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Something you should know about me. The reason I’m such a good runner? It’s not that I’m driven to win. It’s that I really, really hate losing. And I hate losing the most when it’s to a depressing queef like you.

—Sophia to Taylor, Buzz 7.6

Shadow Stalker stuck relentlessly to a path and as shitty as she was at her core, however easily or excellently she could be a villain, she valued being a vigilante-type, and from what I knew about her, that wouldn’t change, however she was tempted. Being a vigilante served her ends, it served her ego, and it validated her at her core.

Victoria, Polarize 10.10

Shadow Stalker is a member of the Brockton Bay Wards.

Personality[]

Sophia is a mean-spirited, hot-tempered and violent teenager who finds anything but negative consequences as encouragement to continue.[12] She has nothing but disdain for those she perceives as weak and hates anyone she can't beat in a fight. When Taylor was revealed to be Skitter, Sophia was enraged and later tried to convince herself that she was responsible for what Taylor became. Surprisingly, she admitted to Taylor that she was resentful that Taylor had a parent who actually cared for her enough to actually attend the meeting.

A lot of her personality comes from the influence of her shard, as noted by Taylor.[13]

Relationships[]

Mother[]

Her long suffering mother.[14][15]

Emma[]

Friends who enabled each other.

Taylor[]

Her 'prey' who turns out to be a predator much to Sophia's surprise.

Appearance[]

Sophia was dark-skinned, slender, with long, straight hair[16]. She was athletic,[17] owing to her membership on the track and field team[18] and likely her nighttime activities in the city.[19] Weld described her as pretty.[17] Her eyes were brown. She was about as tall as Taylor.[20]

Winslow sophia1

Sophia in civilian clothing.

As Shadow Stalker,[21] Sophia wears a heavy black cloak and skintight black bodysuit with black-painted metal kneepads, gauntlets,[16] belts and pockets.[22] Before joining the Brockton Bay Wards, her mask was a modified hockey mask.[16][23][24] After joining the Wards, her mask was made of black-painted metal[24][20] and took the shape of a woman's face with a stern expression,[23] leaving her brown eyes visible behind it.[20][25] Her costume included a "voluminous" cloak[17][26] in dark gray urban-camouflage, with a hood.[20] She carried two crossbows, and had tranquiliser cartridges for them mounted on the forearm of her costume,[24] with some razor-sharp bolts concealed between her shoulderblades, underneath her cloak.[27] She also carried two small knives.[28]

In her Breaker state, she was described as wispy[29] and transparent, as if she was composed of gas.[17] She was described as nearly invisible,[29] a gray shadow among other shadows,[27] and had a distorted, skull-like face hidden by her mask.[30] However, meeting her in daylight, Taylor described her only as "a little smoky, like she was made of sand and not anything solid."[20]

Powers & Equipment[]

Sophia was capable of shifting herself into a "shadow state" which allowed her to pass through walls and made her lightweight. She could pass on these attributes onto her equipment, including shots fired by her crossbow bolts.[24] It was unknown exactly what her upper limit was. For example, while she was able to 'shadow' a fold-up chair and launch it through a wall where it would materialize as a projectile, it was unknown just how much effort this cost her.[31]

Shadow stalker worm fanart by drunkfu-d549kzw

Early version with hockey mask.

As Shadow Stalker, Sophia carried two crossbows with both lethal and nonlethal bolts.

She is greatly vulnerable to electricity in her breaker state, even with strong static shocks being transferred into sufficient injuries.[32] As a Ward, she had lenses built into her mask that could fold down over her eyes, designed to detect electricity.[27]

If she "stalled" inside a solid object, she lost forward momentum and suffered excruciating pain. She also suffered as badly as anyone from pepper spray or other aerosols if she changed back while they were still inside her, if not worse.[27]

Her power could be used to phase a bolt or other weapon into a target, then unphase it inside of them to bypass armor, though this is noted to leave a characteristic imprint in the victim.[27]

It was stated that her powers affected her personality after she triggered, her behavior becoming more aggressive and violent as a result of her trigger event.[33] Weaver speculated that her agent was exceptionally aggressive, and had heavily influenced her personality to make her more violent.[13]

Her power had a negative interaction with Grue's darkness, making it difficult to breathe in her shadow state, forcing her into a middle ground where she was slower and found it draining and painful to re-form after objects passed through her.[27]

History[]

Background[]

Sophia triggered at the age of 12.[34] Active as a minor vigilante over the next two and half years, Shadow Stalker was eventually caught after having nearly killed a man, pinning him to a wall with her crossbow bolts. When given the option, she chose to join the Wards as a probationary member rather than be sent to juvenile detention. As a condition of her parole, she was given probationary status in the Wards and required to use nonlethal ammunition, a requirement she usually ignored when the Wards weren't looking.

