Katana

**Tatsu Yamashiro** (山城 たつ, *Yamashiro Tatsu*), also known as **Katana** (カタナ, *Katana*), is an expert martial artist and a master assassin. She was hired by Arthur to be Bruce Wayne's new driver and bodyguard as well as Batman's new partner.

"*This job just got interesting.*"

—Katana.

## Appearance & Biography

*Voice Actor*: Sumalee Montano (English), Not Known (Japanese), Not Known (Italian), Not Known (Spanish), Not Known (German), Not Known (Finnish), Not Known (Korean), Not Known (French), Not Known (Latin American Spanish)

### Appearance

#### As Tatsu Yamashiro

A Japanese woman with shoulder-length black hair and dark eyes

#### As Katana

Tatsu wears a mask, with the Hinomaru symbol on her forehead. She also wears a white band with the same symbol on her right arm and has a katana at all times.

* Hair Color: Black
* Eye Color: Brown
* Height: Not Known
* Weight: Not Known

## Personality

Tatsu is a competent, intelligent individual who is focused on her goal. She is also a great detective able to find Bruce's secret bookcase. At times, though, Tatsu can be brash, impulsive, impatient, and disobedient. Early on, she considered Batman to be a "nut", and has been shown to have opinions differing from Batman's on the necessity of killing in certain situations. Batman has stated that Tatsu can have an ego, which she argued was simply pride in her work. Like Batman she can be cold and distant but can also have a sense of humor as shown with her interaction with Jason Burr and her godfather, Arthur. She also shows a softer more compassionate side, shown towards Jason and also shows a seemingly mentor and student or brother and sister like bond with Bruce as shown when they are in the field.

## Relationships

### Friends/Allies

* Bruce Wayne/Batman
* Alfred Pennyworth
* Jason Burr (crush)
* Barbra Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle
* Man-Bat 2

### Family

* Edogawa Yamashiro (father; deceased)
* Shizuko Yamashiro (mother)
* Arthur Elric (godfather)
* Maseo Yamashiro (brother)
* Takeo Yamashiro (brother)
* unnamed husband (deceased)

## Powers and Abilities

* League of Assassins
	+ Ra's al Ghul
	+ Talia al Ghul
	+ Lady Shiva
	+ Silver Monkey
* Cypher
* Anarky
* Professor Pyg
* Mr. Toad
* Magpie
* Two-Face
* Deathstroke

### Abilities

**Master Combatant**: Tatsu is an extremely skilled and lethally formidable swordswoman (normally wielding a Japanese katana, hence her code-name), martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained to the highest level.

* **Martial Arts**:

**Peak-Human Attributes**: Through specialized diets and extensive training, she has the strength, speed, stamina, metabolism, senses, reflexes, agility, and durability of any human woman who are at their physical and mental peaks.

**Master Swordswoman**: Katana is particularly of note for her ability with her Katana, described as being able to cut down hundreds of opponents with relative ease.

### Weapons

* Soultaker Sword (formally)
* 2 Samurai Katana Swords

### Transportation

* **Bruce Wayne's Limousine** (formerly):

## History

### Past

Not much is known about Katana. The Japanese script on her sash translates to "*I weep when I think of him,*" a reference to her deceased husband, to whom she also talks to through one of her swords, Soultaker.

## External links

* Katana *Wikipedia*
* Katana *DC Database*

## Notes & Trivia

* Katana first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #200 (July 1983).
* All she did is just wearing a mask, not in her red/golden samurai armor uniform.
* Katana is Name an Kind of the Swords.