Melinda May

Melinda May kicks butt and takes name as one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most dangerous agents.

The Cavalry

Little is known about Melinda May’s early upbringing and background, save that she applied and was accepted into the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D. to become one of the intelligence agency’s best and most reliable operatives. Her devotion to duty and ability to problem-solve under even the most stressful of situations earned May the nickname “The Cavalry” among her fellow agents, as well as a past rescue mission in which she allegedly took on several adversaries at once. May herself does not care for the moniker however, and frowns upon its use.

The Warrior

Possessing all the training of a credited S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, May’s true calling is as a fighter. When in the midst of combat she can narrow her focus to become a one-woman fighting machine, able to address and defeat multiple opponents, either collectively or on a one-to-one basis. Beyond that, she is also highly rated in the use of most firearms and other weaponry.

Melinda May’s personality has been described as cold by some, yet others simply note that she maintains control over her emotions while on duty. She takes great pride in remaining physically fit, and sometimes pushes herself to extremes of endurance during missions.

Though she does not enter into friendship’s lightly, Melinda May can be counted on as a loyal agent and a steadfast partner. Of all S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, she is perhaps closest to Phil Coulson, who seems to be the best judge of what her capabilities are and to what limits she can be pushed. May is also on good terms with fellow agents Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz, having been assigned to multiple missions alongside them, but like her compatriots is none too fond of sometimes S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill.

Coulson has also worked to bring out May’s leadership abilities, even to the extent of tasking her to work with new S.H.I.E.L.D. recruits in test scenarios for field duty.

The Missions

Phil Coulson’s handpicked team to investigate terrorist Abu Mussan and his illicit possession of an Asgardian sword included Melinda May. She, along with Agents Fitz and Simmons, worked to remove the Asgardian Heimdall, the true owner of the sword, from Mussan’s undue influence. While in the field during this mission, she took on and defeated an entire phalanx of the terrorist’s soldiers.

May’s skill as a bodyguard came into play on a later assignment involving protecting the teenage Super Hero Wiccan from a shooter targeting Earth’s sorcerers. The mission took May to Antarctica with her fellow agents to track the shooter, but expanded to a higher level of danger when the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel discovered the presence of a powerful extra-dimensional being known as Dormammu over the situation. Coulson and May made the transition into Dormammu’s home plane, the so-called Dark Dimension where May suffered a debilitating blow from a native denizen and remained unconscious for the majority of the incursion.

Together with Super Hero and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mockingbird, in reality Bobbi Morse, Agent May also clashed with criminal surgeon Dr. Lucien Geist and a series of creatures of his own creation. May unfortunately failed to apprehend the doctor due to his death at the hands of his assistant.