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Power Girl: Difference between revisions
unless you were talking about her thought processes, it's "physiology"
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[[File:powergirlpunch.jpg|frame|[[Shmuck Bait|That's right]], [[Distracted by the Sexy|look at her]] [[Cleavage Window|chest...]] [[Megaton Punch|*Punch!* ]]]]
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Quite possibly [[Most Common Superpower]] incarnate.
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The [[The Seventies|1970s]] version of All-Star Comics, starring the [[Justice Society of America]], featured the original versions of many of [[DC Comics]]' superheroes and their families, living in a [[Alternate Reality|parallel universe]] known as Earth-2. In issue #58 (January-February, 1976) a new character debuted, created by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood. [[Power Girl]] was introduced as the counterpart of [[Supergirl]]- she was the cousin of Earth-2's Superman (Kal-L). It was decided to make her as different as possible from Supergirl- including a different costume, code-name, personality and (most notably) a sexier body.
Karen Starr, the name she adopted, proved a hit with readers. She received solo stories in ''"Showcase''" #97-99 (February-April, 1978). DC was considering launching a Power Girl series. But in 1978, the DC Implosion struck, with the cancellation of over 24 ongoing titles. There was no room for new titles. Karen did however become a founding member of [[Infinity, Inc.]]. Regularly appearing in the 12 first issues of said series, and occassionally turning up in subsequent ones.
And then ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' hit and not only wasn't there an Earth-2 anymore, but Superman was now again the last Kryptonian. Power Girl was given a new origin as an Atlantean. After some silly [[Retcon|retcons]], including [[Dork Age|one period where she was vulnerable to "natural, unprocessed materials,"]] ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' and a [[Power Girl]] mini-series finally cleared up her origin by having her be... [[Status Quo Is God|the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman]] (after reality got [[Cosmic Retcon|Cosmic Retconned]] again).
She is a member of the [[Justice Society of America]] and now has a new comic book, started in 2009 by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and beautifully drawn by Amanda Conner. In it, she has reestablished her [[Secret Identity]] of Karen Starr and established the company Starrware, all the while mentoring Atlee, the new Terra, and trying to stop [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|the Ultra-Humanite]] or [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|really hot aliens]] from destroying [[Big Applesauce|New York]]. The series takes a [[Lighter and Softer]] approach to the character and the DC Universe at large, and focuses on Power Girl's attempts to reintegrate into living a normal life and forming a stable relationship with Terra.
After issue #12 the original creative team left the series, replaced by [[Judd Winick]] and Sami Basri, and the series shifted both its [[Art Shift|visual]] and writing style. The new arc focused less on Power Girl's personal life, instead revolving around her heroic activities and how they ''affected'' her personal life, and also dealt with the reappearance of Maxwell Lord. The story is heavily tied into the ''[[Brightest Day]]'' event, though not published under the ''Brightest Day'' banner, and has interweaving plotlines with ''Justice League: Generation Lost''. [[Ruined FOREVER|There was initial fan opposition to the change in creative control when it was announced]], but reactions to the series itself can not yet be judged.
After the "[[New 52]]" [[DC Universe]] reboot, Power Girl reappeared as Karen Starr in a supporting role for ''Mister Terrific''. Paul Levitz has confirmed that [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36367 Power Girl will star a new ongoing with] [[Huntress]], [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36367 a new volume of ''World's Finest''], where she is revealed to be...[[Running Gag|the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman.]] This time, however, she has been explicitly described as the Supergirl of Earth-2, having started her superhero career as Supergirl when she was younger.
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== Let's get these out of the way, shall we? ==▼
{{tropelist}}
▲=== Let's get these out of the way, shall we? ===
* [[Big Breasts, Big Deal]] - Type III, with Type I and Type IV popping up depending on what situation she is being forced into.
* [[Boobs of Steel]]
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A popular [[Urban Legend]] states that all of this was the result of an in-joke by her original artist, Wally Wood, who [[Breast Expansion|drew her breasts bigger every issue]] just to see how far he could get away with it. However, [http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/05/power-girl-you-be-judge.html examination of her original issues shows a consistent portrayal], and no source has been presented to give authenticity to this legend, so it has been effectively debunked.
