Sensor Girl

Origin

Wilimena Morgana Daergina Annaxandra Projectra Velorya Vauxhall (more commonly known as Projectra or "Jeckie") was a princess of the royal family of Orando, a planet culturally very similar to Earth's Europe during the Middle Ages. As such, she was also the wielder of a hereditary magical ability to create convincing multi-sensory illusions merely with the power of her mind. When Projectra heard that a galactic team of super-teens called the Legion of Super-Heroes was being formed on Earth, she naturally felt that she deserved to be a member. She traveled to Earth for the Legion's tryouts, bringing a certain confidence -- bordering on arrogance -- with her. Projectra's powerful illusions impressed the Legionnaires and she easily won membership. She joined the Legion alongside fellow recruits Ferro Lad and Karate Kid (who became her boyfriend and eventual husband). As a Legionnaire, Jeckie took the codename Princess Projectra.

Creation

Princess Projectra was created in 1966 by writer Jim Shooter and artist Curt Swan. She became the seventh female member of the Legion of Super-Heroes and their 21st member overall.

Character Evolution

Original Continuity: New Earth

In addition to her powers of illusion, Projectra's knowledge of politics and galactic society made her a valued member of the Legion. Early in her Legion career she fell in love with fellow recruit Val Armorr (Karate Kid). When Projectra's father King Voxv died, Projectra's cousin Pharoxx and his grandmother Hagga challenged her right to the throne. Projectra, along with Val and the Legion, defeated Pharoxx and Hagga in trial by combat, securing her place as ruler of Orando. She married Karate Kid and they became Legion reserve members, since Legion bylaws of the time would not allow married members.

Princess Projectra's original Legion costume was essentially a blue one-piece bathing suit, accessorized with white boots & gloves and a purple cape. Like many Legionnaires she underwent a sexy makeover in the 1970's, changing to an elaborate yet skimpy red and gold costume with a neckline that plunged past her navel, sleeves with revealing openings down their length, and thigh-high boots. She wore this costume until she resigned from the Legion and returned as Sensor Girl years later.

Reboot: Earth-247

Projectra was removed from Legion continuity in the first Legion reboot (later designated Earth-247), and replaced by a non-humanoid character with similar powers (see Other Versions, below).

Threeboot: Earth-Prime

In the next Legion reboot (now known as the "Threeboot" and designated Earth-Prime), Jeckie returned to a fully human appearance and was still the princess of the Orando royal family. But when she joined the Legion she had no powers other than a direct line to her family's funds. She was an extremely spoiled child, who ostensibly joined the Legion on a whim. The Legion, desperate for funds, accepted her and was happy to make her a full member in return for regular "donations" to their coffers. In this continuity Jeckie's codename was Projectra. Initially she was trying to break free of her spoiled life and find a way to make a difference, and she believed that by being in the Legion she would have a chance to be part of something bigger than herself. After joining the Legion, she entered a romantic relationship with Brin Londo (Timber Wolf). Jeckie's comfortable life ended abruptly with the destruction of Orando by Terra Firma, a group of meta-humans organized by Praetor Lemnos. With her parents dead and her entire race virtually wiped out, her hereditary illusion-casting powers kicked in, which in this reality were entirely magic-based.

Retroboot: New Earth

Recently, Jeckie as Sensor Girl appeared in the JLA/JSA crossover known as the Lightning Saga. She has returned to being a close approximation of her character from original continuity; however Jeckie never wore the Sensor Girl costume while Karate Kid was alive. Since he is alive again, we must assume that although this new timeline resembles the Pre-Crisis Legion, it is not exactly the same.

Major Story Arcs

Original Continuity: New Earth

The Death of Karate Kid

After their wedding and retirement from active Legion membership, Projectra and Karate Kid hoped to enjoy years of married bliss on Projectra's home planet. But this idyllic time was rudely interrupted when the Legion of Super-Villains attacked Orando, wreaking widespread havoc and destruction. Their leader Nemesis Kid (whose power gave him the ability to fatally exploit the weakness of any foe) then challenged Karate Kid to single combat, claiming that the devastation would cease if Val could defeat him. Understanding Nemesis Kid's deadly power, Projectra begged her husband to decline the challenge and wait for the rest of the Legion to arrive. But declining a duel went against Val's strict code of honor, so he accepted and was brutally killed by Nemesis Kid. In a grief-stricken rage, Projectra attacked and killed Nemesis Kid to avenge her dead husband. The rest of the Legion finally arrived and defeated the other super-villains, but Projectra, acknowledging that she had violated the Legion's code against killing, resigned from the team completely. She absorbed herself in rebuilding and governing Orando as its sole ruler.

