Hawkeye

Kate Bishop grew up as the youngest daughter of a rich Manhattanite family. Although her father Derek was an emotionally distant publishing magnate, Kate admired him, and tried to gain his attention and approval during her summer breaks from boarding school. Her mother Eleanor was estranged from her father and frequently absent on vacations until she died while on trip in Boulder, Colorado when Kate was still young. Kate has an older sister, Susan. They have a friendly but somewhat tense relationship, because Susan doesn't understand or share Kate's focus on helping others. From an early age, Kate was frequently lonely and became determined to rely only on herself, which caused her to develop a very independent, blunt, and stubborn personality.

When she was still little, Kate secretly witnessed her father beating up another person late at night in his study. She quickly became disillusioned with Derek, and decided to further investigate his activities. She followed him to a meet-up with El Matador, and accidentally got herself caught briefly after Derek had left the location. El Matador held her to ransom, but Kate managed to attempt an escape. When one of Matador's men was about to catch her, an arrow flew past him, distracting him and saving Kate. The Avengers had arrived to the scene, after the archer Hawkeye had kept an eye on el Matador for some time, and they defeated the villains. Kate was impressed by the Avengers, but specially Hawkeye, for being a regular human with no powers but only skill. With the recent disillusion from her father, Kate turned Hawkeye into her role model. Kate was motivated to learn several forms of combat fighting and self-defense, and she quickly became proficient in swordplay, archery, and martial arts.

Kate first encountered the Young Avengers when they attempted to save her and two hundred other guests at her sister's wedding in St. Patrick's Cathedral. After the attack, at the hospital, Kate was approached by Cassie Lang, daughter of the Avengers' Ant-Man. Together the girls tracked down the Young Avengers to the ruins of the Avengers Mansion, where the girls confronted the team and invited themselves on as members. Not long afterwards, the Mansion was attacked by Kang the Conqueror. To join the battle, Kate donned gear from the Mansion including Mockingbird's Battle Staves and mask, Swordsman's Sword, Black Widow's utility belt, and Hawkeye's bow. After defeating Kang and saving the world, Kate and Cassie remained on as permanent members. Kate even took on the unofficial role of co-leader.

Kate was later recruited to be the partner of Clint Barton, the original Hawkeye, in his street-level crime-fighting in Brooklyn. When Clint continued to spiral downwards after one of their friends' deaths, Kate became frustrated with his immature choices and unwillingness to accept help. Needing some space, she moved to Los Angeles, taking Clint's dog, Lucky, with her. To make money, Kate set up her own detective agency, Hawkeye Investigations, and began working cases.