Twelve Brothers in Silk

From Multiversal Omnipedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Twelve Brothers in Silk are a family that feature in DC Comics.

Contents

History

Each Silk Brother took a symbol from the Chinese Zodiac in Birds of Prey v1 #81.

The Twelve Brothers in Silk were a group of martial artists that operated in the modern age in East Asia. Their origins were traced to a legendary fighter by the name of Huang who became infamous twenty five years ago. During that time, he was undefeatable with it said that he supposedly killed three men once without waking from a nap. As he grew older, his heart grew bitter with the thought of his eventual defeat. This led to his desire in passing on his gift to others that would learn his skills. He decided that only his sons would learn his art and thus took many wives and set about having a son under each sign of the Chinese Zodiac. Any girl that was born or any child born in the wrong time were killed immediately by their father. Those sons born were then branded whereupon he trained them brutally and made them all twisted inside as he nurtured their hateful aspects. (Birds of Prey v1 #81) Around 19 years ago, a girl was born to the family at the Saanxi Province near the ancient silk highway with the father commanding his daughter to be killed. The reluctant midwife was dispatched to kill her like the other daughters born but a lightning bolt struck the midwife killing her before she completed the task. As a result, the father reconsidered the decision as he felt that the world desired the girl to live and left his daughters care to his eldest son Rabbit. (Birds of Prey v2 #4) This continued until the time of their thirteenth birthday when he asked his sons to kill him so that he could never be defeated and so that he could continue defeating his enemies throughout eternity in death. (Birds of Prey v1 #81)

After their defeat, the Brothers regrouped and continued to operate with their sister believing that they had come to live with the dishonour of their loss at Black Canary's hand. As a result, she sought to preserve her fathers legacy and moved to kill her brothers with her hunting each down whereupon she beat them to death. (Birds of Prey v2 #4)

Later, White Canary takes Black Canary to Bangkok and reveals that she is holding Black Canary's adopted daughter Sin as a hostage, and will kill her if Black Canary does not battle Lady Shiva in a duel to the death. Black Canary agrees despite her broken wrist, but at the last minute Helena Bertinelli challenges Shiva in her place, buying Black Canary enough time to find Sin and get her to safety, and Lady Shiva agrees to put their duel off until a later time. White Canary reluctantly concedes, but promises that Black Canary has not seen the last of her. (Birds of Prey v2 #6)

Overview

In appearance, the Twelve Brothers in Silk were members of a family whose siblings were all born under a sign of the Chinese Zodiac. Their father had taken many wives with the intention of fathering only sons. Any child who had the misfortune of being born a girl or under the wrong sign were killed immediately. Those sons that survived were branded and then trained brutally with their upbringing making them all twisted inside. Their father had nurtured their hateful aspects and on the year before their 13th birthday he asked his children to kill him. This was with the intention of him never being defeated and thus defeating his enemies throughout eternity. (Birds of Prey v1 #81)

Each of the Brothers had nearly Shiva-level talent and went through a lifetime of training. They often hired their services out as assassins with their employers setting them for war rather than fights. (Birds of Prey v1 #81) They were said to be as good as the legends surrounding them with their one weakness being them placing a great deal of importance on their dignity. It was noted that they fought for abstract reasons namely for novelty and honor. The Silk Brothers scoffed at the idea of fighting women in duels and dismissed such challenges as they looked down on women. (Birds of Prey v1 #82)

Members

  • Rabbit : real name Huang Chao Ran. (Birds of Prey v1 #81)
  • Rat :
  • Ox :
  • Tiger :
  • Dragon :
  • Snake :
  • Horse :
  • Goat :
  • Monkey :
  • Rooster :
  • Dog :
  • Pig :
  • White Canary : the only daughter that was born who was allowed to live and was trained like her brothers. (Birds of Prey v2 #4)

Notes

  • The Twelve Brothers in Silk were created by Joe Bennett and Gail Simone where they made their first appearance in Birds of Prey v1 #81 (June, 2005).

Appearances

  • Birds of Prey v1: (2005)
  • Birds of Prey v2:

External Links

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox