Artemis

Note: This entry is for DC’s Amazon superheroine, who should not be confused with Artemis the Olympian goddess.

Origin

Artemis was born a member of the Bana Amazon sect that had split off from the Amazons of Themyscira. The Bana Amazons, under the leadership of Antiope (the Themysciran Queen Hippolyta‘s sister), left the island of Themyscira and settled in Egypt, where they founded an Amazon city named Bana-Mighdall. The Bana Amazons renounced the Olympian Gods and instead worshiped the Egyptian Goddesses Isis, Mammitu, Bast, Neith and Ishtar. The goddesses blessed the Bana Amazons with a perpetual sandstorm around their city to protect them from outsiders. The Bana traded their fighting skills and weapons in return for male slaves to increase their population, and Artemis was the result of one of these liaisons.

Creation

Artemis was created in 1994 by writer William Messner-Loebs and artist Mike Deodato when they were working as the creative team of Wonder Woman vol. 2. Because Wonder Woman’s true name was Diana (the Roman name for the goddess of the moon and the hunt), Artemis was intentionally given the Greek name of the same goddess in order to link the two women and show that they were “two sides of the same coin.” Artemis was envisioned as being far more aggressive and warlike than Diana and had fiery red hair to further help differentiate the two. Deodato based Artemis’ appearance on the Wildstorm character Zealot and gave her the same long flowing-topknot hairstyle. Artemis was also inspired by an earlier DC character named Orana, another red-haired Amazon who had challenged Diana for the title of Wonder Woman. Like Artemis, Orana managed to win the title from Diana, only to later die as Wonder Woman (though unlike Artemis, Orana never returned from the dead).

Character Evolution

Eventually the greatest warrior of Themiscyra, Wonder Woman, journeyed to Bana-Mighdall looking for the villainous Cheetah, who had stolen her Lasso of Truth. Due to a misunderstanding, Wonder Woman was forced to duel the Bana Amazon’s greatest warrior, the Shim’Tar, and was defeated. The god Hermes, who was in love with Wonder Woman, destroyed Bana-Mighdall in retaliation, rendering the Bana Amazons homeless. They entered an alliance with the sorceress Circe, who promised to create a new home for them if they served her during the War of the Gods. Because the Bana held Wonder Woman responsible for the loss of their original home, they decided to attack the Amazons of Themyscira.

It was at this point in the conflict that Artemis made her first appearance. A fiery red-haired girl only fourteen years of age, she stood in front of the Bana’s ruling council and protested the action, asserting her belief that Amazons should not fight other Amazons. But since she was only a child, her protests went unheeded and the Bana Amazons went ahead with their assault. During the invasion of Themyscira, Circe betrayed the Bana Amazons and attempted to destroy both Amazon tribes by magically transporting the island to a demonic dimension. The warring Amazons were forced to put aside their differences and fight alongside each other in order to survive the constant onslaught of demon armies. Wonder Woman came to the rescue and forced Circe to return Theymscira back to the real world, but discovered that while only a few months had passed on Earth during this time, an entire decade had passed in the demonic dimension. Artemis was now a beautiful woman in her twenties and had become one of the greatest warriors of her tribe, battle-hardened by ten years of fighting against the demonic hordes.

As of DC: Rebirth, Artemis’s history has been remade. She is still a Bana-Mighdall Amazon, but her history has been altered to suit the changes to the universe. Artemis is portrayed as a hostile warrior on a noble quest. Along the way, she is drawn into a conflict with Jason Todd and Bizarro. Once the conflict resolves, the two insist on helping her with her quest, and she joins the Outlaws to fight Crime and right the wrongs of her past.

Major Story Arcs

The Contest

After Themiscyra was returned to its proper place on Earth, Queen Hippolyta granted the Bana Amazons a small section of the island to serve as their new home. Hippolyta then began to suffer visions of Wonder Woman dying. Since the title of Wonder Woman was held by Hippolyta’s daughter Diana, the Queen hoped to prevent her daughter’s death by holding a Contest of the Amazons to choose a new Wonder Woman. Initially Hippolyta forbade any member of the Bana from participating in the contest, much to the anger of Artemis and the Bana Amazons. But after Diana pointed out the unfairness of the exclusion, Hippolyta relented and the Bana were allowed to compete.

Artemis demonstrated great battle prowess during the contest and emerged as Diana’s strongest challenger. She eventually won the contest with some mystical assistance from Hippolyta, who had privately decided that she would rather see a Bana Amazon become Wonder Woman than risk her daughter’s death as foretold in her visions. Artemis was crowned as Wonder Woman and given a uniform identical to Diana’s, along with the Gauntlet of Atlas, The Sandals of Hermes and the golden Lasso of Truth in order to replicate Diana’s Wonder Woman powers. She then set forth to present herself to the World of Men as the new Wonder Woman.

Career as Wonder Woman

Artemis’ tenure as Wonder Woman got off to a rocky start. Though she could easily match Diana’s prowess in combat, Artemis had grown to adulthood fighting mostly demons in a kill-or-be-killed environment and was very rough around the edges when it came to dealing with people. She possessed little of the personal grace or sense of diplomacy that had made Diana so respected as Wonder Woman. The American public and media generally saw Artemis as being arrogant and abrasive, and she was criticized for resorting to violence far too often. She tried to extend a hand to the superhero community, but usually received the cold shoulder. During her failed attempt to join the Justice League, Batman refused to even allow Artemis to sit in Diana’s chair during League meetings.

