Sonya Tolsky (Earth-616)

Seraph

Gallery

Real Name

Sonya Tolsky^[1]

Current Alias

Seraph

Aliases

Nancy Turpin, Katarina Ivanova

Affiliation

FSB; Former operative of the Secret Empire

Status

Identity

Secret Identity

Citizenship

Russian

Occupation

Adventurer, former government agent, former subversive

Education

Intelligence training, secret psychic program graduate

Characteristics^[2]

Hair

White and pink

Unusual Features

Seraph's eyes glowed orange when she used her powers.

Origin

Universe

Earth-616

Place of Birth

St. Petersburg, Russia

Creators

J.M. DeMatteis, Don Perlin

First Appearance	Last Appearance
Defenders #123 (September, 1983)	Defenders #151 (January, 1986)

History

Seraph was first seen working as an agent for the Russian government, and was sent undercover as a double agent within the American patriotic subversive group the Secret Empire.

While working for the Secret Empire, Seraph's fate became entwined with that of the Defender Cloud, who was imprinted with false memories to believe that Seraph was her elder sister, and that their parents had been killed. Cloud started working alongside Seraph as an agent for the Secret Empire.

Seraph and Cloud were sent into action alongside another super-powered agent, Harridan, to abduct the synthezoid Avenger the Vision. They staked out the suburban home the Vision shared with his wife and fellow Avenger the Scarlet Witch. Although they discovered that the couple were being visited by three of the New Defenders, Beast, Iceman, and Gargoyle at the time, they decided to press on with the plan, despite Harridan's objections. Storming the house, the three attacked the heroes, and for a time had the upper hand, until they were finally defeated by the Gargoyle. The three agents were arrested and taken into custody, apparently by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Somehow, however, Seraph and Cloud ended up back in the clutches of the Secret Empire. When the New Defenders attempted a rescue mission, they too were captured. Realizing that the Secret Empire's leader, Professor Power's plotting threatened Russia as well as the United States, Seraph escaped, freeing Cloud and the rest of the Defenders. When Professor Power tried to launch a rocket that would spark off World War Three, Seraph helped the Defenders fight the Secret Empire's agents the Mutant Force and Mad Dog, and they defeated the Secret Empire's plan.

Seraph was later seen undercover in the US military, where her path again crossed with the Defenders. She revealed that she knew the truth about Cloud's origins, and it was discovered that Cloud was not the human being she thought she was, but was actually a stellar nebula that had merely taken on human form. Seraph accompanied Cloud and the Defenders into outer space, where they came into contact with a group of aliens whose star system had lost its star - Cloud, who had fled and taken human form on discovering that other stars had been stolen by the alien Star Thief. The heroes vanquished the Star-Thief, and Cloud returned to her existence as a sentient star.

Returning to Earth with the Defenders, Seraph took her leave of them to go back to Russia. Her current activities are unknown.