50 Fun Facts About Female Superheroes

Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston, also helped invent an early version of which device?

Lie detector research came before comics for Marston, whose blood-pressure test became part of the polygraph. His heroine carries a golden Lasso of Truth.

Which mysterious substance did Professor Utonium accidentally spill, creating the Powerpuff Girls?

Chemical X gave the three kindergarten heroes their powers, and the same lab accident turned the professor's chimp assistant into their archenemy, Mojo Jojo.

Which Marvel heroine is Natasha Romanoff, a former Soviet spy trained in the secretive Red Room?

Black Widow began as a villain in 1964, then switched sides and allied herself with the Avengers out of love for the archer Hawkeye.

Which character in Pixar's The Incredibles can turn invisible and project force fields?

Violet was given invisibility because director Brad Bird felt it captured the insecurity and defensiveness many teenage girls feel while growing up.

What is the day job of Jennifer Walters, the Marvel heroine better known as She-Hulk?

Lawyer Jennifer Walters gained her powers from an emergency blood transfusion from her cousin Bruce Banner, and she often acts as legal counsel to other superheroes.

In the animated series Miraculous, Marinette becomes Ladybug to protect which European capital?

Paris is home to Marinette, who battles Hawk Moth, a villain who turns upset citizens into supervillains using dark butterflies called akumas.

Which X-Men heroine, born Ororo Munroe, was once worshipped as a goddess in Africa?

Storm can control the weather, so she was hailed as a rain goddess; she later took over as leader of the X-Men when Cyclops stepped away.

Which Israeli actress and former army combat trainer played Wonder Woman in DC's live-action films?

Gal Gadot won the Miss Israel pageant in 2004, then spent two years in the army teaching soldiers gymnastics and calisthenics.

Which caped Gotham hero is librarian Barbara Gordon, the daughter of the city's police commissioner?

Batgirl made her comic-book debut in January 1967 so that she could be written into the Batman TV series that autumn, where Yvonne Craig played her.

Which Guardian of the Galaxy, played by Zoe Saldaña, was raised by Thanos as his adopted daughter?

Gamora is the last of her species in the comics, where Thanos found her as a child and trained her to be his personal assassin.

Wanda Maximoff, twin sister of the speedster Quicksilver, is better known by which Marvel code name?

Scarlet Witch can rewrite reality itself with chaos magic, and in the comics she married the android Vision and had twin sons by magic.

In the film Black Panther, which princess is Wakanda's lead scientist and T'Challa's younger sister?

Shuri was partly inspired by James Bond's gadget master Q, and she later succeeds her brother to become the Black Panther herself.

Which blonde Powerpuff Girl dresses in blue and is the most sensitive and emotional of the sisters?

Bubbles is the gentle one of the family; network executives once suggested renaming the sisters Pink, Blue and Green because they found them hard to tell apart.

Which former Miss World USA starred as Wonder Woman in the hit 1970s television series?

Lynda Carter came back to the franchise decades later, making a surprise cameo as Asteria in the 2020 film Wonder Woman 1984.

On which hidden island of Amazons, once called Paradise Island, was Wonder Woman raised?

Themyscira is named after the Amazons' capital in Greek mythology, and its women were promised immortality as long as no man set foot on the island.

Which Teen Titans heroine is Koriand'r, an alien princess from the distant planet Tamaran?

Starfire soaks up ultraviolet radiation and fires it back as energy blasts called starbolts, a power she shares with her scheming older sister.

In Sailor Moon, what kind of animal is Luna, the talking mentor who gives Usagi her magic brooch?

Luna is a black cat with a crescent moon on her forehead, while the heroine's own name, Usagi, is a play on the Japanese word for rabbit.

In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which classmate of Miles Morales is from another dimension?

Gwen Stacy hides at Miles's school under the made-up name Gwanda, and the comic books shown on screen call her Spider-Gwen.

Which scientist played by Natalie Portman becomes the Mighty Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder?

Jane Foster gains her powers by wielding a rebuilt version of the hammer Mjolnir, and Portman took the prop home to practise her stunts.

Which X-Men heroine with white-streaked hair absorbs the powers and memories of anyone she touches?

Rogue learned what her touch could do the hard way: when she kissed a boy named Cody Robbins, she absorbed his memories and left him in a coma.

What is Supergirl's birth name, given by her parents before she was sent to Earth from a doomed city?

Kara Zor-El grew up in Argo City, a fragment of her home planet that survived its destruction, before her parents sent her to join her cousin Superman.

Zatanna, DC's stage magician turned superhero sorceress, casts her spells by speaking in which unusual way?

Backwards is how Zatanna speaks every spell; she models herself on her father Zatara, a stage magician hero who first appeared in Action Comics #1.

In the film Captain Marvel, the seemingly ordinary pet Goose is revealed to be which alien species?

Flerken is the species of Goose, who swallows the Tesseract whole and scratches Nick Fury, costing him the sight in his left eye.

Which founding X-Men member turns into the all-powerful Dark Phoenix in a famous 1980 comics saga?

Jean Grey was the only woman on the original team, fighting under the code name Marvel Girl with nothing but telekinesis at first.

In Masters of the Universe, what is the real name of She-Ra, the long-lost twin sister of He-Man?

Adora was kidnapped as a baby by the villain Hordak and raised on the planet Etheria as a captain in his army, the Evil Horde.

