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| Wonder Girl | ||||
| Real name | Cassandra Elizabeth Sandsmark | |||
| Debut | Wonder Woman v2 #105 (January 1996) | |||
| Created by | John Byrne | |||
| Affiliations | Teen Titans, Young Justice | |||
| Abilities | flight, strength, speed | |||
| Played by | see In other media | |||
| GALLERY | ||||
Cassandra Sandsmark is a demigod, and one of several individuals who have gone by Wonder Girl.
History
Origin
Cassie Sandsmark secretly began using items to be the hero Wonder Girl, and was later empowered by Zeus as a Demi-goddess. Cassie is the second person to be called Wonder Girl; the first being Donna Troy. Cassie is the daughter of Dr. Helena Sandsmark, (a noted archaeologist with whom Wonder Woman was working) and the Greek god Zeus. During a fight with a Doomsday clone and another battle with Decay, she created a costume and used magical acquirements (the sandals of Hermes and the gauntlet of Atlas) to help Wonder Woman, much to her mother's horror. Cassie later had the opportunity to ask Zeus for a boon, and requested real superpowers. Zeus granted her request, but gave Dr. Sandsmark the ability to deactivate them. Dr. Sandsmark, however, reluctantly accepted her daughter's wish to be a superheroine and rarely if ever uses this ability.
Young Justice
Cassie heavily idolized Donna Troy, the original Wonder Girl, and to that effect wore a black wig over her natural blonde hair (it also helped to conceal her identity). Donna gave Cassie the second costume she wore as Wonder Girl, but Cassie was afraid to wear it lest it were ruined (she did don the outfit during the "Sins of Youth" crossover when she was temporarily aged to adulthood). She has been trained by Artemis, the former "stand-in" Wonder Woman. As Wonder Girl, Cassie joined Young Justice due to her crush on Superboy, and became close friends with Suzanne King-Jones, Greta Hayes, and Anita Fite. During her time with that group the dark god Oblivion caused Wonder Woman's Wonder Dome palace to destroy Gateway City. Artemis ordered Cassie to help with crowd control instead of wasting time putting on her Wonder Girl disguise. Agreeing with her, Cassie revealed her secret identity before news cameras for the first time in her superhero career. Towards the end of the Young Justice series, Cassie became the leader of the team, after beating Robin during an election for command. Her secret identity was again publicly revealed when the second Silver Swan attacked her at her high school.
Young Justice was disbanded after the events of Graduation Day, a crossover with Titans. During these events, Optitron offered to fund both the Titans and Young Justice. Donna Troy was killed by a rogue Superman android, leaving Cassie shaken and causing both teams to disband.
Teen Titans
Cassie later joined some former members of Young Justice in the newest incarnation of the Teen Titans. Early on, she was gifted with a lasso by Ares, the Greek god of war and frequent enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons. Despite appearing similar to Wonder Woman's lasso, Cassie's expels Zeus's lightning when used in anger. Over the course of the series, Ares has often appeared to Wonder Girl, usually to warn her about "the coming war." During her time with the Titans, Cassie also developed a relationship with Superboy, whom she had harbored feelings through before and throughout Young Justice.
In "Titans Tomorrow," the Titans are thrown ten years into their future, where they encountered the future versions of themselves.. In this future, Cassie inherited the mantle of Wonder Woman after Diana was killed during "the Crisis." She is also referred to as "Ares' champion," and is married to Conner Kent (Superman).
It was also during her Titans membership that she was revealed to be Zeus' daughter, a fact both Zeus and her mother kept from her for most of her life. Cassie was originally told by her mother that her biological father died. Wonder Woman knew about Cassie's link to Zeus but chose to hide this from Cassie as well at the request of Cassie's mother. In "The Insiders ", she was beaten by Superboy as a result of his possession by Lex Luthor; though she recovered, Superboy secluded himself at the Kent farm in Smallville, and there had seemed to be a strain on their relationship until the events of Infinite Crisis.
