Faora
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Faora is a Kryptonian supervillain, and companion (and lover, in some versions) to General Zod. She is a man-hater, although her two companions, Zod and Non, are both male. She is a prisoner of the Phantom Zone.
In nearly every depiction of the character, it seems that her primary crime was related to her hatred of men. In the silver age comics in which she was introduced, she ran a concentration camp for men, and killed 23 in the process.
In the movie Superman II, she was known as Ursa, still the companion of General Zod and a man-hater. In Superman: The Animated Series, she was known as Mala. In the television series Smallville, she was known as Aethyr, which is the name of a different character in the comics. Despite her changing name, many elements of the character stayed constant throughout the various versions.
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Personality
Ursa is depicted in both Superman films as a hater of any member of the male gender anywhere. The only exceptions to this appear to be Non and General Zod. In the first film, this aspect of her character is emphasized by Jor-El in his speech as he sentences them to the Phantom Zone. In the second film, as directed by Richard Lester, Ursa's male hating tendencies survive, but the reprise of Jor-El's speech emphasizes a different aspect of her character. In Lester's Superman II, Jor-El says "Ursa, the only feeling you showed was for your vicious general. Your only wish, to rule at his side." Lester altered the character slightly, making her softer, and at least to a degree, in love with General Zod. In Superman II footage shot by Richard Donner, Ursa is more vicious and expresses her desire to kill as many men as she can in one scene from an extended TV version. In Donner's footage, Ursa does not necessarily appear to be in love with General Zod, but is with him because they share common goals.
Throughout Superman II, Ursa collects symbols and badges as she encounters law enforcement and military officers on Earth, and she keeps these badges on her costume as symbols of those she has conquered or killed. She takes a NASA patch from an astronaut, a Sheriff's badge, a badge from a military officer's uniform at the White House, and several more badges and symbols that can be seen attached to her uniform as the film progresses.
Faora
Pre-Crisis
The first Faora was Faora Hu-Ul, introduced in Action Comics #471, May 1977. She was a man-hater, who ran a concentration camp of men. The men were lured there by her beauty and imprisoned. When she grew tired of tormenting a prisoner, she would arrange to kill him. Her behavior was responsible for 23 deaths. She was subsequently imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and given the second longest sentence of imprisonment within the Zone - three hundred years (Act No. 471, May 1977: "One Of Our Phantoms Is Missing!").
She was also an expert at the Kryptonian martial art of Horo-Kanu, which utilised the pressure points on the Kryptonian body.
Post-Crisis
Pocket Universe
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, another Faora appeared as one of General Zod's followers in the Pocket Universe created by the Time Trapper. For some reason, this version's name was changed to Zaora. As with her companions she was stripped of her powers and killed by Superman, following the destruction of that universe's Earth.
Phantom Zone entity
In the Eradicator miniseries, the Eradicator was pressured into embracing his programming by another construct of Kem-L's. This artifact, which was trapped in the Phantom Zone, claimed to be called Faora, after Kem-L's grandmother, and and to be the ultimate repository of Kryptonian mythology. However it is unclear how much of this is true.
The Eradicator rejected Faora, "downloading" all the aspects of Kem-L's programming that contradicted Dr.David Conner's morality into the Faora program. Unknown to him, this gave it a new, monstrous form and the ability to leave the Zone, and it targeted Conner's family. The Eradicator destroyed it, but not before it killed Conner's wife.
Pokolistanian
One of General Zod of Pokolistan's aides, introduced in Action Comics #779 (July 2001), was a metahuman who called herself Faora. Since the spirit of the Pocket Universe General had supposedly spoken to this Zod, it may be assumed that he suggested she take this name for psychological effect. Faora has the ability to disrupt molecular bonds. She was the creator of the mutagenic virus which was the linchpin of Zod's plan. Her whereabouts following the General's defeat are unknown.
Ursa
Superman: The Movie
In the first Superman film, Ursa appears alongside General Zod and Non as they are being sentenced to the Phantom Zone by Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El. Jor-El describes her as "the woman Ursa, whose perversions and unreasoning hatred of all mankind has threatened even the children of the planet Krypton." She, Zod, and Non are imprisoned in the Phantom Zone where they should remain for all eternity and are not heard from again in the first film.
Superman II
In the theatrical version of Superman II, Ursa, Zod, and Non are freed from the Phantom Zone when a hydrogen bomb thrown into space by Superman detonates near the Zone, shattering it. The three villains encounter a group of astronauts on Earth's moon, where we see Ursa's hatred for males first-hand. She meets an astronaut, asking him what sort of a creature he is. When he replies that he is a man, Ursa rips the NASA emblem off his spacesuit, rupturing it and killing him.
