Supergirl / Tropes T To U

Tropes A to B | Tropes C to D | Tropes E to F | Tropes G to H | Tropes I To J | Tropes K To L | Tropes M To N | Tropes O To P | Tropes R To S | Tropes T To U | Tropes V To W | Tropes X To Z

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Tropes found in Supergirl

• Tailor-Made Prison: In Plain Sight, the D.E.O. makes Feminum-enhanced glass cells to hold Supergirl after capturing her (Feminum being the metal the Amazonian bracelets are made of:
  Chief Bones: I have to thank you, Magog. Testing our new Feminum-enhanced glass-cells has been a valuable service. Thanks to our arrangement with Doctor Mokkari, the D.E.O. should even be able to hold a Kryptonian.
• Take This Job and Shove It:
  • Pre-Crisis Supergirl had a habit of angrily quitting jobs. In Adventure Comics #424: Crypt Of The Frozen Graves, sick of putting up with a bullying coworker who is being favored by their boss, and feeling her job as a camerawoman is undermining her morals, she hands in her resignation letter and storms out of the premises right away.
    Linda Danvers: "Meanwhile, I've got something for you— a little notice stating that I quit as of right now! If you want me to stay the traditional two weeks— forget it! I'm leaving now!"
    Geoffrey Anderson: "Hunh? But— Now, wait a minute! You can't just—"
    Linda Danvers: "Oh, yes, I can! I'm sick of the whole rotten news business! My articles and the actions of your favorite camera operator cost a man his life! That's enough for me! I've got better things to do with my life than stay in a business that exploits people."
  • In Superman Family #208, quits her work as a student councilor after a heated argument with her supervisor:
    Linda Danvers: "This is it! I'm finished! You can take my contract and stuff it up your nose, Pierce!"
  • In Superman Family #222, she cannot put up anymore with the increasing pressures of being a tv-star. After one night of soul-searching, Kara realizes she will not be happy again until she quits a job she hates.
• Taken for Granite:
  • Supergirl did this to her ex boyfriends with a touch, at least according to this cover of ''Adventure Comics'' #389◊. (In truth, this was a "joke" she used to expose a criminal who was working for Braniac who had hit on her. Unfortunately, while she apprehended him, Braniac got away.)
  • In Supergirl (1972) #8, Medusa's ghost gives her a head full of real snakes and the curse of turning any man who looks at her to stone.
  • Bizarro Supergirl has Eye Beams that cover the victims with a stone shell.
• Takes One to Kill One: When the New 52 version of Supergirl first fights the Worldkillers, one of them boasts that only a Worldkiller can defeat a Worldkiller. Supergirl exploits this by grabbing one Worldkiller's Combat Tentacles and stabbing another one with them.
• Take Up My Sword:
  • In The Death of Superman (1961) -which happens in alternate universe Earth-149-, Lex Luthor manages to murder Superman. However, Supergirl captures him and takes over for her cousin afterwards.
    Supergirl: You can stop wasting bullets! I have all of Superman's astonishing powers! Gangdom may have suceeded in treacherously killing Superman, but I'm going to carry on his great work!
  • After the death of her cousin in The Final Days of Superman, Kara takes up the New 52 Superman's mantle. In contrast to pre-Flashpoint Superman, Lois, Lana, Lex... Nex 52 Superman specifically asked his cousin to take up his cape.
• Taking the Bullet:
  • In Supergirl (Rebirth) issue #15, Kara shields several innocent bystanders. Even more awesome than other examples because she has been warned those bullets can hurt her.
  • The Hunt for Reactron: During the final battle, Lois Lane throws herself between Supergirl and Reactron's Kryptonite blasts.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome:Kara has several times gotten this poor treatment:
  • Cat Grant hates Supergirl, among other -mostly petty- reasons, because she can't stand seeing a super-powerful teenager around.
  • In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Lena Thorul hates super-powered beings, feeling they make baseline humans look bad. As soon as she finds out her best friend Linda is Supergirl, Lena turns on her.
    Supergirl: Lena... I'm still me! I'm your best friend!
    Lena: Not anymore... Not now that I know the truth! You're my enemy now. I have no choice but to destroy you!
    Supergirl: But why? I'm the same person you've been friends with for months! Why do you have to hate me?!
    Lena: Because your kind offends the natural order! You float through the sky as if you own it! You change the course of rivers without a thought to the consequences! Your very existence undermines the purity of true human achievement!
• A Taste of the Lash:
  • In Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom, proclaiming her love towards Darkseid gets aspiring Female Fury Maelstrom tortured and whipped.
  • In Adventure Comics #424: Crypt of the Frozen Graves, a mob boss tries to whip information out of Linda, unaware that she is just pretending to be in pain.
• Teach Me How To Fight: Pre-Crisis Kara was trained by Superman. Post-Crisis/Pre-New 52 Kara was trained chiefly by Wonder Woman.
