Women in Refrigerators

History

One day it occurred to comic book writer  Gail Simone that women in comics are so commonly misused to define a story after one of her favorite female characters was killed off.  She decided to call this term 'Women in Refrigerators' after a panel in the Green Lantern #54 (1994) comic book.  The scene in question featured  Kyle Rayner returning home to his apartment.  There he found a note informing him to look inside the fridge, where he found the mangled remains of his girlfriend, Alex DeWitt.  Gail says that she realizes that some that are on the list have already been resurrected, but the reason why they were included on the list still remains true.

The Original List

• All of Savage Dragon's girlfriends : Dead.
  
• Allen, Dawn : Dead.
  
• Amethyst : Blinded.  Merged with Gemworld.  Destroyed in Legion of Super Heroes; became a power-hungry witch in Book of Fate.
  
• Apparition : One of her three bodies dead.  Soul bound to boyfriend.
  
• Aquagirl : Dead.
  
• Arisia : Dead
  
• Aurora : Multiple Personality Disorder.  Depowered.
  
• Banner, Betty : Abused.  Changed into a harpy.  Multiple miscarriages.  Dead.
  
• Banner, Mrs Brian ( Bruce's mother) : Murdered by her abusive husband.
  
• Batgirl I : Paralyzed.
  
• Batwoman : Dead.
  
• Black Canary I : Dead.
  
• Black Canary II : Tortured.  Made infertile.  Depowered.
  
• Blink : Died using powers to defeat Phalanx.  Dead.
  
• Bluebird : Dead.
  
• Buf (from X-Man) : Crippled.
  
• Captain Marvel / Photon : Depowered.  Ceded code name to a male hero.
  
• Celsius : Insane.  Dead.  Called delusional liar.
  
• Chandler, Marlo ( Rick Jones' wife) : Former prostitute.  Killed and brought back mindless.
  
• Crimson Fox : Both sisters dead.
  
• Dart : Crippled.
  
• Dawnstar : Wings cut off.  Possessed by another persona.
  
• DeWitt, Alex : Killed for dating Green Lantern & stuffed into a refrigerator.
• Diamond Lil : Kidnapped.  Experimented on by her own government.  Developed benign breast tumor.
  
• Domino : Kidnapped & tortured for a year.
  
• Dove II : Dead.
  
• Dr. Midnight of Infinity, Inc : Dead.
  
• Elasti-Girl : Only original Doom Patroller to stay dead.
  
• Electrocute : Dead.
  
• Elektra : Dead. Replaced by Skrull.
  
• Element Girl : Hideously deformed by powers.  Dead.
  
• Enchantress of Suicide Squad : Originally a heroine.  Turned evil.  Insane.  Depowered.
  
• Firebelle : Dead.
  
• Firestar : Powers were sterilizing her.
  
• Fury II : Child kidnapped.  Husband killed twice.  Insane.
  
• Gand, Laurel : Dead.
  
• Grey, Jean / Phoenix : Died.  Resurrected/replaced.  Destroyed planets.  Self-sacrifice.  Resurrected.  Ignored by lover.  Absorbed clone's memories.  Died & resurrected various times.
  
• Hawkwoman : Depowered.
  
• Hellcat : Dead.
  
• Helvin, Christine of ' Troublemakers' : Victim of date rape.  Discovered she could never have children because she was no longer human.
  
• Huntress I : Dead.
  
• Huntress II : Sexually abused.
  
• Ice : Dead.  Resuurected to avenge her own death.  Dates Guy Gardner.
  
• Invisible Woman : Miscarriage of second child.
  
• Jade : Lost natural powers.
  
• Jarella : Dead.
  
• Jean DeWolff : Dead.
  
• Jet of New Guardians : Died in battle after contracting HIV.
  
• Jocasta : Deactivated repeatedly.
  
• Kane, Frances / Magenta : Stalker complex.
  
• Katma Tui : Dead.
  
• Kent, Laurel : Revealed to be an evil robot.  Dead.
  
• Kinetix : Depowered twice.  Catatonic.
  
• Kole : Dead.
  
• Lady Flash : Evil. Raped by Vandal Savage. Dead.
  
• Lady Quark : Dead.
  
• Looker : Now a vampire.
  
• MacTaggert, Moira : Couldn't save her reality warping son or husband.  Possessed by Shadow King.  Only human to contract the Legacy Virus.  Shot protecting adopted daughter.  Dead.
  
• Mantis : Child taken away.  Dead.
  
• Marrina : Insane, dead.
  
• Mentalla of Legion of Super Heroes : Dead.
  
• Mera : Insane.  Child murdered.
  
