Jungle girl (stock character)

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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. 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.

[edit] List of jungle girl characters