• Technical Pacifist: Supergirl is more proactive and more hot-tempered than her cousin, and is willing to try to and reform criminals and villains... even if she has to beat them up first. Nonetheless, she attempted to kill the Anti-Monitor because was too dangerous, and she threw Worldkiller-1 into the Sun reasoning that an artificially-engineered murderous symbiotic parasite doesn't count as "living being".
  Supergirl: I know who I am, and I know what you are— A mockery of life. This is not murder. It is the end of a terrible mistake.
• Technicolor Fire: Supergirl's enemy Nightflame can magically conjure and control green flames.
• Telepathy: In Silver Age story Adventure Comics #397, Supergirl mind-reads a comatose girl. No explanation was given as to when Kara developed telepathy and she never used that power again, so it can be chalked up to the writer not doing his research.
• Teleportation:
  • In Supergirl (1982), Supergirl faces several psychic villains like Psi who can teleport themselves.
  • In Supergirl (Rebirth) storyline The Girl of No Tomorrow, villainous sorceress Selena has this power. She teleports herself away when she realizes her allies are about to be defeated.
  • In Red Daughter of Krypton, Kara's Red Lantern Ring can create wormholes. She doesn't often make use of this feature because she's usually fast enough than teleportation becomes irrelevant, but it saves her life when Worldkiller-1 is taking over her Kryptonite-poisoned body and she needs to get to the Sun quick.
  • In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004), Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman use Big Barda's Mother Box to travel to and from Apokolips when Darkseid kidnaps Kara.
  • In Demon Spawn, villain Nightflame can cast magical dimensional portals.
• Tempting Fate:
  • In New Krypton, Zor-El tempted fate several times:
    • In "Superman: New Krypton Special", Zor says now they have powers "We'll never be in harm's way again". he got murdered shortly after. And New Krypton got blown up.
    • In Supergirl (2005) #34 Kara questioned the wisdom of having a Brainiac's robot keeping Argo's shields up, and asked what would happen if it woke up. Her father reiterated over and again it can't and won't turn itself back on. Despite everything, the robot woke up and nearly killed them.
  • In Supergirl (2011) #19, several Luthor's henchmen are trying to seize Supergirl. Two of them comment that she's just a kid and they'd hate to see what she could do when she grows up. Cue Power Girl showing up and trashing them.
  • At the beginning of "Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom" #1, Supergirl notes that it's been a very quiet week and she thought she'd have more action when her cousin asked her keep an eye on Metropolis while he was away. Cue a Darkseid's minion arriving on town and flinging cars away.
    Supergirl: Oh no... The second I think good thoughts...
  • In DC Retroactive Superman - The 80's, Earth-One Superman has a nightmare where -among other things- he sees Supergirl dying. When he wakes up he barely remembers his dream, but he is very shaken and frightened, and he calls his cousin to ask her to be careful. Kara dismisses his fears, reminding him that "There's not much that can hurt [her]"... and then she mentions that the morning sky is red...◊
  • When Kara and Stephanie Brown first team up, Supergirl wants to charge in and take down the villains, but Stepth suggests that it is not a good idea. Then Kara asks her, "It's the first Supergirl-Batgirl team up, what can go wrong?". Steph made sure to give her a sarcastic "You were saying?" when the pair was overwhelmed by Toyman's robots.
  • Linda does this twice in Action Comics #270. At the beginning, she is bored and wishing she had loads of important rescues to perform. All of sudden she has to undertake a space mission and fight a super-villain undersea to save Atlantis right after. After returning home, she thinks "What an action-jammed day! To think I was sad, earlier, because I didn't have enough action! The rest of the day will probably will be quiet..." Cue Batman and Robin needing her help.
• 10-Minute Retirement:
  • Kara did quit several times in Supergirl (2005) when her super-hero life got too hard or she deemed herself to be a failure after the destruction of New Krypton.
  • In Supergirl (2011)'', Kara gave up being Supergirl when she became a Red Lantern.
• That's What She Said: In Batgirl (2009), while being strangled by Dracula:
  Batgirl: Hopefully you won't hold this against me.
  Supergirl: That's what she said.
  Batgirl: You're funny.
  Supergirl: I try.
• Thematic Rogues Gallery: Most of Supergirl's enemies are female and sci-fi related. Lesla-Lar and Blackstarr are mad scientists, Superwoman, Reign and the Worldkillers are genetically-engineered super soldiers, Kraken is an alien armed with weather-controlling gear, Reactron is a soldier clad in powered armor... plus several of her Rogues (Lesla-Lar, Black Flame, Shyla Kor-Onn, Lar-On...) are also Kryptonian.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Shockingly, this happened to Supergirl in Action Comics #362. A descendant of Mxyzptlk commands everyone in the 40th century to believe Supergirl is a criminal. Supergirl is captured with Kryptonite, tried, and sentenced to have the word "OUTLAW" branded on her forehead. Afterwards Kara is marginalized, insulted and bullied until she cracks and decides that "[She's]] been branded an outlaw, so [she'll] be one!" Subverted, since she had realized that Mxyzptlk was behind everything, and she pretended to crack to fool him.
