Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva is the third Cheetah and is the arch-nemesis of Wonder Woman. In addition to this, Cheetah has been a notable enemy to Catwoman, an inmate of Arkham Asylum, and a member of the Suicide Squad.
History[]
New Earth[]
Origins[]
Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva was a skilled English archaeologist who found a group worshiping Irzkartaga, an African plant god. Viewing a blood ritual which granted Irzkartaga's powers, Barbara forced the priests to perform the ritual on her as-well. However, the ritual went wrong and transformed her into a monstrous, humanoid cheetah with bloodlust and super-powers. Initially, Cheetah's powers could only be activated by drinking the blood of another.
When Wonder Woman first appeared as a superhero, Barbara befriended her with an ulterior motive to steal the Amazon's Lasso of Truth. The two's friendship would turn to bitter hatred and they became arch-nemesises because of this.
When in Rome[]
Cheetah would be hired by the Riddler and Scarecrow as part of a scheme to extract Batman's secret-identity from Catwoman. They followed Catwoman to Rome when she was on a mission to find the late Don Carmine Falcone's wife Louisa and determine if they were her biological parents. Cheetah attacked Catwoman, using blood slashed from her back to transform into cheetah form. Cheetah was incapacitated by Catwoman's ally, "Blondie" but later confronted Catwoman alongside Scarecrow and Riddler on Blondie's yacht. The fight caused the yacht to be burned though all the super-criminals involved managed to escape.
Arkham Asylum[]
After being defeated by Wonder Woman, Barbara was institutionalized within Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. Barbara was visited by a man named Mikos, an assistant to the sorceress Circe who bonded the spirits of Barbara and Irzkartaga, enhancing Barbara's powers and making her no longer need to drink blood for her powers. However, Mikos also magically drugged Cheetah so that she would be a slave to Circe in her war against the Gods of Olympus. While being freed to obtain artifacts for Circe's hellfire spell, Minerva double-crossed Circe and aided Wonder Woman in defeating her so that she could be free.
Prime Earth[]
Origins[]
Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva was an archaeologist who specialized in the research of magical artifacts. She was infatuated with proving the existence of various Hellenic myth entities such as the Amazons, and was amongst Wonder Woman's first and closest friends after entering the human world. The two worked alongside one another in field missions where Barbara develops an envy of Diana's physical prowess. While in Africa, Barbara was subjected to a ritual from the plant god Urzkartaga which forced her to become his, "Bride", and transformed her into the Cheetah. Due to her curse, Barbara snapped and became Diana's obsessive arch-nemesis.
Suicide Squad[]
After arrest, Cheetah would be transferred to Belle Reve Penitentiary to be part of Amanda Waller's, "Suicide Squad". Cheetah was notably deployed outside of Gotham City to apprehend a rogue Deadshot after he murdered his parents within their mansion. Deadshot was able to incapacitate Cheetah by firing a shotgun designed for big-game hunting elephants directly at her throat and lower-jaw, though this only rendered her temporarily unconscious. After this, Cheetah was deployed on a mission lead by Harley Quinn to infiltrate the, "Red Market". An unknown point of time later, Cheetah's service on the Suicide Squad ended.
Powers and abilities[]
- Claws:
- Jaws:
- Invincibility:
- Super-speed:
- Super-strength:
In Other Media[]
Film[]
- Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts: In this film, Cheetah is an Arkham inmate who teams up with Killer Croc.
- DC Showcase: Batman: Death in the Family:
- Justice League: Doom: In this film, Cheetah is part of Vandal Savage's legion of doom which steals Batman's plans to defeat each Justice League member. Following Batman's plan, Cheetah infects Wonder Woman with a form of Scarecrow's fear toxin which makes her see everyone as Cheetah and exhaust herself while attacking civilians.
- Superman/Batman: Public Enemies:
Television[]
- Justice League: Cheetah appears in the two-parter "Injustice for All" as a member of the Injustice Gang. While Batman is captured by the gang, Cheetah is briefly left to guard him, leading to the two of them flirting together and Cheetah kissing Batman. Cheetah is mistakenly thought to be a traitor to the gang when they see a recording of this kiss.
- Justice League Unlimited: Cheetah has brief cameos in this series, being a member of the Legion of Doom.
- Harley Quinn: Cheetah cameos as a member of the Legion of Doom.