- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Faora from the DC Extended Universe film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Faora Hu-Ul.
| “ | A good death is it's own reward. | „ |
| ~ Faora-Ul to Colonel Hardy, and her most famous quote. |
| “ | You are weak, son of El, unsure of yourself. The fact that you possess a sense of morality, and we do not, gives us an evolutionary advantage. And if history has proven anything...it is that evolution always wins. | „ |
| ~ Faora to Superman as she fights him in Smallville |
Faora-Ul is the secondary antagonist of the 2013 DC Extended Universe film Man of Steel.
She is Zod's right-hand woman and is the second-in-command of the Sword of Rao. She joins Zod in his attempts to transform the Earth into a new Krypton.
She was portrayed by Antje Traue.
Biography[]
Life on Krypton[]
Faora-Ul was born on the planet Krypton where she was genetically engineered into the Kryptonian Warrior Guild as one of their soldiers and a leader as well. She was a fiercely dedicated soldier, only second to that of Zod himself, and would go one to become Zod's most trusted ally and would be refered to as the Tigress of Zod.
Kryptonian Civil War[]
Disenfranchised by the leadership of the Kryptonian Law Council, Faora had joined Zod where he and the Sword of Rao, a radical group of revolutionary extremists in the warrior guild, instigated a coup against the government saught to destroy the council to lead Krypton down what they believed to be a betterpath. Faora appeared in the legistlative chamber where Jor-El was trying to convince the council to evacuate Krypton as the planet was on the verge of destruction when Zod and his forces broke in. Upon arrival, Zod declared the council to be disbanded and Faora threw council members on the floor starting with Lor-Em.
General Zod later had Jor-El arrested along with the other council members where they had planned to have them all executed later on when Jor-El escaped and stole the Growth Codex and returned to his home, the House of El Citadel. Faora then helped Zod track down El and arrived at the citadel where Zod had killed Jor-El and saw the ship with Superman in it and was almost destroyed when the gunship was destroyed instead and loyalist forces had arrived and arrested all the remaining Sword of Rao forces.
Trial and Escape[]
Shortly after the coup was stopped, the Faora and the remnants of Zod's troops were brought to the chamber where Lor-Em and the remaining council members had all sentenced them to 300 cycles of sematic reconditioning inside the Phantom Zone. She was soon imprisoned inside the Black Zero ship and was on her way to the Phantom Zone when Krypton had been destroyed and the ship was released. Zod and his forces got out and were freed when they looked upon the ship's window and saw the ruins of their home world and Faora was so devastated that she uncharacteristically sheded tears but followed Zod's orders to reactivate the ship and locate the codex to create a new Krypton.
Landing on Earth[]
Years later Kal-El, now grown up, accidently activates a signal from the old scout ship which is detected by the Black Zero and they set a course for the Earth knowing that they had located both Kal-El and the Growth Codex. Zod then sent out a message to Earth demanding Kal-El hand himself over. Afterwards, Zod and Faora landed a dropship where they picked up Kal-El, now known as Superman, and took him aboard along with Lois Lane. Faora had given Lois a visor so she could breathe onboard the ship. Kal-El's powers were disrupted by the ship's atmosphere and was thus strapped down and both him and Lois were subjected to mental torture until Lois, unknowingly brought onboard Jor-El's AI hologram and had helped her escape the ship with Superman breaking out as well.
Showdown in Smallville[]
Furious and impatient, General Zod had decided to round up and organize his forces for a planned invasion of the Earth with the first target being Smallville. Faora had accompanied Zod as the Sword of Rao had landed on the Kent Farm in an attempt to find and locate Superman's old ship that got him to Earth. The Sword of Rao had landed and Zod interrogated Martha Kent and Faora found the ship only to find it empty and Superman to soon fly in and drag Zod with him into Smallville which caused Faora and the other troops to move out and engage Superman. Faora soon fought against Kal-El and she was supported by Nam-Ek, an elite and powerful soldier of the Sword of Rao, and the two of them were getting the upper hand against Kal-El when United States Air Force soldiers intervened and engaged all three of them. During the fight, her visor was damaged and she was picked up as the Sword of Rao had retreated leaving Smallville in ruins only to head to Metropolis in an attempt to destroy and terraform the Earth into a new Krypton.