Death

Desperate to improve her image, Artemis agreed to work with a public relations firm in an effort to make herself a more likable Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, the representative she was working with secretly worked for the villainous White Magician, who was determined to bring about Wonder Woman’s demise. Artemis started to turn things around at this point, doing positive things such as helping downtrodden immigrants and abused women. Later, Artemis arrived at Diana’s job to chastise her for recently failing to capture the Joker, despite not even knowing who he was. After chastising her for not being able to do anything and boasting her own accomplishments, she vows to take down the biggest mob boss in the city, Julianna Sazia. Artemis storms Julianna’s mansion, but she anticipated Artemis would impulsively try to kill her. In response, she fled the country and rigged the mansion with an experimental security system from LexCorp, including restraints designed specifically to hold her. The message explained that Julianna planned to kill Artemis so she won’t come after her again. Mocking her for relying on brawn instead of brains, the final part of the message revealed that the house was set to explode. However, thanks to her people miscalculating the effects of the Gauntlet of Atlas, they were too weak to hold her. Artemis breaks free, barely escaping in time to avoid the explosion. When Diana came by later to talk, Artemis attacked before she could explain because her agent convinced her Diana was sabotaging her efforts out of jealousy. Diana was forced to retaliate, but Artemis came out on top. Once Diana recovered, she shows Artemis the files exposing the truth; that the firm staged her battles, all her actions have had no real impact, and that White Magician ran the firm.

After learning the truth, her anger and prides drives her to track down White Magician. She manages to find him at a private airfield that he owns. However, it is revealed her arrogance again got the better of her again. She was lured into a trap by White Magician, who has become more powerful. Artemis fought the Magician with all of her might, but his powers were too great and she was overpowered. The timely arrival of Diana spared her for a few moments until White Magician summoned two demons, one being a possessed Cheetah, to finish them. Overpowered again, Artemis was pushed to the brink of death. Seeing White Magician about to kill an unconscious Diana, Artemis was inspired to stand and and try to protect Diana. However, he easily counters and brutally beats her down. Once Diana recovers, Artemis, too broken to fight, convinces Diana to use the Gauntlet of Atlas to boost her super-strength to finish White Magician, knowing that losing the gauntlet would leave her too weak to survive. Diana takes the gauntlet and defeats White Magician. In her last moments, she apologizes to Diana for dishonoring the title of Wonder Woman with her pride and returns it to Diana. In her last moments, she comforts Artemis, telling her she was proud to have fought alongside her. She then dies, proving Hippolyta’s visions of Wonder Woman dying to be true.

Requiem

After Artemis died she ended up in Tartarus, and one of Thirteen ruling Princes of Hell, Dalkriig-Hath, became enamored with her beauty and took her as his bride. Artemis did not suffer the unholy matrimony gladly, but had no other choice but to accept the situation. Eventually, Artemis adapted to her new home, finding things to enjoy and learning how to avoid the severe punishments her husband doled out. Diana, haunted with visions of Artemis’ plight, came to rescue her. However, she had managed to achieve comfort and refused to abandon it. When Diana was set to be tortured for helping a demon being punished, Artemis initially abandoned her sister to her fate. However, feeling guilty about having an afterlife of luxury at the expense of Diana’s suffering, she freed Diana and carried her back to the land of the living, returning to life as well. Wanting to make a path separate from that of Wonder Woman, she befriended a woman named Henrietta Jessup, and the two joined an anti-demon team called the Hellenders. Using the knowledge she had gained in Tartarus to prove her worth to the group, the Hellenders initially gave her the code name of “Javelin,” but she disliked the name and soon switched to the code name of Requiem instead. During her time with the Hellenders, Artemis wore the green and white one-piece outfit that eventually became her regular costume. While there, she proved to be a valuable asset, but her disregard for her team and collateral damage made her made her untrustworthy to the team’s leaders. She also made the mistake of fighting a demon in public, revealing her resurrection to the public and outing the team’s existence. She also developed a romantic attraction to one of the Hellenders named Sure-Shot, but because she was raised to see such feelings as a weakness, never acted on her feelings. After Sure-Shot’s true personality as a coward was exposed, Artemis learned that everyone but she and Sojourner relied on psychotropic drugs to remain fearless against their enemies. Eventually, the Hellenders were disbanded after it is revealed that the team was actually being used by Dalkriig-Hath to bring about his arrival on Earth. Though most of the team is killed, Artemis manages to kill her husband and has the souls of her friend restored by a rogue demon who rebelled against Dalkriig-Hath.

After the Hellenders disbanded, Artemis trained several heroes in the art of combat. Artemis then encountered Diana (who had regained the title of Wonder Woman) again, and was asked by Diana to train Cassandra Sandsmark, who used the training to become the current Wonder Girl. Artemis’ reputation as an elite combat trainer grew such that even Supergirl sought her out to improve her own combat skills. During this time, Artemis was able to gain a measure of revenge on Batman for his hostility towards her when she had tried to join the Justice League. She easily defeated Batman in combat and proceeded to pound him into a pulp, but an ambush prevented her from inflicting permanent injury.

