Kuasa (born 1988)^[1] is the older sister of Mari. After being abandoned during the destruction of the Zambesi Village, she searched for the mystical Anansi Totem and later the Water Totem. Kuasa died in a duel with Benatu Eshu, wielder of the Fire Totem, but was resurrected by Nora Darhk, a follower of Mallus, now with the Water Totem embedded within her. She was nicknamed "Water Witch" by the Legends and the Time Bureau. Kuasa was killed a second time by Nora, who took the Totem from her in the process.

However, as a result of the Legends' actions in 1992 that saved the Zambesi Village in order to free Mallus, Kuasa grew up to become the defender of her village alongside Mari. The two sisters happily share the mantle of Vixen, as well as the Anansi Totem.

Quick Answers

What is the origin story of Kuasa from DC Comics?

Born in 1988 in the Zambesi Village, Kuasa from DC Comics was designated as the guardian of the Anansi Totem during her early years. Tragically, her village was obliterated in 1992. Kuasa holds the distinction of being the inaugural Arrowverse villain to make a transition from an animated character to a live-action one, notably as the primary antagonist in the first season of Vixen.

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Who is Kuasa's younger sister in the DC Comics universe?

In the DC Comics universe, Kuasa's younger sister is Mari. Although Kuasa harbored resentment towards Mari for inheriting the Spirit Totem, she demonstrated a protective instinct towards her.

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How did Kuasa acquire the Water Totem?

Kuasa, a character from DC Comics, initially acquired the Water Totem by stealing it from a collector in Star City. After her resurrection, her being merged with the totem, granting her its powers. The totem was later removed by Nora Darhk but returned to Kuasa following Mallus' defeat.

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Who was responsible for Kuasa's resurrection in DC Comics?

In the DC Comics universe, Kuasa was not resurrected by a specific person. Instead, her resurrection occurred due to a new timeline where she never died until the Anti-Monitor Crisis. This resurrection was achieved through magic, not time travel, similar to characters such as Sara Lance and Nate Heywood.

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Biography

Original multiverse

Original timeline

Early life

Kuasa was born in 1988 to Esi and an unnamed man in the Zambesi Village, located in the M'Changa Province of Zambesi. She had a younger sister named Mari and was close to her grandmother, Amaya, viewing the latter as her role model.^[2]

When Kuasa was four years old, she was named the guardian of the Spirit Totem. However, a local warlord, Benatu Eshu, attacked the village in his hunt for the totems of Zambesi; murdering Kuasa's father and grandmother in the process. Esi then fled with Mari and the Spirit Totem, leaving Kuasa bitter and obsessed with retrieving it.

Feeling pressured to protect Zambesi as a duty to honor the dead, Kuasa became a criminal as she grew up, forming alliances with dangerous people and obtaining power, men, and resources in order to find her sister and the totem.^[3]

Pursuing the Spirit Totem

In 2015, Kuasa tracked her sister, now "Mari McCabe", to Detroit, Michigan in the United States. She hired a gang of thugs to retrieve the Spirit Totem from Mari, which failed once the totem awakened and formed a bond with the latter. Kuasa then approached Adam Macalester, a renowned professor and historian in Detroit, presumably for information on the totem and her sister.

Later, Kuasa learned from Macalester that Mari had come to see him about her totem. Pleased, Kuasa promised to completely fund his next expedition once she gained the Anansi Totem.^[4]

When Mari went to visit Macalester once more, Kuasa busted into the office with two armed men, threatening Mari to hand over the totem or she would get one of her men to kill her.^[5] After Mari failed to remove the necklace, Kuasa decided to "remove it from her corpse". Mari tried to escape but was shot by one of Kuasa's guards. Kuasa treated Mari's wound and brought her sister to the Zambesi Village.

