Zatanna Zatara is one of the world's most powerful magic-users. Posing as a traveling stage magician, Zatanna was born into a long line of magic users who use magic against evil.
A long-time member of the Justice League of America and an ally of white-magic users on multiple planes, Zatanna's virtually limitless powers are summoned through the use of backwards words as magic incantations.
Background
Daughter of famed magician and adventurer Giovanni "John" Zatara and his wife, the Homo magi Sindella, Zatanna grew up traveling the world as an assistant on her father's illusion shows while her mother returned to live in a secret Homo magi city in northern Turkey; covering her leave by faking a death said to be due to complications during Zatanna's birth.
While Zatanna was still a child, the elemental Allura placed a curse on her father that ensured his and Zatanna's death should they see each other again. To save Zatanna, Zatara left on a quest across various dimensions to find an alternate-counterpart of Allura that could counter the spell.
Growing up not knowing the true reason behind her father's disappearance, Zatanna inherited her father's wealth and made a living through her own illusionist shows; wearing a tuxedo and top-hat costume in tribute to her father. Soon discovering that she could perform real magic spells, Zatanna decided that she needed answers and began a quest into the disappearance of her father.
During her journey, Zatanna is led into a brief affair with John Constantine, encounters Hawkman and Hawkgirl, battles Batman and Robin while under the control of the Outsider, and temporarily teams up with the Atom, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and the Elongated Man on separate occasions.
During this, Allura, who despite having been imprisoned by Zatara could still observe goings-on between dimensions, learned of Zatanna's quest and tricked the young magician into freeing her. Allura then brought Zatanna to the magical realm of Kharma, where Zatara had settled, in an attempt to enact the curse. However, before father and daughter could see each other, Zatanna was warned of what would happen by the dimension's "Allura", who offered to help defeat her counterpart. Her curse diminished, the evil Allura unleashed hordes of magical warriors against the trio, and Zatanna summoned magical duplicates of the Justice League members she had befriended to aid in the battle. As Allura was defeated and imprisoned once more, after 20 years apart, Zatanna was reunited with her father.
While learning to control her powers under the tuition of her father, Zatanna assisted the Justice League of America on various missions before being nominated to join the group with full membership. At one point, her power level diminishes to the point that she can only control the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water but she regains her full power again soon after. Soon after this, the Hidden Ones; a race of beings who feed off of Homo magi, started to tap into Zatanna's mother's "medulla jewel" and feed off of her, fearing that the Hidden Ones would soon discover her daughter's existence and feed off of her as well, Sindella established a psychic link with her daughter, which inadvertently transformed Zatanna's uniform into a replica of her mother's of a black leotard and high-collar cloak, and warned her of the impending threat. Zatanna and her father traveled to meet her mother at the Homo magi city where they confronted the Hidden Ones together. However, while the Hidden Ones were ultimately defeated, Sindella had to sacrifice her life in the process.
After her mother's death, Zatanna decided a clean break was needed, and altered her costume based on an original design without allusions to either her father or her mother. It was during this time that she began a romance with fellow Justice Leaguer Barry Allen, which ended in friendship shortly thereafter.
Zatanna quickly became the League's resident magic user and so was called upon to aid in concealing the league's identities from super villains who had discovered them by wiping their minds; usually at the ignorance of the League's leaders such as Batman and Superman. When Doctor Light invaded the Justice League's satellite headquarters and raped the Elongated Man's wife, Sue Dibny, his gleeful lack of remorse and promises to continue hunting down and harming their loved ones prompted the league to attempt to alter his personality into one more benevolent, however, Zatanna's lack of experience in this area and her emotional state after being forced to attack and wipe Batman's mind after he walked in on them, caused her to accidentally lobotomize the villain, hampering his formerly considerable intellect.
When Zatanna, Zatara, John Constantine, Sargon the Sorcerer, and others come together to help demonic and divine forces from other dimensions battle a destructive being known as the Great Evil Beast, the group form a circle to channel their energies against the being, during which Sargon is burnt to death. As the beast attempts to do the same to Zatanna, Zatara draws the attack onto himself, dying but sparing his daughter's life as the Beast is ultimately neutralized by other forces.
Some time later, Zatanna's working relationship with Batman sours after he regains his memories of her attack and soon after the entire incident is brought to light when Despero discovers and unravels the various mind-wipes.
The resulting moral controversy over her actions led to several damaged relationships and destruction of her reputation as a hero. Having lost a great deal of confidence in herself and her abilities, Zatanna joined a support group for superheroes run by Eta Candy (a friend and acquaintance of Wonder Woman), where she recounts a failed magical ritual to search for her father's tomes, during which one of her past spells (miscast during an attempt to summon "the man of her dreams" during a period of loneliness) summons a shapeshifter named Gwydion who kills her travel companions.
This trauma, combined with her guilt over the mind-wiping, robs her of her powers, but, with the help of her new apprentice, Misty Kilgore, Zatanna manages to capture Gwydion to use as her own. Through her new relationship with Misty, Zatanna eventually regains her confidence and powers, and uses them to defeat Zor; a rogue Time Tailor who released the Sheeda as a plague to infect and degrade the entire universe. As a reward, the other Time Tailors allow her one last meeting with her father, who reveals that his tomes were written for her, his "greatest spell and gift to the world." In the final battle against the Sheeda, encouraged by Misty, Zatanna casts a spell to move time and space, retroactively positioning the Seven Soldiers of Victory to overthrow the Sheeda.
