History YMMV / SuperGIRL

* IncestYayShipping: A number of Franchise/{{Superman}} and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} fans ship both characters together despite of being first cousins, either because they think there's no getting around the "Kryptonian of Steel, Human of Kleenex" trouble or because they genuinely think Clark/Kal and Linda/Kara make a good couple. To be fair, Silver and Bronze stories provide plenty fuel, accidental innuendo and subtext if you know where look ([[http://www.orgamesmic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/superman-supergirl-kiss.jpg Action Comics #260]], [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/actioncomics270_page027.jpg Action Comics #270]], [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pScx8BN4h3s/SMkfbsSeQCI/AAAAAAAAA_c/_XIlCBhpesg/s1600-h/action+289+pan+5.jpg the infamous Action Comics #289]], [[https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-42hj4CP59UU/TW0EOjbIjyI/AAAAAAAALSk/MyJ0VPlDuGo/s1600/sm+309-04.jpg Superman #309]] during the ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'' story arc, [[http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvzhjklUch1r2ntbyo1_500.png this panel]] from ''Literature/TheSuperdictionary''). Fanfic writers such like [[https://archiveofourown.org/users/megamatt09/pseuds/megamatt09 Megamatt09]] have penned long tales featuring them together.

** The fanbase is polarized between fans of Kara Zor-El and fans of the other Supergirls that DC spent eighteen years attempting to replace Kara with. Kara fans feel she's the only Supergirl who actually makes sense, worked fine during twenty-six years until DC killed her off, and her death and failed attempts to replace her with short-lived substitutes led to a gigantic ContinuitySnarl. Other Supergirls' fans think Matrix, Cir-El... are better characters and resent Kara's increased popularity and exposure since her return in 2004.
** Kara becoming a Red Lantern in the New 52 ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline. While being HotBlooded is a long established character trait, and she has plenty of reasons to be angry, many feel its just out of character to make her so DarkerAndEdgier by making her a member of a group known for being the most volatile of the Lantern groups. However, Tony Bedard and Charles Soule's handling of the story in the ''Supergirl'' and ''ComicBook/RedLanterns'' books have been mostly well received, and many feel they made the story actually work.
** The miniskirt costume. Some find it demeaning and stupid, considering the obvious implications [[PantyShot of flying in a skirt]] and how regularly its used for fanservice. Others however (not including the ones who just like it for the fanservice) like the skirt because its so synonymous with her character, like Superman's trunks; its a stupid design choice, but something so iconic to her design at this point. The New 52 outfit is generally given a similar mixed reception, since it doesn't do anything to reduce the fanservice while also doesn't resemble her classic outfit at all.

** Joe Kelly's run, where they tried to make Post-Crisis Kara an overly angsty and jerkish AntiHero, with wild, constantly {{Retcon}}ned plot swings as different writers tried to come up with something that worked, and notoriously ultra-sexualised artwork.
** While not strictly Supergirl, Power Girl's Post-Crisis self had no origin since she was an alternate reality version of said character from a reality which never existed (nor had Supergirl). Her origin was retconned to being the daughter of Atlantean wizard Arion who used her as a baby-maker for the ''real'' Chosen One before being swiftly discarded (with good reason). Now she's back to being Supergirl's double from Earth 2.

** ''Superman vol 1 #415: Supergirl: Bride Of- -X?'' was published right after Kara's death and was an extra middle finger aimed at Supergirl fans. So she had a canon, never-before-or-after mentioned husband she completely forgot about? [[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2008/07/it-came-from-back-issue-box-superman.html All Supergirl fans hate that story]] and no one thinks it is canon anyway (it was a time of way out stories as writers were cut loose to write any story they wanted before the reboot). "Superman's Super-Courtship!" was so ridiculous it was -arguably- funny at least.

