Zatanna
Zatanna is a female comic superhero who features in DC Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Pre-Crisis
Zatanna was the daughter of Zatara and his wife Sindella. (Justice League of America v1 #163) After her birth, her mother and father lived in upstate New York near Arkham Asylum. When Zatanna was still an infant, it was believed then that her mother had died sometime after Zatara had retired from crime fighting. (Justice League of America v1 #162)
Zatanna came to be a successful stage illusionist until one day she returned to Shadowcrest where she had discovered her fathers had gone missing. She then found his diary and learnt more about her magical heritage with her setting to find Zatara. (DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest v1 #5) After her fathers disappearance, Zatanna attempted to find out what happened to him and followed in his footsteps by performing on the stage as a magician whilst also fighting criminals. (Hawkman v1 #4)
Later on, she came to be placed under a Spell of Forgetfulness where her mind was violated and she came to find herself in a new costume with no memory of making the change. (Justice League of America v1 #162)
She later informed the Justice League that the cult called the Fiatlux or Illuminated Ones were responsible for stealing the Luciferase that was used to summon the demon Hellrazer. (Justice League of America v1 #225)
Post-Crisis
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Zatanna
She said that she grew up at her fathers estate at Shadowcrest. (Countdown v1 #37)
She once attended a tantric studies group in San Francisco alongside John Constantine leading to the two first meeting one another. Her father though did not trust the occultist though Zatanna came to be romantically involved with him for a time. (Swamp Thing v2 #49)
The looming threat of the Great Darkness was first perceived by John Constantine, a former boyfriend of Zatanna. Constantine started gathering powerful sorcerers from over the world to start a séance in order to fight the Great Darkness and he soon reached Shadowcrest, asking Zatara and Zatanna's assistance, who agreed to help. (Swamp Thing v2 #49) Zatanna and her father soon joined Constantine and Sargon the Sorcerer, among others, who had come together to battle the Great Darkness. During the battle, the Darkness attacked the sorcerers, killing Sargon first and then attempted to eliminate Zatanna. Zatara casted a spell to release his daughter from the impending doom, but sacrificed his own life in the process. Although, The Darkness was neutralized by other forces, Zatanna had lost her father and this loss would haunt her on many occasions. (Swamp Thing v2 #50)
Zatanna had come to the Hall of Justice to help in the process of reuniting Red Tornado's consciousness that resided in the headquarters computers and return it to his physical body. Whilst taking a break, she was asked by Black Canary to check Vixen whose powers had changed and determined some unknown force was responsible for it that was linked to her Tantu Totem. During this time, Amazo restored himself from Red Tornado's old body and transferred his intelligence into a replacement one where he battled the Justice League. (Justice League of America v2 #23) Zatanna attempted to help but was injured in the fight but she provided a decisive blow against the android by calling upon the power of Red Tornado who helped knock Amazo into the Slideways teleporter that sent the villainous robot light years away above a star thus defeating him. (Justice League of America v2 #24)
After seeing terrible visions of the future, Zatanna decided to find her fathers four books that contained all the secrets of his art. To that end, she attended a séance held at Baron Winters home with Ibis the Invincible, Taia, Timothy Ravenwind and Terrence Thirteen attending the session. They had passed through numerous realities before finding the books but Zatanna made some ill-cast spells the night before that summoned a shapeshifter called Gwydion who killed her companions. Only Zatanna returned from the séance with the dead remains of her colleagues left behind and Baron Winters asking her to leave. The incident caused Zatanna to lose faith in herself and she began to lose the ability to cast her magics. (Seven Soldiers: Zatanna v1 #1)
Zatanna visited Gotham's East End to tell Catwoman she had some bad news for her. Catwoman asked if Zatanna could teleport them to the French Riviera for their talk, because that's how she would use magical powers. Zatanna said Batman warned her she avoid conversations by changing focus, but teleported them into Catwoman's apartment, which Catwoman said was an invasion of her privacy. Zatanna asked Catwoman if she'd ever wondered why she was no longer a criminal, and made her remember Zatanna planting a suggestion in her mind to turn good years ago, when the Justice League of America was using her powers to mindwipe or forcibly rehabilitate villains. Catwoman felt completely violated and unsure of herself, and after taping Zatanna's mouth shut so she couldn't use magic, pushed her out a window. Zatanna removed the tape before Catwoman could pounce on her, and froze her in place. Zatanna said the Justice League had no right to manipulate her mind, but she had a right to know, and with that she disappeared. (Catwoman v3 #50)
