Giganta: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Doris Zuel

First Appearance: Wonder Woman Volume 1, #9 (1944)

Powers: Giganta possesses superhuman strength and durability. As her name implies, she can also grow to an abnormally large size. 

Affiliation: Secret Society of Super Villains, Villainy Inc., Injustice League, Female Furies, Suicide Squad

Did You Know? Giganta is the creation of William Moulton Marston.

A Little History

The original incarnation of Giganta is slightly different from how she is currently. In her original appearance, Giganta was an ape who had been transformed into a human by Professor Zool. She quickly came into conflict with Wonder Woman and upon doing so, was immediately beaten in battle. After her defeat, she was placed inside the prison walls of Transformation Island. Shortly after her imprisonment, she was rescue and made a founding member of Villainy Inc.

This version of Giganta had a similar but different power set to the modern day version. While this version possessed above human strength and durability, she could not grown to an unbelievable size. 

The modern day Giganta actually began as Dr. Doris Zuel. This version worked at a medical facility where a comatose Wonder Woman was being kept and treated. Zuel, actually dying of an untreatable illness, decides that to save herself she should transfer her mind into the body of Wonder Woman. This, of course, would mean that her body would die. However, it also meant that she would be able to keep living inside the body of another. The surgery would’ve been a success had it not been stopped halfway through by Wonder Girl. Because the surgery went halfway through completion, both Wonder Woman and Zuel were thought to be dead.

Of course, nobody really dies in the comics. 

Dr. Zuel’s assistant learns that her essence had been temporarily stored inside the machine that had been attempting the surgery. Hoping to bring her back to life, he transfers her essence from the machine into one of the test animals…a gorilla named Giganta.

Once awake, Dr. Zuel learns of what has happened to her and is angered by it. Wishing to have her mind stored in a human body, she begins looks for a human host. Her search leads her to the circus where she finds a red-headed strong woman named Olga. Olga, like Wonder Woman before was comatose and Dr. Zuel initiates a successful transfer. 

Now inside the body of Olga, Zuel realizes that in addition to the heightened strength that Olga had, she could also grow to abnormally large sizes. 

The New 52 changes her origin just a little. 

At a young age Zuel learns that she has a rare disease that prevents her from participating in extracurricular activities. Due to this, she is mocked and tormented by her peers. Not wanting others to go through the same torment, her bullying causes her to become a Doctor. 

As a Doctor, Zuel created a treatment for her ailment. While the treatment was successful in curing her, it also caused her to grow to extreme sizes. Worse yet, as her size grew, her intelligence dropped.