** Supergirl herself started out as a test to gauge fan interest in a female character with Kryptonian powers. Fan reaction was incredibly positive, and DC introduced a proper Supergirl -Kara Zor-El- the next year. Six decades and hundreds of comics later, Supergirl is still one of the most popular characters of the Superman mythos, even though DC killed her and tried to get the fandom to forget about her in 1985. They failed and eventually had to reintroduce the character.

* FairForItsDay: Much of Supergirl's early comic book appearances in the Silver Age focused more on her love life and whims versus adventures. She also would chiefly use her superpowers for things like super-cleaning in her downtime. Supergirl was, however, the most powerful female comic book character in the world and did have many fantastical adventures. Defenders also point out a huge number of then-Superman stories focused on ''his'' love-life and [[{{Superdickery}} misusing his powers in oddball ways.]]

* FandomRivalry: Kara Zor-El fans vs Linda Danvers fans. The first -and considerably larger- group isn't interested in a Supergirl that isn't Superman's Kryptonian's cousin. The second group refuses to consider that other Supergirls may be good characters and bash Kara at every turn.

** ''Superman vol 1 #415: Supergirl: Bride Of- -X?'' was published right after Kara's death and was an extra middle finger aimed at Supergirl fans. So she had a canon, never-before-or-after mentioned husband she completely forgot about? [[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2008/07/it-came-from-back-issue-box-superman.html All Supergirl fans hate that story]] and no one thinks it is canon anyway (it was a time of way out stories as writers were cut loose to write any story they wanted before the reboot). ''Action Comics #289: Superman's Super-Courtship!'' was so ridiculous it was ''arguably-'' funny at least.
** Most of fans tend to pretend the fist 19 issues of the fifth volume -- Loeb and Kelly's runs -- never happened. Loeb's run is tolerated, but Kelly's one is reviled.

* FriendlyFandoms: Supergirl fans and Batgirl fans tend to get along marvelously, perhaps because of the similarities between both heroines (both are distaff counterparts of famous male heroes, both have been looked down on by comic fans because of it, both were fridged for decades, replaced and eventually brought back). Or perhaps because they are always friends in every comicverse and even other media as the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, ''WesternAnimation/SuperBestFriendsForever'' or ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls''. Regardless of the reason, Kara Zor-El fans use to be Barbara Gordon (and/or Stephanie Brown) fans too, and vice versa; and both fandoms respect each other.

** The original Supergirl [[http://comicboxcommentary.blogspot.com.es/2015/07/30th-anniversary-crisis-on-infinite_25.html was mistreated and dissed by a number of vocal fans]] after her death. Matrix fans claimed that Mae had more personality than Kara ever had. Linda Danvers fans told that Kara only did what Superman didn't and "the only ones who miss her are a small but very vocal group of fans." And still Creator/PeterDavid said people missed Kara's Silver Age self, not any other later version, and that sales of his Supergirl book were almost non-existent (improving during the ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'' arc). Fast-forward to 2016. Supergirl is again Kara Zor-El. She stars in her own book and Live-action series and shows up in other characters' books, cartoons, live-action shows and video-games. Silver Age Kara Zor-El has made several appearances and [[Comicbook/{{Convergence}} her death has been undone]]. And Matrix and Linda Danvers have disappeared.

** "Super Britney," the derisive nickname given to the Post-Crisis Kara back when she was whiny and insufferable, becomes rather ironic when noting how, much like Kara TookALevelInKindness and gained more stability later in her series, Britney Spears saw her career getting revitalized and is in a much more emotionally healthy place than she was before.

** In ''Action Comics #270'', Superman dreams he has travelled to the future, and Linda Lee works as a reporter in the Daily Planet. Linda never was a reporter in the comics, but in 2016 she became one in ''[[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} her Live-Action show]]''.

* {{Misblamed}}: A number of Dark Age DC fans blame the cancellation of ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'''s fourth self-named book on Creator/DanDidio and alleged old-school fans and writers who supposedly hated the Earth Angel Supergirl and wanted her out of the way of Kara Zor-El. In reality the book was always in hot water due to perpetually dismal sales, and the decision to cancel it was taken long before Kara was reintroduced because of her less convoluted backstory (and not because of old-school fans).

