Agent Sharon Carter / Agent 13
"Captain, I'm Agent 13 of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Special Service."
Known Aliases: "Kate"
Species: Human
Citizenship: American, Madripoorian
Affiliation(s): S.H.I.E.L.D. (formerly), CIA
Portrayed By: Emily VanCampForeign voice actors
Appearances: Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Captain America: Civil War | The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
"Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, 'No, you move.'"
A former S.H.I.E.L.D. operative, who pretended to be a nurse living next door to Steve but was secretly assigned by Nick Fury to protect him. Later, she is a reluctant part of Pierce's surveillance team, tracking the whereabouts of Captain America.
After S.H.I.E.L.D. collapsed, she becomes a CIA officer, where after the Blip, she would once again cross paths with Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes, albeit under much more dangerous circumstances.
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- 13 Is Unlucky: Sharon is known to S.H.I.E.L.D. as "Agent 13", and her entire life falls apart after assisting Captain America in Civil War, becoming a fugitive from the U.S government in the process. Ultimately downplayed in that her bad luck causes her to become the Power Broker and gain complete control over Madripoor, and she eventually gets reinstated as part of the CIA anyways, allowing her to gain access to government secrets and weapons to sell on the black market.
- Action Girl: She's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and a highly proficient shooter. Though she doesn't do very well against Rumlow in The Winter Soldier, it was because she was standing far too close. Played much straighter in Civil War, where she goes up against the Winter Soldier, and even more so in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where she holds off a small army of bounty hunters armed with only a collapsible baton and whatever weapons she can grab from them. However, following her connections to Batroc and the Flag Smashers, she could count as a Dark Action Girl by this point so far.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Downplayed. In the comics, she was born in Richmond, Virginia but in the MCU, she was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Adaptational Context Change: In the comics the Power Broker specialised in Super-Empowering, selling powers to heroes and villains alike. As seen in the show, the Power Broker seems more interested in the purchase and sale of the tools of political power, namely expensive artwork, government secrets, and even super-weapons.
- Adaptational Romance Downgrade: In the comics, she was Steve's primary love interest and the two are the love of each other's lives. In here, they had a couple moments of Ship Tease and shared a Big Damn Kiss but ultimately didn't end up together, with Steve traveling back to the past to be with Peggy instead.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her eyes are blue in the comics, but in the MCU she has her actress' brown eyes.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She and Steve frequently describe the other as the love of their life in the comic. In the MCU, a relationship is teased, but unfulfilled, and ultimately she doesn't view Steve with fondness.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the comics, Sharon was never a villainess, except for a brief time she was a member of a evil organization due to brainwashing. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she's revealed to be the Power Broker.
- Advertised Extra:
- She got her own poster (seen above) for The Winter Soldier, but had less screentime (less than four minutes) and plot impotance than others like Brock Rumlow.
- A specific example with Civil War. Her role is slightly bigger than in the last movie, but it's not nearly as big as the marketing and merchandising images would have you believe. There are a ton of group shots showing her fighting as part of Team Cap, which she never does at any point in the movie.
- Downplayed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, where she is shown in plenty of the marketing, and even has third-billing, but ultimately her on-screen role is pretty small.
- Alternate Self: She has at least one alternate counterpart in Earth-89521 who's a zombie apocalypse survivor.
- Ambiguously Evil: In Episode 5, she is negotiating with Batroc on the phone to possibly aid the Flag Smashers and was revealed to be behind the first episode's skyjacking by Batroc. The ambiguity is removed in the following episode, where it is revealed that she is the Power Broker.
- Anti-Hero: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, following the events of Civil War, as she is forced into a life of crime, while still teaming up and Sam and Bucky. Subverted by the end, where it is revealed that she is the Power Broker, the show's Greater-Scope Villain.
- Ascended Extra: Sharon was a supporting character in the Captain America sequels before becoming a major character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
- Badass Family: Sharon is the niece of Peggy Carter, former Director and co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: In her appearances at the Triskelion in The Winter Soldier, she is wearing a S.H.I.E.L.D. style suit.
- Badass Longcoat: When she makes her return to the MCU, she spends an episode sniping and fighting gangsters and bounty hunters while wearing a long leather coat.
