Baroness Paula Von Gunther
Encyclopedia
The Baroness Paula von Gunther is a fictional character
, a DC Comics
villain that battled Wonder Woman
as her first recurring arch-nemesis and, eventually, her closest ally.
Baroness Paula von Gunther originally debuted in Sensation Comics
#4.
. She battled the Amazon numerous times as an agent of the Gestapo. She murdered many individuals, kept a small group of women as personal slaves, tortured them routinely, was for a time the leader of all Gestapo operations in the United States, in her first appearance forced American female citizens into becoming Nazi spies at a spy school using drugs and hypnotism on some of them, attempted to kidnap a Colonel using an invisible ray on a ship while impersonating a high-society lady enabling a U-Boat to capture the people, stole Wonder Woman's lasso while she was in prison and tried to steal secrets from security officers after her previous attempts of hypnotism failed. She suceeded n capturing Wonder Woman with it and bound her hand and foot to a wooden pole using it. However Wonder Woman got of the pole and broke open a cage freeing a young boy. He untied her hands, but Gunther returned and stopped Wonder Woman by pointing a gun at her back. However Freddy lassoed Gunther, and Wonder Woman defeated her plan. She once tried to monopolize America's milk supply and charge high prices for it so that its people would have weak bones and fall before the stronger-boned Nazis after buying all the milk of a company for five years with seven million dollars. She discovered Wonder Woman's weakness in her first appearance, that if her bracelets were chained by a man she became as weak as an ordinary woman. While monopilizing milk, her men lassoed Wonder Woman and bound her hand and foot with chains. She was bound to a railway truck, but freed herself.
Von Gunther was finally captured and revealed that she had worked for the Nazis because they held her daughter Gerta captive. Von Gunther reformed and pledged her loyalty to Wonder Woman after Gerta was rescued. Von Gunther even put her own life in peril to save Wonder Woman from a burning munitions plant, suffering third-degree burns and a horribly scarred face.
Von Gunther went to trial, but Wonder Woman acted as her defense and got her off. Murder charges had to be thrown out on double jeopardy, because Paula had previously been tried, convicted... and executed for that crime in the electric chair, but her henchmen had revived her with an electrical machine she had invented after the Doctor gave her body to them(Sensation Comics #7). Wonder Woman also dramatically revealed Paula's scarred face to the jury, which was moved by Paula's heroic self-sacrifice and acquitted her of the remaining espionage and sabotage charges. (Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #3.)
Paula returned to Paradise Island with her former slave girls and her daughter to live and undergo Amazon training. Queen Hippolyte molded fine features on Paula's face, which the goddess Aphrodite blessed and magically converted into Paula's new face.
Paula became the Amazons' chief scientist, spending part of her time on Paradise Island and part aiding Wonder Woman from a hidden underground laboratory beneath Holliday College. Her daughter Gerta also was a scientific savant, although her experiments sometimes led to accidents that needed Wonder Woman's help to fix. Gerta's enlarging ray, for example, was instrumental in helping Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor return to human size after escaping Atomia's atom world, but also accidentally unleashed the menace of the Bughumans. At one point her devices revived Wonder Woman, and another time the Justice Society of America
.
The Earth-1 Paula was asked to replace Hippolyta as Amazon queen during a coup d'état, which was abruptly ended when the goddess Kore appeared to enlist the Amazons in a battle against the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
, it was revealed that Baroness Paula von Gunther fought Hippolyta during the time-traveling queen's World War II adventures as Wonder Woman.
This Von Gunther was a mistress of the occult and became the human host for the evil wandering spirit, Dark Angel
. Dark Angel became a dedicated foe of Hippolyta and was inadvertently responsible for the origin of Wonder Girl
(Donna Troy
).
Donna Troy was able to defeat Dark Angel, and at some point Dark Angel separated herself from von Gunther. The Baroness was last seen living among the Amazons.
Eventually it was revealed that Dark Angel was not a mystical spirit but an extant multiversal
doppelganger of Donna Troy.
It is not yet known how, if at all, the continuity-altering events of Infinite Crisis
altered Paula's history.
Post-Crisis, von Gunther was empowered when possessed by Dark Angel, who had vast powers and was able to perform a variety of feats including mind control, altering her size, teleportation and altering the time stream.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
villain that battled Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
as her first recurring arch-nemesis and, eventually, her closest ally.
Baroness Paula von Gunther originally debuted in Sensation Comics
Sensation Comics
Sensation Comics is the title of a comic book series published by DC Comics that ran for 109 issues between 1942 and 1952. For most of its run, the lead feature was Wonder Woman. Other series that appeared were the Black Pirate, the Gay Ghost, Mr...
#4.
Golden Age
Baroness Paula von Gunther first appeared as a foe of Wonder WomanWonder Woman
Wonder Woman is a DC Comics superheroine created by William Moulton Marston. She first appeared in All Star Comics #8 . The Wonder Woman title has been published by DC Comics almost continuously except for a brief hiatus in 1986....
. She battled the Amazon numerous times as an agent of the Gestapo. She murdered many individuals, kept a small group of women as personal slaves, tortured them routinely, was for a time the leader of all Gestapo operations in the United States, in her first appearance forced American female citizens into becoming Nazi spies at a spy school using drugs and hypnotism on some of them, attempted to kidnap a Colonel using an invisible ray on a ship while impersonating a high-society lady enabling a U-Boat to capture the people, stole Wonder Woman's lasso while she was in prison and tried to steal secrets from security officers after her previous attempts of hypnotism failed. She suceeded n capturing Wonder Woman with it and bound her hand and foot to a wooden pole using it. However Wonder Woman got of the pole and broke open a cage freeing a young boy. He untied her hands, but Gunther returned and stopped Wonder Woman by pointing a gun at her back. However Freddy lassoed Gunther, and Wonder Woman defeated her plan. She once tried to monopolize America's milk supply and charge high prices for it so that its people would have weak bones and fall before the stronger-boned Nazis after buying all the milk of a company for five years with seven million dollars. She discovered Wonder Woman's weakness in her first appearance, that if her bracelets were chained by a man she became as weak as an ordinary woman. While monopilizing milk, her men lassoed Wonder Woman and bound her hand and foot with chains. She was bound to a railway truck, but freed herself.
