Sharon Carter (Earth-616)

Sharon Carter
Name	Sharon Carter
Aliases	Agent 13, Fraulein Rogers, Gaea-1, Irma Kruhl, "The Most Dangerous Spy in the World," Ronnie, Shary, Iron Patriot
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Daughters of Liberty; formerly S.H.I.E.L.D, Secret Avengers, Femme Force, brainwashed into National Force, infiltrated A.I.M., Kubekult
Relatives	Harrison Carter (father); Amanda Carter (mother); Margaret "Peggy" Carter (aunt); unborn child (deceased); Ian Zola (adopted son)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5′8″ (1.73 m)
Weight	135 lbs (61.23 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Blond
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Richmond, Virginia
Personal Information
Identity	No Dual
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Special Field Officer of S.H.I.E.L.D.; former head of S.H.I.E.L.D., mercenary
Education	S.H.I.E.L.D. training; PhD in Metaphysical Psychology
Base of Operations	Formerly S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, New York City, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers
First	Tales of Suspense #75 (December, 1965)
First	Tales of Suspense #75 (December, 1965)

 I bear the scars of the past all over me. But there's more to me than that. I'm better now. Stronger. Wiser. 

—Sharon Carter

History

Early Life

Sharon Carter is the daughter of Harrison and Amanda Carter, two wealthy Virginians, and the niece of Margaret "Peggy" Carter, a heroic freedom fighter during World War II who had shared many adventures with the great hero Captain America before his supposed death at the end of the war. When Peggy returned home in need of hospitalization from traumatic shell-shock, she told her niece many stories about Captain America.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

Inspired by these tales and her own aunt's exploits, Sharon decided to become an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., the international espionage agency. On her first major assignment, Sharon Carter, code-named Agent 13, was chosen to pick up a cylinder containing the powerful explosive called Inferno-42 from a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had stolen it from THEM, the governing body of the subversive organization Hydra. By coincidence, Captain America, in his secret identity of Steve Rogers, saw Carter on her way to receive the cylinder and was struck by her close resemblance to her aunt Peggy. However, Rogers had no idea who Sharon Carter was, having known Peggy only by her cover identity.

Soon afterward, Sharon Carter was attacked by the costumed mercenary Batroc, who had been hired by THEM to recover the cylinder. As Captain America, Rogers came to her assistance and, while he and Batroc battled each other, Carter made off with the cylinder, unaware that its casing had been damaged, activating the explosive within. Learning from Batroc that she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Captain America went in pursuit of her, and succeeded in saving her life and preventing THEM from making use of the explosive.

Captain America continued to cross paths with Carter as the two adventured, only knowing her as Agent 13. On one adventure, Captain America rescued her from the subversive group A.I.M., and the two fell deeply in love with each other. After a later assignment bringing down the Nazi Red Skull's "Fourth Sleeper" robot together, Carter was allowed by S.H.I.E.L.D. to reveal her secret identity to Captain America. The two became lovers and remained allies for many subsequent missions.

Femme Force

Carter briefly helped form and lead S.H.I.E.L.D.'s so-called Femme Force, an all-women squad of commandos. Shortly thereafter, Sharon resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D. to take a vacation and spend more time with Steve Rogers. She did not return to active duty for some time

During this time period, Captain America learned that Carter's aunt was the woman he had loved during World War II and was able to rescue her from the clutches of the evil Doctor Faustus. It was on a later mission against Doctor Faustus that Carter participated in what would come to be believed as her final missions.

Seeming Death

Carter was assigned to be the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to the New York City Police Department while both organizations investigated the subversive group called the National Force, which was secretly controlled by Doctor Faustus. Carter fell under the thrall of Faustus' mind-influencing gas during a rally in Central Park, and she was abducted with the others by the National Force's Grand Director, who had also been the fourth Captain America. Carter and others in the group were coerced to march on New York City's Harlem area to burn it down. When confronted by the National Guard, the mesmerized Carter (in accordance with the orders given by Faustus) activated a self-destruct device in her costume and was believed incinerated with other members of the rally.