- Badass Normal: Sharon does not have any superpowers, but she is a former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and CIA with exceptional marksmanship and combat skills.
- The Bad Guy Wins: By the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sharon has successfully killed those who could expose her identity as the Power Broker, and has her position within the CIA restored, along with a full pardon for her actions in Civil War. Upon leaving the hearing, Sharon promptly calls some of her Madripoorian contacts to begin the selling of intelligence secrets out on the black market.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Not long after she's revealed as the Power Broker, she shoots and kills both Batroc and Karli to protect her Secret Identity.
- Became Their Own Antithesis: During the first two Captain America movies, Sharon was a government agent who believed in doing the right thing over obeying orders, doing so twice to help Steve Rogers. By the time of Phase 4 however, Sharon has become a criminal mastermind who cares more about securing her own position in the world than she does doing the right thing.
- Big Bad Friend: Sharon helps Sam and Bucky fight Karli and the Flag-Smashers. The only problem is that Sharon is also the Power Broker, the crime lord who provided the Flag-Smashers with their Super-Soldier serum in the first place. By the end of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she's killed Karli, protecting her identity, while Sam gets her a pardon and her old job back, along with all the access to government secrets that that entails.
- Big Brother Is Watching: Lowtown graffiti reminds everyone that Power Broker is watching them. It's proven not to be a bluff when, seconds after Selby is killed, all criminals in Lowtown get an SMS with a bounty on Sam, Bucky, and Zemo.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Finally shares one with Steve in Civil War, with Falcon and Bucky giving them the thumbs up for it.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Downplayed. While she certainly isn't all that nice to Sam and Bucky after reuniting with them in Madripoor, she indicates that she only turned to crime as a way to get by, due to the government abandoning her and having nowhere else to go. In truth, however, she's actually the ruthless Power Broker who enjoys her new way of life, and is more than willing to use her pardon and restored CIA job to sell government weapons on the black market.
- Bluff Worked Too Well: Her own skill at disapearing and going off the grid came back to bite her. In the confusion of losing half the population themselves being fugitives, the Avengers had no way to contact her or even know if she was alive, leading to Sharon falling through the cracks with the Avengers getting pardons but not her.
- Bodyguard Crush: Despite being secretly assigned to protect Steve, it's clear that the two are mutually attracted to one another.
- Bodyguarding a Badass: Chosen by Nick Fury to protect Steve, called history's greatest soldier by Fury himself.
- Broken Bird: She's rightfully pissed off that she was basically forgotten by Steve after helping him, Sam, and Bucky, and also is less than happy about having to become a criminal in order to survive the Wretched Hive that is Madripoor. While she's doing extremely well for herself, she's still a fugitive who can't return home without her name being cleared, and hasn't spoken to her family in a long time.
- Broken Pedestal: Her view of superheroes in general has deeply soured because she was forgotten by them after she decided to help Steve and the Anti-Accords team capture Zemo and became a fugitive in the process.
- The Bus Came Back: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier almost five years after her last appearance in Civil War.
- Bus Crash: Subverted. A Freeze-Frame Bonus in Avengers: Endgame seems to indicate that Sharon was among those who turned to dust at Thanos's hands. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shows that this wasn't the case, as she was merely hiding out in Madripoor and building up her power in the five-year interim.
- The Chessmaster: She didn't plan the events of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but she sure as hell took advantage of them. Karli and the others were her employees as the Power Broker when they stole her super serum and went off to wreak havoc. When Sam and Bucky start hunting the Flag Smashers and show up in Madripoor looking for help, she frames them for murder and sets all of the city's bounty hunters on them so they're desperate for help and are more than happy to accept it from an old friend. She negotiates a full pardon (through Sam's influence) and gets them the name of the man who made the serum (her employee). They end up destroying the lab (unfortunate, a valuable resource), but learn Karli's location and leave, promising to pay their debt. She shows up in New York to help save the GRC, kills the last people who know her identity as Power Broker (with Zemo's help) and, thanks to taking a bullet, gets her pardon and reinstatement. Now she has access to government resources and the Power Broker's underground resources. She didn't plan it all, but she manipulated events on the fly and got a hell of a reward.
