- NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Katana from the DC Extended Universe. The mainstream version can be found here: Katana (DC).
“ | 犯罪者にかける慈悲などない (Criminals deserve no mercy). | „ |
~ Katana. |
Tatsu Yamashiro is one of the main characters of the 2016 film Suicide Squad. She’s a Japanese human samurai assassin code-named Katana (after her weapon of choice). Tatsu is an infamous master of swordplay and martial arts, trained to the highest level in the ancient art form. She is a member of the Suicide Squad, and, of note, the only voluntary member, volunteering as Rick Flag's personal bodyguard. She and Rick Flag are the only two members who aren't villains.
In Suicide Squad, she was portrayed by Karen Fukuhara, who plays The Female in The Boys, and also voiced Kipo Oak in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, Glimmer in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Samantha Nishimura in Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Tatsu Yamashiro was born in Tokyo, Japan, and trained in various martial arts at a young age, a trait encouraged by her parents. When she reached adulthood, her heart became competed for by two brothers, Maseo and Takeo Yamashiro, yet her decision to marry the former drove the latter into joining the Yakuza and be disowned by his family. After the deaths of Tatsu's parents, she and Maseo started a family of their own, and she gave birth to twins girls, Yuki and Reiko. Meanwhile, Takeo rose in the Yakuza's rank, and one of his exotic tastes included ancient weapons. He was presented with a pair of matched swords, one of which Takeo favored due to its mystical properties, which would come to be known as the Soultaker because of its ability to trap the souls of its victims within itself.
The young Yakuza associate spent days preparing himself before taking both swords to the Yamashiro residence, demanding his brother duel for the "prize" of Tatsu. During the course of the struggle, a fire was started and, while Maseo was distracted by his children, Takeo killed him with the Soultaker. Tatsu arose just in time to see her husband die and engaged Takeo, gaining the upper hand and disarming him. Attempting to save her children, she heard her husband's voice coming from the mystical sword telling her they were already lost. Thus, Tatsu instead escaped alone with her life and began training as a samurai under a master called Tadashi.
After much time she graduated from his tutorship and left for America where she intended to use her talents to fight for justice. She took the codename Katana after the sword that she wielded, possessed for some time by the soul of her deceased husband, to whom she also talks through it. The Japanese script on her pants translates to "I weep when I think of him," as a reference to Maseo himself.
Suicide Squad[]
Deployment to Midway City[]
Katana arrives outside of Midway City where she's the last member of the Suicide Squad to arrive and gets aboard the helicopter transporting the squad mere seconds before taking off. She's introduced to the Squad by Rick Flag and Harley Quinn jokingly says hi to her and introduces herself to Katana which causes her to ask Flag if she can kill them but is told to stand down and she does so.
Crash Landing[]
The helicopter transporting the Suicide Squad members soon arrived in Midway City but was quickly shot down by one of the Enchantress' minions and so the helicopter crashed. Another helicopter carrying ARGUS soldiers managed to land safely and the ARGUS troops were deployed to make sure the squad members survived. They did, and walked out unharmed, Katana included.
Attempted Escapes[]
Katana had walked with the rest of the squad and their ARGUS troops support through the war-torn ruins of the city to locate and terminate the Enchantress and her brother Incubus. During that time, Captain Boomerang told Slipknot that the nano-bombs were fake and were there just to scare them. Slipknot believed him and the two soon plotted and launched their escape. Katana stopped George, but Slipknot was getting away until Rick Flag activated his bomb effectively killing him in an instant. This revealed the bombs to be real and prevented any future escape attempts by the team members.
First Encounter with Enchantress' Minions[]
Katana soon came across a group of soldiers who were infected and turned into warriors for the Enchantress. Amanda Waller had ordered them to pull out and continue but they were spotted anyways and thus engaged them. Katana used her Soultaker sword and killed numerous of the infected soldiers and the battle soon came to an end after Deadshot showed off his impressive shooting skills and managed to kill all of the soldiers charging at them.
