Lady Shiva (Sandra Wu-San or Sandra Woosan; birth name Wu Ming-Ye) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was co-created by Dennis O'Neil and Ric Estrada, and first appeared in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5. Having varied origins and ties to superheroes such as Batman and Batgirl, the character serves as one of the most premier martial artists in the DC Universe.
A martial artist from China, her varied backgrounds commonly have her befriend Richard Dragon and Bronze Tiger, with each becoming a renowned martial artist, while she and Bronze Tiger become regarded as among the deadliest assassins and mercenaries in the world. Differing from her earliest stories, her sisters' killer would retroactively be revealed to be the world-class assassin and eugenics enthusiast David Cain, who coerced her into having her first-born daughter, Cassandra Cain, in hopes of creating a supremely skilled assassin. A supreme master of martial arts, she has ties with other heroes and teams, including the Question, Black Canary, and the Birds of Prey, and has been heavily associated with the League of Assassins and derivatives such as the League of Shadows.
Lady Shiva has been adapted in several media. She made her first live-action debut in the short-lived Birds of Prey, portrayed by Sung-Hi Lee. She also appears in various animated features such as Beware the Batman, voiced by Finola Hughes, and Young Justice, voiced by Gwendoline Yeo.
Publication history Lady Shiva was cread by Dennis O'Neil and Ric Estrada, first appearing Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 (December, 1975).
Characterization As a prominent martial artist and assassin in the DC Universe, she is noted as the most dangeous, considered nearly peerless in unarmed combat and with a sword. Her prowess is typically officially attributed to surpass Batman. Several other heroes and fighers are stated to be on par or rival her abilities, which includes: Bronze Tiger, Connor Hawke, Black Canary, the Twelve Brothers in Silk, David Cain, Cassandra Cain, and Richard Dragon.
Personality and motivation Lady Shiva is often characterized as a thrill-seeking combatant looking for a challenge, with her motivations contested but has been attributed to a death wish, boredom, and vengeance against David Cain for the death of her sister and subsequent sexual assault. Her earlier stories lacked the darker characterization; similarly a thrill-seeking daredevil, she was witty, often sarcastically joked in feminine frailty before defeating her opponents, and her vested interest in some martial artist included aiding them building up their abilities to create a challenge for her in the future. While mother of both Cassandra Cain and Tenji Turner, her relation with the former is noted to be complex.
Powers and abilities Lady Shiva is a virtual master of every known and some forgotten martial arts disciplines; In unarmed combat, she blends many different martial arts disciplines that benefits her frame and size, some which includes: Judo, Karate, Kuroshi, Savate, Capoeira, and Kung-Fu. Her strength is enough to shatter bones and break armor. Shiva is also capable with weaponry historically used by both samurai and ninja alike. Due to constant training and being involved in many life-or-death situations, Shiva retains considerable prowess even as she ages.
Alongside her martial abilities, Shiva is an expert at reading her opponent's body language to learn of weak points. An expert assassin, her abilities and reputation makes her an intimidating figure in the criminal underworld and is skilled in deception enough to obscure her true age, background, and misdirect individuals. Shiva is also an expert in medicine and known healing arts techniques. These abilities eventually extended into manipulation of qi, allowing her to rapidly heal others.
Fictional character biography
Pre-Crisis of Infinite Earths Lady Shiva, originally introduced as Sandra Woosan, is the sister of Carolyn Woosan, the love interest of Richard Dragon. Renowned as one of the world's deadliest martial artists, she adopted the name Shiva, inspired by the Hindu god of destruction. Blaming Richard Dragon for her sister's death, Sandra challenges him to a deadly duel. Later, Dragon reveals that Guano Cravat, a corrupt industrialist who hired her, manipulated Sandra by falsely implicating him in Carolyn's death. Together, Shiva and Dragon defeat Cravat, with Dragon persuading her to spare his life. Subsequently, Shiva allies with Dragon and Ben Turner, assisting them in various missions under the leadership of spymaster Barney Ling, head of G.O.O.D., until Turner's disappearance and memory loss to pursue solo missions.
Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline in 1985, aspects of Shiva's past was revealed and her history changed over time. Part of her origin first revealed she was raised in an unknown village in China (whose location and inhabitants remain purposely secretive) under the guidance of a cruel and strict woman only known as "Mother", with it unknown if she was simply her guardian or her true biological mother. The woman cruelly raised young Sandra as a fighter her with "Shiva" moniker, granted to the appointed guardian of the village. Shiva would also be known to reside in Detroit although the exact reason remain unknown. In Detroit, she and her older sister Carolyn, practiced martial arts and the pair later became sensationalist martial artist duo with a deep bond although Sandra often held back against her older sister. Their skills are noticed by David Cain, a trainer for the League of Assassins who becomes enamored with Sandra, believing her a kindred spirit and capable of producing a child suited for the role of Ra's al Ghul's bodyguard as well as his successor and assistant due to her high fighting abilities. She later joins the League of Assassins.
