Zara, Priestess of the Crimson Flame is a villain who battled the Golden Age Wonder Woman. She was also a member of the super-villain team Villainy Inc.

She debuted in Comic Cavalcade #5.

The true past of Zara is unknown, however she claimed to be "an Arab girl," (although she had flaming red hair and a French accent), and wore belly dancer attire. According to her tales, she was sold into slavery as a child; which created in her an intense hatred of mankind. Using a flair for pyrotechnics, she eventually created a new religion (The Cult of The Crimson Flame), which had swept the globe. Zara rigged various fire-based effects to dazzle her followers and keep them in thrall to her. After her initial defeat by Wonder Woman, the Cult went underground; and Zara was able to scare up at least one follower to do her bidding when she joined Villainy Inc.

Post-Crisis, Zara has been depicted as an Arabian woman and her flame-powers were inborn rather than produced by gadgets (originally, she used a fire-gun). However, Hippolyta referred to her flames as 'scientific trickery.' (Wonder Woman: Our Worlds at War #1)

Pre-Crisis, she used a fire-gun and rigged effects to appear to have a mastery over flames. Post-Crisis, she her powers are internal, but may have been the result of scientific engineering rather than from natural sources (e.g., magic, meta-human, etc.).

• The Unofficial Zara Biography