She fought Behemoth in the attack prior to the Battle against Leviathan, although she mostly did search and rescue,[31] presumably alongside the Wards.

In her civilian guise, she was Emma's best friend and one of Taylor’s tormentors, as well as a member of the high school's track and field team. She wasn't liked by many, beyond Emma and Madison, as she was fairly notorious for being mean spirited. Her brand of bullying tended more towards the physical than any of the other girls – tripping, punching, kicking, shoving, and so on; likely being the one who pushed Taylor into the locker.[11][35] She told Emma that her friend would be allowed into the Trio if she "laughed more at the pranks and jokes, stood a little straighter instead of cringing like a whipped dog".[36]

Story Start[]

Sophia helped to bully Taylor as a member of the Trio. She helped Madison pour juice on Taylor, laughing "like it was the funniest thing in the world".[18]

During the curfew necessitated by the ABB's rampage, she was stationed at a shopping mall along with Battery. After seeing the concussed Taylor shove Emma unprovoked, she put her bullying victim in zip-ties and admonished the teen's father to keep a hold on his daughter.

Emma's father called the meeting despite the mountain of evidence that was against her, Sophia's position in the Ward's protected her from severe punishment.[37]

After catching sight of Taylor Hebert kiss her seeming boyfriend, Sophia stalked her to a bookstore and violently confronted her. She was then stopped by "the boyfriend" and fled.[38]

Post-Leviathan[]

Sophia harassed her teammate Vista on the Brockton Bay Wards. Later, her teammate Flechette was shocked by her brutality on patrol. [24] When Sophia was captured by the Undersiders, she was used as a puppet by their member, Regent. After forcing her to fight her own teammates, Regent sent evidence of Sophia's bullying to the police, and revealed her secret identity to her family.

She was accused of violating her probation shortly after Arc 10 and was sent to juvenile detention.[14] When Skitter was revealed to be Taylor, Sophia could only scream in blind rage and shatter the TV.[39]

Gold Morning[]

She was freed and joined Taylor's group hunting down villains for a time after Gold Morning. She was successfully used as bait to message to the Simurgh due to her particularly active shard. During the voyage in the Firefly, she was consistently a voice of dissent in the group, going so far as getting into a fight with Lung.

She fought in the Cauldron siege, killing multiple Case 53's. When Zion visited the base, she retreated using her power and was picked up afterward.[40]

Post-Gold Morning[]

Sophia was spotted stalking Imp from the rooftop of a nearby building hunting some of The Heartbroken. Imp confronted her,[41] and Sophia, upon seeing Imp's badge honoring the Gold Morning, gets irritated by it by claiming the victory wasn't earned due to everyone being controlled and "used", as well as trying to deny that it was Taylor's power that did it all. Imp correctly guesses, however, that Sophia is irritated by the badge because she knows deep down, no matter how hard she tries, she will never make a bigger impact than or be remembered like Taylor. Imp comments that Sophia will be reminded of this every time she sees the badge on someone, and then leaves her to stew in her anger.[42]

Chapter Appearances[]

