion made by Wanda [[/note]]
A past head of the Red Room, the secret organization who trained Black Widow to become the assassin she is today.
----
* AffablyEvil: Speaks in a soft, European accent... which makes her scene all the more creepy.
* BadBoss: Let's just say she isn't going to win any "Children's Caretaker of the Year" awards.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Does not appear nor even get mentioned in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* EvilMentor: Served in this role to Natasha Romanoff during her training in the Red Room.
* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: She doesn't appear in any of the advertising with the exception of the second trailer, in which she is the hand slamming Natasha onto the operating table.
[[/folder]]
!!Black Widows
!!!1930s recruits
[[folder:Dottie Underwood]]
!!''"Dorothy "Dottie" Underwood" / Ida Emke / ComicBook/BlackWidow''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dottieunderwood.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''"I used to be so jealous of girls like you. I would have done anything to walk like you, to talk like you. But now I can be anybody I want."'']]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/BridgetRegan, Veronika Bonell (young)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
Orphaned at a young age in Russia, "Dottie" was enlisted by Leviathan and trained as part of the secret Black Widow program. The smartest, strongest and most resilient in her class, she's a trained assassin, ballerina and sleeper agent stationed in New York. She becomes Dr. Ivchenko's most trusted weapon and Agent Carter's most deadly adversary.
----
* AmbiguouslyBi: While she doesn't have an explicit romance with anyone, she does get flirty with her enemies at times, including Howard Stark, Jack Thompson, Jason Wilkes, Jarvis, and Peggy Carter. She has a romantic night with Howard, but that was probably more for her mission than any romance. Also, she is an assassin with various methods on how to kill or knock a person out without much if any evidence, yet she chooses to kiss Peggy with her knockout lipstick. The way she sneaks around Peggy's room could be described as StalkerWithoutACrush or even StalkerWithACrush depending on how you look at it. Vernon even points out she clings to Peggy being her only ally at this point when she is captured.
* {{Archenemy}}: Peggy's most recurring enemy, and the one she feels most responsible for handling.
* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Dottie has inadvertently rescued Peggy from unfortunate ends twice. The first time she murdered Krzeminski and Zandow just as they were piecing together that Peggy was a double agent. The second time Dottie killed Mr. Mink before he broke into Peggy's room.
* TheBaroness: For Leviathan, especially in flashbacks to World War II, where she's seen in leather gear and happily executing men for her commanding officer.
* BoxedCrook: Her role in the second half of Season 2, when Peggy requires her services to get her hands on some Zero Matter.
* BraidsOfAction: She sported two when she was a child, during her Black Widow training.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Black Widow training program evidently left her '''highly''' unstable.
* CanonForeigner: While she shares similarities to comic-based Black Widows such as Natalia Romanova and Yelena Belova, Dottie herself was created specifically for the show.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: The show's creators have stated that, while Dottie is technically a Black Widow, she's never explicitly referred to as such in the show. However, a commercial for the fifth episode calls the organization that created her "the Black Widow program."
* CountryMouse: As part of her cover, she claims to be a small-town girl from Iowa and acts like it when around the other girls.
* CreepyBlueEyes: She tends to stare straight forward, unblinking and intense. Her eyes get even creepier when she's not putting up an act, frequently staring in ways that don't suggest much sanity behind them.
* CuteAndPsycho: In her Dottie persona, she comes across as a sweet, bubbly and over-enthusiastic ditz. Even after her real identity is revealed, she has the air of an excited child about her, albeit in a terrifying way.
* DarkActionGirl: She's revealed to be one when she kills Mr. Mink; she wall-jumps right onto Mink, killing him and taking his gun with great ease. From there on, she frequently proves herself to be a formidable physical threat.
* DeepCoverAgent: She's so effective SSR takes a while to discover her. Given how the training methods worked, shades of ManchurianAgent might be included.
* DeviousDaggers: Is shown to wield a small knife both during WWII to slice the throat of a man refusing to cooperate with Leviathan, and when she attempts to kill Peggy after having knocked her out.
* TheDragon: She serves as Doctor Fennhoff's right-hand woman, doing most of the dirty work for Leviathan while the good doctor works behind the scenes.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: She dyed her hair into brunette to imitate Peggy's in Season 2, and her skin looks slightly paler than usual.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: After she ditches the Dottie persona once and for all by making an attempt on Peggy's life, she switches to pinning up her hair and wearing a nice-looking suit. She even gets [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7d5939d3bc3db84fac1b7180e193d5bc.jpg her own]] hat to further emphasize her status as Peggy's villainous {{Foil}}.
