Wonder Woman 1984 - 10 Things You Need To Know About The Cheetah
7. She Was Once Friends With Wonder Woman
Barbara Minerva's relationship with Wonder Woman was drastically altered during DC's Rebirth.
When Diana left Themyscira for the first time and arrived in the modern world, she had great difficulty adjusting to human society's customs and languages.
To help open a dialogue with the Amazons, an anthropologist called Dr. Barbara Minerva was tasked with translating Wonder Woman's dialect. Because Minerva had believed in the existence of the fabled Amazons for years, much to the dissatisfaction to her work colleagues, it was a dream come true to come face-to-face with Wonder Woman. Since Minerva was the first human to speak to her in her own language, she sees herself as Wonder Woman's anchor to the Earth and her first true friend.
When the god, Urtzkartaga, transmogrified Minerva into the Cheetah to serve as his bride, her mind devolved to that of a wild animal. Even though she remembers who she was and is aware that Wonder Woman was her closest friend at one point, the Cheetah is unable to control her feral instincts and will attack anyone who stands in her way.