Cheetah
This nemesis of Wonder Woman first appeared in Wonder Woman #6 (Vol 1) in 1943. The character has since transitioned through four alter-egos, before her entire history was re-written as part of the 2011 New 52 reboot of the DC universe.
Cheetah initially materializes when rich aristocrat Priscilla Rich experiences a crushing social interaction with Wonder Woman, triggering a psychological crisis due to her already severe feelings of inadequacy and entitlement. During this incident, Rich’s true, evil nature splits apart from the troubled debutante, appearing as a woman dressed as a cheetah. Rich falls under the influence of the entity, which leads to her fashioning a costume of her own, and doing the Cheetah’s bidding.
The character of Deborah Domaine is the niece of Priscilla Rich, and becomes the second incarnation of Cheetah in 1980 when operatives working for Kobra (a terrorist) kidnap, torture and brainwash her during a visit to her ailing aunt. She is replaced by Barbara Ann Minerva in 1987, who then takes the character through vast changes – including the New 52 reboot – and into the current storylines.
Minerva is an ambitious, British archaeologist and heiress whose studies lead her to an African tribe protected by a female guardian who has the powers of a cheetah. The guardian is slain and Barbara works with the plant god Urtzkartaga to replace her. She eventually sets her sights on Wonder Woman’s Lasso Of Truth, but this desire is soon overtaken by a general need to conquer Wonder Woman as a rival.
At one point, in 2001, a business man named Sebastian Ballesteros convinces Urtzkartaga that a male Cheetah would be a more effective instrument of crime and mayhem, and is given the powers previously held by Minerva. She eventually kills him, however, and regains the Cheetah mantle, before the New 52 reboot has all previous incarnations turned into mere aliases of the main Minerva character.