* EvilCounterpart: For Peggy, with both of them being secret agents, as well as skilled fighters. They use other people's underestimations of their skill to their advantage; Peggy does this by using her coworkers' sexist assumptions about her abilities while Dottie does this by ObfuscatingStupidity and acting like a ditzy CountryMouse. They are capable of imitating UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents when undercover and are OnlyKnownByTheirNickname. However, their fighting styles are radically different, with Dottie relying on SheFu acrobatics, whereas Peggy relies on her fists, [[ImprovisedWeapon Improvised Weapons]], and brute force. Additionally, Peggy chose to become a secret agent, while Dottie was {{Brainwashed}} into becoming a ChildSoldier at a young age by her Russian trainers.
* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: Overlapped with EvilCostumeSwitch, she has changed hairstyle once she ditched "Dottie" persona, from feminine-looking long curly hair to pinned up hair.
* FakeAmerican: In-universe - she's actually Russian. More specifically, a Soviet agent.
* FakeGuestStar: Debuts in the third episode and is in every episode from then on (six total, the same number as Angie).
* FakePregnancy: At one point, she pretends to be expecting so she can buy a baby carriage to gas a theater with.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Dottie's friendliness might have you fooled initially, but the more you see of her, the clearer it becomes that it's really just an act.
* FemmeFatale: Invoked. Black Widows are designed to slip past a target's defenses by appearing to be a harmless child or a sexy lady. Before the show's begun, "Dottie's" already done the act on Howard Stark and does so again later on a perverted dentist.
* GlassCannon: She can hit hard and fast, but can't take the same level of punishment as Peggy. Justified as she has the thin physique of a ballerina, and was trained for infiltration and assassinations, not to have the stamina of a soldier.
* HiddenVillain: When she kills Kreminski and Zandow in "Time and Tide", the dark night and shadows keep her identity from being revealed.
* HoneyTrap: Served as one to lure Howard Stark into revealing his secrets.
* HorrifyingTheHorror: Dottie is a psychopathic assassin and spy trained since childhood, who murders on a whim and is one of the most dangerous people in the series, if not the world. And she is ''terrified'' of Whitney Frost and what she can do with Zero Matter. All it takes is Whitney using her powers on her, and Dottie breaks.
* IHaveManyNames: Has two identities that we know of - the one she used as Howard's fling ("Ida Emkey"), and the one she used as Peggy's neighbor ("Dottie Underwood"). Since it's doubtful that either of these is her real name, she probably has at least one more.
* IJustWantToBeYou: Dottie displays a disturbing obsession towards Peggy's personal life and appearance, even pretending to be her in front of a mirror. In Season 2, she even dyes her hair and dresses exactly like Peggy.
* KickTheMoralityPet: In the flashback, young Dottie shares some bread with a girl bunking next to her. In the next scene, they're forced to fight, and when Dottie wins she's ''ordered'' to snap the poor girl's neck.
* LegacyCharacter: She's the 40s' Black Widow, and the flashback to her training reveals she's not the first. There may well have been hundreds of undercover Black Widows through the 20th century.
* MeaningfulName:
** "Dotty" is an older slang term for someone who's mentally unbalanced. Dottie Underwood's definitely not playing with a full deck of cards.
** "Underwood" is likely a reference to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underwood_Typewriter_Company Underwood Typewriter Company]]. Her associates are seen communicating using special typewriters with transmitters.
* MurderousThighs: How she kills [[BigBadWannabe Otto Mink]] while he's trying to break into Peggy's apartment.
* NeverFoundTheBody: Knocked through a window onto the wing of a plane, but apparently survived the fall in good enough condition to get up and escape within a matter of minutes.
* NotSoAboveItAll: She seems genuinely offended that [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Howard doesn't remember her]].
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Whenever she's in the company of the other residents of The Griffith, she acts like TheDitz, but underneath it all, she’s a lethal assassin.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: To date, she's only known by her alias "Dottie" and her true name has yet to be revealed.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Whitney Frost's danger level is conveyed quite effectively by how Dottie is completely terrified of her.
