Vixen

Centuries ago on the continent of Africa, a legend arose about the warrior Tantu, who asked the Trickster God Anansi the Spider to create a totem that would give the one who wore it all of the powers of the animal kingdom, but only if the wearer harnessed that power to defend the innocent. Tantu used this totem to become the first super powered hero of Africa, and a legend that would live on for thousands of years. The totem was later passed down to Tantu's descendants, until it reached the Jiwe family in the modern era.

Having grown up in a small African village, a young girl named Mari Jiwe was told the story of the Tantu Totem by her father, Reverend Richard Jiwe, the village priest, who raised her as a single father after a group of poachers lead by a man named Aku Kwesi, killed Mari's mother. Her father himself was later killed by his by his half-brother, General Maksai. Makasai wanted the Tantu Totem for his own evil ends, and he knew his brother had it in his possession. Once he got what he wanted, his young daughter fled from Africa, fearing for her life.

Now an orphan with no family left, Mari escaped to the United States, settling in New York City. She became a fashion model of world renown, and carved a new identity for herself under the name Mari McCabe. Now an international celebrity and a world traveler, Mari ended up back home to Africa as an adult. Once there, she managed to find her villainous uncle, and stole the Tantu Totem back from him, and began to channel its power, starting a career as the superheroine known as the Vixen.

Not long after her heroic career began, Aquaman disbanded the original Justice League of America, and began a new one in the city of Detroit. He recruited four new members to the team, and Vixen was one of them. This version of the JLA was tragically short-lived however, as two of her teammates, Vibe and Steel, were killed in action, leading to the team disbanding. After her JLA dissolved, Vixen became a solo hero, although she would find herself working with other teams on occasion, like the Birds of Prey, Checkmate, and the Suicide Squad, during which time she briefly dated her teammate the Bronze Tiger. Eventually, Mari started her own successful business, creating her own line of clothing.

Vixen once again became a full-fledged member of the JLA during the time that Black Canary was its leader. But soon into her tenure with this new League, she noticed a change in her powers, as she no longer was just drawing on animal powers, but on the abilities of anyone in proximity to her, draining the powers of her fellow teammates. Black Canary dismissed Vixen from the team, but then asks the sorceress Zatanna to help her in fixing the Tantu Totem. With her help, Vixen journeys inside the reality of the totem, where she confronted the trickster god Anansi, and has him restore her proper abilities.

An early version of Vixen was created and set to star in her own series in 1978, but it was cancelled before publication, and the story only showed up in the extremely rare Cancelled Comic Cavalcade during that same year. But her first canonical appearance in the DC Universe was teaming up with Superman to put a stop to illegal fur traders in this story nearly three years later in this team-up story in the pages of Action Comics.

When the original Justice League breaks up after a disastrous alien invasion, founding member Aquaman forms a new Justice League based out of Detroit, Michigan. When Mari McCabe learns about an all-new iteration of the League forming, she leaves her glamorous life as a fashion model behind and heads to New York to join up as the Vixen.

After Vixen's version of the JLA broke up, she worked with several teams, including Oracle's original Birds of Prey. While on a mission with the Birds, she went undercover to investigate a cult centered on Super-Heroes, and its leader was able to somehow control her mind as he did the other metas. When Huntress tried to break her out of the thrall, Vixen nearly killed her, but luckily she got control back when she channeled the stubbornness of a mule to fight the mind control, and she then rescued the other brainwashed heroes.

After nearly two decades, Vixen gets her own comic title in this five-part limited series. When the Justice League uncovers the secret behind the death of Vixen's mother, this leads Mari McCabe back to Africa to find out the truth for herself. Mari always believed that poachers had killed her mother, but soon Vixen learns who the real killer is, and how he's now looking to take control of her ancestral homeland.