Real Name: Aresia / Helena Kosmatos
Voiced by Julie Bowen
Forced
to abandon her war-torn homeland, young Helena Kosmatos fled with her mother to
avoid the systematic murder of her friends and family.
Making their way to a refugee ship, they were struck by tragedy again
when pirates attacked the ship, stealing their meager possessions and sinking
the vessel. Surviving by clinging to
a piece of driftwood,
Adopted
by Hippolyta and raised alongside her own daughter Diana,
Now a
terrorist who finds herself opposed by her former friend and sister, Wonder
Woman, she is nearly equal to the Amazing Amazon in terms of strength, speed,
and hand-to-hand combat. However,
while Aresia seeks the death of all men for their crimes against her, she must
continually wrestle with the knowledge that, had it not been for the noble sacrifice
of the refugee ship’s captain, Helena Kosmatos would not have lived to
see Themyscira.
Rich Fogel on Aresia: “I think that Aresia is one of our more interesting and original villains. Her hatred of men drives [Fury] (courtesy of Toon Zone).”
Images
Aresia Image #1 (JL Design) | Aresia Image #2 (JL Design)
Commentary
Look around you: Man’s World is filled of greed, deception, and cruelty; but I’m going to change all that. Today we women take control.
Aresia (to Star Sapphire) in Fury
While an original character designed for the Justice League series, comic book fans can trace Aresia’s origins to not one, but two individual characters, both laying claim to the identity of the Fury. Possessing one of the most convoluted histories this side of Hawkman, the original Fury was Hippolyta Trevor, the daughter of the Golden Age Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. However, following DC”s continuity-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths series, this was undone, as Wonder Woman was redesigned to be a “new” hero, one that wasn’t around during World War II. To compensate for this, a new Fury was developed: Helena Kosmatos, a woman able to channel the spirit of the Furies to avenge her family against the Nazis; she later became the mother of the “modern day” Fury in absence of Diana. Based on the above (there’s more, but it is not necessary to go into it here), I would hazard that Aresia is based more upon the Helena Kosmatos version (hence the listing of Helena Kosmatos as her real name; assuming that Aresia is an adopted name to fit her new life as an Amazon), but possesses a visual design based upon the original Fury. In terms of her adaptation, her inclusion adds a powerful female adversary to the series and provides a formidable antithesis to Wonder Woman.
Based upon her appearance in Fury, one lingering question remains: how did a child raised almost exclusively on Themyscira gain access to things such as city guides, maps, and germ warfare books? The only answer would be that she had a secret benefactor; one with the ability to supply the woman with these items, spirit her off the island unseen, and wants her to sow discord across the planet. Based upon her name, that benefactor could only be Ares—Greek god of War and enemy of Wonder Woman (he’s obviously Aresia’s namesake). If this is true, not only would be excellent foreshadowing on the part of the creative team (Ares made an appearance in Hawk and Dove, and promise to make further appearances at episode's end), but it would add an additional connection to the Helena Kosmatos version of the Fury, as she would have a supernatural patron that she derives support from (Ares replacing the Greek Fury Tisiphone, the Blood Avenger).
It is unknown if Aresia will appear on Justice League Unlimited, as she appeared to perish when her plane went down at the end of Fury. However, as no body was found, it’s safe to assume she survived…especially if Ares is involved.
Images courtesy of Toon Zone, Bat313, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Online UK, DC Comics, DC Cartoon Archives, and Mike Manley; additional information courtesy of The Rather Confusing History of Fury.