A New Secret Identity

Years later, Projectra returned to the Legion in a new costume and with a new code name: Sensor Girl. Her powers had increased with age, making her illusions more potent and extending her abilities into the metaphysical realm. This was a decided penance for her killing of Nemesis Kid and the trouble she had wrought on Orando as its queen. She hid her true identity from her former teammates by wearing a distinctive mask; only the telepathic Saturn Girl was privy to her true identity. This caused much debate among the Legionnaires. Some thought perhaps she was Supergirl or a Supergirl clone, others thought she was the villainous Saturn Queen, and some even speculated that perhaps she was Saturn Girl. After causing so much dissension, Sensor Girl left the Legion to follow the trail of the new Fatal Five. Using the Emerald Eye of Ekron, the Emerald Empress revealed Sensor Girl's true identity to the Legion and the Fatal Five. Projectra as Sensor Girl was the re-added to the Legion roster. Her violation of their code against killing was declared in self defense of Orando, and she was able to regain their trust and became the leader of the Legion in time for the Magic Wars.

Five Years Later

The Magic Wars caused the collapse of the United Planets along with a period in Legion history known as the Five Year Gap. Jeckie was ruler of Orando when the Khunds invaded the planet. Jeckie's forces were able to drive out the Khunds, after which she survived an assassination attempt by the Dark Circle. The mother of Colossal Boy and former President of Earth, Marte Allon, served Projectra as an adviser. Jeckie returned to the Legion twice more as Sensor Girl, though in a different costume. The first time was to battle Mordru and his army of living dead, including her deceased husband Karate Kid. She also worked with the Legion in their efforts to repair the broken time stream. However, their attempts were unsuccessful and the Zero Hour event wiped out original Legion continuity.

Threeboot: Earth-Prime

Turn to Villainy

After the loss of her homeworld and people, Projectra was initially comforted by fellow Legionnaire Tinya Wazzo (Phantom Girl), who helped Projectra cope with the tragedy by reading her ancient comic books from the 20th century and politely tolerating Projectra's bratty and abusive behavior towards her. But Projectra's mental state grew more unstable when she was informed by the United Planets that Orando's currency was no longer valid and she was essentially broke. She was given the option of being naturalized on Earth but refused, asking to speak with the UP President. When she was denied, she created an illusion to attack the two guards escorting her off the grounds. These events led her down a very dark path, during which she gradually turned towards evil. Only hours later, Jeckie was involved in a robbery in which, instead of helping the police pursue the robbers, she took the opportunity to steal a valuable bracelet. In another instance, she viciously assaulted two tourists who asked for her autograph.

As Projectra grew more and more unstable, she became convinced that the Legion was to blame for the loss of her homeworld and her parents, and plotted to destroy the Legion in revenge. Her rage caused her powers to increase exponentially, to the point where she discovered she now had absolute mastery over the id of individuals. She first used this power to disable the precognitive Legionnaire Dream Girl, whom she regarded as a key threat to her plans. Phantom Girl then became suspicious of Projectra's behavior and investigated, uncovering Projectra's planned betrayal. But before Tinya could alert the Legion, Projectra found her out and savagely attacked her. Tinya initially defended herself by entering her phased state, but Projectra used her powers of illusion to trick Tinya into becoming tangible again and then beat Tinya nearly to death. Her comatose, disfigured body was discovered just in time by Timber Wolf, who activated Tinya's alarm beacon. Tinya was brought to the Legion infirmary where she began to recover, but Projectra then used her powers to alter Tinya's memories before she could tell the Legion what had happened. Saturn Girl then used her telepathic powers to uncover Projectra's true nature. But even the powerful telepath was unable to handle Projectra's new power level; Projectra was able to plant false memories in Saturn Girl's mind, preventing her from warning the Legion. This plotline was left unresolved when Threeboot continuity was ended by Infinite Crisis.