Worm Chapter Appearances
Gestation
1. Gestation 1.1 Debut
2. Gestation 1.2 Mentioned
3. Gestation 1.3 Absent
4. Gestation 1.4 Absent
5. Gestation 1.5 Absent
6. Gestation 1.6 Absent
x. Interlude 1.x Absent
Insinuation
1. Insinuation 2.1 Absent
2. Insinuation 2.2 Mentioned
3. Insinuation 2.3 Appears
4. Insinuation 2.4 Appears
5. Insinuation 2.5 Absent
6. Insinuation 2.6 Absent
7. Insinuation 2.7 Mentioned
8. Insinuation 2.8 Absent
9. Insinuation 2.9 Absent
x. Interlude 2 Absent
Agitation
1. Agitation 3.1 Appears
2. Agitation 3.2 Absent
3. Agitation 3.3 Mentioned
4. Agitation 3.4 Absent
5. Agitation 3.5 Absent
6. Agitation 3.6 Absent
7. Agitation 3.7 Absent
8. Agitation 3.8 Absent
9. Agitation 3.9 Absent
10. Agitation 3.10 Absent
11. Agitation 3.11 Absent
12. Agitation 3.12 Absent
x. Interlude 3 Mentioned
Shell
1. Shell 4.1 Absent
2. Shell 4.2 Absent
3. Shell 4.3 Mentioned
4. Shell 4.4 Absent
5. Shell 4.5 Absent
6. Shell 4.6 Absent
x. Interlude 3.5 (Bonus) Absent
7. Shell 4.7 Absent
8. Shell 4.8 Absent
9. Shell 4.9 Absent
10. Shell 4.10 Absent
11. Shell 4.11 Absent
x. Interlude 4 Absent
Hive
1. Hive 5.1 Absent
2. Hive 5.2 Absent
3. Hive 5.3 Appears
4. Hive 5.4 Appears
5. Hive 5.5 Absent
6. Hive 5.6 Absent
7. Hive 5.7 Absent
8. Hive 5.8 Absent
9. Hive 5.9 Absent
10. Hive 5.10 Absent
x. Interlude 5 Absent
Tangle
1. Tangle 6.1 Absent
2. Tangle 6.2 Absent
3. Tangle 6.3 Absent
4. Tangle 6.4 Mentioned
5. Tangle 6.5 Appears
6. Tangle 6.6 Mentioned
7. Tangle 6.7 Absent
8. Tangle 6.8 Absent
9. Tangle 6.9 Absent
x. Interlude 6 Absent
Buzz
1. Buzz 7.1 Absent
2. Buzz 7.2 Absent
3. Buzz 7.3 Absent
4. Buzz 7.4 Absent
5. Buzz 7.5 Appears
6. Buzz 7.6 Appears
7. Buzz 7.7 Absent
8. Buzz 7.8 Absent
9. Buzz 7.9 Absent
10. Buzz 7.10 Absent
11. Buzz 7.11 Absent
12. Buzz 7.12 Absent
x. Interlude 7 Mentioned
Extermination
1. Extermination 8.1 Appears
2. Extermination 8.2 Appears
y. Interlude 8.y Absent
3. Extermination 8.3 Mentioned
4. Extermination 8.4 Appears
5. Extermination 8.5 Appears
6. Extermination 8.6 Appears
7. Extermination 8.7 Appears
8. Extermination 8.8 Mentioned
z. Interlude 8.z Absent
Sentinel
1. Sentinel 9.1 Appears
2. Sentinel 9.2 Appears
3. Sentinel 9.3 Appears
4. Sentinel 9.4 Appears
5. Sentinel 9.5 Appears
6. Sentinel 9.6 Point of View
Parasite
1. Parasite 10.1 Appears
2. Parasite 10.2 Appears
3. Parasite 10.3 Appears
4. Parasite 10.4 Appears
5. Parasite 10.5 Appears
6. Parasite 10.6 Appears
x. Interlude 10 Appears
x. Interlude 10.5 Mentioned
Infestation
1. Infestation 11.1 Mentioned
2. Infestation 11.2 Absent
3. Infestation 11.3 Absent
4. Infestation 11.4 Absent
5. Infestation 11.5 Absent
6. Infestation 11.6 Absent
7. Infestation 11.7 Absent
8. Infestation 11.8 Absent
a. Interlude 11a Absent
b. Interlude 11b Absent
c. Interlude 11c Absent
d. Interlude 11d Absent
e. Interlude 11e Absent
f. Interlude 11f Absent
g. Interlude 11g Absent
h. Interlude 11h Absent
Plague
1. Plague 12.1 Mentioned
2. Plague 12.2 Absent
3. Plague 12.3 Mentioned
4. Plague 12.4 Absent
5. Plague 12.5 Absent
6. Plague 12.6 Absent
7. Plague 12.7 Absent
8. Plague 12.8 Absent
x. Interlude 12 Absent
y. Interlude 12.5 Absent
Snare
1. Snare 13.1 Absent
2. Snare 13.2 Absent
x. Interlude 13.5 (Donation Bonus) Absent
3. Snare 13.3 Mentioned
4. Snare 13.4 Absent
5. Snare 13.5 Mentioned
6. Snare 13.6 Absent