  Supergirl: All right! I've had it! I've been branded an outlaw, so I'll be one! I'll pull a robbery right now!
• There Is Another: Superman was for a while the last of his kind and family... until Kara -and other Kryptonians- turn up.
• There Was a Door:
  • Kara is a headstrong, impatient teenager with his same powers. So who cares if there was a door? They are trying to save people and that wall/ceiling was in the way!
  • In the first issue of Supergirl (1972), Supergirl is trying to prevent a murder and she is running out of time, so she flies through a wall to save the would-be victim.
  • In the first issue of Supergirl (1982), Kara flies in a factory through a smokestack and bursting through a furnace's hatch.
  • In the Day of the Dollmaker arc, Supergirl flew through the wall of the lair of Dollmaker to rescue Cat Grant.
  • In Last Daughter of Krypton, Simon Tycho is looking for Supergirl as she's tearing his base and his troops down. Right when he is demanding that someone shows him where she is, the ground in front of him explodes and Supergirl flies in through the gap.
  • In Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl Supergirl breaks through several ceilings when she goes after Luthor.
  • Demon Spawn: Supergirl bursts through the walls of a burning building to find people, move them to a safe place, and put the fire out.
  • The Supergirl from Krypton (2004): In the second chapter, Kara bursts through a reinforced door as she runs away from Krypto.
  • In Bizarrogirl, Supergirl bursts into Bizarrogirl's lair through the ceiling, disregarding the huge hole nearby.
  • In Who is Superwoman?: Supergirl violently smashes through several walls to save Inspector Henderson from Superwoman. Thanks to her hyper-destructive approach, she arrives just in the nick of time.
  • Superman: Brainiac: At the climax, first Supergirl breaks through the hull of Brainiac's ship to chase after a missile aimed at the Sun.
  • In the Wonder Woman Judgment In Infinity story arc, Kara bursts into the hotel's lobby where Pestilence is causing mayhem by smashing through a skylight.
  • The Killers of Krypton:
    • When Krypto comes to Supergirl's help, he bursts through a bar's ceiling, alarming all patrons.
    • Kara smashes her way through a starship's hull to capture Harry Hokum.
  • Strangers at the Heart's Core: When super-villain Shyla Kor-Onn wants to break into the Fortress of Solitude, she literally breaks through the door, even though the key is lying next to the entrance.
  • Superman vs. Shazam!:
    • When Supergirl finds the pyramid where Black Adam is crawling, she smashes her way through several dozens of meters of rock until bursting into the pharaoh's chamber.
    • Later, Supergirl and Mary Marvel burst into Karmang's castle through a wall.
  • Starfire's Revenge: As running away from Supergirl, Starfire slams a thick oaken door into Kara's face. Instead of wasting time opening it, Kara opts for punching the door off its hinges.
• Thinking Tic: Kara used to put her finger to her mouth◊ as she puzzled out some conundrum in early issues of Action Comics. That quirk that has been seen every now and then even in modern comics.
• Third-Option Love Interest: In the 60's, Atlantean boy Jerro was Supergirl's third option alongside Dick Malverne and Brainiac 5.
• This Is a Drill: In Supergirl (1972) #7, a massive boulder is about to crush a village. Linda charges right away at it, spinning around at super-speed and becoming a super-drill, pulverizing her way directly into the rock core to stop it and drive it away.
• This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: In H'el on Earth, Supergirl makes a heroic sacrifice by exposing herself to Kryptonite in order to stop H'el. Superman wants to talk her out of risking her life, but Wonder Woman interjects Kara has made her choice to take H'el down personally.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Supergirl is very reluctant to kill:
  • In the New Krypton arc, Supergirl was horrified when she accidentally killed Superwoman, even though Superwoman had tried to kill her several times.
  • In the New 52 Supergirl does not know her own strength. She gets upset when her actions endanger people and is relieved once that she sees that nobody has been harmed.
  • Subverted in Red Daughter of Krypton. Supergirl is horrified when she apparently kills mass murderer and hitman Lobo after kicking him. Then he takes advantage of her distress to catch her off guard, and almost fries her brains with an ultrasonic device. Right there and then she decides he has "got it coming".
  • Subverted again at the end of that arc. She executed an artificial, genocidal body-snatching alien abomination reasoning that "This is not murder. It is the end of a terrible mistake."
