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Artemis was an Amazon of the Egyptian tribe of Bana-Mighdall.

Purge

As a teenager, Artemis left her homeland for Man's World. To survive, she would sell her body or her fighting skills, depending on her client's needs.

She was 14 when she joined the "Purge" led by Ra's al Ghul. Under his orders, she fought Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. After Ra's al Ghul's defeat, she ran away, and a couple of months later went back to her homeland.[1]

Wonder Woman

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Artemis as Wonder Woman, with Diana

Due to being in the demon dimension, Queen Hippolyta began to see visions of the future. One of those visions included Wonder Woman dying. Keeping this to herself, she called for a new Contest for the title of Wonder Woman. Initially excluding the Bana Amazons, Queen Hippolyta submitted to a vote on the whole to include them at Diana's behest. Through some mystical managing on Hippolyta's part, Artemis eventually won the Contest and became the new Wonder Woman. As gifts to aid her in her new mission, Artemis was given several mystical objects. The Gauntlet of Atlas which increased its wearer's strength by 10 times, The Sandals of Hermes which gave the gift of speed and flight, and the golden Lasso of Truth which forced anyone tied by it to speak only truth. Although Artemis tried diligently to separate herself from her predecessor, this proved to be rather hard to do. Her approach to various situations was often seen as more violent than beneficial. Because of this, and due to Man's World's respect of Diana, Artemis often would receive the cold shoulder from those she tried to help, extending even to her brief time in the Justice League. A comment was once made that Batman refused to allow Artemis to even sit in "Diana's" chair during JLA meetings. She later met a representative from a public relations company who agreed to help Artemis with her public likability. What Artemis was not aware of was that the company had staged several false battles for her. Later, she beat two villains, and ultimately did help some immigrant slave-labor workers. Still feeling as though she is not getting enough respect, she set about to prove herself by single-handedly taking down Boston's biggest mob family. After failing that, Diana exposed Artemis to the truth about her battle with the villains. Enraged at being fooled, she set out to take down the White Magician. Unfortunately Artemis' arrogance eventually gained the better of her, and she died in a battle with him, because he had became a high-lord Demon with near-unstoppable power. Thus, Queen Hippolyta's vision of Wonder Woman dying came true.

Requiem

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Artemis as Requiem

For some reason, after her death Artemis' soul ended up in Tartarus and there she became a concubine to one of the ruling Princes of Hell named Dalkriig-Hath. Diana had came to her aid, but Artemis accepted her fate. Despite being raped, beaten and tortured at first, at the hands of her "husband" and possibly other demons, she became accustomed to her "damnation", and adapted quickly, even managing to achieve a small measure of comfort. When Diana is tortured for trying to help a demon being punished, Artemis initially turned her back on Diana. However, she felt guilty about abandoning her sister and freed her. Using a revolt as cover, Artemis manages to carry Diana back to the living world and come back to life herself. Wanting to separate herself from her former title as Wonder Woman, Artemis used her skills learned in Tartarus to her advantage and joined a group of demon hunting heroes called the Hellenders. While there she was assigned the code-name Javelin, which she quickly rejected for the name Requiem. Artemis developed a romantic interest in fellow Hellender Sure-Shot, a master of arsenal and projection weapons. Seeing her feelings as weakness, she hid her feelings, though her teammates were still able to see her true feelings. This interest was dropped when she discovered that Sure-Shot's perceived self-confidence was brought on by psychotropic drugs which were meant to keep various Hellender members fearless while battling the likes of demons and ghouls. She also befriended a woman by the name of Henrietta Jessup, who went by the code name Sojourner. Though Sojourner did not have any warrior skills to speak of, Artemis stood by her friend and tutored her as a novice Amazon. After learning that the Hellender's leaders were secretly trying to summon fallen angels to Earth, Artemis saw through the ruse, but was too late to stop them from summoning her husband. Though the ensuing battle claimed the lives of seven Hellenders, Artemis managed to to kill Dalkriig-Hath. With the help of a rogue demon who led a revolt against her dead husband, Artemis has her fallen teammates revived.

