Cassandra

Origin

Cassandra was raised alone by her mother, and after becoming angry with her telling her what she couldn't do, Cassandra screamed: "I wish you were dead." Discovering her mother had actually died, Cassandra quickly realised that she had a gift and was placed into an orphanage. Refusing to speak since the death of her mother, Lennox eventually found the young Cassandra and took her under his wing.

One night however, Cassandra commanded forty people to kill each other on a whim. This drove Lennox to engage her and resulted in him tearing out her throat with his bare hands.

Cassandra now possesses a mechanical throat that has been grafted to her neck allowing her to speak.

Creation

Cassandra was created by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang in the New 52 series, Wonder Woman. She first appeared in Issue #13.

Major Story Arcs

Cassandra was part of the team that discovered the First Born in ice, and quickly caught him up with Mount Olympus' current events. She has accompanied the First Born as he battled Hades and Poseidon eventually making their way to London where they confronted Lennox, Diana, Zola and Hera in an attempt to capture Zeke. While the First Born battled Lennox and Diana, Cassandra chases Zola, however is knocked unconscious by Zeke's latent abilities.

After this, Cassandra is not seen again until after the First Born's defeat at the hands of Wonder Woman. It is revealed that after she was knocked unconscious her loyal followers found and recued her. Commanding an airship, she tracks down and kidnaps her half-brother Milan, a homeless Demigod with the power to see anything, intending to use him to find the First Born. However, her machinations are discovered by Siracca, another Demigod with the ability to both manipulate and become the wind. Before Cassandra can force Milan to show her the First Born's whereabouts, she is interrupted by Orion, Diana and Hermes storming her facility, having been warned of her plans by Siracca. While her own forces and the army of the First Born temporarily hold back Wonder Woman and her allies, Milan refuses to tell her where the First Born is. Before she can kill him for this however, Diana reveals to her that the First Born is on Olympus. Cassandra then attaches a bomb to Milan that cannot be removed without killing him and makes her escape in her airship.

With the news that the First Born is on Olympus, Cassandra decides that the only way for her to reach it is with the help of a god. Using a machine she invented called a Divinity Diviner she finds the location of Dio (Dionysus) who is having a truffle hunting party in a forest with Zola. Cassandra lands her airship nearby and sends out her servant, the Minotaur who knocks out and abducts Dio and takes him back to the ship. However, before she can make off with her prize, her forces are attacked by Wonder Woman, Hermes and Artemis. Preferring to quit while she's ahead Cassandra abandons a portion of her army to hold off her attackers and takes off with Wonder Woman in pursuit; while unbeknownst to her Zola has stowed away on board with her baby Zeke.

Prepared to torture Dio until he agrees to her request, she is surprised to learn that he will happily take her to Olympus, if only to watch as the current King of the Heavens, Apollo, kills her. Unfortunately they arrive at the exact second that Apollo; who has been defeated by an escaped First Born kills himself in a final attempt to destroy his opponent, setting off a massive explosion which engulfs Olympus. Caught in the attack, Cassandra's airship loses all engine power and begins to plummet. Fortunately, Wonder Woman catches the massive aircraft, placing it on the remains of Olympus.

After everyone disembarks from the ruined aircraft, Cassandra witnesses a distraught Artemis crying out for her brother and taunts her. Before Wonder Woman's group can attack Cassandra's forces they are all interrupted by the First Born, the new Lord of Olympus. After the First Born remakes Olympus into a nightmarish, fleshy, blood-covered mountain and dispatches Diana and Artemis, Cassandra again attempts to taunt her enemies only to be swiftly gagged by the First Born's new tendrils and told that she is considered little more than a pawn.

Suddenly, a newly empowered Hera arrives, teleporting Wonder Woman and her allies away to raise an army to face the First Born, leaving Cassandra and her followers on the twisted Olympus with their master. Despite all of Cassandra's unflinching support and loyalty, she is physically and psychologically tortured by the First Born; after being beaten and starved for a lengthy period she is finally given meat, only to be told after she eats it that it was the remains of her most trusted subordinate, Dr. Cheever, causing her to regurgitate it in horror. After a while the torment causes Cassandra to lose her sanity, becoming nothing more than a willing slave to the First Born.