• Three-Point Landing: In the cover of Supergirl (2005) #12, Kara lands supporting her weight on her right knee, left foot and left hand, causing damage to the ground upon contact.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Kara arrives in Earth in Action Comics #252 after losing her parents, and she meets her only living relative Superman, who proceeds to dump her in an orphanage right away, as telling her she has to keep her existence and her powers a secret until he deems her ready. During the next two years, Kara couldn't get a break at all: she couldn't find decent adoptive parents, every attempt to convince her overbearing cousin that she was ready ended up in failure, and she couldn't even join the Legion of Super-Heroes, in spite of passing their tests, due to a temporary technicality. Even her attempt to build her own private Fortress goes awry. Finally, in The Unknown Supergirl she gets adopted by a loving couple, and Superman reveals her existence to the world and declares she is his equal partner in crimefighting from now on.
• Throwing the Fight: In Adventure Comics #399 Supergirl investigates the case of a football player who has been beaten and threatened by a group of gamblers to throw several games. Fearing for his and his girlfriend's safety, he agrees to the "deal".
• Thwarted Coup de Grâce: In The Great Darkness Saga, Darkseid is about to crush Supergirl's head when he is stopped by the remainder Legionnaires.
• Time Dilation: Pre-Crisis Supergirl was able to travel through time by flying faster than light.
• Time Stands Still: Supergirl and Kryptonians in general can speed themselves up so fast than everybody and everything else seem to stand still.
• Time Travel Escape: In Many Happy Returns, Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El lands in Leesburg and is discovered by the then current Supergirl Linda Danvers. Inverting the trope, Linda goes back in time to die in Kara's place when it becomes clear that this event must come to pass. Subverting the trope, Kara eventually goes back to return the time line to normal.
• Time-Travel Romance: Brainiac-5 (Querl Dox) and Supergirl (Kara Zor-El). Brainy always falls hard for Kara as soon as he lays his eyes on her, and she likes him back. But he can't live in the 21st century and she can't stay permanently in the future. Her oftentimes prolonged absences have led Brainy to pull some truly dumb stunts.
• Time-Travel Tense Trouble: In Supergirl (2005) issue #22, Supergirl runs into this trouble when she remembers that she travelled to the far future and fought/will fight alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes.
  Supergirl: Well, um, thank you for unblocking my memory. You were... will be... very good friends to me.
• To the Future, and Beyond:
  • Back during the Silver and Bronze Ages, Supergirl and her family time-travelled constantly, even becoming members of the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st century.
  • In Action Comics #289, Supergirl talked her cousin into paying a visit to their Legion teammates, but leaving the timestream ten years later than usual to meet the adult Legionnaires.
  • In Superman Family #200, Supergirl gets ambushed by a Time Beast as travelling across time. Her only way to escape is to fly towards the end of time where the Time Beast cannot survive.
  • Lampshaded in Justice League 3000. Supergirl gets trapped in an alternate, awful future where the Justice League is made up for half-assed, jerkass clones of the originals. When she asks if her rocketship can send her further into the future, she is told she's stuck.
  • In The Unknown Supergirl, Kara travels several thousands of years into the future, instead of "just" to the 31st century, hoping to find a way to regain her powers.
• Together in Death: In Adventure Comics issue #423 an alien conqueror is -deservingly- left to die by his crewmen as his ship sinks. However his brother goes back to die with him.
  Supergirl: It was one of the eeriest scenes I've ever witnessed. The two of them just sitting there together— entombed in the darkness of that wrecked craft...
• Too Dumb to Live: 90% of the population of Krypton were not only too dumb to heed Jor-El's warnings of Krypton going critical, but were also too arrogant. However Argo City survived Krypton's destruction because Zor-El got a protective dome installed around the city. You'd think Kryptonian people would learn to listen when a member of the House of El speaks. Still, when Zor-El tries to convince Argo's Science Council that they must scout a new world to settle into lest the energy shields fail, the councillors dismiss his warnings.
• Took a Level in Badass:
  • In several storylines -set before and after the Crisis-, Supergirl was trained by Superman or Wonder Woman and learnt some style of martial arts.
  • She increased her badassery in the Red Daughter Of Krypton story arc when she got a Red Lantern Ring. Lantern Rings are the most powerful weapons in the universe, and Red Rings are fueled by their bearer's fury. And Supergirl is a headstrong, Hot-Blooded Kryptonian.
• In Gotham City Garage, Big Barda trains Kara after the latter joins the biker gang.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness:
  • Post-Crisis Kara was feeling confused, irascible and pretty miserable upon arriving on Earth. Several months later she's adapted to Earth and learned to be a hero and she is pretty happy with her life.
  • Her Post-Flashpoint self found out that Krypton, her family, her friends, her old life... were gone right after crash-landing on Earth. For a long time she was a upset, lonely, angsty teenager struggling through her abandonment and anger issues and her inability to fit in with humans. After Character Development, though, she let her anger and confusion go and become a happier and more optimistic person.
• Too Powerful to Live: In Action Comics #287: Supergirl's Greatest Challenge, Supergirl faces Positive Man, a humanoid energy being/eldritch abomination. Positive Man crumbled planets to dust simply by passing through and could not be harmed by conventional means, so it never appeared again after Supergirl found a way to break his energy body down.
• Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: In Supergirl (1972) #3, a giant, mutant carnivorous plant tries to swallow Kara whole but it quickly spits Supergirl out because it can't bite through her indestructible skin.
  Supergirl: This brute may become a vegetarian now! Trying to chomp down on my invulnerable body would ruin the appetite of any meat-eater!
• Touché: In Gotham City Garage, Jason Todd sets a bomb off to take Clayface with him. Kara quickly flings him away and tanks the blast.
  Jason: What... What are you?
  Kara: I'm super. And you're a suicidal idiot.
  Jason: Touché.
• Touch of Death: In Adventure Comics issue #398, Supergirl is made to believe she gained a power that means she kills everything she touches. In reality, an alien was trying to trick her into leaving Earth, but she promptly figured out the ruse.
• Touch Telepathy: In Adventure Comics #397, Kara mind-reads several persons by touching their heads.
• Touched by Vorlons: The Girl with the X-Ray Mind reveals that, when Lena Luthor was a little girl, Lex took her to his lab to study a the psychic energies emitted by an alien brain while babysitting her. Despite his warnings, Lena touched one antenna protuding from the sphere encasing the brain, and she was zapped with psychic energy. From that point on, Lena could read minds and foresee future events.
  Lex Luthor: When that [alien] brain short-circuited, it gave her a strange form of telepathy! It's incredible!
• Trainstopping:
  • In Superman Family #217, Supergirl stops a train without needing to break it◊.
  • Subverted in Supergirl (2005) #18. Kara stops a train but it breaks in half and derails upon crashing onto her indestructible body. Kara has a breakdown but she calms down -a bit- when she discovers that it was an illusion.
• Tranquil Fury: Supergirl is usually Hot-Blooded and short-tempered. So, if she talks and acts calmly when she is obviously angry, she's about to deliver an epic butt-kicking.
  • In Justice League United #3, Lobo suckerpunched her. She calmly grabbed his neck, lifted him off the ground and said she hated him before punching him across a valley◊.
  • In Red Daughter Of Krypton, Sheko is different of other Red Lanterns. She is full of fury... but it's a cold, methodical kind of fury. In Supergirl (2011) #31, Kara realizes this:
    Supergirl: She's different for a newborn Red Lantern. She can think and speak — but deep down she's just as full of rage as any new Red. It's a cold, methodical rage, and she's not really in control of it.
• Transformation Comic: Supergirl went through a large number of transformations during the 60's thanks to the influence of Red Kryptonite. She was turned into a toddler, a demon, a wolf-girl, split into two people... The The Unknown Supergirl storyline provides no less than five examples (she got turned into a human ballon, later into a werewolf, shrunk down to bacteria size, grew a second head and finally turned into a mermaid).
• Translator Microbes:
  • When Supergirl first arrives on Earth in the New 52, she can only understand Kryptonian, so only Superman and a girl named Siobhan Smythe can communicate with her. Siobhan can, through magic, become fluent in any language after hearing a few words. She demonstrates with both Kryptonian and birdsong. Later, Supergirl, Black Banshee, and Siobhan's brother are able to understand each other in Black Banshee's mindscape, but not in the real world.
  • In Red Daughter of Krypton Supergirl gets a Red Lantern Ring which is -literally- an universal translator... although Kara wondered if her ring's translator was broken when the Diasporan leader called her "their newest Champion".
• Trash of the Titans: As seen in New 52 Supergirl #29, Siobhan Smythe's apartment is a dumpster, and she actually likes that way.
• Trauma Congaline:
  • Not only is Krypton destroyed but Supergirl survives on Argo City but then it's destroyed. So she's orphaned twice in most continuities.
  • In the Post-Crisis continuity her parents survived Krypton and Argo City's destruction only to die on New Krypton. Which was subsequently destroyed. In other words, she has lost her home planet three times.
  • Kara becoming a Red Lantern is the result of one: After spending one decade sleeping she woke up only for finding out that her world, her family, her old life... were dead and gone. In a lapse of few months she was used and betrayed by most of people she met, including her first crush. She couldn't keep any friend and she couldn't make a connection with her only living relative. And then Lobo taunted her...
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot:Supergirl has been known to shoot a handgun, dash forward, grab the bullet, flicking the forehead's target so onlookers think he's been shot and go back to her initial position with none the wiser. However her speed fails when the plot demands she isn't fast enough.
• Trespassing to Talk:
  • Bizarrogirl has a variant in where Lana Lang walks into her office and finds Cat Grant sitting on her couch in the dark and wanting to talk about Lana's connection with Supergirl.
  • In Supergirl (Rebirth), Kara returns to her Fortress of Solitude and finds Cyborg Superman waiting for her and claiming he can take her back to Krypton.