=== And now for the rest: ===
* [[Action Girl]]: Considered the strongest woman on Earth by many! Including herself.
* [[Aborted Arc]]: Whoo boy, where do we even begin? With the unceremonious cancelation of her 2009-2011 series to make way for the [[New 52]] reboot, several aspects of Power Girl's character were rewritten, and in some cases, completely written out, including several clearly planned future storylines and arcs. Some of these include:
* [[Amazonian Beauty]]: She is oftentimes drawn with the physique of a bodybuilder. ▼
** Virtually her entire supporting cast. While members of her cast would appear after the New 52, they were often characters who were not ''primarily'' Power Girl characters, and didn't really interact with her nearly as much anymore.
* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]]: After his final defeat {{spoiler|Ultra-Humanite}} is going to have his memory erased and be reintroduced into society. He does not seem happy with the plan, but he is accepting of the future...until Power Girl turns her back and he swears that it will ''never'' be over between them. It is unknown how much of his original nature will remain after his mind wipe.▼
** A storyline involving a character named Mazin, a [[Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold|kind-hearted but broody Muslim man]] wrongly imprisoned after being 'mistaken' for being a terrorist, joining the Justice Society. Considering [[Ms. Marvel|we wouldn't really get a major Muslim superhero until a few years later]], this one especially stings.
** A potential storyline involving a group of Power Girl [[Cosplay Otaku Girl|cosplayers]] who banded together to rescue Power Girl from a [[Villain of the Week]]. The youngest of which, a girl named Margot, was revealed to actually had gained superpowers in the final panel.
** One of the last storylines featured a cloned version of Power Girl named Divine. Divine was pretty clearly set to become an arch-nemesis for Power Girl if the reboot were not to occur, which was something Power Girl never really had.
** Even after the reboot, she couldn't catch a break. Although the [[Earth 2]] saga had more-or-less a definitive ending with The Society ending up in a much more peaceful version of Earth 2, the story did set itself up to having more arcs and stories set in this seemingly idealistic world. However, like clockwork, DC decided its multiverse was too convoluted and so Infinite Frontier was written to streamline things once again. One of the results was fusing every 'mainline continuity' in DC into one mega-universe, which brought the characters from Earth 2 into Prime Earth.
▲* [[Amazonian Beauty]]: She is oftentimes drawn with the physique of a bodybuilder
▲* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]]: After his final defeat
* [[Art Shift]]: When the original creative team left her series in 2010 there was a change in style adapted by the new pencilers and inkers. The bright colors of Amanda Conner were dropped, replaced with the more subdued palette of Sami Basri, and the character designs became slimmer, losing the pronounced curves of the early issues.
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: Power Girl, Superman and Zatanna are briefly turned into rock people by Siphon, who can copy Zatanna's powers.
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* [[Big Applesauce]]: She has now moved to Manhattan.
* [[Big Bad]]: When breaking into New Cadmus, which is being orchestrated by Max Lord, Kara and Nico actually comment that this is the headquarters of the bag guy that is behind ''everything''.
* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: While she is a [[Human Alien]] on the surface, her biological structure is anything but. This is emphasized in ''Justice League Europe #9'', where a surgeon finds her physiology "twisted like dough" and many organs "duplicated", indicating she has multiple organs that humans have only one of.
{{quote|'''Surgeon:''' [[Black Comedy|My God, is ''that'' her ''liver''?]]}}
* [[Blue Eyes]]: Classic, beautiful blue.
* [[Brainwashed]]: Max Lord hits Power Girl with a mental suggestion to go kill the Justice League International. She sees everyone on the team as another hero ([[Captain Atom]] as [[Superman]], Fire as [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Starfire]], Ice as [[Supergirl]], Rocket Red as [[Green Lantern]] Hal Jordan and Booster Gold as [[Batman]]) and hears all their dialogue as plans to conquer and rule humanity.
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* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Vartox was originally based on Sean Connery, with his appearance taken from the movie ''[[Zardoz]]'' and his over-the-top machismo from Connery himself.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: "'Rue the day'? Nobody talks like that anymore. It just sounds stupid." "It's a classic villain line."
* [[Character Development]]: From her "victim to raw materials" days in the 90s, she was brought into the [[Justice Society of America]] and eventually became its Superman equivalent (until Earth-22 Superman arrived) and, later, the team's first chairwoman.
