Janet Gibson (Earth-616)

Huntress

Gallery

Real Name

Janet “Mercedes” Gibson

Current Alias

Huntress

Aliases

Mercedes

Identity

Secret

Alignment

Neutral

Affiliation

Formerly The Hunters

Relatives

Aaron Gibson (father), Megan Gibson (mother)

Universe

Earth-616

Base Of Operations

Mobile

Characteristics

Gender

Female

Height

5' 6"

Weight

120 lbs (55 kg)

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Blonde

Status

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Vigilante; former mutant hunter, student

Education

College dropout

Origin

Origin

Former love interest of Rick Rios who died at the hands of Crossfire. M-Day activated her X-Gene, resurrecting her and erasing her memory.

Place of Birth

New York City

Creators

J.C. White

First appearance

Unknown

History

Janet grew up in New York City and she went to high school with Ricardo Rios. She was the most popular girl in school and she fell in love with Rick the day he saved her from a super villain attack at the school. The fact that he was a mutant attracted Janet the most. They began dating and continued to do so into college.

One day when Rick was out saving the world, Mercedes discovered an engagement ring. She began to cry out of joy. Suddenly she heard the doorbell and she went to answer it. A man stood there wearing a trenchcoat and he choked Mercedes into unconsciousness.

Death

Mercedes awoke and was inside an abandoned warehouse. She tried to find her way out of the building and the man, Crossfire, emerged. He beat her within an inch of her life and tied her to a chair.

Monarch arrived to save Mercedes, but before he could reach her, the warehouse exploded. Janet was killed and Monarch walked through the rubble holding her lifeless body.

After Mercedes was buried, Rick would visit her gravesite everyday. Her death caused Rick to spiral downwards into depression. Even after becoming Guardian, he would still go to see her.

Resurrection

The events of M-Day ended and Mercedes' mutant powers activated. Her body began to repair itself and she was alive once again. Mercedes was in her coffin and she clawed her way out, fully aware of what had happened to her. The stress was too much for her, so her powers healed her mind of the trauma, effectively wiping her memory. The only fragment of her past that remained was adapted into a dream in which she and a man were married and then murdered shortly after. Everyday she would have the dream, not knowing who the man was or why she kept having it.

Janet is haunted by this reoccurring nightmare.

As she wandered the streets trying to discover who she was, Mercedes came across a man looking for a partner. He claimed that he knew how to help her. She agreed to help him and they became the Hunters. They would capture mutants and sell them to whoever wanted their X-Genes.

Mercedes crossed paths with her former lover when she and Hunter abducted him. They planned to sell his symbiote and kill him. Upon witnessing Rick's face, Huntress felt hesitant to hurt him. It wasn't until, Rick said her name, that she remembered him. Mercedes set Rick and his symbiote free, but she couldn't leave with him. Mercedes didn't know if what she was doing was right, so she went back to help Hunter. He started to attack her.

The assault allowed Mercedes to remember being attacked by Crossfire. She defended herself and nearly killed him. She used her pheromones to make Hunter think he beat her and that he stashed her in a warehouse. Mercedes left to find out who she really was.

Finding Purpose

Janet walks through the streets of New York and hears a foreign public speaker. She was interested in knowing about how the political world changed since she died. Standing amongst a crowd of people, Janet takes the time to absorb the information the female Internationalist was preaching. Standing next to the woman was Hawkeye, disguised as a bodyguard, that seemed out of place to Janet. All of a sudden he pulled out a bow and fired an arrow over the crowd.

Hawkeye jumped off the stage and ran toward, a rappelling assassin, who began to chase down the speaker. Hawkeye tackled US Agent to the ground and they began to fight. Janet removed her clothes to reveal her armor as she headed towards the brawl. US Agent kicked Hawkeye off him and raced to the speaker, but was caught off guard by Huntress. She attempted to use her pheromones on him, but he read her mind before and slipped out from under her. He again pushed on with gun aimed forward and Hawkeye fired an arrow. US Agent back flipped and landed on the mid-air Huntress, with the arrow becoming intertwined with the metal in the door of the escape vehicle.