Battle of Metropolis[]
With General Zod now being fully recovered onboard his ship, he and the Sword of Rao and organized the Black Zero ships on two sides of the Earth and had used the World Engine on both sides of the planet with Faora being deployed to Metropolis. The United States Armed Forces was deployed to deal with the Black Zero ship with Faora boarding a C-17 plane and dealing with the American military personal onboard and was soon faced with Nathan Hardy, the USAF Pilot that she fought before. Before she could do anything however, Nathan had steared the plane downward to the Black Zero and echoed her quote at her. As the plane hit, the ship was sucked in by a massive energy singularity and Faora, as well as the other members of the Sword of Rao, were all forced back into the Phantom Zone once more.
Personality[]
Genetically engineered into the Kryptonian Warrior Guild as a warrior and leader, Faora was a fierce, ruthless and psychopathic warrior (more so than even General Zod himself), driven by the need and sadistic pleasure of killing, genetically incapable of feeling empathy toward her enemies. She even promised Superman that for every life he managed to save from the Sword of Rao, that she would see to it that they would kill "a million more." As a result, she was known and feared throughout Krypton as the infamous “Tigress of Zod". Ironically, while sadistic, she shows little to no emotion when killing humans, though this is most likely because Faora is very unimpressed by the relative weakness of humans, and finds killing them to be far too easy to be considered a feat worthy of savoring. However, she notably seems to gloat before attempting to kill Colonel Hardy, claiming that a "good death" (his at her hands) is "its own reward".
Faora is also quite vain and fully aware of her exceptional skills, as she is quick to mock the naturally born Kryptonian Superman for his lack of combat skill and sense of morality, since she believes that the latter trait in particular makes him weak and unconfident, giving the genetically engineered Faora an "evolutionary advantage" over him. Hence, this great amount of confidence in her own abilities allowed Faora to reach her full potential as soon as she was exposed to Earth's yellow sun, and not experience the weakness of mental power suppression. However, she could at times be overconfident, which allowed Superman to ultimately defeat Faora, by catching her off-guard and promptly exploiting her temporary weakness of overloaded senses.
Notably however, despite her malevolence, ruthlessness and utter disregard for weaker races (such as humans), Faora, much like General Zod, had a great patriotic love for her native planet of Krypton, and uncharacteristically shed tears after witnessing its destruction.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Kryptonian Physiology: As a Kryptonian, Faora's bone structure is almost identical to that of a human. On a planet near a red class M main-sequence star (like Krypton with its sun Rao), Faora would have physical attributes nearly identical to those of humans, but if on a planet near a yellow G-type main-sequence star (like Earth), she has many new abilities and powers, all of them far beyond the capabilities of humans and even most metahumans, making her appear godlike. Due to Faora's ruthlessness and complete lack of restraint, she never held back her tremendous power, which initially allowed her to dominate Superman (despite the latter's superior solar energy supply). However, Faora notably never did manage to master the powers of heat vision, x-ray vision, and flight.
- Solar Empowerement: Faora's Kryptonian cells absorb only yellow solar energy and this in turn fuels all of her powers and abilities. Her cells also store solar energy as well, allowing her to retain her powers under roofed structures or even at night, although she eventually needs a yellow sun to recharge her powers.
- Invulnerability: Faora's body is incredibly durable, virtually indestructible. Hence, she can withstand massive explosions, exposure to both temperature extremes, falls from great heights, high-caliber bullets, anti-tank depleted uranium rounds, Maverick missiles, plasma bolts from Kryptonian weaponry, Superman's heat vision attack (though it caused her burning pain) and even numerous mighty blows from fellow Kryptonian Superman, remaining unscathed. While Faora can be affected by the considerable force of powerful impacts, they only at most cause her to stumble and briefly knock her down, leaving her unscathed. The only things capable of actually breaking through Faora's invulnerability and harming her are Aquaman's Trident, Wonder Woman's Sword, and beings of comparable incalculable strength (such as other Kryptonians and the monster Doomsday), as they are strong enough to physically break though her invulnerability without the need of Kryptonite.
- Supernatural Strength: Faora has a tremendous level of superhuman strength, seemingly incalculable, as she is able to easily carry more than 1 million tons. She can generate large shock-waves with her mighty punches, she can effortlessly hurl cars and trucks great distances, shatter concrete, break through thick metal walls and doors with ease, effortlessly overpower numerous human soldiers, and fight evenly against fellow Kryptonian Superman, even easily overpowering him (this could be because of her better fighting skills). In fact, Faora was able to hurl him all the way to the other side of Smallville, while her mighty blows were powerful enough to send him flying and visibly hurt him, making him stagger and pant in pain. She was also able to grasp Superman by the neck hard enough to make the latter wince in pain. Together with Nam-Ek, Faora was also able to force Superman back down when the latter tried to fly up into the air.
