Faora Hu-Ul (Prime Earth) (2024)

Faora Hu-Ul is a Kryptonian war criminal known for her association with General Dru-Zod. Relentlessly cruel towards all forms of life, Faora enjoys battle and murder and fully supports her commanding officer's ideals of conquest and destruction. For that, she has become an enemy of the hero Superman.

History

Origin

Faora was a member of Krypton's military forces who despised Krypton's ideals of peace and science and desired a return to the old days, when Krypton was a brutal militaristic empire. In time, she met Dru-Zod, a colonel who shared the same dream. Zod gathered a group of like-minded supporters, but he became especially interested in Faora because of her blood lust. Faora became complicit in Zod's engineering of a false flag operation, which triggered a war with the alien Char. Jor-El, an old friend of Zod's, discovered the deception and turned Zod over to the authorities. This resulted in the sentencing of Zod and his followers, Faora among them, to the Phantom Zone.^[1]

But being trapped in the Zone would not mean the end of Zod's villainy or Faora's devotion to him. During their time within the Zone, Zod and Faora became acquainted with the Warworld, a humongous alien war machine and planned to use its endless armies to conquer the outside worlds. Their plan also involved the Kryptonian monster known as Doomsday, also a prisoner within the Zone. Zod and Faora released the beast from his captivity and threw him across the boundaries of the Phantom Zone, weakening them and allowing for their eventual escape.^[2]

Arrival at Earth

Doomsday's actions allow for Zod's escape to planet Earth but Zod becomes separated from Faora, who remained trapped. To release her, Zod tricks Superman, Jor-El's son, into taking him to his Fortress of Solitude and giving him access to his Phantom Zone Projector, releasing Faora.^[3] At first, Faora becomes aggressive and disoriented but exposure to Earth's yellow sun gives her superpowers and restores her sanity. Before long, Superman and his girlfriend Wonder Woman intercept them, engaging in combat. The Amazon Princess easily beats Faora, until Zod threatens to kill Superman unless they are allowed to leave, forcing her to let the Kryptonian criminals escape and ensure Superman's safety.^[4]

With Superman and Wonder Woman in retreat, Zod and Faora construct a Phantom Zone portal in the South Pacific, using stolen human technology. In all of a sudden, Superman and Woman return, wearing magic armor and seeking a rematch. Zod reveals his plan was that Doomsday would break the barrier between normal space and the Phantom Zone, facilitating an invasion from the War. Although the heroes initially defeat Zod and Faora by detonating their armors at point-blank range, Zod and Faora are empowered a direct beam of sunlight, sent by the Greek god Apollo, who sought revenge from an earlier defeat by Superman, even if it was by proxy. Zod and Faora brutally defeat their opponents and throw them into a nuclear reactor, believing they would no longer be a threat. But while Zod and Faora enter the Phantom Zone in order to liberate the Warworld, Superman and Wonder Woman manage to set off a large nuclear explosion that destroyed the portal, trapping Zod and Faora in the Zone once again.^[2]

Much later, Batman and Wonder Woman travel to the Phantom Zone, hoping to a find a cure for Superman, who had become a new iteration of Doomsday. They stumble upon Non, who revealed Zod and Faora had mysteriously vanished after Doomsday was released from the Phantom Zone.^[5]

Powers and Abilities

Powers

• Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Faora possesses the same potential powers as an average Kryptonian. These include:
  • Solar Energy Absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Faora's super powers as they are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. Her biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. It is believed that between one or more of these and her bio-cellular matrix, "yellow" solar energy is stored for later use. This allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available instead of immediate failure.
  • Heat Vision: Faora can, as a conscious act, fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. She can vary the heat and area affected.
  • Super-Hearing: Faora's hearing is sensitive enough to hear any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency.
  • Enhanced Vision: Faora's vision processes the entire electromagnetic spectrum as well as allowing vast control over selective perception and focus.
    This umbrella ability includes the following:
    • Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision: Faora can see well into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, she can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows her to see the aura generated by living thing.
    • Telescopic Vision: This is the ability to see something at a great distance, without violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to the zoom lens on a camera.
    • X-Ray Vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Faoras can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. She can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden image or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived—such as x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans—is unclear. This ability perceives an ambient energy source though, it does not involve the eye projecting a concentrated, possibly toxic, beam to be reflected back from objects.
    • Microscopic Vision: This is the ability to see extremely small objects and images down to the atomic level.
    • Infrared Vision: Faora can see with better acuity in darkness, and to a degree in total darkness.
  • Flight: Faora is able to manipulate graviton particles to defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This ranges from hovering to moving in any posture, in any direction.
  • Invulnerability: Due to the interaction of her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Faora is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, her extends this protection against toxins and diseases.
    • Enhanced Immunity
  • Superhuman Stamina: Faora is able to maintain continuous strenuous physical action for an indefinite period of time. This based on her body converting yellow solar radiation directly to energy, but is limited by physiological and psychological needs to eat, drink, and sleep.
  • Superhuman Strength: Faora's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation interacting with the greater than human density, resilience and biological efficiency of her musculature. Her strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is this act of conscious will that enables her to perform physical feats that are beyond the mere application force, such as moving a mountain top without said rock crumbling under its own mass.
  • Superhuman Speed: Faora is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This extends to her perceptions and allows for feats such as catching bullets in mid flight as well as covering vast distances in little or no time.
    This also confers:
    • Superhuman Agility
    • Superhuman Reflexes
  • Super-Breath: Faora is able to create hurricane force winds by exhaling air from her lungs. She can chill the air as it leaves her lungs to freeze targets. She can also reverse the process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
  • Longevity: Faora can live longer than regular humans, remaining at her prime as long as she was under the exposure of the "yellow" sun.

Abilities

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Weaknesses

• Kryptonian Physiology: Under the effects of a "yellow" sun, Faora possesses the same potential weaknesses as an average Kryptonian. These include:
  • Vulnerability to Kryptonite
  • Vulnerability to Magic

Notes

• Faora Hu-Ul was created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan, first appearing in Action Comics #471. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Faora Hu-Ul first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Action Comics (Volume 2) #23.2: Zodby Greg Pak and Ken Lashley.

Related

• 9 Appearances of Faora Hu-Ul (Prime Earth)
• 4 Images featuring Faora Hu-Ul (Prime Earth)
• Quotations by or about Faora Hu-Ul (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Faora Hu-Ul (Prime Earth)

Footnotes