* [[Chest Insignia]]: A notable ''lack'' of one, she has what is termed a "boob window." Because of her [[Continuity Snarl|long and complicated history]] there have been numerous explanations as to why, exactly, she has this window. The current story behind it is kind of sad - she could not think of a symbol, so she left it blank and never filled it and is actually undergoing a minor identity crisis as she tries to figure out where she fits in the world. Though not all reasons have been as poignant, they are all intentional and rational. Previously, one of her explanations was that the window gave a clear indication of who and what she was: Strong, feminine and yes, big-breasted. If people were overly preoccupied or distracted by the last part that was their problem, not hers, [[Big Breasts, Big Deal|she would not be bound by what they thought of her.]]
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: After the author/artist switch to Judd Winick and Sami Basri, Terra, who had been Power Girl's sidekick/partner/sister throughout the early issues, is neither seen nor mentioned. Instead, a new character named Nicco, who was never mentioned before, suddenly becomes her sidekick.
* [[Clark Kenting]]: Her disguise as Karen Starr for most of her existence has been tying her hair back. That is it. She herself explains that her large breasts actually help keep her identity secret, especially considering the [[Cleavage Window]], [[Distracted by the Sexy|since they draw attention away from her face.]] In issue #22, Superman himself advises her to make Karen Starr a real person, not just a costume. She gets a makeover to make Karen appear more different from Power Girl, involving a business suit, red hair, and, of course, glasses. [[Lampshade Hanging|The reveal alternates panels between her and Clark Kent to highlight their similar disguises]].
* [[C-List Fodder]]: The Blue Snowman is the initial villain of the Vartox arc, and is introduced with the caption "'''Blue Snowman'''...'''Life Expectancy''': Panel 4, Page 14"
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* [[Clothing Damage]]: She suffers from this a suspiciously large amount. Her costume is often portrayed as being hardly more resilient than Empowered's. She never lets it slow her down though.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: "Divine," the [[Evil Twin|evil]] [[Cloning Blues|clone]] of Power Girl, has black hair opposed to PG's blonde, but is otherwise identical in every way.
* [[Composite Character]]: In DC Super Hero Girls (where this Trope applies to many regulars), Power Girl and Supergirl are the same character. Kara already has PG's hairstyle and personality, taking on the "Power Girl" persona as a second identity when everyone believes she is dead.
* [[The Conscience]]: During her team-ups with Harley Quinn, Power Girl often reprimands her for her immoral actions and tries to stir her in the right direction.
* [[Continuity Snarl]]: Power Girl's origin is unusual in that it lampshades the utter failure of past writers to come up with a legitimate way of maintaining her character's existence in the face of endless rewrites of the DC universe's history. There is no way the character can exist in the currently "valid" history- and her character development directly involves her attempts to deal with that fact. She is the cousin of Earth-2 Superman, but it is explicitly the pre-Crisis Earth 2. The new similar Earth-2 created following the 52 event has its own Power Girl cementing our Power Girl's status as an orphan of the old Multiverse.
* [[Cool Big Sis]]: She tends to develop this kind of relationship with those younger than her:
** Terra is probably the most notable relationship of hers like this, though it borders on being Gal Pals. The two hang out ''a lot'', with Power Girl always dishing out advice in both superheroing and basic life.
** Fisher was a more short-lived example. Fisher was a young kid who saw pictures of Karen Starr changing into Power Girl and saved them on his hard-drive. Despite these pretty gross circumstances, Power Girl ''did'' grow to care for the kid and helped him through his awkward teenage stuff.
** Nicco was a young employee at her company, who after the [[Art Shift]], served as her de-facto sidekick in the stead of Terra. Though the two had a much rockier relationship, Power Girl ''did'' care for him and did her best to treat him well.
** [[Harley Quinn]], kinda. Harley had the ''[[Depraved Bisexual|hots]]'' for Power Girl and did everything in her power to get in her pants, but Power Girl tended to treat her like how she treated all of her other younger sidekicks.
* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Not as crazy as [[Batman|some]], but Power Girl has repeatedly stressed that Terra needs to wear her uniform ''all the time'', [[Dressed in Layers|under her regular clothing if need be]], so she will always be ready for danger to strike at any moment.
