Cheetah is a villain from the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited shows. She is loosely based on the Barbara Minerva version of the character from the DC Comics.
Biography[]
Origins[]
Originally an ordinary scientist, Cheetah studied the possibilities of advanced human capabilities with animal characteristics. Her research opened countless possibilities, but she had too little funding to afford enough research subjects. Impatient for results, she resorted to experimenting on herself, turning her into a human-cheetah hybrid. Seeing herself as a "freak", she became an outcast from society and turned to a life of crime, stealing the funds necessary to continue her research, and hopefully find a cure for herself one day.
Injustice Gang[]
One night, Cheetah found herself summoned to an abandoned building by Lex Luthor. There she met other super villains, Copperhead, Solomon Grundy, Shade, Star Sapphire, and Ultra-Humanite. Cheetah quickly showed to not get along with her colleagues, starting fights with Copperhead and Grundy for touching her, until the three of them were broken up by Shade, and snarling at Star Sapphire. Luthor eventually explains to them he called them all together because they are "the best at what they do" and he has need of their services. He promises to pay them well if they can accomplish one task for him; destroy Superman and the Justice League.
During their first attempt against the League, Cheetah was disguised as a hostage being held by Humanite. When the League arrived, Cheetah attacked Batman when he got too close to her. She briefly fought Batman alongside Copperhead, until she was restrained by Wonder Woman's lasso. When the tide of the battle started to turn in the League's favor, Cheetah and the rest of the Injustice Gang retreated when Shade provided cover, with only Copperhead being left behind. Luthor harshly criticized Cheetah and the others for their failure, until The Joker barged in and invited himself into the group. Joker says they need him, since he knows how Batman thinks, and pulls a bat-shaped homing device off Luthor as proof. Cheetah and the rest of the gang patiently awaited Batman's arrival to their hideout, pretending to play Poker to pass the time, and Batman is quickly ambushed and knocked out by Joker, leaving him to be captured by the Injustice Gang.
Luthor has Batman imprisoned in full-body titanium restraints and put under a stasis field, shielding him from Martian Manhunter's telepathy. Luthor has the gang guard Batman in shifts as he operates on opening Batman's utility belt, but when Batman manipulates Grundy and Humanite into fighting each other, Luthor assigns Cheetah to guard duty alone, telling her to gag him if he tries anything else. Once left alone, Cheetah draws her claws and snarls threateningly at Batman as a warning.
After a length of time guarding him, Batman somehow gets Cheetah to discuss her life story and origins with him. To her surprise, Batman is sympathetic of her story, and instead of dismissing her as a "freak" he praises her for being willing to sacrifice everything for a cause she believed in. Cheetah asked Batman how he knew so much about her, and giving a sly smirk, he remarked "Let's just say, cats aren't the only ones who are curious". Feeling a sudden rush of attraction to Batman, she cuddled up beside him, seductively lifting up his his chin with a finger, and the two began openly flirting with each other, with Cheetah playfully warning Batman "too much curiosity can be dangerous" and the hero responding "maybe I like danger". Softly asking him "Do you?" he whispers back "Try me." Giving a warm smile, Cheetah wrapped an arm around Batman's head and leaned in, planting a deep passionate kiss on Batman, with him kissing her back.
Cheetah was eventually relieved of her shift, and was later present when the gang were watching the bomb they planted on the Watchtower explode. When the League discovered the bomb and disposed of it though, she and the other members prepared to leave, tired of Luthor's abuse and believing they had failed. Luthor however convinced them to stay by offering to triple their payment. Shortly afterwards, Grundy reported that Batman had broken the stasis field, meaning he had already made contact with Martian Manhunter, and the League was already on their way. Luthor decided to let them come, but first they had to deal with the traitor among them, reasoning the only way the League could have found out about the bomb was if someone had told them.
Luthor checks the surveillance videos from throughout the hideout, and finds footage of Cheetah and Batman kissing, with Cheetah seen deepening the kiss several times. Cheetah attempts to pled her innocence, but Luthor orders the gang to get her. She tries to escape, but is stopped by Joker. Luthor leaves her to Grundy, but as Cheetah is dragged off she continues to scream she is innocent. Cheetah's innocence was proven correct, when during the battle between the League and Gang, Ultra-Humanite revealed himself as the true traitor, betraying Luthor and surrendering to the League peacefully. Cheetah was seen being arrested along with the rest of the criminals.
Justice League Unlimited[]
Years after this event, Cheetah continued her life of crime. She at one point worked together with Copperhead, Blockbuster, and KGBeast to rob a gold vault, and were confronted by Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman. Cheetah briefly fought against Wonder Woman during this encounter before being defeated by her. Before she and her allies could be arrested though, they were all transported to another dimension by the sorcerer Mordred. When Copperhead freaked out over this, believing they had died and gone to "the Bad Place", Cheetah slapped him and told him to get it together. Morgaine Le Fay transported the League back to Earth to defeat Mordred, and after Mordred's spell was broken Cheetah and the others were transported back to the real world.
At some point, Cheetah joined Gorilla Grodd's Legion of Doom. She participated on a few missions, and was seen working around the lair. After Luthor usurped leadership of the Legion from Grodd, Cheetah continued to side with Luthor against Grodd's mutiny. Cheetah was among the survivors of the Legion when Darkseid was revived and destroyed their base, and joined forces with the Justice League against Darkseid and his Apokolips invasion forces. In the final scene of the series, she was among the survivors and was last seen fleeing with the other villains after being allowed a five minute head start before the League attempted to arrest them.
Trivia[]
- Cheetah was originally meant to have died in "Injustice For All", with the implication that Solomon Grundy killed her off-screen after dragging her away. However, due to an animation error, where Cheetah and Copperhead were seen arrested with the other members of the Injustice Gang, she was ultimately spared.