Virginia Potts

"I do anything and everything Mr. Stark requires... Including occasionally taking out the trash."

- Pepper Potts

Virginia Potts, usually called Pepper, is the CEO of Stark Industries and personal secretary of Tony Stark.

Early Life
Born sometime in May of the 1970's, Pepper graduated with a degree in business administration before working in the finance department of Stark Industries. After finding an error in Tony Stark's calculations, she rushed to Tony to correct the mark, forcing her way to see him past bodyguards using pepper spray. Tony was impressed and hired her as his Personal Assistant, naming her Pepper as a joke.

Iron Man
Pepper Potts is Stark's personal secretary and budding love interest. He asks her to help him take his old arc reactor out and to put in a new one. Tony tells Pepper to get rid of the old model since he's not a sentimental person, but she kept it inside a glass box with a special border around it reading, "Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart".

In the charity event, Tony then leaves to dance with Pepper and they share a moment together in the moonlight and almost a kiss.

Tony tries to talk Pepper into helping him, believing that nothing else matters but stopping the people who he put in harm's way. Pepper is moved by Tony's dedication, and agrees. She goes into Obadiah's office with a tiny piece of equipment designed to copy files from the computer. As Pepper sifts through stored files, she finds a video from the terrorists proving that Obadiah was responsible for Tony's capture.

In the battle against Iron Monger Tony instructs Pepper to overload the building's Arc Reactor, which will generate a shockwave strong enough to knock out the Iron Monger's suit. Pepper is hesitant, believing that Tony could also be killed. Tony manages to keep fighting while she builds up power to the Reactor. The Arc explodes, taking out Obadiah and injuring Tony. But the energy wave from the Reactor also manages to re-charge Tony's heart battery, saving him from imminent death.

Iron Man: Fast Friends
Sometime before Tony was captured by the Ten Rings, Pepper was present in Arizona when Tony was presenting his Accelerated wave explosion. when Rhodey asked her if she have the weapons specifics, she that yes, Rhodey asked her to give to the generals while he tries to talk to Tony

After the death of Stane, Coulson then told Stark and Rhodey that they had Pepper Potts schedule a conference about the battle.

Iron Man 2: Public Identity
At a party, Pepper told Tony that Colonel Rhodes wanted to speak with him, she told Rhodes to wait for Stark in his house. Stark then asked why she doesn't call him Rhodey like everyone else, but thanked her for relaying the message to him.

Sometime later in a board meeting at Stark Industries, Pepper was assuring the members in the staff that Tony was on his way, but in reality Tony was going to Afghanistan, so he called her and simply told her to keep his seat warm and to keep a smile like everthing is fine.

When Tony returned from Afghanistan, Pepper and Rhodey showed up at his home, Pepper asked him if he had a "nice holiday".

Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron
As Tony was heading to meeting with Gorani Insurance, Pepper called him telling him that he gets easily distracted. She told Tony to get to the meeting on time, Tony then asked Pepper if Evetta Gorani is taking over the company, Pepper asked him if he wanted to know about her because she's an attractive blonde, Stark replied that if she thinks he's the type of man who would distracted by a business meeting just because he came across an attractive vice president to which Pepper replies that she does think that, Tony then is stopped by the Police, Pepper thinks Tony did something, but Tony tells her that he didn't do anything. after the policemen allows Stark to leave. Stark tells Pepper why he was stopped, but it doesn't matter for her cause it made him more late for the meeting and tells him to not stop for anything else, however as he drives, Stark passes by a attractive woman, thus he stops, he ask her if she had a flat tire, which she confirms and also tells Stark that she's late for a meeting. Stark then changes the tire. After she leaves Pepper calls again asking if he got dumped. Stark simply says that he's just waiting for fate and tells her he should have told him that she was still on the phone. Pepper simply jokes saying that if she had told him she would missed all the fun and then reminds him to not miss the meeting. as they talk, Tony encounters the robbers that the officer told him about. Pepper ask him if he not doing anything else besides going to the meeting, Stark pretends he cant hear her by saying that the reception must be bad. Pepper gets angry stating Tony never arrives on time, later Pepper finds out that he captured the art thieves and recovered the paintings and talks with Tony about this, Pepper simply ask how did this helped him to make to the meeting on time, Tony tells her that he's now on the meeting.

Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After Tony had destroyed a control cell and some members of the Ten Rings, Pepper saw Tony recording a conversation between a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Nick Fury.

Iron Man 2
"You know, there's only 8,011 things that I really need to talk to you about."

- Pepper Potts

Pepper is promoted to CEO of Stark Industries by Tony after he realizes that the palladium core of his arc reactor is killing him. She decides he needs a new assistant and when "Natalie Rushman" arrives to have Tony give Pepper the company he decides he wants Rushman as his assistant. After watching Tony screw everything up and his final battle with Vanko is a success she resigns and hands the company back over to Tony.

Iron Man 3 Prelude
After the death of Ivan Vanko, Pepper announced that the damage to the Stark Expo had been repaired. She goes on to announce that the construction of Stark Tower had begun, stating that it will be the very first skyscraper in Manhattan to use clean energy.

The Avengers
"Is this about the Avengers? Which I know nothing about."

- Pepper Potts

Pepper Potts is seen having a romantic date with Tony Stark at the top floor of the Stark Tower, but they're interrupted by the sudden arrival of Phil Coulson, who has to crash J.A.R.V.I.S.'s systems in order to get in the tower, since Stark is trying to close him outdoors. Pepper has befriended Coulson during their previous meetings, and asks him about his personal life, as well as convincing Stark to listen to him and to read what documents he's giving him. Pepper is well aware of The Avengers Initiative, due to Stark's inability to keep a secret (especially a government-related one that he cares little for), and she manages to convince her boss and boyfriend to help S.H.I.E.L.D. save the world from Loki Laufeyson.

