Aura is the daughter of the series' villain, Ming the Merciless, but saves Flash Gordon from execution by her father.

She had never seen a human being from our own Earth until Flash Gordon crashed in a giant rocket-plane on the strange new world where she lived.

[1]In the first serial, "On the Planet Mongo" (1934), Aura witnesses Flash's victory in the gladiatorial arena and immediately saves him from execution by her father by helping him escape.

[2] Princess Aura first appears in the fourth installment of the 1934 Flash Gordon comic strip serial "On the Planet Mongo".

[5] Aura was portrayed by Ornella Muti in the 1980 film Flash Gordon, produced by Dino De Laurentiis, and has been described as seductive and scheming.

[10] As Ming's daughter, she initially assists her father in battling Flash and his allies, but later turns against him and joins the rebel forces of Mongo.

Aura initially resents Dale Arden and rejects Prince Barin's affections, but would become the former's friend and the latter's love interest as the series progressed.

In the final episode, Aura allies herself with her banished half-brother to overthrow Ming, establishing herself as Mongo’s new queen.

When she mercilessly sentences her father to death, Ming walks into the gas chamber and tells Aura that he finally has a daughter he can be proud of, but escapes by using a magical coin to teleport to safety.