* PsychopathicWomanchild: Dottie’s behavior when she drops her adorable and wide-eyed CountryMouse persona screams of this.
** When she sees a toy she likes, she'll murder you for it and then play with it like a little kid… while your body rots under her bed. Just ask Mr. Mink.
-->'''Dottie''': Is that pistol an automatic? ''I want that.''
** After successfully acquiring the intel she was looking for in Peggy’s room, she sits in front of Peggy’s mirror and starts playing make-believe.
--->'''Dottie:''' ''[in front of the mirror, in an English accent]'' Hello, [[IJustWantToBeYou I'm Peggy Carter.]]
** She can only sleep at night if she ''handcuffs'' herself to her bed, having been conditioned to do it ever since her handlers would chain her to sleep as a kid.
** What she says right before she kills a dentist by [[EyeScream putting his own drill through his eye]]:
--->'''Dottie:''' I've never used one of ''these'' before. ''Open wide.''
* RogueAgent: She's forced to become one in Season 2 after being burned by Leviathan, and decides to go into the private sector.
* SamusIsAGirl: Her first onscreen assassination hides her appearance. It's not until the 6th episode that Peggy deduces the "Hidden Killer" was a woman.
* ScarsAreForever: Dottie has scars on her right wrist from being handcuffed to a bed since she was 9. Justified, though, as it's something she keeps doing each night.
* SheFu: Her fighting style is quite acrobatic, in contrast to Peggy's, which sticks to solid punches and kicks.
* ShoutOut: Her name, her country background, and naivety are homages to Dorothy from ''Film/TheWizardOfOz''.
* StatuesqueStunner: In addition to being very beautiful, she's the tallest woman on the show.
* SweepsWeekLesbianKiss: She kissed Peggy, though without any romantic feeling whatsoever. Instead, it's just a way to [[KissOfDeath knock her unconscious]].
* TearsOfFear: Even she can't keep herself from this when Whitney sends Zero Matter through her body.
* TooKinkyToTorture:
** Her usual response to someone threatening her with torture is a condescending smile and mockery. She even tells Vernon Masters that she's pulled out her own teeth and burned herself with a ''blowtorch''.
** Subverted with Whitney. Dottie is in so much pain that she ''cries.'' Justified, as exposure to the agony of Zero Matter was something the Red Room could never train her for.
* TragicVillain: Despite her deceit and bloodthirstiness, Dottie's been brainwashed since childhood to think that way, and was even forced to kill the only person she showed genuine kindness to.
* TrainingFromHell: Courtesy of her Russian trainers. At the age of maybe nine, she killed a fellow trainee the same age and with whom she shared stolen bread, probably her only friend. It's the same training that Natasha Romanoff, the future Black Widow, received.
* {{Tykebomb}}: She's a grown-up child assassin from a program designed to produce child assassins.
* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: According to Bridget Regan, this is what Dottie was thinking when she saw a photograph of scrawny Steve Rogers in Peggy's room.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The last we hear of her in Season 2 is when she escapes the back of the car Peggy and Jarvis had put her in while transporting Ana to the hospital. At the end of the series, she's still at large.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: She does one against Carter in "A Sin to Err", pretending to be an innocent bystander while nearly caught by the SSR when she attempted to kill Peggy.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Come Season 2, she's been burned by Leviathan due after the disaster with Dr. Fennhoff. The Soviet Government refuses to confirm her existence when SSR attempts a prisoner trade, and Peggy correctly deduces she can't return to the Soviet Union for fear of being executed.
* YouFightLikeACow: Towards the end of her fight with Carter, Dottie taunts her in this manner.
-->'''Dottie:''' I thought you'd be better.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Anya]]
!!''Anya''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anya_7.jpg]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Caitlin Carmichael
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
One of the girls trained as assassins in the Red Room Academy during the [[TheGreatDepression 1930s]]. She befriended a young "Dottie Underwood".
----
* {{Brainwashed}}: She and other girls in Red Room are fed subliminal messages with their language training, and are kept malnourished along with being chained to their beds.
* ChildSoldier: She was an assassin in-training in Red Room.
* FightingYourFriend: She sparred against her friend, Dottie, who was ordered to kill her after she lost the sparring match.
* ForgottenFallenFriend: Subverted, Dottie at least still has a dream involving her, although it's never explicitly shown whether Dottie still remembers her or not.
