Kara Zor-El (Earth-One)

{{DC Database:Character Template
 * Theme                  = Superman
 * Image                  = Supergirl Earth-One 001.jpg
 * RealName               = Kara Zor-El
 * CurrentAlias           = Supergirl
 * Aliases                = Linda Lee; Linda Lee Danvers; Superwoman; Girl of Steel; Maid of Might; Princess of Power; Blonde Blockbuster; Stanhope Sensation; Jasma
 * Identity               = Secret
 * AlienRace              = Kryptonian
 * Alignment              = Good
 * Affiliation            = House of El; Legion of Super-Heroes; Amazons of Themyscira
 * Relatives              = Salkor (ex-husband); Zor-El, (father, deceased); Allura, (mother, deceased); Jor-El, (uncle, deceased); Lara Lor-Van, (aunt, deceased); Superman (cousin); Fred Danvers (foster-father); Edna Danvers (foster-mother); (See House of El for a listing of Supergirl's extended Kryptonian family)
 * Universe               = Earth-One
 * BaseOfOperations       = Argo City; Midvale Orphanage; Stanhope College; San Francisco; Florida; New York City; Chicago


 * Gender                 = Female
 * Height                 = 5'7"
 * Weight                 = 123 lbs
 * Eyes                   = Blue
 * Hair                   = Blond
 * UnusualFeatures        =


 * Citizenship            = American
 * MaritalStatus          = Divorced
 * Occupation             = Student; Photographer; Student Advisor; Actress


 * PlaceOfBirth           = Argo City
 * PlaceOfDeath           = Antimatter Universe
 * Creators               = Otto Binder; Al Plastino
 * First                  = Action Comics Vol 1 252
 * Death                  = Crisis on Infinite Earths Vol 1 7


 * Quotation              = Besides, I could do with the time to myself... to sit back and think. It's selfish, I know, but I deserve... Whoa! There you go again, Linda! There's nothing selfish about wanting to get into yourself for a while instead of thinking about the whole blasted world! I do enough of that as Supergirl — and wasn't the whole reason for this move... to give myself space to be just plain Linda Danvers?
 * Speaker                = Supergirl
 * QuoteSource            = Supergirl Vol 2 1


 * HistoryText            = Kara-Zor-El, also known as Supergirl and Linda Lee Danvers, is a Kryptonian superhero based in Midvale and later San Francisco, New Athens, New York City and Chicago. She is the cousin of Superman, and for a long time served as his "secret weapon".

Early Life
Kara Zor-El was the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton which had survived the explosion of the planet and had drifted through space. When the soil of the colony was turned into Kryptonite, lead sheeting was placed on the ground. Some while after the demise of Krypton, her parents Zor-El and Allura got married and conceived her. She led a relatively happy childhood until she was fifteen when a meteor shower pierced the sheeting and the Kryptonians began to die of radiation poisoning.

Arrival On Earth
Kara was sent to Earth by her parents Zor-El and Allura to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. So Superman would know Kara was his cousin, her parents provided a costume based closely on the Man of Steel's. Upon meeting Kara (who had begun to display powers similar to those of Kal-El), Superman decided she would become his secret weapon, and explained that her presence on Earth must be kept confidential while he trained Kara in the use of her new powers.

Training
Kara adopted the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage, hiding her blonde locks beneath a brunette wig. During this period and for two full years, Linda interacted with humans mainly on a person-to-person basis performing good super-deeds on a save-the-world one at a time ratio, using clever schemes while trying to avoid becoming adopted before her time came. A distant precursor for her worldwide -- even galaxy-wide-- fame that was to come soon. Travel to other times or worlds came easy, since it permitted her to be openly seen then. As Superman's confidence in Kara grew, he put her through a test which resulted in her temporary exile from Earth. Through a string of circumstances, she came to learn Superman's dual identity, but proved worthy of the name Supergirl by keeping Clark's private life a secret.