7. Snare 13.7 Absent
8. Snare 13.8 Absent
9. Snare 13.9 Absent
10. Snare 13.10 Mentioned
y. Interlude 13 Absent
Prey
1. Prey 14.1 Absent
2. Prey 14.2 Absent
3. Prey 14.3 Absent
4. Prey 14.4 Mentioned
5. Prey 14.5 Absent
6. Prey 14.6 Mentioned
7. Prey 14.7 Absent
8. Prey 14.8 Absent
9. Prey 14.9 Absent
10. Prey 14.10 Absent
11. Prey 14.11 Absent
x. Interlude 14.x Absent
y. Interlude 14.y Absent
Colony
1. Colony 15.1 Absent
x. Interlude 15.x Absent
2. Colony 15.2 Absent
3. Colony 15.3 Mentioned
y. Interlude 15.y Absent
4. Colony 15.4 Absent
5. Colony 15.5 Absent
6. Colony 15.6 Absent
7. Colony 15.7 Absent
z. Interlude 15.z Absent
8. Colony 15.8 Absent
9. Colony 15.9 Absent
10. Colony 15.10 Absent
i. Interlude 15 Mentioned
Monarch
1. Monarch 16.1 Absent
2. Monarch 16.2 Absent
x. Interlude 16.x Absent
3. Monarch 16.3 Mentioned
4. Monarch 16.4 Absent
5. Monarch 16.5 Absent
6. Monarch 16.6 Absent
y. Interlude 16.y Absent
7. Monarch 16.7 Absent
8. Monarch 16.8 Absent
9. Monarch 16.9 Absent
10. Monarch 16.10 Absent
z. Interlude 16.z Absent
11. Monarch 16.11 Absent
12. Monarch 16.12 Absent
13. Monarch 16.13 Absent
Queen
1. Queen 18.1 Absent
2. Queen 18.2 Mentioned
x. Interlude 18.x Absent
3. Queen 18.3 Mentioned
4. Queen 18.4 Absent
y. Interlude 18.y Absent
5. Queen 18.5 Mentioned
6. Queen 18.6 Absent
z. Interlude 18.z Mentioned
7. Queen 18.7 Absent
8. Queen 18.8 Absent
f. Interlude 18.f Absent
i. Interlude 18 Absent
Scourge
1. Scourge 19.1 Fantasy
2. Scourge 19.2 Absent
3. Scourge 19.3 Mentioned
x. Interlude 19.x Absent
4. Scourge 19.4 Absent
5. Scourge 19.5 Absent
6. Scourge 19.6 Absent
7. Scourge 19.7 Absent
y. Interlude 19.y Absent
z. Interlude 19.z Appears
Chrysalis
1. Chrysalis 20.1 Absent
2. Chrysalis 20.2 Absent
3. Chrysalis 20.3 Mentioned
4. Chrysalis 20.4 Absent
5. Chrysalis 20.5 Absent
x. Interlude 20.x Appears
y. Interlude 20.y Absent
Imago
1. Imago 21.1 Absent
2. Imago 21.2 Absent
3. Imago 21.3 Absent
4. Imago 21.4 Absent
5. Imago 21.5 Mentioned
6. Imago 21.6 Absent
7. Imago 21.7 Absent
x. Interlude 21.x Absent
y. Interlude 21.y Absent
Cell
1. Cell 22.1 Mentioned
2. Cell 22.2 Mentioned
3. Cell 22.3 Absent
4. Cell 22.4 Absent
5. Cell 22.5 Absent
6. Cell 22.6 Absent
x. Interlude 22.x Absent
y. Interlude 22.y Absent
Drone
1. Drone 23.1 Absent
2. Drone 23.2 Mentioned
3. Drone 23.3 Absent
4. Drone 23.4 Mentioned
5. Drone 23.5 Mentioned
x. Interlude 23 Absent
Scarab
1. Scarab 25.1 Absent
2. Scarab 25.2 Absent
3. Scarab 25.3 Mentioned
4. Scarab 25.4 Absent
5. Scarab 25.5 Absent
6. Scarab 25.6 Absent
x. Interlude 25 Absent
Extinction
1. Extinction 27.1 Absent
2. Extinction 27.2 Appears
3. Extinction 27.3 Appears
4. Extinction 27.4 Appears
5. Extinction 27.5 Mentioned
x. Interlude 27.x Absent
y. Interlude 27.y Absent
Cockroaches
1. Cockroaches 28.1 Mentioned
2. Cockroaches 28.2 Absent
3. Cockroaches 28.3 Appears
4. Cockroaches 28.4 Appears
5. Cockroaches 28.5 Appears
6. Cockroaches 28.6 Absent
x. Interlude 28 Absent
Venom
1. Venom 29.1 Absent
2. Venom 29.2 Absent
3. Venom 29.3 Appears
4. Venom 29.4 Appears
5. Venom 29.5 Appears
6. Venom 29.6 Appears
7. Venom 29.7 Absent
8. Venom 29.8 Absent
9. Venom 29.9 Appears
x. Interlude 29 Absent
Teneral
1. Teneral e.1 Absent
2. Teneral e.2 Appears
3. Teneral e.3 Absent
4. Teneral e.4 Absent
5. Teneral e.5 Absent
x. Interlude: End Absent