When Mari awoke, Kuasa revealed that she was her older sister, telling Mari of their past and how she was the true guardian of the Spirit Totem. Kuasa claimed to Mari it was still her obligation to protect the village, even if there is only the dead left. Apologizing for having no choice, Kuasa had Anansi in the form of a spider bite Mari to unbind the totem from her. After Mari was bitten, she managed to flee. Kuasa halted her men from following Mari, knowing her sister wouldn't get far. Sure enough, Mari soon collapsed, allowing Kuasa to catch up to her and claim the Spirit Totem.^[3]

Kuasa brought the totem back to the village, where her associates worshipped her. Kuasa was then confronted by Mari, who scolded her over stealing the Anansi Totem. Kuasa claimed it was her birthright to wield it, but Mari pointed out the animal spirits told her their mother wanted to keep the totem away from Kuasa. An enraged Kuasa engaged Mari in battle while an animal herd chased off her men. As Kuasa harnessed the spirit of the rhino and elephant to attack her sister, Mari used a spear to graze her arm. Kuasa got close enough to bite Mari's injured shoulder, only for the latter to have Anansi bite her spear wound. Rapidly weakening from the venom having directly entered her bloodstream, Kuasa still insisted the Spirit Totem was hers. She warned Mari it wasn't over before the latter knocked her out with a punishing uppercut and took back the totem.^[6]

Stealing the Water Totem

A year later, Mari returned to Africa alongside Macalester to find out more about Benatu Eshu and how to stop him. Kuasa, who had been hospitalized by the poison Mari used to stop her, revealed that to counteract Eshu's Fire Totem, they had to retrieve the Water Totem. Kuasa told them she knew of its whereabouts, and would lead them to it with the provision that she could join them in the fight against Eshu.^[7]

With the assistance of Felicity Smoak, Mari and Kuasa managed to break into the mansion in which the Totem was located in Star City. However, once they retrieved it, Kuasa attempted to steal the Totem for herself and tried to escape, only to stopped by The Atom and Black Canary. Mari then convinced Kuasa to join them all in their fight to stop Eshu from destroying Detroit, and to avenge their village of Zambesi, to which she agreed.^[8] She fought alongside Mari, The Atom, and Black Canary, but they were clearly outmatched. Kuasa refused to run from Eshu, saying she wasn't her mother. She was quickly overpowered by Eshu, being incinerated by Eshu's fire, along with the Water Totem.^[9]

Resurrection and finding Zari Tomaz

Sometime after her demise, Kuasa was resurrected by a cloaked woman, who identified herself as a servant of Mallus, who required her services.^[10]

Kuasa was sent to operate in Seattle 2042 to capture a hacktivist named Zari Tomaz, who was in possession of the Air Totem. At first, Kuasa ambushed an A.R.G.U.S. vehicle which was transporting Zari and killed two guards, only to find that her target had escaped. She tracked down Zari to her hiding place at her warehouse where she saw the Legends were also looking for her and tailed them until they led her to Zari in a bar. In an ensuing fight, Kuasa defeated Sara Lance until a diversion allowed the Legends to escape. Eventually, Kuasa found the Atom and Zari and quickly beat him and nearly killed him by drowning him until Zari stepped in. Kuasa offered Zari revenge on A.R.G.U.S. in return for the totem she had as she couldn't wield it. When the proposal was refused, Kuasa was preparing to kill them until she was ambushed by the Legends.^[11]

Amaya Jiwe stepped forward to challenge her and Kuasa quickly tried to strike at her with water, but Amaya blocked it by using the power of her totem. Recognizing the power of the Anansi Totem, Kuasa was temporarily left in shock which gave Amaya the chance to throw her with the strength of an elephant. Realizing that Amaya was her grandmother, Kuasa said that if she killed Amaya, she would only be killing herself, hinting at their relationship. She then teleported herself away using a time stone. Later, she accompanies Damien and Nora Darhk. She fights against Amaya and escapes.^[11]

Damien, with his daughter and Kuasa, went to Hollywood in 1937, where they followed the anachronism - Helen of Troy. Darhk quickly became an agent of a woman who, wanting to break away from her life, decided to become an actress. At a K&B Pictures party, he met legends that, surprisingly, he had no intention of fighting, and gave them the choice to give him free rein and leave him alone. Sara, however, did not agree, took Helena to the Waverider and ran away with her friends. When things seemed to be going their way, Martin Stein in Jax's body stood up for Hedy Lamarr and was attacked by Darhk's allies. The legends immediately went to the scene, and for Kuasa it was a chance to confront her grandmother on the Waverider, where she introduced her to her during the fight. By surprise, Helena stabbed her in the back, which forced Kuasa to flee.^[12]

