True to her name, Giganta is a large strongwoman who is one of Wonder Woman’s most recognizable foes. She debuted 80 years ago in Wonder Woman #9 (June 1944) as a creation of William Moulton Marston, H.G. Peter, and Sheldon Mayer.
Giganta was introduced as a superstrong gorilla who was turned into a large, powerful woman through advanced technology by Professor Zool of Holliday College. Marston used psychological principles and theories as the basis for many of his characters, including Giganta. She was partially based on Charles Darwin’s theory that humans have evolved from apes. Her characterization also came from the concept of humans behaving more like animals before the birth of civilization.
Once turned human, Giganta’s first move was to lead prehistoric cavemen in an attempt to conquer the world. Following several fights with Wonder Woman, she joined Villainy Inc. with fellow baddies like Doctor Poison, Cheetah, and Queen Clea. When the Golden Age characters from Earth-2 were introduced into the Silver Age’s Earth-1, Giganta had an origin change. She was still mutated from an ape, but now she was more intelligent, had a better vocabulary, and wasn’t solely focused on a revolution for cavemen.
Giganta’s origin was retconned after DC rebooted their entire universe in Crisis on Infinite Earths. This time, she was human research scientist Dr. Doris Zeul who could transfer her consciousness into a gorilla. Years later, her origin was changed again with Dr. Zeul using magic to transfer herself into a circus strongwoman named Olga. The same magic also gave her the ability to grow her size and strength, which she used in her continued obsession with taking out Wonder Woman.
This version put less emphasis on some of Marston’s psychological conceits to make Giganta a more well rounded character. Dr. Zeul struggled with the two sides of her life – that of a scientist and of a villain for hire. Modern continuity also gave her a degenerative illness that was the basis for her desire to transfer her consciousness into healthier bodies.
