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| “ | Any brute can kill. The skills needed to employ a club or gun are easily obtained. I am a true master of the lethal arts! | „ |
| ~ Lady Shiva. |
Sandra Wu-San, also known as Lady Shiva, is a supporting character of the DC Universe, specifically serving as a supporting antagonist in the Batman franchise. She is the arch-nemesis of Richard Dragon, the Question, Batgirl, and her own daughter Cassandra Cain.
A deadly assassin, Shiva was the world's greatest martial artist bar none. Even the likes of Batman stood little chance of besting her in a fair fight. She was a member of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins and briefly led a splinter group known as the League of Shadows. She is also a friend, master, and a major rival of Black Canary and one of the most skilled martial artists in the DC Universe. She is also an occasional ally of Batman. Shiva can read body language and can predict what is her opponent's next move and loves the thrills of combat.
Biography[]
Post-Crisis[]
Early Life[]
Shiva is the goddaughter of O-Sensei, the world's greatest martial arts master, and she lived with him along with her sister Carolyn in Kyoto. When O-Sensei left Japan to the United States along with his two disciples Richard Dragon and Ben Turner, Carolyn followed them, but she ended up being killed by the Swiss, an international assassin who was targeting Dragon. Guano Cravat, a corrupted businessman who held a grudge against Dragon, convinced Sandra that Richard was the actual response of her sister's death, so the young woman started training in arts to get revenge, as she soon discovered she was a prodigy, and she reached a master's level in no time. Adopting the name "Lady Shiva", she embarked on a revenge crusade against Richard Dragon, and whoever else was involved in Carolyn's death.
League of Assassins[]
In a more recent retelling, both Sandra and Carolyn were born in a remote village run by the League of Assassins. The two had been trained since their childhood to be the protectors of the village, but after constant abuses and tortures they decided to leave, and they fled to the US, in Detroit, Michigan, where they continued their combat training together, but embraced a totally different life. One day, while sparring, the two were spotted by international assassin David Cain, who realized that Sandra was holding back not to hurt Carolyn; in order to allow her to explore her true potential, Cain killed Carolyn, leaving her body to be found by Sandra.
Heart-broken and bent on revenge, Sandra pursued Cain around the world only to be ambushed by the group Cain was a part of, the League of Assassins, still on her trails. Sandra fought and lost, but she was granted the opportunity to live, as she would have had to bear Cain's son, who would have become Ra’s al Ghul's bodyguard. She agreed, and in the time of her pregnancy, she further explored her potential. When her daughter, Cassandra, was born, Sandra Wu-San was a new woman, as she was Lady Shiva, creator, and destroyer.
Being it away or the other, Shiva started traveling the world, putting herself to the test by meeting and defeating the best martial artists around. She became somewhat addicted to life-or-death situations, and when she met Richard Dragon she decided to follow him, as danger constantly haunted him and the ones he loved. She formed a trio with Dragon and his partner Ben Turner, and the three of them became crime fighters for a while, even if for Shiva it was just a way to keep practicing martial arts on a superior level; Richard tried to change her soul by letting her know the spiritual side of martial arts, inner peace, and balance, but he failed, and when the three parted ways, Shiva started selling her skills as a mercenary and an assassin for hire.
With the money, she earned from her activities she could finance her training and travels, obsessed with honing her skills to perfection. Something of the old Sandra Wu-San, however, was still there, and when Reverend Hatch, a corrupt politician from Hub City, hired her to kill the masked vigilante The Question, it resurfaced: Shiva defeated Question without the slightest effort, but she was able to sense a "passion" in him, and she decided to spare his life. She rescued him from Hatch's men, and she brought him to Richard Dragon’s hideout on the mountains so that her former friend and mentor could treat and teach him. When the vigilante was able to come back to Hub City again, Shiva first challenged him, confirming her first impressions on him, and then let him go.
Batman[]
She continued traveling the world, even clashing from time to time with the League of Assassins, until she found an agreement with Ra’s al Ghul and the two started cooperation of sort. In the Middle East, while training some terrorists, she met Batman, on the trails of the second Robin's parents. She managed to defeat him as well, and the Dark Knight only managed to restrain her thanks to the intervention of Robin. Following this encounter, she resumed her "hunt for masters", a path that put on the same path as many superheroes and supervillains, such as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Bane, Nightwing, Prometheus, and many others, always learning what she could from her masters and opponents, then killing them when they were of no more use to her. Perfection was the only goal.
Post-Flashpoint[]
The New 52[]
Born in a small Chinese village known as a place of assassins, Sandra Wu-San suffered a childhood filled with trauma, much of which remains a mystery. She trained hard to become an exceptional martial artist to seek vengeance on those that wronged her and later became an assassin for hire. Wu-San joined the League of Assassins and became known as Lady Shiva, after the Hindu god of destruction. Neither a conventional hero or villain, she has both fought and allied with a number of different heroes over the years, including Batman, Robin, Red Hood, and Nightwing. As an adult, she fought Dick Grayson the first time he went into the field as Robin to save Batman, defeating him easily and then advising him to get out of Batman's shadow and forge his own identity.
