Barbara Ann Minerva

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Cheetah in Wonder Woman v4 #23.1.

Barbara Ann Minerva is a female comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Contents

Biography

Origin

Barbara Ann Minerva

She then took a flight from London's Heathrow to Boston's Logan International Airport where Chuma made arrangements for the transportation of the plant. (Wonder Woman v2 #9)

While in prison, still wracked with pain, Minerva was approached by a messenger of Circe. He gave her a potion that transformed her permanently into the Cheetah. Whereas before she had worn a suit and was not totally in control while in Cheetah form, now she was totally transformed and remained in complete control. The spell also allowed her to take on a human appearance while still being in full possession of her Cheetah powers. Unfortunately for Minerva, the potion had made her a slave to Circe and her schemes. Hoping to betray Circe, Cheetah went to the Gotham City Grand Hotel trying to steal the goblet that Circe was going to use against the Amazons of Themyscira. All hell broke loose that night and after killing Hellene and wounding Philippus, two Amazons, Cheetah fled. She turned up to tell Inspector Indelicato the whole truth and where Diana could find her missing mother, hoping Wonder Woman would defeat Circe. (Wonder Woman v2 #61)

Cheetah later came to free Hunter Zolomon from prison where the villainous Zoom met her in Boston with proposing that they exchange favours. She wanted to learn to be as fast as him with Zolomon initially refusing but came to relent and began to help her. He though said that his powers were not like the Flash and that he could not lend his speed to her. Instead, he stated that the limits placed on her speed were psychological and suggested killing the original Cheetah Priscilla Rich and thus be the only bearer of the mantle which would remove the mental block on her. The pair travelled to Rich's mansion where they murdered her with the scene later being visited by the Flash and Wonder Woman who were on the trail of their respective villains. (The Flash v2 #219) During their fight, she came to target the Flash where she came to badly injure him though his powers allowed him to heal his injuries. Ultimately, the Flash was able to defeat her just as Wonder Woman dealt with Zoom. However, the Cheetah caused Wonder Woman to lose her grip allowing Zolomon to be freed where he teleported himself and Barbara Minerva away. Though escaping together, Zoom had no interest in joining Cheetah's 'friends' but she came to introduce him to Doctor Psycho. (Wonder Woman v2 #214)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different series of events. Barbara Ann Minerva was the daughter of Lord Cavendish with her mother dying when she was young leading to Barbara finding solace in her imagination. Barbara was noted as being a bright child who was a polyglot with her education being passed to a woman by the name of Miss McLeod who taught her about Greek mythology. In her youth, she stayed at her family home of the Minerva-Cavendish residence situated in Oakstone Abbey in Nottinghamshire within England where the young Barbara engaged in playful fights using her imagination. Upon learning of this, her father disapproved of these fantasies that his daughter indulged in and put a stop to it. (Wonder Woman v5 #8)

She served as an ally of Wonder Woman's due to her knowledge of dangerous relics, and having previously grown up in an all-woman commune called Amazonia. In the possession of a dagger once belonging to a lost tribe of Amazons, she accidentally cut herself on it. This caused her to become possessed by the 'Goddess of the Hunt', transforming her into a human-cheetah hybrid. Her claws transform Superman into a cheetah-like being when she scratches him. The origin of the Cheetah is dated back to the Sun Tribe, who for centuries had hunted alongside the cheetahs. Every generation, one of their members is chosen to become the host of the Goddess of the Hunt, until one day a hunter killed the current host; the knife used to kill her was cursed until it fell into the hands of Minerva. The Cheetah is subdued by the Justice League and placed in Belle Reve. However, once there, she makes contact with someone telling him she is where he requested, implying her capture was staged as a part of a bigger plan. (Justice League v2 #13)

After the Justice League was formed, Cheetah was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains. In the wake of the Graves Incident, Cheetah got a final piece of data necessary to track down a tribe in the Congo who had been the original custodians of the God-Killer Knife. As she had before, Wonder Woman went to stop her - but this time, she brought the Justice League. The interference of the superhero team though led to Cheetah being caught and taken into custody. (Justice League v2 #14) Upon being sent to prison, she was chosen to take part in the Suicide Squad program where she worked with fellow villain Black Manta as they worked as superpowered black-ops agents for the U.S. government. (Suicide Squad v4 #21)

When Steve Trevor and Killer Frost arrive in Central Park to look for the Cheetah, they end up being ambushed by the Cheetah and her Menagerie consisting of Elephant Man, Hellhound, Lion-Mane, Mäuschen, Primeape, and Zebra-Man. The Cheetah manhandles Trevor using Wonder Woman's lasso. Steve Trevor manages to overcome the lasso and explains that only Diana could use it, as she was herself truthful and pure. As the Cheetah is not that, Trevor manages to get the lasso off and onto the Cheetah. While Killer Frost escapes and freezes the Cheetah's Menagerie, Steve Trevor knocks the Cheetah out. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #5)

