Cheetah | Tales from the Jungle

Real Name: Barbara Minerva

Villain Name: Cheetah

Age: 29 years old.

Sexuality: Bisexual.

Appearance: She is completely nude, but also covered in fur to where no one can see anything under it. Her fur is that of a cheetah’s with a soft white belly, her arms, legs, and back covered in orange fur with black spots with sharp pointed ears on the sides of her head. Her teeth are dangerously razors and her nails are now sharp black claws she can tear through flesh with. Her eyes have a feline appearance to them, with a thin black slit for pupils and green irises. Her eyes reflect light in the dark. She has a long spotted prehensile tail at the base of her spine as well. Her feet are more like cheetah paws so it’s easier for her to run on all fours and pounce on her prey. Her body is thin with perky breasts and a toned ass. One of the remaining human traits she still has is her long wavy red hair that goes down her back. Her face is mostly human other than the fangs as she has a pair of naturally red lips.

Personality: Cheetah is a cunning and ruthless woman who will slaughter anyone in her way without a second thought, she’s a true apex predator of the jungle and knows it. With her extreme intelligence and powers she’s dominated the entire jungle of Themyscira and eludes the Amazon’s hunting her with ease.

After being seemingly being abandoned by Diana, Cheetah has taken to a life of crime by hunting and murdering people in the southern side of Africa after she first turned into Cheetah and escaped from Wonder Woman. It took months of searching for Cheetah to be found again when the Justice League was getting reports of livestock being slaughtered in the fields by a “Fast Devil” they soon figured out where Cheetah was hiding and captured her. Diana, feeling responsible for what happened to Barbara, took her to Themyscira and tried to cure her. But during a tropical storm Cheetah was able to break out and now stalks the jungles of Themyscira. She trains and plots everyday to kill Wonder Woman.

Sometimes she makes Gotham, Metropolis, and Central City her hunting grounds if she grows tired of hunting in Themyscira. Her home is a small cave hidden by thick brush on a part of the island that Amazon’s are forbidden to go. She has lined the floor with animal pelts and has a clean source of water nearby that she likes to bathe in and drink from.

Powers: Minerva’s transformation gave her super speed, rivaling even some low tier speedsters, retractable sharp claws that could cut through tree bark, enhanced smell and tracking abilities, super human strength, super human durability, and an unquenchable bloodlust. She has the ability to communicate with and control cheetahs.

Backstory: Barbara Minerva was born in Oakstone Abbey, Nottinghamshire, the only child of Lord and Lady Cavendish. After the death of her mother, she became more and more introverted. Under the guidance of her tutor, Ms. McLeod, she became interested in Greek mythology, especially the Amazons. Her father considered it escapism, and would rather teach her the world was cruel and unfair.

She wasn't deterred, and at 26, she had received two PhDs and was working as an archeologist in Ukraine. Though she was mocked by her colleagues, she found her first solid evidence of Amazons: the tomb of Lysippe, 12th Queen of the Amazons. Unfortunately, heavy rains caused the cave to collapse. Some of her research was stolen by foreman Viktor Yakuvic. She chased him around the Mediterranean, until she came to Tunisia. She had traced a route which she thought was the route the Amazons followed. But when she found Viktor's corpse and received nourishment from an old crone, she realized she had it backwards: the route was not where they migrated to, it was where they came from. However, when she came to the end of her track, an uncharted island in the Black Sea, she found no sign of civilization.

Disheartened by her failure, Barbara went on to teach archeology at a university. She was contacted by Etta Candy to help translate the unique dialect of Diana, who had recently arrived on U.S. soil. Barbara befriended Diana and taught her about the culture of mankind. After helping Diana settle into her role as Wonder Woman, Barbara was contacted by Veronica Cale, who offered to fund an expedition to Africa to investigate the plant god Urzkartaga. Diana was worried for Barbara's safety and gave her a GPS beacon to contact her if she was in trouble, but Doctor Cyber deactivated it on Veronica Cale's orders. To distract Wonder Woman, Cale and Doctor Cyber staged disasters around the world. When Diana finally arrived to check on Barbara, she saw that Barbara took her team deep into the wilds of Africa, only to be trapped and forced to participate in an ancient, arcane ritual that cursed and transformed her into a human-cheetah hybrid with a lust for blood.

Once a friend of Wonder Woman’s, Barbara Ann blamed her transformation on Diana’s inability to save her, and harbored a grudge against the superhero that drove her to the point of madness.

As Cheetah, she developed a bloody rivalry with Wonder Woman, whom she both envies and resents, particularly Diana's compassion, and divine favor. Over time, Barbara's motivations fluctuate between seeking a cure for her curse, embracing the power and savagery it grants her, and attempting to surpass Wonder Woman as a chosen champion of the gods.