Columbia

Lady Liberty

**Columbia** (born 18 April 1926), also known as **Queen Columbia**, is the High Queen of Earth and alongside her husband Hammer is the Coregent of Earth.

Born in Cleveland just before the outbreak of the Great Depression, the young girl who would one day grow up to become the Queen of Earth grew up in a typical American family. Her father, a worker for Republic Steel, managed to put food on the table during the 1930s. In the 1940s, she was one of 350,000 women who joined the Army as part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots organisation. When the war ended, Columbia joined the Manhattan Project and became the first American Metahuman in 1946.

From there on, Columbia became a hero and a symbol of the United States, dubbed "The All-American Woman". She participated in a number of the major events of the latter half of the 20th century, and alongside her Soviet counterpart Hammer, was recgonised as the face of the metahuman movement. However, as the Cold War continued Columbia became increasingly disillusioned with her government and the control placed on metahumans, both in the United States and globally. Increased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union further exacerbated this, and as the threat of nuclear war inched closer she and Hammer decided something had to change to save both the world and metahumans.

When she became pregnant with Hammer's child in late 1999, their plans changed and they were forced to act quicker than anticipated, fearing what would happen to their son after she gave birth. Alongside a cadre of their closest friends and allies, the pair launched a coup on the night of 31 December/1 January 1999/2000, toppling the global system and replaced it with one of first metahuman liberation, which would soon turn into one of metahuman supremacy.

Not long after, Columbia and Hammer made their home on *Olympus* and left the Earth to live a peaceful life

## Early Life

Columbia (real name is unknown) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on 18 April 1926. She grew up on W 42nd Street. Columbia's early life was dominated by the blue-collar environment her father, Clark, and mother Lois, instilled in her. Her father, an employee at Republic Steel, managed to provide for his family even during the lean years of the Great Depression.

Columbia did well in school and was known as a skilled athlete and sports lover; her father often took her to the League Park on E 66th street. She also became a noted lover of comics, especially proud of receiving the first edition of Action Comics when she was 12 years old, and immediately fell love with the heroics of Superman. In 1939, however, Columbia's world changed when Germany invaded Poland, launching the Second World War. By 1942, Columbia dropped out of school at the age of 16 and began working in a factory, wanting to do her part for the war effort. A year later, she joined the Women Airforce Service, earning a license to fly and helped to deliver war goods.

As the war came to a close in 1945, a call for volunteers went out for the United States' newly minted metahuman programme. Columbia was accepted, owning to her skill as a pilot and over the next year was subjected to physical training and experimentation, along with dozens of other volunteers. None of them survived the process, however, and by early 1946 Columbia was the only one who remained. The government planned to shut the programme down, but Columbia pleaded for the procedure to be done. Miraculously, she survived the procedure, and on the Fourth of July, the government proudly unveiled her as the All-American Woman.

## Powers and Abilities

**Superhuman Strength:** Columbia is one of, if not the, most powerful metahumans. While initially she was only strong enough to lift tanks over the years her powers have grown. She is capable of lifting the Earth and could split the planet

**Flight:** Columbia is capable of flight. When she first became a metahuman, her flight with lifted to large jumps, but since the 1950s she has been able to fly easily. She is capable of flying in the vacuum of space

**Breath Control**: Columbia has advanced breath control, allowing her to spend over six hours without needing to take a breath

**Super Speed:** Columbia can fly from the Sun to the Earth in about 3 minutes

**Durability:** Proportional to her strength, Columbia is exceptionally durable. She has survived nuclear attacks with barely a scratch.

**Intelligence:** Columbia is estimated to have a genius level IQ

**Combat Prowess**: Columbia has over her long years mastered several forms of martial arts

**Regenerative Healing Factor:** Columbia has an advanced healing factor that has kept her in her prime since the 1940s. It is yet unknown if she ages or simply ages slowly.