Legion of Super-Heroes
During her time in the ofphanage, Kara was visited by Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl, who admired her just as much as her cousin and looked to induct her into the Legion of Super-Heroes. Unfortunately, although Supergirl passed their tests, an weird incident with a fragment of Red Kryptonite prevented her from becoming an official member yet. Later Saturn Girl -joined by Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl- would return to the past once again to invite her into the Legion. Supergirl and candidate Brainiac 5 passed their tests, and became Legionnaires before Superboy himself.

The Uknown Supergirl
After several months, Superman decides it's time that the public learn of her existence. He tells her that he plans on doing so once he and Krypto return from a mission in another dimension, leaving Earth in Supergirl's protection. Though Kara has mysteriously lost her powers when he comes back. Unbeknown to Supergirl, she had been un-powered because of the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar who was out to supplant her on Earth. While adapting to her new situation, Linda allowed herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and Edna Danvers his wife.

Once Lesla-Lar's meddling has been dealt with, as well as the effects of Mister Mxyzptlk's magic and Red Kryptonite radiation, Superman decides to introduce her to an unsuspecting world. Kara and Kal revealed her secret identity to her adoptive parents and then Superman publicly unveiled his cousin to the world.

The Death of Luthor
Shortly after the reveal, Lex Luthor assails Supergirl to prove she is a hoax and destroy her. He succeeds in endangering her with Kryptonite, but, when she survives that danger and pursues him, Luthor accidentally kills himself with a ray-gun of his own creation. Yet Supergirl thinks that he should not escape his life sentence this way. She scours Atlantis and several alien worlds to find material for a cocoon which, applied just in time, restores Luthor to life. Luthor proves to be less than grateful, especially when they haul him off to jail again.

Satan Girl
When a mysterious masked woman named Satan Girl infected the female Legionnaires with an odd illness, Kara travelled to the future to save her friends and teammates. Satan Girl proved to be incredibly powerful but Supergirl managed to outwit her. Then she found out Satan Girl was a doppelgänger spawned when she was exposed to a Red Kyrptonite meteor.

Early Public Career
After being adopted Kara changed her Earth name to Linda Lee Danvers (later known as just Linda Danvers) and she became a student at Midvale High School, from where she graduated in time (1965). During this period she befriended Lex Luthor´s telepathic sister Lena Thorul who became a helper and confident to both her secret identities apart until she married.

She also learned Fred and Edna had a son named Jan who had died in the Korean War before her adoption.

In 1966, Linda went on to study an unrevealed BA in Stanhope College until she graduated there in 1971. She even gained Streaky, a pet cat that also possessed superpowers, and a horse named "Comet" that was a magical superpowered pet once described by Superman as "the mightiest Super-Creature on Earth". Comet the Superhorse became her inseparable companion awhile who was secretly in love with Kara and could romance her while he became human whenever a real Comet passed near Earth, in accordance with Circe's hex. His invulnerability to Kryptonite allowed Supergirl to be saved many times. But both grew distant when she went on to college.

The Untold Story of Argo City
When dreams about her Kryptonian parents Zor-El and Allura being still alive alerted her, she built a machine and brought both back safely from the Survival Zone (where they had teleported during Argo's final moments) with the help of her adopted father's engineering talent. Eventually, they settled in Kandor.

World's Finest
Supergirl met Batgirl for first time when Mister Mxyzptlk (Earth-One) and Bat-Mite threw them into a dangerous alternate dimension to get them out of the way as they pulled a prank on Superman and Batman. After several days they managed to break the dimensional barrier just in time to save their mentors from being blasted into another dimension. Both girls befriended each other during their adventure, and would team up more times throughout the years.

Moving to San Francisco
After graduating,, Kara moved to San Francisco and got a job as photographer for KSF-TV Station. Unfortunately, co-worker and former schoolmate and bully Nasty Luthor had guessed Linda was Supergirl and attempted to out her doggedly. At the same time, Linda had to deal with several threats, including mob boss Starfire and sorceror Zond.

