Real Name:  Unknown

Voiced by Olivia D'Abo

The origin of Star Sapphire can be traced back 2.5 billion years, when the immortal women of the planet Oa left their adopted homeworld, and the males of their species, behind.  Migrating to the planet Zamaron, the female Oans established a warrior culture, dedicating themselves to combat prowess and physical ability even as the males worked to master their inherent mental powers.  As the millennia progressed they became as different species—the female Zamarons became elegant Amazon-like warriors, while the men evolved into dwarfish, physically frail beings with tremendous mental abilities—the Guardians of the Universe.  As a result of their choices the Zamarons found themselves no longer able to directly manipulate the psionic powers that were their birthright, but instead were forced to channel them through the use of their mystical star sapphire gems.

As time passed, a particular tradition developed among the Zamaron warriors, where they would choose a mortal woman to become their queen.  This woman, who must possess specific physical characteristics in order to be eligible, is approached following the death of the prior queen and is presented with a star sapphire gem, one that possesses an array of abilities that are roughly comparative to the energy rings of the Green Lantern Corps.  Upon acceptance of the gemstone, the mortal woman takes on the royal title of Star Sapphire and the throne of the planet Zamaron.  However, it should be noted that this appointment is merely a figurehead position, and the queen only rules at the Zamarons’ pleasure.  If a queen is found to be unfit then she may be sent back to her homeworld or even punished, as was the case of an unnamed former Star Sapphire who was banished to the 7th Dimension for her crimes against her people.  This practice has resulted in a dynasty of Star Sapphires, each one physically identical to the last.

The current Zamaronian monarch is an as-yet unidentified woman who has associated herself with the super-powered criminal element of the planet Earth, a world within Sector 2814.  Currently content to engage in acts of theft, her actions have repeatedly brought her into conflict with Green Lantern John Stewart, as well as his allies in the Justice League.  However, her ultimate motives, as well as her current standing among the Zamarons, remain unclear.

Cartoon Network on Star Sapphire:  "This sexy super-villainess has class, style, and a killer power gem that allows her to fly and shoot deadly blasts (courtesy of Cartoon Network press materials)."

Excerpts from the Justice League Panel at the 2001 San Diego Comic Con:

Bruce Timm:  [Star Sapphire is] from the Green Lantern comics.  One of the interesting things about [the Injustice Gang episode] is that we have eight supervillains, but it’s really Luthor’s story more than anything else.  We didn’t really get the time to go into their origin stories as much as we normally do in the series, so we really don’t explain anything about Star Sapphire.  [In the episode] she’s just this gal who has this special power.  Her actual back story is that she’s Carol Ferris—who was Hal Jordan’s boss—and she had this psychotic breakdown and [developed] this secondary personality.

Rich Fogel:  She’s the epitome of “the woman scorned.”

Bruce Timm:  Olivia D’Abo plays her.  We just love her English accent, but she’s never had a chance to use it [D’Abo was the voice of Ten on Batman Beyond]…so we figured that her secondary personality could have an English accent.  It just sounds nice.

Courtesy of Revolution Science Fiction and Comics2Film.

Geoff Johns on Star Sapphire:  "She's all about arrogance.  She embodies royalty gone wrong (courtesy of Wizard Magazine)."

Mighty Isis on Star Sapphire:  “A sleek, high-fashion look for Star Sapphire [designed by Bruce Timm] pays homage to what was cool about Gil Kane’s original design for the character in the Silver Age Green Lantern comics, while losing the more dated 'airline stewardess' elements.  The shock pink and lavender color scheme is in place, though reconfigured for a sexier 'today' look (tall, shiny pink boots and gloves).  The mask has been retooled [as well]—it keeps the dual upward sweep of Carol Ferris’ original domino [mask], but elongates the ears (?) into something sinister rather than silly.

“Aloof and superior, Star Sapphire probably has fewer lines than any of the other Injustice Gangers.  She seems to possess energy powers identical to those of Green Lantern—except that her energy is fuchsia, not green—that’s channeled through a jewel worn on the forehead of her mask.  As a result, she kicks some major ass (courtesy of Toon Zone).”