Fanart Gallery[]

Quotes[]

  • (To Taylor Hebert): “Funny how it all turns out. This, for one thing. That I can’t anticipate you anymore. And… that it’s just you. There’s nobody to mourn me when I'm gone. Family doesn’t really care. No friends left. No teammates, even. I'm left to console myself with the idea that, if I die, I'll at least annoy the depressing, creepy little geek from high school.”

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 “Do you feel bad about it? I’m genuinely curious.”

    “I feel… less bad than I should,” I said. “But yeah. It isn’t nice to hear.”

    “Because of what happened, because she was still reeling from the time she spent as your meat puppet, she attacked her mom, who called the authorities. They caught up just in time to catch her in her room, electrical cord around her neck. Cost Shadow Stalker her probation, meaning she got stuck in some parahuman detention center until she’s eighteen. And word is her mom doesn’t want her back when she’s finished the three-year sentence. Last straw and everything. Her life, put on hold, her family shattered. Maybe she was damaged like you said, but you took her captive and tormented her until she went off the deep end.” - Queen 18.3
  2. That anger and worry peaked when a young man, nineteen or twenty, stepped from the living room to the front hall, heading towards the kitchen, and saw her. The man stopped and stared.

    “Mom!” He shouted.

    A tired looking middle-aged woman entered from the kitchen, holding a four-year old girl in her arms. Regent had grown up around lots of kids. He liked to think he was a good judge of ages.

    The woman stared at Shadow Stalker, then turned, “Terry, take your sister upstairs.” - Interlude 10
  3. Capes with the ‘breaker’ classification were generally those who had some ability to ‘break’ the natural laws of the universe as far as those laws applied to them. Shadow Stalker was one. [...] Almost always, such powers came with some physiological changes that let them manage despite the altered environment they were effectively operating in, allowing them to breathe and walk at the very least. - Sentinel 9.2
  4. He was functionally a breaker, and I had a limited sense of what worked and didn’t work for breakers. I’d met and talked with Velocity, and I’d met and talked with Shadow Stalker. I’d read up on others. - Polarize 10.8
  5. Shadow Stalker is more ambiguous. Breaker 3, sublabels are Stranger 2, Mover 1. Her particular nature as a ‘breaker’ makes her superlight, semi-gaseous, transparent and capable of passing through solid surfaces.” - Sentinel 9.1
  6. Some of that were the sub-classifications, if I remember right. Her breaker power makes her a stranger-class, but that’s a derivative effect. - Comment by Wildbow on Interlude 16.y
  7. But on the surface? I’d known Shadow Stalker briefly, and she had been kind of nice to be around when she’d had reason to be nice. I could believe that Tattletale was the same. But I knew just how shitty they could be when upset- Shadow Stalker broke faces, and Tattletale destroyed psyches. Shadow Stalker stuck relentlessly to a path and as shitty as she was at her core, however easily or excellently she could be a villain, she valued being a vigilante-type, and from what I knew about her, that wouldn’t change, however she was tempted. Being a vigilante served her ends, it served her ego, and it validated her at her core. - Polarize 10.10
  8. “A warning. You and I know you’re not Fallen. You’re a hero, and being a hero counts for something. It gets you benefits of a doubt no other cape enjoys. Defiant knows and has lived it. Shadow Stalker in our old Wards program knew it and benefited from it. Skitter got it when she joined the Wards. Lookout, Capricorn, Rain, and Swansong all got some benefit out of it. We’re desperate enough for more people on the side of good that we let things go…” - Radiation 18.1
  9. 9.0 9.1 “I’m alive, she’s not.”

