Starlight

Origin

Dr. Tania Belinsky was initially simply one of the Red Guardians, the Soviet counterparts of Captain America. She arrived in the United States to perform brain surgery on Nighthawk of the Defenders and ended up joining the team herself. She became a close friend of Clea, Hellcat and Valkyrie during her stay. She was often bemused and somewhat critical of capitalist culture. She left the team in "Defenders" #46 (April, 1977) during a line-up change for the team. The Presence (Sergei Krylov) later captured and mutated her into Starlight, a being powered by high levels of radioactive energy. She has never appeared without her protective  body armor since and it is uncertain if there is a human body under her armor.  Although she fell in love with The Presence, they fell out and she left him, joining the Winter Guard. After a row following the death of Laynia Petrovna, the original Darkstar, several members left the team, including Starlight. The defectors renamed themselves The Protectorate and entered Immortus' realm in the hopes of persuading him to revive the fallen Darkstar. Immortus told them that if they defended his lands from Dire Wraiths for a year, he would indeed revive her. During this year, Starlight and Vanguard began a relationship. However, this was not to last, as one of the Protectorate's members, Fantasma, revealed herself to be a Dire Wraith before fleeing to Earth. 
 
Starlight followed her, alongside Vanguard and Powersurge. Although the team were successful in defeating Fantasma and banishing her to Limbo, the wraith grabbed hold of Starlight just before the portal to limbo closed, trapping her inside. Her current status is unknown.
 

Powers and Abilities

As Red Guardian, she was extremely agile, a skilled hand-in-hand combatant and used her belt buckle as a projectile weapon. However, in her civilian life she was an accomplished neurosurgeon and would become an expert in the field. As Starlight, she can form force fields and project powerful energy blasts at her opponents. She can travel at "warp speed" through space. Tania is immune to radiation and can actually absorb it to increase her power levels. She does not need food, water, air or sleep to survive. She and the Presence are consorts to each other and they remain telepathically linked. The Presence has at times placed her under direct mind control but she retains enough free will to regain partial independence. Due to this link they are largely co-dependent and fear the loss of one another. 

Personal Data

• Real Name: Tania Belinskaya   
• Height: 5' 9"
  
• Weight: 125 lbs
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Black

Status

Citizenship: Russian Place of Birth: St. Petersburg  Education: Holds a Doctoral Degree Affiliations: Formerly the Defenders Occupations: Neurosurgeon  Known Relatives: Andrei Belinsky (father)