** Creator/MarkWaid -who is a big fan of Silver Age Kara- treated post-Crisis Supergirl as a smiling, optimistic young hero as opposite to Joe Kelly's run's self-absorbed jerkass.

** The Creator/PeterDavid version of Supergirl had detractors due to the angel angle, which was rather outside the norm for Supergirl (or even Superman). There are plenty though who greatly appreciated the series and wish the character wasn't PutOnABus (see above in RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap). Her later popularity was ironic, as Peter David noted, leading to many incarnations of Kara Zor-El getting unfavorably compared to Linda Danvers the Earth Angel.
** Cir-El was loved by nobody, in large part due to being a ReplacementScrappy for the Peter David version of the character. So, she was a ReplacementScrappy for a ReplacementScrappy. The fact she came in the heels of the wildly popular ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'' arc didn't help. The backlash over it was so fierce, they ended up {{Retgone}}-ing the character.

** Creator/MarkWaid was the first to make Post-Crisis Kara a likable character in ''Supergirl and the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', but it were Tony Bedard and Sterling Gates who made it permanent in her main series.

** For as much as Cir-El was initially hated for being a ReplacementScrappy to Linda Danvers ''and'' Kara Zor-El, she's developed a noticeable fanbase of people who liked the idea of her being a daughter figure to Superman because of how much she wanted to be a hero in order to earn her father's approval, to the degree she willingly retconned herself out of existence to save his life. They tend to focus more on her bubbly, plucky personality instead of her convoluted backstory and the "split personality" aspect of her character. Seriously, go on tumblr and you'll have a harder time finding people who ''don't'' like her.
* SavedByTheFans: Creator/DCComics killed off the original Kara Zor-El in the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' event, believing she was diminishing Superman's "uniqueness", and replaced her with several non-Kryptonian substitutes. Nonetheless, Kara fans spent eighteen years campaigning and begging for her return until DC finally gave way and [[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton brought her back in 2004]].

* [[AwesomeMusic/{{Film}} Awesome Music]]: Say what you want about what the film ended up being, but the score by Music/JerryGoldsmith isn't half bad and match Music/JohnWilliams' heroic compositions for ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' quite well while being its own thing. The majestic [[https://youtu.be/SczeTgWkGMw main theme]] especially.

* IdiotPlot: Ok, Kara. So you're personally responsible for losing the Omegahedron and decide to man up and go after it yourself. You heard less than 5 feet from you that without the Omegahedron Argo City has only a few days to live. So you spend the first day learning to fly, go to sleep in a park, then spend the second day making up your alter ego and going to school. Even when you get a solid lead on the Omegahedron and get up to go after it you sit down and complete the day, play soccer and shower because...the teacher and Lucy Lane said so?

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: As incoherent as the film ended up being, Creator/HelenSlater really worked on her role, earning herself a Saturn Award nomination. Even the reviewers who hated the film tended not to criticise her performance. She also takes special care to give subtle differences between Supergirl and Linda Lee, making it very believable that they could be different people.

*** The push of "Kara Danvers" led to some [[HilariousInHindsight hilarity in hindsight,]] as by then ''[[ComicBook/CarolDanvers Carol]]'' Danvers over at Creator/MarvelComics had since been raised to A-list status as their [[ComicBook/MarvelComicsCaptainMarvel Captain Marvel]] and even got [[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 a movie]] announced around the time the ''Supergirl'' series started. And Carol's creator Roy Thomas has said that he'd have named her differently if he'd remembered at the time that Supergirl was "Linda Danvers".

* HardToAdaptWork: For Supergirl, it's been difficult (outside of the [[{{Film/Supergirl}} 1984 movie]] and [[{{Series/Supergirl}} 2015 series]]), for Kara Danvers to make ''any'' stand-alone appearances in other mediums, and she hasn't even had a ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' movie made, unlike Batman, Superman and Franchise/TheFlash. The fact her character varies DependingOnTheWriter and the fact that AlternateSelf Power Girl version exists contribute to this.