DarkLantern on Star Sapphire’s powers:  “Star Sapphire created energy projections in early Green Lantern issues.  One [example] that comes to mind is a pair of pincers that pulled Hal Jordan's mask off (courtesy of Toon Zone).”

Images

Star Sapphire Image #1 | Star Sapphire Image #2

Star Sapphire Image #2 (Pre-JL)

Commentary

"Aheh...common criminals.  Is this what I've been reduced to?"

Star Sapphire in "Injustice for All"

Much like Green Lantern himself (or herself / itself, considering the diversity of the Corps), Star Sapphire follows in the tradition of the DC comic book icons…in that she possesses a dense, tangled web of decades-old continuity.  In total, there have been four significant Star Sapphires that have been chronicled to any degree in DC Comics and each one, while enhancing the rich tapestry of the character’s heritage, complicates the character utilized on Justice League, making her potential background a very, very confusing one.

In fact, the first Star Sapphire wasn’t even a Green Lantern villain at all.  Making her debut in All-Flash Comics #32 (December 1947 / January 1948), this Star Sapphire was an adversary of Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash.  An unnamed villain with poorly-defined powers, she was the ruler of the 7th Dimension and sought to expand her territory by conquering Earth.  She was later retroactively fit into Post-Crisis continuity as a former ruler of the Zamarons, but one who was rejected as being unfit to rule due to her fear of men and was exiled from our reality.  She made a return to Earth following the debut of the Silver Age Star Sapphire (which we will discuss shortly) and was defeated by the Silver Age Flash (Barry Allen) and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), who imprisoned her in a star sapphire gem (Flash / Green Lantern:  The Brave and the Bold #6; March 2000).

The second, and most recognized, Star Sapphire was Carol Ferris, who first appeared in Showcase #22 (September / October 1959).  The owner of Ferris Aircraft and boss of pilot Hal Jordan, she served as a sort of Lois Lane to Jordan’s Superman—Hal Jordan loved Carol, but she only had eyes for Green Lantern, his costumed alter-ego.  However, in Green Lantern #16 (October 1962), Ferris was approached by the Zamarons, who had chosen her to become their latest Zamaronian queen.  Carol, however, refused, claiming that she wanted to remain on Earth and marry Green Lantern instead, and the Zamarons, unaccustomed to being turned down (and presumably no longer understanding the female’s interest in men), decided to prove to their chosen queen that Green Lantern was unworthy of her.  To that end, they hypnotized her, outfitted her in the traditional hunting uniform of a Zamaronian queen, gave her the star sapphire power gem, and told her to go out and battle Green Lantern to prove her superiority.  Compelled to obey due to the hypnotism of the Zamaronian pipe organ, Ferris (now acting as an aggressive Zamaron warrior) attacked Hal Jordan in an attempt to prove herself worthy of becoming queen.  However, following an initial victory, Star Sapphire lost her second bout with Jordan, and the Zamarons stripped away her memories of Star Sapphire and returned her to normal.  However, they left the power gem behind, and their hypnotism left subconscious urges of the Star Sapphire persona within Carol’s psyche, leading to ongoing stories in which Ferris would “rediscover” the power gem and resume her costumed persona.

(Shortly after this there was a third Star Sapphire named Dela Pharon, who made her debut in Green Lantern #41 [November 1964], but she disappeared into the background following her initial appearance.)

During her periodic transformations into Star Sapphire, Carol Ferris used her time to try and get Green Lantern to marry her (see here) but, as time wore on, she became increasingly ruthless in the pursuit of her beloved.  Later, it was revealed that Carol had always been a little schizophrenic, torn between wanting to marry Green Lantern and be the perfect wife, and wanting to be the “son” that her father Carl Ferris had dreamt would one day inherit his company.  Torn between her traditional and feminist ideals, she subconsciously found that becoming Star Sapphire allowed her to vent her frustrations towards Jordan for getting in the way of her father’s dreams.  However, this situation began to change when Carol—who had previously forgotten her activities as Star Sapphire once she had changed back to normal—was informed of her second identity by Hal Jordan, who also revealed his secret identity to her.  In addition, the initial hypnotic suggestion, coupled with her continued use of the power gem and her own mental problems, led to the development of “Star Sapphire” as a secondary personality within her psyche.  Now suffering from multiple-personality disorder, her situation would grow worse as a series of crises struck her life.

