Kara In-Ze is the last daughter of Argo, sister planet to Krypton. She is the daughter of Zor In-Ze, the planet's chief astro-physicist, and Kala In-Ze, also a prominent scientist.[1]
History
Destruction of Argo
Shortly before her thirteenth birthday, Argo's sister Krypton exploded. The shock blast knocked the planet out of orbit and killed all Argoans who were outside. Slowly, the planet would move away from Rao, and its temperature would drop. Kara's father and sisters were killed in the blast; she and her mother, along with her uncle Del and cousin Dar, survived as they were shielded in the observatory.
For close to three years, they managed survive, gathering food from the debris and fighting off other survivors. Eventually, they decided they had a better chance of survival if they froze themselves in cryo chambers and sent out a distress signal.[2]
Adventures with Superman
While exploring the sector of space once occupied by Krypton, Superman discovered the hidden cryogenic facility, which had sustained heavy damage. Only the chamber containing Kara was intact. Taking her back to Earth, Superman introduced Kara to his adoptive parents. The Kents took her in under the guise of Jonathan Kent's teenaged niece.
Inspired by her cousin Clark, Kara made a costume similar to his and occasionally joined on missions as Supergirl. Kara often visited Clark in Metropolis and, as Supergirl, she had full access to Superman's Fortress of Solitude. In Supergirl, Superman found a living link to his alien heritage, and someone he could talk to about his dual lives as Superman and Clark Kent. She became a frequent ally who could be trusted with Superman's secret.[3][4]
Before joining the Justice League, Kara had little interaction with other heroes. Her first team-up was with Batgirl. When Livewire, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn teamed up. Batman, asking for Superman's help, accidentally gets Kara instead. Together Batgirl and Supergirl defeat the trio of super-villains, and form a close friendship. The two stayed good friends.[5]
When Superman went missing, Kara went to Fortress of Solitude to dispatch his robots in order to convince the world that he was still around. When Superman returned to Earth under Darkseid's control, Supergirl stood against him but was defeated. She was placed under the care of Professor Emil Hamilton, something that would come back to bite her in subsequent years.[6][7]
Joining the Justice League
Kara was later recruited in the Justice League after the Thanagarian invasion. Her very first assignment was to head to Chong-Mai, alongside the Green Lantern, Captain Atom and Green Arrow to deal with an accident. Supergirl charmed Green Arrow and the two became friends. Her somewhat immature nature made her act rash, which was frowned upon by some members of the League. However, despite that, she was goodhearted and well-intentioned.
When Amazo returned to Earth, Supergirl and Steel went after Lex Luthor to take him into custody. After Luthor escaped into a refuge of his own, Supergirl aided the League's sky defense against the android. She bravely attacked Amazo, but his power knocked her out with one strong blow. Sometime later she participated in the battle against the Dark Heart but she, like many of the others present, had a hard time against it until it was shut down by the Atom.
At one time, Supergirl started to have dreams in which she chased and killed men she had never seen before. She contemplated the possibility of those dreams being in fact memories while she was under the government's custody. Supergirl, Green Arrow, and the Question went off to investigate this strange occurrence. They went to S.T.A.R. Labs, where Professor Hamilton told her that she was under their care and vigilance the entire time, and her dreams may be an expression of her traumatic experience. While leaving, the trio got attacked by soldiers and robots that linked them to the Army, and more specifically to General Hardcastle. They confronted him and he admitted to having been in charge of government experiments in metahuman and mutant studies, but he could not explain Kara's dreams. The League connected Hardcastle to Nuvo-Gen, so Supergirl and Green Arrow went there to investigate. They ascertained that her DNA was used to create a clone named Galatea, whom they trained to be a weapon. Supergirl deduced that they shared some sort of mental link that made her see her clone's actions. Supergirl and Green Arrow were lured into a training room, where the clone, attempted to kill Supergirl and thus wipe out their psychic link, which was holding her back. Supergirl fought her until the entire facility exploded, seemingly destroying Galatea.
