Barbara Minerva

## Background

### 1981 - 2008: Barbara Minerva

Barbara Minerva was born as the only daughter of Lord & Lady Cavendish in Oakstone Abbey, Nottinghamshire. Her family was full of wealth but that wasn't what Barbara desired it. After her mother passed when she was fourteen, she became more introverted & lost interest in everything but Greek mythology, especially the Amazons. Her tutor had sparked her interest in it though her father did not agree with these teachings. He fired her teacher but Barbara would keep up with learning about it.

She would go on to study Greek mythology in after high school & would graduate with two PhDs by the age of 26. She began work as an archaeologist in Ukraine though she wasn't taken seriously by her male colleagues. She soon grew sad with her work as she felt that she was failure due to not finding much to complete her work. Barbara then took herself to the states & eventually met Wonder Woman, the Amazon superhero. The two became fast friends with Barbara teaching Diana about mankind's culture & Diana taught her about Amazons.

### 2008 - 2012: Cheetah

In the fall of 2008, Barbara was contacted Veronica Cale, major business tycoon, as she wanted to fund an expedition to search for the plant god Urzkartaga. Diana was against it but Barbara assured she would be fine & that she had her on a special speed dial if anything went wrong. Unknown to both of them, Veronica would have their contact disconnected then sent Diana on a wild goose chase, catering to random disasters. As this was going on, Barbara had been captured & married to Urzkartaga. He then transformed her into a humanoid cheetah giving her the natural abilities & skills of one. Diana arrived in the aftermath & Barbara, believing that Diana abandoned her, ended their friendship & decided to embrace herself as Cheetah.

After going from country to country stealing valuable artifacts, she eventually joined the ranks of the The Secret Society. During one of their robberies, Cheetah was captured & sent to Belle Reve in 2010. Amanda Waller felt that she could get some good use out of her & so began her tenure as a member of the recently reassembled Task Force X. After digging into her civilian identity, Waller felt she could be even more valuable to her at ARGUS. After a year with the task force, Barbara was brought on as a Special Agent in the Research Division which wasn't surprising considering her background in archaeology, two doctorates, knowledge of Amazons & eye for artifacts. It also didn't take long for Barbara to eventually cross paths with an old friend at her job...

## Powers & Abilities

* **Magical Endowment:** Barbara gained the natural abilities, skills & looks of a cheetah after being captured & transformed by the plant god Urzkartaga.
	+ ***Enhanced Strength*:** Cheetah is strong enough to smash down trees when she throws someone with her tail.
	+ ***Enhanced Durability:*** Her physical durability is enough to withstand blows from the likes of Wonder Woman & Superman. Her durability doesn't protect her from bullets, lasers, or other piercing attacks.
	+ ***Superhuman Speed*:** Cheetah's speed is also superhuman, possessing a greater speed than Wonder Woman. She is one of the fastest people alive, beating out Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel, Godspeed, & Kid Flash.
	+ ***Enhanced Agility*:** Her body coordination is incredible, able to tag very fast beings. It as being said that multiple times, that the goddess guides her claws, meaning that the goddess plays some part in coordinating her movements.
	+ ***Enhanced Senses*:**  Being a feline-hybrid she has enhanced senses. She can tell if someone is mind-controlled by a smell.
	+ ***Enhanced Vision*:** Cheetah can see through her infrared vision, meaning that she can see & detect other creatures through their body temperatures. Moreover, she can see in the dark, see long distances & detect any movements.
	+ ***Claws*:** Cheetah has claws meant for cutting through flesh & bone.
	+ ***Animal Control***: She has the power to control cheetahs but not any other animals.
	+ ***Prehensile Tail*:** She can grab and choke her enemies with her tail. The power that her tail generates enables her to chop through trees.
* **Hand to Hand Combat:** Cheetah is very adept at hand to hand combat.
* **High Level Intellect**
	+ ***Archaeology*:** She has a very good grasp of human cultures and history.
	+ ***Multilingualism***: She is fluent in eight languages (including English & Greek) & is near-fluent in an additional seven.
	+ ***Pedagogy*:** Barbara was once a guest lecturer for an archeology class at a university.
	+ ***Tactical Analysis*:** Cheetah is a cunning strategist & capable tactician.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Strength:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Speed:** 7 - Master / Elite
* **Occult:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Weapons:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Range:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Strategy:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Combat:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **TOTAL:** 180 - Threat Level 4 / Moderate Threat

## Trivia

* Barbara is able to transform into her cheetah humanoid form at will.
* Her mother using to call her Barbie. After she passed, she refused to let anyone else call her the name.
* Cheetah is highly debated as the fastest woman alive.
* She has zero hesitation in her movements which allows to her to complete a swift & easy kill.
* She tried to kill Veronica Cale multiple times but since joining ARGUS, Amanda Waller forbid her from the act as Cale's business provides technology for various government operations.
* At one point, she was good friends with Diana, Steve Trevor & Etta Candy.
* She also used to have a romantic relationship with Etta.
* She is involved in many environmentally conscious initiatives.

## Notes

* *Earth-44 Explanation: I personally have always viewed Cheetah as a sympathetic villain, especially with her new origin story in the New 52. A redemption arc would be brought in for her then destroyed just as quick. Because of this, she will play a more anti-hero or someone who walks a thin line with her morals. She will most likely not join a supervillain team but it is possible she could ally herself in the future. This will be more expanded on in time.*