Jungle girl (stock character)

Jungle girl is an archetype or stock character, often used in popular fiction, of a female adventurer or superhero in the jungles or rain forests of, primarily, Africa. The jungle girl is generally depicted as wearing a scanty animal skin as a dress or bikini. Though hair color varied, they are often depicted with blonde hair. They are the female counterpart of such characters as Tarzan.

Jungle girls are often highly intelligent and some can communicate with animals. They are strong fighters, runners and swimmers, with high endurance levels, and often swing through trees on vines. Jungle girls often come into conflict with civilization and hostile tribes, often to find peaceful solutions to preserve their jungle environments.

The first such character was Rima from the 1904 novel Green Mansions. One popular character, adapted into various media, is Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, who, though created by American writer-artists Will Eisner and Jerry Iger, made her debut in the British magazine "Wags" #1 (1937). Sheena went on to star in the American comic book anthology series "Jumbo Comics" the following year.

List of jungle girl characters

*Ann Mason (Fiction House's "Jungle Comics")
*Ayla (Chrono Trigger)
*Camilla (Fiction House's "Jungle Comics")
*Cave Girl (Magazine Enterprises' "Africa", "Thun'da", and "Cave Girl")
*Cavewoman
*Dhalua and, in a more satirical manner, her daughter Tesla ("America's Best Comics")
*Fana the Jungle Girl
*Fantomah (Fiction House's "Jungle Comics")
*Jana of the Jungle
*Jane Porter (Tarzan)
*Jann of the Jungle (Marvel Comics)
* Jennifer of the Jungle ("The Electric Company" television program)
*Jill of the Jungle
*Judy of the Jungle (Better/Nedor Comics' "Exciting Comics")
*Jungle Girl (2007) (Dynamite Entertainment).
*Jungle Lil
*Leopard Girl (Atlas Comics' "Jungle Action")
*Lorna (Atlas' "Lorna, the Jungle Queen"/"Lorna, the Jungle Girl")
*Meriem Cooper (Basement Comics' "Cavewoman")
* Meriem, wife of Korak
*Nyoka (Fawcett's "Jungle Girl"/"Nyoka the Jungle Girl" and "Master Comics"), and the main character in the 1941 movie serial "Jungle Girl".
*Pamela of the Jungle
*Princess Pantha (Better/Nedor Comics' "Thrilling Comics")
*Princess Rosella in Barbie as the Island Princess
*Rima, the Jungle Girl, featured in 1970s DC Comics publications.
* Rulah, Jungle Goddess (Fox Comics' "Zoot Comics" and "Rulah, Jungle Goddess")
*San (Princess Mononoke)
*Shanna the She-Devil (Marvel Comics)
*Sheena, Queen of the Jungle
*Tara Fremont (AC Comics' "Femforce)
* Two different Tiger Girls (in Fiction House's "Fight Comics" and Gold Key Comics' "Tiger Girl")
*The Tiger Woman
*Tygra (Better/Nedor's "Startling Comics"; no relation to the ThunderCats character)
*Veronica Layton of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
*Voodah or Vooda (spellings differ; only known Golden Age appearance in the obscure Golfing / McCombs "Crown Comics" #11, Nov. 1947, though character has been revived by AC Comics).
*Taanda (White Princess of the Jungle)
*Zegra, Jungle Empress

See also

*Amazons
*Feral children