• Mirage of Team Titans : Impregnated by rape.
  
• Mockingbird : Abducted and mind-manipulated into a relationship.  Dead.  Resurrected after approximately 20 years.
  
• Ms Marvel / Warbird : Became a monster in Frightful Four.  De-monstered but enslaved by Dr Doom.  Depowered.  Mind-controlled.  Impregnated by rape.  Powers & memories stolen by Rogue.  Cosmic-powered then depowered.  Alcoholic.  Replaced by a former villainess & possibly dead.
  
• Mystek of Justice League Task Force : Dead.
  
• Namorita : Clone of her mother.  Exiled from Atlantis.  Reverted to a primal Atlantean form.  Turned pink again.  Turned blue again.  Dead.
  
• Negative Woman : Depowered.
  
• Nightshade : Depowered.
  
• Nightwind : Dead.
  
• Nova / Raye, Frankie : Dead.
  
• Page, Karen : Drug addiction.  Low budget porn star.  HIV positive.  Dead.
  
• Palmer, Jean Loring : Nervous breakdown
  
• Park, Linda : Kidnapped. Removed from history.
  
• Power Girl : Depowered.  Magically impregnated.  Made vulnerable to unprocessed natural materials (i.e. sticks).
  
• Pryor, Madelyn : Cloned from Jean Grey.  Abandoned by husband.  Brood mare.  Demon queen.  Dead.  Resurrected.
  
• Psylocke : Blinded.  Eyes replaced by cameras.   Body-swapped.  Eviscerated.  Depowered.  New shadow powers.  Swapped powers with Jean Grey.  Dead.  Resurrected.
  
• Rasputin, Illyana : Kidnapped & raised by demons.  De-aged.  Dead.  Resurrected without her soul.
  
• Raven : Sometimes evil.  Sometimes dead.
  
• Red Guardian II : Kidnapped and brainwashed into the love-slave of a super-villain.
  
• Redwing of Team Titans : Dead.
  
• Revanche : Body swapped & believed she was Betsy Braddock.  Contracted Legacy Virus.  Commited suicide.  Dead.
  
• Rogue : Absorbed life of first boyfriend.  Can't touch anyone else.  Depowered & raped.  On-Off again relationship with Gambit.  Generally messed up.
  
• Ross, Courtney : Dead.
  
• Roulette : Dead.
  
• Scarlet Witch : Married a machine.  Phantom pregnancy.  Children 'died' when born because they were figments of her imagination.  Various mental breakdowns. 
• Serpentina : Dead.
  
• Shrinking Violet : Lost a leg.
  
• Shvaughn Erin : Turned into a man.
  
• Silver Sorceress : Dead.
  
• Snowbird : Child & husband murdered.  Insane.  Dead.
  
• Southern, Candy : Kidnapped.  Ignored in favour of Jean Grey.  Kidnapped.  Tortured.  Brain dead.  Murdered.  Resurrected by the Phalanx.  Dead.
  
• Spider-Woman : Dead.  Resurrected.  Depowered.
  
• Stacy, Gwen : Dead.  Cloned.
  
• Star Sapphire : Turned into a villain by the Zamarons.  Possessed by the Predator.
  
• Starfire : Raped.  Tortured.  Enslaved.  Forced into marriage.  Forced into marriage again.  Dumped at the altar.
  
• Storm : Depowered.  Repowered.  Various bouts of insanity.
• Stuart, Alysande : Dead.
  
• Summers, Rachel / Phoenix : Lobotomized.  Forced to hunt mutants.  Lost in the time-stream.
  
• Supergirl, pre- Crisis : Dead.  Erased from history.
  
• Supergirl : Lost her invisibility & most of her shapeshifting.
  
• Projectra : Dead.
  
• Tarot : Dead.  Resurrected & bound to an evil man.
  
• Threnody : Forced to work for Mr Sinister.  Contracted Legacy Virus.  Dead.
  
• Tigra : Devolved into cat-thing.
  
• Triplicate Girl : One body killed.  One presumed dead but revealed to be Glorith's pawn.
  
• Wildcat II : Dead
  
• Wolfsbane :  Locked in werewolf form for awhile, needs major therapy.
• Wonder Girl / Troia / Darkstar : Identity and powers stripped from her multiple times.
  
• Wonder Woman : Killed.  Revived, but lost goddess powers.
  
• Zatanna : Powers severely limited.  Lost voice & cast spells written in blood.
  

Source location: WiR

Updated List

Characters who are worthy of being added to the list, but were not originally included by Gail Simone.