It was later revealed that Carter's death was staged by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury, so that Carter could go on to perform an even more dangerous assignment. However, something went wrong and Carter was believed dead by S.H.I.E.L.D. and left abandoned behind enemy lines. She ended up joining with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemies out of resentment toward Fury, and even went on to become an agent of the Red Skull. However, when Captain America defeated the Skull's plans the two were reunited and Carter returned home.

Fallen Angel

Still wishing to confront Nick Fury, Carter learned not only that Fury was believed dead (killed by the vigilante known as the Punisher) but that his death and funeral were staged. Carter surreptitiously infiltrated the agency to investigate only to find herself pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. and wanted for treason. To avoid capture, Carter was forced to escape through an energy portal she found in an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. safe-house. There, she found herself in Nazi territory during World War II, where she encountered Nick Fury.

Fury had found documents which questioned the fate of his predecessor, the S.H.I.E.L.D. director code-named Fallen Angel, whom he had believed was killed by agents of Hydra. In fact, he was abandoned by S.H.I.E.L.D. after Hydra kidnapped him. Fury set about tracking the Fallen Angel, but as the situation was politically volatile, Fury diverted attention from his investigation by staging his own death. His search led him to the "Backslide," a supposedly abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. project which created a portal from a fabricated Cosmic Cube. Ultimately, the Fallen Angel hoped Fury might use the portal to go back in time, prevent S.H.I.E.L.D. from being formed, and thus gain revenge for his abandonment. Fury disagreed and he and the Fallen Angel struggled. They both ended up traveling through the portal, which did not lead back into time, it merely created a reality based on the memories of war from the two soldiers. Fallen Angel took his own life and Fury was left, trapped, fighting a stalemate war for months.

File:Sharon Carter (Earth-616) from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Vol 4 9 001.jpg

Carter's presence allowed the Backslide's reality to change, offering a way out. Together, Fury and Carter battled their way free, as on the other side of the portal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were about to destroy the portal, since Fury was the only one who could open it. Carter and Fury managed to escape moments before the portal's destruction, although Fury disappeared in the explosion.

Rejoining S.H.I.E.L.D.

Soon afterward, Carter re-enlisted with S.H.I.E.L.D. Sharon served a brief term as Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. during Nick Fury's absence. She became a field agent once more, reporting directly to the new Executive Director as a liaison officer specifically assigned to support and report on Captain America's activities. Captain America and Carter continued to work together and remained close. They also began an investigation of the Winter Soldier.

Death of Captain America

Following the conclusion of the Civil War, Agent 13 found herself a pawn of Doctor Faustus and the Red Skull. Using Faustus' expertise in hypnosis, the villains activated a subconscious command in Sharon's mind, forcing her to shoot and kill Captain America.

Sharon eventually discovered that she was pregnant. She tried hiding the pregnancy from the Skull but he eventually found out and planned on using her child for his own purposes. While fighting her brainwashing, Sharon managed to release Steve's partner, Bucky, aka the Winter Soldier, to Black Widow and Falcon.

Sharon soon found what she believed to be Steve, alive. However, upon closer look, she realized it was the 50s Captain America, the Grand Director. Refusing to let such an abomination live, Sharon attempted to kill him. However, Aleksander Lukin, whose body the Red Skull was inhabiting, prevented her by shocking her from behind. She was then taken to a med ward. Eventually, she was able to escape and take the Skull's daughter, Sin, hostage. However, a fight between them resulted in Sharon getting stabbed in the stomach and losing her baby. Dr. Faustus helped her, reactivating her tracking device and making her forget being pregnant. When S.H.I.E.L.D. assaulted the compound, Arnim Zola took Sharon to a device that the Skull acquired from Doctor Doom. Sharon managed to fight against the procedure and managed to kill Lukin. She was rescued by the Falcon.

After discovering the gun that killed Rogers was not an actual gun but a device made to displace him in time, Sharon gained the assistance of Hank Pym and Reed Richards to bring him back leading to her to be captured by Norman Osborn and the Red Skull. After being saved by Captain America and the Avengers, Sharon helped defeat the Skull and his A.I.D. forces.

Heroic Age

Afterward, Sharon Carter rekindled her romantic relationship with Steve Rogers and served as a part of his Secret Avengers team. Sharon later attended her aunt's funeral and helped Steve Rogers to battle the new threat of Codename: Bravo and Baron Zemo.

