Sharon Carter, aka Agent 13 is a spy and S.H.I.E.L.D. field agent who worked under Nick Fury and with Captain America. She is an excellent markswoman who is highly proficient in many weapons, she is a well trained spy, skilled in hand to hand combat, and talented with computers and technology. Originally, Sharon was Peggy Carter’s younger sister, but to account for her continued youthfulness, her origin was retconned to being Peggy’s niece and then grand-niece instead.

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers created Sharon Carter, introducing her 60 years ago in Tales of Suspense #75 (March 1966). While growing up in Richmond, Virgina, Sharon regularly heard stories about Peggy Carter and her exploits as a freedom fighter with the French Resistance in World War II.

Sharon was so inspired by Peggy’s heroic adventures that she trained hard and joined S.H.I.E.L.D. While she was becoming Agent 13, Captain America was coming out of suspended animation, and a lengthy relationship (working and romantic) was imminent. He joined Sharon on an early mission against Batroc the Leaper, leading to more team-ups on missions against dangerous foes like Hydra, Red Skull, and A.I.M. Over the course of their adventures, Sharon and Steve fell in love and she became one of the first people to learn of his secret identity.

She was tasked with helping the New York Police on a case against a white supremacist terrorist group called National Force. While undercover in the group, Sharon was hit with mind-altering gas and was believed to be dead from a self-destruct device created by National Force. Later it was revealed that Sharon’s death had been faked so that she could go on a top secret mission for S.H.I.E.L.D., but it did not go according to plan and she was killed.

Once again, Sharon was not actually dead – instead she had been held captive by a dictator named Tap-Kwai. After she escaped, Sharon spent years operating as a mercenary and was finally reunited with Captain America when she was fighting Kubecult, a Neo-Nazi group that wanted to use the Cosmic Cube to bring Adolf Hitler back to life.

While taking down the cult, Steve started to notice that Sharon had become a harder person since they were last together and Sharon noted ways in which Steve was naïve. Though the pair did not reignite their relationship, they did work together to take down Red Skull (arguing over whether to kill him) and stopped people from going on violent rampages caused by Nightmare.

Sharon briefly served as the Executive Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. before returning to field work and reporting to Maria Hill. When the Civil War storyline split the allegiance of Marvel characters, Sharon was initially on the side of the Superhuman Registration Act, though she was reluctant to catch Captain America, who she had been dating again. Once she connected with Nick Fury’s underground organizations, Sharon switched sides to oppose the act.

Unknowingly under the hypnotic control of Doctor Faustus, Sharon was forced to shoot Steve when he was set to appear in Federal Court. She was then forced to disable Black Widow and Falcon then held captive by Red Skull where she had a miscarriage. Doctor Faustus made her forget the pregnancy and Sharon escaped, then she decided to quit working for S.H.I.E.L.D.

She was then framed for murdering Steve and used by Norman Osborn, Red Skull, and Doctor Doom to try to claim his body. Eventually she escaped them and used Red Skull’s ship to blow him up. Sharon was on the Secret Avengers team, defeated Doctor Faustus by poisoning him after he tried to brainwash her, and she formed the Daughters of Liberty team.