Gamemnae
Gamemnae is a female comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.
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Biography
Gamemnae was a female blonde haired Atlantean who was born thousands of years ago. In 1043 B.C., she was born in Atlantis where the people believed her cursed due to the colour of her hair. As was the practice in that era, the Atlanteans decided to expel the baby girl under the belief it would keep their city clean and had her sent to the surface to die. She managed to survive where she grew to adulthood with her deciding to get revenge against Atlantis 23 years later. By this point, she had mastered magic and struck without warning where she forced Atlantis to rise to the surface in 1020 B.C. She offered to take the people to greatness if they followed her with most bowing to the Great Lady whilst those that refused were killed. As such, it came to be under her rule even by the year 1015 B.C. (JLA v1 #75) As such, despite being exile and being an outcast she sought to bring her homeland to splendour. During this time, she encountered Atlanteans from the far future who had escaped into their past to avoid danger. Gamemnae was shocked to see that her kin had become water-breathers in the future. She came to meet their King and through him she learnt of the future of the world with her becoming disgusted at the fate of her people. Thus, she merged Aquaman into the water of the pool at Atlantis and enslaved the other future Atlanteans to be servile labourers. Gamemnae also came to learn of the existence of a League of Giants in the future that would come into her era. As such, she decided to prepare herself and assembled a team to combat them. She decided to look to rival kingdoms that were threats to Atlantis and told them of a coming danger from a many-headed hydra from the future in order to unite them in the face of a faceless enemy. This led to them forming the League of Ancients though in reality she used them to eliminate the future heroes after which she planned to kill them and absorb their respective kingdoms. (JLA v1 #74) During Atlantis's Obsidian Age, the League came to consist of the Anointed One, Manitou Raven, Sela, Tezumak and the Whaler. (JLA v1 #70) In response to the prophecy, the League of Ancients dispatched Manitou Raven and Tezumak travel to the 21st century to destroy the Justice League but were forced to retreat. (JLA v1 #66) This led to the Justice League performing a spell in order to locate Aquaman. (JLA v1 #68)
When the Justice League eventually arrived in the past to rescue Aquaman and the Atlanteans, the Ancients managed to prevail over the League, as their willingness to kill granted them a significant advantage. However, Manitou Raven having witnessed Green Lantern turn from the fight to save innocent Atlanteans started to have doubts on their enemies being a threat to the world. He then decided to 'test' Batman with his tomahawk that could not pierce the skin of a good man, realized that the League were genuinely good people and confronted Gamemnae with the truth of her betrayal. Learning that Gamemnae had used a quagmire spell to absorb the other members of the League of Ancients, thus adding to her power. Manitou used the souls of the deceased Justice Leaguers along with a spell reinforced by Kyle's willingly sacrificed heart to create a spell of containment that would trap Gamemnae in Atlantis until, paradoxically, Raven's past self broke it by traveling back to the past following a trip to the future. (JLA v1 #74) With the heroes defeated, Gamemnae then turned against her former allies where she absorbed the powers of each of them to add to her own. (JLA v1 #75)
Long afterwards, she remained rooted in the remains of Atlantis where she continued her plans from the Obsidian Age. This brought her into conflict with Nightwing's Justice League where she revealed herself and battled those superheroes. (JLA v1 #73)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Gamemnae was a beautiful female Atlantean that looked human and had distinct blonde hair. (JLA v1 #75)
She stated that she hated the water as she found it to be a scornful mother and unfaithful lover. However, she had said that she did enjoy drowning. (JLA v1 #73)
Gamemnae stated that she did not hate Atlantis only that she had hated what it had become over the years. She noted that she intended could raise their station and bring them to greatness under her rule. Thus, she orchestrated an elaborate plant to eliminate two groups of heroes of the world so that Atlantis would rule the Earth. (JLA v1 #75)
Her weakness was her confidence in her great strength and blinded her to threats. (JLA v1 #75)
Powers and abilities
As an infant, she had the ability to breath both underwater and on land. (JLA v1 #75) Similar to other Atlanteans, she was a telepath allowing her to communicate her thoughts from her mind to another. (JLA v1 #75)
Her magic was capable of manipulating the biology of another person such as allowing water-breathing Atlanteans to be capable of breathing air. Alternatively, she could manipulate the elements on a large scale. This included being able to move all the water on Earth's surface to particular location. Alternatively, she could command fire causing targets to sudden catch ablaze. (JLA v1 #75)
As a mage, she was skilled in the arts of magic and was able to unleash powerful mystical spells. She was noted for wielding elemental magic with her possessing raw talent that meant she had strong magical defences. (JLA v1 #73) One of her abilities was to merge with the soul of the planet and take control over the environment itself. This allowed her to remove all water on a planetary scale and unleash fires around the world. She was able to achieve this by becoming soulbound to the most powerful source of magic on Earth with this being Atlantis itself giving her untold power. (JLA v1 #75)
A particular ability of hers was a hex called a quagmire that was a fleshspell which allowed her to physically absorb others in order to gain their strength. It was said even maniacs would not even attempt to absorb two with Gamemnae having absorbed nine in her time. Her version of the quagmire spell was said to be unlike any other and that people could not approach her without Gamemnae absorbing them along with their abilities. (JLA v1 #73) The magic was said to only consume living flesh. (JLA v1 #75)
After absorbing potent magical power, she was capable of resurrecting the dead. (JLA v1 #75)
In the distant past, she came to be responsible for manipulating the founding of the League of Ancients. (JLA v1 #72)
Notes
- Gamemnae was created by Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke where she made her first appearance in JLA v1 #69 (September, 2002).
In other media
Television
- In Supergirl, Gamemnae appeared in the live-action television series fifth season that was part of the Arrowverse where she was portrayed by actor Cara Buono. This version had a different backstory as she was actually an alien from Krypton's sister world of Jharnpur that was destroyed millions of years ago. However, fifth survivors managed to flee the cataclysm where their ship crashed on Earth thus causing an extinction event which killed the Dinosaurs. Afterwards, mankind evolved on the planet with Gamemnae and her comrades operating in the shadows where they created a secret society to control the planet that was known as Leviathan.
Appearances
- JLA v1: (2002)
External Links
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