The 25-year-old New Yorker was all of those things and more during a 90-minute guest editor stint at a London newspaper office on Monday which underlined the enigma that music writers and fans have been trying to unravel for the last three years.
Diminutive in stature yet larger-than-life in character and emotion, Gaga has shot to the very top of her industry, a global music phenomenon whose debut album The Fame appeared in 2008 and went on to sell over 12 million copies.
It helped make her the world's most famous singer and arguably its biggest celebrity, with a little help from a series of outlandish outfits that have included a raw meat dress and turning up to the Grammy Awards in a giant egg.
On Monday her outfit was relatively demure — pink-coloured hair in a beehive, a black skirt, matching bra-style top, broad choker and high black heels.
She breezed into the offices of the international free newspaper network Metro and warmly shook hands with the staff, helping to relieve the tension that had been building up during the long wait for her arrival.
Watched by a small entourage of a record label representatives, make-up artists, a PA and security guards, Gaga led the morning editorial meeting where she took immediate control and dominated proceedings throughout.
The lengthy session involved discussions about the Japan earthquake, transgender issues and bullying, and was punctuated by what may soon come to be known as "Gagaisms".
"Know that you are a part of the mobilisation of love in the world," she said in the context of a chat about bullying.
"I'm a little bit more of a hippie when it comes to change," Gaga went on. "I'm very peaceful. I don't think it's about violence. I do think it's about ruckus, but peaceful ruckus.
"Love is sort of the answer to all this. It's quite hippie of me, but I don't give a s**t."
Micromanagement
Gaga spent more than 20 minutes typing an editorial lead for the newspaper, checking spellings and verb conjugations along the way, before reading her manifesto to the reporting team.
"Dear monsters, let your identity be your religion," she wrote, using the affectionate term she has coined for her large and famously intense fan base.
They in turn refer to her as "Mother Monster", leading some fans to liken the relationship to that of a cult.
"Little monsters are not a fan base," Gaga continued in the editorial. "They are a culture that exists entirely outside of pop music. They are their own religion. They are a race within the race of humanity."
Along with the big ideas came close attention to detail.
During a brief photoshoot, Gaga decided not to sit as the photographers had asked her but stood instead. Gaga checked the digital images on the backs of the cameras, was not happy and so posed for more — image was paramount.
Barely mentioned during the visit was her music. Gaga releases her second full studio album Born This Way next week.
But she did not forget about it altogether. Informed that some 25 million people would read her edition of the international Metro newspaper, she quipped: "Can we just get one twenty-fifth of them to buy the album?"
Giving birth this way
Lady Gaga this week once again stunned fans when she arrived on stage in a gold coffin wearing a prosthetic pregnant stomach during her performance.
The 24-year-old singer emerged on stage in Carlisle, Northern England, in a velvet-lined box, opening her hour-long set at the Radio 1 Big Weekend Festival, reports contactmusic.com.
She performed tracks from her new album Born This Way as well as older favourites including Poker Face and Bad Romance during the show, which saw her make numerous costume changes, but clad in black throughout.
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