Winged Victory was an ordinary and undistinguished woman named Lauren Freed, granted superpowers and her mission of protecting and empowering women by what at first seemed a deity or other supernatural entity. She has become one of Astro City’s most prominent and important superheroes. The entity that created and powers Winged Victory is eventually revealed as the self-styled Council of Nike, "a group of women. Strong, successful women, who had faced difficulties and triumphed over them. Women of strength and determination...and the psychic potential to pool that strength, share it...and empower a champion." Winged Victory is in an ongoing romantic relationship with Samaritan, Astro City’s greatest superhero. Their relationship began, after years of mutual but un-acted upon attraction, when the other members of Honor Guard set them up on a date, volunteering to cover for both of them by handling all major disasters occurring that night. Although initially an independently operating heroine, eschewing membership in high-profile superhero teams like Honor Guard as being incompatible with her mission, eventually Winged Victory did join Honor Guard, and has been one of their mainstays for years. This choice has been questioned by the Council of Nike, who feel it dilutes her effectiveness as a symbol of female independence. Along with her high-profile relationship with Samaritan, this has led the Council to consider removing her powers, and choosing another woman to be Winged Victory; however, Lauren has refused to back down on either matter. In her appointed role as a champion of women’s rights, Winged Victory has attracted controversy. Feeling a keen sense of mission, she is a vocal and passionate spokeswoman for the political, legal and social emancipation of women. She is not an equal-opportunity heroine; when forced to choose among persons in a crowd to save first, her conscious decision is to save the females. She has established and maintains a number of women’s centers and clinics, for which she has been stigmatized as a “cult leader” promoting ideological indoctrination of those served by them. Against the wishes of the Council, however, Winged Victory allows the first male member to join one of her protection and improvement centers.
Powers and abilities
Winged Victory is a woman in peak physical condition, possessed of super-strength, the power of flight, and a formidable intellect and presence. In times of need she may consciously call on additional energy from the Council of Nike to significantly boost her strength and speed beyond even their normal levels. She is costumed and armed in the style of the Greco-Roman period, and seemingly an expert in the use of antique weaponry. Her signature weapon is her sword, which she carries constantly, in a belt scabbard when not being used. Her normal human and superheroic forms are markedly different; as an ordinary woman she is physically unremarkable and of average height; as Winged Victory she is striking, powerful, of imposing height, and possessed of large wings. A mystical talisman shaped like a scabbarded sword, worn around her neck as a pendant, allows her to switch between the two forms. Through her pendant's magic, she also receives visions alerting her to emergencies in which women are threatened.