Later, Artemis was informed of great unrest in Hell following the death of Dalkriig-Hath. Despite having killed Dalkriig-Hath herself, Artemis was still considered to be his wife, so she was next in line to rule his section of Hell even though she had no desire for the role. She nevertheless presented herself in front of the twelve surviving Demon Princes and accepted her husband’s section of Hell. To officially grant her control of Hell, she had to be blessed by the twelve Demon Princes. After the blessing, it was revealed Artemis had pulled a switch and her friend, the demon Belyllioth, had assumed her form. Infuriated at the trick, the twelve Demon Princes vowed revenge on Artemis upon her return to Tartarus, but Belyllioth (now officially one of the Thirteen rulers of Hell) had promised to protect her for eternity.

Return to the Amazons

Artemis eventually decided to retire from the World of Men and returned to her own people, the Bana Amazons, who still shared Themyscira with the Themysciran Amazons. She led the efforts to establish a new Bana-Mighdall and end the conflict with the Themyscirans. However, between various bombings plaguing and the Themysciran’s contempt for the Bana, tension was a constant. When the Amazon sorceress Magala leads a band of rogue Themyscirans to incite another war between the two Amazon tribes, Artemis is forced take part. When the current Shim’Tar dies in battle, she hands her title to her. Artemis battles Hippolyta, who had assumed the role of Wonder Woman after her daughter Diana’s recent death (though like Artemis, Diana later returned from the dead). During their battle, Artemis reminded Hippolyta that the reason she was the new Wonder Woman was because her actions had led to the death of Diana, and also of Artemis herself. Her words shock Hippolyta into stopping as Diana and Donna arrive. They then piece the truth together; that the spirit of Ariadne possessed Magala and incited the war to wipe all the Amazons out. After Fury killed Magala, Diana, Donna, and Hippolyta abdicate their throne, ending the Amazonian royal line. Later, Artemis is chosen to lead the Bana in the new government alongside Themysciran General Phillipus were elected co-leaders of the unified Amazon tribes.

Amazons Attack

For further details: Amazons Attack!

During the OMAC attack on Themyscira during Infinite Crisis, it was decided by Artemis and Phillipus that in order to save the Amazon race, they needed to teleport the entire island and all of the Amazons to a new hidden location. The Amazons resurfaced some time later, once again under the leadership of Hippolyta, but unknown to the rest of the Amazons, Hippolyta had fallen under the evil influence of Circe.

Under the pretense that humans had attacked them first, Hippolyta declared war on the human world. Artemis and Phillipus were assigned to oversee the attack, but soon lost faith in Hippolyta since her actions seemed less than honorable. However, they did not do enough to stop the conflict, and as a result the Amazons were cursed by a disguised Granny Goodness. Their memories were erased and they were scattered to different corners of the world under false identities. Artemis appeared near the Great Wall of China in traveling clothes, with no memories of her Amazonian life.

Enslaved

A few months later the Olympian Gods returned to power, and Zeus restored the memories of the Amazons and brought them back to Themyscira. Artemis, however, was not among them. During her period of memory loss she believed herself to be a normal person without superhuman powers, and while in this vulnerable state she had been kidnapped by Mr. Smyth, the ruthless leader of a notorious slavery ring.

By the time her memory fully returned, she had been bound with special shackles and kept constantly drugged in order to make her too weak to escape. Her captors also dressed her in a copy of her green and white costume, perhaps as a humiliating reminder of her former superhero status. Mr. Smyth then tried to brainwash the captive Artemis into serving him by using a frightening combination of drugs and interrogation, but she successfully resisted through sheer force of will. Artemis was later freed by the banshee villain Jeannette, and took violent revenge upon her captors.

Artemis would later return to Themyscira with those of her Bana sisters that survived the Hell Island prison.

The Circle

During the course of the Circle-story, Artemis only played a relatively minor part. After Diana had been imprisoned, Artemis appeared to break her out, only for Diana to request her not to do so. Artemis would then go on a rant about how ill the current situation suited her, and many of the other Amazons, who felt they had been put under administration by Zeus.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Rebirth

Artemis’s Origin

Artemis’ origin as a member of the Bana tribe remains intact, but expanded upon. From childhood, Artemis was told that she would an unrivaled warrior, and one day become Queen of the Amazons. At the age of sixteen, out of arrogance, tried to claim the Bow of Ra, a powerful relic capable of destroying stars, from the Forge of Nyphyst. However, the weapon emits an energy blast, knocking her down. When she recovers, Nephthys appears and reprimands her for trying to take such a powerful weapon. Artemis complains because she was promised a weapon, but Nephthys states that weapons choose their users, not the other way around. Artemis feels that she and the bow are meant to be together, and demands to have it. Nephthys replies that she will one day wield it, but only when the Egyptian Gods decide she’s earned the right, and teleports her away.

In her youth, Artemis was best friends with Akila. In their free time, the two would spar together, with Akila usually winning, but Artemis focused more on her education to learn as much as she could about the Egyptian Gods. Artemis dreamed of becoming the Shim’Tar, but believed that Akila would be chosen even though she had no desire to be Shim’Tar. Akila feels that the broken colony Bana-Mighdall has become is not worth defending, but Artemis firmly believed that her home would be great again. Akila tells her that she would only accept such a fate if Artemis is alongside her.

One day, Artemis notices Akila has gone missing. She spends several weeks searching to no avail. One search, a portal opens in front of Artemis while she’s out looking and Akila falls out of it. Racing to her side, Artemis realizes two things; Akila’s disappearance was because the gods summoned her, and whatever happened forever changed her friend. She gets her back to the city and cares for her until she recovers. When she wakes up, Artemis asks what happened, but the gods forbade her from telling her. However, Artemis knew deep down that they had appointed her to be the Shim’Tar.

