| “ | This sort of thing doesn't happen to Barbara Minerva. I don't let it. | „ |
| ~ Barbara Ann Minerva. |
| “ | You missed my wedding, Diana... but you'rrre still in time for the feast. You said you would come. You lied. | „ |
| ~ Barbara Ann Minerva. |
| “ | What are you staring at, Goddess of Love? Am I not beautiful, as you are? Say I am beautiful. Say I am worthy. | „ |
| ~ Cheetah. |
| Cheetah | |
|---|---|
| Series | DC Comics |
| Age | Unknown |
| Birthday | Unknown |
| Sex | Female |
| Species | Unknown |
| Height | 5'9 |
| Weight | 120lbs |
| Alignment | Chaotic Evil |
Barbara Ann Minerva, better known as Cheetah, is a supervillainess appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as the archenemy of the superhero Wonder Woman.
Background[]
Born the heiress to a vast fortune and brought up in an all-woman commune, Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva was originally an adventurous archeologist with an interest in mythology and dangerous relics. Having met and befriended Diana Prince, Minerva acquired a ceremonial dagger that belonged to a lost Amazon tribe who worshipped a cheetah goddess of hunt who was the jailer of the plant demon Urzkartaga. When Minerva cut herself on the blade under the assumption that it give her divine power, unaware that the ritual only works if practioner is a virgin, she ended up transformed into a were-cheetah and forced into a life of crime to fund further research to find a cure while satisfying the bloodlust of her curse. But she found opposition in her former friend Wonder Woman, whose golden lasso she fancied.
After being defeated by Wonder Woman, Minerva was approached by the immortal witch, Circe, who gave her a potion that transformed her permanently into the Cheetah. It also gave her full control over her powers, and the ability to take on a human appearance while still have access to all her Cheetah powers. She later became a member of the Injustice League and the Secret Society of Super-Villains. She also trained under the super-villain Zoom, who helped her enhance her super-speed.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Cheetah Form: Through channeling the power of the plant god Urzkartaga, Barbara Minerva has acquired a cheetah-like humanoid physiology (New Earth). Or turn into the Cheetah, an ancient enemy of man (Prime Earth). While she once needed the potion of her plant god Urzkartaga to maintain it, with help from the witch Circe she can now take on a human appearance while retaining Cheetah form indefinitely.
- Transformation: Her pact with the jealous Urzkartaga gave her the ability to transform into the Cheetah whenever she drank or sipped of another's blood. After her tryst with the witch Circe, Barbara could willingly change to and back from human form and animal form at will.
- Superhuman Strength: As an avatar of a god, Cheetah possesses great strength.
- Superhuman Durability: Cheetah's physical durability is enough to withstand blows from the likes of Wonder Woman and Superman. Cheetah's durability doesn't protect her from bullets, lasers, or other piercing attacks.
- Superhuman Speed: Cheetah possesses greater speed than Wonder Woman, enhanced even further by training with Zoom. When Cheetah over came her psychological blocks, she managed to acquire her true speed.
- Superhuman Agility: Cheetah's agility is enhanced far beyond normal human levels.
- Enhanced Senses: Cheetah's senses are a lot more powerful than a normal human.
- Enhanced Sight
- Enhanced Hearing
- Enhanced Sense of Smell
- Claws & Fangs: Cheetah's claws and fangs are enchanted and allow her to cut almost anything. Even the flesh of super-humanly durable metahumans offers little resistance.
- Tail: Cheetah can use her tail to chop down trees with ease, grab and strangle her foes, and hold onto Superman and Wonder Woman.
- Animal Control: With Circe's upgrade to her powers, Minerva can communicate with and command actual cheetahs into battle for her.
- Cheetah Infection: A kind of therianthropy she can "infect" others with, giving cheetah-like appearances and animalistic traits by biting them, including Kryptonians.
- Transformation: Her pact with the jealous Urzkartaga gave her the ability to transform into the Cheetah whenever she drank or sipped of another's blood. After her tryst with the witch Circe, Barbara could willingly change to and back from human form and animal form at will.
- Void Wind: Cheetah has come into the power of one of the seven hidden forces which makes her that much deadlier of an opponent to the mystical and almighty. Giving Barbara the power to murder the magically divine.
- Hand-to-Hand Combat: Cheetah is very adept at hand-to-hand combat, being able to go one-on-one with Wonder Woman repeatedly.
- Leadership: Minerva has proven a capable organizer and tactician, having led her own sect of The Secret Society while concocting the plan which conceived Genocide.
