Princess Aura

Princess Aura
Priscilla Lawson and Buster Crabbe as Princess Aura and Flash Gordon in Flash Gordon (1936)
Publication information
Publisher	King Features Syndicate
First appearance	Flash Gordon (1936)
First comic appearance	Flash Gordon (1934) (installment 4)
Created by	Alex Raymond
In-story information
Place of origin	Mongo

Princess Aura is a fictional character in the Flash Gordon comic strips and serials. She is the selfish daughter of Ming the Merciless, the evil ruler of the planet Mongo and Emperor of the Universe. First appearing in the original 1934 Flash Gordon comic strip, Aura falls in love with Flash Gordon on sight, but is ultimately unable to seduce him away from the Dale Arden. In various adaptations, her character ranges from villainous to sympathetic, often defying her father.

Aura has been portrayed by various actresses in the many Flash Gordon adaptations in film and television, including Priscilla Lawson in the 1936 serial film, Shirley Deane in the 1940 serial film Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, Ornella Muti in the 1980 feature film adaptation, and Anna Van Hooft in the 2007 television series.