Akila’s new role as Shim’Tar eventually caused the two to drift apart. Lonely without her best friend around, Artemis left Bana-Mighdall to live in the desert. Eventually, she found peace in her new life of solitude. One night, Artemis notices Bana-Mighdall burning and rushes back to investigate. The nation of Qurac, who believed that Bana-Mighdall was built on their ancestral homeland, had been trying to get past the magic sandstorm protecting the city. Somehow, they succeeded and attacked the Bana. When she reaches the city she sees Akila carrying the Bow of Ra. Artemis then sees the legendary Wonder Woman on scene, as she had been called in to stop the fight between the Quraci and the Bana. Seeing Diana, who embodies everything Artemis wanted to be, she attacks her in fit of jealousy.

Diana stops her and explains that she came to help the Bana until Akila used the bow to take out the Quraci and take many of the Bana with her. Artemis is still skeptical, until Akila steps out of the burning wreckage preaching about protecting their home by using Ra’s power to burn it all. Diana explains that the Bow’s power has consumed her friend and left an empty shell focused on destruction. Diana then offers Artemis a choice; side with what’s left of her friend or help her stop the madness.

Diana and Artemis team up, but they could not get Akila to resist the power of the Bow, so they mortally wound her in the fighting. Artemis tries to comfort her friend by taking the blame but Akila apologizes for allowing the gods to manipulate her, and with her last breaths, tell Artemis that she was the real Shim’Tar all along. The Bow went missing, so Artemis and Diana assumed the gods took it away. When Artemis discovers that the bow was missing, she dedicates herself to finding it.

Dark Trinity

After spending over a year searching, she was able to get a solid lead by interrogating a US Senator. Heading to Gotham to chase down the lead. Her search led to a train being robbed by Red Hood, Black Mask, and and his gangsters. After easily dropping the gangsters, she threatens Red Hood. He explains he is only searching for a weapon, but Artemis is surprised that he doesn’t understand that he is handing over a world destroying power. Not being intimidated, Red Hood tries to shoot her, hoping to take advantage of the fact that she doesn’t possess traditional Amazon Bracelets. However, she uses Mistress, her mystic axe, to deflect the shots. Deciding the use of a weapon was unnecessary, she decides to use her hands instead. She then proceeds to pummel him after he calls her “princess,” a term that strikes a nerve.

Before she delivers a killing blow, Jason asks her about the weapon she is searching for. While she explains, Jason uses the taser built into his suit to knock her out. She quickly recovers and summons Mistress back to her and renews her attack. Jason tries to explain himself again, but more of Black Mask’s lackey’s lackeys shoot at her. Red Hood helps her get to cover and Artemis realizes Jason is hiding his true intentions. After explaining his mission, she accepts his “surrender,” but they find out that Black Mask has called in a helicopter to take the train car containing his prize. Black Mask leaves Jason behind, and Artemis cannot fly, leaving the duo stuck. However, Artemis’ strength lets her get them to the airborne car. Once inside, they realize two things: the Bow of Ra isn’t there. and Black Mask’s prize is a Superman clone.

Artemis, shocked at the sight of the clone, realizes Red Hood is daydreaming and snaps him out of it. She then scolds him for his lack of focus, reminding him of how dangerous a Superman clone in Black Mask’s hands can be. To their surprise, Black Mask is in the train car with them. Before anyone can react, knockout gas fills covers the room, causing them both to pass out.

When Jason arrives to check on the clone after it was restrained at Black Mask’s headquarters, Artemis is seen trapped in a cell opposite the clone. Before Jason can go and talk to it, she tries to talk him out of it, believing him to be an empty shell. When Jason asks about it, she says that she wants to monitor the clone. Even though Jason promises to get her out a.s.a.p, but she claims she can break out any time she wants. Her ulterior motive for staying is to see if Black Mask has any leads on the location of the Bow of Ra. Later, when Jason goes to present a gift to Bizarro, Artemis advises against treating a weapon of mass destruction as an infant. Because he has learned that Bizarro will only live for a few weeks plus the fact that they all have been written off at some point, Jason resolves to try to reach him anyway. Jason talks to him, officially giving him the name Bizarro. Confused by the name, Artemis claims that he is a monster incapable of understanding him, but the statement causes him to go berserk.

Artemis then watches in amusement as Bizarro attacks Jason. She decides not to help, deciding her cover is more important than Jason’s life. Apparently having a change of heart, she prepares to help, but Jason manages to calm him down and get him to see himself and Artemis as friends. Seeing this causes Artemis to admire Jason’s instincts.

The next day, Black Mask reveals that Jason has earned his friendship, and takes him to show him something. Artemis, having escaped, eavesdrops through the ventilation shafts. While there, she mentally complains about the need of the people of Man’s World to talk about their feelings. Following the two to the basement, she realizes the bow isn’t there. While in the basement Jason then inquires about the bow, and he reveals he did have it, but sold it to someone in Qurac. Upset that the bow narrowly escaped her grasp, she leaves, though Jason, aware she was there, silently wishes her luck.

Romans then goes on about his dream to rid the city of psychotics, reminding Jason of how he made the same argument to Bruce, but was shut down. While he continues his speech, he reveals the reason they came; the same techno-organic virus that infected the mayor. He then mentions Jason’s failed attack on the mayor, and outs Jason as a mole.

