NIGHT WITCH

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human technology user (post-war 1940s), Soviet citizen (see comments)

Occupation: Soviet super soldier

Group Membership: "Soviet-Super Soldiers" (Red Guardian/Aleksey Lebedev, Iron Comrade, Proletariat, Sunbird)

Affiliations: None

Enemies: All-Winners Squad (Bucky/Fred Davis, Captain America/Jeff Mace, Human Torch/Jim Hammond, Miss America/Madeline Joyce, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Toro/Thomas Raymond, Whizzer/Robert Frank) 

Known Relatives: None 

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed, presumably somewhere in the Soviet Union

First Appearance: Captain America: Patriot#2 (November 2010)

Powers/Abilities: Night Witch's back mounted jetpack could lift both her and the weight of at least one other full grown person aloft. She wielded a gun which fired a dark greenish energy a range of several meters; what it did to those struck was not revealed. The same weapon's dark energy could be used to create the "People's Portal," a massive wave of darkness that most likely teleported people, perhaps via opening a portal (to the Darkforce Dimension?), or perhaps more mundanely hid them from sight as they fled.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 150 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Black

History: (Captain America: Patriot#2 (fb), BTS) -  In September 1946 a Russian spy was working at the Harwell Atomic Energy Research Facility in Oxford, England, under the guise of atomic scientist Dr. Klaus Fuchs. British intelligence began suspecting his true status and that he was passing on atomic secrets, but needed time to make their case. The Russians sent in a deliberately high profile squad of super-powered Soviet soldiers, including Night Witch, to "kidnap him," either extracting him, or, if they failed to do so, to at least throw suspicion off him. Catching wind of the abduction, and with Britain's own heroes otherwise occupied, British authorities called in the All-Winners Squad, who took on the Soviet team as they attempted to escape with their "prisoner."

(Captain America: Patriot#2) - Carrying Fuchs aloft with one hand, Night Witch wielded her gun with the other, opening fire on the Human Torch and Toro, but missed them both. Miss America punched Night Witch, causing her to drop Fuchs into the Whizzer's arms, and the speedster hastily departed with him before the Soviets could stop him. Angrily noting that the mission had been ruined, Red Guardian ordered Night Witch to get them out of there. Firing dark energy from her gun, Night Witch opened the "People's Portal" and the Soviets vanished, either teleported or escaping under cover of the sudden engulfing darkness.   

Comments: Created by Karl Kesel (writer) and Mitch Breitweiser (art).

    Given the jet pack and gun, Night Witch's powers were presumably technology based, but it is possible that these were props intended to deceive opponents, and that Night Witch's power came from a different source. Given the darkness and the apparent ability to open a portal enabling teleportation, perhaps she was manipulating the Darkforce. Maybe she is the mother or grandmother of Darkstar (and Vanguard) whose exposure to Darkforce here resulted in alterations to her genes that resulted in mutant children / descendents.

    She was a Soviet agent, but not necessarily Russian; she could have been from anywhere behind the Iron Curtain, though her use of "Da" (Russian for yes) means she probably came from one where Russian was widely spoken.  

    Where did the name Night Witch com from:

• From John Holstein:
• Night Witch was probably named after the Night Witches, who were World War II era Soviet female military aviators nicknamed the Night Witches (Nachthexen in German) by their German foes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches   in Russian their name is Nochnye Vedmy). 
      If it was me I would link her origin to Breeze Barton's Miracle City/City of Mirage.
•  From Darci
•  From http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/flight-of-the-night-witches-wwii-s-all-female-fighting-force  
• The 588th lost 30 pilots during the fighting, but the 23 who survived, like Popova, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The squadron was never disbanded, but was instead converted into the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, which continued to fight for the Soviet Union, although with mixed gender forces. 
•  Per Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond edited by Timothy C. Dowling ): p. 14:
• The 46th Guard Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, later designated 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, flew the Po-2 bi-wing aircraft from May 1942 through May 1945.  They earned the designation as Guards in February 1943, Tamansky, Orders of the Red Banner and Suvorov II Class, and were disbanded in October 1945.
• Ron Fredericks noted this material as well, and included the Russian spelling of their real name: Ночные ведьмы

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Night Witch has no known connections to

• Nightwatch, supervillain posing as minor hero @ Web of Spider-Man#97
• or any other "Night" or "Witch" characters

images: (without ads)
Captain America: Patriot#2, p4, panel 1 (main image)
Captain America: Patriot#2, p5, panel 1 (fighting Miss America)
Captain America: Patriot#2, p5, panel 4 (opening the People's Portal)   

Appearances:
Captain America: Patriot#2 - Karl Kesel (writer), Mitch Breitweiser (art), Lauren Sankovitch (assistant editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 04/29/16

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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