Zatanna visited Gotham's East End to tell Catwoman she had some bad news for her. Catwoman asked if Zatanna could teleport them to the French Riviera for their talk, because that's how she would use magical powers. Zatanna said Batman warned her she avoid conversations by changing focus, but teleported them into Catwoman's apartment, which Catwoman said was an invasion of her privacy. Zatanna asked Catwoman if she'd ever wondered why she was no longer a criminal, and made her remember Zatanna planting a suggestion in her mind to turn good years ago, when the Justice League of America was using her powers to mindwipe or forcibly rehabilitate villains. Catwoman felt completely violated and unsure of herself, and after taping Zatanna's mouth shut so she couldn't use magic, pushed her out a window. Zatanna removed the tape before Catwoman could pounce on her, and froze her in place. Zatanna said the Justice League had no right to manipulate her mind, but she had a right to know, and with that she disappeared. (Catwoman v3 #50) Catwoman broke into Wayne Manor to speak to Bruce, and told him how his Justice League buddies were her responsible for her transformation from villain to hero. Bruce was completely unaware of what they'd done, and she asked him as a friend and former enemy and lover who she truly was before the Justice League of America tinkered with her head. He assured her that she was in control of her mind and life no matter what they had done to her, but she felt unsatisfied with his answer and left. Bruce contacted Zatanna, and was angry that she hadn't told him what she had done. (Catwoman v3 #51)
Catwoman called Zatanna after Film Freak and Angle Man uncovered her identity and threatened her newborn. She wanted their memories erased, or she'd be forced to kill them, and although Zatanna protested that she didn't manipulate minds anymore Catwoman said she owed her. Zatanna arrived, and Angle Man reiterated that he'd gone from a nobody to the man that was going to inform every lunatic and criminal where they could find Catwoman and her daughter. Catwoman tended to Helena, and left Zatanna alone with the villains. Angle Man said he knew how Zatanna lobotomized Dr. Light, and said being a supervillain wasn't working out for him, so he'd be fine if she wiped his mind clean. She insisted she did not do that anymore, and reached inside his mind to erase his knowledge of Catwoman's private identity. Catwoman grew impatient with how long the process took, but knew she never wanted to kill someone again if she could help it. Zatanna finished her work on Film Freak and Angle Man, and told them to confess their crimes. Catwoman said they still weren't even, and suggested Zatanna make them confess to Black Mask's murder, but she flat out refused. Zatanna said she'd never invade Catwoman's mind again, but it was clear to her she had some dark secrets, and she should deal with them before they tore her apart. (Catwoman v3 #58)
Post-Flashpoint
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
She was with the Justice League when they registered the Enchantress having gone rogue and releasing chaotic magic on the world. This caused her to create a simulacra of her June Moon persona with the heroes having to work to stop her. Zatanna intended to go into the field and enact a spell to trap her with Batman intending to go to help stop her. However, Zatanna cast a spell to trap him on the Watchtower as she felt he was too important to lose against a magic user and went to stop the villain herself. (Justice League Dark v1 #1)
Within the creature's body, she battled for control but the Otherkind managed to briefly take over her form and used it to battle her team mates. However, Zatanna introduced the concept of magic having a cost that was an anathema to the Upside-Down Man's existence causing him to disappear from existence. Thus, the heroes were victorious and Zatanna was re-united with her father but was distraught to find that Constantine had died in the final battle. Zatara decided to then use his existence to restore Constantine to life whilst his own finally end but not before parting with his daughter one last time. The Justice League Dark then returned to Earth where they celebrated their victory as magic was restored to the world. (Justice League Dark v2 #28)
Overview
Personality and attributes
She had sworn to protect life even those of her enemies. (Justice League of America v1 #191)
A result of a failed séance left her suffering from low self-esteem and she began to lose her abilities in magic as a result. (Seven Soldiers: Zatanna v1 #1)
Her ancestry meant that she was a direct descendant of the artist and magician Leonardo da Vinci, related to Nostradamus, Alessandro Cagliostro, the noted alchemists Nicholas Flamel and Evan Fulcanelli and Lord Arion of Atlantis. (Zatanna v1 #4)
It was shown that she was once romantically involved with John Constantine. (Swamp Thing v2 #49)
