Doris Zuel, also known as Giganta, is an enemy to Wonder Woman.
History
Early Life
Dr. Doris Zuel was suffering from a fatal blood disease. In a desperate bid to save herself, Zuel planned to transfer her life-essence into the body of Wonder Woman, who was in a coma and being kept at the experimental medical facility where Zuel worked.[1] Unfortunately for Zuel, the experiment was only halfway through and was interrupted by Wonder Girl, in which Zuel was declared dead. Subsequently Zuel's assistant, Branson, discovered Zuel's essence had been stored in the transference machine's buffer module, and put her in the body of one of the test animals, a gorilla named Giganta.
Desperate to return her mind to a human body, Zuel/Giganta abducted a comatose, beautiful red-haired 'strong woman' named Olga from a traveling circus. She apparently succeeded in transferring her mind into Olga's body, and most likely, Olga's mind into the body of the gorilla (although the fate of Olga, the gorilla, and Zuel's original body have never been revealed).[2] Giganta now possesses the ability to grow to gigantic size - Olga already possessed this power when Zuel stole her body.[3] The source of the ability is unknown, though it may stem from the shaman who placed Olga in a coma prior to Giganta's attack. Whatever the case, the ability appears to be mystical in nature, as Giganta has been shown aligned with the forces of magic.
Following her transformation, Giganta allied herself with Queen Clea and the modern version of Villainy Inc. in an attempt to conquer the lost world of Skartaris. After their defeat by Wonder Woman, Giganta has also been a member of the united villain front known as The Society.
One Year Later
Giganta, along with Cheetah and Doctor Psycho, engaged in a battle with Donna Troy (who assumed the identity of Wonder Woman one year after the events of Infinite Crisis), as part of a search for, as they term it, the "real" Wonder Woman. In the following days, the villains continue their quest, holding Troy hostage in order to draw Wonder Woman out for a rescue attempt; they also contend with the current Wonder Girl, Robin, and (though they don't realize it at first), Diana herself, in the guise of government agent Diana Prince. Giganta and her allies also battle Hercules, with the giantess being felled by the legendary champion.
At a later point of time, Giganta turned down her career in villainy and became employed as a regular teacher at Ivy Town's University. There, she was infected and controlled by M'Nagalah, the monstrous Cancer god, and was sent to seduce and capture Ryan Choi, the new Atom, in the process even going so far as to swallow the miniature hero alive. He got out by making her sick and she coughed him up. Now free of M'Nagalah's control, a seemingly repentant Dr. Zuel retains her position at Ivy University and has approached Ryan for a second chance, despite the bizarre circumstances of their first meeting.
Before their second date, the Atom is approached by Wonder Woman on behalf of the Department of Metahuman Affairs and asked to wear a wire on his date with Zuel. After professing her desire to reform, she is informed that Ryan is wearing a wire and tears off the roof of the restaurant to see Wonder Woman and Ryan talking - unaware that Ryan had removed the wire. A fight between Wonder Woman and Giganta ensues. Wonder Woman quickly managed to knock Giganta out but Ryan intervened to stop her from beating her further, after admitting she had lost her temper - they realize that Dr. Zuel has disappeared. Whether she heard or saw Ryan's actions to stop her from getting further injuries is yet to be seen.
The events following Ivy Town forced Giganta to come back to villainy. Eventually, she was among the many villains that were secretly taken into custody by Checkmate and exiled to another planet. She and the other prisoners were later able to escape back to Earth through the workings of Lex Luthor.
Final Crisis
Main article: Final Crisis
During the Final Crisis, Giganta became a member of Libra's Secret Society of Super Villains, and later fell under the thrall of Darkseid alongside several other super-powered women, going under the name Gigantrix, in which she fights as one of the new incarnations of the Female Furies with Wonder Woman, Batwoman and Catwoman. She was possessed by the spirit of the Fury Stompa, and was only freed when Supergirl smashes the skull-and-crossbones mask from her face.[4]
Brightest Day
Main article: Brightest Day
Giganta was hired by Bane to join his and Jeannette's replacement team of Secret Six along with several other mercenaries including Dwarfstar, a supervillain with shrinking powers who, unbeknownst to Zuel, had been involved in Ryan Choi's death via his hiring Deathstoke to kill him.
Upon return from a mission, Amanda Waller arranged a deal with the members of the Six, but felt Dwarfstar was a liability, so she informed them of the full details of his actions, knowing Giganta would deal with him. Indeed, Giganta abducted Dwarfstar with the full intentions of torturing him.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Size Alteration: Ability to increase her size from roughly 6'6 to several hundred feet in seconds.
- Superhuman Strength: Above average in normal form, superhuman when gigantic. She has held her own against Wonder Woman, and can become stronger than her through her size alteration.
- Superhuman Durability: Her durability is higher than an average woman but it is not superhuman until she begins growing.
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect: Giganta is also a brilliant scientist who now retains her full intelligence at any size from normal to maximum.
Other Characteristics
- Diminished Intellect (Formerly): Giganta becomes less brilliant the more she grows.[6]
Notes
- In Pre-Crisis continuity, in Wonder Woman #163, Giganta's origin is revamped to include Doctor Psycho in which she becomes even larger (though not yet a giant) and was blond.
Trivia
- It was noted in Wonder Woman (Volume 3) #2 that Giganta formerly lost much of her intellect as she grew in size (becoming more brutish and prone to violence), but currently seems to have transcended that limitation and retains her full intelligence at any size.[3]
- According to writer Gail Simone on Twitter, Giganta's brief relationship with the size-altering superhero the Atom (Ryan Choi) was inspired by a suggestion by the actor Patton Oswalt. [7]
Recommended Reading
- Wonder Woman Recommended Reading
- All-Star Comics (Volume 1)
- Comic Cavalcade (Volume 1)
- JLA (Volume 1)
- Sensation Comics (Volume 1)
- Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman (Volume 1)
- Superman/Wonder Woman (Volume 1)
- The Legend of Wonder Woman (Volume 1)
- The Legend of Wonder Woman (Volume 2)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 1)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 2)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 3)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 4)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 5)
- Wonder Woman (Volume 6)
Related
- 85 Appearances of Doris Zuel (New Earth)
- 28 Images featuring Doris Zuel (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Doris Zuel (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Doris Zuel (New Earth)
Footnotes
Wonder Woman Villain(s)
This character is or was primarily an enemy of Wonder Woman and the Amazons in any of her various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Wonder Woman Villains category." |
Female Furies member This character is or was a member of the Female Furies, an elite team of evil female warriors from the planet Apokolips who serve Darkseid. This template will categorize articles that include it into the category "Female Furies members." |
Injustice League member |
Secret Society of Super-Villains member |