APPROVED: BACKGROUND_1 MATRIX
Jor-El of Krypton, the Superman of World War II, did not bleed often but he was wounded on occasion. At least one blood sample ended up in the hands of Project M, a secret government program seeking to create modern day monsters to help the war effort. The scientists and mages of Project M tried a variety of experiments with the blood sample but the most successful ones involved testing the extreme healing properties of Kryptonian DNA.
The experiments did not get far, however, when the Spectre's Judgement stopped them entirely. In the wake of the Judgement Project M was shut down and the experiments locked away. Over time, through death, neglect, and paper shuffling Project M's vaults were forgotten. No one noticed when, on January 1, 2010, the Kryptonian DNA experiment spontaneously reactivated. The white blood cells in the blood samples began duplicating and duplicating and duplicating. Over the next few years the mass of Kryptonian DNA, perhaps because of experiments performed on the source material in the 1940s, developed a rudimentary consciousness.
This Matrix of Kryptonian DNA broke free of the forgotten Project M vault. Driven by primal instincts the Matrix sought out other sources of Kryptonian DNA. It traveled for miles until it came across Leesburg, Virginia.
APPROVED: BACKGROUND_2 LINDA DANVERS
Linda Danvers was not a particularly happy teenager. Growing up in the small town of Leesburg, Virginia, she never felt she quite fit in. The problems were compounded by her relationship with her parents. Her father, a sheriff's deputy, was on call 24/7 and seemed to miss every important event in Linda's life. Her mother, an assistant pastor at the local church, seemed more interested in councilling other children than her own. And then? There was Linda's older cousin Karen.
Karen Starr was perfect. Karen was brilliant, Karen was nice, Karen was gorgeous, Karen had the chest of a porn star. When Linda did something wrong her parents asked her why she couldn't be more like her cousin Karen and when Karen came to visit everyone, especially boys, ignored that Linda existed as they fell over themselves to impress Karen.
Small wonder, perhaps, that Linda Danvers fell in with a bad crowd. This particular bad crowd was a demon worshiping cult run by a charming schemer named Buzz. Under the influence of Buzz Linda became more and more corrupt. It started simply with drugs and sex and shoplifting but grew to something worse. When Buzz revealed that the local pastor was having an affair with a teenage parishioner he pushed Linda towards murder. At the last minute, however, Linda couldn't go through with it. She dropped the knife. Refused to kill another person.
So, Buzz stabbed Linda and left her to die.
APPROVED: BACKGROUND_3 SUPERGIRL
That's when the Matrix found Linda. It was seeking Kryptonian DNA and found it - Linda had "borrowed" the coat she was wearing from her cousin Karen. Little did Linda know that her adopted cousin Karen was the last known survivor of the planet Krypton and there were a few hairs containing Kryptonian DNA on Linda's collar.
As Linda lay dying, the Matrix confused her for the Kryptonian it was seeking. Driven by instinct the Matrix somehow covered Linda's bleeding body and then began to seep inside the wound. The Matrix merged with Linda and together, their DNA became something new. Neither quite Kryptonian nor human.
Linda woke up on the ground. The trauma of her near death combined with the merging blanked out her memory of her time as a member of the cult. She stumbled home and attempted to put the pieces of her life together.
By that point, Linda had been missing for days. Her parents were relieved and embraced their daughter, choosing not to ask too many questions about what had happened. Life actually began to improve. Linda's parents realized they had spent too much time focusing on their jobs and not enough time on their daughter. Linda realized all the bile and hatred inside of her was poison.
Then everything changed. The next day Linda felt the urge to run. So she took of running and kept going faster and faster and faster until she reached a the edge of a gulch. Then, defying all logic, Linda leaped into the air….
? and she flew. When she returned home, Linda looked in the mirror and realized she was half a foot taller and blonde and wearing a blue costume with a big, red S on the chest. Somehow, Linda Danvers had become a female version of the World War II hero, Superman.
Linda remains unsure of how she got her powers or why but Supergirl has appeared several times in Leesburg now. Foiling a bank robbery here, stopping a car accident there. Meanwhile, Linda balances between trying to find out more about her strange new abilities… and what it has to do with her missing memories… and the better family life that has been built since she lost those memories.