Powers and abilities
She had inherited magic from her father which she did by speaking words backwards. (Hawkman v1 #4) Mnemonic incantation was said to be the most complicated of the mystical arts. (JLA v1 #75) Zatanna could use blood as a substitute if she was unable to speak whereby she scribbled the words backwards for the spell she intended to cast which she could do to restore her capacity to speak. (Justice League of America v2 #24)
She could place herself in trances that were mystically induced in order to locate someone but these took much out of her which was why she did not conduct them often. (Hawkman v1 #4) Alternatively, she could touch an object to sense the psychic vibrations of the last person who wielded it. (Justice League of America v1 #162)
Another spell that Zatanna had learnt was being able to magically split her body making two copies of herself potentially allowing her to travel to two locations simultaneously. It required a level of mastery and magic to use this spell as it could leave a person weakened and leave some of the duplicates immobile with them being unable to speak. (Hawkman v1 #4)
Zatanna was able to manipulate natural forces of wind, fire, water and earth. (Justice League of America v1 #191)
She could use her energies to help replace a person's lifespan. (Justice League of America v1 #191)
Typically, she prepared a couple of hundred spells that were ready at any given time though she improvised her spellcasting primarily. (Justice League of America v2 #33)
Among the entities she called upon were the Flames of Hotath. (Justice League of America v1 #163)
She also made use of additional equipment that did not rely on her spellcasting powers. These included a stage magician's flash-pellets that was able to temporarily blind a person. (Justice League of America v1 #191)
Whilst she lived in San Francisco, she considered her fathers estate of Shadowcrest her home as it was where she grew up. Zatanna maintained the place and used it as a getaway location. The doorway was mystically guarded which required a password to be said out loud to gain entry. Magical manifestations of the house were conjured for her when needed with these acting as servants who the human guise of staff members. They could be summoned or dispelled at will through basic magic. The mansion itself was massive with some rooms protected by a mystical guardian. It included a library that had books that were centuries old that were written in non-human languages with her family having collected them. (Countdown v1 #37) Some books had languages that were ancient when Atlantis was first founded. (Countdown v1 #36) There was also a number of mystical relics that had a great deal of power in them. The library served as a location where Zatanna could study, research and practice. (Countdown v1 #37)
Within her possession was the Gnosis Sphere or God Machine that was said to had been built by Aletheia of Olympus and had the power to reveal truths. Many wars had been watched across half the Earth to acquire the sphere and its knowledge. As a result, one of Zatanna's ancestors decided to strip all memory of it from the world in order to protect it with the relic kept in his family for safekeeping with Zatara holding onto it before it passing to his daughter. (Detective Comics v1 #960)
Notes
- Zatanna was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson where she made her first appearance in Hawkman v1 #4 (October–November, 1964).
Alternate Versions
- In Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #23 (2007), an alternate version of Zatanna was shown named Annataz Arataz who was an inhabitant of Earth-3. She was noted for being a mystic who terrorised people and often did so to children until she was captured by Superboy-Prime who used her to contain the abilities of Mister Mxyptlk.
- In Countdown to Final Crisis v1 #18 (2007), an alternate version of Zatanna was shown to inhabit Earth-51 in the Multiverse. This was described as the perfect world where the heroes had defeated all the villains and ushered in an era of peace with many superheroes embracing their civilian lives. On this world, she was shown to had become a psychiatrist where she worked at the Arkham Institute for Emotional Disorders where she helped people cope with trauma with her working alongside Harleen Quinzel. During this time, one of her patients was Ray Palmer who was suffering from a recurring nightmare.
- In Superman/Batman v1 #61 (2009), an alternate version of the was shown in the setting of Mash-Up that was set on a dream world created by Doctor Destiny. This version saw characters from Earth being fused into one entity with this seeing Zatanna merged with Raven creating Ravanna who was a member of the Justice Titans until she sacrificed herself to save them. This reality was shattered when Batman and Superman discovered the truth but Doctor Destiny in an attempt to keep the heroes contained kept them in another dream. For Batman, this was a world where he and Zatanna were married with Bruce Wayne convincing Zatanna that it was false thus breaking this reality as well leading to Doctor Destiny's defeat.
