Nora Fries (born: Nora Smithy) is the fatally ill wife of Batman's sub-zero enemy, Mr. Freeze.
History
Nora met Victor Fries in a boarding school, and later they are married. Shortly after, Nora fell terminally ill with a malady. Victor discovered a way to put Nora into cryostasis, hoping to sustain her until a cure could be found. In time her husband would become one of Batman's well known enemies, Mr. Freeze. Over time she would fall to pieces while in her frozen state, but Freeze would fortunately put her back together.
Lazara
Nora as Lazara
Freeze helped Nyssa al Ghul by creating a machine for the Society that could also be used to capture Batgirl, and in return, Nyssa would help him restore his wife using the Lazarus Pit. Instead, they put Nora in the pits themselves. But because of all the years of being altered and broken, she had absorbed the pit's alchemy, giving her the powers to conjure flame and reanimate the dead. Calling herself Lazara, she became a powerful villain. Freeze later had no choice but to freeze her into a block of ice in order to stop her.
DCnU
After the events of Flashpoint, it is revealed that Nora was never Victor Fries' wife and is in fact Nora Fields, a woman from 1943 who was put in cryogenic suspension when she was discovered to be dying of a rare heart condition. Fries became obsessed with curing Nora ever since she wound up in his department of Wayne Enterprises, with the accident occurring during an argument with Bruce Wayne due to Bruce's disagreement with Fries' interest in the patient, arguing that Nora is old enough to be his grandmother.
Powers and Abilities
Nora Fries
Powers
- Conjure flame and reanimate the dead
Abilities
- Immortality: Nora achieved immortality when her husband Victor placed her in a cryogenic sleep until he could find a cure for the disease that plagued her body.
In Other Media
Film
Batman & Robin
- Main article: Nora Fries (Vendela Kirsebom Thomessen)
Television
DC Animated Universe
- Main article: Nora Fries (DC Animated Universe)
The Batman
Nora also appears in the episode of The Batman entitled "The Big Chill". In the episode, she is briefly shown in pictures in her husband's car before the accident that turns him into Mr. Freeze.
Gotham
- Main article: Nora Fries (Kristen Hager)
- Nora appears in Gotham season 2 episodes "Mr. Freeze" and "A Dead Man Feels No Cold". Unlike most versions of the character, Nora commits suicide shortly before her husband freezes her, which leads to Victor attempting to kill himself just like Nora. However Victor has been exposed to his formula for a while and his cells have mutated, causing his skin to bleach, his hair to go chalk white, and been impossible for him to live in higher than zero temperatures.
Batman: Arkham Series
Cold Cold Heart
Nora in Batman: Arkham Origins
The disease Nora is afflicted with is said to be Huntington's Chorea. Her husband Victor began working in the cryoweapon division of GothCorp in exchange for research on her illness. Nora was kidnapped by Boyle after Victor tried doing the research himself. Freeze later kidnaps Boyle in order to get the security codes to get Nora out of GothCorp. While he is stopped by Batman, the Dark Knight fixes Nora's chamber when it is damaged, saving her life.
Batman: Arkham City
An ice sculpture in Nora's image in Batman: Arkham City
As part of his incarceration in the city, Victor Fries arranged for his wife Nora to be moved into the city for him to continue his research into finding a way to save her life. Hugo Strange arranged to have Nora kidnapped as leverage on Fries during his psychological evaluation. After Strange learned all he could, he had Nora transported to the Joker, who is near death and needed Fries' medical knowledge. The body was hidden in an abandoned Falcone warehouse with explicit instructions to Victor that she'll only be released should he develop a cure for the disease killing Joker; however, Victor soon realizes that there is no cure (more specifically, the cure breaks down in a short period of time). Nora's cryogenic chamber is left in the possession of several of Joker's men, many of whom express interest in thawing and raping Nora, leaving her in a state of constant danger. Fries and Nora are reunited when Batman discovers her in the city and disables her guardians. Victor can be seen with Nora after he is informed of her location, and when visited by Batman he tells Fries to give up a life of crime for her. Victor's interview tapes go over his history with Nora and are very similar to the "Heart of Ice" episode that created Nora. Her biography states she was a very gifted dancer.