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| The woman who would become the Viper was orphaned at a very young age by the death of her parents in a political revolution in Eastern Europe. After escaping the revolution, she fell victim to an accident, the details of which have never been revealed, that scarred her right eye and face. As a result, she took to wearing her hair in such a manner that it covered much of the right side of her face. For most of her adolescence and young adulthood, she struggled for survival in a transient existence throughout Europe. She found crime to be the most convenient way to make money. |
| Relying on her wits, she eventually entered the ranks of the powerful subversive organization, HYDRA as one of the few female agents it had at that time. When the Supreme Hydra Baron Wolfgang von Strucker was believed to have died in the destruction of Hydra Island, the remnants of the organization fragmented. The Viper seized control of the faction operating out of New York City. At that point, she took the name Madame Hydra and began wearing a green costume and green lipstick, and dyed her hair green to symbolize the organization she now commanded. |
| Madame Hydra's first known major enterprise as a HYDRA leader was the attempted contamination of New York City's water supply. She was thwarted by the hero Captain America and his then-partner, Rick Jones, and Madame Hydra launched a series of attacks on the hero. Finally, she had heat-seeking missiles launched at Captain America and Rick Jones but failed to kill them and was herself believed to have died in the explosion. However, one of the alien Space Phantoms unexpectedly intervened, taking on Madame Hydra's physical form and appearance and transporting her into the extra-dimensional Limbo. During the years that the Space Phantom plotted against Captain America and his allies, the Avengers, Madame Hydra remained trapped in Limbo. |
| After the last of the Space Phantom's defeats, he returned to Limbo and Madame Hydra was returned to Earth. No longer occupying the position of a HYDRA leader, she sought to regain her place among the international criminal elite. Her first measure was to reorganize the defunct band of costumed criminals known as the Serpent Squad. In doing so, she murdered the first costumed criminal known as the Viper and adopted both his criminal alias and a modified version of his costume. |
