Dottie Underwood

"I used to be so jealous of girls like you. I would have done anything to walk like you, to talk like you. But now... I can be anybody I want."

- Dottie Underwood to Peggy Carter

The woman known as Dorothy "Dottie" Underwood is a Soviet assassin trained in the Red Room Academy. As an operative of a Soviet espionage agency Leviathan, she participated in Johann Fennhoff's revenge plot against the American industrialist Howard Stark. She subsequently adopted the persona of a small-town girl from Iowa and infiltrated the Griffith Hotel in New York City. While assisting Fennhoff, she came in conflict with Peggy Carter, an SSR agent. During Fennhoff's attempt to kill the entire population of New York City on V-E Day, she was wounded but eventually managed to escape her pursuers.

Early Life
"Russia has been training young women to be undercover operatives."

- Peggy Carter to Edwin Jarvis

Underwood was a part of a Russian program, which brainwashed and trained its young female subjects to become elite assassins. Along with hand-to-hand combat and tactical skills, she developed many habits there that would persist into adulthood, such as handcuffing herself to her bed when sleeping or sharing bread with others. Here she learned exceptional discipline and skills that would make her a highly effective killer. In 1937, Underwood appeared to strike up a friendship with another girl in the program; together they watched American movies with subliminal messages while being taught English and they stole and shared bread together, seemingly enjoying each other's company. However later the two friends were put together in a sparring match where their fondness for each other was replaced with a desire to kill the other. Underwood managed to gain the upper hand and got Anya in a headlock. She looked at her tutor who gave Dottie a nod, and Dottie snapped her friend's neck, killing her instantly.

World War II
In 1944, Underwood stood beside Fyodor armed with a machine gun as he greeted four men, including Johann Fennhoff, who were chosen to join Leviathan. She removed the bags from the bound men's heads so that they could see as Fyodor explained their situation and offered them the chance to leave. When one of the men refused to join Leviathan as he wished to return to his family, Underwood stabbed him in the jugular vein and toppled his chair with a kick. Seeing the brutality of Leviathan, the rest of the men joined without hesitation. In December 1945, under the alias Ida Emke, Underwood dated Howard Stark, who took her to one of his vaults to impress her. There she saw that he owned a self-piloting airplane, among other inventions. Stark told Underwood that he had more inventions that would impress her if she saw the ones he kept in his mansion, giving her the information Leviathan needed to steal many of his weapons including Midnight Oil. Emke and Stark spent the weekend together until he left her and she was given a Stark Special Bracelet from Edwin Jarvis as a goodbye gift.

Living at the Griffith Hotel
"This place is pretty swell, huh? Seems like one big happy family."

- Dottie Underwood

Pretending to be a girl from Iowa with aspirations to become a professional ballet dancer, Underwood came to the Griffith Hotel, moving into the room recently vacated by Molly Bowden. Landlady Miriam Fry was in the process of escorting her to her room when the pair happened upon Peggy Carter and Angie Martinelli. Underwood happily introduced herself to the two women. During her time staying at the Griffith Hotel, Underwood kept the training the had learnt in the Red Room Academy, which included handcuffing herself to her bed every night before she went to bed. Each morning would consist of waking up at the time she had decided before performing her morning work out of sit-ups to ensure that her fitness was kept at a maximum. Once her exercise was completed, Underwood would go downstairs to join the rest of the residents of the hotel for breakfast while maintaining her cover as a somewhat simple minded guest of the hotel. Through her investigation into Howard Stark's stolen weapons, Underwood learned that Leet Brannis had hidden them on a ship. When Jerome Zandow, the man guarding the weapons, was arrested, Underwood followed Ray Krzeminski who was driving him to the New York Bell Company Office to be interrogated. As Krzeminski waited for a red light, she bumped her car against his. When he got out, Underwood quickly killed him with a suppressed gun. Underwood then killed a pleading Jerome Zandow before leaving the scene. Sometime later, Underwood ate supper with the other tenants as Peggy Carter, Angie Martinelli and Carol stuffed their purses with food. They began discussing the different methods that could be used to transport food to their rooms, with one of the women claiming Gloria, the woman sitting next to Underwood, possessed a pocketbook that had a compartment for holding a cup of gravy. After verifying this claim, Underwood asked Gloria if she could construct one for her, "to hold pickles", to which Gloria agreed.

Procuring an Automatic Pistol
"Return to your room please." "Is that pistol an automatic? I want that."