Several years later, she battled Nightwing and realized Grayson had taken her advice. As a trainer for the League of Assassins, she taught Red Hood, Bronze Tiger, and others, and allied with the League to fight off an Untitled infiltration of their hidden base. If Lady Shiva has a weak spot, it is her daughter, Cassandra Cain. The daughter of the assassin and original Orphan David Cain, Cassandra never knew her mother, and adopted the identity of Orphan when she chose to become a vigilante. Breaking away from Ra's al Ghul and taking command of his elite team known as the League of Shadows, Lady Shiva visited Cassandra on a trip to destroy Gotham City. Shiva killed Gotham City's Mayor Hady and set her sights on razing the entire city in order to disrupt all the money and energy Ra's al Ghul had put into Gotham City over the years.
Cassandra and Batman opposed Shiva, but it was Ra's al Ghul who shot and killed her. Ra's al Ghul resurrected Lady Shiva using the mystical, life-restoring Lazarus Pits. However, Shiva soon saw an opportunity to break away from his control again when he bombed a school in Metropolis. Shiva joined up with the principal of that school, Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning) and his superhero team, the Outsiders. While her true motivation was another attempt to connect with her daughter, Shiva became more committed to defeat her old employer when Ra's destroyed the village in which she had grown up. Shiva successfully helped the Outsiders to defeat Ra's' latest terrorist campaign, even if her lethal methods clashed with the team's own morals.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
- League of Assassins
- Ra's al Ghul
- Bronze Tiger
- Bane (sometimes)
- Deathstroke (sometimes)
- Birds of Prey (sometimes)
- Brotherhood of the Monkey Fist
Enemies[]
- Richard Dragon (archenemy)
- Cassandra Cain (daughter)
- The Question (archenemy)
- Cheshire (archenemy)
- Batman
- Nightwing
- Batgirl (archenemy)
- Robin
- Justice League
- GCPD
- Aaron Cash
- Harvey Bullock
- James Gordon
- Green Arrow
- Bane (sometimes)
- Deathstroke (sometimes)
Other Media[]
Television[]
Lady Shiva in Beware the Batman
- Lady Shiva appears in the Birds of Prey TV series in the episode "Lady Shiva". She was portrayed by Sung-Hi Lee.
- According to Arrow recurring guest star Katrina Law, she believed that she was auditioned for Lady Shiva before being cast as Nyssa al Ghul.
- Lady Shiva was going to appear in the fifth and final season of the series Gotham, but this never came to pass. Shiva was originally supposed to appear in the final episode of the fourth season, "No Man's Land", in a scene in which she is seen fighting three thugs in Gotham's Chinatown.
- Lady Shiva appears in Beware the Batman, in which she was voiced by Finola Hughes. Shiva is one of the major antagonists of the cartoon with a heavy influence on the story. Her main goal was to recover a magical sword the Soultaker. She sent Silver Monkey after that weapon but decided to kill him after he chose to take the sword for himself.
- Lady Shiva appears in Young Justice: Outsiders. Here, she was voiced by Gwendoline Yeo.
Films[]
Lady Shiva in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
- Lady Shiva appears in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. Here, she was voiced by Rachael MacFarlane.
- Lady Shiva appears in Batman: Hush. Here, she was voiced by Sachie Alessio. Due to the deaths of Ra's al Ghul and Talia, she appeared to have taken a de facto leadership role of the League of Assassins.
Lady Shiva in Batman: Hush
- Lady Shiva appears in Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. Here, she was voiced again by Sachie Alessio. When Damian Wayne took leadership of the League of Assassins, she became his right-hand woman. In the Nanda Parbat fortress, upon Clark Kent, Raven, John Constantine, and Etrigan the Demon teleportation arrival, she leads the defense to battle them; despite being relentless, she is held in the air by Etrigan, who is indifferent to her kicks to his head. Damian ordered the attack to end. When Damian returned to being Robin, Shiva remained loyal and joined the group in the counterattack plan against Apokolips. To reach Apokolips, the resistance need to seize the boom tube access at the top floor of LexCorp Tower; during the siege, Lady Shiva is shot in the head by one of the enemy soldiers - Robin respectfully closed her eyes and offered gratitude for her service, while also encouraging her to rest in peace.
Video games[]
- Lady Shiva appears in the DC Universe Online video game.
- Lady Shiva appears in the portable version of Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.
- Main article: Lady Shiva (Arkhamverse)
- Lady Shiva appears in Batman: Arkham Origins, voiced by Kelly Hu. Along with a group of the world's greatest assassins, Shiva was hired by Black Mask to assassinate Batman. She instead, by the whim of her master Ra's al Ghul tested Batman by leading him to a hostage with two groups of her ninjas nearby. Batman saved the hostage, defeated the ninjas, and headed to Wonder Tower by Shiva's trail. There, Batman faces a ninja backed up Shiva herself where she escapes after being defeated, stating he is as good as her master said he was.
- Lady Shiva appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains.
Web series[]
- A heroic version of Lady Shiva appears in the web series DC Super Hero Girls. Here, she was voiced by Tania Gunadi.
- Lady Shiva was voiced by Lorelei King in the 1994 Batman: Knightfall audiobook.
- Lady Shiva appears in Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons. Here, she was voiced by Panta Mosleh.
Trivia[]
- She is often considered one of the world's greatest martial artists, being rivaled to Batman, Richard Dragon, Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger, her daughter Cassandra Cain, and Connor Hawke.
External Links[]
- Lady Shiva on the Heroes Wiki
- Lady Shiva on the DC Wiki
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