During that time Supergirl began to try and establish her own identity and experimented with a wide variety of costume and hairstyle changes; finally settling on a blue v-necked sweater with a small S insignia over her heart, and red hot-pants. While remaining independent from Superman, Kara would maintain close ties with her cousin, while handling a succession of short timed jobs.

Demon Spawn
One day a sword-wielding sorceress named Nightflame teleported in San Francisco and started tearing the city up, looking for Supergirl. Kara hurried to engage her, but she was easily defeated and transported to a demon-filled Hell dimension called Innerverse. Nightflame revealed that place was spawned by Supergirl's darkest side but was decaying. In order to prevent this, Nightflame intended to erase Supergirl's consciousness and taking over her body. With considerably effort, Kara broke Nightflame's binding spell and managed to take her down.

Crypt of the Frozen Graves
The days of Linda working as a photographer came to an end when she wrote several pieces exposing a crime syndicate. Though her informer got cold feet and later got murdered by the syndicate. Kara took the Frisco syndicate down, but she blamed herself for her informer's death. She decided her job was compromising her morals and that was inacceptable, so she quit.

Drama Student and Student Advisor
After a stint as graduate student in drama at Vandyre University nearby, Supergirl moved out to start out a new job as student advisor at New Athens Experimental School in Florida. Back then Kara was feeling worn down and yearning for a normal life, and sometimes she seriously considered quiting, but she kept performing her hero duties.

The Search for Superman
Superman disappeared from Earth while the Justice League battled Queen Bee and Sonar. Supergirl flew up to the Watchtower to ask help and made it just in time to save the Leaguers from Sonar and join the battle. Yet She wasn't exactly impressed when it turned the Leaguers out not only had no idea where her cousin was but also spent one hour doing nothing to find their teammate or identify their mysterious enemy.

As searching Superman, Supergirl, the Leaguers and Despero were abducted by the last surivors of an alien race named the Krill who wanted to see the heroes and the villain fighting as a way to abate their boredom. Every time it looked like several Leaguers were about to defeat Despero, the Krills swapped combatants and changed the arena. Then Supergirl tricked them into betting on the outcome and punched Despero out. As the Krills fought against each other, the Leaguers got Superman back, subdued Despero and flew off.

Krypton No More
As Superman was getting obsessed with the demise of Krypton to the point of courting a psychological breakdown, the Kandorians approached Kara and persuaded her that the best way to help Kal-El was to remove the trouble by making him believe Krypton never existed and was a delusion of his. When Superman's fear to lose his adoptive world led him to commit acts of eco-terrorism, Supergirl decided the Kandorians were right and tricked her cousin into believing the two of them were genetically-enhanced Earth-born humans.

At the beginning Superman bought it, but he finally guessed the lie and got the truth out of his cousin. Although he was angry he forgave her and admitted he had been acting rather crazy of late, but he got obsessed with protecting Earth because he loved his adoptive world as much as his birth-world. Supergirl agreed she also loved both equally.

Let My People Grow
After several years of failures, Superman and Supergirl found a way to enlarge Kandor. After a battle against Brainiac, both cousins recolated the Bottle City to Rokyn, a planet orbited by a red sun, and enlarge the city. Kara's parents settled there.

Warworld
One day, Superman asked Kara's help to stop Mongul, an alien tyrant who had stolen a key to control Warworld, a moving, star-sized weaponized satellite. Although both cousins were unable to prevent Mongul from taking control of Warworld, they managed to destroy it: Kara hurling herself at it at incalculable speed and piercing it like a bullet, and Kal making the planet turned its weapons on itself. Still Supergirl's speed was so great she couldn't stop herself and flew off into the deep space, forcing his cousin to fly faster than ever to find her.

Secret Hearts
Although no teacher or student complained about her performance, administrator Benjamin Pierce had it out for Linda Danvers. After an argument where he insulted her in public, Linda quit angrily. . Adviced by her friend and former crush Peter Barton, she got a job as a sopa-opera star in "Secret Hearts" TV series, a decission supported by her cousin Kal.