- Supernatural Leap: Faora is able to use her incredible strength to perform super jumps, shown when she leaped into the Kents' barn, and when she almost leaped onto a flying military jet (only to be stopped by Superman just in time).
- Supernatural Speed: Faora can run and react at incredible supersonic speeds. During her battle in Smallville, she was able to bring down numerous human soldiers before they could even react, and even land many blows onto the equally fast Superman in rapid succession, though the latter was more due to her far superior combat skills. The only known being capable of moving slightly faster than Faora is the speedster Flash.
- Supernatural Endurance: Faora almost never grows tired if she is continuously powered by the yellow sun of Earth. She doesn't need to eat, sleep, or breathe. Hence, she ferociously battled with Superman and numerous human soldiers without ever needing to stop and catch her breath.
- Supernatural Reflexes: Faora's speed seems to extend to her reflexes as well, since she manages to dodge a tackle from the equally fast Superman, and when he first attempted to engage her, Faora caught and deflected all of his blows with ease, countering just as fast.
- Supernatural Senses: Thanks to the Yellow Sun radiation she empowers herself with, Faora's senses are capable of far greater feats than those of humans, meaning she can hear, smell, taste, see and touch more accurately and more effectively than ordinary humans.
- Supernatural Vision: Faora has superhuman eyesight far beyond that of humans. She possesses a superior sensory arrangement of Telescopic, Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-Ray, and Gamma-Rays visual capabilities. She can see the entire electromagnetic spectrum when she desires, through mental focus. However, when her visor first broke open, Faora was initially overwhelmed by her multiple Spectrum Vision.
- Supernatural Hearing: Faora, when her visor first broke open, was initially overwhelmed by the sudden intensity of her hearing (which enabled her to simultaneously perceive numerous feeble and far noises very clearly, including both infrasound and ultrasound), and was unable to control it.
- X-Ray Vision: Faora, when her visor first broke open, was initially overwhelmed by the sudden intensity of her X-Ray vision (which enabled her to see through all objects and people), and was unable to control it. The only known materials known to be impenetrable to Faora's X-Ray vision are lead, the force field of a Kryptonian breather (when rendered opaque), as well as the Kryptonian metal which the walls of the Fortress of Solitude were composed of.
- Supernatural Healing: Faora, in the rare instances when she is hurt, is capable of healing at superhuman speeds, especially in direct sunlight. However, if the injuries are serious enough to instantly kill her, her healing factor will not be able to save Faora, much like how General Zod was killed after Superman broke his neck.
- Decelerated Aging/Longevity: Faora, as a Kryptonian under a yellow sun, has a lifespan far greater than that of a human. As such, she doesn't show signs of age as long as the yellow sun is there to empower her. Faora is unaffected by earthly diseases and draws energy from the sun to live, meaning that had Faora stayed on Earth, she would have effectively been an ageless immortal.
- Solar Empowerement: Faora's Kryptonian cells absorb only yellow solar energy and this in turn fuels all of her powers and abilities. Her cells also store solar energy as well, allowing her to retain her powers under roofed structures or even at night, although she eventually needs a yellow sun to recharge her powers.
Abilities[]
- Expert Combatant: Faora, as an illustrious member of the Kryptonian Warrior Guild, is a fierce and ruthless combatant, being extremely skilled in a vast array of Kryptonian martial arts, more so than even General Zod himself. Therefore, during the Kryptonian Civil War, Faora was known and feared throughout Krypton as the infamous "Tigress of Zod". Hence, Faora easily gained the upper hand against Superman in a duel, and he was only able to defeat her by managing to break open her visor (and that only by catching her off-guard). Faora might also have some skill in wielding bladed weaponry, since she was about to attack Colonel Hardy with a Kryptonian combat knife. Hence, even without her powers, Faora is extremely dangerous and absolutely lethal.
