History Characters / PowerGirl

* MeaningfulRename: In the ''Dawn of DC'' backups in ''[[ComicBook/SupermanPhillipJohnsonKennedy Action Comics]]'', Power Girl reveals she dropped the "Karen Starr" identity. She ends up taking the name "Paige" through Jon after he notes that her constantly using "PG" almost sounds like the name.

* DropTheHammer: Satanna fought Power Girl with a hammer that generated [[MakeSomeNoise sonic booms]] capable of penetrating the nervous system.

** In Wonder Woman, volume 3, #40 Quetzlotl ''and'' Power Girl are used to show The Children of Ares can {{brainwash}} even gods and kryptonians. Wonder Woman handles Quetzlotl easily enough by wrapping him in her lasso, but then gets sucker punched by Power Girl, which apparently makes her too angry to think clearly and wrap her in the lasso too. Kara procedes to punch Diana out of Washington DC and into Canada, drawing blood in the process before trying to kill Diana with heat vision while Diana focuses more on saving people from Kara's collateral damage than fighting back. Finally Wonder Woman drops the IdiotBall and remembers her lasso, only to [[WeaponGripFailure drop it]], but still manages to beat Power Girl stupid and force her head to the ground [[AntiClimax while applying a double hammer lock]]. Apparently since it was nine years publication time since she faced a Circe controlled Superman it was time to remind readers that Wonder Woman can beat a Kryptonian in a fist fight.

[[Characters/SupermanCentralRoguesGallery Central Rogues Gallery]] ([[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Alexander "Lex" Luthor]], [[Characters/SupermanBizarro Bizarro]], [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Vril Dox/Brainiac]], [[Characters/SupermanCyborgSuperman Cyborg-Superman]], [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], [[Characters/SupermanDoomsdayCharacter Doomsday]], [[Characters/DCComicsLobo Lobo]], [[Characters/SupermanMisterMxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk]], [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]], [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryPhantomZone Phantom Zone Criminals]] [[[Characters/SupermanGeneralZod General Zod]]]) | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryAToL A-L]] | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ M-Z]] ([[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]])\\

* AmazonianBeauty: She is oftentimes drawn with muscular arms and the physique of a bodybuilder, and is almost always drawn larger (height-wise) than other female characters except the likes of ComicBook/WonderWoman. She is depicted at her beefiest in ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' where she grew even StrongerWithAge. Regardless, she is still considered quite the beauty in-universe, but that is mostly due to [[BuxomBeautyStandard her softer features]]. This also applies to Supergirl, since (even though they're the same person, a few dimensions removed) Karen is 10-15 years older than Kara.

** Power Girl gets brainwashed twice back to back in Wonder Woman volume 3 #40 and #41 by The Children Of Ares, a quintet of [[TheCorrupter corrupters]] with {{emotion controll}}ing powers and {{compelling voice}}s, into killing Wonder Woman, although after she fails the first time they don't actually think Power Girl can get the job done and are just using her as a distraction from then on.

* AllTheOtherReindeer: In regards to her fellow Kryptonians and the rest of the Super-Family in Rebirth, pointing out to Kara that she's the one who tends ''not'' to get invited to barbecues and team-ups. She also claims she doesn't mind, but her expression says otherwise. [[spoiler:In ''Power Girl Special'', it's revealed that it's a side effect of being unable to grieve for the loss of her Krypton and Earth-2. Once she finally is able to do that, she willingly drags herself to the Super-Family and asks to be a part of their family, which they happily accept]].

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' '''[[Characters/{{Superman}} Main Character Index]]'''\\

* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome: She ''is'' an alternate universe Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}. Not that the real one ''isn't'', but still...
* AmazonianBeauty: She is oftentimes drawn with muscular arms and the physique of a bodybuilder, and is almost always drawn larger (height-wise) than other female characters except the likes of Franchise/WonderWoman. She is depicted at her beefiest in ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' where she grew even StrongerWithAge. Regardless, she is still considered quite the beauty in-universe, but that is mostly due to [[BuxomBeautyStandard her softer features]]. This also applies to Supergirl, since (even though they're the same person, a few dimensions removed) Karen is 10-15 years older than Kara.