Eventually her new job became an undue source of distress. She had to juggle four different identities: Kara Zor-El, Linda Danvers, Margo Hatton (her soap role) and Supergirl. She had to play the role of a nasty shrew, which she disliked and got her harassed by crazy fans who didn't understand "Margo Hatton" wasn't a real person. Often she had to play a "diva" personality up in order to get out and perform heroics, which made her co-workers disliking her. And she had hardly any free time. Realizing she couldn't remember a happier time than as a student, Linda quit "Secret Hearts".

Before that, Linda met Lena Thorul again. Eventually Lena revealed she knew her secret identity. Later Lena finally found out about her relationship with Lex Luthor, and Linda knowing all along. Initially Lena got mad at Linda for lying to her, but she ended up forgiving Supergirl and repairing her relationship with her older brother.

Life in Chicago
Linda moved to Chicago to take Psychology classes in Lake Shore University and finding herself again. As finding out how badly she needed to be plain "Linda Danvers" instead of only "Supergirl", she fought some of her worst villains like Reactron, Psi and Black Star.

As living there, Linda met Dick Malverne again. Sadly, her childhood crush was dying from cancer. Before dying, he confessed he always knew she was Supergirl and he was sorry for making her life hard back when they were teenagers. Linda gave him a last kiss, and that was the last time she saw him.

The Great Darkness Saga


Kara resigned the Legion when she felt she couldn't cope with the chaos of being a part-time member until she got her life sorted out in her own time. She retained reserve member status, though.

At the height of the war between the Legion and Darkseid, Kara got a Legion alarm. Supergirl time-travelled to the future and faced up to Darkseid alongside with her cousin. Even though their powers had been amped up by Izaya and Supergirl laid a beat down on him, Darkseid almost killed them. Yet she kept Darkseid busy while the Legion regrouped and ruined his plans.

Further Adventures with the Legion
Supergirl returned to the future when the Legion had a celebratory get-together.

Rather than going back to the past right away, Kara stayed for a while, taking part in missions again. While she and other four Legionnaires (Brainiac 5, Colossal Boy, Chameleon Girl -disguised as Shrinking Violet- and Sun Boy) were flying by Weber's World on their way to Durla, they were struck by a squad of the Science Police led by Ontiir. Although Ontiir claimed they had been "victims of a security patrol gone awry", the team felt compelled to check out the place.

It turned Emerald Empress had taken over Weber's World as part of a plan to conquer the galaxy. The five Legionnaires fell into her trap, but they managed to break out. Supergirl thwarted Emerald Empress' plan to crash Weber's World into the United Planet's main fleet base, and as her teammates handled Sarya's henchmen, Supergirl and Chameleon Girl took the Empress down.

Supergirl also attended Karate Kid and Princess Projectra's wedding and chased Ontiir down when he escaped his trial. Unfortunately, a mission gone awry led Supergirl to believe she didn't fit with the Legion anymore. Promising to see Brainiac 5 sometime later, she returned to the 20th Century.

Crisis on Infinite Earths
When a cosmic event threatened to destroy the universe (and all of its parallel realities), all of Earth's heroes answered the call. And when Superman was about to be destroyed, Kara sacrificed herself to save him. Superman later learned that Kara had been granted a premonition about her own passing.

After the Crisis
But sadly, when the universe was rebooted, time had been altered and Kara was erased from existence. No one even knew that she had died.

Nonetheless, she wasn't completely gone. The Legion of Super-Heroes erected a statue to remember her death. She, alongside her cousin and other non-Terran heroes, had to fight an alien invasion. - Her best friend Barbara Gordon dreamed with an imaginary blonde friend. . And her soul made later appearances.

Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Experiencing guilt upon realizing that he has been stealing others' emotions, he flies off, feeling sorry for himself for being denied any reward for a year filled with helping people. A warmly-dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. She can see the normally-invisible Brand, converses with him, and ultimately reminds him: "We don't do it for the glory. We don't do it for the recognition... We do it because it needs to be done. Because if we don't, no one else will. And we do it even if no one knows what we've done. Even if no one knows we exist. Even if no one remembers we ever existed". The woman reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As she leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you".

