Man-Killer

Katrina van Horn is a Marvel Comics' character.

Initially she was a villain (Spider-Man was her main enemy), but then she turned to the side of good within the Thunderbolts.

In herself she is already big (2,13 meters tall, i.e., an amazoness), but she can get even bigger because she has a voluntary growth ability.

Physical characteristics

 * Normal height: 7 feet (2,13 meters).
 * Mass: 238 pounds (128,37 kilos).
 * Hair: red.
 * Eyes: blue.

Origin (in Marvel Comics)
Katrina was a professional skier with what seemed to be a highly promising career ahead.

She was challenged to a race by Karl Lubbings, a rival skier that wanted to prove her supposed inferiority to the males of the field. When he failed to actually race ahead of her, Karl decided to have an "accidental" collision with her which would knock her down and allow him to continue alone. Either way he was not going to lose to a woman. However the collision knocked them both off course and into a ravine. Karl was killed in the fall but Katrina was left alive and crippled. Her skiing career was over and the scars throughout her body ensured that her feminine beauty was also gone. She was left alone with her hatred of a deceased man which would turn into hatred of all men.

A Villain
Katrina was not left alone for long. Soon, a militant group of feminists took an interest in her recovery. They recruited her to become their primary field agent, equipped with an exoskeleton that increased her strength to being able to lift about 10 tons (in the range of Spider-Man strengthwise). The exoskeleton gave her enhanced physical abilities and was equipped with shard blade-projectiles and bulletproof armor. On the negative side, she relied on the exo-skeleton for her continued survival. Her first recorded mission brought her into conflict with the Cat (later known as Tigra) and Spider-Man. She held her own until the heroes revealed that her exo-skeleton was actually built by AIM, meaning male scientists. The revelation that Katrina unknowingly still relied on men was too much for her to handle.

She resurfaced as a foe of Daredevil while serving as a HYDRA agent, in particular the faction under Silvermane. She held her own in battle with Black Widow but Ivan Petrovich managed to turn her exo-skeleton into a virtual cage. She then fought Tony Stark when she and other superpowered mercenaries were sent by Justin Hammer against Iron-Man. She proved no match for him.

Later, Katrina returned to working with the militant feminist group. They wanted to recruit Hildy Dawes, a leftist revolutionary that was currently under trial. The recruitment mission turned into a violent abduction opposed by Spider-Man and She-Hulk, the latter being Hildy's lawyer. Hildy was however horrified by the battle and took the option of committing suicide by grasping high tension wires. Man-Killer attempted to pull her away at the last moment and was also electrocuted, appearing to die.

Thunderbolts
Man-Killer's death was not for real however. She next resurfaced facing the Thunderbolts as a member of the Masters of Evil. She had undergone several changes in the meantime: her scars were somehow gone, she gained full mobility without the exo-skeleton and her strength level had increased to being able to lift about 25 tons. She has demonstrated the same strength when not in costume. The changes were not really explained. She served with the Masters until most members were defeated and captured. She evaded capture and kept a low-profile for a while as a bartender. She then rejoined the Masters when several of them managed to escape prison. She soon after defected to the Thunderbolts however.

Becoming "Amazon"
Katrina used the codename "Amazon" while with the Thunderbolts.

She implied that she was a lesbian during her stay with the team and was somewhat overprotective of her teammate Skein. This group of Thunderbolts later dissolved with members going their own way. Katrina reappeared again, as a common thief for some reason and got bested by Spider-Man. Like other former Thunderbolts and associates, Katrina was recruited by Baron Zemo for a mission against currently serving members. Zemo provided her with Pym particles that would allow her to face Atlas in battle. She expressed concern about their effect on her sanity but went ahead with the plan. She was defeated by Atlas who was more experienced at combat while shape-changing.

Powers and Abilities
Man-Killer possesses superhumanly strong strength, allowing her to lift in excess of 50 tons, and her durability is similarly superhuman granting resistance to physical injury and damage. Using her gauntlet which incorporates Pym particles she can grow in stature.

Trivia

 * For the GTS community, she could be the misandrist par excellence (evil and feminist).
 * In Marvel Comics, the Pym particles alter the size and also the mental health.
 * Similarly occurs in DC Comics, where a magic dust increases the size, but also increases an important feature of the user's personality (see also: Giganta (DC)).