Powers and Abilities

Illusion Casting

Projectra has the natural ability to create intensely realistic illusions, complete with all sensory components. As Sensor Girl her illusion abilities became even more powerful, but at first she used them mainly to keep her identity hidden. Sensor Girl also has the ability to "remove the illusions of distance and size," allowing her telescopic and microscopic senses, and can perceive various spectrums at will. She can combine these abilities into such feats as using her illusions to have her teammates view into the infra-red spectrum to fight in the dark. She is one of the few Legionnaires who is fully comfortable with magic as opposed to technology.

Hand-to-Hand Combat

Projectra is a highly skilled martial artist, having been personally trained by her lover/husband and the ultimate martial arts master, Karate Kid.

Equipment

As a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Sensor Girl possesses a Legion Flight Ring. The ring gives its wearer the ability to fly, the speed and range of which is determined by the wearer's willpower. It also acts as a long-range communicator (enabling constant vocal contact with other Legionnaires, even across vast distances of space), a signal device, and a navigational compass, all powered by a micro-computer built inside the ring.

Other Versions

Five Years Later: New Earth

Batch SW6

Even as the original Projectra returned to Orando to serve as queen, a teenage duplicate of Projectra mysteriously appeared in the same reality, along with duplicates of many other Legionnaires. Initially these teenage Legion duplicates were called "Batch SW6," since it was believed that they were clones of the Legion created by the Dominators prior to the death of Ferro Lad. It was later revealed that Batch SW6 were not clones, but time-paradox duplicates of the Legion from a different reality. They formed their own team and operated separately from the original Legion, calling themselves the Legionnaires and starring in their own series with that title. The SW6 version of Projectra wore a variation of the character's original blue and purple costume and called herself Princess Projectra to further differential herself from the original (who by this time was now codenamed Sensor Girl). SW6's Projectra was eventually killed in battle along with SW6's Chameleon Boy and Karate Kid while fighting Dominion troops.

Reboot: Earth-247

For further details: Sensor

A radically different version of the character appeared after the Zero Hour reboot. The planet of Orando was rewritten so that its inhabitants now resembled large sentient snakes, even including the royal family. The princess of Orando was named Jeka Wynzorr. Unhappy with the social inequality of her homeworld, Jeka used her illusion-casting powers to disguise herself as a human and tried out for the Legion of Super-Heroes. She was accepted and given the codename Sensor, after which she revealed her true form. She wore a harness equipped with a pair of artificial arms in order to better interact with her humanoid teammates.

Humanoid Form

Sensor served with the Legion for a long time, striking up a good friendship with her Durlan teammate Chameleon due to their common dissimilarity with humans. She worked with R.J. Brande while the Legion was lost and assisted him in the creation of the Legion World satellite. After the return of the lost Legionnaires, Sensor was radically altered by Ra's al Ghul's attempt to force the hand of evolution on Earth. His "hypertaxis" energy gave her a humanoid upper form while keeping the serpentine lower body. She found the new form revolting, and kept herself locked in her quarters. She was forced out of hiding when Universo tried to take over the galaxy, she possessed a natural immunity that made her able to coordinate an opposition. The victory over Universo helped her gain confidence in her new form, and she slowly started taking more of an interest in Legion work.

Elseworlds

Superboy's Legion

Princess Projectra appeared as a member of the Legion in Superboy's Legion, an Elseworlds miniseries where Superboy was born in the 30th century, rather than the 20th. She closely resembled the original version of the character, wearing a variation of the early blue one-piece costume and purple cape.

Castles in the Air

Projectra appeared as a royal princess in the Elseworlds story Castles in the Air, published in Legionnaires Annual #1. In this reality, the Legion became a futuristic version of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table. The character wore a medieval-style red gown in this appearance.

Justice League: The Nail

Princess Projectra appeared as a married woman with a child in the Elseworlds miniseries Justice League: The Nail, which depicted a DC Universe where the infant Superman had not been found and adopted by the Kents. Projectra wore a revealing red and gold costume patterned after the one the original character wore during the 1970's era of skimpy Legion costumes.