Von Gunther went to trial, but Wonder Woman acted as her defense and got her off. Murder charges had to be thrown out on double jeopardy, because Paula had previously been tried, convicted... and executed for that crime in the electric chair, but her henchmen had revived her with an electrical machine she had invented after the Doctor gave her body to them(Sensation Comics #7). Wonder Woman also dramatically revealed Paula's scarred face to the jury, which was moved by Paula's heroic self-sacrifice and acquitted her of the remaining espionage and sabotage charges. (Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #3.)
Paula returned to Paradise Island with her former slave girls and her daughter to live and undergo Amazon training. Queen Hippolyte molded fine features on Paula's face, which the goddess Aphrodite blessed and magically converted into Paula's new face.
Paula became the Amazons' chief scientist, spending part of her time on Paradise Island and part aiding Wonder Woman from a hidden underground laboratory beneath Holliday College. Her daughter Gerta also was a scientific savant, although her experiments sometimes led to accidents that needed Wonder Woman's help to fix. Gerta's enlarging ray, for example, was instrumental in helping Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor return to human size after escaping Atomia's atom world, but also accidentally unleashed the menace of the Bughumans. At one point her devices revived Wonder Woman, and another time the Justice Society of America
Justice Society of America
The Justice Society of America, or JSA, is a DC Comics superhero group, the first team of superheroes in comic book history. Conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox, the JSA first appeared in All Star Comics #3 ....
.
Silver Age
Her Earth-1 counterpart differed only slightly, as Baroness Paula von Gunta. The Earth-1 von Gunta appeared in Wonder Woman (vol. I) #163 and 168, before presumably following a similar path as the Earth-2 Paula and moving to Paradise Island to become an adopted Amazon and chief scientist.The Earth-1 Paula was asked to replace Hippolyta as Amazon queen during a coup d'état, which was abruptly ended when the goddess Kore appeared to enlist the Amazons in a battle against the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Post-Crisis
Following the events of the Crisis on Infinite EarthsCrisis on Infinite Earths
Crisis on Infinite Earths is a 12-issue American comic book limited series and crossover event, produced by DC Comics in 1985 to simplify its then 50-year-old continuity...
, it was revealed that Baroness Paula von Gunther fought Hippolyta during the time-traveling queen's World War II adventures as Wonder Woman.
This Von Gunther was a mistress of the occult and became the human host for the evil wandering spirit, Dark Angel
Dark Angel (DC Comics)
Dark Angel is a fictional DC Comics villain who battled Wonder Woman. She is a wandering spirit who inhabited the body of Baroness Paula Von Gunther during World War II...
. Dark Angel became a dedicated foe of Hippolyta and was inadvertently responsible for the origin of Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl
Wonder Girl is the name of three fictional characters featured as superheroes in comic books and other media produced by DC Comics. The original was a younger version of Wonder Woman...
(Donna Troy
Donna Troy
Donna Troy is a comic book superheroine published by DC Comics. She first appeared in The Brave and the Bold vol. 1 #60 , and was created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani...
).
Donna Troy was able to defeat Dark Angel, and at some point Dark Angel separated herself from von Gunther. The Baroness was last seen living among the Amazons.
Eventually it was revealed that Dark Angel was not a mystical spirit but an extant multiversal
Multiverse (DC Comics)
The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct that exists in stories published by comic book company DC Comics. The DC Multiverse consists of numerous worlds, most of them outside DC's main continuity, allowing writers the creative freedom to explore alternative versions of characters and...
doppelganger of Donna Troy.
It is not yet known how, if at all, the continuity-altering events of Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis
Infinite Crisis is a 2005 - 2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, and a number of tie-in books...
altered Paula's history.
Powers and abilities
Pre-Crisis, Paula von Gunther had standard Amazon powers, such as superhuman strength capable of breaking chains and leaping great heights, speed and stamina enough to deflect bullets and other projectiles from her Amazon Bracelets. She was also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant.The greatest of her abilities was her intelligence.Post-Crisis, von Gunther was empowered when possessed by Dark Angel, who had vast powers and was able to perform a variety of feats including mind control, altering her size, teleportation and altering the time stream.
Television
- Baroness Paula von Gunther was one of only two enemies from the comic book to appear on the Wonder WomanWonder Woman (TV series)Wonder Woman is an American television series based on the DC Comics comic book superhero of the same name. Starring Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor, the show originally aired from 1975 to 1979....
TV series. She was portrayed by Christine BelfordChristine BelfordChristine Belford is an American television and film actor.- Early life :Christine Belford was born January 14, 1949 in Amityville, New York...
. - Baroness Paula von Gunther appears in the opening segment of the Batman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the BoldBatman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...
episode "Scorn of the Star Sapphire!" voiced by Eliza SchneiderEliza SchneiderElizabeth Jane "Eliza" Schneider is an American actress, singer-songwriter, playwright, dialect coach and dialectologist, historian, and voice artist.-Early life:...
. She attempts to launch missiles at a meeting of world leaders in Geneva, Switzerland, but is defeated and captured by Wonder Woman and BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
.