If Cheetah Was Some Sort of Morphing Evil Thunder Cat - She'd Get Better Respect

[SiegePerilous02]

You break the time barrier...unless, say, you can't sustain it long enough to travel through the timestream

But if she breaks the time barrier, what does it matter how long she can sustain it? She already time traveled, which is an ability she doesn't really need added onto her. She's rarely gonna fight the Flash anyway

[AmiMizuno]

If Superman can turn back turn why not Cheetah and Diana too? Diana at one point can go so fast she can go into other dimensions.

[kjn]

If Superman can turn back turn why not Cheetah and Diana too? Diana at one point can go so fast she can go into other dimensions.

Given that Superman, Flash, and Wonder Woman are all powered through different means, why should the result of them going super-speed have to be the same? Flash ends up traveling through time, Superman turning back time around him, and Wonder Woman ends up in another dimension.

[SiegePerilous02]

I'd be fine if Superman and Supergirl never regained the power to punch through the time barrier by flying fast enough. They have the Legion and their time bubbles to help them with that. So Wonder Woman and Cheetah don't need it either. Let the Flash have that.

[marhawkman]

Cheetah's not the only WW related character to have mystically derived super-speed. The first one is WW herself. And there's others such as Devastation who are also said to have superhuman speed and reflexes.

Yeah, WW totally does the Lightning Bruiser shtick.

[Titan Theo]

Think of the following names:


Genocide
Devastation
Saber Tooth
Black Panther
Black Canary

then

Cheetah...which evokes more fear if you did not even know the character?

[Lex Luthor]

Cheetah is fine and she's never been the problem, its always the writers. She is in the background watching and waiting for the right time to move so her name makes sense.

I liked her in those old golden age stories when she had no powers and I think she has been a decent villain in Post Crisis when she was always involved in some crazy nefarious plot to ruin Diana. I think she makes even more sense now as a friend to Diana I just hope she gets to be less of a victim and actually do something in Rebirth.

[Cerulean Scarab]

I think another issue is that her design is sort of...generic in most interpretations. She's just an anthropomorphic Cheetah. And "cheetah" doesnt evoke a sense of real threat when the hero is on par with Superman.

If I wanted to improve her, I'd have her design updated. Obviously keep the cheetah as the primary motif, but also accentuate the human and mystical aspects of the character. She's a cursed, tragic character. I'd want that to be conveyed in her appearance somehow. Comics are a visual medium. While story and characterization are most important, I think a great design can go a long way to help a character's popularity.

I do think the transforming aspect is an interesting idea though. Would make her a bit more versatile of a villain, since itd be hard to go a lot of places as a giant cheetah without arousing suspicion. :P

[Titan Theo]

Of course, I do agree that the writing - consistent character and power portrayal - is the biggest part of it all, but the LOGO (symbol) is also important. After all, Batman can do a lot of things Bats can't do. But maybe her portrayal is more literal that's why it's harder to relate the Cheetah as a powerful character when it's symbol barely evokes any fear that even young African Children can intimidate them when protecting sheep. Barbara is an archeologist specializing in the occult; she could easily have access to various powers. The idea behind my suggestion is that each transformation outclasses WW in the area of speed, strength and partial invulnerability, but Diana is a more balanced fighter with powers; it's like specialist vs. generalist. However, Cheetah won't be as strong when she is in Cheetah mode and won't be as fast when in Lion mode, for example.

[marhawkman]

I LOVED the comics where Barbara Minerva was walking around in human form WITH her full power as Cheetah.

[Nyssane]

Cheetah...which evokes more fear if you did not even know the character?

"Joker" and "Lex Luthor" don't really evoke fear, either. It's the characters themselves that do that. Cheetah can do the same under the right creative teams.

[WonderScott]

"Joker" and "Lex Luthor" don't really evoke fear, either. It's the characters themselves that do that. Cheetah can do the same under the right creative teams.

Agreed.

She's also a classic Wonder foe. There's kind of no getting around the name. I choose to embrace it and the upgrade/curse/bad judgement that's been her birthright since Perez.

I enjoyed Rucka's version, but her recent sympathetic nature kind of made her lose her edge (to me.) She's more sympathetically tragic now than before. Sometimes I miss the tragedy and brilliance that was the Machiavellian Barbara Minerva by Perez. She scared me more than the Cheetah in some cases. The broken, evil Indiana Jones was someone I could see researching tons of mythical and magical knowledge and then having a sit down with Lex Luthor and telling him how things were going to be.

[The Dying Detective]

Given that Superman, Flash, and Wonder Woman are all powered through different means, why should the result of them going super-speed have to be the same? Flash ends up traveling through time, Superman turning back time around him, and Wonder Woman ends up in another dimension.

Superman can't turn back time in the comics it's just something the first movie introduce and if it happened night and day would just be reversed.

[The Dying Detective]

Agreed.

She's also a classic Wonder foe. There's kind of no getting around the name. I choose to embrace it and the upgrade/curse/bad judgement that's been her birthright since Perez.

I enjoyed Rucka's version, but her recent sympathetic nature kind of made her lose her edge (to me.) She's more sympathetically tragic now than before. Sometimes I miss the tragedy and brilliance that was the Machiavellian Barbara Minerva by Perez. She scared me more than the Cheetah in some cases. The broken, evil Indiana Jones was someone I could see researching tons of mythical and magical knowledge and then having a sit down with Lex Luthor and telling him how things were going to be.

There's always turning her into the high priestess of the Uzkartaga cult and making her try to spread the worship of her god and 'husband' to make her more threatening.

[WonderScott]

There's always turning her into the high priestess of the Uzkartaga cult and making her try to spread the worship of her god and 'husband' to make her more threatening.

Maybe, with the right story. I don't see Barbara as the priestess type and she seems pretty happy to be free of old Urzie. I kind of see her more as the type to go on more archeological missions and explore the magical and mythical side of the DCU to gain more power. Rucka's take imbued her with a lot of curiosity and thirst for knowledge which was admirable until it turned darker for her.

Maybe we can see an ongoing conflict between Barbara versus Diana and ARGUS/Black Room versus Saturna and her Crimson Men in a race to locate and use all the mystical artifacts in the DCU. Hmm...