- Cold Sniper: She makes her reappearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier shooting down Selby and multiple bounty hunters with pinpoint accuracy using a sniper rifle.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Inverted, she's referred to as Agent 13 most of the time. We don't even learn her first name until the final scene of The Winter Soldier, and even then her last name and relation to Peggy Carter isn't mentioned until Civil War.
- Composite Character: She holds the title of the Power Broker, which is held by different individuals in the comics, but never Sharon.
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: After getting her pardon and her old CIA job back, since she has already crossed over into villainy as the Power Broker by then.
- Cynicism Catalyst: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, being forced to go on the run and not being pardoned or helped out by the Avengers has left her completely disillusioned with superheroes.
- Dark Action Girl: Her Face–Heel Turn does not mean she lost her combative prowess.
- Deadly Gas: She has a mercury vapor bomb that she plants on the Flag-Smasher Lennox which melts away his skin when activated, killing him.
- Deadpan Snarker: Sharon has clearly inherited Peggy's level of snark. Even more so when she becomes a fugitive.
- Decomposite Character: Her role as Steve's major love interest in the comics is given to another Carter, her grandaunt Peggy who for that has a bigger role compared to the comics.
- Demoted to Extra: Compared to her role in the comics, she's mostly a tertiary character in The Winter Soldier. She has a slightly larger role in Civil War, but it still pales in comparison to the comics. Then she vanishes altogether, literally as a Thanos victim and no mention is made of her even after everyone has been revived. She eventually becomes an Ascended Extra in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
- Discard and Draw: of a sort, following the reveal of her current background in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. As the Power Broker, her biggest asset and tool for threat is originally her coterie of Super Soldiers, by which she enforced her rule of Madripoor (and presumably built up her underworld wealth and network of connections). Nevertheless, this ultimately means, as Karli points out, that when they went on the lam to become the Flag-Smashers, the Power Broker lost her biggest stick. That said, it was very fortuitous that Sam and Bucky came knocking (and with their public influence as Avengers), finally managing to get her a pardon and legal status back to America — by which she can now mine the American military-industrial complex for more assets.
- Disposable Love Interest: Deconstructed. She completely disappeared from the MCU following Captain America: Civil War, with no mention of her whereabouts after the fact. As it turns out, the Avengers didn't remember her either. She was forced to survive independently without any help from her so-called friends, and Steve chose an alternate timeline version of her aunt Peggy over her. Naturally, she's still bitter about it and not interested in going back to America with Sam.
- The Dreaded: She is secretly the Power Broker, the feared criminal ruler of Madripoor. Zemo, who is pretty bold and badass in his own right, wants to avoid messing with her, while Sharon pretends to be fearful of the crime lord to avoid suspicious eyes on her.
- Expy: Outside of the Marvel franchise, she's basically a Distaff Counterpart to Jon Voight's Jim Phelps from Mission: Impossible (1996) as both were great American secret agent heroes, only to become two-bit cash-grabbing criminals under another alias (Sharon as the "Power Broker", while Jim was "Job") following feeling disillusioned with their work with a general feeling of uselessness as heroic spies following the ends of the major conflicts they before played a part in (Sharon following the Infinity Saga, while Jim following the end of the Cold War).
- Evil All Along: She turns out to be the villainous Power Broker along, having been the one who gave the Flag-Smashers the Super Soldier Serum and has been Playing Both Sides since the beginning.
- Evil Counterpart: To her great-aunt Peggy following her Face–Heel Turn. Both were outstanding agents who fought against HYDRA, but while Peggy constantly did the right thing, even in the face of continued injustices from her allies, Sharon not only turns to a life of crime after being left behind, she fully embraces it and enjoys it. Her becoming the Power Broker only tarnished her family's legacy.
- Face–Heel Turn: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she is revealed to have been the eponymous Power Broker who financed both the Flag-Smashers and Georges Batroc throughout the series. Even though she's restored to her CIA job by the end of the series, Sharon indicates she has no intention of giving up her power in Madripoor anytime soon, and in fact wants to use the government weapons that her clearance allows her to access to make herself even more powerful.