* OnlyFriend: She appeared to be one for young Dottie; or Dottie was this for her.
* MoralityPet: Possibly for Dottie, who shared bread with her. Killing her may also drove Dottie to lose innocence and sense of humanity, caused her to be a ruthless assassin she is in her adulthood.
* NeckSnap: During fighting class, Anya sparred against Dottie. The headmistress watched their battle. During the battle, Dottie got the upper hand and had Anya in a headlock. When the headmistress nodded her head, Dottie snapped her neck, killing Anya instantly.
* PosthumousCharacter: She already died in 1937, long before the main story.
[[/folder]]
!!!1940s recruits
[[folder:Eva]]
!!''Eva''
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eva_jpg.jpg]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Chiara Aurelia
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/AgentCarter''
A girl trained as an assassin in the Red Room Academy.
----
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The Black Widow training program caused her to be rather unhinged. She wasn't entirely focused while Dum Dum Dugan was trying to talk to her until she suddenly attacked him with a knife.
* ChildSoldier: She's trained in Red Room Academy to be an assassin. She even helped adult Leviathan soldiers during the shootout with a sniper rifle that she used to kill Agent Mike Li and injure Happy Sam Sawyer.
* ColdSniper: She used [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin-Nagant Mosin-Nagant M91/30 Sniper]], a Russian SniperRifle, to ambush Peggy's team when they were engaged in a shootout against Leviathan soldiers. With precision, Eva shot two times before escaping, one to kill Mike Li and another one to injure Happy Sam Sawyer in the leg.
* CreepyChild: Even before she's revealed to be a child assassin, she's not entirely stable.
* DarkActionGirl: She's a child who's trained to be an assassin.
* EnfantTerrible: She looks like an adorable little girl, but she also doesn't hesitate to kill people due to the brainwashing.
* TheFakeCutie: SSR and Howling Commandos found her while she was seemingly crying. They thought she was a hostage and offer help. While they're distracted by her rather mentally-unbalanced attitude, she suddenly attacked them and killed one of them, Junior Juniper.
* HeroKiller: She killed one Howling Commando, Junior Juniper, and one SSR operative, Mike Li.
* LittleMissBadass: Not only managed to kill one of the Howling Commandos, but she also managed to escape their capture with a swift movement.
* MindControlEyes: ''Very'' subtle, but her eyes look rather empty in a few shots due to the brainwashing. Just look at her picture for an example.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted. She shares her first name with another Russian antagonist from ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', Eva Belyakov.
* WeaponOfChoice: She hid a knife and used it to stab Dugan, who thankfully wore a bulletproof vest.
[[/folder]]
!!!Modern recruits
[[folder:Taskmaster '''(Unmarked Spoilers)''']]
!!''Antonia Dreykov / ComicBook/{{Taskmaster}}''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a7967ff9_3992_4032_bd80_9e035c242954.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Is he gone?"'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see her unmasked]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/black_widow_taskmaster_unmasked.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
!!!'''Species:''' Human (cybernetically enhanced)
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Russian
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Creator/OlgaKurylenko, Andy Lister (in suit), Ryan Kiera Armstrong (young)
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
General Dreykov's daughter and an elite operative of the Red Room who possesses a photo-reflexive memory, allowing her to mimic any skill or fighting style with pinpoint accuracy after seeing it only once. Serves as her father's ultimate weapon, and is only deployed against very dangerous targets.
----
* AdaptationDeviation: This incarnation of Taskmaster shares ''very little'' with the Taskmaster of the source material. Everything from MCU Taskmaster's name, origin, personality, motivations, and gender has been completely overhauled. Even her infamous ability to copy fighting styles is mechanically different from how it functions in the comics.
** AdaptationNameChange: The Taskmaster of the comics is an American man named Anthony "Tony" Masters. In the MCU, she's a Russian woman named An'''toni'''a Dreykov.
** AdaptationPersonalityChange: Taskmaster in the comics is a brash DeadpanSnarker who likes to chat with his opponents, and holds a strict JustBusiness view of his missions. Here, she's TheQuietOne and is purely mission-focused due to brainwashing.
** AdaptationalNationality: In the comics, Taskmaster was an American agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. In the film, Taskmaster is a Russian woman who was brainwashed by her father Dreykov into becoming an obedient spy.
