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Once believed to be the cousin of Superman,
the young woman known to the world as Power Girl is actually the 45,000
year old grand-daughter of Arion, the lord of Atlantis.
Shortly after her birth, Kara and her brother were placed into the care of
their grandfather Arion, whose once so mighty magical powers had long
since begun to fade. When his former foe Gam Daanuth tried to use young
Kara as a magical conduit in a scheme against Arion, he was faced with the
grim decision to hide the girl away in another dimension in order to save
her life. Encased inside a magical crystal programmed with Arion's
consciousness, Kara aged only 22 years, while she actually remained there
for 45 millennia. When the crystal sensed that there was no longer any
danger to the woman, it released her into the 20th century. To gain easy
acceptance, Arion's consciousness let Kara to believe that she was the
cousin of Superman, which also explained her great powers.
With the occurrence of the "Crisis On Infinite Earth's" Kara
suddenly began to question what she believed to be her past. If Superman
was the last survivor of Krypton, how did she come to be? Her troubled
mind reawakened the dormant consciousness of Arion inside the crystal, to
finally reveal to her, her true Atlantean origins.
Although her powers are similar to those of Superman, they are in no way
identical. Capable of flight, Kara possesses super strength, but not to
the level of Kal-El's. Impervious to most injuries, she is also not
completely invulnerable. As her heritage suggests, Power Girl is able to
operate under water and to withstand the pressure of the oceans depth.
Once a member of the Justice League, she now mostly operates with The JSA.
To maintain a normal life, Kara has adopted a secret identity as software
engineer Karen Starr.
Notes:
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Power Girl
originally possessed super-abilities that nearly matched the power levels of
Superman himself. Because of her magical heritage, Power Girl is attuned to
occult menaces, and magic does not adversely affect her powers as it does
Superman's.
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Assisted by
Wonder Woman, Kara gave birth to a son during the "Zero Hour"
event, but lost him later on. The boy, through mystical means, grew up into
adulthood and took on the name Equinox. Both mother and son were reunited
for a brief time.
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