Shiva (Arkhamverse)

"What do you know of justice? Behind bars or beyond them, these people never change. As long as they live, Gotham is stained."

―Shiva to Batman^[src]

Shiva was a highly trained and extremely dangerous assassin whose skills were known to be unmatched. Shiva selected many of her targets simply to test her skills, but there were no known survivors. One of the eight assassins that was hired by the Joker, disguised as Black Mask, to kill Batman, Shiva exploited the opportunity and implemented several operations throughout Gotham City that served as seeds for massive plans that were instrumental in an insidious conspiracy to wipe Gotham clean of corruption, crime, pollution, and most of its population in the years that came.

Under the orders of Ra's al Ghul, the mastermind and leader of the secret and worldwide organization, the League of Assassins, Shiva was put in command of a squadron of his trained soldiers, and used them to murder corrupt cops and countless criminals in order to lure Batman into a series of tests to see if he would be a worthy addition to the organization, and perhaps even serve as Ra's right-hand man and eventual successor.

After she manipulated political activist, Quincy Sharp, into reopening Arkham Island, by using the Joker's destructive schemes for chaos and anarchy as incentive to do so, Shiva helped to instigate a chain of events that would aid Ra's in assuming complete control of Gotham and, eventually, the world and wipe out countless innocent individuals in their goal of "cleansing" the world.

Shiva was 30 by the time of Batman's second year of crime-fighting, was 5'7, weighed 125 pounds, and her ethnicity was listed as "multiracial."

Biography[]

Before Arkham Origins[]

Shiva appeared in the "Initiation" DLC as a star pupil of Master Kirigi. During Bruce Wayne's training, she tried to attack him as part of his final test.

Although Shiva technically didn't have any outstanding warrants, she was suspected to be a contract killer.

Batman: Arkham Origins[]

At some point after she arrived in Gotham, Shiva encountered Bane, who questioned her motives for coming to Gotham. Shiva tried to pass off the bounty on Batman as the reason, but her lie was seen through. Though Shiva did not disclose her true intentions, she revealed that her master had sent her on a mission.

Shiva also made contact with Quincy Sharp, a politician who possessed the same fanatical hatred of criminals that her master had; though he was dismissive of her claims that her master would help purge Gotham of criminals, and believed that there were strings attached. Shiva explained to Sharp that for one who wished to be Mayor, the position she proposed was hardly a string; to purge Gotham of criminals, there would have to be steps, and the first one would be to reopen Arkham Asylum for the more dangerous criminals, and install him as Warden.

At the Bowery, Batman encountered an abandoned baby carriage with a recording of a baby crying inside. That was used by Shiva to get Batman's attention. After he defended himself from one of her attacks, Shiva told Batman that an "innocent" man at the Burnley District was about to die if he didn't help him. While he helped the police officer, Batman had to face numerous ninjas, that were sent by Shiva as part of her "test". Batman saved the man, and he said that the ninjas had captured him and another police officer. Batman tracked him down, but discovered that Shiva had already killed him for his corruption. Shiva encountered Batman again at Wonder Tower, alongside numerous ninjas and Martial Artists, as the final part of her test. Batman defeated Shiva and her ninjas, which lead her to believe that he was as good as her master had said. Batman tried to arrest Shiva, but she disappeared, and left him worried that he had not seen the last of her.

Personality[]

A seemingly cold, calculating, and very intelligent young woman who was willing to do anything and everything to achieve her goals, Shiva spent most of her childhood and adult life training her body and mind to the point where she had been acknowledged as the most dangerous female martial artist in the world. The fact that both Batman and Bane were noticeably weary of her, confirmed her status as a dangerous warrior who shouldn't be underestimated under any circumstances.

Because of that, Shiva had great pride in her skills, though she was in no way arrogant enough to believe herself unstoppable. Shiva nonetheless sought to test her abilities against strong opponents and often targeted people to see how much she had improved. On each occasion, Shiva won every time, and there was no record of any known survivors suggesting that she was extremely merciless. It should be noted that most of her opponents were likely criminals.

Shiva hated criminals with a passion and believed that they couldn't be redeemed, and that the few who were were exceptions. As such, whenever Shiva encountered them, she had little to no problem with killing them. One exception to this appeared to be Bane, whom Shiva appeared to have a mutual respect for, as she warned him away from interfering with her business in Gotham City.