It began when Congressman Jason Bloch tried to ruin Ferris Aircraft financially in an attempt to buy it out, forcing her father out of retirement to take back the presidency of his company from his daughter.  This, coupled with Hal Jordan being forced to take an extended leave of absence from Earth, led to Carol Ferris suffering a nervous breakdown.  Deprived of both love and success, she believed herself to unworthy of either because she was not ruthless enough.  This psychological imbalance triggered her power gem, which split her into two separate beings:  a submissive Carol Ferris, who loved Hal Jordan, and the male Predator, who loved her and embodied all of the characteristics that she regarded as ideal.  Free of Carol's subconscious, the Predator established himself as a vigilante and protected Ferris Aircraft from the likes of Congressman Bloch—who he eventually killed—as well as DC villains Eclipso and the Demolition Team.  In addition, the Predator established his own company, Intercontinental Petroleum (or Con-Trol), to help Carol regain control of Ferris Aircraft, all in a subconscious bid to prove herself to her father.  Soon he began to court Carol (who did not know that the Predator was part of herself) directly, which eventually led to the Predator battling a newly-returned Jordan for her hand.  In the end, Green Lantern defeated the vigilante and witnessed him re-merging with Carol Ferris to become a newer, more dangerous, Star Sapphire (see here).

A singular being once more, Star Sapphire was now ready to take her throne as the queen of Zamaron and to take Green Lantern as her consort, but Hal refused, claiming that she was nothing but a heartless creation of the Zamarons.  Enraged, she vowed revenge, and eventually killed Corps member Katma Tui as part of one of her schemes.  However, her efforts proved futile, as the Zamarons and the Guardians reconciled and departed this reality during the 1988 Millennium crossover event, leaving Star Sapphire the queen of an abandoned country.  However, even after murdering his friend, Hal Jordan did not give up on her, but an attempt to cleanse her of her evil persona proved futile.  Following the attempt she claimed that she was, in fact, the real Carol Ferris, and that the change in her personality was the end result of the events that had shaped her life (this was, of course, the Star Sapphire persona talking).  Still not cowed, Hal Jordan would have tried again, but he was nonetheless distracted when he went mad, destroyed the Green Lantern Corps, and became Parallax, leaving his former love—who was rapidly losing the war for her sanity—to fend for herself.

Later, the Predator returned and revealed that he was not truly a personality in Carol Ferris’ head, as was previously thought; he was, in fact, an ancient parasite from Maltus (the original homeworld of the Oans) and that he had impregnated Star Sapphire with a demonic entity.  Sick of the constant manipulation, Carol Ferris saw an opportunity during 1995’s Underworld Unleashed crossover event, and made a deal with the demon Neron in which she would trade the alien / demonic baby in her womb to him in exchange for killing off Star Sapphire and the Predator from her mind.  Neron gladly did so, first transforming Star Sapphire (seen here in her new costume) and the Predator into separate corporal beings and then allowing them to cause some havoc before destroying them both.  However, while she was free of her unwanted pregnancy and the multiple personalities in her head, she still possessed a residual element of her Star Sapphire persona in her subconscious.  Fortunately, Hal Jordan, who was now the new Spectre, succeeded in removing those last lingering vestiges from her mind, allowing her—after years of torment—to finally be free.  In the end Carol Ferris, having moved on, married a man named Gil (no doubt a tribute to Gil Kane, co-creator of the Carol Ferris Star Sapphire) and dropped off the radar for a few years, resurfacing in the recent Green Lantern:  Rebirth miniseries where, having come to terms with her feelings for the newly-resurrected Hal Jordan, she now seeks to rebuild Ferris Aircraft and start over.