** AdaptationalSuperpowerChange: The film shows Taskmaster's copied skills coming from computer analysis through a [=HUD=]-enabled visor and an implanted chip, where in the comics, he received this power from a SuperSerum.
** AdaptationalSympathy: Tony Masters, alias Taskmaster, in the comics was a wisecracking mercenary with PhotographicMemory, having hired out his skills because he thought doing legitimate things with his powers would be boring--or at least that's what he believed, as in truth, he was an ex-SHIELD agent who has a severe case of IdentityAmnesia. In this film, [[GenderFlip Antonia Dreykov]], the daughter of the progenitor of the Black Widow program, was burned to a crisp and had a building dropped on her when Natasha used her as bait to get to her father. Dreykov rebuilt his daughter into Taskmaster and used his mind-controlling nanites to ensure complete and utter loyalty out of her, making her into a ruthless killing machine against her will.
** AdaptationalVillainy: The comic version never had anything to do with the Red Room, and though he's run training schools for henchmen, he wouldn't touch the Red Room because of how it treats kids, [[EveryoneHasStandards one of his few moral boundaries]]. Subverted, however, in the movie, when it's revealed Taskmaster is General Dreykov's brainwashed daughter, making her merely another victim of the Red Room.
* AllYourPowersCombined: Taskmaster is able to reproduce the abilities of all the Avengers whose abilities don't come from true superpowers or very exotic tech. This means that fighting Taskmaster is like fighting a combination of Black Widow, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Panther (the Taskmaster suit has a bow, a shield, and claws, though not vibranium).
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Her fighting skills surpass even those of Natasha, whom she dominates during each of their fights. She also manages to overpower the SuperSoldier Red Guardian without too much trouble.
* AmbiguousGender: Taskmaster's costume covers her whole body and she doesn't speak, giving no hints of her gender. The promotional material for the film is no help, as it deliberately avoids listing Taskmaster's actor. In the third act, it's revealed that [[SamusIsAGirl this version of Taskmaster is a woman]].
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Taskmaster's signature "power" is that she's able to use her photographic memory to replicate the fighting style of anyone she's observed, which at the time that ''Black Widow'' is set in, appears to be '''at least''' everyone present for [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar the airport battle]]. Moves she copies include:
** Black Widow's flip.
** Hawkeye's archery.
** Captain America's shield-throwing, including his characteristic pick-up.
** Black Panther's claws and acrobatics.
** The Winter Soldier's knife skills, including the knife flip he did in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''.
** Spider-Man's acrobatics, kicks, and landing.
** Iron Man's pose while in the air.
* BagOfHolding: Compared to the comics version, who is a WalkingArmory, Taskmaster's weapons are collapsible and are stored in her backpack.
* BeautyInversion: She's played by Creator/OlgaKurylenko with burns and mismatched eyes.
* BizarreAndImprobableBallistics: Taskmaster's shield manages to follow Natasha and Yelena down an escalator in a way that's ridiculous even by Captain America's standards, especially since it's not explicitly stated to be made out of AppliedPhlebotinum like vibranium.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: After subduing Red Guardian, she deploys a retractable knife blade from her gauntlet to finish him off.
* BladeBrake: She does this at the end of the film to slow down her fall from the Red Room Academy. On a falling debris, no less.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Like the Widows, Antonia is completely under Dreykov's control until she's freed at the end of the climax of ''Black Widow''.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Antonia Dreykov survived Natasha blowing up the building and grows up to be Taskmaster.
* ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames: Dreykov does mention the Taskmaster protocol early on, but aside from that, the mysterious enforcer is barely called by any name ([[TheQuietOne not that Taskmaster's giving anyone much to work with in that regard]]). Natasha does call Antonia by her real name after she finds out, though.
* CompositeCharacter: She has aspects of various characters and ironically, very little of her own comic version:
** She has the codename and "power" of comics Taskmaster though with a heavy dose of DoingInTheWizard.
** Her status as the silent, cyborg assassin with personal connection to the heroes immediately bring to mind the Winter Soldier. InUniverse, the mind control tech forced on her was partially derived from the Winter Soldier program.
** Her other status as the abused child chemically mind-controlled by her own father into being TheDragon is word for word what happened to Jason Stryker from ''Film/X2XMenUnited''. Bonus point for both being unintentional cases of CreateYourOwnVillain, their fathers abandoned them the moment they outlived their usefulness and their last words express fear towards their fathers.