• Triple Shifter: Pre-Crisis Supergirl went through an era during which she hardly had any sleep. She was working as a soap opera actress, which was extremely time-consuming and only left nighttime to operate as Supergirl. She was going mad due to the lack of sleep (her body doesn't need the rest but her mind does) and private life, so in Superman (1939) #376 she quits her job and tells her cousin [[Comic Book/1982 she is moving to Chicago]] because she cannot juggle her job and her hero duties.
• Trope Codifier: Even if she wasn't the first one, Supergirl is THE Distaff Counterpart.
• Troubled, but Cute: Pre-Crisis Supergirl was innocent and gullible, but her modern incarnations fit this trope:
  • Post-Crisis Kara Zor-El was at the beginning an emotionally-unstable, quick-tempered jerkass due to Kryptonite-poisoning and being a teenager stranded in a strange land (she got over it and got better after a while, though). She is also an Amazonian Beauty and boys were obsessed with her, especially during her "troubled teenager" phase.
  • Post-Flashpoint Supergirl was an lonely, sad, hot-tempered, Hot-Blooded teenager with abandonment and anger issues -a ton of anger issues- before Character Development kicked off. She was a also Guy Magnet. Once she asked a boy if he wasn't frightened of her, and he said no, because she was beautiful.
• Troubled Fetal Position:
  • In Supergirl (1972) #3, Linda does this after learning that one of her professors is dying.
  • Kara up in a ball and cries in Convergence: The Adventures of Superman #1 after seeing visions of her death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor◊ in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
• True Blue Femininity: Kara wears a blue costume, and has traditionally been depicted as a sweet, kind-hearted, upbeat and beautiful woman.
• True Companions: Supergirl is one of the most trusted Superman's allies together with the Daily Planet core staff, Krypto and Lana Lang.
• True Sight: Supergirl, like any Kryptonian, has the ability to see through illusions since her super-senses allow her to check the full spectrum to make sure that something is real.
• Tunnel King: At the beginning of the Silver Age, Supergirl couldn't let people learn of her existence, so she resorted to tunnel underground when she wanted to get anywhere or perform deeds unseen. Being a Pre-Crisis Kryptonian, she could dig one tunnel through the planet in seconds (as seen in Action Comics #267). She got so good at it that she built a whole underground lair in a matter of minutes for her friend Batgirl in Detective Comics #509: The Attack of the Annihilator only because Babs mentioned in passing she needed one.
• Two Girls to a Team: Supergirl and Bleez were the only female members of Guy Gardner's Red Lantern Corps. Bleez was actually glad that Supergirl joined because she wasn't the only girl anymore.
• Two First Names: Supergirl is Linda Lee (later Linda Danvers). Post-Crisis versions of the character had different civilian names: Linda Lang, Kara Danvers...
• Two-Person Love Triangle:
  • Back when she worked as a photographer in San Francisco, Linda Danvers/Kara Zor-El liked her boss Geoff Anderson. Geoff is attracted to Supergirl -and he even kisses her in Demon Spawn- but he is not interested in Linda.
  • In alternate universe story Jimmy Olsen Supermans Pal #57 Jimmy falls for Linda Danvers and Supergirl, not knowing they are the same person until Linda reveals her secret.
• Uncertain Doom:
  • The demon Ordox in Supergirl (1972), who chooses to bring his mountain down rather than letting himself be captured by Supergirl and Zatanna. Both heroines theorize that Ordox possibly died with his mountain, but his fate is never revealed.
  • In Crucible, it's unclear what happens to villain Rendll after getting defeated by Maxima. On the one hand, Maxima runs an energy dagger through Rendll's neck as shouting she'll kill her if Maxima's teammate Comet dies at hands of Rendll's partners. On the another hand, Maxima had shortly before driven an energy dagger into Rendll's neck, and it barely inconvenienced her. Did she get killed or merely knocked out? Either way, Rendll isn't seen or talked about again.
• Underestimating Badassery: Kara gets this a lot. Because she's a temperamental teenager, their enemies assume she is an easily manipulable, naive little girl. Because she's a super-strong Kryptonian, her enemies assume she's dumb muscle. She always shows she isn't a pushover.
  • In Justice League of America #134, Supergirl joins the League to help find a missing Superman. They find an alien race called the Krill, who force the Leaguers to fight Despero, one of their worst and oldest enemies. Despero is sent up against Supergirl, and one of the Krills thinks she can't possibly win... and then she trashes him. First she grabs him and throws him hard enough to put him into orbit◊, and then she flies out of the planet, meets Despero in space and knocks him out with one punch◊.
  • In Who is Superwoman?, Reactron brought golden kryptonite (which nullifies the powers of a Kryptonian) to the fight, thinking he'd kill Supergirl easily. It turns out that Supergirl has been trained by both Batman and Wonder Woman and knows Klurkor (a Kryptonian martial art).