** During ''Justice League: Generation Lost'', Max Lord hits Power Girl with a mental suggestion to go kill the Justice League International. She sees everyone on the team as another hero (ComicBook/CaptainAtom as Franchise/{{Superman}}, Fire as Comicbook/{{Starfire}}, Ice as ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Rocket Red as ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and Booster Gold as Franchise/{{Batman}}) and hears all their dialogue as plans to conquer and rule humanity.

* TheBusCameBack: The Post-Crisis Power Girl is the Power Girl that teams up with Harley Quinn in the ''Harley Quinn & Power Girl'' miniseries and she would go on to become the Power Girl of the ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'' era. However, she and Tanya Spears would get trapped in a dimensional void until the ''Comicbook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' relaunch.

* ContinuitySnarl: Power Girl's origin is unusual in that it lampshades the utter failure of past writers to come up with a legitimate way of maintaining her character's existence in the face of endless rewrites of the DC universe's history. There is no way the character can exist in the currently "valid" history- and her character development directly involves her attempts to deal with that fact. She is the cousin of Earth-2 Superman, but it is explicitly the pre-Crisis Earth 2. The new similar Earth-2 created following the 52 event has its own Power Girl, cementing our Power Girl's status as an orphan of the old Multiverse. Then we have two Power Girls in the ''Comicbook/New52'' and ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'', one being from that multiverse's Earth-2 (which ended being PutOnABus) and the other coming from the pre-''New 52'' multiverse which is the same one that survived the ''Crisis in Infinite Earths'' and lived in the main Earth before teaming up with ''New 52'' Harley Quinn with her later adopting the colors of the ''New 52'' Power Girl.

** In the pre-Crisis universe they were best friends but her friendship came to an end when ''[[Comicbook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths the Anti-Monitor destroyed Earth-2]]''.

** In ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Vol 6 #20'', Power Girl gets mad with the eponymous heroine because Kara called her "old". Supergirl apologizes, explaining she didn't mean anything by it, but she is prone to say stupid things when she gets upset. Power Girl admits that she used to be like that, too.

* MusclesAreMeaningless: Zig-zagged. Karen is typically portrayed as being one of the physically strongest women on the planet, especially in comparison to her younger, less-developed alternate self, Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}. And yet, some characters, like Franchise/WonderWoman, are often portrayed as equal, or ''superior'', to her in strength, despite not being anywhere as buff. Wonder Woman ''[[DependingOnTheArtist was]]'' drawn ''almost'' as buff as Power Girl when Power Girl had been brainwashed into trying to kill Diana in ''Wonder Woman volume 3'', making it more like [[DownplayedTrope anterior and oblique muscles are meaningless]] at that time.

** The seventh issue of ''Comicbook/InfiniteCrisis'' inverts the iconic "Superman carrying Supergirl'' image when [[spoiler:Power Girl holds her cousin's body while Earth-2 Superman dies]].
** [[http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/supermanrebirth/images/2/2d/Supergirl_Vol_6-20_Cover-1.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130517131559 In the cover]] of ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' vol. 6 #20, Power Girl is holding the body of a dying Kara.

* PleaseDontLeaveMe: In the seventh issue of ''Comicbook/InfiniteCrisis'', as [[spoiler:her cousin is dying]], Power Girl cries out "please, don't leave me alone".

* StatuesqueStunner: She is every bit as tall as Franchise/WonderWoman.

** In ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Vol 6 #20'', Power Girl gets mad with the eponymous heroine because Kara called her "old". Supergirl apologizes, explaining she didn't meant anything by it, but she is prone to say stupid things when she gets upset. Power Girl admits that she used to be like that, too.

Da Bomb is a meta human stalker that has an obsession for Power Girl. He is incredibly powerful but completely dillusional and sexist.

%%* BaldOfEvil: Has a shaven dome.

