- "The art of war is deceit. First, you must attack your enemy when he least expects; in a place where he feels strong, but is in fact weak; with an army he believes he has already vanquished."
- ―Sin Tzu
Sin Tzu was a master criminal obsessed with conquering seemingly unbeatable adversaries.
Character History
Sin Tzu
Born in Southeast Asia, and abandoned as a child, Sin Tzu was adopted by an offshoot of the Indian Thuggee cult, and trained in their philosophy and combat skills. Once, when the cultists were being pursued by the police, the cult hid out in the caves of Chulan, which housed scrolls containing the military and mystic knowledge of ancient warlords. Studying these, Sin developed mastery of both strategy and the ancient practice of Mehta-Sua - a discipline allowing the channeling of mental energy to enhance one's own physical power and allowing one to control other people's minds.With this power, Sin built an army of dedicated soldiers from collections of scattered thugs, and embarked on an ambitious career as a warlord. Often acting through puppet politicians, he conquered the country of Cynna, and marched the entire population into "re-education" camps; he likewise conducted a brutal invasion of Unglong, and enslaved thousands of the country's people; finally, he conquered large swaths of Vet Nak.
Once his conquests were completed, Sin Tzu would usually move on. He was first and foremost a warrior, not a ruler, and cared little for the chaos that enveloped his conquered subjects after he left.
Sin Tzu pinup by his creator, Jim Lee.
Hearing tales of Gotham City's Dark Knight, he formed a plan to defeat him. Arranging to be "caught" and imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, Sin engineered a mass break-out from Stonegate Penitentiary, creating chaos on the streets of Gotham, and releasing what he planned to be the recruits for his new army. At the same time, he took over Arkham and enlisted the aid of several of Batman's rogues: Scarecrow, Clayface, and Bane.
Batman, Batgirl, Nightwing, and Robin battled their way into Arkham, and Batman engaged Sin in single combat. The fight was one of the most challenging Batman ever faced, but he emerged triumphant. Sin was captured, but his will to fight had not been broken and he vowed that he would be back.
Powers and Abilities
Sin Tzu is a master strategist, who always studies his adversary closely and devises a carefully thought-out plan before acting. He is also one of the world's deadliest martial artists, having undergone a training regimen to rival Batman's.
In particular, Sin is a master of the obscure martial art known as Mehta Sua, which allows him to distort other people's perception, and sometimes even control their minds. He is also a master of Yanjin, an art that enhances his physical and mental strength.
In other media
- Sin Tzu was created exclusively for the video game Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu by comic book artist Jim Lee. He is one of the very few Batman characters to have been created for a video game.
- Sin Tzu's only other appearance is in the Shadow of Sin Tzu webcomic found on the official DC Comics Website.[1]