During Jason and a mind-controlled Bizarro’s fight, Artemis intervenes before Bizarro can finish Jason tossing Mistress into his chest. When Jason asks why she didn’t skip town, she claims she heard him getting beaten. Artemis prepares for a run at Bizarro, but when breaks off a piece of her axe, she becomes paralyzed with pain, a side effect of her magic weapon. As Bizarro recovers, Jason sees somethings that gives him an idea. Asking Artemis she trusts him, she says no. He tries to get her help, but she decides on her own plan; go in without one. Gratified that she struck Bizarro, Jason tries to get her to focus on Black Mask. Though she doesn’t care who is controlling Bizarro, Jason points out that Black Mask felt her blow too. When she tries to brush him off, he grabs her, which upsets her. Jason holds her long enough to show that he sees through her uncaring facade, and that she didn’t abandon him was because she knew people would suffer if Roman isn’t stopped. Moved by his words, she vows to try not to kill Bizarro. Satisfied, Jason bolts away to implement his plan, to her chagrin.

Fighting with her fists instead of her ax, Artemis has Bizarro pinned. However, when she calls him a monster, he delivers a violent counter. Bizarro eventually starts walking blindy through the streets, but Artemis catches Bizarro is regaining his senses. Artemis is eventually forced inside One Police Plaza. Though her attempts to stop him aren’t working, Artemis continues anyway. Bizarro reveals that Black Mask is nearby, and Artemis realizes Jason may have been trying to separate the two so Bizarro can regain control of himself. At that moment, the damage done to building’s causes the roof to start to give.

Artemis and Bizarro then fall through the floor, right as Black Mask was going to kill Jason. After disarming Black Mask, Red Hood, takes a moment to check on Artemis, who is barely fending off Bizarro. Mask then orders Bizarro to attack, pushing them back. Jason realizes that his control over Bizarro hasn’t weakened enough, and comes up with a new plan. While the two recover, Jason fills Artemis on his new plan. Artemis is skeptical that it will work until he explains; the techno-virus is damaging Roman’s brain, and if they keep fighting he will eventually burn out. Artemis humorously agrees with his plan.

With the two in agreement, they renew their attack. Artemis manages to hold her own, but Bizarro corners her and goes for the kill, but Bizarro suddenly stops and apologizes. She asks what happened, and he claims that Mask’s influence suddenly went away. When they go to check on Red Hood, he claims Mask is no longer a problem. Though she is satisfied at the outcome, she is upset that she deviated from her quest for the Bow of Ra. Artemis prepares to leave, but Jason offers to help her in her quest out of gratitude for her help. However, she refuses, feeling her mission is too personal for her to involve anyone else. Bizarro, though, feels they are already involved. Artemis decides to let them help on the condition that they split up once her quest is complete, and they all agree.

Who is Artemis?

Artemis and Jason are tracking a metahuman criminal and the two head into a bar their quarry frequents to find a lead. When the bartender refuses to talk about a patron, Artemis decides to start a bar fight. As she and Jason tear up the place, Artemis hears a familiar voice, and sees Bana Amazon Akila aiming a bow and arrow at her. Shocked to see her dead friend, she freezes. Jason notices and knocks “Akila” out, revealing that it was their target using his power to take the form of someone from her memories. Concerned at how she reacted to their quarry’s powers, Jason asks about what she saw. Pouring a drink for herself, she dismisses him. When he insists, she relents and tell him about the origin of the Bana and her story.

Artemis explains that her ancestors left Themyscira after a falling out with Hippolyta. They eventually reached the Middle East and asked the Egyptian Gods for sanctuary. The Amazons agreed to stiff terms, and after a hard trek, they traveled to the site where they would build Bana-Mighdall. She then jumps to her childhood, and talks about her friend Akila, who would become the Shim’Tar. When Akila was driven mad by the power of the Bow, Artemis and Wonder Woman team up to stop her. Jason then pieces the rest of the story together; Diana and Artemis were forced to kill Akila and Artemis holds herself responsible for everything that happened. Artemis and Diana assumed the gods took the bow bac in the aftermath. However, she found out that the Bow is still on Earth, and has dedicated herself to finding it. As the two leave the bar with their quarry, Jason compliments her eyes. Unflattered, she responds by threatening to punch him in his face.

Using information that Jason got from Black Mask, the Outlaws head to the place where the buyer of the Bow of Ra resides: Qurac. Stealing a decrepit cargo plane, Jason has Bizarro fly it into Quraci airspace. According to the news, Quraci General Ahmed Heinle had just leveled the city where his political rivals where stationed. Though no one knows what weapon he used in the attack, Artemis recognizes the destruction as the work of the Bow of Ra. However, only a Shim’Tar is capable of using the bow, so she can’t understand how Heinle could have used it. She also feels that if the Bow really is in use, she failed her best friend. General Heinle himself hails their plane and demands that they turn back. Jason refuses, so he scrambles fighters to shoot them down. They hit Bizarro and he remains unharmed, but he lets go of the plane to take the jets down, leaving Jason and Artemis to fall out of the sky. He catches them, but a light bright enough to obscure the night sky shines, obscuring everything.

Artemis comes to, chained to the ceiling above a pit of fire. The place was so familiar, she recognized it even before she regained consciousness as what used to be the capital of Bana-Mighdall. When she comes to, she is shocked when she hears the voice of her captor. When she opened her eyes, her fears are confirmed; Akila, her best friend, whom she killed herself, is somehow alive and well. Akila is happy to be with her sister again, and asks Artemis to help save the world alongside her.