The soul of Kara appeared twice to a defeated and imprisoned Linda Danvers to comfort her. Linda acknowledged she has been helped by her phantom-friend several times, and when she asked her name, the smiling spirit answered she had many, but was most fond of "Kara".

Many Happy Returns
A young Kara makes an appearance in the Post-Crisis universe when the villain known as Fatalist changes the course of her rocket and she crash-lands into New Earth. Kara is found and taken in by then-current Supergirl Linda Danvers, who upon learning about Kara's fate, tries to replace her to save her. Unfortunately Linda fails and Kara has to return to her own dimension.

Final Crisis
When Superman and the Legion fought Superboy Prime turned into the Time Trapper, Supergirl was one of the many Legionnaries which were pulled from all timelines to help taking Prime down.

Convergence
During the events of Convergence, Kara and her cousin are trapped in one of the cities collected by Brainiac. As Superman and Supergirl try to find a way out of the dome surrounding Pre-Crisis Gotham City, Kara learns about her death during the Crisis. Frightened and upset, Kara prepares herself to die nonetheless and opts to not tell her cousin anything

At the end of the saga Kara volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of Earth-One Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, and Pre-Zero Hour Parallax, vows to defeat him for the sake of The Multiverse. The group is succesful, and the Multiverse is saved. After the battle against the Anti-Monitor, Kara decides to find their place in the universe and leaves for parts unknown.

Kara is a kind-hearted, optimistic heroine whose personality is defined by several factors: her leaving Argo after spending most of her formative years around Kryptonians, her youth and her need to establish herself as her own person rather than Superman's apprentice and sidekick.
 * Personality            =

Kara lived in Argo City during her first fifteen years of life before being launched into space. More of an immigrant than her cousin, she struggled to adapt to a very different culture. She felt alienated and very lonely during the first years, but she eventually learnt to love Earth and its people thanks to her cousin and her foster parents.

Due to her youth and inexperience, her teenager self was sweet and innocent to the point of naiveté, but also short-tempered and aggressive, and more proactive than Superman. Being a rookie hero, she often failed and made mistakes which she had to learn from.

When Kara reached adulthood she ditched her initial innocence and became a more confident, mature woman who wasn't afraid to flaunt her sexuality if necessary. However, despite of her greater maturity, Kara still had a very short fuse and little patience for bullies or fools, and was pretty snarky. Unsurprisingly, genocide was one of her hot buttons, going as far as to slap her cousin when he refused to fight an army of genocidal aliens

Secret Identity: Kara Zor-El, Linda Lee Danvers or Supergirl?
Supergirl's alter ego is Linda Danvers (Linda Lee prior adoption). She doesn't bother to construct a completely different personality like Superman does, opting for wearing loose clothes to hide her muscular body and a brown wig, which she eventually discarded in favor of a Kryptonian comb that altered her hair color.

Young Kara was eager to be a hero, but her adult self grew tired of it and was torn between her desire to have a normal life and her responsibilities as Supergirl. She thought of giving up her Supergirl identity several times, and during a heart-to-heart talk with Kal-El, she explained she wanted to live an ordinary life. Kara left her actress career because her job prevented her from finding time to perform her hero duties or even rest. While going out with her parents after moving to Chicago, Kara stated she had to accept she couldn't answer all emergencies because she would burn out.

Relationships with allies

 * Superman: Kara's relationship with Superman was complex. Kara adored Kal, although they occasionally butted heads. During her apprenticeship she tried to earn his approval at all times and fretted every time she messed. Afterwards she expected and demanded to be treated as his partner, declaring she was a grown woman, who didn't need his permission or advice and could make her own choices.
 * Batgirl: Kara and Barbara first met when Mister Mxyzptlk and Bat-Mite sent both into a pocket dimension as part of still another prank on Superman and Batman. Working together, both women managed to escape and save their mentors from both imps' trap. Kara and Barbara forged a strong friendship from that day on, even if they didn't learn each other's secret identities until several years later. Barbara delivered the eulogy at Supergirl's funeral which was seen worldwide, stating that Kara “was often her confidante and always her friend”. Interestingly, in the rebooted universe, young Barbara had a blonde imaginary friend and dreamed with being a super-hero named “Supergirl”.
 * Wonder Woman: Kara first met Diana while vacationing together, a time during which they fought the villain Multi-Face. Both women respected each other and enjoyed a good number of adventures together. On one occasion, Kara joined the Amazons temporarily, and Queen Hyppolita came to see her as a third daughter.