  • In Red Daughter of Krypton Lobo thought that Supergirl would fight worse if he pressed her buttons. It turned out that Kara doesn't get careless when she gets angry: she gets more dangerous.
  • Later on, Guy Gardner ordered Supergirl not to let Bleez -who was wounded- leave med bay. Bleez stated that she had no time to socialize with children and tried to shove Kara away of the door she was blocking. Yup. Good luck with that.
  • Worldkiller-1 thought that Supergirl couldn't do anything to stop him. But it appears that fighting a Kryptonian after she's just taken a bath in the Sun isn't a good idea.
• Understanding Boyfriend: In Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen #57, Jimmy marries Supergirl because of amnesia. Once she recovers and lets him know, he's totally fine with being married to Superman's cousin.
• Underwater Base: Kara got her own undersea base -called Sanctuary- in Supergirl (2011) #12. Unfortunately it got blown up in issue #20.
• Underwear of Power: Kara wore a red bikini bottom in the New 52 reboot, replacing her traditional skirt/leotard.
• Uneven Hybrid: In The Dominus Effect, Kara Ken is sister of Superman XX and descendant of the first Superman. She is named after the first Supergirl.
• Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway:
  • In Who is Superwoman?, the titular villain wears a powered suit, made by a combination of technology and magic, which hadn't been properly and fully tested before she was deployed because Sam Lane was confident that it'd do the job. Its creators believed it would held against Kryptonite blasts, but they weren't sure until Reactron fired at Superwoman and his blasts were nullified. Ultimately, her suit proved to be ineffectual and unreliable when she finally fought Supergirl.
  • In Starfire's Revenge, the titular villain decides to test her minion Dr. Kangle's newly-created power-nullifying pill on Supergirl. When it fails to depower Supergirl permanently, Starfire realize they have no time to make up a larger dose.
  • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: Kara cannot fight a space dragon in her weakened state so she swallows a Red Kryptonite pill, hoping to transform into something which can drive the monster back. Fortunately, she becomes a humanoid Phoenix instead of growing a second head.
  • Deconstructed in The Untold Story of Argo City. Supergirl wants to use a vibro-projector raygun to send her into the Survivor Zone, despite of it being an experimental prototype. When one of her androids warns her about the danger, Kara dismisses its warnings and orders it to use the vibro-projector on her. The android shoots the raygun at another android, whose molecular structure falls apart immediately, to prove Kara that she should not use untested devices.
• Ungrateful Bastard:
  • In Action Comics #286, Supergirl saved Lex Luthor's life. He yelled he hated her and he tried to kill her again. It didn't help that Supergirl informed him that she saved him because she wants him to pay for his crimes. He declared "[He] loathed [her] more than Superman."
  • Supergirl (2005): When she and her then boyfriend Powerboy quelled a hurricane in Mexico, a general threatens them, saying it is illegal for metahumans to interfere with Mexican affairs. Powerboy threatens to bring the hurricane back, and the general shuts up.
  • Supergirl, again, dealt with this with Cat Grant after saving her life (and accidentally breaking Cat's arm in the process). This led Cat to go on a surprisingly effective smear campaign against the Girl of Steel. In the end, Supergirl merely left a note on her desk promising never to rescue her again.
  • In The Unknown Supergirl, Superman reveals his cousin's existence to the world, showing footage of Kara helping him save people dozens of times. At the beginning the public praises her, but as soon as she has -temporary- trouble dealing with an Eldritch Abomination, people complains about her being overrated and worse than her cousin.
  • Supergirl could save Nasthalthia 'Nasty' Luthor over and over again, and 'Nasty' kept mocking her and attempting to expose her Secret Identity. In Demon Spawn she tries to out Supergirl as Kara is getting her out of a burning building.
  • In The Girl of No Tomorrow, the denizens of National City swiftly and completely forget about any and all Supergirl's good actions as soon as they find out her father is a murderer whom she was trying to rehabilitate.
  • In Reign of Doomsday, Cyborg Superman attempts to murder Supergirl for saving him from Doomsday, thus injuring his pride.
• Uniqueness Decay: DC's perception that Supergirl made Superman less unique and less profitable led to them killing her in the Crisis and trying to erase her from history. It didn't work.
• Unknown Rival: In Many Happy Returns Rebel craves for killing both Silver Age Kara Zor-El and post-Crisis Linda Danvers. As long as either of them is concerned, though, he is a pathetic nuisance with delusions of grandeur. When Rebel tries to harass Kara for last time, she shows him how insignificant he is and what the real difference of power between them is. He runs away.
  Rebel: So whattaya say we just finish this off with one final dance?
  Supergirl: Don't you get it, Rebel? You're not important! You never were! You were just — something to do! Something for Supergirl and me to bounce off of for a while until people and events of real consequence came along!