** Her "power" itself which is an onboard AI analyzes her opponent's moves before deploying countermeasure was lifted directly from Iron Man's tech from ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''.
** She also shares a few backstory elements with Recluse, in that she is the daughter of the leader of the Red Room with a personal connection to Natasha since childhood.
* CoolHelmet: A full head helmet that keeps her entire head obscured, along with a scarf obscuring her neck, [[AmbiguousGender further disguising her gender]].
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Subverted. It appears at first that her robotic behavior is because of her cybernetic implants, but it's actually from the mental conditioning and mind control she has undergone.
* DaddysLittleVillain: She is [[BigBad Dreykov]]'s daughter and she acts as his most dangerous assassin, albeit unwillingly.
* DeviousDaggers: She brandishes a combat knife for close-quarters combat. Several of the moves she uses with it are copied from the Winter Soldier.
* DistaffCounterpart: To the Winter Soldier. Both are injured humans who were rebuilt using cybernetic components and brainwashed into being the unquestioning and efficient Dragon for a shadowy spymaster. She's revealed to be an InUniverse example, as it's directly stated that the limbic system reprogramming technology used to create Taskmaster was stolen from the Winter Soldier project.
* DittoFighter: A rare non-video game example due to her abilities, much like her comics counterpart. She is shown mimicking the fighting styles of Captain America, Black Panther, and Hawkeye, among other people.
* TheDragon: She serves as her father's topmost enforcer, assuming command of the Black Widow army during particularly dangerous missions.
* DragonTheirFeet: Even after her father is incinerated, Taskmaster continues to hunt down Natasha until she's finally freed from her brainwashing.
* DramaticUnmask: Taskmaster finally gets unmasked in the final act, revealing herself to be the NotQuiteDead daughter of General Dreykov.
* EmptyShell: After Antonia ended up being in a building blown up by Natasha, her father used the fact she had physical and mental damage to erase her personality to turn her into an ultimate soldier, someone both heavily skilled and fully compliant to orders.
* TheFaceless: In promotional material for ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' like the trailers, Taskmaster's real face is never shown. Then again, [[WalkingSpoiler that would ruin the story]].
* FacialHorror: The explosion in Budapest severely disfigured her face, so much so that even her own father finds it difficult to look at her.
* FinalBoss: Since her father is a NonActionBigBad, Taskmaster is Natasha's opponent for the climax as she and Yelena escape the crashing Red Room.
* GenderFlip: Taskmaster is a man named Tony Masters in the comics, while this version of the character is Dreykov's daughter, Antonia.
* TheHeavy: Since her father, General Dreykov, is a NonActionBigBad due to his advanced age and lack of combat prowess, Taskmaster serves as his enforcer in the field who provides a direct physical threat to the heroes.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Inverted. Taskmaster's sword is the only tool in her arsenal that isn't directly lifted from an existing hero. ([[TheArtifact In the comics, it was copied from a hero called Swordsman.]])
* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: When Antonia is locked in a Red Room cell, Natasha tries to reach out to her. It doesn't work.
-->'''Natasha Romanoff:''' It’s okay, it’s okay. I know you’re still in there. And I’m not gonna leave you, okay.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: By studying Hawkeye, Taskmaster can fire an arrow as well as him.
* InTheHood: It just wouldn't be Taskmaster without the signature hood.
* InvincibleVillain: Taskmaster never actually loses a fight, or even takes significant damage. Throughout the entirety of ''Black Widow'', the only thing the protagonists can really do is run from her or slow her down. She's eventually 'defeated' by removing the brainwashing, but this in itself only convinces her to stand down.
* LightningBruiser: Due to her cybernetic enhancements, Antonia is fast, strong, and tough enough to keep on fighting dangerous adversaries such as Natasha and Alexei without becoming exhausted.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Taskmaster uses a bulletproof metal targe to block incoming gunfire, even using it as a projectile to attack at a distance. It's obvious she copied this from Captain America, even using a lot of his motions and movements.
* MalevolentMaskedMan: She wears a mask during most of the film and she's a deadly assassin. Though, to be fair, she's not willingly malevolent.
* MasterSwordsman: She's very proficient with a sword, as shown during both her first fight and her last fight against Natasha.
* MovieSuperheroesWearBlack: Her suit is mostly dark blue, contrasting with the white cloak that Taskmaster wears in the comics, and the skull iconography in her helmet is downplayed.
