Barda is a member of the race known as the
New Gods, and was born on
Apokolips about 250 years ago. Her mother was Big Breeda, whom Barda was taken away from at an early age to be trained as a warrior at
Granny Goodness' orphanage. Granny grooms Barda to lead the
Female Furies. During a raid, Barda meets
Scott Free, Darkseid's adopted son, who she falls in love with. Eventually, Barda turns her back on Granny Goodness and comes to Earth. Once there, she finds that Scott has become Mister Miracle. For a while, Barda's Furies assist Scott in his showmanship efforts but they return to Apokolips by themselves. Scott and Barda are married by Scott's birth father,
Highfather of New Genesis. For a number of years, Barda follows Scott and
Oberon on tour. Eventually they retire from superheroing and move to Bailey, New Hampshire. Despite their best attempts, a normal life eludes them. Disasters plague them and eventually Barda, Scott, and Oberon move to
Greenwich Village. There, Barda forms a defense-training program for women called the New Female Furies.
Justice League Though naïve regarding Earth customs, Barda relishes her roles of wife and housekeeper, but when duty calls she never hesitates to assume the posture of a warrior; and when Scott joins the
Justice League, Barda participates in several missions. In one instance, while training
Fire, her weapon, the Mega-Rod, is stolen. With the assistance of her husband and the
Huntress, she gets it back, but not before many innocent people are killed by its wielder, who was unable to resist its influence. Barda also led a JLA mission to rescue her husband after he was lost in space. The mission was a result of
Manga Khan selling Scott to
Granny Goodness. Her teammates included
Martian Manhunter,
Rocket Red, and
G'nort. In an attempt to dissuade their successful pursuit, Manga Khan hired
Lobo, paying him in dolphin feed, to kill them. He almost does before Barda teleports him behind
Guy Gardner. For a time, Barda mourns Scott, believing him killed in a battle with
Despero, but it was a robot double that was destroyed, as part of a plan by Khan. After their time with the JLI, the two leave Earth for
New Genesis, but, they soon return and take up temporary residence aboard the Justice League Refuge. During this period, the couple separate briefly due to Scott's lack of consideration for her feelings. Barda perishes, but is reborn via Scott's temporary access to great cosmic power. Barda has served as a member of the JLA in her own right as well. At
Takion's order, she and fellow New God
Orion are sent as agents of New Genesis to serve on the team. Takion predicted that the Earth faced a grave threat. Their mission is to help mobilize Earth's heroes against the omnipotent Mageddon. Over time, they become involved with several other JLA missions.
Adam Strange, needing help with an alien invasion, enslaves the JLA as part of a bluff. The League works for days, turning the planet into a giant teleportation beam. The aliens are sent off to the prison planet of
Takron-Galtos, which Barda had mentioned several times during the ordeal. In another instance, Barda is badly wounded fighting
Queen Bee, a member of the newly reformed
Injustice League. Once Mageddon is defeated, Barda and Orion resign from the JLA.
After the League Barda and Scott reside in the suburbs of
Connecticut and are active adventurers. Barda never hesitates to lend a hand to her friends when her power and expertise are needed. Barda accompanies
Batman,
Superman, and
Wonder Woman to Apokolips to rescue
Supergirl from
Darkseid's clutches, and accepts an invitation from
Oracle to become the heavy-hitter on the
Birds of Prey. A similar-looking character named Little Barda appeared as a member of the
Teen Titans in
52 #21; the character leaves the group in the same issue. Her relationship to Big Barda is unknown, though she escaped from Apokolips with Power Boy. In a confrontation with the
Secret Six, Barda engages
Knockout, another ex-Fury, in hand-to-hand combat. Although the fight is long and continues amid other larger concerns for her team, it ends in a draw. Big Barda is killed in the first issue of
Death of the New Gods; her funeral occurs in the second issue of the series.
Infinity-Man is later revealed as the killer. He had been killing all the 'New Gods' in the name of restarting a new age of deities.
The New 52 and Infinite Frontier Following 2011
The New 52 continuity reboot, Barda and Scott initially appear only in stories set
on Earth 2.
The Multiversity Guidebook explains that each Earth contains a unique manifestation of the New Gods. The Prime Earth incarnations of Barda and Scott begin appearing in mainstream comics again from 2015 onwards. Barda is seen in the
Justice League "
Darkseid War" (2015–2016) storyline and the
Mister Miracle (2017) limited series. Later, she supports the Justice League when Batman flooding sea waters threaten all the world's coasts. She also united alongside the global superhero community to confront
Doctor Manhattan in defence of Superman. After this, she celebrated her one year marriage anniversary with Scott in
DC Love is Battlefield (2021), and attended the Justice League's funeral in
Dark Crisis (2022). Later, after the events of
Dark Nights: Metal as part of the
Infinite Frontier reboot, Barda's pre-New 52 history is restored. She rejoins the Birds of Prey under Black Canary's leadership in
Birds of Prey (volume 5) #1 (2023). She is given membership in the Justice League as part of the expanded Justice League Unlimited team.
The New Gods (vol. 5) depicts Barda accompanying Scott following his departure after an encounter with Orion, who tells him to take a prophesied child who can either bring about peace or war on New Genesis from himself before Orion can kill said child. ==Powers and abilities==