If you're new to the adventures of Wonder Woman, you might not be familiar with the
villain known as Cheetah — but now that she's ready to hit the silver screen, there's
no better time to bone up on Diana's feline arch-nemesis.
This is the untold truth of Cheetah.
Barbara Ann Minerva has been the main Cheetah in the comics ever since the 1980s, and is
easily the character's most well-known alter ego.
And she's also the character Kristen Wiig plays in Wonder Woman 1984.
"I don't wanna be like anyone.
I wanna be an apex predator."
But she wasn't the first Cheetah.
While Minerva first appeared in 1987, another Cheetah debuted in 1943, only a couple of
years after Wonder Woman herself.
That very first Cheetah was Priscilla Rich.
She debuted in Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #6, by the comic's original creative team of William
Marston and Harry G. Peter.
Priscilla was the one and only Cheetah until 1980, when Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #274 saw the
mantle taken up by Priscilla's niece, an environmental activist named Deborah Domaine.
The DC continuity was rebooted in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" event in the mid-1980s,
leaving the door open for another new Cheetah in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #7: Barbara Ann Minerva
herself.
A man named Sebastian Ballesteros usurped Minerva's powers and briefly became the Cheetah
in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #171, but Barbara returned to the role before long.
Given that Wonder Woman stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Superman and has been known to fight
Greek gods from time to time, you'd think her arch-nemesis would be comparably powerful.
But Priscilla Rich, the original Cheetah, had no superpowers at all.
In fact, much like a certain other DC character, Priscilla's primary asset is her wealth.
Her villainous origin lies in the moment Wonder Woman steals the spotlight from her at a charity
event, making the young heiress intensely jealous.
As any reasonable person would, Priscilla responds to this unintentional slight by putting
on a cheetah skin costume and framing Wonder Woman for robbery, then trying to kill her.
Despite her relatively low power level, Cheetah remained a thorn in Wonder Woman's side throughout
the 1940s.
During one story, she betrays her own country by passing on military secrets to the Japanese
during World War II.
In another, Priscilla infiltrates Paradise Island and steals Queen Hippolyta's magical
girdle of power, enabling her to finally go toe-to-toe with Wonder Woman herself.
Obviously, she still loses — which really can't be good for the ol' self-esteem.
One element of the Cheetah character that's been there since the very beginning is the
notion of the feline persona as a separate personality.
Cheetah's human alter ego, whoever that may be, often struggles against and gives in to
the feral persona in their head.
Before Priscilla Rich starts wearing her rug, a fully outfitted Cheetah appears in her vanity
mirror, encouraging the heiress to give in to her hatred of Wonder Woman — and become
the, quote, "treacherous, relentless huntress" she already is on the inside.
Decades later, Debbie Domaine stepped into the Cheetah's furry shoes.
Debbie is a genuinely nice person and a good friend to Wonder Woman — until she's brainwashed
by the international supervillain Kobra, who transforms her into a vicious huntress in
her own right.
For Barbara Ann Minerva, the divide is more mystical, with the animal instincts of the
Cheetah leading her down a path of animalistic viciousness that part of her finds repellent.
No matter how much she might struggle, however, the Cheetah within her always yearns to be
free.
Given her semi-feral nature, it might come as some surprise to find that Cheetah is actually
something of a joiner.
Priscilla Rich, for example, is a founding member of Villainy Incorporated, an all-female
team formed to take revenge on Wonder Woman.
Debuting in Wonder Woman Vol. 1 #28, the team made several appearances over the years, hoping
to find strength in numbers against the powerful Amazon princess.
Naturally, it never quite works out for them.
In addition to initially being an agent of Kobra, Debbie Domaine is later recruited by
the Ultra-Humanite into the Secret Society of Super-Villains, DC's premiere villain team
of the 1970s and '80s.
As a member of the Secret Society, Debbie faces both the Justice Society and the Justice
League.
Then you've got Barbara Ann Minerva, who is a founding member of the post-Crisis version
of the Injustice League, which debuted in the Justice League of America Wedding Special.
She's part of the triumvirate that leads the League alongside Lex Luthor and the Joker,
mirroring the much-celebrated "DC Trinity" of their respective arch-enemies.
Cheetah has also been part of what might be DC's most enduring supervillain team of all,
the Legion of Doom.
But that team's first appearance wasn't actually in a comic book.
In 1978, the children's cartoon series Super Friends was retooled as Challenge of the Super
Friends, bringing it closer to the comics it was based on.
Challenge expanded the show's roster of heroes, and introduced a team of DC Comics supervillains
for them to square off against each week.
The Legion of Doom, a creation of this cartoon, is brought together by Lex Luthor in a flying
saucer-esque swamp lair.
"It is the purpose of the Legion to align our infamous forces against the powers of
good and defeat them, leaving us the rulers of the world."
The Priscilla Rich version of Cheetah represents Wonder Woman's rogues gallery, alongside Giganta,
another animal print-clad Golden Age villainess.
Cheetah's most memorable episode in the series is "The Secret Origins of the Super Friends,"
in which the Legionnaires travel back in time to prevent their enemies from becoming superheroes.
Cheetah disguises herself as an Amazon and competes in the contest to determine who will
become Wonder Woman, managing to defeat Princess Diana and become Wonder Woman herself.
Her triumph is short-lived however, as the Flash also travels back in time to set things
right.
While there have technically been four Cheetahs, the honest truth is that there are only two
of real significance to the comics.
But it's still worth taking a moment to find out more about the also-rans.
Debbie Domaine is Priscilla Rich's niece, and heir to her fortune.
Ambivalent about her own wealth, Debbie becomes an ecological activist, and even makes friends
with Wonder Woman after encountering the Amazon at sea.
