Hellcat: A Mind of Her Own

Hellcat was an oxymoron. She wanted to be a superhero but didn't want to admit she had superpowers.

Patsy Walker began her adventuring career as an Avengers trainee, wearing a cat uniform she found while assisting them (Avengers #144). Although the original Cat did not gain powers from her costume, Hellcat attributed her newfound athletic prowess to the costume rather than to her own innate ability.

When an opportunity came to officially join the Avengers, Hellcat accepted another request instead. In an unexpected turn of events, the sometimes-heroic Moondragon informed Hellcat that she too had extensive psionic potential, which required training to cultivate (Avengers #151).

Hellcat accompanied Moondragon to Titan, the moon of Saturn where Moondragon herself had been raised. But when celestial matters required Moondragon's attention, Hellcat returned to Earth six-weeks later and put her psionic development on hold (Defenders #44). That only lasted for so long.

When she almost died from strangulation at the hands of the supervillain Blob, Hellcat's full psychokinetic powers finally unleashed … BEEEEEE ZZZZZOW … knocking unconscious all of the villains (and heroes) in the vicinity (Defenders #64). This was just one of the reasons that many Defenders for a Day didn't stay longer.

Hellcat: Moondragon never told me I'd be able to do anything like this! But, then, she never mentioned the mind-power migraine it might give me either.

Following that unprecedented display of power, Hellcat remained reluctant to hone her mental abilities. In later issues of the Defenders, the unusual hero named Over-Mind jumped in as a psychic mentor to Hellcat. Even with the extra training, she never seemed comfortable moving objects with her mind or projecting psychokinetic bolts.

Incidentally, I think Hellcat's exceptional acrobatic skills make most sense when viewed, at least in part, as an manifestation of her mind-over-matter abilities.