    “In the rest of your years, even if you try, which you won’t, you won’t make a fraction of the difference she made. You’re going to keep living this solitary little hunter-stalker existence, picking off a few bad guys, getting your jollies, and people are never going to wear a badge on their sleeves for you.”

    “That badge is not for Hebert.”

    “Maybe not for everyone,” Imp said. “It means different things for different people. A planet they lost, an ordeal they survived, I dunno. But it’s a reminder of Taylor to me, and it’s a reminder for you, too. Every time you see it, now, it’s going to make you think of her, remind you that she did something big.” - Teneral e.2
  10. “I like getting together with all of the old Brockton Bay people,” Vista said. She huffed breath into her hands, then adjusted her scarf. When it didn’t adjust the way she wanted it to, she warped its dimensions. “Feels like I’m putting a puzzle back together. Everyone always has questions they never got to get answers to, you know? Except Rachel Lindt’s one of the people I keep meeting up with, and she’s not a question and answer kind of person.”

    “Tattletale’s the one I keep running into,” I muttered. “She is a question and answer kind of person, and it sucks.”

    Vista smiled. “Doesn’t it? I tried to reach out, get her in on the reuniting thing. Offered my hand in friendship, and she went straight for the jugular. She seems happy being a villain. Same type as Shadow Stalker, I think.” - Polarize 10.10
  11. 11.0 11.1 Sophia Hess – Emma’s best friend, a member of the track and field team. Not liked by many, beyond Emma and Madison, as she’s fairly notorious for being mean spirited. Taylor mentioned that Sophia’s own brand of bullying tends more towards the physical than any of the other girls – tripping, punching, kicking, shoving, and so on. Currently in juvenile detention. Sophia is dark skinned and athletic, owing to her membership on the track and field team. See Shadow Stalker in the Wards section, below. - Cast (in depth)
  12. Wildbow: @ Luo - Sophia is a consummate bully. Preying on Criminals as 'acceptable targets' gets her validation and respect without tying her hands. Just like preying on the acceptable targets at school has people (other students) look the other way. While she's forming this twisted worldview, it all validates that worldview because she's doing what people are going to accept and because people...
    Wildbow: ...accept it she feels right & unthreatened.
    Luolang: So, is it about self-worth or something?
    Luolang: That by beating down these specific sorts of targets, she's /better/ than them, on some moral dimension?
    Wildbow: Mmmm. Wouldn't jump straight to self worth.
    Wildbow: That implies the wrong thing.
    Luolang: What do you mean by "validation" there?
    Wildbow: Validation = other people implicitly saying 'you're right'
    Luolang: Was that why she befriended Emma?
    Luolang: Because as a vigilante that's unknown, she doesn't exactly have validation
    Wildbow: I think you're reaching, Luo
    Wildbow: It's about power more than self worth. That she can basically take action and take power, partially by pushing other people down, and make herself effectively greater in the greater scheme of things. When society doesn't rise up and lash out against her, that basically, implicitly says 'this is right, this is the way things are'
    Wildbow: To sum up: her thought process is: am aggressive, want to hurt people/lash out, so she goes and beat the shit out of random thug, nobody says anything, nobody stops her, even when she goes too far. Criminals are lower than her, and taking this course of action reminds them of that, while reminding her that she's greater than them. Picking on a student at school sees other students look the...
    Wildbow: ...other way, administration downplays things, and being a hero means the administration is even more willing to play ball (A la school meeting).
    Wildbow>: Nobody is telling her to stop = Validation - archived conversation on Space battles
  13. 13.0 13.1 "Way too passive," Imp murmured.

    "So's Shadow Stalker," Tattletale said.

    "But Shadow Stalker's passenger isn't. If there are any undertones, any way that the passengers influence our actions, then Shadow Stalker was definitely influenced. I dug through her old records, read up on her history."

    "What?" Shadow Stalker asked.

    "She got aggressive after she got her powers. Generally more…" I searched for the way to phrase it.

    "You fucking looked at my records?"