During her assassin training, David Cain murders Carolyn. Sandra confronts him, but is outsmarted and beaten by him. He allows her to live, but only if she conceives a child with him, thus he rapes her. Sandra later recounts allowing David to live because he showed her how Carolyn had held her back and that she had only been driven by "petty revenge". However, Sandra's true desire for revenge drove her to greater heights of martial artistry and she gives birth to future martial arts prodigy and hero, Cassandra Cain.
Newer exploits In the 1987 Question series, Shiva is hired by corrupt adjunct to the mayor of Hub City, Reverend Hatch, to battle the crimefighter the Question, an act she does so with ease. She witnesses Hatch's men brutalize him further. Witnessing a "passion for combat", she rescues him from near death and brings him to Richard Dragon to train and give him a chance to fulfill his potential. The pair meet shortly after and battle again, ending it swiftly but once more confirms her suspicions of his "warrior's passion" while Sage simply wanted to see what would happen if they fought before leaving him, not revealing why she saved him. The ordeal left her credited as the one to train Sage.
Shiva eventually travels to Manchuria to visit with her godfather, O-Sensei, former instructor of Richard Dragon and Bronze Tiger. After living over 150 years, he has finally decided to die. He intends to keep a promise to his wife, and be buried alongside her, but his wife's family had hidden her remains to punish him for abandoning her. O-Sensei has Shiva select three warriors to aid him in the search for her remains: the Question, Green Arrow, and Batman. Reluctant to acknowledge O-Sensei's death wish, Shiva expresses her ambivalence both verbally and physically, unnecessarily applying deadly force in battles with O-Sensei's assailants. Shiva and O-Sensei then travel to Hub City, meeting with the Question, who, in turn, brokered Shiva's first meeting with Batman. Compelled to test his skill, Shiva immediately fights the vigilante only to be stopped by O-Sensei. They do, however, convince Batman to aid them.Detective Comics Annual #1 (1989) In their search for Green Arrow, Shiva encounters slave traders, killing all except one, who successfully cuts her; she rewards him with a kiss on the forehead. After locating Green Arrow, she meets Black Canary for the first time, and spars with the hero. Although Canary does not know it at the time, the two had both studied under Sensei Otomo, though non-concurrently. After recruiting Green Arrow, Shiva returns to Hub City, and saves the Question from an attack by former employees of the now-dead Reverend Hatch. Shiva kills the men, who had been after a fortune in embezzled funds stored in Hatch's abandoned home, and sets fire to the money. Later, she nurses the Question's elderly friend Tot back to health. While the Question puzzles over her inscrutable and violent nature, she confesses that O-Sensei was "the one man I am certain I would not harm if he kissed me". When Batman discovers that the remains of O-Sensei's wife had been moved to a small island, Shiva, O-Sensei, Green Arrow, and the Question set out for the island, only to be caught in a storm. O-Sensei is lost overboard, but the group discovers that his wife's remains had likewise been mislaid, years earlier, while in transport, leaving O-Sensei's promise fulfilled.
In the 1991 "Robin: A Hero Reborn" storyline, she garners an interest in discovering techniques from defeated martial artist such as Koroshi, a master of karate, and seeks the one rumored to defeat him, King Snake, and encounters Tim Drake, the third person to hold the Robin codename and battle Snake's Ghost Dragons criminal organization as part of his training. Seeing potential, she takes him as a student to train him for a few weeks in one weapon although she is critical of his choice in the non-lethal bō, the reason in which Robin chose the weapon. He manages to defeat her in a sparring match using a whistle to distracted her and is awarded with a collapsible bō. Later, they discover the Ghost Dragon's development of a plague and the pair ally with Clyde Rawlins to stop them from releasing. Dragon escapes with few canisters and is tracked to Hong Kong, where they defeat him although Rawlin dies in the conflict and Shiva simply watches. When Snake hangs from a ledge, she urges him to kill the man to signify his graduation and become her "weapon" When he refuses and leaves, Shiva throws Snake off the ledge herself although he survives.
Getting involved with Gotham After Bane breaks Batman's back, Batman seeks training from Shiva to help him regain his skills and fighting spirit (see Batman: Knightfall: KnightsEnd). Though she deems him unworthy of her efforts, she devises a training regimen, out of respect for what he had been before his injuries. As part of this training, Shiva kills the Armless Master, a sensei notable for training Catwoman, while wearing a tengu mask, making sure that his death was both witnessed and relayed to his best students. Shiva then makes Batman wear the mask while performing training missions. He is then ambushed by the master's students, who mistake him for the "Tengu Mask warrior". He defeats all of them in turn, but Shiva attempts to complete Batman's training by manipulating him into killing an opponent using her fatal Leopard Blow. Batman simply feigns using the maneuver on an assailant to trick her into believing he used lethal force. Shiva later discovers the truth, but does not seek vengeance.