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Female Furies

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Female Furies
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceMister Miracle #6 (February 1972)
Created byJack Kirby (writer & artist)
In-story information
Base(s)Apokolips
Member(s)Artemiz
Bernadeth
Bloody Mary
Gilotina
Granny Goodness
Lashina
Mad Harriet
Malice Vundabar
Speed Queen
Stompa
Wunda

The Female Furies are a group of fictional women warriors appearing in comics published by DC Comics. They first appeared in Mister Miracle #6 (February 1972), and were created by Jack Kirby.[1]

Fictional team history

The Female Furies, brutally trained and led by Granny Goodness, are fanatically loyal to Darkseid. However, infighting among the Furies is commonplace, most typically to appoint a leader to the group.[1]

Big Barda was a member–being groomed for leadership–until she escaped to Earth with Mister Miracle.[1] Other former members include Knockout, Seera (abandoned Granny to help Al Bizarro), Twilight's mother, and Supergirl (Kara Zor-El). There are also known male Furies, though they are lower in rank than the females.

The majority of Furies are New Gods themselves, but Granny has been known to accept females of other races. A woman named Alianna Hubbard is the only human ever trained as a Female Fury; she was ordered to kill Mister Miracle by Granny Goodness. She appeared in Mister Miracle #25, part one of an uncompleted story. According to Mister Miracle, Alianna's strength was equal to that of his wife Big Barda, and her reflexes and speed were superhuman.

During their first appearance, Lashina, Stompa, Bernadeth, and Mad Harriet attempted to bring Big Barda back to Apokolips, after she had escaped alongside Mister Miracle. However, Barda was eventually able to convince her former teammates to help her, and the four Furies stayed on Earth for quite some time. They eventually returned to Apokolips under unknown circumstances, and were punished by Granny Goodness for their betrayal.

Darkseid has used the Female Furies on several occasions, such as when they broke into a prison to rescue Glorious Godfrey, and they have battled several super-heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Superboy, and the Suicide Squad. A second wave of Female Furies, including long-time member Gilotina, Malice Vundabar, Bloody Mary, and Speed Queen, later appeared, causing trouble for Hawk and Dove. The Furies made an appearance as antagonists in Grant Morrison's acclaimed Seven Soldiers event, specifically in the Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle mini-series. Here, they are all given human forms along with Darkseid and his other minions, with the Furies all becoming prostitutes with Granny Goodness acting as their pimp. They attempt to entice Shilo Norman, the second Mr. Miracle when he arrives at the Dark Side Club searching for Darkseid himself. They knock Shilo out, and then stuff him in the trunk of a car while he is bound and gagged, eventually torturing and setting him ablaze in a forest. This is later revealed to be a horrid illusion brought about by Darkseid's Omega Sanction.

They are later shown aiding Granny in her scheme to overthrow the Greek Gods, kidnapping Dr. Helena Sandsmark in order to antagonize her daughter Wonder Girl during the events of her solo mini-series. After the deaths of Mister Miracle and Metron during the Death of the New Gods, the Source stated Darkseid was the only remaining New God. The only Furies who were not visibly killed, currently, are Lashina, Stompa, Gilotina, Malice, Wunda, and Artemiz; although at the end of Death of the New Gods it is reiterated that all the New Gods are dead. While the New Gods were being killed off, Granny Goodness orchestrated the Amazon-American war to pose as Queen Hippolyta to train women (such as Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson) under the auspices of becoming Amazon warriors into new Female Furies. This seems to conflict directly with Terror Titans, where Lashina (in her human form), is shown to be one of the villains running the Dark Side Club with the Clock King. She is last seen being electrocuted into unconsciousness by Static, who then presumably turns her over to the authorities with the rest of the upper level Dark Side Club players.

After the end of the Fourth World, in the Final Crisis of mankind, the corrupted Mary Marvel released the Anti-Life Equation and creates new Female Furies from Earth's heroines and villainesses, including Wonder Woman, Catwoman, Giganta and Batwoman.

