Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark)

Wonder Girl (real name Cassandra "Cassie" Sandsmark) is a fictional superheroine from the DC comics and its universe. She is the daughter of the Greek God Zeus and Dr. Helena Sandsmark, and is the second person to hold the "Wonder Girl" title, the first being Donna Troy. However, in the New 52, Wonder Girl is the granddaughter to Zeus, and her aunt is the superheroine Wonder Woman. Wonder Girl is also a prominent member of the superhero teams Teen Titans and Young Justice.
She was created by , and first appeared in Wonder Woman Vol 2 #105 in January of 1996.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Cassandra Elizabeth "Cassie" Sandsmark is the daughter of Dr. Helena Sandsmark, and Zeus, the Greek God and king of Olympus. During her childhood, Cassie was a problem child, often having to change schools when she was a teenager. She spent most of time with her mother and at her place of work, the Gateway City Museum of Antiquities, but still got into trouble every now and then.
===Becoming a Hero===
Cassie quickly befriended her mother's new employee, Wonder Woman, and was eager to help her fight villains. During a fight with a clone of Doomsday and another fight with Decay, Cassie created a costume and used the Sandals of Hermes and the Gauntlet of Atlas to help Wonder Woman defeat them. When meeting Zeus, Cassie asked the Greek God for a boon and requested to have real superpowers. Zeus granted her request, but gave her mother the ability to deactivate them at any time. Though terrified that her daughter would get hurt, Helena reluctantly accepted Cassie's wishes to be a superheroine, and the Greek Goddess Artemis was assigned as her teacher.
Cassie idolized the original Wonder Girl, Donna Troy, and wore a black wig as sign of respect, and it also helped to conceal her identity. Donna gave Cassie the second costume she wore as Wonder Girl, but the latter was afraid she would ruin the suit. Cassie did, however, wear the costume during the "Sins of Youth" crossover when she temporarily aged to an adult. Afterward, Donna gave Cassie her blessing to take on the mantle of "Wonder Girl", being the second to do so.
===Young Justice===
Cassie eventually joined the superhero group called Young Justice, but mainly did so due to having a crush on the Young Justice member Superboy. During her time on the team, she became close friends with teammates Arrowette, Secret and Empress. When the dark god Oblivion caused the Wonder Dome palace to destroy Gateway City, Artemis ordered Wonder Girl to help with crowd control instead of wasting time putting on her disguise, and as a result, revealed her secret identity in front of the news camera.
Eventually, Cassie became the leader of Young Justice after beating Robin during an election for command, and her secret identity was revealed again when the second Silver Swan attacked her school. The team (alongside Titans) was disbanded after Optitron offered to fund the Titans and Young Justice, and Cassie became shaken after Donna Troy was seemingly killed by a rogue Superman android.
===Teen Titans===
Cassie joined the new incarnation of the Teen Titans, and was gifted with her own lasso by the Greek God of war, Ares. Though the lasso appeared to be similar to Wonder Woman's lasso, Cassie was capable of expelling Zeus' lightning when she used in anger. During this time, Cassie became a romantic relationship with Superboy, but was often warned about "the coming war" by Ares.
===Infinite Crisis===
During a battle against Brother Blood and zombie Titans, Cassie acknowledged her powers were fluctuating and would sometimes disappear. When Superboy-Prime came and attacked Superboy, Cassie helped him by infiltrating a LexCorp laboratory to cure him. Cassie remained at Titans Tower to watch over Superboy, and the two reconnected and remembered their past when they were members of Young Justice.
Ares appeared to Cassie once again, informing her that the reason her powers were fluctuating was that Zeus was taking back the powers he granted her, as he was leaving the mortal plane. He offered Cassie some of his power in exchange that she would become his champion, and would acknowledge him as her brother. Later on, Cassie joined Superboy and Nightwing in assisting them in assaulting Alexander Luthor's tower. Cassie witnessed Superboy sacrifice himself to defeat Superboy-Prime, and mourned him after he died in her arms.
===Aftermath===
After the event of Infinite Crisis, the Teen Titans fell apart, and Cassie left the group following Robin's departure. Desperate, Cassie became involved in an online cult that was influenced by Kryptonian culture, and joined them so she could bring Superboy back to life. While setting up an altar in Titans Tower, the Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny) approached her because someone defaced the grave of his wife, Sue Dibny (as her grave was defaced with an upside down "S" shield, which s "resurrection" in Kryptonian).
Cassie and her fellow cult members met with Ralph, and explained that Devem brought her into the cult, and that their goal is to resurrect Superboy. In addition, Cassie explained that to test their process, they intended to resurrect Sue. Ralph and other superheroes disrupted the ceremony, destroying the Kryptonite which was essential to the process of resurrecting Sue, and Cassie left with Devem. She blamed Ralph for destroying her chances to resurrect Superboy, and continued to stop villains such as Weather Wizard. After stopping the supervillain, she met with Supernova, and referred to him as Kon-El, but it was actually Booster Gold in disguise.
===New 52===
On Prime Earth, Cassie is the daughter of Lennox Sandsmark, the demigod son of Zeus, and archeologist Helena Sandsmark. In addition, this makes Cassie the niece to the superheroine Wonder Woman, and supervillains Ares and Hercules. When Cassie was four years old, Lennox left the family, and she and her mother would travel the world to dig sites. Due to constant travel, Cassie didn't having friends, and to cope with her frustrations, turned to a life of crime.
Stealing art from museums and collectors, she gained the attention of Diesel, a art thief and the two began dating. At a dig site near Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Diesel was attacked by liquid metal, and Cassie found two ancient bracelets, transforming her clothes into armor. The metal informed her that it was an alien parasite, and knowing Diesel couldn't control the metal, decided to con the metal to release him and choose her instead.
Diesel was outraged that Cassie stole his find, and before he could attack her, the temple collapsed. The disaster heavily damaged Helena's reputation, and caused a rift between her and Cassie. Afterward, Cassie became a wandering thief, and she was dubbed as "Wonder Girl" by the media, a name she hated. Though Cassie didn't know she was related to Wonder Woman, she was deeply intimidated by the heroine that she was reluctant to use a name similar to hers.
==Portrayals==
===Films===
*In Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons, she was voiced by Myrna Velasco.
===Television===
*In Young Justice: Invasion, she was voiced by Mae Whitman, who also voiced young Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series, Little Suzy in Johnny Bravo, Leslie Dunkling in Teacher's Pet, Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Tinker Bell in the titular animated films, April O'Neil in the 2012 animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Yuffie Kisaragi in Kingdom Hearts II, and portrayed Patricia Whitmore in Independence Day.
**Whitman reprised her voice for the character in Young Justice: Legacy.
===Video Games===
*In DC Universe Online, she was voiced by Mindy Raymond.
*In Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, she was voiced by Kari Wahlgren, who also voiced Chloe Carmichael in The Fairly OddParents, Mina Monroe in Bunnicula, Starfire in the DC Animated Film Universe and Injustice 2, and Kitana in Mortal Kombat 11.
==Quotes==
==Trivia==
*She considers Supergirl to be her best friend.
*In Prime-Earth, Lennox named Cassie after the Demigoddess Cassandra, his sister.
*She is the second hero to take the mantle "Wonder Girl", the first being Donna Troy.
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