Infinite Crisis
During a battle against Brother Blood and a handful of zombie Titans, she acknowledged that her powers were fluctuating and sometimes disappearing altogether. Despite this, Cassie attempted to help Superboy after he was beaten to near-death by Superboy-Prime. After saving him, Cassie and the Titans infiltrated a Lexcorp laboratory to find a way to cure Superboy. While the other Titans flew to Blüdhaven following an attack from the Secret Society of Super-Villains, Cassie remained at Titans Tower to watch over Superboy. When he awoke, the pair of them reconnected and remembered their past in Young Justice, which seemed so much happier and easier. Conner then took Cassie to Smallville, and, afraid that it would be their last night together, consummated their relationship.
Ares again appears to her and informed that the reason behind her weakening power was Zeus taking back the powers he had granted to her as he left the mortal plane. Ares then offered Cassie some of his power in exchange for becoming his champion and acknowledging him as her brother. She joins Superboy and Nightwing up north, with powers returned, to assist in the assault on Alexander Luthor's tower. Superboy sacrificed his life to defeat Superboy-Prime and destroy the tower, and died in Cassie's arms.
The Cult of Conner
Directly after Infinite Crisis, the Teens Titans fall apart. Cassandra leaves the Titans during the year in which 52 takes place, following Robin's departure. She feels abandoned by her best friends.
Cassie becomes involved in an online cult heavily influenced by Kryptonian culture. She sets up an altar in Titans Tower with Kryptonian crystals and a gold figure with the Superman-insignia, which means "hope" in Kryptonian. Soon, Ralph Dibny approaches her because someone defaced the grave of his wife Sue with an upside down 'S' Shield, which in Kryptonian means "resurrection."
About five days later, Cassie and her fellow cult members meet with Ralph. Cassie mentions that it was another member, Devem, who led her to join. Cassie explains that the goal of the cult is to resurrect Superboy. As a test of their process, they intend to resurrect Sue Dibny. Cassie and Ralph attend a ceremony designed to resurrect Sue, but Ralph grows suspicious and with the help of other superheroes, disrupts the ceremony, destroying the Kryptonite which was essential to the process. Cassie leaves with Devem, blaming Ralph for destroying her chances to resurrect Superboy. After stopping Weather Wizard in Metropolis, Cassie meets Supernova and refers to him incorrectly as Kon-El, who actually turns out to be Booster Gold in disguise.
One Year Later
Wonder Girl is seen attempting to stop Gemini of the Brotherhood of Evil from escaping S.T.A.R. Labs with valuable technology, revealing that she had been following the Brotherhood for some time. She also sports a new costume influenced by that of the late Superboy, wearing a Golden Age Wonder Woman-themed t-shirt and denim jeans.
She 'temporarily' rejoins the team, under the suggestion of Cyborg so that they may combine their forces to defeat the Brotherhood of Evil. Both Robin and Cyborg hope, however, that she will agree to return permanently. When Kid Devil was mortally injured during a battle with the Brotherhood, the Doom Patrol arrived on the scene, offering to help. Yet there appears to be a large rift between the two teams, and Wonder Girl seems particularly upset that Beast Boy left the team to rejoin the Doom Patrol. After the combined efforts of the Teen Titans and Doom Patrol defeat the Brotherhood of Evil, she decides to rejoin the team permanently. When she goes to tell Robin of her decision, she discovers his secret and failed attempts to bring back Superboy. In their shared grief, the pair kissed one another, but upon realizing what they had done, Wonder Girl flew away from Robin. The pair have yet to talk about the incident beyond coming to the agreement that it was a mistake, but both have discussed it with others. With her life in disarray, Cassandra has been having difficulty with her personal life, often having major confrontations with her mother. Cassie has gained a new friendship with the recently returned Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, who has shared with her in mourning the loss of Superboy and Paradise Island.
Following the Titans "world tour", Cassie and Tim try to convince Raven to resurrect Superboy, as she had recently brought back Jericho. However, |Raven claims that Superboy's soul has already transcended this plane of existence. In the middle of this conversation, Cassie is captured by Deathstroke's villainous Titans East with Robin and Raven after an attack by Inertia and Match. Each member of Titans East has been recruited to negate a specific Titan. Deathstroke selected Match, a clone of Superboy, to counter Cassie. Not only is he a powerhouse, Match's appearance gives Titans East a psychological advantage over their counterparts.