Following the Lunar confrontation, Ursa and the villains make their way to Earth, which they believe is called "Houston", and proceed to lay waste to the small town of East Houston, Idaho. From there, they move to the White House, where the President of the United States (played by E.G. Marshall) kneels before Zod. When Ursa, Zod, and Non finally meet Superman, a climactic battle sequence takes place in the streets of Metropolis, which ends when Ursa and Non throw a bus onto Superman and he flees the scene. Lex Luthor then tells the villains he knows where Superman has gone and suggests taking Lois Lane along because of her relationship with Superman. The villains are led to the Fortress of Solitude in the arctic, where Ursa and Non threaten to tear Lois Lane in two if Superman does not kneel to General Zod. Superman attempts to trick the villains into a molecule chamber that will take away their powers but ends up being forced into it himself by Zod. However, Superman has actually tricked the villains: he reversed the effects of the molecule chamber so that its red sun radiation is beamed throughout the fortress while Superman remains protected inside the chamber. The villains are stripped of their powers and Ursa is last seen when Lois punches her, knocking her into a crevasse in the Fortress where she disappears into the mist.
In extended versions of the film that have screened on television, Ursa has a slightly expanded role. She is seen ripping a badge off a military officer's uniform at the White House while remarking how peculiar it is that men wear ribbons and jewelry on this planet. In one deleted scene, a boy in East Houston attempts to escape and get help, but Non rips the light from the top of a police car and throws it like an artillery round, killing the boy and his horse in the distance. A horrified woman remarks "He was only a boy!" to which, with obvious pleasure, Ursa replies, "Who will never become a man!" Also, in some extended versions, a powerless Ursa, Zod, and Non are seen being led into Arctic Police vehicles following the final confrontation at the Fortress. The theatrical version and the later reedited version Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut suggests that they are dead, as they are all seen falling into crevices inside the Fortress from which they never come out.
The Comics
In Action Comics #845 (November 2006), which is the second part of the "Last Son" arc by Geoff Johns & Richard Donner, the character was referred to by the name Ursa for the first time in Superman comic book canon. This version of her was shown to have taken a cue from the Lester version (even though Donner is co-writing this arc) where she is in love with Zod. Zod and Ursa may also be the parents of the kryptonian boy that Superman & Lois Lane want to adopt.
In a flashback in Action Comic Annual #10 a fleshed out retelling of the story told in Superman II aligned partly her story to her movie counterpart. Lover of General Zod, and part of the Kryptonian guard along with his lover, she believed that Non and Jor-El were right about Krypton final fate, and sought to rebel the Council. When Non was kidnapped, lobotomized and turned into a brute with minimal intelligence and unable to speak, Zod and Ursa snapped, instigating open rebellion, while Jor-El surrendered the Council, eventually using the Phantom Zone projector upon the trio during the trial told in the movie. Ursa stayed loyal to Zod, even in their "exile", and believing that eventually Jor-El could have been able to save Krypton, or at last his lineage, agreed with Zod in pursuing and taking vengeance over the House of El.
Mala
Superman: The Animated Series
In one episode of Superman: The Animated Series, Superman released a woman named Mala from the Phantom Zone, reasoning that her sentence had long since expired.
Mala was the follower of a man named Jax-Ur, who was a vicious general. (Apparently, he was meant to take the place of Zod in this version of the story; However, Zod was later introduced in the comic book adaptation of the Animated Series).
Superman began training her to use her powers, but she was too violent and rough, not understanding Superman's place in society or, in fact, human society itself. When she overheard Superman expressing his fear that he'd have to return her to the phantom zone, she turned against him, forcing his hand. He re-banished to the Zone.
Comics
In "The Superman Adventures", the comic book adaptation of The Animated Series, General Zod appears, and Mala takes her place as his comanion, as does Jax-Ur.
Aethyr
Smallville
In recent episodes of the television series Smallville, Faora/Ursa's character is merged with Aethyr. In the comics, Aethyr is a god-like being whose physical/spiritual presence makes up the Phantom Zone.
Aethyr is a Kryptonian female. When she encountered Clark in the Phantom Zone, she avenged Nam-Ek's death by stabbing Raya. It is possible that she may have emerged out of the Phantom Zone along with Clark and Raya through the gateway, but only time will tell. Aethyr has Zod's Kryptonian symbol on her lower back, like Lana Lang had the symbol for water (used by Countess Theroux for it's transferal powers).
The Last Days of Krypton
This version of Aethyr appears in the novel, The Last Days of Krypton. Her history is now expanded upon; She is the daughter of an aristocratic family, but completely disavowing her family, who spurns her for her difference.
She appears alongside Nam-Ek, who once again takes the role of Non. The two, as always, become Zod's henchmen/sidekicks.
