Mercy Graves | |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Superman: The Animated Series "A Little Piece of Home (1996)" |
First comic appearance | Superman Adventures #1 (November 1996) |
Created by | Paul Dini Bruce Timm Hilary Bader |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Mercy Graves |
Species | Human cyborg |
Team affiliations | LexCorp |
Abilities | Trained in hand-to-hand combat |
Mercy Graves is a supervillain appearing in multimedia and American comic books published by DC Entertainment and DC Comics. Created for the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), she first appeared in 1996 on Superman: The Animated Series as the personal assistant and bodyguard of Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor, returning in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited , voiced by Lisa Edelstein. [1] She has since been introduced into comic books published by DC Comics.
In live-action, the character has been played by Tao Okamoto in the 2016 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , [2] Rhona Mitra in the fourth season of the television series Supergirl , and by Natalie Gumede in the second and fourth seasons of the series Titans on DC Universe and HBO Max. Additionally, a character based on Graves named Tess Mercer appears in Smallville , portrayed by Cassidy Freeman.
Created for and introduced in Superman: The Animated Series , Mercy Graves is a tough young woman with a checkered past, a sardonic wit, and skill in unarmed combat. While leading a gang of female thieves, she attempted to steal a briefcase from Lex Luthor. Though she failed, an impressed Luthor recognized her ruthlessness and street savvy, took her in, and eventually made her his personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Loyal and respectful to him, she also claims to be "the only one in Luthor's entire company who can get away with calling him Lex".
An alternate reality variant of Graves appears in the episode "Brave New Metropolis". After Luthor and Superman turned Metropolis into a police state, Graves became the commander of the former's law enforcement group.
In the Justice League episode "Tabula Rasa", it is established that Graves took over LexCorp following Luthor's imprisonment. When he returns, she proves hesitant to return control to him. After he is re-imprisoned, she refuses to help him after he is diagnosed with Kryptonite-induced cancer. Nonetheless, she returns to Luthor's side in the Justice League Unlimited episode "Clash".
Mercy Graves first appeared in the main DC Universe continuity in Detective Comics #735 (August 1999), during the No Man's Land storyline. This version is blonde and often works with an additional bodyguard, Hope. Both are implied to be Amazons, with Graves being confirmed as such in Justice League: Cry for Justice . [3]
In Infinity, Inc. , Graves adopts the secret identity of "Vanilla" and joins the eponymous team in the hopes of atoning for her misdeeds. However, she leaves after almost beating a man to death.
In The New 52, Graves is reintroduced as Luthor's Asian American personal assistant who manages LexCorp in his absence. [4]
In "Lazarus Planet", Graves becomes a metahuman cyborg after being exposed to Lazarus Pit resin. [5]
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