Lady Shiva (real name Sandra Wu-San) is the sensei of the League of Shadows and the enforcer for the Light.
Personality[]
Lady Shiva has a calm and collected demeanor, which she extends to her combat technique, believing there is power to be drawn from serenity.[1] She speaks in a soft-spoken manner, seldom losing her composure or raising her voice even when issuing overt threats. She is as serene as she is ruthless, however, never hesitating to take one's life when necessary.[4][3]
Having trained under Sensei when the League of Shadows was still under the leadership of Ra's al Ghul,[5] Shiva was instilled with such fanaticism that she raised her daughter, Cassandra Wu-San, purely for the purpose of molding her into the perfect assassin, going as far as to sever her daughter's vocal cords when she was still an infant and deny her learning to read, so that the only language her child would learn would be body language (the "language of death").[3]
Upon reuniting with Cassandra, Shiva displayed no remorse for the cruel and zealous upbringing she'd subjected her daughter to, and was obsessed with reclaiming her daughter and bringing her back into the League of Shadows.[6][5]
Physical appearance[]
Lady Shiva is a tall yet slender woman who appears to be rather young. She has short raven colored hair, black lipstick and brown eyes. Sandra also has a notable large bust and a pale complexion.
She wears a skin-tight long-sleeved bodysuit with shoulder pads, a Mandarin collar and a diamond-shaped keyhole exposing her sternum. The bodysuit is blood-red with dark gray stripes looped around her shoulders and forearms and matching patches on her elbow pits. This pattern is also seen on the hems of her collar and the diamond-shaped hole, whose lower corner hem runs down to the waist, meeting her belt which is adjoined by a golden ring with a sash hanging from it. The legs of her suit are grey and are adorned with dark gray knee pads and stripes coiled around her thighs and shins. She carries a dao broadsword, normally sheathed on her belt.[4][1]
History[]
Early life[]
In 2003,[7] Sandra gave birth to Cassandra. Already a member of the League of Shadows, Shiva raised her daughter to be the ultimate assassin. She didn't teach her to read and had her vocal cords severed at birth, so that her only language would be body language—the language of death.[3]
2016-2018[]
Lady Shiva was famed as one of the world's most dangerous assassins.[1] After Ra's al Ghul resigned from the Light and left the League of Shadows under their control,[8] they selected Shiva as the League's new sensei,[1] as well as chief enforcer of the Light.[4]
2018[]
In January,[9] Shiva assigned her daughter her first mission: to kill the Joker, who had turned against the Light. Cassandra struck down the wrong warrior and did not complete her mission. After this trauma had her undergo a change of heart, she defected from her mother and the Shadows to join the Bat family.[10]
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Lady Shiva confronted Ocean-Master in a rented house directly across the Allen family home, attempting to dissuade him from killing the eighteen family members of the heroes as revenge for his incarceration, citing that such a move is considered the "nuclear option" among the light. When Ocean-Master refused to back down even after Shiva warned him of the mutually assured destruction from the attack, she swiftly decapitated him and vanished with his corpse as if his conspiracy never happened.[4]
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Lady Shiva reported her success to the Light. Queen Bee complimented her, telling her that she was the right choice as the Light's new enforcer.[4]
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Lady Shiva was training members of the League of Shadows when a helicopter flew overhead. She sent her students away, except for Cassandra Savage and instructed her to follow.
At the landing dock, Shiva welcomed Deathstroke and briefed him on the undergoing training. After Deathstroke dismissed Cassandra, he and Shiva discussed Cassandra's progress with her training and Deathstroke asked her how she was dealing with being a sensei for the League and an enforcer for the Light. Shiva took some issue with his comment, as she felt as capable of juggling her double duty as he was. Deathstroke quickly apologized for disrespecting her. Shiva calmly assured him that if she ever felt disrespect, he would know, and walked away.
Later that night, Batman, Katana and Metamorpho were spotted trying to flee the island. While Bane and Deathstroke fought Batman and Metamorpho, Lady Shiva challenged Katana. The two swordswomen clashed blades and Shiva vowed to take Katana's sword for herself. Meanwhile, Shiva and Deathstroke traded fighting partners and Shiva fought Metamorpho for a while. The fight continued until Oracle destroyed Santa Prisca's defense systems, allowing Batman, Katana and Metamorpho to escape.[1]
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Shiva and other Shadows were sent to kill Troia and Garth at the U.N. Climate Conference, posing as the Bwundan Independence Front in order to discredit the Outsiders. Shiva went for Troia in her hotel room, who had been subdued by a telepathic meta-human, but was foiled by Halo and Terra. A fight ensued and Shiva managed to slash Halo's throat without totally beheading her. Just as she was about to kill Troia, the Amazon recovered, forcing Shiva to retreat.[11]
2020[]
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Lady Shiva dispatched a squad of Manta Troopers and ascertained that Tigress was de facto leader of the Team.[3]
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After sending Rictus and Black Spider off to retrieve "Cassandra" alive, Lady Shiva snuck inside the Vault via Shade's powers and knocked Orphan out cold. While holding her daughter hostage, she demanded Tigress to deliver Cassandra Savage to Santa Prisca in 24 hours. Then she slinked away with her agents.[3]
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Shiva visited her daughter in a cell in the League of Shadows' headquarters. She told her of her disappointment at her defection.[10]
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Black Spider and Rictus joined them to report that they has lost contact with some guards, leading Shiva to believe Tigress had arrived as agreed. She had Shade bring the receiver for the intel from their mole, but assured Cassandra that it was her that Shiva really wanted, so that she might have another chance at her destiny.