* [[Crossover]]: Issue #20 is directly continued in ''Justice League: Generation Lost'', which follows up on Power Girl's [[Brainwashing]] at the hands of Max Lord to kill the Justice League International.
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* [[Distaff Counterpart]]/[[Evil Counterpart]]: Power Boy, who wears a black version of her outfit except his costume doesn't have sleeves and covers his legs. He also was abusive to Supergirl during the brief period they dated. Whether he has an equivalent to Power Girls large breasts is yet to be seen.
* [[Dressed in Layers]]: Though Power Girl herself is always prepared for trouble, Terra has not quite grasped the concept that she always needs to wear her costume underneath her clothing just in case. As such, she is completely unprepared when a monster rises up when she and PG are out watching a movie and she ends up going into battle [[Underwear of Power|dressed only in adorable lady-bug underwear]].
* [[Cute Kitten]]: [http://jacquelineofalltrades.tumblr.com/photo/1280/4294961977/1/tumblr_lj1rx3Wvti1qbmslx Stinky]{{Dead link}}.
* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: Not if the <s>monkey</s> gorilla is the Ultra-Humanite.
* [[Eviler Than Thou]]: Satanna goes to [[Captain Marvel|Dr. Sivanna]] to get a weapon to revenge herself on Power Girl and gives him what he wanted as payment. Afterwards he attempts some minor small-talk and she, [[Card-Carrying Villain|because she and he are villains]], does not feel it is necessary to disguise the fact that she felt this was a heartily disgusting event which she did solely as part of a business exchange. He agrees with her, then points out that since they are bad guys he no longer cares about her desires since she gave him what he wanted, and [[Destination Defenestration|throws her out the window]].
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* [[Eye Beams]]: Power Girl has them, unfortunately for Satanna.
* [[Fan Service]]: Lots, including the new series with a trio of [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|gorgeous aliens]].
* [[Fetus Terrible]]: Prior to the ''[[Zero Hour]]'' [[Crisis Crossover]], Power Girl became mysteriously pregnant, and during the crossover, she gave birth to a son named Equinox, who managed to defeat the [[Big Bad]], Scarabus, in an issue of ''Justice League America'' and [[Canon
* [[Foot Focus]]: Issue #5 has Power Girl going barefoot for nearly the entire issue because she forgot her gloves and boots at the office.
* [[Flying Brick]]: After finally being established ([[Continuity Snarl|again]]) as Superman's cousin she gets most of his powers as well, including heat vision and ice breath.
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* [[Gendered Outfit]]: Power Boy, who wears a tank top unitard rather than Power Girl's leotard.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: [[Zatanna]] has a "magic line," a phone number for people to call when they are facing life-threatening circumstances from magical adversaries. Because any phone call to that number would logically be of the highest importance she ''always'' answers when somebody calls. As such, her voice-mail recording for that number is an explanation that she must be in terrible danger, since she would never chose to not pick up the phone, and whoever is calling should track her phone GPS and come rescue her right away.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: In a flashback Satanna can be seen wearing a shirt that reads "[[Country Matters|CU Next Tues]]".
* [[Grand Theft Me]]: {{spoiler|Terra}}
* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Well, they do not have green skin, but other than that...
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* [[Hello, Nurse!]]: Heck, even the [[Even the Girls Want Her|superheroines]] probably want her.
* [[Heroic Dog]]: Apparently, Max Lord gave Professor Ivo very strict instructions ''not'' to clone Krypto, Superman's dog.
{{quote|
* [[Homage Shot]]: At one point when Atlee and Power Girl are at the movies, the main cast of [[The Big Bang Theory]] are seen, most notably Howard, who then proceeds to hit on her. And strike out. HARD.
* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: Power Girl actually discusses this trope when fighting her evil clone. She reasons that, even if "Divine" has all the same powers as her that does not mean she knows how to ''use'' those powers, since she has only been "alive" for ten minutes and has never worked with thse abilities before.
* [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]]:
** When Terra was {{spoiler|[[Grand Theft Me|taken over by the Ultra-Humanite]]}} and fighting Power Girl she kept taunting PG with regards to this trope.
