Sabra

Real Name: Ruth Bat-Saraph

Powers: Bat-Seraph's skin, muscle, and bone are more dense than that of a normal human. This contributes to her superhuman strength and weight, and provides her with natural body armor, able to withstand attacks from even the monstrous Hulk. Her immune system and cellular regeneration functions at a higher level than ordinary humans, and her metabolism and the chemical processes of her musculature are highly advanced and produces less fatigue as well. Bat-Seraph can move at lightning-fast speeds, and wears a cape that allows her to fly at amazing speeds by means of a gravity-polarizing device.

Each of Sabra's wrist bracelets contains a neuronic-frequency stunner. These devices can fire quill-shaped bundles of low-density plasma which travel below the speed of sound (about 738 mph at sea level) and can paralyze the nervous system of any organic being almost instantaneously. Each bracelet projector can fire up to 10 quills before needing to be recharged.

History: Little is known of Ruth Bat-Seraph's background before she became the superhuman champion named Sabra. The source of her super-human powers is not yet known, though they are known to have surfaced in pre-adolescence, which might suggest a mutant origin. After her powers surfaced, she and her parents were taken to a special kibbutz (living community) by the Israeli government where her powers were be studied and nurtured. She was the first graduate of the Israeli government-backed "super-agent" program and officially appointed to protect the state of Israel and serve in a highly-placed position in Israel's Mossad secret service. As a cover for her activities, she was given the job and identity of a police officer. Apparenlty, Sabra had for years been a member of the so-called Mutant Underground organized by mutant leader Professor X.

At one point, Sabra was placed under mental control of some unseen villain and ordered to fight the young super hero team New Warriors. After Sabra was returned to her senses, the heroes parted amicably, but the mysterious villain was never revealed.

Later, the vigilante group known as the Pantheon was convinced that the thirteen-year old son of a Draburgan ambassador would become the next Hitler, marshalling his homeland of Draburg into one of the most devastating war machines on Earth. After thwarting an attack on Ambassador Meer's family who lived in Israel, Sabra was assigned the task of protecting them. Following their failed attempt, the Pantheon sent Bruce Banner, at the time in control of his Hulk alter-ego, to bring the boy back to Pantheon headquarters. Banner found his Pantheon teammate Achilles in pursuit of the Meers boy, Max, and his friend Gretta Rabin. The four were spotted by Sabra who engaged the Hulk in combat. Sabra was able to fight Hulk to a standstill, due in part to Sabra's energy quills paralyzing the Hulk's larynx. Reaching an understanding, the two joined forces to save Max Meers from falling to his death, although Meers was ultimately trampled by an angry mind-controlled mob which he meant to have killed Achilles. With Meers in a coma, the Pantheon left Israel.

Later still, Sabra contacted the British hero team Excalibur to come to Israel, which was undergoing catastrophe do to pyschic "echoes" of the mutant Legion, who had recently died there.

During a time that Professor X's mutant heroes, the X-Men, were nearly decimated after their battle with the psychic being known as Onslaught, Sabra traveled to the United States to help former X-Men Iceman and Cecilia Reyes escape from the mutant-hunting robots, the Prime Sentinels. Sabra was later involved in several of the X-Men's adventures before returning to Israel.

Later still, Sabra contacted the Israeli woman Gabrielle Haller when researching the identity of the mutant villain Magneto. From there, she tracked down criminal forger Georg Odekirk, who helped forge an alternate identity for Magneto of Erik Lensherr, only to arrive too late to stop Magneto from killing him. Sabra then tracked down the clone named Joseph, believing the man to be Magneto, but was convinced that this was not the case, and she returned to Israel.