Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary)

# Black Canary

## Dinah Laurel Lance

Black Canary DCWW

*Having spent much of her life training either under Ted Grant or abroad, Dinah is a very quick learned and fierce opponent.*

## History

### Early Life

Born to Caroline Lance and an unknown lover, Dinah Laurel Lance was born on June 25th 1995 in Gotham. While her mother was not among the high society of Gotham, she was able to create a safe environment for her daughter growing up with her work as an architect. What young Dinah did not know was that her mother was a vigilante. Calling herself “The Black Canary” trying to get some sort of order to the streets of Gotham. She was nowhere near as successful or acted in the same scope as the Batman did later, mostly keeping her actions limited to the smaller area of the Brantwood Area in Old Gotham.

In the Summer of 2001, when Dinah was around six years old, her mother had been lured into a trap by one of her old enemies, Victor Mzarkian, a local mobster who the first Black Canary had made quite some troubles for. Him and his men beat the woman down and left her for dead. The elder Lance showed herself to be quite resilient though. With some contacts in the GCPD she managed to get away before having been discovered. Sadly though her legs were beyond repair and the woman was forced into a wheelchair. Officially she had been attacked by robbers during a walk and been crippled that way. Thanks to some inheritance of her mother and father - Dinah’s grandparents - who had been quite successful in the steel industry in the earlier days of Gotham, she did not have to worry about money for herself or her daughter.

### Meeting Ted Grant

Almost ten years later when Dinah was in high school, she entirely by accident found out about the old job her mother had as she found the older blonde’s gear. Confronting her mother about it, the older Lance told Dinah everything. From her going out for the first time and also how she had been hurt. Enraged by being betrayed by the woman she trusted most and angry at the man who had hurt her mother, Dinah left home. She soon found Ted Grant - also known as Wildcat - who took the young woman in because of his old friendship to her mother. Secretly behind the teen’s back he also kept in touch with her mother about Dinah’s life. He promised to train the young woman if she promised him to finish schooling. The next two years she spent between studying for exams and being trained by Ted Grant in all forms of combat. After having finished her training, Dinah made her way to hunt down the man who had crippled her mother. Despite Grant’s wishes of her not to do so, he could not convince the now 18 year old.

### Heading into Star City

Lance followed the trail of Mzarkian all the way to Star City where she hunted down the man. The man - thinking his old nemesis had returned from the dead - again prepared to trap her. Dinah - who had taken her mother’s costume - had sprung that trap, but thanks to her skills which were even greater than her mother’s and also her metahuman abilities, she was capable of easily beating down the mob boss and his entourage. In her rage and anger at the man she was moments away from killing the man, but was stopped by the Green Arrow, Star City’s own new hero. The man stopped her from doing the deed and insisted Mzarkian was put behind bars. Dinah eventually gave in.

### Traveling the World

Now the 18 year old had achieved her goal, yet she felt empty. Just like Grant had told her, revenge did nothing to lighten the burden and her anger. Eventually Lance decided to leave the US behind, trying to find a new beginning. She travelled south to Mexico and spent 3 years there, taking the odd jobs to make money but remaining on the move mostly. At 23 she moved to Asia, as she again wished to search for something new. She then spent another four years in Japan and South Korea, learning new forms of combat while also improving her old ones and trying to find some kind of peace. While there, she occasionally even helped out local heroes and government, gaining a non insubstantial wealth for herself. Eventually Lance knew she would have to return home to the US if she ever wished to find any form of peace.

At 28 she finally made her way back to US Soil. She sought out Star City - as deep down Dinah was still not ready to speak with her mother in Gotham again - and tried to make her waves there. How that would work and whether it would bring her into contact with its protector again after ten years only the future would show…

## Patient Information

```
Lance has shown some impressive willpower and tenacity. Despite having dealt with several troubling occurrences in her life, she showed herself to be someone who can come out on top of a situation that one would expect would overwhelm her. The woman seems to be a bit withdrawn, especially around those she dislikes. That being said, she is more than capable of putting on an affable and charismatic mask that is capable of fooling even well versed agents. Additionally she possesses a surprising amount of leadership capabilities and being able to adapt to situations rather quickly.

As right now it is not certain why exactly Lance decided on a life of vigilantism. Either the information is not completely available or Lance herself might not even know the reason for doing so. If that was the case, her not having any real goals or higher moralities to change the world could both be an asset as well as a matter of conflict within her team. While Lance has never been shown to kill anyone, she does not seem to mind breaking bones.

Something that is unconfirmed by this point is that Lance is suffering from some kind of inferiority complex within the Justice League. Considering members like Subject 3 “Wonder Woman” Subject 02 “Superman” as well as many more superhuman and metahuman subjects are within the team, it is very probable that she has problems dealing with her relatively lower power and strength.

```

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Canary Cry:** Lance is capable of producing a powerful sonic attack that allows her to even break metal and would be capable of doing great danger to a human and even kill them with surprising ease though there are no documentations of Lance ever killing anyone that way, so data is inconclusive. Being able to shatter metal with it though makes one fear what it would do to a human skull.
* **Sound Immunity:** Lance has more powerful eardrums and membranes making her be unaffected by her own powers, but also protecting her from similar sound based effects.

### Abilities

* **Martial Arts Mastery:** The subject had been trained in various forms of Martial Art including Boxing. Eskrima, Karate, Krav Maga and others by prestigious teachers such as Ted Grant. She had used years during travels around the world to also master those skills and improve upon what she learned by her teachers. Lance is considered one of the most dangerous and primary hand to hand combatants in the League comparable to Subject 8: **BATMAN** and Subject 3 **WONDER WOMAN**. She also has been seen to adapt to her opponents rather quickly.
* **Espionage and Investigation:** While nowhere near as well trained in this field as some others, Lance has experience in gathering information especially when it comes to criminal underground structures and the likes.
* **Driving:** Lance is an expert driver on both her bikes but also cars and other forms of motorized transport. She has also been confirmed to be a good pilot.
* **Musician:** She is a great singer and also knows how to play the guitar quite well. So much in fact that at some point she had considered going into music professionally.
* **Strategic Thinking:** Lance is a natural leader and surprisingly capable tactician.

### Weakness

* **Human:** Contrary to some of her fellow League members Lance is entirely human aside from her Canary Cry. She does not possess the enhanced speed, strength, durability or healing factor quite a few of them possess and can be taken out of a fight rather easily by a powerful opponent or a lucky hit by a weaker one.