After Cassandra Savage had revealed herself as the mole, and her infiltrators had been neutralized, Tigress and her team ran to Orphan's cell, but were immediately surrounded by Shadows, including Shiva, who gave them a surrender or die ultimatum.[10]
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Tigress stalled for time by getting Shiva and Savage to talk about their plan. Orphan escaped her shackles and disabled the lights. Shiva and her daughter fought in the dark until Tigress swapped places with Orphan. Shiva was able to stab Tigress in the thigh with her own sword. When the lights came back up, Shiva repeated her ultimatum, but Shade unexpectedly teleported Tigress's squad out. Shiva was able to follow in time, and bisected two of her own Shadows with her piandao as she emerged on the beach with them.
Shiva demanded to know why Shade had betrayed her. He explained that he had owed Cheshire a debt and simply saw this as the opportunity to repay it. She declared that it didn't excuse him from making her hit list for this interference and Shade used that as his reason to resign from the Shadows and he disappeared, declaring that he is strictly a freelance assassin from this moment on. Shiva admitted she could not stop the group from leaving, but still demanded they leave her daughter with her. When they refused, she threatened to have the Shadows kill everyone whom Cassandra cared about, starting with Barbara Gordon, which goaded Orphan into a showdown. Orphan ran her blade through her mother's stomach. Shiva smiled as Orphan prepared to behead her, but became enraged when the girl changed her mind at Barbara's reasoning and left. Shiva ranted at her from the beach as they flew off, insisting she would one day return when she accepted what she really was.[5]
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Having been bandaged up and recovering from her ordeal, Shiva returned to her daughter's former cell and stared at her open shackles.[5]
Abilities[]
- Swordsmanship: As the chief enforcer of the Light[4] and one of the world's most dangerous assassins,[1] Lady Shiva is a highly skilled swordswoman. She decapitated Ocean-Master, despite Atlanteans possessing flesh denser than humans.[4] She also faced Katana in a duel.[1]
- Acrobatics: Lady Shiva is capable of doing many somersaults in a matter of seconds.[1]
Equipment[]
Appearances[]
- Season 3
- 09. "Home Fires"
- 10. "Exceptional Human Beings"
- 13. "True Heroes" (flashback, no lines)
- 19. "Elder Wisdom" (no lines)
- 26. "Nevermore" (flashback, no lines)
- Season 4
Background information[]
- Sandra Woo-San is the best martial artist in the world and a highly sought after assassin, acting primarily as an opponent of Richard Dragon, the Question, Batman and later Black Canary and the Birds of Prey. She is the mother of Cassandra Cain, who she conceived to create the perfect warrior.
- This is her fourth animated appearance. She appeared in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Beware the Batman and DC Super Hero Girls.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Paredes, Francisco (writer) & Berkeley, Christopher (director) (January 25, 2019). "Exceptional Human Beings". Young Justice. Season 3. Episode 10. DC Universe.
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2021-07-26). Question #24434. Ask Greg. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Vietti, Brandon (writer) & Sotta, Christina (director) (November 11, 2021). "Artemis Through the Looking-Glass". Young Justice. Season 4. Episode 06. HBO Max.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Weisman, Greg (writer) & Heuck, Vinton (director) (January 18, 2019). "Home Fires". Young Justice. Season 3. Episode 9. DC Universe.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Weisman, Greg (writer) & Heuck, Vinton (director) (November 25, 2021). "I Know Why the Caged Cat Sings". Young Justice. Season 4. Episode 08. HBO Max.
- ↑ Dubuc, Nicole (writer) & Berkeley, Christopher (director) (November 18, 2021). "The Lady, or the Tigress?". Young Justice. Season 4. Episode 07. HBO Max.
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2021-07-26). Question #24459. Ask Greg. Retrieved 2021-07-26.
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2022-03-10). Question #25646. Ask Greg. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ↑ Weisman, Greg (2022-03-23). Question #25706. Ask Greg. Retrieved 2022-03-23.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Vietti, Brandon (writer) & Berkeley, Christopher (director) (January 18, 2019). "Evolution". Young Justice. Season 3. Episode 7. DC Universe.
- ↑ Giacoppo, Paul (writer) & Berkeley, Christopher (director) (July 23, 2019). "Elder Wisdom". Young Justice. Season 3. Episode 19. DC Universe.