- Otto Mink and Dottie Underwood

Later that evening, Underwood stumbled upon smuggler Otto Mink, who had come to assassinate Peggy Carter. Acting confused, she asked him if he was lost. Mink ordered her to return to her room and, when she did not comply, threatened her with his Automatic Pistol. Observing the weapon, Underwood said she wanted it for herself and, abandoning her harmless country girl persona, attacked the shocked Mink. Using a set of acrobatic moves, she snapped his neck before he could retaliate, following which she confiscated the firearm. Having ensured that no one had witnessed the murder, Underwood dragged Mink's body in her room and hid it under her bed. Underwood later posed with her newly-acquired weapon in front of the mirror, before being called down by Angie Martinelli for dinner, keeping her calm and harmless persona to the rest of the household, Underwood replied that she would be right now. Mink's corpse remained under her bed where it could not be discovered by any of the other residents.

Investigating Peggy's Room
"Wow, you sounded just like Captain America just now." "That's no bad thing."

- Dottie Underwood and Peggy Carter

Meeting up with Peggy Carter at the L&L Automat the following morning, Underwood expressed her desire to see the city, marking several prominent locations like Central Park and the Empire State Building on a map. In response, Carter stated they were "tourist traps" and recommended Underwood start with Brooklyn instead, to get to know the city's people. Underwood then "accidentally" caused Carter's purse to fall off the table - she quickly picked up the items that spilled out, but also swiftly pocketed the key to Carter's room. After Carter had gone to work, Underwood entered the agent's room using the key and began thoroughly searching it. Discovering a hidden compartment in the wardrobe, she pulled out a box that contained photos of Howard Stark's recovered inventions. Taking one of the pictures, Underwood then put back the box, placing everything exactly as it originally was, and moved to the vanity, where she observed a photo of pre-serum Steve Rogers. After briefly assuming Carter's bearing and accent, Underwood exited the room, carefully placing the string that Carter had in the lock as she closed the door.

Target: Peggy Carter
"Gosh, I hope she's okay. Should I call an ambulance?"

- Dottie Underwood

The next day, Underwood took the subway to a dentistry office across the street from the New York Bell Company. The dentist working there assumed she was there for an interview and invited her in. During the interview he touched her leg and indicated he wanted a sexual favor from her. She killed the dentist by drilling into his eyeball. She then assembled a high powered rifle in his office window. Underwood aimed her rifle at the office window of Roger Dooley as he interviewed Doctor Johann Fennhoff. As Fennhoff opened and stood by the window, she sent beams of light for him to see. He secretly sent back a coded message that Underwood translated; Peggy Carter was to be killed.

Underwood returned to the Griffith Hotel as Strategic Scientific Reserve agents Jack Thompson and Daniel Sousa were leading a raiding party to capture Carter. She saw Carter as Carter was attempting to leave the building. Underwood pretended she seemed concerned for Carter's safety. Carter said she had to go and would not be able to attend dinner. As Carter tried to get past, Underwood gave her a hug and suddenly kissed her full on the lips. Underwood kissed her hard; she had a coating of Sweet Dreams Lipstick on her lips. Carter was knocked unconscious. Underwood pulled out her switchblade to kill Carter, but got interrupted by Thompson and Sousa who noticed them. When Thompson and Sousa saw the unconscious agent, Underwood told them that she found Carter like that. Underwood came outside and watched as Carter was was taken away by the SSR along with the other residents of the Griffith Hotel. Just as Carter was put into the car by Agent Thompson she regained consciousness, Underwood kept eye-contact with her enemy as she was taken away. Underwood abandoned her room at the Griffith and escaped before Carter could name her to the SSR. Afterwards, Angie Martinelli entered her room to announce a meeting that Miriam Fry was holding; Underwood had abandoned it.