Eventually, Akila releases Artemis and takes her to see the new Amazon warriors she has trained. Artemis feels she has no place there after what happened the last time she was home, but her friend convinces her that no one holds a grudge against her. As the Amazons celebrate, Artemis steps away and Akila follows. The two gaze at the newly restored Bana-Mighdall, and Artemis wonders how it could have been restored so quickly. Akila simply tells her not to look a gift horse in the mouth. She then asks Akila about her plans. Unlike Artemis thought, Akila doesn’t have the Bow of Ra, and she wants to reclaim it. Her next question is how Akila is even alive. She explains that when the general got the Bow, none of his men could control it. Learning that only a Shim’Tar could master the Bow, he disturbed her grave to acquire her cells to activate it’s power. As a side effect, she returned to life. Akila formally forgives her for killing her, but she still will not forgive herself for what she did. Akila then asks her to help her stand at her side and help her remake their home. Mistress then appears in her hand, and Artemis takes it as a sign that she should side with Akila.

When Akila leads the Amazons to battle against the Quraci military, Artemis’ first act is to find Red Hood, who was fighting against her people. As the fight escalates, Jason tries to convince her that Akila has the Bow of Ra. Artemis, however, refuses to accept the truth. She finds Hienle in he melee and holds him hostage. She demands his surrender, but he refuses, choosing death over letting Akila raze his home. At that moment, a flaming arrow kills him on the spot. Recognizing the arrow, she is forced to face the reality that her best friend lied to her. When she asks why, Akila claims she wanted to trick her long enough to convince her to take her side. When Jason prepares to engage Akila, Artemis is hesitant to kill her friend again, but is convinced by Jason to fight. At that moment, Bizarro arrives with refugees from the fighting, and accidentally drops a mountain on Akila. When she recovers and attacks Bizarro, Artemis prepares to fight Akila alone, but Akila fires another arrow at the refugees. Before it can reach them, Artemis shields them and survives, but Mistress is severely damaged, leaving her defenseless. Akila asks again for Artemis to join her, but Jason and Bizarro use the opening to rejoin the fray. Using the opening, Artemis takes up the Bow of Ra and uses it to defeat her friend. However, Akila loses control of the power she absorbed from the Bow, causing her to go nuclear. Before she can explode, Artemis has Bizarro carry her into space to explode safety, and she cries as she loses her best friend again.

After the fight, She takes a moment to thank Jason for helping her end the threat the bow posed to the world. When the Amazons ask her opinion on what they should do, she instructs them to remake Bana-Mighdall alongside the Quraci refugees while she stays with her new friends and let the people elect a new Shim’Tar themselves. She then tells him she plans to keep the Bow of Ra for herself. Their conversation is then cut short when a refugee finds an apparently dead Bizarro.

The Death of Bizarro

Returning to Gotham to try to treat the dying Bizarro, Ma Gunn tells them that she is ill equipped to treat an alien clone, and anyone who can do so won’t, as their adventure in Qurac earned them the the status of international war criminals. Jason and Artemis argue over whether to give Bizarro false hope hope of survival, but are cut short when they see news footage of Solomon Grundy on a rampage not far from them. Artemis tries to go face Grundy alone so Jason can be with Bizarro, but he refuses to let her go alone. The two reach Grundy and try to subdue him, but fail. Before they can be killed, Bizarro, having heard their dilemma from the base, arrives to defeat Grundy knowing he will die doing so. Against Artemis and Jason’s objection, Bizarro defeats Grundy, then collapses. With his last breaths, he asks his friends to care for his rag doll before dying. Jason is unwilling to accept that he is gone forever, but Artemis convinces him to simply honor the time they had with him. While mourning, the two are knocked out from a blast delivered by Lex Luthor, Bizarro’s creator.

Bizarro Reborn

When Artemis and Jason recover, Lex takes them to Metropolis to try and revive “his property.” While Lex does his work, Artemis gets Jason to stop blaming himself for what happened. While Bizarro is still being operated on, he thinks of Artemis for a moment, remembering that while she was imprisoned, she secretly taught him how to speak, even though she told everyone she didn’t care for him. Back in the present, when Jason begins talking about his feelings, Artemis does the unthinkable: talk about her feelings too, and how Bizarro changed how she views herself. When Lex returns, he tells them that he has legally given them ownership of Bizarro, then lets them to go see him. They are shocked to see that Bizarro is more than okay. The side effects of his revival has given him a genius level intellect.

Using his intellect, Bizarro begins creating tools and technology to help with their war on crime. After taking down Professor Pyg and simultaneously stealing from Penguin, Artemis vices concern about Bizarro’s growing intellect, especially, when he shows off their new floating fortress, his hologram assistant, and the quantum doorway. Eventually, all of their efforts attract other members of the Batman Family. When they kidnap Bizarro, Artemis and Jason goes to rescue him, starting a fight. Though they put up a good fight, the Outlaws are defeated, and they are taken to the only place that can hold them: Belle Reve.

While incarcerated, Artemis has the pleasure of being locked up with Harley Quinn. Once she gets tired of her cellmate’s rambling, she summons Mistress and prepares to break out. After beating Quinn, she finds Jason, already escaped himself, and the two then look for Bizarro. When they find him, it turns out that while they were locked up, he was having a chat with Amanda Waller. Bizarro tells them that an collapsing base belonging to defunct organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is threatening to blow up the Earth, and he has convinced Waller to send part of the Suicide Squad to help them stop this. Though both Artemis and Jason are apprehensive about working with the Squad, they agree to follow along.

