Pepper Potts

Real Name
Virginia "Pepper" Potts Hogan

Occupation
Superhero team leader; former executive assistant

Citizenship
U.S.A.

Place of Birth
Unrevealed

Known Relatives
Harold "Happy" Hogan (husband, deceased), unidentified adopted son & daughter, Clay Hogan (brother-in-law), unidentified grandfather-in-law

Group Affiliation
The Order (leader)

Education
College-level business studies

Height
5'4"

Weight
110 lbs.

Eyes
Green

Hair
Auburn

Powers
None

Abilities
Pepper has extensive experience in business administration and secretarial duties.

Other Info
Virginia "Pepper" Potts was a member of the secretarial pool at Stark Industries when Howard Stark ran the company. After the death of Howard, his son Anthony "Tony" Stark assumed control of the company, and quickly realized Pepper's value because she understood the day-to-day business of running the company better than himself. Unfortunately, Pepper found herself doing most of Tony's work for him because he was often out socializing. During this time, Pepper continued her studies in business administration in order to cover for Tony. (To learn more about Tony Stark, click on his highlighted name above.)

Later, Pepper began to see a change in Tony's behavior (he had become Iron Man without her knowledge); Tony began to assume more of his responsibilities which eased the pressure off of her. Soon after, Pepper became infatuated with Tony, but he distanced himself from her emotionally because of his Iron Man armor (which at that time was needed to keep him alive). Tony soon hired ex-boxer Harold "Happy" Hogan as his chauffeur, and Happy was immediately attracted to Pepper. Pepper repeatedly turned Happy down when he tried to date her, but when he was almost killed aiding Iron Man against Titanium Man, Pepper realized that she loved him. Eventually, they were married and left Stark Industries. (To learn about the characters above, click on their names.)

Years later, Pepper and Happy experienced some marital problems which led to a divorce. Soon after, they both returned to Stark's employ when he started up his business Stark Solutions (now both were aware that he was Iron Man). Although Pepper found herself drawn to Tony again, she and Happy eventually reconciled and remarried. The couple considered starting a family to supplement their two adopted children, but during Pepper's pregnancy, she was assaulted by Iron Man's enemy Ayisha, and lost the baby. She and Happy continued to work for Tony during his time as Iron Man; however, when Happy was placed in a vegetative coma after a fight with the Spymaster, Pepper requested that Tony turn off his life support as an act of mercy. Tony reluctantly complied. (To learn a little more about the Spymaster, click on his name above.)

Some time later, Pepper has become the team leader of the Order (California's superhero team mandated under the Fifty-State Initiative). Lacking superpowers herself, Pepper (now going by "Hera") uses high-tech "telepresence enhancements" to monitor and direct the team from their headquarters. (The forth picture posted above shows Pepper in her role as Hera. Also, to learn more about the Order or the Initiative click on their names above. Note: Beware of the few women with bare midriff in the Order's bio page.)

Upon the absorption of the Order into the Initiative, Tony Stark offered Pepper a job on the special projects team at Stark Enterprises, which she accepted. However, this abruptly came to an end when Ezekiel Stane, son of Obadiah Stane, caused an explosion during a party hosted by Stark in Taipei; Pepper, unable to flee, was trapped under debris and wounded by shrapnel. She suffered a concussion, damage in almost every internal organ, some degree of deafness in the right ear, and pieces of shrapnel were embedded in her chest. She was far too weak to withstand a prolonged surgery; therefore, Stark embedded a strong magnet in her chest, essentially turning Pepper Potts into a cyborg dependent on keeping her chest magnet engaged to stay alive. Pepper survived the procedure and her body later became further enhanced with new cybernetics and upgrades to the magnet. (The cybernetic technology implanted in Pepper’s chest caused a number of physical changes to her body: it fixed her eyesight (she needed glasses before), increased her metabolism, made her stronger, improved her reaction time and reflexes, and increased her IQ by about 25 points. The electromagnet has also been shown to give her some control over the magnetic fields around her, once allowing her to levitate briefly.) (To learn about the Stanes, click on their names above.)

Some time later, Pepper discovered a secret room in Tony’s office, which contained a suit of armor that he made especially for her. Pepper eventually used this suit to escape Norman Osborn. When Osborn discovered that Pepper had a suit of armor, he decided to test her abilities by shooting down nearby plane. Pepper was able to successfully catch the plane and take it to a nearby airport. (Pepper’s suit, the Mark 1616, appears to be similar to Iron Man's and can fly. It contains an AI version of Jarvis to assist her and answer questions, and is ideally suited to her biology and cybernetic enhancements. However, in respect to Pepper’s wishes that she not become a weapon, her suit has no weapons whatsoever, and is instead designed for “heavy rescue and recovery.” This led to the alias she goes by now: "Rescue." The Rescue armor contains repulsor technology, and electromagnetic field generators allowing her to suspend and tow massive loads and is powered by solar cells.) (The fifth picture posted above is of Pepper and her suit, and the first picture posted is of her in the role as Rescue. To learn about Osborn or Jarvis, click on their names above.)

To learn a tiny bit more concerning Pepper Potts/Hera/Rescue, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Potts_Hogan,_Pepper.