Johann Fennhoff's Campaign
As part of her orders given to her by Leviathan, Underwood travelled to a store and purchased a baby carriage, telling the salesperson that she needed it for herself and ordered a pink blanket to go inside, acting like an eagerly anticipating mother to be with a large smile on her face. The salesperson remarked that she must not be far along in her pregnancy, because she was not showing; Underwood silently quipped that she had an arrival coming soon. Underwood then returned to Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office to continue her communication with Johann Fennhoff and get updates on their mission. Fennhoff informed her through a Morse code message that she needed to prep for evacuation as he was planning his escape shortly due to there being too many disruptions at the SSR and before his true intentions could be discovered. However their communication was disrupted when Roger Dooley asked Fennhoff to step away from the window as he claimed it was getting too cold in his office. Leaving the office, Underwood spotting Agent Daniel Sousa inspecting various offices in the building. She attempted to walk silently past him carrying her rifle in it's briefcase, but she was discovered and ordered to raise her hands. Underwood did as instructed but as soon as Sousa walked too close to her and she kicked the gun out of his hand. The pair fought a brief battle, with Sousa relying on his cain to defend himself until Sousa reclaimed his gun and held her at gunpoint. Running to the stairs, Underwood was able to dodge Sousa's gunshots before she leaped down the stairs, jumping from banister to banister of the stairwell to jump down ten flights to the bottom floor before Sousa had a chance to follow. Once she landed on the bottom floor, Underwood was seen by another Strategic Scientific Reserve agent holding a gun. Smiling at the bewildered agent, Underwood swiftly disarmed and killed the agent waiting there for her and escaped with Agent Jack Thompson called for reinforcements.

Massacre at the Cinema Theater
Having made it clear of Seth Honicky's Dentistry Office, Underwood procured a car and met with Johann Fennhoff outside the New York Bell Company Office where he had just escaped while carrying the Midnight Oil. Fennhoff greeted Underwood and informed her that the Midnight Oil would need to be tested as it had been lying in storage for so many years. The nervous Underwood asked if that was wise as the Strategic Scientific Reserve were now aware of their true plans, but Fennhoff assured her they would be too busy with the inevitable death of Roger Dooley to worry about the two of them. Learning that the Midnight Oil needed to be tested after its long dormancy, Underwood placed it in a baby carriage and walked it into a movie theater. Upon seeing the baby carriage, one member of the audience rudely complained about the idea of a baby crying throughout the entire movie, however another tried to comfort Underwood by telling her to ignore him. Underwood then activated the Midnight Oil and left the cinema with Fennhoff, locking the audience inside to brutally massacre each other.

Target: Howard Stark
Underwood and Johann Fennhoff drove in the car while they discussed the city. While Fennhoff was impressed by the city, Underwood considered it like any other. A police officer stopped them as Fennhoff told her not to attract attention. Using her innocent persona, Underwood managed to convince the officer to not give them a ticket. As the officer prepared to leave, he got informed over the radio to search for a woman matching Underwood's description and the car she was driving. As he went for his gun Underwood quickly held him at gunpoint and captured him. Fennhoff and Underwood went to a warehouse of Howard Stark and she quickly killed an employee who tried to stop them. Fennhoff learned of the return of Stark and told her they will go back to the city.

As Howard Stark attended a press conference, Underwood installed a rigged rifle to shoot at Stark. She then killed the two police officers at his car and Fennhoff hypnotized the captured cop to drive Stark away. Underwood later killed the hypnotized cop and she and Fennhoff took a captured Stark away by car. Underwood reminded Stark that they spent a weekend together; Stark tried to remember her name but was unsuccessful. At the warehouse, Underwood tied him to a chair and beat him while he kept trying to come up with her name. Fennhoff confronted Stark and told him how his Midnight Oil had killed countless Russian soldiers during the war by sending them into a murderous rage, including his brother, while Fennhoff could only watch helpless. Fennhoff then hypnotised Stark to make him believe he had found Captain America and flew towards him. However, in reality, he was flying a plane and was preparing to spread the Midnight Oil. Fennhoff and Underwood stayed in contact with Stark over the radio as he flew the plane. Peggy Carter entered with a shotgun and confronted them, but Underwood quickly disarmed her with a kick and knocked Carter down. Underwood tried to kill her with her switchblade; however, Carter disarmed her with a sheet. Underwood ordered Fennhoff to go as she fought Carter and quickly overpowered her. Carter attempted several times to gain control of the radio to speak to Howard Stark, but Underwood kept pulling her away to continue the fight. Underwood began beating Carter brutally with a baseball bat and mentioned that she used to be jealous of girls like Carter, but now she could be anyone she wants. Underwood prepared to finish Carter off with a baseball bat, but Carter managed to duck the blow and kicked Underwood out a window. Underwood fell hard on a plane and kept lying down while bleeding. Underwood survived the fall, however, and made her escape unnoticed. After Ivchenko was arrested, Carter looked for Underwood, but she had disappeared, leaving only a pool of blood where she had hit her head.

