Faora

Faora
Faora in Action Comics #472 (June 1977).
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	(Hu-Ul) Action Comics #471, May 1977
Created by	Cary Bates Curt Swan
In-story information
Full name	- Faora Hu-Ul - Zaora Hu-Ul - Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Unrevealed
Species	(Both Hu-Ul) Kryptonian (Unknown) Human
Abilities	(Both Hu-Ul) Superhuman strength, speed, stamina and invulnerability, freezing breath, super hearing, multiple extrasensory and vision powers, longevity, flight, and regeneration (Unknown) Disruption of molecular bonds

Faora is the name of several female super-villains in DC Comics Superman titles. All of them have some connection to Superman's home planet of Krypton. Most commonly, she is an ally and sometimes the wife or lover of Superman's Kryptonian nemesis, General Zod.

Faora first appeared in Action Comics #471 and was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan.

The first Faora, Faora Hu-Ul, was introduced in Action Comics #471. She was a beautiful Kryptonian woman whose unexplained hatred for men led her to torture and kill 23 men in a secret concentration camp. For this, she was imprisoned in the Phantom Zone to complete a sentence of 300 Kryptonian years, the second longest term after Jax-Ur. Ironically this allowed her to survive her homeworld's destruction, along with the other Phantom Zone prisoners, albeit in an invisible ghostlike form. While imprisoned in the Phantom Zone, she was often depicted plotting against Superman with General Zod and Jax-Ur. Her hatred of men was not limited to Kryptonians, as demonstrated by her pointless murder of a young Frenchman who was attracted by her beauty.

Faora was an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilized the pressure points on the Kryptonian body. This made her an extremely dangerous foe for Superman to face in hand-to-hand combat-—he was forced to flee from their first encounter. During one of her first appearances, Faora could manifest some sort of "mental lightning" to physically attack other Kryptonians, but did not exhibit this additional power during later appearances.

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, another Faora (renamed Zaora) appeared in the Pocket Universe created by the Time Trapper, along with General Zod and Quex-Ul. The three tricked the Pocket Universe's Lex Luthor into releasing them from the Phantom Zone. After the Pocket Earth's population continued to resist their conquest of it, the three villains destroyed the atmosphere, killing almost all life. Superman defeated them by permanently stripping the three of their super powers with gold kryptonite. He then executed them with kryptonite in punishment for their crimes, and to protect the real Earth after they threatened to somehow regain their powers and destroy it as well. Zaora pleaded with Superman for her life, offering him sexual favors, before she succumbed to the kryptonite.