- In Mystik U v1 (2017), during a battle against the force known as the Malevolence the mystical heroes of Earth lost but cast a spell to create an alternate world. On this world, there existed Mystik University headed by Miss. Psychic and was a place to train those in the magical arts. Zatanna was the assistant of her father Zatara with him believing that she had no magical aptitude despite the advice of Miss. Psychic. During a stage show, she accidently called forth demons with her father pushing her away but being claimed by them. The shocked Zatanna was met by Miss. Psychic who talk her to Mystik University to undergo training in the mystical arts.
In other media
Television
- In the DC Animated Universe, Zatanna made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting.
- In Batman: The Animated Series, Zatanna made her first appearance in the animated television series in the episode "Zatanna" where she was voiced by actress Julie Brown. The daughter of the famous stage magician and escape artist Zatara, Zatanna joined him on tour as his assistant when she was a teenager, and also became good friends as well as possessing a crush with his student 'John Smith', who was actually Bruce Wayne during his training to become a crime fighter. After her father's death, Zatanna became a talented stage magician in her own right. For the finale of a show in Gotham City, she made the contents of the Gotham Mint disappear, to show up magic debunker Montague Kane. Unfortunately for her, Kane had not only seen through her trick, but was a thief, and stole the money while framing her for the crime. She was freed from custody and assisted in bringing Kane to justice by Batman, whom she recognized as her friend from long ago. When the adventure was concluded, Zatanna disappeared in a puff of smoke; leaving behind a note written on a handbill from her show wherein she acknowledged that she remembered him as John Smith. She expressed her sadness at the course his life had taken and told him not to forget to write
- In Justice League Unlimited, Zatanna made a number of cameo appearances in the animated television series but in the episode "Little Miss Piggy" she was voiced by actress Jennifer Hale. Sometime later, she developed or discovered genuine magical powers, which she used to aid the Justice League, and occasionally sprinkled in with her normal stage tricks. It also became apparent that at some point, she found out Batman's real name as Bruce Wayne. After Wonder Woman was turned into a pig by Circe, Batman approached Zatanna for help, and she assisted him in tracking Circe down and reversing the spell. She was moved by Batman's song and was happy with his gratitude at her help. During Darkseid's last invasion of Earth, Zatanna was one of many League Members called to help fight the invading Apokoliptian forces, and afterwards to pursue and capture the remaining members of the Legion of Doom.
- In Batman Beyond, Zatanna was referenced in the setting of the animated television series. An elderly Bruce Wayne included her among a small group of women whom he remembered as special to him.
- In Smallville, Zatanna appeared in the setting of the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actress Serinda Swan.
- In Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Zatanna appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Chill of the Night!" where she was voiced again by actress Jennifer Hale.
- In Young Justice, Zatanna made a number of appearances in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Lacey Chabert.
- In Justice League Action, Zatanna made a number of appearances in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Lacey Chabert. She was present to stop Solomon Grundy in "The Zombie King" with her being among the various magical heroes present. In "Speed Demon", she accompanied Batman to Brother Night's club after they learnt that he was gifting various supervillains with magical powers. Brother Night used his magic to get the Batmobile possessed by a demon that entrapped Zatanna inside of it with her mouth gagged to prevent her from freeing herself.
Films
- In Justice League Dark, Zatanna appeared as a character in the animated film where she was voiced by actress Camilla Luddington.
Video games
- In Justice League Heroes, Zatanna appeared as a playable character in the console video game where she was voiced by actor Kari Wahlgren.
- In DC Universe Online, Zatanna appeared as a non-playable character in the MMORPG video game where she was voiced by actor Claire Hamilton.
- In Young Justice: Legacy, Zatanna appeared as a playable character in the video game tie-in to the television series where she was voiced again by actor Lacey Chabert.
- In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Zatanna appeared as a playable character in the fighting video game where she was voiced once more by actor Lacey Chabert.
- In DC Legends, Zatanna appeared as a playable character in the setting of the iOS video game.
- In DC: Unchained, Zatanna appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Appearances
- Hawkman v1: (1964)
- Justice League of America v1:
- Zatanna v1:
- Swamp Thing v2:
- JLA v1:
- Batman: Streets of Gotham v1:
- Detective Comics v1:
- Seven Soldiers: Zatanna v1:
- Justice League of America v2:
- Countdown v1:
- Zatanna v2:
- Justice League Dark v1:
- Detective Comics v1:
- Justice League Dark v2: (2019)
External Links
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