US Agent wrapped his hands around Huntress’ throat, preparing to suffocate her. She flew higher in the sky, trying to throw him off; she faded in and out of consciousness. Hawkeye fired one more arrow and it hit his target. The speaker’s other bodyguards continued to fire on the three. Then Huntress used her pheromones to paralyze US Agent causing him to release his grip and fall below. Hawkeye ran over, bow aimed at Huntress, not knowing if she could be trusted. He then dropped his guard and talked with her. The two agreed to work together, following the capture of US Agent.

Back at Hawkeye’s safe house, US Agent’s uniform was removed and he was tied to a chair. Hawkeye recognized him as Phoenix, though slightly different and he began to question his disappearance and recent actions. Elliot would not listen to him, cursing his former friend in Russian. Huntress suggested interrogating him through physical force. After a few more failed attempts, Hawkeye submitted to Huntress’ will. She threw the first punch and continued when Elliot didn't comply. When Hawkeye took over, the punishment finally became too much for Elliot and he passed out.

When he came to, he noted that he had a headache. Elliot looked up, asking why Hawkeye appeared ready to punch him again. Then he said, “Your enjoying this aren’t you Chris?” Hawkeye removed his mask and goggles, responding with, “I bet you are too?” Elliot was released and his wounds were cleaned up. He introduced himself to Huntress, who couldn't stop staring at him because he reminded her of someone. Then he informed the two about what happened to him after his corruption by the Phoenix Force. Janet got to know Christian Grayson, Hawkeye, better when Elliot left for a few hours. When he returned he announced that the three should travel together. He wanted them to take the opportunity to create a new identity to represent their newfound freedom. Janet adopted a new uniform and felt that she had finally found her place in the world once more.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Biokinesis: Huntress is capable of controlling the biological structure of her own and other people's bodies. Theoretically capable of rewriting someone's genetic structure at will. She can produce biomolecular energy at will to affect organic matter she touches, allowing her to heal physical damage done to her body or the bodies of others, reactivate suppressed mutant abilities, repair cerebral functions, and alter the composition of her own molecules in certain ways. She hasn't reached her full healing potential yet. She is capable of basic healing, having successfully healed broken bones, severe burns and even a mortal stab through the chest. Her ability is by close proximity - she tends to touch her targets, but can heal through clothing.

Huntress has demonstrated increased mastery of her powers: she is capable of using her pheromones in a variety of offensive ways as she has complete control over them.

Pheromone Control: Huntress has demonstrated the ability to manipulate her pheromones for the purpose of suppressing her own scent. She can also use her pheromones to manipulate the emotional state and sensory perceptions of other beings. She has been known to use this power to instill intense fear, happiness, depression, and a false sense of security to other beings. This allows her to seemingly appear where enemies can't see her, enabling her to inflect damage before an opponent realizes it. Such tactics give opponents the belief that she can either teleport or move at superhuman speeds, though she doesn't possess either of those powers. Her pheromone powers appear to be physical in nature, not psionic.

Pheromone Discharge: Mercedes can emit lethal pheromones from her body. These spores result in the weakness or death of anybody in her vicinity. The severity of the effect is based on the endurance, health, and relative proximity of the victims. Normal humans can be killed or incapacitated after a matter of seconds of exposure, while a being with exceptionally accelerated healing powers and physical stamina can sustain exposure for minutes or hours.

Abilities

Huntress possesses a genius-level understanding of human anatomy, physiology and biology.

Strength level

Average human

Weaknesses

Amnesia: After the manifestation of her X-gene, Mercedes lost all but a few memories of her former life.

Paraphernalia

Equipment:

• Formerly wore an armored flight suit
  

Transportation:

• Various vehicles
  

Weapons:

• None
  

Notes

• Janet believes Elliot is the dead husband in her dreams.
  

Trivia

• Ricardo Rios gave her the nickname Mercedes.
• She was four weeks pregnant at the time of her death.

See Also

• Appearances of Janet Gibson (Earth-616)
• Character Gallery: Janet Gibson (Earth-616)
• Quotations by Janet Gibson (Earth-616)

Discover and Discuss

• Search News for: Huntress · Janet “Mercedes” Gibson · Janet Gibson (Earth-616)

Links and References

• None.
  

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