[[Characters/SupermanCentralRoguesGallery Central Rogues Gallery]] ([[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Alexander "Lex" Luthor]], [[Characters/SupermanBizarro Bizarro]], [[Characters/SupermanBrainiacCharacter Vril Dox/Brainiac]], [[Characters/SupermanCyborgSuperman Cyborg-Superman]], [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]], [[Characters/SupermanDoomsdayCharacter Doomsday]], ComicBook/{{Lobo}}, [[Characters/SupermanMisterMxyzptlk Mister Mxyzptlk]], [[Characters/DCComicsMongul Mongul]], [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryPhantomZone Phantom Zone Criminals]] [[[Characters/SupermanGeneralZod General Zod]]]) | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryAToL A-L]] | [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGalleryMToZ M-Z]] ([[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]])\\

* {{Brainwashed}}: During ''Justice League: Generation Lost'', Max Lord hits Power Girl with a mental suggestion to go kill the Justice League International. She sees everyone on the team as another hero (ComicBook/CaptainAtom as Franchise/{{Superman}}, Fire as Comicbook/{{Starfire}}, Ice as ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}, Rocket Red as ComicBook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and Booster Gold as Franchise/{{Batman}}) and hears all their dialogue as plans to conquer and rule humanity.
* BreathWeapon: Comes with the Kryptonian power set.
* BroughtToYouByTheLetterS: Her ComicBook/New52 version's first costume has a stylized P on the left side of her chest.
* TheBusCameBack: The Post-Crisis Power Girl is the Power Girl that teams up with Harley Quinn in the ''Harley Quinn & Power Girl'' miniseries and she would on to become the Power Girl of the ''Comicbook/DCRebirth'' era. However, she and Tanya Spears would get trapped in a dimensional void until the ''Comicbook/DCInfiniteFrontier'' relaunch.

* MusclesAreMeaningless: Zig-zagged. Karen is typically portrayed as being one of the physically strongest women on the planet, especially in comparison to her younger, less-developed alternate self, Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}. And yet, some characters, like Franchise/WonderWoman, are often portrayed as equal, or ''superior'', to her in strength, despite not being anywhere as buff.

* TheWorfEffect: Since she's one of the most physically powerful members of the JSA, she sometimes gets beaten to show how serious the situation is. For example, it looks like she and Wild Cat won't have any trouble with the [[KnightTemplar Crimson Avenger]], but then we see that the Avenger's bullets can even break her skin. Again, when the team goes to Kahndaq the first time around, Black Adam takes her out with one hit in the climactic fight.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Divine was last seen teleporting away from the Antarctic base with Crash and [[spoiler: Max Lord]].

[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/power_girl_special_1_2023_cover_f_virgin_variant_by_stanley_artgerm_lau_stl280599_9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:Power Girl (2023) - drawn by Stanley Artgerm Lau]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Power Girl -- drawn by Alex Ross]]

[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/power_girl_special_1_2023_cover_f_virgin_variant_by_stanley_artgerm_lau_stl280599_9.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:Power Girl (2023) - drawn by Stanley Artgerm Lau]]

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* BuxomBeautyStandard: Even the girls envy her. In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman #34'', ComicBook/BlackCanary mentions Power Girl as having the top bosom of DCU comparing her assets to a "national treasure".

* RiddleForTheAges: Pretty much everyone, both fans and creators, have collectively said "fuck it" in regards to trying to explain exactly how and why Power Girl exclusively survived the original ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', as well as the myriad of irreconcilable [[ContinuitySnarl Continuity Snarls]] that cropped up in wake of that. Even the [[TheWikiRule DC Database]] offers nothing. ''Infinite Crisis'' even takes a moment to address it, with Kal-L and Alex Luthor talking about the matter. Alex can't figure out how she's still around, but Kal just figures it's because of HeroicWillpower. That's as close an explanation given as any.

* BoobsOfSteel: As you may have noticed, Karen is rather buxom. And being a Kryptonian she's one of the strongest heroes DC has to offer. She is also consistently presented as the physical superior of the less bustier Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} because of age and training. It's not uncommon for her to be the muscle in her superhero teams.

* BoobsOfSteel: Given who her progenitor is, this shouldn't be surprising.

* ButNotTooBlack: She has a darker skin tone than the rest of the cast in her first on panel appearance but sporadically got lighter-skinned in later art.

* SweaterGirl: It's not like she can help it.

* BoobsOfSteel: As you may have noticed, Karen is rather buxom. And being a Kryptonian she's one of the strongest heroes DC has to offer. She is also consistently presented as the physical superior of the less bustier Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} because of age and training.