- Faking the Dead: She was believed to have been killed by Thanos' Badass Fingersnap by The Avengers, but The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that she's still alive and just went into hiding.
- Fallen Heroine: Between Avengers: Endgame and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sharon became bitter at her treatment by both the U.S. government and the Avengers, and subsequently built a clandestine criminal empire as the Power Broker. Despite Sam and Bucky securing a pardon for Sharon after the Flag Smashers are defeated, she uses her CIA clearance to access the agency's top secret advanced weaponry so she can sell them on the black market, with everyone who knows of her actions either working for her or dead.
- Foil: Sharon is this to Helmut Zemo in regards to their villainous actions. Both of them are filthy rich adversaries to our heroes that want to stop the Flag-Smashers at all costs. However, Sharon builds up her fortune illegally over the span of a few years and flaunts her wealth extravagantly with art galleries and nightclubs in order to rule over Madripoor with an iron fist. By contrast, Zemo is a baron who uses most of his inherited wealth for practical reasons and has no interest in acquiring any more power and influence in the world. Sharon also opposes the Flag-Smashers for pragmatic reasons (interfering with her business), whereas Zemo opposes them for political/philosophical reasons (believing that super soldiers and anything that creates them should be destroyed). They are also this in terms of portrayal. They are both asked by Sam and Bucky to help them in their fight against the Flag-Smashers. Sharon is portrayed as being jaded and as being forced into a life of crime but still being good at heart while Zemo is portrayed as being friendlier than he was in his last appearance but also as secretive and untrustworthy. While Zemo wants to help Sam and Bucky stop the Flag-Smashers, he seemingly has a hidden agenda. This seemingly sets up Zemo to be a villain down the road. However, ultimately, Zemo has no ulterior motives and allows himself to be imprisoned again once he feels his work is done while Sharon is revealed to have ulterior motives and is set up to be a villain down the road.
- Forgotten Fallen Friend: She's seemingly killed by the Snap as seen in Endgame, but the surviving Avengers ever really remember her unlike the other Snap victims. Steve, who she's unarguably the closest with, doesn't even bring her up at all and goes back to reminiscing over Peggy rather than her and eventually goes back in time to be with her instead. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier makes this worse when it's revealed that she didn't actually die in the Snap and is incredibly bitter over how the Avengers just forgot about her and left her to fend for herself as a fugitive.
- Friend on the Force: She provides help to Cap and the anti-Accords Avengers despite being on the pro-Accords Joint Counter Terrorism Center at numerous points in Civil War. First, she provides intel that leads Cap and Sam to Bucky's safehouse. Next, she allows Cap and Sam to listen in on Bucky's interrogation after they are arrested, alerting them to Zemo's infiltration. Finally, she delivers Cap's shield and Sam's Falcon suit to them shortly before the fight at the Berlin airport.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Starts out as an average spy, with her first onscreen assignment protecting the greatest soldier in history when he's at home, and while no one was looking, she became one of the most feared crime lords in Asia.
- Generation Xerox: Downplayed; she physically resembles her aunt Peggy but has blond hair instead of brown. It's more noticeable in terms of personality and abilities: she's an excellent markswoman and very serious at her job as an agent, just like Peggy. Civil War reveals that it was Peggy who motivated her to become an agent. However, she opted to not disclose their familial ties to avoid being cast in her shadow. The two of them also form a romantic connection with Steve Rogers.
- Genius Bruiser: A bonafide Action Girl who's also a cunning businesswoman and master manipulator, being able to run a massive criminal empire while maintaining a Secret Identity and is great at Playing Both Sides in the conflict between The Flag-Smashers and Sam and Bucky.
- Genocide Survivor: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that she survived the Snap, after the Avengers initially believed that she had perished from it.
- Girl Next Door: She initially poses as Kate, a nurse who lives next door to Steve.
- Good Is Not Nice: At first when she makes her reappearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, but absolutely averted following The Reveal.
- Greater-Scope Villain: As the Power Broker who commissioned the new Super-Soldier serum, Sharon is indirectly responsible for Karli's terrorism and most of the conflict in the show. Since her identity remains a secret, however, she never comes into direct conflict with Sam and Bucky, and even helps them stop the Flag-Smashers.