Unfortunately, she's soon kidnapped by agents of Kobra, and a regimen of torture and brainwashing
turns her into an agent of evil.
She never appeared in a Wonder Woman story after her introduction, although she did turn
up as a villain in various other stories published over the next few years, including "Crisis
on Infinite Earths" — the story that would ultimately erase her from continuity.
Sebastian Ballesteros is an Argentine businessman and lover of another Wonder Woman foe, the
immortal sorceress Circe.
In a 2001 storyline, he is able to convince Urzkartaga, the god who empowers Cheetah,
to take the Cheetah's powers from Barbara Ann Minerva and give them to him instead.
Sebastian is ultimately no match for Barbara Ann, however.
Unable to access the Cheetah's powers, she instead steals the powers of one of the Furies
of Greek myth, and ultimately kills Ballesteros, giving his blood to Urzkartaga as an offering,
in exchange for becoming Cheetah once more.
When Barbara Ann Minerva was first introduced in 1987, she was depicted as a duplicitous
woman who feigns friendship with Wonder Woman in an attempt to steal her magic lasso.
When DC revised Wonder Woman's continuity in 2016 as part of DC Rebirth, however, she
was made into a far more likable character.
They also tied her origin more closely to Wonder Woman's, cementing them as fated arch-nemeses.
In the current continuity, Barbara Ann Minerva is a brilliant archaeologist with an impressive
reputation.
When an Amazon princess shows up in the US speaking what appears to be a dialect of ancient
Greek, Dr. Minerva is called on to help translate.
Thus, Barbara Ann actually teaches Diana the English language, and the two become close
friends.
Unfortunately, their friendship is doomed from the beginning — and Minerva is soon
led down a very dark path indeed.
Just as Wonder Woman can trace the origin of her powers to the gods and goddesses of
Mount Olympus, her nemesis is also empowered by an ancient deity.
Cheetah's powers come from an African plant god named Urzkartaga, and they're as much
of a curse as they are a blessing.
During her travels, Barbara Ann Minerva learns of a ritual by which a human woman can become
a bride of Urzkartaga, thus attaining great power.
She attempts the ritual, having learned from her friendship with Wonder Woman that god-given
superpowers are a very real thing.
Unfortunately, what Minerva doesn't take into account is that ancient gods tend to be narrow-minded
and kinda sexist.
So, because she isn't a virgin, the god rejects her, and with his rejection comes a horrific
curse — transforming Barbara Ann into a bestial creature who craves human flesh.
Ultimately, Barbara Ann Minerva does gain great power from Urzkartaga, despite the drawbacks.
Her speed, strength, agility, and vicious killer instincts make her a formidable foe,
even for someone like Wonder Woman.
In reality, Barbara Ann Minerva's transformation is ultimately the fault of another Wonder
Woman villain: The business tycoon known as Veronica Cale.
Cale was introduced to DC Comics in 2003, in an effort to give Wonder Woman her own
Lex Luthor.
Since first appearing in Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #196, she's become one of Wonder Woman's
greatest foes.
Cale is rich, successful, extremely intelligent, and resents everything Wonder Woman stands
for.
And it's Veronica Cale who sends Barbara Ann Minerva on her expedition to gain the powers
of Urzkartaga, hoping that an empowered Minerva might be able to help Cale find Wonder Woman's
homeland of Themyscira.
Wonder Woman had previously promised to help Barbara Ann if she ran into trouble, but Cale
disrupts their lines of communication and keeps Wonder Woman too busy to check on her
friend — until it's too late.
Unaware of the extent of Cale's manipulation, Cheetah blames Wonder Woman for her transformation
into a bloodthirsty beast.
Although Barbara Ann occasionally regains her humanity over the years and ultimately
understands that Veronica Cale is to blame for her predicament, she and Wonder Woman
remain enemies.
In the convoluted history of comic book characters, it seems like everyone has hooked up with
everyone else, and a prime example of this is the fling between Clark Kent and Barbara
Ann Minerva fling from the non-canon comic Superman: American Alien.
In this story, not only does the pre-Supes Clark Kent have a romantic tryst with Barbara,
but she also helps him establish his dual identity.
The premise for this comic is that Clark Kent wins a trip to the Bahamas, but his plane
crashes on the way.
Luckily, he finds his way to Bruce Wayne's yacht, but the billionaire isn't there.
Naturally, everyone assumes that Clark is Bruce Wayne, and Barbara Ann, another guest
on the yacht, convinces him to go along with it.
Clark and Barbara open up quite a bit to one another throughout the storyline, with Clark
even dancing around the idea of sharing his true, alien origin with her.
Eventually, the two part ways with nothing more than fond memories of one another — but
it's still a fascinating look at two characters who "might have been."
If you're discussing which DC Comics characters are the fastest of all, Superman and the Flash
tend to be the main focus.
"That feels like an oversimplification."
Cheetah's name rarely even comes up — but honestly, it probably should.
During the "Flash War" comics storyline, longtime Flash writer Josh Williamson gave DC Nation
his list of the ten fastest DC characters.
The first three are all versions of the Flash: Barry Allen, Wally West, and the Reverse Flash.
Superman comes in fourth, naturally.
In fifth place is the Black Racer, a swift-moving and inescapable incarnation of Death.
And sixth on the list?
Barbara Ann Minerva, the fleet-footed Cheetah.
That puts her ahead of Wonder Woman, Shazam, and basically everybody else in the DC Universe.
It also means she's almost as fast as Death itself, which you have to imagine is something
Barbara Ann is pretty proud of.
Empowered by a god and given the aspect of the fastest animal on land, Cheetah's speed
really is no joke.
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