science

Zara (character)

Zara (character) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Zara (character) rather than just read about it. In short: Zara, Priestess of the Crimson Flame is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. Created by writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G.

Key takeaways

Zara (character) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Zara (character) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Zara (character) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Zara, Priestess of the Crimson Flame is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman. Created by writer William Moulton Marston and artist Harry G. Peter, the fiery character debuted in 1943 in Comic Cavalcade #5 as a fraudulent cult leader who used advanced pyrogenic technology to delude and intimidate her followers, and to imperil her opposers. Armed with an arsenal of fire guns, flaming swords, flaming chains, and devices that could create solid constructs of fire, the Golden Age Zara clashed several times with Wonder Woman, both in the United States and at her cult's stronghold on the Arabian Peninsula. She subsequently became a member of Villainy Inc., a team of supervillains consisting of several other of Wonder Woman's foes, including the Cheetah, Doctor Poison and Giganta. The modern Zara is a powerful pyrokinetic capable of flight who serves as a fiery field operative of the vindictive pharmaceutical tycoon Veronica Cale.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Zara was an Arab girl and wore belly dancer attire. According to her tales, she was sold into slavery as a child by her father, which created in her an intense hatred of men. Using a flair for pyrotechnics, she eventually created a new religion (The Cult of the Crimson Flame), which had swept the globe. She utilized the "crimson flame", which William Moulton Marston created as an allegory of inducement emotion. Zara rigged various fire-based effects to dazzle her followers and keep them in thrall to her. After her initial defeat by Wonder Woman, the Cult went underground and Zara was able to scare up at least one follower to do her bidding when she joined Villainy Inc. Zara is the high priestess of the mystic Cult of the Crimson Flame, a "new religion" that has begun "sweeping the world". Its symbol is an eerie "crimson flame" that appears out of nowhere at the behest of the high priestess, hanging suspended in midair and inscribing mysterious flaming messages to cow the members of the cult - the so-called "flame slaves" - into abject obedience. Co-creator William Moulton Marston assigned the color crimson to represent the inducement emotion that Zara was activating when trying to influence people:

I am the crimson flame of life", intones a grim voice from within the flame, - "I burn within the breasts of all who obey me! Whosoever opposes me shall be consumed! Anyone daring to oppose the cult falls mysteriously ill and dies soon afterward. When Helen Armstrong, a U.S. Senator's daughter who has been intimately involved with the flame cult, disappears mysteriously, Wonder Woman, Steve Trevor, Etta Candy, and the Holliday Girls follow her to Arabia, site of the Crystal Temple of the Crimson Flame, the "international headquarters" of Zara and her sinister "flame forces". Ultimately, Wonder Woman and her companions defeat the flame cultists, rescue Helen Armstrong from their clutches, and capture Zara.

I'm an Arab", explains Zara, "-my father sold me as a slave! Oh, how I hated heem! I swore I'd get revenge on men of power! Revenge - that ees my crimson flame! It was to wreak vengeance on Helen's father that Zara had had her abducted. The much-feared "crimson flame", confesses Zara, was actually nothing more than "floating, burning, liquid hydrogen”, while the voice seeming to speak from inside it was actually an illusion created with movie projector sound equipment.

To destroy enemies", continues Zara, "I put ideas in zair minds, zen zay make zemselves sick, poor fools! Zara escapes from Transformation Island, which works to rehabilitate female criminals, along with seven other villainesses and joins them in forming Villainy Incorporated.

Post-Crisis Post-Crisis, Zara has been depicted as an Arabian woman and her flame-powers are innate rather than produced by gadgets (originally, she used a fire-gun). In contrast, Hippolyta referred to her flames as 'scientific trickery'. Much later, Zara was mentioned as one of the inhabitants of Alan Scott's Emerald City on the dark side of the moon. She is mentioned as being a "fire girl" and an "old enemy of Wonder Woman".

DC Rebirth After the events of DC Rebirth, Zara's origin was altered. Though her past is currently unknown, she was at some point recruited by Veronica Cale to attack Washington D.C. As a pyrokinetic, Zara's fires were able to melt concrete, which prompted Wonder Woman to quickly defeat the villainess by smashing her into a wall. She is later taken into custody, though Wonder Woman commented that they planned on questioning Zara when she regained consciousness.

Powers and abilities Pre-Crisis, she used a fire-gun and rigged effects to appear to have a mastery over flames. Post-Crisis, her powers are internal, but may have been the result of scientific engineering rather than from natural sources (e.g., magic, meta-human, etc.).

Illustrations

Zara (character): The Golden Age Zara in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #28 (1948); art by Harry G. Peter. — The Golden Age Zara in Wonder Woman (vol. 1) #28 (1948); art by Harry G. Peter.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Zara (character)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Zara (character) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Zara (character) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Zara (character) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Zara (character)

In research: Zara (character) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Zara (character) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Zara (character) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Characters created by H. G. Peter, Characters created by William Moulton Marston, Comics characters introduced in 1943, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Zara (character) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Zara (character) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Zara (character) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Zara (character) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Zara (character) in simple terms?

Why does Zara (character) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Zara (character)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Zara (character).