When Supergirl found out that it was Hamilton who cloned her under Cadmus's sanction, she was set to take them down. However, when trouble rose and the Justice League core members turned themselves over to the government, Supergirl was left in charge of the League. While the heroes where struggling to get the power back online, Galatea and an army of Ultimen invaded the Watchtower. Supergirl tried to stop Galatea from overloading the reactor, but she was overwhelmed by her clone's strength. Supergirl fought Galatea long enough for the reactor to reboot, whereupon she used one of its cables to electrocute her clone, killing her.
Popularity
In Japan, Stargirl, S.T.R.I.P.E. and Green Lantern were working together to ward off a giant mutant turtle, when Supergirl stole the show as she swooped in, sporting her new costume modeled off after that of Superman's. She saved the day easily and was received with overwhelming reverence from the witnesses. En route through the North Pole, the team was suddenly sucked into a portal and arrived in Skartaris, a hidden land at the core with a red sun. Consequently, Supergirl's powers were quickly depleted, which left her considerably vulnerable. However, this did not hold her back; Supergirl joined the battle against Deimos' army, and engaged them in hand-to-hand sword fight. Then, despite her feebleness, Supergirl intercepted Metallo when he was trying to obtain the Great Stone. She bluffed, claiming to be immune to Metallo's Kryptonite heart. However, Metallo engaged her and she attacked him with Stargirl's rod, and was forced to escape. She attempted to thwart Metallo by all means available ― she tilted a big statue over him, and tried to shoot him with a blaster. When Metallo finally snared Supergirl, she managed to cut out his battery, leaving him paralyzed. This display of bravery and endurance finally earned Supergirl the respect of Stargirl, who intervened in the nick of time to get rid of the Kryptonite, before it killed Supergirl.
31st Century
By her 21st birthday, Supergirl was truly beginning to come in to her own despite the perception some might have had of her as being in her cousin's shadow. Supergirl, along with Stewart and Green Arrow, was transported to the 30th century by members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The three Justice Leaguers aided Legionnaires Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy in freeing their teammates from the mental domination of the Fatal Five — a mission from which, historical records of the era claimed, Supergirl would not return, with most fearing she would not return because she would die. After teaming with Brainiac 5, Bouncing Boy, and Green Arrow to stop the Fatal Five, Supergirl elected to stay behind as a Legionnaire—a position in which she could truly make a difference. Her decision was further influenced by the fact that the 30th century was more like the world she had known on Argo as well as her growing romantic attraction to Brainiac 5. Supergirl sent a farewell message to her cousin Superman wherein she expressed her love for Ma and Pa Kent and subtly expressed her wish to make a name for herself. She presumably lived out the rest of her days in the future.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Argonian Physiology: Kara hails from the sister planet of Krypton called Argo. Because it existed very close to Krypton and under the same sun, she exhibits the same powers as her Kryptonian cousins.[3][4]
Abilities
Weaknesses
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the DC Animated Universe and is an adaptation of Supergirl. The original character was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino and first appeared in Action Comics #252.
- Supergirl was voiced by Nicholle Tom.
Related
- 49 Appearances of Kara In-Ze (DCAU)
- 13 Images featuring Kara In-Ze (DCAU)
- 5 Quotations by or about Kara In-Ze (DCAU)
- Character Gallery: Kara In-Ze (DCAU)
External Links
Footnotes
- ↑ Superman Adventures #39
- ↑ Superman Adventures #21
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Little Girl Lost, Part I
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Little Girl Lost, Part II
- ↑ "Girl's Night Out"
- ↑ "Legacy, Part I
- ↑ Legacy, Part II
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Fearful Symmetry"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "The Return"
- ↑ "Dark Heart"
- ↑ "Panic in the Sky"
  Superman Family member |
 This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |
 Legion of Super-Heroes member |