- Greed: Following her Face–Heel Turn, she is mainly motivated by this, having thrown all her morals out the window as a result.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Blonde, and a loyal agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., which is further emphasized in The Winter Soldier, when she stops Rumlow from killing a tech who refuses to bow to HYDRA's orders by holding him at gunpoint. She then saves the tech from getting shot by kicking out his chair from under him even after Rumlow injures her. And while her idealism is severely eroded by her reappearance in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (to say the least), she does put her life on the line to help Sam and Bucky. She ends up being revealed to be a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk, however, as she is actually the Power Broker who helped put Sam and Bucky in danger to start with and has been manipulating them and the Flag Smashers for her own personal gain.
- He Knows Too Much: Wipes out her colleagues such as Batroc and Karli to tie up loose ends.
- Hospital Hottie: Her disguise when Fury assigns her to protect Steve is a nurse.
- In the Hood: Her first appearances after her bus trip is her wearing a hood and leather jacket combo.
- It's All About Me: She loses all of her S.H.I.E.L.D.-based selflessness following Civil War, as she's only concerned with herself and nobody else and her vendetta against the system.
- Jerkass Has a Point: While she's very cynical and sour about it, her grievances about being a fugitive are quite sympathetic and understandable. Despite helping Steve and the Anti-Accords team, she never got pardoned like they did and none of them tried to reach out to her and help her so her anger and resentment towards them are justified.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She's understandably bitter and cynical in Falcon and the Winter Soldier (when Sam offers her a pardon, she says, "I don't trust charity"), but she helps out Sam and Bucky, despite the fact that they're targeted by every bounty-hunter in Madripoor.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: However, despite initially helping out Sam and Bucky, it turns out she was the architect behind the Flag Smashers and was playing both sides like a fiddle.
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: She's referred to as such as the Power Broker by Zemo. True to his words, once the Power Broker puts a bounty on Sam, Bucky and Zemo, dozens of criminals go after them.
- Karma Houdini: At the end of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she secures a pardon without anyone ever learning that she's the Power Broker, and now she has even more power to broker to the highest bidders.
- Laser Sight: She has one on the pistol she uses as an undercover agent assigned to protect Steve.
- Latex Perfection: She uses a photostatic veil, a mask capable of copying an individual's voice and facial features that Natasha Romanoff used in The Winter Soldier, to enter America undetected and help Sam and Bucky take down the Flag-Smashers.
- Legacy Character: Implied. Zemo was familiar with the Power Broker from years before the Snap, at a time when the current Power Broker was still working for the CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D. before that.
- Loving a Shadow: Sharon is perhaps the only person who resembles Peggy in terms of appearance, personality and skills (not to mention being her blood relative). And thus, Steve pursues a romance with Sharon in the hopes of filling the hole that Peggy left behind after her death until the invention of Time Travel in Endgame, which gives Steve the chance to be with Peggy for real.
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- Manipulative Bitch: She turned out to have been playing both the Flag-Smashers and Sam and Bucky like a fiddle for her own personal agenda.
- Mirror Character:
- Ironically, with the reveal of her new identity as the Power Broker, she becomes one to fellow corrupted CIA official Bill Rawlins/Agent Orange. The key difference is that while Rawlins, despite seemingly-coming from Old Money and long CIA connections (who was subsequently brought down by the street-level superhero The Punisher), Sharon, by virtue of her close association with the Avengers, manages to reclaim a Villain with Good Publicity status possibly way beyond Rawlins' wildest dreams.
- To Natasha Romanoff, to the degree that one's journey is a mirror of the other. Black Widow started out as an amoral spy who was rehabilitated through her association with S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawkeye, and Captain America, and ultimately became a hero. Meanwhile Foil: Sharon started out as an idealistic agent, who was embittered over being used and discarded by the Avengers and Captain America in particular, and grew to become a ruthless and jaded villain.