APPROVED: PSY1 CYNICAL
Linda seems to come from a good family. Her parents are still married. They make decent money. Dad's a cop. Mom's a pastor. But there was a lot of unintentional neglect. That has led Linda to see the negative in the world at least as often, if not more, as the good. She is just as likely to think the world of a person or situation as the best.
APPROVED: PSY2 HOPEFUL
Ever since she became Supergirl life has gotten better. Her parents are making an effort to be more present in her life and Linda's able to do something positive to help other's. Perhaps she's just remembering that her life could be a lot worse. Or perhaps life really is getting better. Either way, Linda is learning to hope.
APPROVED: PSY3 CREATIVE
Linda Danvers is an artist. A sculpture, specifically. She is not what one calls a logical thinker. As a result she connects the dots in pretty patterns instead of straight lines and she relies heavily on intuitive processes instead of deductive processes.
APPROVED: PSY4 SNARKY
Self-control of her mouth has never been one of Linda's strong suits. Her mind rapidly develops quips, insults, and puns and they flow out without her thinking.
APPROVED: PSY5 MYSTERY
Linda's life is filled with mystery. She doesn't remember what happened in the days leading up to her becoming Supergirl or how she gained her powers. That amnesia bothers her but what bothers her more is the niggling thought that Linda doesn't want to know. In addition, Linda's having strange dreams, like half-remembered moments lost in time of alien landscapes. Occasionally she hears words in a language unlike any she's ever encountered, whispered on the wind. Linda's life is full of questions.
APPROVED: PSY6 MOTIVATION
Linda enjoys helping people, something she inherited from her parents whether she knows it or not. There's also a nagging sense of guilt. Linda isn't sure what she has to feel guilty for but it is omnipresent. Doing good deeds helps make that feeling go away. At least, for a little while.
APPROVED: PSY7 GOALS
As a civilian, Linda hopes to become a professional scuptor. As a superhero, Linda hopes to do good. She has the nagging suspicion that she has a lot of bad in her ledger and has to make up for it. Despite the problems she had with her parents, they honestly did instill in her, deep down, the idea that those with help those without.
APPROVED: POW1 SOLAR BATTERY
Linda's body acts as a solar battery, absorbing solar radiation. This energy, contained within her cells, is what powers most of her abilities. Linda's body is especially attuned to the solar radiation of a yellow sun. Because solar radiation powers Linda, if she is put into an environment where she is sealed off from such radiation it is possible she can use all her reserves, essentially depowering.
APPROVED: POW2 STRENGTH
As one might expert from someone with Kryptonian powers, Supergirl has amazing super strength. She can punch through reinforced steel and concrete easily. She's capable of lifting around 50,000 tons before she starts feeling real strain. There are materials she would have difficult bending or breaking. Supergirl could pound on adamantium all day, for instance, and not make a dent in the material.
APPROVED: POW3 INVULNERABILITY
Due to her Kryptonian powers, Supergirl is very resistant to damage - incluing both physical and energy attacks. She is bullet-proof to the level of heavy rounds being fired from a gatling gun. Explosions would do little harm until one reaches the level of kinetic energy released by an ICBM - and even then she would not be seriously harmed, not stunned. Extreme force in the range of hundreds of tons, such as a nuclear blast or a good punch from the Hulk would bloody her up. Energy attacks such as lasers do little damage though electrical attacks may stun or even hurt her. Environmental factors such as extreme heat, cold, and radiation do nothing to hinder Supergirl. It would require temperatures such as one might find in the interior of a star to actually cause discomfort or pain.
APPROVED: POW4 ENDURANCE
With the help of the solar energy in her cells, Linda does not tire. While her brain does need the occasional rest that comes from sleep, Linda doesn't require more than a few hours a night and, if needed, she can go for days without. Supergirl does require oxygen but can hold her breath for several hours at a time without discomfort.
APPROVED: POW5 SPEED
As Supergirl, Linda can move at incredible speeds. She's capable of running about twice the speed of sound, allowing her to outrace bullets. In fact, her reflexes are quick enough that she can catch bullets with her bare hands.