* LauncherOfAThousandShips: Kara Danvers has been shipped with virtually ''everyone'', regardless of age, gender or ''universe'': her co-worker Jimmy, her another co-worker Winn, her boyfriend Mon-El, her boss Cat Grant, her friend Lena, her sister Alex, her friend from another universe [[Series/{{The Flash 2014}} Barry Allen]]...

** Supergirl going by "Kara Danvers" appears in most adaptations and in many comics. Despite this, Supergirl went by the civilian name "Linda Danvers" until the 2000s, and she's still often called that.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Ask someone on the street who Supergirl is and they will describe a blond girl wearing a female version of Superman's costume and who happens to be Clark Kent's cousin. Ask them about her name and "Kara" is the only one you will get. No one will mention or describe Matrix or human Linda Danvers. Supergirl's writer Creator/PeterDavid tells that his book -featuring human Linda Danvers- hardly sold anything because most of fans only cared for the original Kara Zor-El who was Kryptonian's Superman cousin. Of course, appearances in animated shows and movies, as well as videogames, ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and ''[[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} her own live-action show]]'' have solidified this. And it helps that unlike Superman she has flaws that can help her to be relatable to people who are from different countries such as that she was a teenager when Krypton blew up and therefore unlike Superman who was a baby when it happened she had her own life on Krypton when it happened therefore people can relate to her even more because of the fact they had their own lives in the countries they used to live at before something awful happened which forced them to never come back for a long time or again so some people might find her a lot more relatable than Superman himself at times.

[[folder: Comics]]
!!The Comics

** Supergirl flying out of her space rocket in the cover of ''Comicbook/ActionComics #252'' has been paid tribute to, referenced and parodied countless times.

** Superman revealing his cousin's existence to the world and the Earth's people organizing a parade in the cover of ''Action Comics #285''.

* InformedRealLifeFame: A weird example in that Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} has never been a terribly prominent part of the Superman mythos. However, she is instantly one of the most recognizable superheroines in the world to both children and adults. Despite this, there have been literal decades where Supergirl has had little-to-no-major role in comics. Likewise, she rarely plays a major role in Superman's stories. This is changing in recent years with the Post-Crisis New Krypton storyline and incorporating her into the New 52 Superman stories from the beginning.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: As incoherent as the film ended up being Creator/HelenSlater really worked on her role, earning herself a Saturn Award nomination. Even the reviewers who hated the film tended not to criticise her performance. She also takes special care to give subtle differences between Supergirl and Linda Lee, making it very believable that they could be different people.
* TrappedByMountainLions: Kara enrolling in school under the alias Linda Lee. She completely forgets that she went to Earth to find the Omegahedron - and that she's only got a few days to do so.

* CompleteMonster: The Post-Crisis version of [[SociopathicSoldier Benjamin Martin Krull]], aka [[NuclearNasty Reactron]], is Supergirl's ArchEnemy. Having been rebuilt by Lex Luthor into a cyborg with a Gold Kryptonite heart, Reactron invades New Krypton alongside Metallo, depowering and killing numerous Kryptonians, threatening to rape Supergirl, and then murdering her father, Zor-El, in front of her by giving him radiation sickness. Tasked by General Lane with eliminating Supergirl, Flamebird, and Nightwing, Reactron murdered all the soldiers assigned to help him when they expressed doubts about the mission, and did his best to slowly torture Supergirl and Flamebird to death. Captured and tortured by Supergirl's mother, Alura, Reactron waited until Supergirl came to free him from the torture chamber to reveal that his capture had been a set up and that Luthor had transformed him into a living bomb. [[GoOutWithASmile Detonating himself with a smile]], Reactron gives a serene look as he incinerates Alura, the city of Kandor, and [[EarthShatteringKaboom the entire planet]] of New Krypton, killing over ninety percent of the population in a single fell swoop.

