The Cheetah is often considered to be the archenemy of Wonder Woman. The first woman to become the Cheetah, in Wonder Woman #6 (July 23, 1943), is Priscilla Rich, a 1940s-era blonde Washington, D.C. debutante of aristocratic upbringing who also has an overwhelming inferiority complex and suffers from a split personality.

After being eclipsed by Wonder Woman at a charity event and failing to kill her during an escapology act, Priscilla retreats to her room and collapses before her makeup mirror. There she sees an image of a woman dressed like a cheetah. “Horrors!” she cries, as she gazes at her evil inner-self for the first time. “Don’t you know me?” replies the reflection. “I am the REAL you—the Cheetah—a treacherous, relentless huntress!” The image commands her to fashion a Cheetah costume from a cheetah-skin rug. “From now on,” intones the reflection, “when I command you, you shall go forth dressed like your TRUE self and do as I command you…” The Cheetah frames Wonder Woman for a robbery by hiding the money in her apartment and tipping off the police, then sets fire to a warehouse Wonder Woman is in, although Wonder Woman escapes. Cheetah survives and goes on to menace Wonder Woman in subsequent stories.