Kara Danvers (Supergirl)

At 24, Kara works as an assistant to the demanding Cat Grant at CatCo. When her sister Alex's plane is about to crash, she uses her powers in public for the first time and saves everyone. Cat dubs her Supergirl. Kara learns that Alex works for the DEO, an alien-hunting agency run by Hank Henshaw, who is really J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.

The enemies come from Fort Rozz, the Kryptonian prison that crashed to Earth with her, including her aunt Astra, twin sister of Kara's mother. Astra dies, and her husband, Non, activates Myriad, taking control of National City's minds. Kara breaks the hold with a message of hope and nearly dies flying Fort Rozz into space.

Kara gets backup from her cousin, Superman, against Project Cadmus, run by Lillian Luthor, and becomes friends with Lillian's adopted daughter, Lena Luthor. Now a reporter, Kara welcomes the survivor of another pod: Mon-El, from Daxam, Krypton's neighboring rival planet. She trains him, and they fall in love.

Mon-El is the prince of Daxam, and his mother, Queen Rhea, invades Earth to take him home. Kara beats Rhea in a duel and disperses lead into the atmosphere, which drives out the Daxamites but is also deadly to Mon-El. She has to send him away in a pod, which disappears into a wormhole.

Kara shuts down after losing Mon-El. Samantha Arias, Lena's friend, discovers she is Reign, a Kryptonian Worldkiller built to conquer Earth. Reign nearly kills Supergirl in a brutal fight. Mon-El returns from the 31st century with the Legion of Super-Heroes, and with a wife, Imra.

Kara learns that Argo, a city of Krypton, survived, and that her mother, Alura, is alive. In the final battle, Sam defeats Reign and is freed from her. Mon-El leaves for the future again, and Kara chooses to stay on Earth rather than live on Argo.

Anti-alien hatred grows, and Kara becomes the target of a movement led by Agent Liberty. A copy of her, raised in Kaznia and trained as Red Daughter, is used against Supergirl.

Behind it all is Lex Luthor, who gets out of prison, manipulates Red Daughter and stages an invasion to look like a hero. Red Daughter dies and passes her strength to Kara, who defeats Lex. Before dying, Lex tells Lena the secret Kara had been keeping from her friend: she is Supergirl.

Hurt, Lena pulls away from Kara and tries to control people's minds for their own good. Kara debuts a new suit, with pants. In the Crisis, her Earth is destroyed, and Kara is one of the seven Paragons, chosen as the Paragon of Hope. She helps remake the world, which now merges her Earth with Barry's.

In the new world, Lex is celebrated as a hero and owns Obsidian, tied to Leviathan, an ancient organization. Kara and Lena only make peace at the end, when they face Leviathan together.

Lex traps Kara in the Phantom Zone. There she finds her father, Zor-El, alive. Her friends rescue her, but Nyxly, a fifth-dimensional princess, escapes with them and teams up with Lex to gather seven magic totems.

In the final battle, heroes from the past return to help and Kara's hope gives people strength. Lex and Nyxly are dragged into the Phantom Zone. Alex marries Kelly. Cat Grant reveals she always knew Kara was Supergirl and, with Lena, convinces her to stop living two lives and be one person.

In the comics, Kara Zor-El debuted in 1959, created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, and for years went by Linda Lee Danvers on Earth. The name Kara Danvers was created for the show and later adopted by the comics in DC Rebirth. Melissa Benoist was the first actress considered for the role, in a casting process that lasted three months.