• Ant  :  Picked on and beaten as a child. Forced to eat dog feces. Memories altered. Put into Asylum. Hand cut off, reattached later.
  
• Black Cat  :  Beaten up.  Powers messed up.  Date raped.
  
• Big Barda  :  Killed by God Killer.   Might have been brought back to life.
  
• Cain, Cassandra / Batgirl III  :  Ignored by villainous parents.  Bred to be weapon.  Mute.  Drugged & brainwashed to be a criminal.
  
• Catwoman :   Retconned into a prostitute. Discovered that her "boyfriend" was a serial killer. Became good.  Discovered that the change was because Zatanna altered her mind. Impregnated.  Daughter was kidnapped several times.  Decided to give daughter up for adoption. Her heart was stolen, but soon returned. She survived the process.
• Cheetah, of DC : Kidnapped to be bride to demon, Sold her soul to get her friend back, Devolved into mindless beast, Power once stolen by a male.
  
• Dibny, Sue :  Raped.  Dead.
  
• Dr Light II :  Severely beaten.  Lost her powers. Has recently recovered said powers.
  
• Heatmonger, of Aryan Brigade :  Dead.
• Illyana Rasputin : Kidnapped. Lost her soul. Died. Resurrected.
  
• Inertia , of   Squadron Supreme :  Abused.  Raped.
  
• Jubilee :  Orphaned. Tortured for information. Crucified.  Died.  Resurrected.  Impaled on various occasions.  Depowered.
  
• Klara :  Forced into under-age marriage.  Raped.
  
• Knockout :  Killed by God Killer.
  
• Lane-Kent, Lois :  Severely injured during Final Crisis, but survived.
  
• Nocturne :  Miscarried.  Suffered a stroke.  Suffers memory loss.  Partial paralysis of one leg & arm.
  
• Pantha :  Turned into a half animal hybrid.  Decapitated. Dead. Risen as Black Lantern.
  
• Pixie :  Savagely beaten.  Self-sacrificed soul.  Possibly becoming half-demon. Brutally beaten.
  
• Mary Marvel :  Molested. Coma.  Ignored.  Became evil.
  
• Parker, Mary Jane   On-again off-again relationship with Spider-Man for many years before they got married. Told her child had died during birth.  Kidnappings & divorce.
• Rapture : Unborn baby's super strength kicks caused internal injuries which made her go into premature labor where the child died.
  
• Reynolds, Lindy :  Killed repeatedly.
  
• Shadowcat :  Kidnapped.  Stuck in 'phased' condition.  Unfulfilled relationship with Colossus.  Mourned deaths of best friend & Colossus.  Trapped in a planet-sized bullet and forgotten by team-mates.
  
• Silhouette , of New Warriors :  Shot.  Crippled.
  
• Silhouette ,  of Minutemen :  Killed for being a lesbian.
  
• Silk Spectre I :  Attempted rap & severe beating by  Comedian.
• Siryn :  Raised by Black Tom & Juggernaut who told her that her father had died. Coached to be a criminal by her uncle. Alcoholism. Childhood sweetheart denied having a relationship with her. Had throat slit. Her son was absorbed & therefore killed by his father on day he was born.
  
• Spider-Woman III :  Abused.  Drugged.  Used to make Mutant Growth Hormone
  
• Spoiler, girlfriend of Tim Drake :  Nearly molested as a child.  Teenage pregnancy.  Kidnapped & tortured by Black Mask.  Killed by Leslie Thompkins .  Received no memorial.  Resurrected
  
• Takeru :  Hand cut off.  Catatonic.
  
• Tana Moon ,   Superboy 's girlfriend :  On-again-off-again Relationship.  Caught in explosion set up by  Amanda Spence after re-established relationship.
  
• Tigra , of DC Comics :  Dead.
• Tigra, of Marvel: Kept as bet by Molecule Man, Graviton, Kraven and Puppet Master; Lived with stray cats on the street for months when miniaturized; Beaten in her own home and the beating filmed; Knocked up by Skrull who posed as Pym.
  
• Windfall :  Drugged.  Raped.  Pictures of rape posted on internet.  Dead.
  
• Wolfsbane :  Raised by religious zealot. Beaten as a child. Hunted as a demon. Under-age romance with an Asgardian wolf prince. Sweetheart killed by Ani-Mator. Stripped. De-powered & trapped semi-lupine form. Bound to Havok. Kidnapped, drugged & brainwashed into violently de-winging Angel. Depowered. Mauled Elixir when regained powers. Devoured biological father. 
  
• X-23 :  Raised to murder her biological father.  Violently beaten for each mistake. Was made to kill her own Mother. Underage prostitution.