Nimble and playful, Felicia Hardy is a cat burglar who lives up to her profession literally, stalking the nightly rooftops as the renowned and elusive Black Cat. Born to the master thief Walter Hardy, Felicia devoted herself to a life of crime at a young age after his arrest, being taken under the wing of her father's former mentor, the Black Fox. A thrill-seeker to a fault, Felicia finds her true reward not in the bounty she steals, but in the act of stealing itself. First crossing paths with Spider-Man while attempting to free her dying father from prison, the Black Cat quickly became tangled in the hero's web. A complicated romance blossomed for a short time, leading to a brief partnership in crime-fighting before they broke up. However, Spider-Man proved a positive influence that shaped Felicia into a more heroic figure, who became willing to do the right thing when push comes to shove, and routinely returns to the hero's life as one of his most stalwart allies.
Although naturally skilled and acrobatic, Felicia has gained and lost superhuman powers several times throughout the years, most notably possessing a "bad luck" aura capable of inflicting people in her vicinity with misfortune; the underhanded plot by which she first obtained these powers, from scientists working for the Kingpin, being one of the factors that strained her initial romance with Spider-Man. In addition from her role as a galvanic paramour for the web-slinger, the Black Cat has carved a reputation in the super hero community by herself, at one point opening her own private detective and security consulting firm, and joining Heroes for Hire alongside Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. Felicia's shifting allegiances have also caused her to have similarly complicated relationships with her former lovers, like Thieves Guild leader Odessa Drake, or her first partner in crime, Tamara Blake.