In Pixar's The Incredibles, what is the first name of Elastigirl when she is at home as Mrs. Parr?

Helen Parr, voiced by Holly Hunter, stretches in so many ways that she needed the most complex character rig Pixar had used up to that point.

Which Teen Titans heroine is the daughter of the demon lord Trigon and a human mother?

Raven is an empath and sorceress who became one of the Titans' mainstays despite the ominous prophecies tied to her demon father.

Which DC heroine is traditionally a police officer from the planet Thanagar, sent to study crime-fighting on Earth?

Hawkgirl's wings are not part of her body in the comics: they are a harness built from Nth metal, a substance that cancels the pull of gravity.

Which actress trained in judo, boxing and wrestling for nine months to play Carol Danvers in Captain Marvel?

Brie Larson's turn as the ex-fighter pilot made Captain Marvel the first female-led superhero film to take more than a billion dollars worldwide.

Kamala Khan, the teenage hero Ms. Marvel, lives in which place across the Hudson River from Manhattan?

Jersey City won out after the writer considered Dearborn and Seattle; Kamala became the first Muslim character to headline a Marvel comic.

In Black Panther, which all-female special forces unit serves as the personal guard of Wakanda's king?

Dora Milaje means "adored ones", and the unit echoes the Dahomey Amazons, a real all-female regiment from West African history.

Which Marvel heroine, real name Doreen Green, defeated the mighty Doctor Doom in her very first comic?

Squirrel Girl won with the help of a horde of squirrels, and later writers turned that unlikely victory into a running joke about her beating Marvel's biggest villains.

In the series WandaVision, Wanda Maximoff and Vision live an idyllic sitcom life in which suburban town?

Westview keeps jumping through television history, with the couple's world restyled after the sitcoms of a different decade as the story goes on.

Which undersea queen, played on film by Amber Heard, fights beside Aquaman with water-controlling powers?

Mera comes from Xebel, an ocean realm in another dimension, and in the comics she has ruled Atlantis in her own right after Aquaman gave up the throne.

Which DC heroine and Birds of Prey mainstay can shatter objects with her high-powered sonic scream?

Black Canary debuted in 1947 as a hand-to-hand fighter with no powers at all; her famous cry arrived decades later, around the time she fell for Green Arrow.

Which queen of the Amazons, named after a figure of Greek myth, is the mother of Wonder Woman?

Hippolyta, in the classic origin story, shaped her baby daughter out of the island's clay, and the figure was then turned into flesh and blood.

Which X-Men heroine can pass through solid objects and has a loyal alien dragon called Lockheed?

Kitty Pryde, also known as Shadowcat, met Lockheed on a mission in outer space; he followed her home, and the two now share a psychic bond.

Which young archer became the first woman to take the Hawkeye name, after Clint Barton of the Avengers?

Kate Bishop is played by Hailee Steinfeld in the Disney+ series Hawkeye, and her comic-book costume borrows from both Barton's and Mockingbird's.

Which actress plays Valkyrie, the last survivor of Asgard's legendary women warriors, in Thor: Ragnarok?

Tessa Thompson's warrior is working under the code name Scrapper 142 when Thor first meets her, and he later leaves her in charge of New Asgard.

In Wonder Woman's first comic, the last trial of the Amazon tournament was to deflect what with her bracelets?

Bullets were the ultimate test of Amazon skill, and she had entered the contest behind a mask because her mother had forbidden her to take part.

The Powerpuff Girls answer the mayor's hotline to defend which fictional city from monsters and villains?

Townsville is where the trio live with Professor Utonium, the scientist who is both their creator and their father.

In the preschool series PJ Masks, bespectacled schoolgirl Amaya transforms into which hero when night falls?

Owlette keeps a pet owl called Owly and fights night-time villains alongside her friends Catboy and Gekko.

Which young Marvel heroine can open star-shaped portals that let her travel across the multiverse?

America Chavez can also use her portals to travel through time; Xochitl Gomez played her in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Which former Glee regular played the title role in the television series Supergirl from 2015 to 2021?

Melissa Benoist's heroine starts out hiding her powers while working as an assistant at the media company CatCo in National City.

Riri Williams, the teenage genius known as Ironheart, builds her armour as a student at which university?

MIT even made a short film showing Riri building her suit in a dormitory; in the comics she reverse-engineered the design from one of Iron Man's suits.

Which director of the crime drama Monster went on to make the hit 2017 film Wonder Woman?

Patty Jenkins saw her superhero epic overtake the musical Mamma Mia! to become, at the time, the highest-grossing live-action film directed by a woman.

Which code name did Barbara Gordon adopt as a computer expert and information broker for other heroes?

Oracle first appeared in a 1989 issue of Suicide Squad, supplying intelligence and hacking help to fellow crime-fighters, and went on to headline Birds of Prey.

Which founding Avenger, Janet van Dyne, is credited in the comics with giving the team its name?

Wasp went on to lead the Avengers too, taking charge in 1982 and holding the post until 1987, apart from a short spell when Vision filled in.

Wonder Woman joined which pioneering 1940s superhero team, at first serving only as its secretary?

Justice Society members took her on as the team's secretary, despite her powers, and only later made her a full member.

Which heroine, once a New Orleans harbor patrol lieutenant in the comics, is played by Teyonah Parris in WandaVision?

Monica Rambeau has fought crime under four different hero names over the years: Captain Marvel, Photon, Pulsar and Spectrum.