APPROVED: POW6 SENSES
Supergirl's senses are enhanced. Her senses of touch, smell, and taste are all above human norms but it is here vision and hearing that require special attention.
Supergirl's eyes allow her to see miles away as if she were only a few feet away (telescopic vision) and to see down to atomic levels (microscopic vision). In addition, she can see up and down the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Of special note is her ability to combine her vision with a radiation akin to x-rays which lets her see through physical matter to make out interior structures. Only lead can block this vision.
Supergirl's sense of hearing is similarly enhanced. She can pick up sounds miles away, though she is still learning how to sort through the sheer amount of background noise such a range of auditory ability gives a person.
APPROVED: POW7 FLIGHT
Up, up and away! Supergirl can fly. She can fly at speeds from 0 miles per hour (hovering) to about twice the speed of sound. In addition, Supergirl can somehow brace herself while flying, allowing her to catch huge objects or carry them despite a seeming lack of leverage. Holding large objects or other people while flying slows her down to submach speed lest she cause serious damage. Outside the atmosphere, Supergirl's speed increases and she can reach Pluto after roughly twenty hours of flight. Since she can't hold her breath quite that long, extra oxygen would be required.
APPROVED: POW8 HEAT VISION
Supergirl can project the solar energy stored in her body as laser like beams from her eyes. The intensity of this heat vision is such that she can melt through any metal except vibranium or adamantium, though metals with a higher melting point would take a longer time to melt. Combined with her sensory abilities, Supergirl can use her heat vision to perform feats of surgical precision or strike from a range of miles away.
This heat vision depletes the solar reserves in Supergirl's body faster than any of her other powers. It is best used in brief, concentrated bursts. Extended use might leave her near powerless, especially if there is no solar radiation to recharge her.
APPROVED: POW9 BREATH
Supergirl's lungs are as strong as she is. This allows her amazing lung capacity and she can suck all the oxygen (or other gasses) out of a room roughly 20x20 feet in size. Likewise, she could blow out a breath strong enough to put out a roaring blaze that fills a 20x20 foot area with a single blast. With work, Supergirl can use her lungs to super condense the air inside, turning it cold enough that she can use her 'freeze breath' to freeze about 20 cubic feet of water into solid ice.
APPROVED: POW10 HEALING
Supergirl's darn near indestructable but she can be hurt. With enough solar energy in her cells, however, she can heal quite rapidly. Minor injuries, cuts and bruises vanish in minutes. Broken bones and serious internal injuries take mere hours to heal. This healing does have limits, however. Supergirl cannot regrow limbs and she can die, though her aging is significantly retarded.
APPROVED: ADV1 KRYPTONIAN DNA
Linda's DNA has been heavily overwritten by the Matrix. Because of this she might no longer qualify as human. To be sure, she is immune to most, if not all, diseases and toxins that would affect humans.
APPROVED: ADV2 BRAIN
Linda's brain has been changed by her merging with the Matrix. Supercharged by solar energy, Linda's brain moves at exceptional speeds. She is capable of calculating mathematics roughly as fast as the average calculator. In addition, she now has perfect recall of everything except her time leading up to becoming Supergirl.
APPROVED: ADV3 TWO FORMS
Technically speaking, Linda is a shapeshifter. Only, she has two forms. She can be brown-haired, relatively small Linda or the taller, blonde Supergirl. Changing between the forms happens instantly and includes, for some reason, a change from whatever clothing Linda is wearing to her Supergirl costume (and back again). Linda has her powers in both forms but prefers to be in Supergirl form when using them whenever possible.
APPROVED: ADV4 FAMILY
Linda's relationship with her parents has been far from perfect but it has gotten better since she became Supergirl. Her father is with the sherrif's department. Her mother is an assistant pastor. Neither provides much in the way of crime-fighting support but they provide moral support.
APPROVED: ADV5 LEGACY
Superman is still remembered or thought of by many as one of the greatest costumed crime fighters of the first Age of Heroes. Wearing the S shield and using a variation of his name, Supergirl carries on that legacy. Some are more willing to give her the benefit of a doubt or trust her because of it.