Once they reach the Arctic base, Bizarro has Artemis and Harley to search for any teen metahumans still alive. They reach the lower levels of the base and Artemis realizes that there was much death in that area. When Harley begins to crack wise, Artemis gets upset and prepares to kill her. Though she believes killing Harley would do the world a favor, she decides against it, and takes a moment to pray for the dead. Once the other groups finish up, the Squad returns to prison, but Waller lets the Outlaws go free, on the premise that they will eventually get caught legally so that she won’t have to negotiate to get them to work for her. Returning to Gotham, Artemis once again voices her concerns over Bizarro’s new condition. Even though she’s happy he is no longer dependent, she is still worried about him.

Later, while watching Red Hood taking on H.IV.E., Artemis notices Bizarro acting strange, but she doesn’t think twice about it when he plays it off. Later, things get crazy when she catches Creeper in the Outlaws base. The two immediately come to blows over an incident Creeper never forgave Artemis for, but Bizarro breaks them up before any real harm is done. It turns out Bizarro tried to recruit Creeper without telling anyone. After he turns them down, Jason and Artemis chastise him for not consulting them, until he claims to need rest.

After winning a bet against Jason, Artemis convinces him to take her out on a date. Using the quantum doorway, they head out to drink, where Artemis jokingly orders a non-alcoholic beverage for Jason. Afterwards, the two take a stroll through the park, and she suggests they go somewhere private to talk, and Jason takes her to the Batcave, where even the tech Bizarro uses to spy on them can’t see. Once they get there, she drops her act about being interested in a date. Using a dry erase board to avoid super-hearing, she tells Jason the real reason she arranged the date: so they could address whatever is going on with their teammate without him knowing. With Bizarro’s increase in power, plus his strange behavior, Artemis is beginning to really worry. Though Jason trusts him, she is still against trusting him blindly. Eventually, their conversation is cut short by a S.O.S. sent by Bizarro’s AI, but the two manage to reach an agreement before they got the call. Artemis agrees to keep up the appearance of normalcy until they can find out more about what Bizarro is up to.

Alternate Versions

Odyssey

Like many of her sisters, Artemis was taken into a rearranged timeline by the Olympians. In this timeline Artemis was either always a Themysciran Amazon, or came to the island even before Diana was born, as she died defending the island from the last attack that scattered the Amazons.

The Morrigan would later resurrect Artemis, alongside Cheetah and Giganta who were also Amazons, in order to hunt down Diana under the pretense that they had been abandoned to die on Paradise Island. Initially they manage to hunt down and severely injure Diana before being scared off by Dr. Psycho.

During the second confrontation, Diana managed to release the three from the Morrigans control with the aid of her lasso and gaining their aid for the attack on the Morrigan and ultimately the goddess Nemesis, where Artemis died once more, but without regrets.

Flashpoint

In the Flashpoint universe, Artemis followed a much darker path. She killed Wonder Woman’s mother Hippolyta and then framed Tempest for the murder in an attempt to keep Themyscira from developing ties to the outside world. Along with the other Amazons, Artemis invaded Britain when their request for aid was denied after Paradise Island was sunk beneath the waves. Ultimately Artemis was killed by Brittania (Penny Black). She cut Artemis in half while she was pursuing Lois Lane in an attempt to stop her from contacting the world outside of Britain.

As she killed Hippolyta under the order of Diana’s aunt, to prevent ties being formed with Atlantis, it is unknown if Artemis was aware of the aunt’s existing relationship with Arthur’s brother Orm.

Amazon Family

Queen Hippolyta, ruler of Themyscira.

Princess Diana, Wonder Woman

Phillipus, general and former co-ruler of Paradise Island.

Donna Troy, the first Wonder Girl and member of the Titans of Myth, Queen Hippolyta’s adopted daughter.

Cassandra Sandsmark, the second Wonder Girl, daughter of Zeus.

Nubia, is Wonder Woman’s “black sister” Queen Hippolyta’s daughter.

The Olympian, Achilles Warkiller became the King of the Amazons, later gives Queen Hippolyta back the throne.

Steve Trevor, love interest to Wonder Woman, first man on Themyscira and honorary Amazon.

The Amazons, of Themyscira.

Personal Data

• Status: Hero
• Occupation: Minister of defense
• Height: 6’3″
• Weight: 173 lbs
• Eyes: Green
• Hair: Red
• Unusual Features: Extremely long hair

Status

• Citizenship: Egyptian, Themiscyran
• Place of Birth: Bana-Mighdall, Egypt
• Marital Status: Widowed
• Occupations: Shim’Tar, Chancellor of Themyscira, Adventurer, former Wonder Woman
• Known Relatives: none

Powers and Abilities

Strength and Mastery of Combat

Artemis possesses the physical abilities of a peak-level member of the Amazon race: Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and longevity. She is able to lift 15 tons under normal conditions. In addition, she is one of the Amazons’ most accomplished warriors and is a master of hand-to-hand combat, swordfighting, and archery. Artemis is the equal of Diana (Wonder Woman) in combat, though her fighting style is far more aggressive, which contrasts with Diana’s more measured approach. Because she never holds back, Artemis has often beaten Diana when they have fought, and she believes herself to be the superior fighter. It has also been shown that her strength allows her to jump extraordinarily high if she is not carrying anything.

