| Diamondback | |
|---|---|
| |
| Diamondback | |
Vital statistics
| |
| Position | Member of the Serpent Squad |
| Age | Unknown |
| Status | Alive |
Physical attributes
| |
| Height | 5' 11" |
| Weight | 69 Kilograms |
Rachel Leighton was born in Austin, Texas as the only girl among three brothers. As a youth, she moved with her family from Texas to New York City and proceeded to grow up with the wrong crowd. Two of her brothers joined a notorious street gang known as the Savage Crims, led by Brock Rumlow, a gang which actually served as a place of potential recruits for HYDRA. At the age of fifteen, having been told about the organization by her brothers, Rachel attempted to join the gang and therefore become a recruit of HYDRA. Brock thought that Rachel would squeal about HYDRA's existence like her brothers did and so beat her senseless. Her two brothers in the gang retaliated by attacking Rumlow, but it went badly and her elder brother Ricky was killed in the fight. Her other brother, Danny, survived and went on to become the mercenary known as Cutthroat.
After Rachel recovered, she realized that she never wanted to be victimized again. She enrolled for elite combat training under the legendary mercenary Taskmaster, and became a deadly fighter, demonstrating a particular skill for hurling objects with great accuracy. While training with Taskmaster, he sent her credentials to HYDRA whom disregarded her thinking that she would be a liability to the organization, but there was one branch of HYDRA that saw potential in Rachel. The HYDRA operative known as King Cobra chose to make Rachel a member of his faction and even make her a member of his group of powered or highly skilled individuals known as the Serpent Squad. As part of being a member of the squad, Rachel took the identity of Diamondback, designing a colorful suit to match. As Diamondback, she developed a bolder, sassier, and more seductive personality than she ever had as Rachel Leighton, even dying her hair a bright magenta color as a reflection of this change. To take advantage of her mastery of thrown weapons, she was armed with an array of 'throwing diamonds' created by HYDRA.
Abilities[]
Diamondback is an Olympic-level athlete who excels in gymnastics, an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert thrower of knives and other sharp objects.