Meanwhile, while this drama was unfolding, a fourth Star Sapphire made her debut in Secret Society of Supervillains #1 (May / June 1976).  Noteworthy for speaking with a French accent that came and went from story to story, this incarnation of the character appeared with the supervillain team for the duration of its run, and apparently developed feelings for undercover hero Captain Comet along the way.  Only two issues away from having her origins revealed (according to writer Bob Rozakis), the title was cancelled with issue #15 (the last fully finished issue, however, appeared in Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #2, Fall 1978), and it wasn’t until Justice League of America #174 (January 1980)—in the letters column, no less!—that her origins were delved into.  This Star Sapphire was revealed to be Remoni-Notra (who went by the Earth alias of Debbie Camille Darnell), an alien from the planet Pandina who was chosen to be Carol Ferris’ successor.  Traveling to Earth to take possession of Ferris’ power gem, she apparently got sidetracked by her activities with the Secret Society, which included the events revealed in 2004’s Identity Crisis miniseries, where she—along with the rest of her teammates—discovered the secret identities of the Justice League, and subsequently had their minds erased by Zatanna.  Recently revealed to have spent the past few years in a coma in Belle Reve Prison, this is the Star Sapphire that writer Geoff Johns utilized for his "Crisis of Conscience" story arc in JLA.

Because of this elaborate, sometimes contradictory, back-history, the creative team has decided to pretty much ignore it altogether, preferring to utilize Star Sapphire as simply a "gal who has this special power," as Bruce Timm so eloquently put it.  In a way it's just as well, as Star Sapphire's presence on Justice League brings up many questions that, due to time constraints, they did not have adequate time to go into during her small appearances in "Injustice For All," "Fury," and "Hereafter."  For example, how could the creative team explain the Zamarons, who are the female population of the Oan race, when a female Guardian made an appearance in the Superman episode "In Brightest Day" (seen here; female Guardians have only come about recently in Green Lantern:  Rebirth #6; May 2005)?  Also, who is this version of Star Sapphire?  In past interviews (recorded above) the creative team has made mention of her being Carol Ferris, but it is unlikely as Hal Jordan, her adversary and reason for existence, is not present on this series (his cameo appearance in "The Once and Future Thing" notwithstanding).  It is more likely that this Star Sapphire is Remoni-Notra, considering that 1) the Star Sapphire on Justice League was a member of a group of supervillains, and 2) this Star Sapphire is interested in theft, rather than making a Green Lantern fall in love with her.  Still, her true identity is unknown, and will remain so unless her origins are delved into in a future episode of Justice League Unlimited.

In the end, Star Sapphire is a welcome addition to the DCAU, as her presence pays tribute to a classic, Silver Age character, and gives her a stylish new costume that vaguely resembles John Stewart's redesigned suit (also worth noting:  her redesigned mask is reminiscent of the X-Men's Marvel Girl—see here and here—and her costume's design borrows heavily from current Justice League member Dr. Light; see here).  However, without Hal Jordan—Carol Ferris' raison d'être—Star Sapphire suffers a bit, as the primary element that added nuance to the most complex incarnation of this character is missing.  As a result, her bit of dialogue from "Injustice for All" about associating with common criminals (reprinted above) becomes quite ironic, as—without that added depth—this femme fatale is now little more than a common criminal herself.

Images courtesy of Toon Zone, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Warner Bros. Online UK, Kryptcom from DCU Animated (for template), The Comics Archives, DC Comics, Who's Whose in the DC Universe?, the Grand Comic Book Database, Marvel Super Heroes, and The Bruce Timm Gallery.  Marvel Girl courtesy of Marvel Comics.  Additional information courtesy of The Unofficial Green Lantern Corps Web Page, The Secret Society of Supervillains Index, DarkMark's Comic Indexing Domain, and poster Jack Frenzy from Toon Zone.

Back to Main Page