Romances
Always popular with boys and fond of romances, Kara enjoyed many boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, but she could never keep a steady relationship despite of her desire to lead a normal life and get married, her super-career always interfering with her relationships.


 * Dick Malverne: Dick Wilson –Dick Malverne after being adopted- was Kara's first serious boyfriend. Both teens grew up in the Midvale Orphanage. Dick knew all along Linda was Supergirl, and he tried to expose her secret identity for a while before opting for keeping it secret. They dated for a while but they grew apart when Linda went to Stanhope College. Several years later Linda saw him for last time when he was dying from cancer. He revealed he always knew she was Supergirl, and they kissed before he passed away.
 * Jerro: Her merboy friend from Atlantis was very fond of her. Kara was in a love triangle with Jerro and Lenora, Lori Lemaris's little sister. Jerro's love was unrequited, though, and Kara spent two years dodging his advances or trying to turn him down as gently as possible. When her existence was revealed to the world, Jerro considered that she would have no time for romances anymore and gave up.
 * Brainiac 5: Brainiac 5 joined the Legion alongside Kara. He fell for her during their first meeting, although sometimes he tried to convince himself that he got over his crush. Kara eventually warmed up to him and she kissed her after saving a Supergirl-alike android. Unfortunately, being born and living in different centuries prevented them from pursuing a relationship. After a mission failed, Kara decided to quit the Legion and go back to the 20th century, reassuring Brainiac that maybe she will return some time. Unfortunately she died during the Crisis shortly after.

Kara also had an unrequited infatuation with her boss Geoffrey Anderson when she worked for KSF-TV, and she dated several times when in college, but her relationships never lasted long. As she lived in Chicago, she dated musician Philip Decker for a while but she broke up with him.


 * Powers                 =
 * Abilities              =
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 * Equipment              =
 * Legion Flight Ring
 * Kryptonian Comb (for changing her hair color)
 * Transportation         =
 * Weapons                =


 * Notes                  =
 * This version of Supergirl, including all history and corresponding appearances, is exclusive to the continuity of Earth-One and was initially erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, although some characters such as the late Psycho-Pirate and Power Girl have memories of the Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El. However the ending of Convergence retroactively prevented that collapse, saving all the alternate realities, though in an "evolved" form.
 * In the rebooted continuity, Kara Zor-El did not arrive on Earth until some ten/twelve years after the establishment of mainstay heroes such as Superman and Batman. However, this information does not apply to her or other versions that may have since appeared.

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 * Trivia                 =
 * Supergirl was fifteen when she arrived on Earth.
 * Supergirl once owned a male tabby house cat named Streaky. Streaky was accidentally exposed to X-Kryptonite and gained super-powers for brief periods of time. Although super-powered, Streaky was still prone to typical feline behavior, such as using steel street lamps as scratching posts. He lost his powers during Superman: Kryptonite Nevermore when all Kryptonite on Earth is turned into iron (source).
 * Supergirl is also known as the Girl of Steel, the Maid of Might, the Princess of Power, Mighty Maid, the Blonde Blockbuster and the Stanhope Sensation during her college years.
 * Supergirl has studied at Stanhope College, the New Athens Experimental School, Vandyre University and Lake Shore University.
 * Kara is a football fan. . She also likes old movies, is also passionate about acting, and is a staunch cat person. -
 * Kara has a characteristic thinking tic. She often puts a finger to her mouth when she's figuring something out. - - - - . Said quirk is shared by a lot of her counterparts in the Multiverse. - - -
 * Recommended            =
 * Links                  =

Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)