Ursa

Ursa
Continuity:	DC Universe
Notability:	Antagonist
Type:	Supervillain
Gender:	Female
Race:	Kryptonian
Location:	Fort Rozz, Phantom Zone
Associations:	Phantom Zoners
Known relatives:	Dru-Zod Lor-Zod
Status:	Alive
First:	Superman: The Movie
Actor:	Sarah Douglas

Ursa is a fictional alien criminal and a recurring super-villain featured in comic book titles published by DC Comics. She is associated with the Superman line of titles and its related media. She first appeared as an antagonist in the original Superman film series. In the original series, Ursa was played by actress Sarah Douglas. She made a brief appearance in the 1978 film Superman: The Movie, but took a more prominent role in the film's 1980 sequel Superman II. Her first comic book appearance was in Action Comics #845 in January, 2007.

Biography

Ursa was a proud young commander, leading the elite Black Zero unit. When the Kryptonian Science Council discovered that two of their most revered scientists, Jor-El and Non, had determined that in a short matter of time, Krypton would suffer geothermic upheavel that would destroy the entire planet, they branded the two as heretics sent General Zod and his militants to Jor-El's laboratory to arrest him and Non. Ursa was in charge of placing the two scientists under arrest and handing them over to the council. The Science Council administered a stern warning to them, and set them free.

Ursa

Before long, Zod and Ursa discovered that Jor-El and Non had been right all along. Krypton had little time left. Non ignored the Council's warning and preached to the populace of Krypton, revealing everything he knew of the pending disaster. Zod and Ursa defected from the military and joined Non's cause. Soon after, Non was captured and lobotomized under orders of the Science Council. This incident drove Zod over the edge, and Ursa and he began an insurrection that made them the most wanted criminals on the planet. They were eventually captured and brought to justice. Jor-El argued on their behalf and swayed the Science Council from sentencing them to death. Instead, Jor-El elected for a more peaceful means of punishment - exile in the Phantom Zone.

Ursa, Non and Zod remained in the Phantom Zone for many years. During this time, Zod and she mated and produced a son, Lor-Zod. Their child eventually escaped from the Phantom Zone and arrived on the planet Earth. He came under the care of the last surviving Kryptonian, the Son of Jor-El, Superman. Shortly after this event, Ursa and the others broke free of their confinement and journeyed to Earth to reclaim the Kryptonian child. They attacked the city of Metropolis, and Ursa raided the offices of the Daily Planet, where she found Lor-Zod in the care of Lois Lane. Cornering her in a stairwell, Ursa incapacitated Lois with a simple flick from her index finger.

Superman fought against the Kryptonians and Ursa and her confederates were returned to the Phantom Zone.

When the city-state of Kandor was returned to its normal size, Kandorian leader Alura In-Ze had it relocated to its own private planetoid directly opposite the Earth in its orbit. Alura pardoned General Zod and all of his followers and Ursa was reinstated in the Kryptonian military guild.

One of Ursa's assignments was to seed the Earth with Kryptonian sleeper agents. Her son, Lor-Zod, and Kandorian security chief Thara Ak-Var began hunting down and exposing these agents.

Abilities

• Kryptonian physiology: Kryptonians are an alien race that hail from the planet Krypton. In their natural environment, they are physiologically no different than a normal human. This is because Krypton revolves around a red sun. If a Kryptonian is on a world that revolves around a yellow sun, such as Earth, they will develop fantastic superhuman abilities.

• Solar energy absorption: Under optimal conditions, this is the main source of Ursa's super powers. They are contingent upon exposure to solar radiation from a yellow sun star system. Ursa's biological make up includes a number of organs which lack analogues in humans and whose functions are unknown. Yellow solar energy is stored for later use, which also allows for the use of these powers to fade when yellow solar radiation is not available rather than immediate failure.
• Energy projection: Ursa can project beams of intense thermal energy from the eyes. This is also known as "heat vision", and operates in similar function to that of an amplified laser beam. It is destructive enough to kill lesser beings, and cause significant damage to large structures and landmarks, including mountains.
• Enhanced vision: Ursa's visual acuity is significantly greater than that of a normal human being and encompasses several sub-abilities or applications. This includes perception of different levels of the electromagnetic spectrum with varying degrees of range and focus.