Personality
Underwood is a cold-blooded operative. She is able to assume the guise of a harmless and innocent woman while completely hiding her true nature. Trained from a young age to be a ruthless killer and a spy, Underwood kills her targets without doubt or any regard for human life. She is able to fake multiple emotions to deceive her victims before striking; she was even able to befriend and trick Peggy without raising any suspicion.

Underwood often takes her targets' weapons for herself, having taken the Automatic Pistol from Otto Mink and the Sweet Dreams Lipstick from Peggy Carter.

Abilities

 * Master Acrobat: Underwood was a skilled acrobat, capable of building up momentum for an attack by jumping up against walls, and landing skillfully once the attack had been completed. She used the railings and banisters of a staircase to jump down ten flights of a building to avoid capture from the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
 * Master Martial Artist: Underwood received extensive training in hand-to-hand combat, which, coupled with her acrobatic prowess, allowed her to easily kill Otto Mink before he had a chance to fire at her with his pistol. Her fighting skills allow her to quickly disarm trained agents. During her fight with Peggy Carter, she was able to disarm and quickly overwhelm her, but was ultimately defeated.
 * Master Spy: Trained to be a spy, Underwood convincingly assumed the guise of a harmless and slightly naive girl from Iowa, managing to fool even Peggy Carter, a highly skilled spy herself. Aiding her in her deceptions was her ability to fake emotions and adopt various accents. Underwood slept with Howard Stark to learn the location of Midnight Oil for Ivchenko.
 * Expert Tactician: Underwood is highly skilled in tactics and is able to outthink her opponents. She was able to abduct Howard Stark from a heavily guarded press conference by creating a distraction.
 * Expert Marksman: Underwood is skilled in the use of firearms, killing both Ray Krzeminski and Jerome Zandow with a pistol.

Weapons

 * Switchblade: Underwood usually carried a switchblade for covert killings. She used it to kill Pasha when he refused to be recruited by Leviathan, and she also took it to kill Peggy Carter, but did not get to use it because of the arrival of Daniel Sousa and Jack Thompson.
 * : Underwood's weapon of choice is the same one used by Peggy Carter. She used it to threaten Officer Pike when he discovered she was a fugitive, and to kidnap Howard Stark at gunpoint. Underwood was forced to drop it when Peggy Carter managed to get her by surprise inside Howard Stark's Warehouse, as Carter was pointing at her at short range with a shotgun.
 * : Underwood used a Korovin, the first semi-automatic pistol of Soviet origin, customized with a suppressor, to kill Ray Krzeminski and Jerome Zandow when the Strategic Scientific Reserve retrieved Howard Stark's stolen technology, to prevent Zandow from revealing any detail he may know about Leviathan's plan.
 * : The standard assault weapon used by Leviathan operatives. Underwood carried one when a group of individuals including Johann Fennhoff were recruited by force into the organization.
 * Automatic Pistol: Underwood killed Otto Mink just to obtain this weapon, storing it inside her room at the Griffith Hotel.
 * : A customized rifle with a scope and a flashlight that Underwood used to communicate with Johann Fennhoff in Morse code from the building in front of the New York Bell Company.
 * : A sniper rifle rigged by Underwood pointing at the New York City Hall, that she used to create a distraction in order to kidnap Howard Stark.

Other Equipment

 * Sweet Dreams Lipstick: Underwood stole this from Peggy Carter. If someone is kissed by Underwood while she was wearing the lipstick, they would become lightheaded and eventually faint.

Allies

 * Red Room - Trainers
 * Red Room Instructress
 * Leviathan
 * Fyodor
 * Johann Fennhoff
 * Griffith Hotel
 * Miriam Fry - Landlady
 * Angie Martinelli - Friend and Neighbor
 * Carol
 * Lorraine
 * Helen
 * Vera
 * Gloria

Enemies

 * Anya † - Friend and Victim
 * Pasha † - Victim
 * Howard Stark - Former Lover and Target
 * Edwin Jarvis
 * Jerome Zandow † - Victim
 * Otto Mink † - Victim
 * Seth Honicky † - Victim
 * Strategic Scientific Reserve
 * Ray Krzeminski † - Victim
 * Jack Thompson
 * Daniel Sousa
 * Peggy Carter - Friend and Neighbour turned Enemy and Target
 * Corcoran † - Victim
 * Pike † - Victim

Behind the Scenes

 * Bridget Regan studied Scarlett Johansson's choreography from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films to faithfully portray a "Black Widow" in her character's fight scenes.