- Tactical Analysis: Cheetah is a cunning strategist.
- Genius Level Intellect: Had two PhDs by age 26.
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Historiography
- Multilingualism: Can speak 8 languages (including English and Greek) fluently, and is near-fluent in an additional seven.
- Pedagogy: Barbara taught an archeology class at a university before becoming the Cheetah.
- Devious Schemer: Cheetah is a cunning and ruthless planner. She sacrificed her fellow archeologist to gain the power of Urzkartaga and tried to trick Wonder Woman into giving her the Lasso of Truth. She stole the goblet that turned Hippolyta into the new Shim'tar and killed the amazons that tried to stop her, helped Wonder Woman fight Circe to escape servitude to said villain, broke Professor Zoom out of prison and convinced him to help her become faster, and killed Sebastian Ballesteros to regain her powers.
Equipment[]
- God Killer (sword): Gifted to her by Luthor and modified with nanotech slaving it to her specific genetic pattern. The Cheetah now boasts an Eighth Metal forged weapon capable of slaying even the almighty, once broken by Diana after a new goddess of love had been chosen. It was last seen reforged by old magics at the hand of three mysterious entities after Barbara's imprisonment.
Feats[]
Strength[]
- Consistently shown to be able to match Wonder Woman.
- Tossed Wonder Woman into a tree.
- Struggled evenly with Wonder Woman in a tug of war.
- When she was mind controlled by White Magician, managed to overpower Wonder Woman.
- Strong enough to hurt the Wally West Flash, who tanked Zoom's Infinite Mass Punch.
- Capable of hurting the Barry Allen Flash, who can also tank an Infinite Mass Punch.
- Traded blows with Sebastian Ballesteros, who's strong enough to restrain Superman.
- Strong enough to hurt the likes of Superman.
- Smashed Bane into a wall.
- Tossed Scandal Savage through a window.
- Tore open a car ceiling without any problem.
- Carried around a minigun.
Speed[]
- Consistently shown to just as fast, if not faster, than Wonder Woman.
- Thanks to the Hunter Zolomon Zoom, is able to siphon from the Speed Force.
- Capable of keeping up with and tagging the Wally West Flash.
- Can fight with the likes of Superman with her speed, even overwhelming him at times.
- Is also capable of tagging the Barry Allen Flash.
- Eventually became capable of perceiving Zoom.
- Fought with Sebastian Ballesteros, who can move almost as fast as Superman.
Durability[]
- Regularly withstands blows from an enraged Wonder Woman.
- Capable of taking hits from the likes of Superman.
- Takes hits from Sebastian Ballesteros, who is comparable to Wonder Woman or Shazam.
- Got smashed through buildings and was completely fine.
- Took a rocket from an RPG like it was nothing.
- Shrugged off Wonder Woman cutting her tail with her tiara.
Skill[]
- Killed her associates to gain the power of the Urzkartaga.
- Is one of Wonder Woman's most persistent and lethal enemies.
- Along with Lex Luthor and the Joker, is a founding member of the Injustice Gang.
- Found an ancient city where Amazons lived.
- Helped Wonder Woman defeat Circe to escape service from her.
- Killed Sebastian Ballesteros as revenge for stealing her powers and to regain them.
- Was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.
- Helped capture the Secret Six.
- Helped kill most of Uncle Sam's team.
- Rescued Zoom from imprisonment and gained a great increase in speed.
- Killed Priscilla Rich, the previous Cheetah, to overcome her limitations and gain more power.
- Along with Circe, Giganta, and Dr. Psycho, captured Donna Troy and Wonder Girl
- During Final Crisis, joined the resistance to fight off Darkseid.
- Was responsible for the creation of Genocide, and ordered it to defeat Wonder Woman, steal her lasso, and kidnap Etta Candy.
Weaknesses[]
- Feral Mind: Cheetah often suffered from a ravenous, primeval nature that accommodated her transformation. Minerva would lose herself and her intellect while in the heat of battle. This aspect of her powers caused Minerva to act out on impulse, tearing into and eating her victims like a mindless predator.
- Urzkartaga's Curse: Her powers were as much of a spite by their patron deity as much as they were a blessing. Minerva was hexed with a hunger for human flesh to reflect her insatiable greed in life. This hunger caused her unbearable pain every time she transformed into the Cheetah before having the curse lifted.
- Limping: In human form, Barbara had a limp leg, needing to use a walking stick to balance.