Second Encounter with Enchantress' Minions[]
After their first battle, Katana and the others headed towards the John F. Ostrander Federal Building where their target was located at. The Squad moved in and they soon had to rush it to the top floor after Harley Quinn used the elevator and caused them to panic. Katana was there to greet Harley after her elevator stopped and she let her walk buy after Harley made no attempt to fight them. They eventually battled more of the Enchantress' minions and had to group around Rick Flag as he was being dragged away and formed a defensive position. And the battle dragged on, Deadshot had soon gotten sick of El Diablo not doing anything and angered him which caused El Diablo to burn down the remaining minions in a fit of rage.
Retrieving Waller[]
Eventually, Katana and the others reached the top floor of the building where they found the safe house and location of their target. The target was revealed to be their boss, Amanda Waller, and she had ordered a quick clean up before leaving. After the drives were wiped clean and her FBI support was killed to eliminate witnesses, Waller arrived in front of the squad and mentioned how she'll still kill them so they can't kill her right now in front of them. She then walked away with Killer Croc saying how he likes her and they followed behind her as well.
Joker's attack[]
Katana and the others made it to the top of the roof where they await a helicopter escort to get them out. A helicopter was there, but something was up and the squad soon took cover as it was revealed that The Joker had highjacked the helicopter and began to fire on all of them. This was a distraction as soon, Harley's bomb was disabled and she managed to get on board and escape. Not wanting witnesses, however, Waller and the helicopter shot down but both Joker and Harley had survived.
Personality[]
Katana is fiercely loyal to Rick Flag when working together with him as his bodyguard. In addition, she is grievously devoted to her deceased husband Maseo Yamashiro, tearfully speaking to his spirit, which is allegedly encased inside her sword. She is also seemingly void of humor and is known to be very serious, but professional. As a warrior, she is ruthless and merciless to her opponents, especially towards criminals, meaning that she is more than willing to kill them.
Abilities[]
- Peak human condition: Katana, as a highly-skilled and experienced samurai assassin, is in top physical condition though not even near to Batman's level.
- Peak human durability: Katana is exceptionally durable, swiftly recovering after being sent flying back by a superhumanly strong blow from Incubus.
- Master martial artist: Katana, as a samurai, is an extremely skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, volunteering as the personal bodyguard of Rick Flag on the Suicide Squad. Flag even advises the other Squad members not to killed by her, thus implying that Katana is the most skilled combatant of the Squad. Hence, she swiftly overpowers the group of men that murdered her husband, instantly pins an escaping Captain Boomerang against a wall, and was the one Squad member to hold her own the best against the extremely skilled Enchantress in the final physical battle with her, though Katana was eventually defeated as well. It should be noted, however, that Enchantress' victory in this instance is primarily due to her not only being equivalently skilled to Katana but also having superior strength and durability, as well as a penchant for teleporting around the battlefield every so often (usually to avoid Katana's incapacitating strikes and blade slashes).
- Master swordswoman: Katana, as a samurai, is an extremely skilled and lethally formidable swordswoman (normally wielding a Japanese samurai katana, hence her code-name). She is thus one of the most formidable members of the Suicide Squad, on par with Deadshot and El Diablo, to whom Amanda Waller refers to as some of the most dangerous humans on Earth. Rick Flag even goes so far as to say that Katana could "cut all of [the other Suicide Squad members] in half with 1 sword stroke, just like mowing the lawn," and he, therefore, advises them not to get killed by her, implying that Katana's swordsmanship makes her the most skilled combatant on the Squad. Hence, she swiftly and easily killed the group of men that murdered her husband and (before El Diablo steps in his flaming avatar form) she was the only Squad member who managed to wound Incubus, slicing off his right arm with her sword. Katana's swordsmanship, coupled with her immense combat skills, also made her the one Squad member to hold her own the best against the extremely skilled Enchantress in the final physical battle with her, though Katana was eventually defeated as well. It should be noted, however, that Enchantress' victory in this instance is primarily due to her not only being equivalently skilled to Katana but also having superior strength and durability, as well as a penchant for teleporting around the battlefield every so often (usually to avoid Katana's incapacitating blade slashes).
- Expert acrobat: Katana is quite skilled in acrobatics, easily dodging a hurled boomerang from Captain Boomerang.
- Bilingualism: Katana can fluently speak both her native Japanese and English.