Never shy with her thoughts, Sharon proposed marriage to Steve Rogers. Unfortunately, before he could give an answer, he was stranded in Dimension Z for some time. Carter eventually found a way to rescue Steve. However, to save Cap and prevent an alien army of Arnim Zola's mutates from leaving Dimension Z and infecting the world, Sharon sacrificed herself. She appeared to perish in a gigantic explosion which the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent detonated herself.

Sharon Carter aged

Through unrevealed means, Sharon survived and remained in Dimension Z, where time passed faster than the regular world, causing her to age rapidly compared to the normal world. She raised Ian Zola as her own son, in fact, leading him to refer to her as his mother. When Zola returned to attack New York, Falcon and Jet Black found that Sharon was alive, but in the villain's captivity. She was subsequently rescued by Ian, and returned to the regular world.

Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Following a fiasco at the secret superhuman prison of Pleasant Hill, which was indirectly caused by S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill due to the use of a Cosmic Cube as the moving force behind said facility, Sharon Carter was appointed shadow interim director of the organization while Hill waited for trial for her crimes. Once Hill was found guilty, Captain America attempted to convince the World Security Council to make her the new director. However, this event occurred at the same time S.H.I.E.L.D. proposed a bill to be given more power for civilian surveillance in order to combat the growing threat of Hydra. For this reason, Sharon declined the council's eventual offer, having decided that the potential additional amount of power in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands required that its leader was a person everybody could trust. For this reason, she encouraged Steve to take the role of director himself.

Secret Empire

When Carter encouraged Steve to become S.H.I.E.L.D.'s leader, she didn't know that Steve had been transformed into a Hydra sleeper agent by the sentient Cosmic Cube Kobik. Steve used his position in S.H.I.E.L.D. to set up a series of crises that allowed him and Hydra to take over the United States. Carter was placed under house arrest and treated kindly so Steve could try and convince her to join Hydra's cause and so they could be together. Carter refused to join Hydra and didn't believe that the Steve before her was the real Steve Rogers. Carter later tried to kill Rogers with a wooden shiv, but Rogers was able to stop the attack. Carter was imprisoned in a prison cell that formerly held Rick Jones.

Still wanting to be with Carter, Rogers ordered Doctor Faustus to brainwash her into a loyal member of Hydra. However, Carter had made herself immune to Faustus' hypnotic power and acted like Faustus' brainwashing was working so she could slip poison into his drink. After dealing with Faustus, Carter took control of Hydra's Helicarriers and forced them to crash to aid the contingent of heroes that was launching a desperate attack on Hydra.

Following the return of the real Captain America and Hydra's fall, Sharon reunited with Steve and assisted him in his missions. She was later personally recruited by General Thunderbolt Ross to help him investigate a series of terrorist attacks by an army of clones of Nuke.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

Agent 13 has been trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. and is an excellent hand-to-hand combatant and sniper.

Weaknesses

Former Weaknesses

Missing part of her soul: After she was captured by Alexa Lukin and Selene, they extracted part of her soul and trapped it inside the Blood Marine. She was eventually able to retrieve her soul and becoming young again.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Former Equipment

Iron Patriot Armor Model 3: In order to fight Selene and retrieve the part of her soul, Sharon used the third model of the Iron Patriot armor. After successfully retrieving her soul, she got rid the armor.

Weapons

Agent 13 has access to a wide variety of conventional and high-tech S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry.

Energy Shield

Shield, similar in design to Captain America's

Notes

• Originally Sharon Carter and Peggy Carter were said to be sisters.. This has been retconned more recently; and Peggy, the World War II veteran, has been portrayed as Sharon's aunt.

Trivia

• Sharon has an obsession with finding the 'World's Greatest Hamburger'.
• Her suit was designed by Tony Stark.

See Also

• 406 appearance(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 12 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 46 minor appearance(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 38 mention(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 8 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 155 image(s) of Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 42 quotation(s) by or about Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 7 victim(s) killed by Sharon Carter (Earth-616)
• 2 item(s) used/owned by Sharon Carter (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Captain America (Albert Pyun, 1990)