JUNIPER

Real Name: Juniper

Identity/Class: Terrestrial canine

Occupation: Pet

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Chewie (Chewbacca Sassy Danvers of Reality-58163), Myron Darkwater, D-Dog, Edwin Jarvis, Lucky, Redwing

Enemies: None

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: The home of Myron Darkwater, presumably New York City, New York, USA

First Appearance: Marvel Unleashed I#1 (October, 2023)

Powers/Abilities: Juniper has no super-canine abilities but they are fiercely protective of their human, Myron Darkwater, and they were much braver than one would expect a small dog to be despite being bred to be a lap dog.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 11" at the withers)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 17 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown (presumably? - see comments)
Hair: White

History:
(Marvel Unleashed I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Juniper was a dog bred to be a lap dog for company and they at some point became the pet of scientist Myron Darkwater. Juniper's human, Myron Darkwater, who often worked a lot and was gone for long periods, gave Juniper car rides and treats. When Juniper's human disappeared, Juniper became worried. Enlisting the aid of the would-be superhero dog D-Dog, Juniper explained the situation and D-Dog suggested they get some help in tracking down Juniper's human, as D-Dog was admittedly not great at mysteries. Knowing of Lucky, the pet of the superhero Hawkeye, D-Dog and Juniper sought Lucky out.

(Marvel Unleashed I#1) - Finding Lucky digging through a garbage can in search of pizza, D-Dog and Juniper confronted Lucky and explained the situation of Juniper's missing human. Juniper revealed to Lucky that their human worked a lot and was sometimes gone for long periods but Juniper had become worried since the human had never been gone that long. When D-Dog mentioned that they hoped Lucky could help Juniper since Lucky's human was a superhero, Lucky admitted he was pretty good at clues and agreed to help them find clues to the whereabouts of Juniper's human. Along the way back to Juniper's home, D-Dog revealed her origins and, upon hearing that D-Dog was a stray dog, Juniper commented on how sad that was. When D-Dog proclaimed that some day, she would be recognized as the best there was, to which Juniper replied that they had always heard the heroic act was the reward rather than the recognition. D-Dog admitted that statement to be true but noted that it would be nice to be called a good dog before they all arrived at Juniper's home. Venturing inside, Juniper, Lucky and D-Dog searched the house for clues and when D-Dog found a ball, a smiling Juniper admitted it was one of their favorite balls.

    The trio soon made their way into Juniper's human's lab and Lucky questioned whether Juniper's owner was some sort of scientist. Juniper answered that her human was very smart and was always tinkering on something. Lucky remarked that it didn't look like normal science stuff and D-Dog noticed some foul-smelling, dark magic paperwork before Lucky found a cabinet and asked Juniper what was inside. Juniper explained that the cabinet contained her human's work uniform and when they opened it, Lucky immediately recognized the uniform as one from the terrorist A.I.M. organization. All three immediately left Juniper's home and when Lucky remarked that it was a bad-guy suit, Juniper became angry and insisted her human was not a bad guy. Lucky suggested they get additional help so the trio went to Avengers Mansion to recruit the Avengers, finding only Edwin Jarvis, who could not understand their barking. Captain America's falcon, Redwing, overheard the barking and agreed to help them tackle A.I.M. to find Juniper's human. Captain Marvel's pet Flerken, Chewie, also agreed to help and Juniper led them all back to their home to investigate the A.I.M. uniform.

    When they arrived, Redwing began directing everyone on what to do and Juniper commented to Chewie about how smug Redwing was, to which Chewie replied that all birds of prey couldn't help but act superior to others. Redwing soon confirmed the danger presented to Juniper's human, given the presence of the A.I.M. uniform, and Juniper again insisted her human was not a bad person. Redwing soon suggested the dogs use their famous senses of smell and Juniper replied that she was bred to be a lap dog, only able to provide good company. D-Dog soon caught a scent that led out of town and as Redwing, D-Dog and Chewie followed the scent, Lucky suggested he escort Juniper back home, as their little legs weren't made for long distances. Before departing, Juniper thanked D-Dog, Chewie and Redwing, expressing confidence that they would find their missing human. D-Dog swore to find Myron as they parted ways. Soon tracing the scent to an A.I.M. lab, D-Dog and her allies confronted the A.I.M. agents present, with D-Dog yelling for Myron and exclaiming that Juniper missed him despite the A.I.M. agents being unable to understand D-Dog's barking. Quickly retreating, D-Dog and her allies continued their search and they soon located Juniper's human, Myron Darkwater, who was meeting with Kraven the Hunter in regards to Kraven's capture of the Inhuman Lockjaw.

(Marvel Unleashed I#2) - After learning that Myron was working with the demon Blackheart, D-Dog, Chewie and Redwing sought to summon the godlike Throg for assistance and D-Dog sent the message to Throg via the Midnight Howl, a howl passed from dog to dog until it reached its destination. As the Howl passed from dog to dog, Juniper was one of the dogs who heard the call and howled to continue the message onward. D-Dog and his allies were soon spotted by Blackheart and just as defeat seemed imminent, Throg and the ghostly dog Bats arrived to help the turn the tide and during the distraction, D-Dog attempted to tell Myron how much Juniper missed him but Myron could not understand D-Dog's barking.

(Marvel Unleashed I#3 - BTS) - Following Myron, D-Dog and her allies getting transported to Blackheart's Hell realm base of operations, D-Dog continued barking at Myron in an attempt to communicate how much Juniper missed him. Still not able to understand D-Dog's barking, Myron asked if someone could tell him why D-Dog kept barking at him, at which point Bats communicated D-Dog's message about Juniper to Myron. Bats also explained that D-Dog had told Myron that he should have been home with Juniper instead of making deals with Blackheart. Upon hearing Juniper's name, Myron was wracked with guilt for leaving Juniper home alone and his remarks about being the worst pet owner ever were met with growls from D-Dog and Bats at the thought of being "owned."

Comments: Created by Kyle Starks and Jesus Hervas.

    Myron Darkwater mentions worrying about his dog in Marvel Unleashed I#4. While Juniper isn't mentioned by name, we're led to believe it's a reference to Juniper. However, since Juniper isn't mentioned by name nor do we see them in #4, I've chosen not to include that as an "appearance" in this profile. We can assume Myron returned home to Juniper at the end of the mini-series, having learned his lesson to not make deals with Blackheart...

    The animals in the Marvel Unleashed mini-series were seen speaking English for the benefit of the readers but whenever they were seen trying to communicate with a human, they were only shown barking or squawking, etc. so the English speak would just be the translation of what they were communicating in their native animal language.

    Juniper appeared to be a bichon frise or some other breed from the poodle family.

    Juniper was only ever referred to with "they/them" pronouns.

    Juniper's eyes were always depicted as black dots due to the artwork of the Marvel Unleashed mini-series. One might assume they were brown or some other darker color...

Profile by Proto-Man.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Juniper should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Marvel Unleashed I#1, p8, pan3 (Juniper, main image)
Marvel Unleashed I#1, p5, pan2 (Juniper, headshot)
Marvel Unleashed I#1, p10, pan2 (Juniper smiling)

Appearances:
Marvel Unleashed I#1 (October, 2023) - Kyle Starks (writer), Jesus Hervas (art), Alanna Smith (editor)
Marvel Unleashed I#2 (November, 2023) - Kyle Starks (writer), Jesus Hervas (art), Alanna Smith (editor)
Marvel Unleashed I#3 (December, 2023) - Kyle Starks (writer), Juan Gedeon (art), Alanna Smith (editor)

First posted: 07/15/2025
Last updated: 07/15/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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