{{quote|
** In Power Girl's [[Crossover]] with ''Justice League: Generation Lost'' Power Girl has been [[Brainwashed]] into believing that the members of the Justice League International are other heroes planning to conquer and rule humanity. The members of JLI, dreading the destruction and loss of life that would come from fighting Power Girl in earnest (Assuming they could ''survive'' such a fight), try to get through the brainwashing and have her recognize them.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]: They are ''not'' "monsters," they are ''G.E.L.F.s.'' It is not that hard to remember.
* [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]]: Downplayed, but still kinda there. Power Girl isn't really a jerk, but she is a lot rougher than other members of the Superman Family and has been shown to be ever-so-slightly more willing to kill than other heroes, but still remains as an extremely moral, kind-hearted, and caring individual at the end of the day.
** Played straight during the [[New 52]]. Honestly you'd be hard-pressed to find many moments of her doing heroic stuff in her run of ''World's Finest''. Although she does have a few acts of kindness, much of her adventures were self-serving, or even villainous in nature such as endangering employees of rival corporations. By the end of ''Worlds' Finest'' and the start of her adventures on Earth 2, she became a lot more like a typical superhero
* [[Just for Pun]]: "Oh yeah, this ''[[Dishing Out Dirt|rocks]]!''"
* [[Kick the Dog]]: Ultra-Humanite and Satanna are already well past the [[Moral Event Horizon]], they were murderers and psychopaths long before this series started, but when they put Atlee's brain inside the burned gorilla body it is just '''wrong'''.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Atlee seems to derive nourishment from all the lamps she keeps pointing out:
{{quote|
"[[Status Quo Is God|Well, it seems a lot of things up here follow a formula...a series of events that happen over and over, isn't that true?]] Take supervillains...you guys catch them committing crimes, they go to jail, they ''break out'' and you guys put them back again." }}
* [[Large Ham]]: Vartox is either the single greatest event to happen to comic-books since an artist thought "Wait a second, ''I can make them [[Most Common Superpower|as big as I want]]''," or he has come to murder all Power Girl fans with overexposure to the "sexy superstud from planet Valeron."
{{quote|
* [[Leotard of Power]]
* [[Let's You and Him Fight]]:
{{quote|
* [[Lingerie Scene]]: Vartox decides to dress appropriately for his dinner with Power Girl. The results are...[[Nightmare Fuel|not quite right for a formal dinner]], but Power Girl can not help but peek through her fingers just a little.
* [[Mad Scientist]]: For your convenience, models come both with and without "[[Evil Laugh|Moo-Ha-Ha!]]"
* [[Medium Awareness]]: The narrator is quite aware of how things work in comic-book land:
{{quote|
'''Dr Mid-Nite'''...'''Life Expectancy''': Shaken, not stirred
'''Blue Snowman'''...'''Life Expectancy''': Panel 4, Page 14
Vernon O'Valeron A.K.A. '''Vartox'''...'''Life Expectancy''': Waiting to hear back from the editors }}
* [[Mirror Match]]: She's fought her double from the recreated Earth-2, and her evil clone, "Divine".
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* [[Statuesque Stunner]]: She is every bit as tall as [[Wonder Woman]].
* [[Strange Minds Think Alike]]: When [[Zatanna]] is in the presence of a man who can copy her powers, she realizes that just beating him in a [[Wizard Duel]] will not solve the problem, she needs to physically leave his presence to keep him from getting her powers permanently.
{{quote|
'''Power Girl:''' "We need to get Zatanna the heck away from that idiot!" }}
* [[Straw Feminist]]: Has come across as one in the past, but has mellowed out since then. Her past behavior was retconned as a ''diet soda allergy.''
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* [[Stripperiffic]]: Despite the notoriety of her costume, it is actually rather tame by modern standards (it more or less looks like a swimsuit), and the lack of protection is somewhat justified considering she is bulletproof.
* [[This Is Wrong on So Many Levels]]:
{{quote|
** After Power Girl, Superman and Zatanna are [[Baleful Polymorph|turned in rock-people]] she looks down at her new rock-body and comments that "this is wrong on many, '''''many''''' levels."
* [[Tsundere]]: Power Girl herself during the ''Justice League Europe'' arcs. Considering the one who got her ''dere'' side was the only one who didn't spend all his time ogling her, probably justified.
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