* MysteriousMercenaryPursuer: For most of the movie, we know virtually nothing about Taskmaster other than being an assassin sent by Dreykov after Yelena and Natasha. Her past, motives, name, face, voice and even gender are all shrouded in mystery until finally being revealed late in the film.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: She doesn't play around during her missions, not even wasting time gloating or talking to the opponents she fights.
* TheQuietOne: Taskmaster doesn't talk until the very end of the movie, and has a body language [[EmotionlessGirl seldom betraying major emotions]] (except when temporarily locked into a cell in the Red Room complex, showing anger and desperation to get out). Even when she takes her helmet off, her face is fixed into a blank, traumatized stare. It's heavily implied this is a consequence of her father's brainwashing.
* RoguesGalleryTransplant: Taskmaster is treated as a general utility villain in the comics -- he debuted in the ''Avengers'', and has menaced a great number of heroes for a paycheck. Not only has he gone against the Avengers numerous times, but individually he's fought prominent members like Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Ant-Man, as well as other heroes such as Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Daredevil, Deadpool and various members of the X-Men like Wolverine, X-23, Daken, [[LongList etc]]. One of the notable characters he ''hasn't'' really fought against is Natasha Romanoff, whom she is TheHeavy to in ''Black Widow''. Ironically, the ''Taskmaster'' comic book launched at the end of 2020 depicts Natasha as a HeroAntagonist hunting him down, where it's established that Tasky is ''scared shitless'' of her and deliberately avoids situations that would put him in her crosshairs, as he considers her one of the most dangerous people in the world.
* SamusIsAGirl: Taskmaster's AmbiguousGender armor masks the fact that this version of the character is Antonia Dreykov.
* ShieldBash: Just like Captain America, she often uses her shield to strike her opponents. She notably does this to Red Guardian during their fight.
* SilentAntagonist: She spends most of the movie chasing the protagonists to kill them and she never says a single word, at least not before being freed from her brainwashing.
* SkeletonsInTheCoatCloset: Her mask looks like a stylized skull.
* TheStraightAndArrowPath: While chasing Natasha and Yelena in Budapest, she brandishes a high-tech longbow and launches an explosive {{Trick Arrow}}s at them, which hones in on their car and detonates underneath. This move was obviously lifted directly from Hawkeye.
* SuperiorSuccessor: She seems to be a next level take on the Black Widows, possessing physical and mental abilities that surpass them (and most humans in general), all the while having less personal autonomy than his other brainwashed operatives.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Antonia bears many similarities to Bucky Barnes as the Winter Soldier: both are long thought to be dead figures from the heroes' past, who now serve as BrainwashedAndCrazy [[TheDragon Dragons]] before getting freed by the end of the movie.
* SympatheticSentientWeapon: The poor Antonia was forced by her own father to become his "greatest weapon" against her will.
* ThousandYardStare: When unmasked, Antonia is always sporting a blank, distant stare, signifying how she's an EmptyShell who's totally under Dreykov's control.
* ThreePointLanding: She does this during her fight against Red Guardian, mimicking Natasha's habit of doing it.
* ThrowingYourShieldAlwaysWorks: Taskmaster has Captain America's fighting skills and a similar shield, which she is able to throw just as well.
* ThrowTheDogABone: After her life effectively ended following the explosion that almost killed her and her father subsequently turning her into his minion, she is finally freed of Dreykov's control, with the chance to start anew and even help other girls like her who are still under the control of the Red Room.
* TrickArrow: Much like Hawkeye, she occasionally uses explosive arrows.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Raised as a killing machine by her father after Natasha's failed attempt to kill them both.
* UngratefulBastard: Justified. She still tries to kill Natasha even after she released her from the cell she was locked in, but that's only because she was brainwashed and thus not in total control of her action. Once Natasha frees her from the brainwashing, she no longer wants to hurt her and is very much grateful.
* UnseenNoMore: "Dreykov's daughter" was mentioned by Loki in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' as one of Black Widow's victims, but she didn't actually appear in the film. However, she finally makes a full-fledged appearance in ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''.
* UsedToBeASweetChild: From what little is shown during Natasha's flashback, Antonia appeared to have been a normal girl when she was a child, in sharp contrast to the ruthless assassin she would eventually become.