• Unresolved Sexual Tension: Supergirl and Brainiac 5's "will they or won't they?" lasted 24 years. Then, when it looked like they were finally right for getting together officially, Kara Zor-El was killed off in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Post-Crisis Kara and Querl have this kind of relationship, too.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Kara is often subject to this. Usually several veteran heroes help her take a level in badass (her cousin shows her how to use her powers, Batman and even Wonder Woman teaches her how to fight without them) so she is not helpless if she cannot resort to her super-powers.
  • In The Supergirl from Krypton (2004), Diana takes Kara with her to train her because the young Kryptonian has great powers which she doesn't know how to make use of.
    Wonder Woman: Having power and knowing how to use it aren't the same thing.
  • When Wonder Woman fights Supergirl in Supergirl (2011), she remarks that while they are closely matched in strength and speed, she is much more experienced and skilled while Supergirl lashes out with no thought or strategy.
• Un-Sorcerer: In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures In The Eight Grade, a Red-Kryptonite meteor has everyone in Stanhope Elementary suddenly gaining powers... everyone but Lena Thorul, who loudly declares she doesn't want superpowers and she hates super-beings anyway. It doesn't help that her suddenly-metahumans schoolmates immediately put on costumes and act like jerks.
• Unstoppable Rage: Kara is -usually- a very nice, kind person, but she's also a Hot-Blooded, short-tempered teenager who protects her loved ones fiercely, and she has occasionally gone on a rampage:
  • In the Crisis on Infinite Earths, when the Anti-Monitor threatened with killing her cousin Superman, she went berserker and almost killed him. Yes, she nearly killed a being that devours universes.
  • Post-Crisis Supergirl was once so angry she overloaded Sakki, The Hate Furnace and Gakidou.
  • In the beginning of Red Daughter of Krypton, ''Lobo taunted her until she flew off the handle and pummelled him.
  • Also, Matrix during her mini-series back in The '90s discovered that her lover Lex Luthor had made thousands of clones of her from the residue he collected after her fight with Doomsday. She was very close to killing him too.
• Unwanted Assistance:
  • In Superman #123, Jimmy Olsen accidentally created a Supergirl construct when he wished Superman had a companion (since Kara Zor-El hadn't arrived on Earth yet). That Supergirl tried to assist Superman but kept screwing things up. For example, when she tried to put out a fire with Super-Breath, it was so powerful, it knocked the building over.
  • During the events of the "Amazons Attack" storyline, in where the Amazons went to war against the US, Supergirl and Wonder Girl try to end the war by kidnapping the President and bringing him to Queen Hyppolita to engage in peace talks with her. Predictably, their plan went awry, and Supergirl apologized to many people, saying that she had screwed everything up even though she just wanted to help.
• Unwanted Rescue:
  • In H'el on Earth, When the Justice League storms the captured Fortress of Solitude, The Flash is tasked with finding and rescuing Supergirl. However, Supergirl doesn't want to be rescued becauses she's working with H'el in the time.
  • In The Final Days of Superman, Superman seeks his cousin out, who has been missing for several weeks. When he finally finds Supergirl, she is unconscious and strapped to a chair at a Government facility. So he bashes his way into the place, rips Supergirl out of some sort of weird device, and flies her away. When Kara comes around, she tells him she did NOT need saving because they were helping her get her powers back.
    Supergirl: I did NOT need saving, Kal.
• Unwitting Pawn: Supergirl has occasionally been pawn of some villain -such like Lex Luthor- who intended to seduce her as part of a plot against Superman or herself. However, she always finds out about the truth sooner or later, and when she does... Cue Unstoppable Rage and Curb-Stomp Battle.
  • In the H'el on Earth arc, H'El seduced her and talked her into helping him bring Krypton back, assuring that no Earthmen would suffer. She joined him... until she found out that his plan involved blowing the Sun up and destroying Earth. Then she turned on him right away.
  • In Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl And Batgirl, Supergirl and the whole Justice Society were Lex Luthor's pawns, who was using them to increase his power, popularity and fortune.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero: Usually, Zor-El and Alura In-Ze are decent people who try to be good role models. when Kara arrives on Earth, Clark helps to raise her, teaches her how to use her powers, and tries to instill the Kents' teachings in her. The result? Some Supergirl incarnations can be sort of bratty or emo at the beginning, but ultimately all Supergirls develop into The Cape.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Brainiac 5 is a serious, brooding and introspective man whereas his girlfriend Supergirl is an upbeat, cheerful, extroverted woman.
• Up, Up and Away!:
  • Kara has been doing this since the late fifties. In the cover of Action Comics #252 -her first appearance- she is flying upwards with her left arm above her head.
  • Two◊ examples◊ from Superman #307 and #308 respectively.
  • Her second solo book's first issue's cover◊
  • Post Crisis Supergirl in ''Supergirl 20◊
  • Unsurprisingly, Supergirl (1984) and Supergirl (2015) feature Kara flying with a fist stretched out: movie version◊ and live-action show one◊.

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