Koriand'r (translated as "Starfire" in human English) is the younger daughter of the recently deceased King of Tamaran. According to Tamaranian customs, despite being younger, Koriannd'r is the true heir to the throne, and was set to take her place as queen when she came of age on her 18th birthday. A few days before the great ceremony, however, Koriand'r's elder sister, Blackfire, staged a coup with the help of forces from the neighboring Skrull empire.

    Loyalists helped Koriand'r escape Tamaran before her sister's forces could break through into the palace. The Network helped smuggle her offworld (for a large price) and sold her information concerning possible avenue's of help and sanctuary. Unfortunately, The Green Lanterns were not even a possibility: During the Dressilus conference that ended the Fourth Galactic War and rebuilt the political structure of the galaxy, Tamara--seeking to maintain their neutrality--had requested that The Treaty of Dressilus stipulate that their sector of space be outside the Green Lantern Corps' jurisdiction.

    Of the other options, clearly the most promising was Earth. The small, out of the way planet was reportedly the home of many mighty heroes of high moral standing and, while murmurs about humanity and their remarkable champions were starting to circulate more widely, Earth was still largely nondescript and unknown to most of the galaxy. Considering that Koriand'r's sister had already placed a substantial price on her head, this made Earth doubly attractive as a refuge.

    Koriand'r has since successfully made her way to Earth and has found asylum with the Justice League of America. She now calls herself Starfire out of deference to her human hosts and is slowly acclimating herself to her new surroundings and culture, with an eye toward building her skills so she can someday soon return to her home and free her people from the tyranny of her sister and the Skrull.
 

Starfire's powers:
    The Tamaranian people are all incredibly strong and naturally posses the ability to fly, so they are a powerful ally and a feared foe, explaining why the Skrull have been loath to invade openly. The royal family, through generations of genetic augmentation, have also developed the ability to fire incredibly powerful blasts of energy as well.  They did this to make literal the figurative power of the throne, as well as to make any coup attempt quite difficult (except within their own family, of course). They have also have the ability  to understand and speak any language that exists through mere touching someone who speaks it natively. This makes them excellent diplomats, which is one of the reasons they were able to maintain their neutrality and independence for so long.

[Brandon Keller]