* OneMarioLimit: When people -especially comic-book fans- hear the name "Kara", they will probably think of Supergirl, which is because she does not share her name with any other super-hero. In that vein, although ComicBook/CarolDanvers got away with using Supergirl's civilian identity surname when she was created ten years after Kara's first appearance, now that both heroines have been successfully adapted to other media, Kara and Carol have pretty much taken ownership of the "Danvers" surname.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A pre-''Series/MaxHeadroom'' Creator/MattFrewer is one of the would-be rapists.
** Ethan is better known to DC fans as [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Arthur Reeves]].

* GirlShowGhetto: Supergirl had this problem for decades. Even though she is one of the most recognizable superheroines in the world, she has never been on the same level of sales as her cousin, and her character is often disregarded and put down by people who never read her stories due to their perception of her being a "Superman with skirt/boobs", to the point that DC decided to kill her in the ''Crisis On Infinite Earths'' (in spite of her books having decent, albeit no great, sales). This situation started changing gradually since her reintroduction in 2004. She has starred in several comic-book series, cartoons and tv shows -including ''[[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} her own series]]''- and she has become a kind of household name since then.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Ask someone on the street who Supergirl is and they will describe a blond girl wearing a female version of Superman's costume and who happens to be Clark Kent's cousin. Ask them about her name and "Kara" is the only one you will get. No one will mention or describe Matrix or human Linda Danvers. Supergirl's writer Creator/PeterDavid tells that his book -featuring human Linda Danvers- hardly sold anything because most of fans only cared for the original Kara Zor-El who was Kryptonian's Superman cousin. Of course, appearances in animated shows and movies, as well as videogames, ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and ''[[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} her own live-action show]]'' have solidified this. And it helps that unlike Superman she has flaws that can help her to be relatable to people who are from different countries such as that she was a teenager when Krypton blew up and therefore unlike Superman who was a baby when it happened she had her own life on Krypton when it happened therefore people can relate to her even more because of the fact they had their own lives in the countries they used to live at before something awful happened which forced them to never come back for long time or again so some people might find her a lot more relatable than Superman himself at times.

* FirstInstallmentWins: Ask someone on the street who Supergirl is and they will describe a blond girl wearing a female version of Superman's costume and who happens to be Clark Kent's cousin. Ask them about her name and "Kara" is the only one you will get. No one will mention or describe Matrix or human Linda Danvers. Supergirl's writer Creator/PeterDavid tells that his book -featuring human Linda Danvers- hardly sold anything because most of fans only cared for the original Kara Zor-El who was Kryptonian's Superman cousin. Of course, appearances in animated shows and movies, as well as videogames, ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' and ''[[Series/{{Supergirl 2015}} her own live-action show]]'' have solidified this.

* HardToAdaptWork: For Supergirl, it's been difficult (outside of the [[{{Film/Supergirl}} 1984 movie]] and [[{{Series/Supergirl}} 2015 series]]), for Kara Danvers to make ''any'' stand-alone appearances in other mediums, and she hasn't even had a ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'' movie made, unlike Batman, Superman and [[ComicBook/TheFlash The Flash]]. The fact her character varies DependingOnTheWriter and the fact that AlternateSelf Power Girl version exists contribute to this.

* RetroactiveRecognition: A pre-''Series/MaxHeadroom'' Matt Frewer is one of the would-be rapists.

* LesYay: An early draft is dripping in accidental subtext between Supergirl and Selena after the latter's HeelFaceTurn, as since there's no place for her on Earth Kara invites her to live with her in Argo City. The draft ends with Supergirl comforting her over stealing the Omegahedron and assuring her that Argo City is home.

** Selena tries to choke Supergirl to death by having the demon pull on her, which due to the aspect ratio being changed looks like it's stretching the film.