Kuasa traveled to Star City in 2017 to the Sumner Psychiatric Facility, where she was to watch a young patient until she reached her destiny - Mallus' possession. There, however, she encountered Amaya with whom she began to fight. The duel was interrupted by Nate, who froze the warrior using a freezing cannon. This was only unfrozen on board the Waverider in the cell, where Amaya showed interest in her, promising to help her. Kuasa liked the idea when suddenly Heywood attacked the woman. The opponent turned out to be cleverer and with her abilities she started to water the man. To avoid bloodshed, Jiwe put down the gun and admitted once again that she could help her, but Nate would be part of it, so she had to leave him alone. Hearing this, Kuasa decided to trust her grandmother and left the ship.^[2]

When the Darhk kidnapped Ray Palmer and took him to his hideout, Kuasa and her allies tried to figure out why they needed a man. Ultimately, it was about fixing a broken fire totem that terrified the woman. At the same time, she was angry that Eleanor was in charge of the Anansi totem, but she nonetheless allowed the criminal to act and try to repair the artifact, when she herself managed to take care of the rest of the mission.^[13]

Eventually, Kuasa began having second thoughts about helping the Darhks to free Mallus and double-crossed them by handing Nate over in exchange for the Anansi Totem, which she secretly returned to Amaya. Later, after Nora caught her father just pretending to torture Nate while actually confessing to him his displeasure about Mallus taking over his daughter's body, she was furious and started to drain Nate's life force by herself. However, she was stopped by Wally, Amaya and Kuasa who she easily defeated. In retaliation for what her former ally did, Nora used her magic to extract the Water Totem from Kuasa's body, killing her in the process and forcing the Legends to flee.^[14]

Current timeline

Because of the Legends' intervention in Zambesi 1992, Kuasa was never accidentally abandoned by her mother, nor did she witness her grandmother and father being murdered. The mantle of the guardian of Zambesi was split between Kuasa and Mari due to their strong sisterly bond. Kuasa briefly went to the year 1874 during the Old West era in America to help her younger, time-traveling grandmother defeat Mallus. Amaya was pleased to see her as another timeline version of Kuasa had died right in front of her not that long ago. After their victory, Kuasa returned home with the Fire, Water, Earth, and Death totems. After seeing her family's future, Amaya decided to return to 1942 with intact memories of her time as a Legend to ensure this better future happened for everyone in the village.^[15]

Anti-Monitor Crisis

During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Kuasa as well as everyone in the multiverse except for the seven Paragons, was killed in an antimatter wave by the Anti-Monitor on December 10, 2019,^[16] only to be restored a month later, after the Paragons and the Spectre created a new universe.^[17]

New multiverse

Kuasa remains alive in the new Earth-Prime universe.^[18]

Personality

Powers and abilities

Powers

• Powers via Anansi Totem: All of Kuasa's powers come from her necklace, which allows her to harness the life force of animals, in essence harnessing their abilities.^[15]

Erased timeline former powers

• Powers via Water Totem: Kuasa used the Water Totem in the original timeline, it was shown to give her intense strength and reflexes.^[11] However, She was stripped of the totem by a possesed Nora Darhk.
  • Hydrokinesis: The Totem allowed the user to harness the power of water.^[11]
    • Hydrophysiology: After Kuasa's resurrection she still carried the totem's powers within her and thus gained the ability to transform her body into water.
  • Superhuman speed: During her fight against Sara Lance, Kuasa managed to evade all of her attacks very quickly.^[11]
  • Enhanced strength: Kuasa was shown to have an extreme level of inhuman strength, able to overpower Sara Lance with ease and send her flying with a single throw.^[11]
  • Totem connection: The totem connects to other totems when in the presence of them or from afar and can also let the other users know if a totem bearer has died.