APPROVED: SKILL1 ART
Linda Danvers is well on her way to being a professional sculptor. She's got a lot of talent and is already building up the skills she needs for her future. Her prefered medium is clay but she has experience working with stone and wood as well. In addition, Linda's a deft hand with a pencil. She's not on the level of a professional illustrator but she can create a detailed and recognizable likeness of another person artistically.
APPROVED: SKILL2 KRYPTONIAN
While Linda has never learned the language of Krypton or about their culture but because of the way Kryptonians were genetically engineered that knowledge is literally in her genes. If she heard Kryptonian, Linda would understand some of the words and if she encountered Kryptonian technology she'd have an innate understanding of it, though an incomplete one.
APPROVED: SKILL3 SKATING
Linda's been skateboarding since she was knee high to a grasshoper. Even before she gained the reflexes and abilities of Supergirl, Linda was good enough to win local competitions. She's got a nice sense of balance and knows how to perform all the standard stunts that come with skateboarding.
APPROVED: SKILL4 SURVIVAL
Leesburg isn't a huge place and it is surrounded by a lot of wood. As a result, Linda has been learning how to survive in the wild all her life. She knows the basics of camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and first aid.
APPROVED: FLAW1 KRYPTONITE
Due to her Kryptonian DNA, Linda is vulnerable to the substance known as kryptonite. Even a small amount of green kryptonite can make her dizzy and weak if she's within a few feet for more than a few seconds. The larger the sample of green kryptonite the greater range the effect has. After less than a minute she will be debilitating. After a few minutes the exposure could very well prove fatal as it poisons her blood stream.
There are other forms of Kryptonite as well. Each color has a different effect: red Kryptonite can lower inhibitions and cause changes in personality. Gold Kryptonite blocks the ability of a Kryptonian to absorb solar radiation. In addition, trace amounts of green Kryptonite can be added to toxins to make them more effective on Linda.
APPROVED: FLAW2 RED SUN RADIATION
Linda's Kryptonian powers are based on her cells absorbing the radiation of a yellow sun. However, when Linda's cells are full of red solar radiation she has the same powers as any ordinary human. That means she loses her powers quickly in a solar system with a red sun. Moreover, red solar radiation can be used as a weapon, forcing her body to rapidly absorb that and destroy her store of yellow sun energy. Once the yellow sun energy is gone, she is relatively powerless.
APPROVED: FLAW3 ALIEN
Now that she's fused with the Matrix, Linda's DNA is more Kryptonian than human. Which means she's more Kryptonian than human. That means if she becomes sick, injured, or poisoned regular human medicine has little to offer her. In fact, well meaning attempts to heal her by human medical professionals may harm her further.
APPROVED: FLAW4 AMNESIA
There's a period of time Linda can't remember. During this time she was a member of a cult of Satanists and not a very nice one. Under the influence of their leader, Buzz, Linda committed a number of horrible crimes. She never quite made it to murder but it is safe to say she was so twisted with anger and hatred that she was no longer a good person. Who knows what effect remembering those horrible days might have on Linda if they come to the surface.
APPROVED: FLAW5 TARGET
The S Shield represents truth and justice, yes, but it is also a target. There are those who will want a Kryptonian as a lab rat. There are those who will want to take down Supergirl for a defeat visited upon them or their family by the original Superman or Power Woman. And there are those who will want to kill someone wearing the S shield because it will prove they are the biggest, baddest person on the planet.
Superman, the alien hero of World War II, is still spoken of by many in the same breath as Captain America and Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. Superman was one of the greats and his S shield symbol continues to appear on t-shirts across the country. This is helped, of course, by the more recent appearance of Power Woman who admits to being of the same race as Superman and who wears a variant of the S shield on her costume.
Recent reports suggest a blonde woman wearing a variant of Superman's uniform and the S shield has been sighted stopping crimes and helping out in disasters and accidents in Virginia. This "Supergirl" exhibits many of the same powers as Superman and Power Woman.
Students at Xavier's may know that the new student, Linda Danvers, claims to be an artist - a sculptor specifically. She isn't the warmest of personalities and she doesn't tend to talk about what her powers are.