* IdiotPlot: Ok, Kara. So you're personally responsible for losing the Omegahedron and decide to man up and go after it yourself. You heard less than 5 feet from you that without the Omegahedron Argo City has only a few days to live. So you spend the first day learning to fly, go to sleep in a park, then spend the second day making up your alter ego and going to school. Even when you get a solid lead on the Omegahedron and get up to go after it you sit down and complete the day, play soccer and shower because...the teacher and Lucy Lane said so? In addition, Selena also isn't the same one in the movie as she wastes her time using the Omegahedron to pick up guys instead of taking over the world.

** Selena tries to choke Supergirl to death - by stretching the film.[[note]]To be fair, that's due to the aspect ratio of the film being stretched. In the theatrical release, there was no stretching.[[/note]]

** Selena as a witch could have been quite a unique villain. Superman and Supergirl are actually vulnerable to magic - so Selena could have given Supergirl a run for her money. Instead she mostly uses her magic to cast a love spell on a man, and fight with Supergirl for his affections.
** Not much effort is made to give Kara an arc. She jeopardises the safety of her home and goes to Earth to make amends, which could have set up a nice arc about her maturing and learning to be a hero. But she instead spends the movie doing absolutely nothing for ages and being a complete idiot.

* FairForItsDay: For all of the film's UnfortunateImplications, it doesn't play Supergirl's heroism, or her rescuing Ethan, for laughs. The audience is never expected to feel that a woman rescuing a man is ridiculous or even awkward.

* IdiotPlot:
** Ok, Kara. So you're personally responsible for losing the Omegahedron and decide to man up and go after it yourself. You heard less than 5 feet from you that without the Omegahedron Argo City has only a few days to live. So you spend the first day learning to fly, go to sleep in a park, then spend the second day making up your alter ego and going to school. Even when you get a solid lead on the Omegahedron and get up to go after it you sit down and complete the day, play soccer and shower because...the teacher and Lucy Lane said so? In addition, Selena also isn't the same one in the movie as she wastes her time using the Omegahedron to pick up guys instead of taking over the world.
* JustHereForGodzilla: Some people just watch the movie to see Creator/HelenSlater in the very flattering Supergirl suit.

* UnfortunateImplications: WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick and [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPUV5KfndM criticised]] the film in their review - namely that the supervillainess only cares about casting a love spell, and that there's more emphasis on Selena and Kara fighting over Ethan than the impending destruction of Kara's home. It's also pointed out how sexist it is to make the first ever film about a female superhero a ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' type story about "a lost and lonely little girl trying to get home"
** Also the teeny bit that the whole romance is based on the man being put under a love spell.

** Ethan is better known to DC fans as [[Film/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Arthur Reeves]]

** Alternatively Kara's friend/mentor is the one who took the omegahedron to use for his own amusement whilst fully aware of potential for misuse/trouble and then gave it to her to play with so it can be argued that he is far more responsible for dooming Argo city than Supergirl. Also on earth Kara is basically stranded on a strange world with no money, food or shelter which is why her first night is spent sleeping rough. Infiltrating the school is quite a clever way to gain food and shelter for free. Selena is only interested in romancing Ethan because she mistook the omegahedrons reaction to Kara's proximity as a sign that Ethan was important somehow to her future plans of world domination and decided that a love spell was the easiest way to get him onside.

** Supergirl going by "Kara Danvers" appears in most adaptations and in many comics. Despite this, Supergirl went by the civilian name "Linda Danvers" until the 2000s, and she's still ofte called that.

* GermansLoveDavidHasslehoff: The film received a lot more positive buzz in the UK.

* NewerThanTheyThink: Although Supergirl is an iconic and inextricable part of the Superman mythos, the best-known and most enduring version of the character (Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El) didn't make her first appearance until 1959, twenty-one years after the debut of Superman. In 1985 DC killed the character and attempted to replace her several times with little success, finally reintroducing a modern Kara Zor-El in 2004.