The Titans battle furiously against the Titans East, during which they are able to convince Batgirl and Duela Dent to switch side. Unfortunately the team is defeated by Slade's team a second, but thankfully Raven, Cyborg and Duela Dent manage to get aid from Nightwing, Donna Troy, Beast Boy and Flash Bart Allen. Together the two generations of Titans defeat Slade, who along with Inertia manages to escape.
Cassie is also still very furious at Diana, who she felt abandoned her during the last year. She is also not pleased that Robin was aware of Diana's disappearance, but never told her about it. Diana and Cassie have not been able to discuss their past differences, partially due to the kidnapping of Donna Troy. When Donna question's Cassie's hesitance to be near Match due to his resemblance to Superboy, Cassie finally breaks down and tells Donna how hurt she still is over Superboy's death all that time later.
Cassie later confides in Supergirl her feelings over current events, but the two of them are soon thrown into the events of Amazons Attack.
Powers and Abilities
Cassie was eventually granted similar abilities by Zeus who granted "her fondest wish."This gift message proves to be rather vague though, and Cassie could arguably have access to more powers than what is already displayed (although it remains unclear whether she already had these abilities as a benefit of her divine heritage) and her powers still seem to be growing.
Shortly after joining the Teen Titans, Ares approached her and gave Cassie her own magic lasso. Unlike Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth, Cassie's is a weapon which channels Zeus' lightning.
When the Greek gods left the mortal plane as a result of Infinite Crisis, Cassie's powers slowly faded until disappearing altogether. Ares stepped up and offered her some of his power, saying only that she would be "more powerful than [she's] ever been." What this entails is not made entirely clear, though during the events of Infinite Crisis, she appears to have retained all of her former abilities.
Her partial Olympian flesh and bone is about one and a half times as dense as similar human tissue, contributing to the Olympians' superhuman strength and weight. In a storyline taking place "One Year Later", she is shown catching a falling jet. Afterward she remarks that she didn't know she was that strong, which indicates that her physical strength is augmented, which indicates that her physical strength is augmented. Cassie is therefore able to lift in excess of 100 tons.
Cassie can move at supersonic speeds. She can move fast enough to not register in the normal peripheral range of humans and seemingly vanish and disappear at will. At this speed, her mind processes information at least on a subliminal level that she is aware of her surroundings. She is fast enough to deflect and catch bullets.
If Cassie were somehow wounded, her partial godly energies would enable her to recover with superhuman speed.
Wonder Girl can also mystically fly through the atmosphere through sure act of will, enabling her to soar through the atmosphere at sub-orbital levels and travel across the planet. She is immune from the effects of extreme height, such as dizziness and lightheadedness.
Discouraged by previously shown arrogance in his children (Ares and Heracles), Zeus also blessed Cassie's mother with the ability to take away her powers for a short time via a simple touch.
In other media
- Almost all appearances of Wonder Girl in other media involve the Donna Troy version of the character, however, in the Justice League episode "Paradise Lost", Wonder Woman rescues a young blonde girl named Cassie, whom she refers to as "little sister" (to which the girl replies that Wonder Woman is not her sister). Cassie is portrayed by Serena Berman.
- Cassie Sandsmark/Wonder Girl is a regular character in Pendant Production's "Wonder Woman: Champion of Themyscira" serial webcast.
- Cassandra Sandsmark/Wonder Girl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Mindy Raymond.
- The creators of the TV Series Young Justice on Cartoon Network were unable to originally include Cassie in the team due to licencing issues. This has since been cleared up, and it has been hinted that Cassie will join Young Justice at some point in the upcoming second season.
Trivia
- In Wonder Girl #1, Cassandra adopts the alias "Drusilla". Drusilla was also the name of the Wonder Girl character played by Debra Winger in the 1978 Wonder Woman television series.