• Telescopic vision: This is the ability to perceive something visually at a great distance, without external resources or violating the laws of physics. Though limited, the exact extent of the ability is undetermined. In function, it is similar to that of the zoom lens on a camera.
• X-ray vision: This is the ability to see through any volume of matter except lead. Ursa can see things behind a solid, opaque object as if it were not there. Ursa can focus this ability to "peel back" layers of an object, allowing hidden images or inner workings to be observed. The exact type of energy perceived including x-rays, cosmic rays, or some other energy invisible to normal humans may vary.

• Flight: Ursa can defy the gravity of any environment for the purposes of levitation, and directional flying. This also includes flight capability in a zero-gravity environment such as outer space. Ursa can fly at great speeds, crossing oceans in the matter of minutes.
• Invulnerability: Under a yellow sun, Ursa is impervious to nearly all forms of conventional injury. Ursa's skin cannot be scratched, scarred, penetrated for burned. Muscle tissue and ligaments will not tear or strain. Bones will not break. However, Ursa's invulnerability, as well as the rest of the Kryptonian powers, diminish while in the presence of green Kryptonite. Kryptonite produces radiation which effectively burns out the absorbed solar power from a Kryptonian's cells. A Kryptonian will find him or herself drastically weakened while in its presence. Prolonged exposure to Kryptonite is fatal. Once the presence of Kryptonite is removed, their natural abilities will return to them.
• Self-sustenance: Ursa's physiology does not process oxygen the same way that a human does. An application of invulnerability, Ursa cannot starve or drown, and can also survive in the vacuum of space. Ursa is also immune to most forms of poison and toxins.
• Super-hearing: Ursa's hearing is sensitive enough to perceive nearly any sound at any volume or pitch. With skill and concentration, one can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific localized source or frequency.
• Super-breath: Ursa can expel volumes of breath with great force over a sustained period of time. This is an effective long-range attack strategy as the breath can exert enough force comparable to that of a gale-force wind. Super-breath enables Ursa to blow people back several yards, overturn vehicles, and generate excessive damage to property and other sedentary objects.
• Super-speed: Ursa is able to move at incredible speed by sheer force of will. This trait extends to Ursa's perceptions and allows for other feats such as catching bullets in mid flight, as well as covering vast distances in little or no time. Super-speed is also an application of the ability to fly.
• Superhuman stamina: Ursa does not suffer from fatigue and can function physically for extended periods of time without tiring. As an application of this, it is likely that Ursa does not require the same amount of REM sleep that a normal human would in order to function at full capacity.
• Superhuman strength: Ursa's strength is augmented by yellow solar radiation being absorbed into the body. Ursa can conduct fantastic feats of strength such as lifting large objects such as satellites or ocean liners, and combating opponents of equal strength value. Ursa's strength level will diminish to that of a standard human level while in the presence of green Kryptonite.

Weaknesses

• Snakes: Apparently the film version of Ursa has some vulnerability to snake fangs. Although she is invulnerable to all other forms of physical attack, a snake manages to bite down on her hand with enough force to cause her to react.

Notes & Trivia

• The character of Ursa was created by director Richard Donner and screenplay writers Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton.

• At the time of the movie's release, Ursa was a character unique to the continuity of the Superman film series and did not have a counterpart in DC Comics continuity. Twenty-five plus years later, DC introduced the character of Ursa, as well as Non and a re-imagined General Zod in the pages of Action Comics #845, which was published in January, 2007.

• The DC Comics analog to Ursa is Faora-Ul, who appeared in the comics, but not in the original film series. She did however appear in Man of Steel in 2013.

See also

Media

Superman Superman films Superman programs

Superman novels Superman serials Superman comic books

The World of Superman

Superman characters Superman villains Superman organizations

Superman items Superman locations Superman storylines

Superman miscellaneous

Superman galleries Superman appearances Superman merchandise Superman disambiguations

Superman creators Superman writers Superman artists Superman miscellaneous

External Links

• Ursa at IMDB
• Ursa at DCDP
• Ursa at Comic Vine
• Ursa at the Superman Wiki

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