- To her own aunt, Peggy Carter. Both of them are badass agents of the government who were romantically interested in Steve Rogers, to the point of risking their careers to assist them. However, Peggy remained loyal to both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Steve until she finally passes away in 2016, whereas Sharon becomes disillusioned by both of them and decides to pull a Face–Heel Turn out of spite.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: Her government's branding her as their most wanted and being abandoned by the Avengers is what caused her Face–Heel Turn into the Power Broker.
- The Mole: In Civil War, she uses her employment with Everett Ross' counter-terrorist force to aid Steve, Sam and Bucky even after they go on the run. In the mid-credits scene of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series finale, she plans to use her new CIA position to sell top-secret intel and weapons to the black market.
- My Friends... and Zoidberg: How Sharon sees her relationship with both the US and the Avengers. She helped the Avengers and became an Enemy of the State, but unlike Sam and Bucky, who received full pardons as Avengers, Sharon was forced underground for years. To make matters worse, none of the Avengers even bothered to check in on her during this time, leaving her disillusioned.
- Nice Girl: She's shown to be a kind and helpful person with a strong sense of morals. It gets subverted in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier where she Took a Level in Jerkass.
- Not Wearing Tights: She never puts on the white Spy Catsuit she wears in the comics.
- One-Woman Army: When bounty hunters come after Sam, Bucky, and Zemo for the bounty on their heads, she holds the line to give them more time, fighting and killing a dozen men and women in the process.
- Nominal Hero: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, following the events of Civil War, as she rather enjoys living it up in her life of crime rather than returning to the United States and only seems interested in getting a pardon, while begrudgingly aiding Bucky and Sam. And she has no intention on giving up her criminal ways even after she receives the pardon.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: She shoots and kills Batroc when he tries to extort more money out of her after finding out from Karli that she's the Power Broker. Given how he's a ruthless mercenary with a complete lack of morals, he more than had it coming.
- Playing Both Sides: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she hires Batroc to help Karli and the Flag Smashers, while also showing up in person to help Sam and try to recruit Karli again. If Karli proves amenable, she gets her super-soldiers back. If she doesn't, Sharon can kill Karli and make it look like she's defending Sam.
- Pragmatic Villainy: As the Power Broker, she has little desire for full-scale revenge and prefers to sell government secrets and weapons to the black market, both to indirectly inflict pain upon the world that abandoned her as well as making her rich in the process. She also helps Sam and Bucky defeat the Flag Smashers in order to be pardoned (and get access to more lucrative secrets) and eliminate any loose ends to the Power Broker.
- Put on a Bus: Quietly disappears from the MCU after Civil War, and her relationship with Steve hasn't been brought up since. In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, it is revealed that she was branded an Enemy of the State for aiding Cap and she later reveals herself to have become a wealthy smuggler and dealer of stolen artwork, dwelling in Madripoor's Hightown.
- The Queenpin: Sharon lords over most, if not all, the criminals of Madripoor from the shadows, with no one but her closest retainers knowing her true identity.
- Related Differently in the Adaptation: Amanda and Harrison Carter are her great-grandparents in here but in the comics, they were her parents.
- The Resenter: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she's this to Sam, Steve, and Bucky due to how they got pardons due to being Avengers while she was left behind and remained a fugitive from the law despite helping them.
- Retractable Weapon: She uses a retractable baton as a melee weapon on Madripoor. She puts it to good use against a couple of bounty hunters looking to kill Sam, Bucky, and Zemo.
- Revenge: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she was about to kill Zemo for causing her to end up this way, but puts it on hold when Sam and Bucky explain they need her help, and ultimately lets it go. As the Power Broker, she seeks revenge against the American government's system for her fall from grace and indirectly against the Avengers for abandoning her.
- Romantic False Lead: She becomes Steve's Second Love in the aftermath of the death of Peggy in Civil War, but this doesn't go anywhere since she doesn't appear in Infinity War and Endgame, and sadly, Cap seems to have completely forgotten about her as he goes to an alternate version of the past to live with her aunt instead.
- Samus Is a Girl: Although referred as a male, it is only by rumors and gossip of Madripoor, which hides the fact that the Power Broker is none other than Sharon Carter herself. Of course, it's not impossible that the original Power Broker was male.