Later, when the Chitauri have started their invasion, Pepper is on a private plane, safe from the battle. Stark, before sacrificing himself to destroy an atomic bomb sent on Manhattan, tries to call her on the phone, but she doesn't hear it and doesn't call up.

After the battle, when the Avengers are disbanded and everyone comes back to his normal life, Pepper rejoins with Stark, helping him redesign the heavily damaged Stark Tower.

Iron Man 3
"You are such a jerk!"

- Virginia Potts

Pepper is the new head of Stark Industries, and has moved in to live with Tony as his girlfriend. Aldrich Killian offers her a chance to work with him, but she refuses, sensing that Aldrich is evil. It turns out that her suspicions are correct, since Aldrich has been using the Extremis formula to create an army of superpowered henchmen, and he's the true mastermind behind A.I.M. and the Mandarin attacks. At the end, he kidnaps Pepper, wanting her to be his 'trophy', and injects her with the Extremis formula. Tony, Rhodey, and the Iron Legion come to save her and the president, starting a battle between the Iron Man suits and the Extremis soldiers. Tony in the Silver Centurion suit tries to rescues her, but Aldrich stops him. When his arm is cut off, it melts through the floor, sending her falling. Tony attempts to save her but she falls into the fire. The Extremis added to her ends up saving her life later, turning her into the superheroine Rescue, and she uses her newfound powers to help Iron Man defeat Killian. At the end, the effects of the Extremis formula are reversed.

Character traits
Pepper evolves as a person over time from the events of the first movie. At first it appears as if Pepper is a typical assistant as she is punctual, reliable and claims to do everything that Tony needs of her. Despite knowing she is not the boss of Tony she is far from a pushover. Pepper knows that she deserves respect for all the hard work she does and even though it's not always delivered fully and sometimes drenched in sassy remarks, Tony never fails to show his appreciation for his assistant and friend. Pepper is independent, intelligent and sometimes even brazen in her work. Although she is nowhere near as intelligent as her boss she possesses a keen eye for detail and never seems to fail at a task given to her and as the new CEO of Stark Industries she proved how capable she really was. She never pretended to approve of Tony's impulsive and promiscuous life-style but also never directly tried to break him out of it. It seems that were it not for her feelings for her boss she might have quit her job ages ago. In fact Pepper showed a certain amount of jealousy and insecurity around Tony's intimate flings which is possibly why she treated them with such subtle disdain. She is also quick to panic during action packed moments but is willing to be in the middle of them if she can protect Tony. Ironically, Pepper does not like violence and was shocked at herself for how violent her murder of Aldrich Killian was.

After Tony's run in with terrorists and his transformation into Iron Man Pepper became less comfortable with her job as it involved a whole new level of danger for them both. Pepper expressed her concern for Tony's safety and was on the verge of quitting in lue of helping his new superhero duties. She changed her mind however when she realized how genuine Tony's morals were in his deeds. Being an ethically strong person herself, Pepper's loyalty to her boss remained intact.

By the time of The Avengers, Pepper was less nervous about Tony's dangerous new life as they were romantically involved. However, Tony's obsession with building new Iron Man suits during Iron Man 3 had begun to irritate her. Even though their relationship was starting to become rocky Pepper still loved him and never tried to abandon him.

Formerly:

 * Extremis

Relationships

 * Tony Stark - Boss, boyfriend and love interest.
 * James Rhodes - Friend.
 * Phil Coulson - Friend.
 * Happy Hogan - Friend and assistant.
 * Natalie Rushman - Assistant.
 * Obadiah Stane/Iron Monger - Enemy.
 * Ivan Vanko/Whiplash - Enemy.
 * Justin Hammer - Enemy.
 * Aldrich Killian - Colleague turned Enemy.
 * The Mandarin - Enemy.
 * Eric Savin - Enemy.
 * Maria Hill - Employee and friend.

Appearances/Actresses

 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (5 films)
 * Iron Man (First appearance) - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * Iron Man 2 - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * The Avengers - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * Iron Man 3 - Gwyneth Paltrow
 * All Hail the King (Mentioned and Photograph)
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (1 TV series)
 * Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * "Nothing Personal" (Mentioned only)
 * Marvel Cinematic Universe (6 comics)
 * Iron Man: Fast Friends
 * Iron Man: Security Measures
 * Iron Man 2: Public Identity
 * Iron Man 2: Fist of Iron
 * Iron Man 2: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Iron Man 3 Prelude

Behind the scenes

 * Paltrow asked Marvel to send her any comics that they would consider relevant to her understanding of the character, which she considered to be very smart, levelheaded, and grounded. She said she liked "the fact that there's a sexuality that's not blatant." Favreau wanted Potts' and Stark's relationship to be reminiscent of a 1940s comedy, something which Paltrow considered to be fun in a sexy yet innocent way.
 * The character of Pepper wasn't originally intended to appear in The Avengers: it was Robert Downey Jr. who insisted her to be present, stressing the role she has in Tony Stark's life.
 * Kevin Feige comments on Pepper's role in the Iron Man 3, "The love triangle in this movie is really between Tony, Pepper and the suits. Tony, Pepper and his obsession with those suits, and the obsession with technology."

Trivia

 * In the comics Pepper was married to Happy Hogan, but they divorced.
 * In the comics, Tony makes Pepper her own suit and she is called Rescue to which she used the suit for a time before she later destroyed it and ended her superhero career when the suit's A.I. became compromised. Jon Favreau revealed that Rescue almost made an appearance in Iron Man 2.
 * Although the Rescue armor does not appear in Iron Man 3, Pepper does briefly wear the Iron Man suit as a reference to it.