- Expert Leader: Faora, as the Sub-Commander of the Sword of Rao and General Zod's second-in-command, is a highly skilled leader, to the point that Zod always trusted her to take his place of leadership when he was forced to attend to other business, such as in the Kryptonian Civil War, when Faora held off the Sapphire Guards' attacks (while Zod engaged Jor-El to get the Codex) and in the Black Zero Event, when Faora protected the Black Zero (while Zod searched for the Fortress of Solitude).
- Intimidation: Faora commands a fiercely intimidating presence, with the infamous "Tigress of Zod", being known and feared by many throughout Krypton. She also visibly scared the very brave Martha Kent (while briefly interrogating the latter), and even the seasoned Colonel Hardy. Her short temper and lack of restraint made Faora a very fearsome opponent, with only an extreme few, like Superman and Colonel Hardy, being brave enough to pick a straight-up fight with her.
Weaknesses[]
- Kryptonite: Faora's greatest weakness is this radioactive green xenomineral from Krypton, as it is extremely deadly to her. Kryptonite exposure makes Faora instantly lose her powers and invulnerability, and induces sickness symptoms in her, which collectively weakens Faora to almost human levels, to the point that she can be relatively quickly incapacitated, defeated, and even killed by an opponent as strong as the heavily armored Batman, if the latter is wielding a Kryptonite weapon. In addition, wounds inflicted by Kryptonite will not vanish after the mineral is removed from proximity to her (making Faora unable to regain full power even after her superpowers subsequently return), and they will only heal upon Faora being directly exposed to yellow solar radiation.
- Red Sun Radiation: Faora is robbed of the powers that she gains under a yellow G-type main-sequence star when exposed to the radiation of a red class M main-sequence star. Because of this, any environment filled with red sun radiation (such as Krypton with its sun Rao) will render her to human levels.
- Kryptonian Atmospherics: Faora, when breathing in an atmosphere, the composition of which is identical to that which was once on Krypton, and remaining in an environment shielded from any solar radiation (such as the interior of her Black Zero), is induced to lose access to her stores of solar energy, which, in turn, renders Faora to human levels. Kryptonian air will not, however, have such an effect on Faora when she is in an environment full of yellow solar radiation, as she still had access to her powers on Earth while wearing a breather with Kryptonian air.
- Sensory Overload: As Faora has superhuman senses, her brain can be overwhelmed by the information it takes in. Though she can gradually learn to hone her senses in time, an attack on her sight and/or hearing can briefly stun and greatly weaken Faora, to the point that a direct hit from a missile was enough to knock a weakened Faora unconscious. While she compensates for this quite well by wearing a Kryptonian breather, it was ultimately broken open by Superman in their duel.
- Beings of Equal Power: Faora, when fighting beings of comparable incalculable might, such as other Kryptonians and the monster Doomsday, is more vulnerable, as they can generate enough force to knock out, injure and even kill Faora, breaking through her invulnerability without the need of Kryptonite, much like how Superman was able to kill General Zod by breaking the latter's otherwise invulnerable neck. It does, however, still take quite a bit of effort on their part to do this though, as Faora was able to withstand a numerous tremendously mighty blows from Superman, which, while visibly very painful to Faora, left her unscathed afterwards.
Equipment[]
- Combat Knife: Faora always had a traditional Kryptonian combat knife by her side, with her intending to kill Colonel Hardy with it.
- Battle Armor: Faora, as a Warrior Guild member, was hardly ever seen not wearing a suit of extremely durable and fiercely intimidating Kryptonian battle armor, equipped with a breather.
- Kryptonian Dropship: Faora has her own personal Kryptonian dropship, in which she flies down to Earth, first to collect the surrendered Superman, and then to interrogate Martha Kent.
- Kryptonian Rifle (Formerly): Faora wielded a Kryptonian plasma rifle while helping General Zod overthrow the Kryptonian Law Council, though it was ultimately confiscated by the Sapphire Guards.
Quotes[]
| “ | Shall I tell the general you're unwilling to comply? | „ |
| ~ Faora to Colonel Nathan Hardy. |
| “ | A good death is it's own reward. | „ |
| ~ Faora to Colonel Hardy, before trying to kill him during the battle in Smallville. |
| “ | You will not win, for every human you save, we kill a million more! | „ |
| ~ Faora-Ul, to Superman. |
Relationships[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Gal Gadot was originally cast as Faora, but had to drop out due to her pregnancy.
- Gadot would go on to portray Wonder Woman later in the universe.
- Faora is referred to as an "alien Amazon" in Man of Steel: The Official Movie Novelization.