The Cheetah was later recruited to join Lex Luthor's Legion of Doom. (Justice League v4 #2)

Afterwards, she looked to recover from her time with the Legion of Doom and approached the Queen of Fables who was offering villains a place to hide out within fantasy worlds. This saw her being transported to a magical land tailored to her desires where she ruled over a kingdom of cat people. (Deathstroke Inc. v1 #3)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Barbara Ann Minerva in Wonder Woman v5 #8.

It was her transformation that led to her adopting the name of the Cheetah. (Wonder Woman v2 #9)

From her youth, it was noted that she had a natural affinity for languages and was a polyglot. (Wonder Woman v5 #8)

She was fascinated by Wonder Woman and felt that the prizes tied to her past belonged to Minerva. (Wonder Woman v2 #7)

As the Cheetah, she was said to embody constant aggression in human form where she would continue attack when more saner foes would simply flee at a given opportunity. (Wonder Woman v2 #9)

Powers and abilities

Originally, Barbara Ann Minerva was an ordinary human though one who came to be a noted archaeologist. (Wonder Woman v2 #7) She was noted for being a brilliant academic where by adulthood she had gotten 2 PhDs with her being able to speak 8 languages and was near fluent in an additional 7. (Wonder Woman v5 #8)

Barbara drank from a special arcane elixir that triggered her transformation into the Cheetah. In this form, she gained superhuman speed and agility with her senses being heightened. In fact, her sense of smell was greater to the point that she could track quarry through it. Her tail was shown to be strong enough to choke someone and she could use it to send them flying away from her. In battle, she possessed fearsome claws that she could use to slash at her target. She also had sharp fangs in her teeth that she could use to rip and tear apart flesh. (Wonder Woman v2 #9)

After her tryst with the witch Circe, Barbara could willingly change to and back from human form and animal form at will. (Wonder Woman Annual v3 #1)

Among Circe's enhancements included the power to communicate and control actual cheetah's which she could command to battle for her. (Wonder Woman v3 #1)

As a member of the Secret Society, she came to head a team of animal themed supervillains called the Menagerie. (Forever Evil: A.R.G.U.S. v1 #5)

She was noted to have held an ancestral home located in Nottingham, England. (Wonder Woman v2 #7)

Notes

  • Barbara Ann Minerva was created by Len Wein and George Pérez where she made her first appearance in Wonder Woman v2 #7 (August, 1987).

Alternate Versions

  • In DC Comics Bombshells v1 #16 (2016), an alternate version of the Cheetah appeared in the setting of the Bombshells reality. Barbara Anna Minerva was sent to live with another family in London after her parents died where she was physically abused by their son. Eventually, the parents arranged to have her marry their son so that they could inherit her parents' fortune. When she was old enough, Barbara Ann hung their son and ran away. She grew to become a skilled hunter and adventurer.
  • In Superman: American Alien v1 #3 (2016), an alternate version of Barbara Minerva appeared in the setting of this reality

In other media

Television

  • In the DC Animated Universe, the Barbara Ann Minerva Cheetah appeared in the shared continuity setting:
    • In Justice League, the Cheetah appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Sheryl Lee Ralph.
    • In Justice League Unlimited, the Cheetah appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Sheryl Lee Ralph.
  • In Justice League Action, the Barbara Ann Minerva Cheetah appeared in a non-speaking role in the animated television series in the episode "Quality Time".

Films

  • In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, the Cheetah appeared in a non-speaking role in the setting of the animated film. She came to had survived Darkseid's conquest of the planet where two years later she became a member of the Suicide Squad.
  • In Wonder Woman 1984, Barbara Ann Minerva appeared in the setting of the live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Kristen Wiig.
  • In Catwoman: Hunted, Barbara Ann Minerva appeared in the setting of the animated film where she was voiced by actress Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

Video games

  • In Justice League Task Force, the Barbara Ann Minerva Cheetah appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game.
  • In DC Universe Online, the Barbara Ann Minerva Cheetah appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where she was voiced by actress Adrienne Mishler.
  • In Injustice 2, the Barbara Ann Minerva Cheetah appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where she was voiced again by actress Erica Luttrell.

Appearances

  • Wonder Woman v2: (1987)
  • Wonder Woman v3:
  • Justice League v2:
  • Wonder Woman v5:
  • Justice League v4:
  • Deathstroke Inc. v1:

External Links

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