Abilities

Artemis’ mastery of arms includes the ability to expertly construct bows, arrows, and many other weapons by hand. She possesses considerable mechanical ingenuity and is able to quickly fashion useful implements out of any available material, such as when she braided a sturdy rope out of her own hair and then employed it both as a means of escape and as a weapon. As Shim’tar of the Bana Amazons, Artemis owns magical Shim’tar armor which provides a high degree of invulnerability. During her time as Wonder Woman, Artemis also possessed the Gauntlet of Atlas (which increased her strength tenfold, allowing her to lift well over 100 tons), the Sandals of Hermes ( giving her the ability to fly), and the Lasso of Truth. As Wonder Woman, Artemis usually favored using her personal weapons (the bow and arrow) over the lasso.

Artemis learned many sorcery skills during her time in the Underworld, including the ability to assume the form of another person or animal, though using this power expends a considerable amount of her energy. She can reverse the effects of spells cast by demonic forces, and has the power to sense the presence of demons no matter how well they are disguised. Thanks to the sorceress Circe, Artemis is also immortal. Her Amazon heritage allows her to heal at an amazing rate, and when she became immortal, her durability has heightened more so.

As of her recreation in DC: Rebirth, Artemis has all of the skills and abilities of an Amazon. She carries a variety of close combat weapons on her person. In addition, she now possesses Mistress, an enchanted axe. Mistress is extremely durable, enough to penetrate a Bizarro clone’s skin, though only slightly. In addition, no matter where she is, Mistress will fly or teleport to Artemis whenever she calls for it. She is so skilled with Mistress, she can use it to deflect bullets.

Weaknesses

Past

She is somewhat vulnerable to extremely toxic poisons and tranquilizers. Piercing weapons and energy blasts cause minor damage.

Current

As Artemis possess all the abilities of an Amazon, she has few weakness. Even though she is not durable enough to withstand heavy gunfire, her skill with her axe is great enough that she can block bullets with it. One of her core weaknesses is her connection with Mistress. Whenever it is damaged, Artemis will feel pain proportionate to the damage done. Because the pain is metaphysical, it cannot be treated, and her Amazonian durability does nothing to counter it. If enough damage is done, the pains she feels can weaken her significantly.

Other Media

Animation

Justice League ( JL ) (2001-2004)

In the Justice League (JL) animated series (2001-2004), a Cartoon Network series, Artemis was depicted in the Justice League episode titled “Fury.”

Wonder Woman (2009)

Artemis was a prominent character in the 2009 Wonder Woman direct-to-video animated feature, which re-told Wonder Woman’s origin story. Artemis was voiced by ‘Rent’ actress Rosario Dawson. There were some differences between the original comic book Artemis and this animated version. The Bana Amazon tribe was never mentioned in the film and Artemis was instead an Amazon of Themyscira. She was older than her comic book counterpart and had fought alongside Queen Hippolyta in many battles and wars throughout the ages, establishing herself as one of Themyscira’s greatest warriors, perhaps even it’s greatest.

As great as her prowess was, there came a time when Artemis’ fighting skills were surpassed by Hippolyta’s daughter, Princess Diana. Diana proved she was the mightiest and most skilled amazon when she won the contest to represent the Amazon people in “Man’s world” and became Wonder Woman. There was a difference in Artemis’ role in comics and this animated feature. Rather than compete in the contest like in the comics, in this feature Artemis was assigned to oversee it.

The story of Artemis also forms one of the sub-plots of the movie as in this version she has a sister that is closer to her than the other Amazons. However, Artemis’ sister is nearly her polar opposite, as she is a scholar, a relatively poor combatant, almost cowardly and more inclined to read poetry than train. She is also indirectly responsible for the maiming of one of her sisters, who was blinded on one eye, and remained bitter ever since. Artemis lost her sister when the maimed Amazon betrayed them all when she released Ares after taking her revenge. During the final battle with Ares and his minions Artemis comes face to face with the spirit of her deceased sister, remaking it was a rotten time for her to get talented with a blade. Despite the confrontation, the movie ends with Artemis attempting to read some of her sisters books after they return home.

This version of Artemis was depicted wearing an outfit that closely resembled her black and brown midriff-baring alternate costume from comic book continuity. She also retained her distinctive long flowing-topknot hairstyle and some of her Themiscirian adornments including her gold upper arm bands, her distinctive gold neck bands and her loose, sheer pants-like garment.

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)

Artemis appeared again in this direct-to-video animated feature, voiced by actress Rachel Quaintance. She was first shown training Kara Zor-El (before she became Supergirl) in the art of combat, much like she did in the comics. When Artemis soundly defeated Kara during their sparring session, Kara’s overprotective cousin Superman intervened, prompting Artemis to warn him never to lay a hand on her again. Artemis later led the Amazons into battle against an army of Doomsday beasts sent by the villain Darkseid. At the end of the film, Artemis proudly looked on as Kara made her Supergirl debut in her classic blue-and-red costume. Artemis wore a sleeveless red outfit during most of the film, except in battle, when she dressed in Amazonian-style armor.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox

She appears in the movie as part of the amazon army. She has no lines in the movie.

Live Action

Wonder Woman (2017)

Artemis appears, played by Ann Wolfe, as one of the main members of the Amazon Army. She is the last challenge Diana has to face in order to fight her aunt, Antiop.

Video Games

DC Unchained

Artemis is one of many characters who has appear in the DC mobile game, DC Unchained. As of right now, the game is release in Asia and little information is known whether it will be release in the Amercias or the rest of the world.