Members

The Female Furies have included both native Apokoliptians and brainwashed Earth people. The natives include:

  • Artemiz - An archer with bio-seeking arrows and a pack of cyber-hounds. Not to be confused with the Amazon Artemis, who took the identity of Wonder Woman for a time.
  • Bernadeth - Sister of Desaad, armed with a burning "fahren-knife". Often challenges Lashina's leadership.
  • Bloody Mary - A vampire-like character with energy-draining eye-beams. Deceased.
  • Gilotina - A young Fury who could slice through things with karate chops, later abandoned the Furies to work with Project Cadmus, though inevitably returned.
  • Knockout - A Superboy villain who, like Barda, escaped the Furies. She has super-strength and views life-or-death battle as flirting.
  • Lashina - The field leader of the Furies. She is armed with flexible steel bands which she can control telekinetically. On one occasion, during a Furies mission to fetch the disgraced Glorious Godfrey for Darkseid, Lashina was betrayed by her teammate Bernadeth and became stranded on Earth. During her Earth exile, she joined the Suicide Squad under the name "Duchess". She eventually led the Suicide Squad on a mission to Apokolips, where she killed Bernadeth. Darkseid brought Bernadeth back to life and slew Lashina in turn, but has since resurrected Lashina as well.
  • Mad Harriet - A cackling madwoman with razor-sharp claws. Deceased.
  • Malice Vundabar - The niece of Virman Vundabar. Apparently even younger than Gilotina, she resembles the titular character in Alice in Wonderland, and controls a savage, disembodied mouth called Chessure (see Cheshire Cat).
  • Speed Queen - As her name suggests, Speed Queen has super-speed. She was killed by the entity targeting New Gods after she discovered Grayven.
  • Stompa - A Female Fury who creates earthquakes by stamping her feet and also has high super strength. She was presumed dead after an encounter with Wonder Woman and Big Barda, but has since returned.
  • Twilight's Mother - Name unknown, she escaped the Furies centuries ago, and left her daughter to be raised on Earth, where she eventually became a Supergirl villain/supporting character.
  • Wunda - The most recent Fury. She is a woman with light-based powers.

The following characters are known to have been brainwashed into becoming members:

  • Alianna Hubbard - The first human to be trained as a Female Fury. She debuted in Mister Miracle #25 (September 1978).[2]
  • Batwoman - Kate Kane was one of the brainwashed heroes of Earth who served Darkseid in Final Crisis. Her appearance harkened to the deceased Mad Harriet.
  • Catwoman - Selina Kyle, one of the many brainwashed villains who served Darkseid in Final Crisis. Her appearance bore resemblance to the deceased Lashina.
  • Giganta - Renamed Gigantrix, the brainwashed Giganta served under Darkseid in Final Crisis, in a uniform that harkened to the deceased Stompa, and made reference to Giganta's past as an ape. Her intelligence had been limited by her brainwashing.
  • Wonder Woman - Renamed Wondra, Wonder Woman was brainwashed by the Anti-Life Equation and the Morticoccous virus in Final Crisis #3. She served as the new leader of the Furies in their quest to hunt down super-heroes and super-villains who escaped Darkseid's clutches and wore a mask resembling an ape with a horned chin.
  • Kara Zor-El - Supergirl was brainwashed by Darkseid.

Other versions

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint reality, the Furies are assembled by Wonder Woman who asks Arrowette, Cheetah, Cheshire, Giganta, Hawkgirl, Huntress, Katana, Lady Vic, Silver Swan, Starfire, Terra, and Vixen to join her.[3]