Abilities

• Peak of human physical condition: Even without her powers from her totem, Kuasa has shown to have incredible strength and reflexes.^[15]
• Expert hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Kuasa is a highly trained hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist; working with Ava Sharpe, she was able to defeat several pirates from Mallus' forces with ease. Her fighting style appears to consist of krav maga and boxing.^[15]
• Occult knowledge: As the shared wielder of the Anansi Totem, Kuasa has a great knowledge of its supernatural powers as well as the other totems' powers and the general nature of mysticism and how it works.^[15]

Erased timeline abilities

• Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Kuasa was a formidable unarmed combatant. Despite being surprised by Sara Lance, who had League of Assassins training, Kuasa managed to overpower her with ease to the point that Sara needed Mick Rory to cause a distraction to escape. She uses a fluid style of fighting, able to evade incoming attacks and counter them.^[11] Kuasa was also able to go toe to toe with and overpower Amaya Jiwe, an excellent martial artist in her own right, multiple times, even when the latter used her Anansi Totem.^[2][12]
• Occult knowledge: Kuasa was seen to have the ability to resurrect and control the dead ancestors of Zambesi.

Equipment

• Vixen suit: In the current timeline, in which Kuasa is a co-defender of Zambesi Village alongside her sister, she wears a suit similar to that used by Mari.^[15]
• Anansi Totem: Kuasa briefly bonded with the Anansi Totem after stealing it from Mari to summon the animal spirits and use their powers. Shortly after, she lost it after being bitten by a spider - Anansi's true form. However, as a result of the Legends' machinations in Zambesi 1992 that saved the village, Kuasa grew up to wield the Anansi Totem, sharing it and the mantle of Vixen, with her sister.^[15]
• Water Totem: In the new timeline following Mallus' death, the Water Totem was entrusted to Kuasa along with the Fire, Earth, and Death totems to find them new worthy bearers.^[15]
• Fire Totem: In the new timeline following Mallus' death, the Fire Totem was entrusted to Kuasa along with the Water, Earth, and Death totems to find them new worthy bearers.^[15]
• Earth Totem: In the new timeline following Mallus' death, the Earth Totem was entrusted to Kuasa along with the Fire, Water, and Death totems to find them new worthy bearers.^[15]
• Death Totem: In the new timeline following Mallus' death, the Death Totem was entrusted to Kuasa along with the Fire, Earth, and Water totems to find them new worthy bearers.^[15]

Former equipment

• Time stone: While working with the Darhks as a follower of Mallus, Kuasa used a mystical stone allowing her the powers of teleportation and time travel.^[11] In the new timeline, in which her village was never destroyed, Kuasa presumably no longer has the time stone.
• Water Totem: After Kuasa briefly gained Water Totem, she used it to summon and manipulate water. Kuasa was later incinerated along with the Water Totem,^[8] but later resurrected thanks to Mallus,^[10] after which the totem bonded to her person, allowing Kuasa to retain a much greater scope of its powers.^[11] Later though, Nora Darhk killed Kuasa by ripping the Water Totem out of her heart.^[14]

Appearances

Vixen

DC's Legends of Tomorrow

Trivia

• Kuasa is one of the only known people to have possessed more than one totem: The Anansi and Water Totem. The other is Nora Darhk, who possessed the Air, Anansi, and Water Totems.
• Kuasa has died twice; first when being incinerated by Benatu Eshu by the Fire Totem during a duel, and second by a Mallus-possessed Nora, who ripped the Water Totem out of Kuasa's body for her betrayal. Both instances involved Kuasa performing a selfless and heroic deed before her demise.
  • However, in the new timeline, Kuasa technically never died until the Anti-Monitor Crisis destroyed her universe (though this was undone when the Paragons restored Earth-1 and merged it into Earth-Prime).
• Kuasa is the second known person in the multiverse to come back from the dead without time travel (not counting her second death). The others are Sara Lance, Otis Graves, and Nate Heywood.
  • Interestingly, all these individuals except for Otis were resurrected by some form of magic.

Behind the scenes

• Kuasa is the first Arrowverse villain to transition from animated form to live-action.
• Kuasa served as the main antagonist of Season 1 of Vixen.

References