    "…More violent than most people would be, in her shoes. Lashing out, aimlessly at first, and then with a target, channeling the aggression. Except it was the same amount of violence, just concentrated into fewer incidents, alongside a pretty extensive bullying campaign." - Excerpt from Cockroaches 28.4
  14. 14.0 14.1 Interlude 10
  15. Venom 29.5
  16. 16.0 16.1 16.2 Interlude 19.z
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Sentinel 9.1
  18. 18.0 18.1 Gestation 1.1
  19. Sophia Hess – Emma’s new best friend, one of Taylor’s bullies, more physical than the other two. She’s an athletic African-American girl with longer hair. - Cast (spoiler free)
  20. 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Hive 5.3
  21. Shadow Stalker – A cape in the Brockton Bay Wards. She is capable of turning herself into a shadow state, where she passes through walls, is lightweight and ignores most incoming attacks. Somewhat bloodthirsty. - Cast (spoiler free)
  22. Interlude 10.5
  23. 23.0 23.1 Shadow Stalker, Sophia Hess (Jailed)– Once a cape with a vigilante bent, Shadow Stalker was caught after having nearly killed a man, pinning him to a wall with her crossbow bolts, and chose to join the Wards as a probationary member rather than be sent to juvenile detention. Capable of shifting herself into a ‘shadow state’, she can pass through walls, is lightweight, and passes these benefits on to her equipment, including shots fired by her crossbow bolts. Was accused of violating probation shortly after arc 10. In reality, Shadow Stalker was one of Taylor’s tormentors while in her civilian guise. See Sophia Hess’ entry for her description.
    .
    As Shadow Stalker (in costume), she wears a heavy black cloak and a black bodysuit with black painted metal plates and mask. Her mask was originally a modified hockey mask, but after joining the wards it modeled a woman’s face with a stern expression. Carries two crossbows, with both lethal and tranquilizer ammunition. - Cast (in depth)
  24. 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Sentinel 9.2
  25. Parasite 10.1
  26. Tangle 6.5
  27. 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 Sentinel 9.6
  28. Regent put down a second, smaller box next to the one Tattletale had brought. I switched positions with Tattletale – she began searching Shadow Stalker, removing crossbows, cartridges of ammunition and two small knives. She found a phone with a touch screen, then reached beneath the unconscious girl's hood to pluck a wireless earbud from the girl's ear. After rubbing it on Shadow Stalker's cloak to clean it, she put it in her own ear and started fiddling with the smart phone. After a few seconds she pronounced, "GPS hasn't been activated. They probably won't turn it on to look for her until she fails to return from patrol." - Parasite 10.1
  29. 29.0 29.1 Agitation 3.3
  30. "Think of Shadow Stalker’s metal mask hiding her face, which is distorted and skull-like in breaker state" — BREAKERS, document by Wildbow
  31. 31.0 31.1 Extinction 27.3
  32. My for-a-short-time teammate Shadow Stalker had been impervious to physical blows and conventional weapons, but a minor electrical shock threatened to kill her, and I’d heard that even a strong static shock had delivered actual injuries that had translated to muscle damage after she had turned human again. - Excerpt from Blinding 11.11
  33. Cockroaches 28.4
  34. Interlude 19.z - Joins the Wards "three years and four months" before age 18 (14 and 8 months). Had powers "two and a half years" already (12 and 2-ish months).
  35. [Sophia] was Emma’s best friend.  The person who had shoved me into the locker, back on the day I’d gotten my powers.  On countless occasions, she had pushed and tripped me, often several times a day.  She’d knocked me down the stairs, when I was near the bottom of the flight, even got others to do similar things.  Given that she’d been suspended after my last meeting with her, I somehow didn’t think she’d walk away without confrontation if she saw me. - Buzz 7.5
  36. Excerpt from Chrysalis 20.3
  37. Blackwell was pushed by the PRT to go soft on Sophia. -Wildbow on Reddit
  38. Buzz 7.6
  39. Interlude 20.x
  40. Venom 29.9
  41. “As I was saying,” Imp said, not looking away from the hills and trees that glittered with snow, “You touch them, you’re really going to regret it.”

    “I was thinking of taking you down,” Shadow Stalker said.

    “Even dumber,” Imp replied. “They’re pretty scary people, and I think some of them even like me. I mean, really, do you want to fuck with that nest of hornets?”

    “Doesn’t matter. Situation didn’t call for it.”

    Imp shrugged. “All the villains out there, and you pick us? There’s a reason.”

    “Some stuff was left unresolved,” Shadow Stalker said. - Teneral e.2
  42. Teneral e.2

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