- Secret Identity:
- She poses as Kate, a nurse and Steve Rogers's neighbor in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, with him being unaware that she's actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the mission of keeping an eye on him and protecting him if needed.
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier reveals that she's the dreaded crime boss known as the Power Broker, who controls all of Madripoor with an iron fist. Unfortunately, the only two people who know of this are dead, and the rest of the world is oblivious, allowing her to use her restored CIA job to smuggle government weapons back to Madripoor.
- Shadow Dictator: What her role as the king of Madripoor is. No one, not even Zemo knows who her identity is and assumed by reputation she was a male. The two that do know this are dead.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Despite only appearing onscreen for four minutes total in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sharon's actions after taking up the Power Broker mantle are what cause everything in the show to happen. Some for the better, but a lot for the worse.
- Start of Darkness: Helping Steve Rogers and his faction in Civil War is revealed to be the start of her path towards villainy, as she was branded as a traitor and was forced to live in Madripoor to avoid extradition. Even worse, the Avengers never kept tabs on her, which broke her faith in heroes and thus, she used her skills as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to build a criminal empire for herself.
- Statuesque Stunner: She's a beautiful woman who measures 5'8"/1.73m.
- Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome: In the The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she is the villainous Power Broker.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: In the season finale of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she disguises herself as a man using the Photostatic Veil to change her voice and face and wears androgynous clothing to enter America without being arrested due to her being a wanted fugitive.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, her renewed partnership with Sam and Bucky becomes this due to holding how superheroes made her forgotten against them. Turned out to be an Enemy Mine following The Reveal that she has committed a Face–Heel Turn.
- Took a Level in Cynic: By the time of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sharon has become much more jaded towards the Avengers and the United States, seeing as none of the heroes did anything to help her after she was branded a fugitive for helping Cap's team in Civil War. Interestingly enough, this brings her character closer to the cynical foil she was to Cap during Mark Waid’s run in the 90s.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: Becomes a full blown villainess as the Power Broker after feeling disillusioned with her past heroic work.
- Took a Level in Smartass: She's a lot snarkier in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier after years of being a hardened fugitive.
- Tragic Villain: A Fallen Heroine who became a villainess following the American government's branding of her as a criminal and the Avengers abandoning her.
- Two First Names: Both "Sharon" and "Carter" are first names.
- Undercover Cop Reveal: When Nick Fury is shot out of nowhere, she breaks her cover and reveals to Steve that she isn't a nurse, but a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to protect him.
- Unflinching Walk: Downplayed. She plants a mercury vapor (amongst other things) bomb on Flag Smasher Lennox, which causes him to explode, but there isn't a big blast, just his head exploding and making a mess in the van as she walks away.
- Villain Killer: In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, she makes her return ruthlessly killing several criminals and bounty hunters all throughout her introductory episode, showing to the audience that she's become a darker character years after her last appearance. In the final episode, she's killed Lennox, Batroc, and Karli to protect her identity as The Power Broker.
- Villain with Good Publicity: She is granted her pardon and reinstated into the CIA, but nobody knows she's the Power Broker.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After she gives Steve and Sam their gear in Civil War, she and Steve agree that the theft will be easily traced back to her. She's not mentioned for the remainder of the film, then goes unmentioned in Infinity War. A Freeze-Frame Bonus in Endgame reveals that she was snapped out of existence by Thanos, but she's still unmentioned even after the Mass Resurrection, and Steve consistently refers to Peggy as the love of his life. This is rectified on her reappearance in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
- What the Hell, Hero?: She understandably calls out Sam for forgetting about her after the events of Civil War, noting that she never got the pardon that he and Bucky got, and there is a big difference between someone who was a fugitive and someone who is a fugitive.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: The Winter Soldier gives one, and for her, she's seen getting a job at the CIA.
- Would Harm a Senior: She assassinates the elderly Selby as part of her plan to save Sam and Bucky so she can call in a favor from them.
- Would Hurt a Child: She has no issues gunning down a teenage Karli Morgenthau to stop her from killing Sam and so the secret of her being the Power Broker dies with her.
- You Are Number 6: Referred to in press material for The Winter Soldier as Agent 13.