Artemis' role as a teacher/mentor was later expanded as Wonder Woman asked Artemis to take on a new pupil, that of Cassandra Sandsmark who had become the new Wonder Girl. Taking Cassandra as a full-time student, Artemis became a reserve member of the Hellenders leaving Sojourner to take her place as a full-time member. Later still, Artemis' teacher/mentor resume would expand to even include the combat training of Supergirl. It was during the initial meeting of Supergirl that Artemis would gain her revenge against Batman for his hostile attitude towards her when she attempted to join the JLA. Artemis easily defeated Batman in combat, but was eventually subdued with an advanced tranquilizer dart.

The underworld demon Belyllioth, who served as master over some of the Myrmidon demons, later contacted Artemis to inform her of an unrest in Tartarus. With the death of the demon Dalkriig-Hath, the remaining twelve princes of hell were battling for dominion over the dead demon's realm. As Dalkriig-Hath's widow, Artemis was by rights next in line to rule his region of Hades. Artemis ended the demonic war by presenting herself before the twelve demon rulers to officially be granted her former husband's station. After the blessing ceremony was given Artemis revealed that the blessing was actually given to Belyllioth, who was magically disguised in Artemis' form. Angered by her deception, the twelve princes of hell vowed vengeance against Artemis upon her return to Hades. Fortunately for Artemis, her devoted friend Belyllioth (now officially one of the thirteen rulers of Tartarus) has sworn her allegiance and protection to the Amazon for eternity.

Shim'Tar

After some time Artemis returned to Themyscira to aid her Amazon sisters in the uneasy living conditions they continued to work in due to lingering animosities between the two tribes. Civil war was incited by the Amazon sorceress Magala eventually broke out between the two groups of Amazons. After the current Shim'Tar was felled, Artemis took up the title of her tribe's chief warrior. She did this in the hopes of ending the war and to guide both tribes to peaceful negotiations. As Shim'Tar, Artemis battled Queen Hippolyta, who was acting as the newest Wonder Woman. During their battle Artemis reminded Hippolyta that the Themyscirian queen was not given the armor of Wonder Woman out of honor, but rather as a punishment for causing the death of not only Artemis but of her daughter Diana as well. Ultimately coming to her senses, Hippolyta finally forgave the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall for their previous transgressions and joined her daughter Diana on the battlefield. Together Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana renounced their crowns, leaving the island without a structured government in the hopes of ending the needless slaughter brought on by the war. They were successful and Artemis and the Themyscirian General Phillipus were later voted to be co-rulers of the island.

Themyscira's Disappearance

Due to the OMAC attack on Themyscira (as well as the many previous attacks to the island since Diana had become Wonder Woman), it was decided by Artemis and Phillipus that the entire island of Themyscira and all of its inhabitants (sans Diana) would be transported to a hidden dimension via the Olympian and Bana-Mighdallian Goddesses. Artemis and the remaining Amazons live in this dimension in peace for a year's time.

For reasons known only to the goddess Athena, the witch Circe was allowed to enter the Amazons protected dimension and revive Queen Hippolyta from death. Circe informed the Amazons that Diana was being illegally detained by the U.S. government and tortured until she gave them the secrets of the Purple Ray. Because of this the Amazons agreed to give Hippolyta her royal title back and followed her instructions to invade Washington, D.C. which brought about the events of Amazons Attack. Artemis and Phillipus were assigned to oversee the battle but soon lost faith in Hippolyta when they discovered some of her actions against Man's World proved to be less honorable.

Powers

Abilities

Equipment


  • Artemis' appearance was influenced by two other comic book characters:
    • The Amazon Orana from Wonder Woman #250-251 (December 1978-January 1979). In this story, the Amazon Orana challenged Diana to a tournament to claim the title of Wonder Woman. She was successful, but her arrogance brought about her death shortly into her reign. Like Artemis, Orana was a fiery redheaded Amazon who died as Wonder Woman.
    • Wildcats member Zealot, a Kherubim and a Coda warrior. Artemis' long hair flowing from a topknot evokes Zealot's appearance. Artist Mike Deodato has admitted to basing Artemis' appearance on that of Zealot.[5]

Related

Footnotes


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This character is or was an ally of Wonder Woman. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Supporting Cast" category.

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