* WalkingSpoiler: Her identity is kept secret for most of the film and is only revealed towards the end. The promotion even hid who was portraying Taskmaster up until release.
* WeaponTwirling: Similar to the Winter Soldier, she twirls her knife after drawing it during her fight against Red Guardian.
* WolverineClaws: She has a set of sharp claws in her gauntlets, which can be popped out and retracted at will. The motions she uses to activate them are clearly lifted from Black Panther.
* YouKilledMyFather: Averted. At first, Antonia seemingly wants to hunt Natasha down for being indirectly responsible for her father's death. But after she is liberated from her brainwashing, she is incredibly relieved that her father is gone for good.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Natasha Romanoff]]
->See the [[Characters/MCUBlackWidow Black Widow]] page.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yelena Belova]]
-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Melina Vostokoff]]
-> See [[Characters/MCUAvengersAllies Natasha Romanoff's Allies]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lerato]]
!!''Lerato''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Liani Samuel
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
One of Dreykov's Widows, and Taskmaster's caretaker.
----
* TheCaretaker: She is seen uploading orders and encouraging the Taskmaster to smile. [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, she goes straight to Antonia and holds her hand.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Oksana]]
!!''Oksana''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Michelle Lee
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Widow from Melina's generation, working to free those under Dreykov's control.
----
* {{Deprogramming}}: She possessed an antidote serum that Widows from Dreykov's control. She uses it on Yelena to free her, and gives her a few more to free the others.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: Despite being lethally wounded by Yelena, she manages to free Yelena from the effects of the subjugation chemicals with the potion before she bleeds out.
* ImDyingPleaseTakeMyMacGuffin: After being stabbed by Yelena, Oksana frees her from the Black Widow conditioning; with her dying words, she pleads for Yelena to do the same for the remaining Widows.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Despite dying in the very scene we see her in (as well as mostly being present to establish Yelena's skill set), she was the one responsible for freeing her of her brainwashing. This sets the stage for Yelena to team up with Natasha and [[spoiler:their adoptive parents]] to bring down the Red Room once and for all.
* TakeUpMySword: Persuades Yelena to do this with her last breath.
--> '''Oksana:''' Free the others.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: She dies in her first scene.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ingrid]]
!!''Ingrid''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Nanna Blondell
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}''
A Widow from Melina's generation. She makes the call to release the Taskmaster when Yelena is broken free.
----
* AndIMustScream: The Red Room's brainwashing left her fully conscious but subservient to General Dreykov. She is terrified of the fact that he has activated her termination program, forcing her to kill herself.
* HoistByHerOwnPetard: Though she's clinging to Natasha's hand during the ride on the chimney, she tries to use her knife to cut Natasha, leading to her fall.
* PsychicAssistedSuicide: Dreykov forces her to shoot herself in the head.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Is forced to commit suicide after injuring herself (a broken leg) during a chase after Natasha and Yelena.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Helen]]
!!''Helen''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' Chinese
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Jade Xu
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'' | ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings''
One of Dreykov's Widows.
----
* FightClubbing: Years after being freed of the Red Room's mind control, she becomes a fighter in the Golden Daggers Club.
* NoNameGiven: Like most of the Widows Natasha rescues. However, she gets a name in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0haAPw1gvo Shang-Chi]]''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ana]]
!!''Ana''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Annie Hamilton
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}''
A former Widow who was believed to be still under the influence of Dreykov in 2018 when Yelena reached her.
----
* HappilyMarried: She got married at some point during the five-year period between [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar the Snap]] and [[Film/AvengersEndgame the Blip]]. When Yelena returns, Ana tells her how happy she is in her new life.
* NotBrainwashed: Yelena breaks into her house to free her from the chemical control but Ana had not been under the influence for some time prior.
* ProfessionalKiller: She made her living this way for years. It's how she was able to afford her house and a $20,000 rug.
* UnwantedAssistance: Yelena douses her with the red powder antidote, not knowing she's no longer under the influence of Dreykov, so she's just annoyed by it.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sonya]]
!!''Sonya''
!!!'''Species:''' Human
!!!'''Citizenship:''' American
!!!'''Portrayed By:''' Yssa Mei Panganiban
!!!'''Appearances:''' ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}''
A former Widow who assisted Yelena with freeing field Black Widows from the Dreykov chemical influencing agent.
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[[/folder]]
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