Katana (Karen Fukuhara)
In the source material, the character of Katana is most closely associated with the superhero team The Outsiders – which was founded by Batman when he began to struggle with the membership of the more conventional Justice League. As such, she first appeared in The Brave And The Bold #200 in 1983.
Her origin story is a particularly brutal one. As Tatsu Yamashiro, she was a talented Japanese martial artist who was courted by two brothers – Maseo and Takeo Yamashiro. Marrying Maseo, Tatsu endured the deaths of both of her parents, while her brother-in-law joined the Yakuza. Tatsu and Maseo welcomed twins, while Takeo – armed with mystical swords – arrived to ‘claim’ Tatsu for himself.
The ensuing battle resulted in the murder of Maseo and the twins, and the soul of Maseo being temporarily confined to the mystical sword – the ‘Soultaker’ – with which Tatsu escaped. She went on to train under a samurai and pledged to fight for justice. Her involvement with Amanda Waller – according to The New 52 re-launch – came from her desire to source information about her husband’s murderers, having waged war on the Yakuza for a lengthy period. Waller enlisted Katana for missions, in exchange for details of the bad guys she seeks to settle a score with.
The character of Katana has appeared in animation, and in live-action – most notably on the TV show Arrow. That version is played by Rila Fukushima, while in animation she has been voiced by Vyvan Pham, Kim Mai Guest and Sumalee Montano.