Following his return a year following the Infinite Crisis, Batman helps Zatanna investigate the death of one of her former assistants; discovering that the Joker had adopted the magician persona "Ivar Loxias" following Batman's disappearance and had turned to showbiz before learning of Batman's return and return to his villainous career. Defeating the villain with Zatanna's help, Batman recalls their history together and puts Zatanna's betrayal behind him, allowing the two to renew their friendship.
Following this, Zatanna returns as a reserve member of the reformed Justice League of America as she continues her stage career and her vocation as a defender against mystical threats as a member of the Sentinels of Magic.
Combat Statistics
- Zatanna (PvP)
- Zatanna (Madame Xanadu's Magic Shop)
- Zatanna (Mannheim's Chinese Theatre)
- Zatanna (Ellsworth Memorial Hospital)
- Zatanna (Sentinels of Magic Base (Midtown))
- Zatanna (The Watchtower: An Opportunity)
- Zatanna (Brothers in Arms)
- Zatanna (Harley's Heist)
- Impassioned Zatanna
- Controlled Zatanna
Involvement
- Zatanna appears randomly in the Safe House PvE and PvP arenas to support the heroes in various raids against the villains or to protect the Police Departments.
- Zatanna appears in Gotham Wastelands using her magic to prevent Trigon's return
- Controlled Zatanna is one of the possible bosses for the Starro: Invasion! alert in the Deluge episode.
Heroes
- Zatanna can be found in the mail room of the MPD Chinatown Police Station safe house, or in the JLA Watchtower in front of the giant statues of Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman.
- When Felix Faust begins corrupting souls in Chinatown, the Justice League sends Zatanna in to stop him. While newly recruited metaheroes perform crowd control on the unclean outside Madame Xanadu's Magic Shop, Faust's powers grow and Zatanna falters. Only the intervention of the new exobyte powered champions can save Zatanna from becoming a human sacrifice.
- When Raven is possessed by Trigon, Zatanna opens a portal to Raven's consciousness allowing you to teleport in and break Raven free from Trigon's control.
- When the Legions of Hell begin corrupting citizens of Metropolis in order to raise Trigon New Heroes will finish their story arc by fighting Brother Blood alongside Doctor Fate, Raven and Zatanna.
- Zatanna must be talked to by level 30 players for Emergency Response to unlock certain challenges.
- Zatanna must be talked to in the Gotham Wastelands for the Lust daily missions.
- Zatanna can be talked to in the Hall of Heroes to start the mission Virtues over Vices.
Villains
- When Circe sends new members of the Society of Super-Villains to free Eclipso at Sentinels of Magic Base, Zatanna arrives to thwart the primal evil's bid for freedom. Only her defeat and subsequent caging will pave the way for Eclipso's reign of shadow.
- When Lex Luthor ends up missing heroes will be sent to the watch tower, Zatanna will be the second boss that will stand in the way of intruding villains
- Zatanna appears randomly in the Police Station Duo to protect the Police Departments.
- Zatanna is one of the random iconic encounters for villains in Alternate Metropolis during the Brothers in Arms operation.
- Zatanna will be a random boss in one of the new Tier 5 Duo
- Zatanna is the first boss for villains in the Harley's Heist 2 player operation.
Trivia
- Zatanna first appeared in Hawkman #4 (November 1964)
- Zatanna is voiced by Claire Hamilton.
- Zatanna does not have a secret identity, as such she is publicly recognized as a practicing magician and former member of the Justice League. However, due to the average population having trouble accepting the fact that magic exists, even when they hear about it on TV and have to deal with the aftereffects, most average people believe she is simply a highly skilled stage magician and not a fully trained sorcerer or witch with legitimate magic powers.
- Zatanna has some competition from her younger cousin and fellow magician, Zachary Zatara. However, the younger magician's selfish attitude and irresponsibility make him ill suited for heroism. Despite this, Zachary did try out for membership into the Teen Titans and formed a crush on Raven during his short tenor on the team.
- Highly trained in sleight-of-hand magic in addition to her authentic mystical abilities, Zatanna specializes in large-scale illusions and escaped artistry. While her powers are virtually limitless, Zatanna is wary of over-using her magic and limits herself to defensive and non-lethal spells.
- Zatanna dislikes Los Angeles due to Hollywood and dreads that Stage Magicians would one day be made obsolete by the film industry's special effects. However, Zatanna loves San Francisco due to it having a lot of magical places and people. But, it is also likely that she prefers San Francisco for its theater scene over Los Angeles' focus on film and television.
- Zatanna is the author of the recent and hugely successful book Hex Appeal: The Modern Girl's Guide to Magic.
- Zatanna's father was a personal friend of Thomas Wayne and their children, Zatanna and Bruce, formed a friendship during childhood. Years later, following his parents' deaths, Zatara trained Bruce Wayne in the art of escapism and slight-of-hand. Years later still, Zatanna hoped to pursue a more meaningful relationship with Bruce but both concede that Bruce was too devoted to his work as Batman to give her the relationship she desired.
- Zatanna has a crippling fear of marionette puppets due to an incident in her childhood where her father transforms a man who had tried to kill her into one.
- Shadowcrest is the supernatural family mansion of the Zatarra family that serves as Zatanna's personal sanctuary and base of operations. Shadowcrest's library boasts one of the most extensive collections of books on magic and magical knowledge ever assembled. It also houses an arsenal of powerful magical relics that can do "just about anything you'd want them to do" (according to Zatanna). Even Zatanna doesn't fully understand everything about the house, but she believes that in some way, the house is just as alive as herself. Shadowcrest appears to be physically located on the outskirts of Gotham City, but the interior of the mansion actually exists in an entirely separate magical dimension.
Gallery
See also
External links
- Zatanna Zatara Wikipedia
- Zatanna Zatara DC Database