- You Can't Go Home Again: She's branded a fugitive after helping Steve and the Pro-Accords team, forcing her to flee to Madripoor, and unable to return to America because of her status as a fugitive. Her helping out Sam and Bucky in stopping the Flag-Smashers is motivated by her desire to be pardoned and open up opportunities for her massive criminal empire.
- You Remind Me of X: In "One World, One People", she tells Karli that she reminded her of herself when she was younger.
Variants
Zombie Apocalypse Sharon Carter
Sharon Carter
"Sorry, Happy. Blam."
Species: Human (formerly), Zombified human
Voiced By: Emily VanCamp
Appearances: What If...?
The Sharon Carter of Earth-89521, who survived a Zombie Apocalypse.
- Adaptational Heroism: Due to the Zombie Apocalypse presumably preventing her from getting to Madripoor, this Sharon Carter remains a heroic figure and helps the survivors get to Camp Lehigh. Sadly, it doesn't last.
- Adapted Out: Inverted. Unlike here, Sharon is nowhere to be seen in the Marvel Zombies comic book.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: She has never met Happy Hogan, Okoye, Kurt Goreshter, Hope van Dyne, Bruce Banner, or Peter Parker in the Sacred Timeline.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: She is turned by Zombie Captain America and has to be killed by Hope van Dyne.
- Annoying Arrows: She doesn't appear to be in too much pain after a zombified Hawkeye shoots her in the chest with an arrow and manages to take it off without even getting medical attention afterwards.
- Apologetic Attacker: She apologizes to a zombified Happy before turning his repulsor against him to kill him.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: She mutters "blam" after killing a zombified Happy Hogan, who says it every time he fires Tony's repulsion gauntlet.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: She's infected by a zombified Steve Rogers before getting blown to pieces by Hope van Dyne shrinking and enlarging inside of her, reducing her to a bloody pile of guts.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: She gets infected by a zombified Captain America and is blown to pieces by Hope van Dyne entering her body by shrinking and then growing back to normal size, making her this to her main universe counterpart.
- Death by Adaptation: Zombie Captain America infects her with the virus and Hope has to kill her reanimated corpse.
- Face–Monster Turn: Eventually is transformed into a zombie at the hands of Captain America, causing all shreds of her humanity to disappear. Her first instinct after being turned is to try to take a bite out of a preoccupied Bucky Barnes.
- Finger-Twitching Revival: If one pays attention to details, Sharon's finger can be seen twitching while Bucky stares down a zombified Cap. This is the first clue that she's going to reanimate into a zombie.
- Intergenerational Friendship: She strikes up a friendship with the much older Happy Hogan and is deeply saddened when he turns into a zombie and has to put him down.
- Killed Offscreen: Zombie Captain America infects her off-screen and we only hear her scream as she's being bitten.
- Ludicrous Gibs: Her zombified self is reduced to a pile of blood and entrails after Hope shrinks and grows back into normal size inside of her.
- The Medic: As stated in Peter's zombie apocalypse video guide, one of her skills is first aid.
- Major Injury Underreaction: She takes being shot by an arrow by a zombified Clint Barton in stride and doesn't even get medical attention after getting it out.
- Mutual Kill: Hope kills her zombified self by flying inside of her and growing back to normal size, but Zombie Sharon managed to infect her in the process.
- "Pop!" Goes the Human: How her zombified self meets her end, courtesy of Wasp flying inside her mouth and then growing.
- Power Palms: She acquires the Iron Man repulsor from a zombified Happy Hogan after killing him with it.
- Staking the Loved One: She's forced to kill Happy after a zombified Hawkeye infects him and he tries to infect her in the process.
- Tragic Keepsake: She takes the Iron Man Gauntlet from Happy after killing him.
- The Undead: She becomes a zombie after being infected by a zombified Captain America.
- Undeathly Pallor: Gets one after being zombified.
- Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: She turns a zombified Happy's repulsor against his face, killing him, and taking the repulsor from his corpse afterwards.
- Zombie Apocalypse Hero: She's one of the few people to initially survive the Zombie Apocalypse in this universe.
"You know the whole hero thing is a joke, right? The way you gave up that shield, deep down, you must know it's all hypocrisy."