Despite being seen as a threat by Batman and countless others, Shiva had on occasion, shown a more human side to her as she had willingly helped him on several occasions. She was also known to take apprentices whom she had cared for greatly. Among them were Nyssa Raatko, Black Canary, and even Tim Drake who would become the future Robin.

Shiva's relationship with the League of Assassins was a complicated one. While Shiva greatly cared for her apprentice and friend, Nyssa, and agreed with most of Ra's al Ghul's opinions, she became noticeably detached from the organization over the following years and eventually she chose to defect from the League completely, as shown in Arkham City when she was not present with the League.

Despite her long list of achievements, Shiva's personal life was filled with regrets. Perhaps the biggest, was Shiva's failed relationship with fellow mercenary, David Cain, and her estrangement with her daughter, Cassandra Cain. Despite Shiva believing that Cassandra would be better off without her in her life, she eventually realized later that she had made a mistake. Since then, Shiva had become determined to try to fix her mistake. It was this reason among others, that Shiva had decided to defect from the League.

Shiva was shown to be extremely manipulative as she was able to easily trick Quincy Sharp into reopening Arkham Asylum without him ever suspecting a thing.

Physical description[]

Shiva was a middle-aged Chinese woman, with black hair swept over to one side coming down to her shoulder. She wore a red mandarin jacket, overtop of which was a black leather duster. Tight black leather pants hugged at her body, slipping inside high-heeled boots.

Attributes[]

Highly skilled martial artist

Psychological Profile[]

Shiva[]

Real Name: Sandra Wu-San

GCPD Profile[]

Interpol: Numerous high-profile cold case assassinations of the last 3 years have been added to this file. See attached.

All cold cases in this category have a common factor - extremely limited available forensic evidence. In each case a single point of physical contact was made with the victim. In each case this single contact resulted in the immediate death of the victim.

Police work on all major continents has returned little. One line of investigation through the Hong Kong Police Force has returned two pieces of data - an allegation of the name "Shiva" and a single photograph that allegedly depicts this individual. The informant that provided this information has since gone missing. Non-verified image is included for complements. See attached.

Extortion Data[]

File One[]

Bane: Answer my question. Why are you here?
Shiva: The same as you, of course. Money, glory.
Bane: Don't play games with me.
Shiva: But you can play the cunning brute? I know of your reliance on Venom. And your desire to eliminate it.
Bane: How do you...?
Shiva: When you've lived as long as the Master has, you can gather a great deal of knowledge.
Bane: You're working for him? What is he planning?
Shiva: You know better than question his motives.

File Two[]

Shiva: I am simply saying that my master shares your hatred of criminals.
Quincy Sharp: Listen, I'm not sure who you are, or what you want, but I don't appreciate you meddling in my business.
Shiva: We are hardly meddling. My master is simply offering you assistance. An opportunity you yourself say you desire.
Quincy Sharp: What makes him so sure he can do it?
Shiva: Well, it certainly will not happen over night. There are... steps we must take.
Quincy Sharp: Strings. I knew it.
Shiva: You say you want to be mayor, that you want to purge this city of criminals. Then taking this position is hardly a string.
Quincy Sharp: So what did you say this facility was called?
Shiva: Arkham Asylum.

Quotes[]

Game Over Lines[]

"I take no pleasure in your death, but I see no other way."

Batman_Arkham_Origins_-_Game_Over_Shiva — Batman Arkham Origins - Game Over Shiva

Game Over Screens.

"You fought well. And so I grant you the favor of a quick death."

Trivia[]

Before she disappeared, Shiva referenced that Batman was as good as her master had described. Various statements made in Shiva's Extortion Data Tapes during a conversation between her and Bane seemed to strongly imply that her master was Ra's al Ghul, which hinted at her involvement in the League of Assassins, a secret and brutal organization that Ra's had controlled for centuries.
Despite being referred to as "Lady Shiva" in the game's promotional material, her name's prefix was never said in the game itself.
In Shiva's Profile at the beginning of the game, her known associates were David Cain, Richard Dragon, and Nyssa Raatko.