In other media

Television

File:FemaleFuries.jpg
(l-r) Granny Goodness, Lashina, Stompa, and Mad Harriet as seen in Superman: The Animated Series
  • Bernadeth, Lashina, Stompa and Mad Harriet are the core members of the group, with others appearing only occasionally. These Furies (sans Bernadeth) appeared in Superman: The Animated Series episode Little Girl Lost part 2, where Supergirl Kara In-Ze, in an attempt to prove herself to Superman by challenging Intergang with the help of Jimmy Olsen, unwittingly stumbles upon Granny Goodness' connections with Apokolips. After trashing Intergang, Kara so inspires the wrath of Granny Goodness that the latter summons the Furies to personally annihilate Supergirl. In part 2, the Female Furies defeat Supergirl and then Superman, who attempts to save her. Bringing Superman to Apokolips for Darkseid, the Furies again battle Supergirl, in which they are eventually defeated one-by-one. They also appeared in the series finale Legacy where at least Lashina had a relationship with Superman when he was brainwashed by Darkseid. Notably when Superman returned to Apokolips to exact revenge against Darkseid and Granny Goodness, he merely asked Lashina to get out of his way. The Female Furies preferred to fight Superman, but he defeated them by crashing into a fiery pillar.
  • The Furies appeared in Justice League Unlimited (this time with Bernadeth) serving Granny Goodness in her power struggle against Virman Vundabar and his lieutenants Kanto and Mantis. Shortly afterwards, a resurrected Darkseid (following his death at the end of the Justice League episode Twilight) returns and puts an end to the war.
  • Stompa and Lashina appeared in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Duel of The Double Crossers" as combatants on Warworld, under the command of Mongal as her "Furies".
  • The Female Furies appeared in the tenth and final season of Smallville in episode "Abandoned", where the Female Furies who are presumably led by the commanding officer, Harriet that answers to Granny Goodness, who is one of the Unholy Trinity of Darkseid's Prophets-Minions; the other two are Club Owner Desaad and Gordon Godfrey. Granny Goodness created the Female Furies out of young girls who came to her orphanage and were wiped clean of their memories and turned into warrior women who Granny Goodness would use for the coming war of Light and Darkness. In season 10 episode 8 "Abandoned" Granny Goodness mentioned to Tess Mercer when she came to her orphanage that these girls were abandoned souls before she "adopted" them and she is sure that they will never leave her. Later in "Abandoned", when Clark investigated Granny's orphanage he found several women fighting and as he approached them he started to weaken and found they were forging Green Kryptonite weapons and the women warriors easily subdue Clark and chain him near to a Green Kryptonite fire forge. Clark tells them he's there to save them, but Harriet says no one needs saving as much as Clark does. Clark tries to convince Harriet to let her and her sisters escape and find real homes, but Harriet says that Granny loves them more than the people do, to which Clark says that Granny is controlling them and forcing them to leave their memories behind; something a true lover wouldn't do. Harriet responds that Granny Goodness is their family and they don't know her the way the Furies do and that she will prepare them and make them stronger. Granny then arrives and tells Harriet and the Furies to stop torturing Clark and commands Harriet to take her sisters away to their rooms. After Clark avoided having his memories wiped completely by freezing a Kryptonite chain above a forge of Green Meteor rocks, Clark super-speeds to save Tess from Harriet and another Fury warrior. Clark and Tess defeat Harriet and the Fury and escape from Granny's orphanage.
  • Stompa, Mad Harriet, Artemiz, and Speed Queen appear in the DC Super Hero Girls TV Special titled "Super Hero High."

Film

  • The Female Furies appear in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse. The Furies that appear in the movie include Gilotina, Mad Harriet, Lashina, Stompa and Granny Goodness. Barda also appears, but as having already escaped from Darkseid. There is also a woman named Treasure (a nod to the character Precious who was a failed potential recruit to the Furies) is featured briefly; Granny trains her as Big Barda's replacement, but was swiftly killed by the Furies during a test. Darkseid also spends part of the film attempting to recruit Supergirl into his army, but this proved futile.

References

  1. ^ a b c Wallace, Dan (2008). "Female Furies". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.). The DC Comics Encyclopedia. New York: Dorling Kindersley. p. 120. ISBN 0-7566-4119-5. OCLC 213309017Template:Inconsistent citations{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  2. ^ "Alianna (comic book character)". Comicvine.com. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
  3. ^ Flashpoint: Wonder Woman and the Furies #2 (July 2011)
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