Melinda Qiaolian May was born to William and Lian May. At age seven, she became an ice skater and admired the famous ice skater Dorothy Hamill, winning many awards in competitions. However, she found the ice too hard when she fell on it, so at the age of 12, she switched to martial arts, where the floors were padded.

May eventually joined S.H.I.E.L.D., believing that the agency was the best defense for the world against any possible threat. During her career, she met and fell in love with Andrew Garner, and the two eventually eloped and married.

Trained by the best S.H.I.E.L.D. had to offer, May became an ace pilot and a weapons expert, a soldier who could perform above and beyond the call of duty. She was one of the few S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who had more black belts than Natasha Romanoff (the S.H.I.E.L.D. Senior Field Agent and Assassin known as the Black Widow), whom she befriended.

Melinda May became one of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s best Combat Agents. She joined Phil Coulson’s team to investigate on how the terrorist, Abu Mussan got hold of an Uru sword. Along with Jemma Simmons, May helped a Norse god, Heimdall, (the owner of the Uru sword) break free from Mussan’s terrorist group. After Heimdall was dispossessed from the influence of an alien rock, May was debriefed by S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill.

Some time later, May and Agent Leo Fitz were appointed to protect Wiccan from Ethan Slaughter, who shot most of Earth’s most powerful sorcerers. With the help of Scarlet Witch, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were able to do so and then travelled to Antarctica, where the team found out about Horguun, who produced the magic bullets with whom Slaughter gunned the sorcerers down. They were able to stop Horguun and his workers. When they left, Fitz turned out to be possessed by Dormammu’s mindless plague and shot the Scarlet Witch. As Earth’s most intelligent people slowly started transforming into Mindless Ones and Doctor Strange was captured by Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, May entered the Dimension alongside Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. Field Agent (Magical Research Division) Michael Hawthorn. May fought off the Mindless Ones but was knocked out when she was not concentrating. As she woke from unconsciousness, she watched Absorbing Man wreck Dormammu by absorbing the material his throne was made of.

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Personality

Melinda May is a quiet person who was once described as “warm”, “fearless” and unafraid to break rules. May was a veteran pilot and soldier until she was ‘damaged’ from an incident in Bahrain, where she had to kill an Inhuman child unable to control her powers; as May wanted children, this broke her. May was married to Dr. Andrew Garner, but she doesn’t discuss her past with her teammates.

As a Field Agent, May showed her joker side by using the classic “whip cream” gag on Leo Fitz, who thought it was one of the other members of his team because May seemed less likely.

May has an unwavering respect for Area Commander Dugan and follows his orders even when it conflicts with her desires.

May is fiercely protective of her teammates, going back into the field to protect one of her squad despite having retired from field missions, and going so far as attacking Ian Quinn after he shot Senior Commander Daisy Johnson. She is very secretive and will often answer questions with a look, using few words or none at all. Despite her protectiveness of them, it takes May a long time to bond with a team. Johnson even claimed that she acted like a robot, as everything for her was just “Target- acquired. Threat- eliminated”. Melinda May puts up a cold and stoic front but inside she is kind and selfless. She uses her own experiences to connect with other people.

Despite being able to use various types of guns with high proficiency, May displays constant reluctance to resort to such weaponry, instead relying on her tremendous fighting abilities to take down her enemies. The fact that she only uses firearms when it is absolutely necessary, like during the Siege of the Asgard, has become somewhat of a running gag among her teammates.

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Abilities:

Master Martial Artist: May is one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best martial artists. May employs various fighting styles to take down her opponents, including Egyptian Jiu-Jitsu, Australian Street Fighting, Wrestling, Silat, Taekwondo, empty hand Eskrima, Vovinam and uses Alaskan Bone-Breaking techniques. Because of her skill, May is capable of subduing opponents far stronger than humans such as Kree, LMDs, and Alpha Primitives in close quarters. Her sense of fighting is so instinctive that she is able to circumvent telepathic mind-reading abilities. Even while not at her peak condition, she has displayed the ability to defeat a squad of HYDRA soldiers in hand to hand combat. She has been overcome in physical combat on very few occasions, especially by opponents with superhuman strength.

Master Acrobat: May is exceptionally athletic and can be seen using her acrobatic skills to her advantage. She was able to surpass the speed of a running Roxxon security guard by doing multiple handsprings to take him out. Her reflexes, quickness, and coordination are remarkable enough to evade the rope dart knife of elite assassins and flip through active gunfire while returning accurate shots of her own.

Expert Marksman: May prefers not to use firearms during her missions unless strictly necessary, generally preferring her melee combat and improvisational skills. If forced to use them, May usually chooses handguns as her weapon, even when the agents that accompany her equip assault weapons. She has displayed high accuracy, being able to kill most of her enemies with a single shot or being able to shoot a target in the shoulder to avoid killing them to maintain a mission cover. Her sidearm of choice is a Smith & Wesson Mk22 Model 0, a 9mm Handgun (which is a lower caliber than most Agents use)

Multilingualism: May is fluent in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Spanish. She used this skill in missions in Hong Kong, the Cayman Islands, and Miami, respectively. She stated to know Russian, but claims she makes incorrect pronunciations.

Weapon Mastery: May is an experienced melee combatant and she can wield most forms of weaponry with great effect.