Tatsu Yamashiro

## Background

### 1981 - 1998: Tatsu Toro

Tatsu was an average girl born into her family residing in Japan. Since a young age, she had proficiency in the martial arts, a trait encouraged by her parents. With her beauty & natural skill, many men wanted to marry her.

### 1998 - 2002: Tatsu Yamashiro

At the age of seventeen, two brothers (Maseo & Takeo) of a prominent family wanted to date her & proclaimed their love for her. She liked them both but knew she loved Maseo so she picked him. Takeo took insult & immediately fell out with his family to join the Yakuza. She gave birth to twins, Yuki & Reiko, nine months after their marriage.

They were living in bliss until Takeo showed up three years after leaving for Yakuza. He wanted to battle his brother for the rights of their company. Their father had just passed & because he disowned Takeo, Maseo was set to inherit the company. They went on to begin battle but were soon distracted with an explosion erupting their house. Both Tatsu & Maseo knew it was Takeo's doing & that their children had just perished. Takeo took advantage of his distraction & just as Tatsu screamed his name to get his attention, Maseo turned around to be stabbed by brother with the Soultaker. He then turned his sight to Tatsu, who had now picked up her own sword. Tatsu gaining the upper hand & disarmed him. After grabbing Soultaker, she heard her Maseo's voice from the blade, telling her to flee.

### 2002 - Present: Katana

On the run, Tatsu eventually ended up in Nanda Parbat. She stayed there for about a year as she knew the magic behind it would shield her from Takeo. After learning under their masters, Tatsu found herself in Markovia. She thought she could make a life for herself but she was eventually found by Takeo. She barely escaped with her life & took off across the ocean to Gotham, hoping her old associate Bruce could provide her some help with his network of resources. To help her keep a low profile, Bruce moved her into the Wayne Penthouse so that she wouldn't be spotted. In time, she basically became a reserve member of the Bat Family & took on the name Katana meaning "sword" in Japanese.

After spending some time in Gotham, she joined the controversial Task Force X under the infamous Amanda Waller. She was on the team for long time before she began a relationship with the team's field leader & former US Special Ops Specialist, Rick Flag. Initially, they both decided the relationship would be was no strings attached as Tatsu was still grieving the loss of her husband & children but it turned to something more in the months to come.

Not long after Dick put together The Team, Katana joined at the urging of Batman. These days, she splits her time among the various teams she's on & still occasionally works with the Suicide Squad as chaperone.

## Romantic Relationships

* Maseo Yamashiro: Fiancée (1997); Husband (1997 - 2000)
* Rick Flag: Fling (*Unknown*); Lover (*Unknown*)

## Powers & Abilities

* **Peak Human Condition**
	+ ***Acrobatics*:** Her agility & reaction timing are faster than normal humans, making her a great acrobat.
	+ ***Hand to Hand Combat/Martial Arts*:** Tatsu became an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant & martial artist, as she was able to defeat many members of the League of Assassins & hold her own against Takeo Yamashiro. She was trained in various Japanese-styled martial arts from an early age & is a master martial artist. She is able to combat multiple enemies, fight metahumans & adapt to situations with ease.
	+ ***Stealth*:** She has unparalleled stealth that some of the world's best have not been able to match.
* **Weaponry**
	+ ***Marksmanship*:** She has great marksmanship as well showing this with a bow & arrow and shuriken.
	+ ***Swordsmanship*:** Tatsu is a highly skilled swordswoman, as she cut down multiple people in mere seconds. She could hold her own for a while against Chien Na Wei & duel evenly against Nyssa al Ghul.
	+ ***Throwing*:** She is capable of throwing shurikens, daggers, caltrops, bracelets which tie together to act as projectile weapons & other utensils with great ease.
* **Leadership:** She is a great leader, often taking lead when Rick was not able to.
* **Medicine:**  She has displayed a masterful level of knowledge & expertise when it comes to using herbs as alternative medicine.
* **Multilingualism:** Tatsu is fluent in Japanese & English.
* **Tactical Analysis:** She has a brilliant tactical mind, being able to help others with using their powers to the fullest in any situation.
* **Soultaker:** The Soultaker was forged in the 14th century by Muramasa, whose swords were said to be cursed & make those who were evil commit evil acts. It sometimes takes the souls of those it kills, storing them inside the sword, where they can engage in limited communication with whoever wields it.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strength:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Speed:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Occult:** 2 - Impaired / Below Average
* **Weapons:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **Range:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Strategy:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Combat:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **TOTAL:** 151 - Threat Level 4 / Moderate Threat

## Trivia

#### General

* Though she has not stated explicitly, she's made it clear that she doesn't want to have another child as her children's deaths still haunt her to this day.
* Due to their similar fighting styles, her & Shiva are always put against each other. While Shiva is the better swordsman, Katana has the better sword, Soul Taker.
* Tatsu met Bruce when he did his study abroad trip in the 90s that landed him in Japan for some time. The man he came to train under was also Tatsu's teacher.
* Takeo Yamashiro is her archnemsis & former brother in law. Takeo has resented Tatsu ever since she chose his brother over him. After he killed her family, he was then going to kill her after making her watch but she got away.

#### Rick Flag

* Even when Tatsu isn't on assignment, she only likes to stay at the apartment when Rick does. If not, she stays at the Bunker.
* When discussing her to the Suicide Squad, Rick noted that she could cut all of them in half with one sword stroke, like mowing the lawn.
* She & Rick made a promise to go to therapy separately for their traumatic experiences.
* When people find out that her & Rick are athletic together, people are confused because they can't see Tatsu playing sports. However. their activities are usually yoga & various types of boxing.

## Notes

* Nazo Baluda is a character from DC comics that is a member of the Big Science Action.