Cheshire (Jade Nguyen) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, the character made her debut in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (September 1983). A master assassin with an affinity for poison and a reputation as a feared and efficient character, she is considered one of the deadliest assassins and premier martial artists on Earth.
A woman of Viet origin with differing origin stories and background in her publication history, she becomes an infamous assassin known for her affinity for poison and has ties with the League of Assassins, the Secret Society of Super Villains, and other villainous and criminal groups as she battle heroes. A frequent adversary of the Teen Titans and its subsequent iterations, she is the occasional love interest of Roy Harper. The two have a daughter, Lian Harper (later known as Cheshire Cat).
The character has been adapted into several media; her first animated appearance was a non-speaking role in Teen Titans. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Cheshire appears in Young Justice, voiced by Kelly Hu. Unlike her comics' version, the character is made the daughter of Sportsmaster and Huntress (Paula Brooks), the latter renamed Paula Nguyen and made Vietnamese, and is the older sister of Artemis Crock.
Publication history Cheshire first appeared in New Teen Titans Annual #2 (1983) and was created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.
Fictional character biography
Origin Cheshire has been presented with several origins; her earliest origin makes her born to a French father (Andrê Chaumont) and Vietnamese mother who was abandoned by the age of 10 and sold into slavery. As a teenager, she is adopted by Chinese freedom fighter and World War II veteran Weng Chan (whom once served in the Blackhawks) and mentors her. She also later meets Kruen Musenda, a famed African assassin known as the "Spitting Cobra", whom she marries at age sixteen and acquires knowledge of poisons and toxicology two years before his death. Back at Weng's side for a time, she becomes the villain and infamous assassin, Cheshire.Showcase '95 #8 (September 1995) Aspects of her origin is altered, retroactively making her the biological daughter of American United States Senator Robert Pullman, who had previously raped her mother and was raised in secret.
Villainous career She is a long-standing rival of the superhero team the Teen Titans. However, when Roy Harper goes undercover for the government in a mission to get her confidence and turn her over, the two fall passionately in love. Knowing he will not be able to turn her in, he walks out; Cheshire does not learn his true identity until later. The result of their romance is a daughter, Lian, whom Roy raises.
Returning to her mercenary ways after leaving Lian behind for Roy, Jade saves Deathstroke's life so he can help her in stealing nuclear weapons from Russia in an attempt to blackmail the world. To prove she is not bluffing, she obliterates Qurac, reasoning that since Qurac is a stronghold of Onslaught terrorists, that Western countries will be secretly grateful.Deathstroke #19 (February 1993) Cheshire's plans are foiled when her base comes under attack and she is forced to flee. She later creates her own team, The Ravens.
Cheshire volunteers to join Tartarus, a group created by Vandal Savage with the objective of destroying the Titans. During a confrontation with the Titans and H.I.V.E, Savage shoots Cheshire to distract Arsenal. She recovers, but is taken into custody for crimes including destroying Qurac. Sentenced to life imprisonment, she is broken out by the Ravens. Arsenal, however, forces her back into custody.
Eventually, Cheshire discovers that her biological father is a Senator named Robert Pullman, and she attempts to torture and kill him. To that end, she defeats Lady Shiva, and devises a plan to use her to fake her own death and flee the country with her daughter. Jade ties up Shiva, gags her and locks her in the trunk of her car (which is wired to explode), hoping that the authorities will find the charred body of an Asian woman in the flaming car wreck and believe that Jade was killed while fleeing the Senator's murder. Catwoman and Gypsy show up and untie Shiva, while Huntress and Black Canary stop Jade from murdering the Senator, and take her into custody. While escaping the scene of the attempted assassination, Jade is punched in the face and thrown out of the helicopter the women were escaping in by Black Canary to avoid being beaten to death by an enraged Shiva.
In 2005, she appears in the miniseries Villains United as a member of the Secret Six. Cheshire is blackmailed into joining by Mockingbird, who claims that there is a small bomb implanted in the back of Lian's head. During the series, she sleeps with Catman, and becomes pregnant with a replacement child, thereby allowing her to leave the team and no longer needing to worry for Lian's safety. At the end of the miniseries, having betrayed the Six to Luthor's Society, she is shot and critically wounded by Deathstroke. As the faux Luthor orders the Society's withdrawal, one of his last commands is to bring Cheshire with them, provided she is still alive.
After the "Villains United" series, she turns up alive, living in a mansion in the Himalayas with her son by Blake. Working with Vandal Savage again, she puts out hits on the other members of the Secret Six except for Blake. Taking matters into her own hands, she stabs and poisons the Mad Hatter, who is working with the Six. She later barters the antidote to the poison to Catman in exchange for her safety.
In the Justice League of America Wedding Special, Cheshire is shown to be a member of the Injustice League. She is later seen among the exiled villains in Salvation Run.
In Justice League: Cry for Justice, Prometheus destroys Star City, killing Lian.Justice League: Cry for Justice #7 (March 2010) Cheshire attacks Roy, outraged at him for not keeping Lian safe, injuring him in the process.Justice League: Rise and Fall of Arsenal #2 (April 2010) However, Cheshire loses the will to fight and tearfully recalls the loss of her child. Roy comforts her and the two of them attempt to sleep together, but due to Roy's impotence he is unable to please Cheshire in bed, which causes more turmoil in Roy's life forcing him to angrily leave.Justice League: Rise and Fall of Arsenal #3 (May 2010)
In Secret Six, Cheshire's son from her involvement with Catman is kidnapped. Catman goes on a murderous rampage believing the child to already be dead only to find the man who orchestrated the kidnapping has given the boy to a loving childless couple and that the kidnapping itself was an act of revenge against Cheshire for murdering his family. Catman, after realizing the child is better left where he is, informs Cheshire that their son is dead. This sends her into a sorrowful rage, while Catman tells his son to rest in peace after killing all of the kidnappers involved.Secret Six (vol. 3) #22 (June 2010)
Cheshire becomes a member of Deathstroke's team of Titans. Their first assignment is murdering Ryan Choi.Titans: Villains For Hire Special (May 2010) One of Deathstroke's goals is to taunt her into overcoming her lost edge after Lian's death.Titans (vol. 2) #25 (July 2010) She later contacts Roy, forcing him into joining Deathstroke's team so the two of them can kill Deathstroke. Cheshire rationalizes that Roy "owes" her for Lian's death, but while it appears Roy double-crosses her, it is part of Cheshire's plan.Titans (vol. 2) #26 (August 2010) Afterward, Deathstroke and his team arrive at South Pacific Island to kill cult leader, Drago, over the arena production of blind warriors; however, his team, Cheshire, and Roy betray him, revealing that they had been working with Drago.Titans (vol. 2) #33 (March 2011) Cheshire and Roy's plan backfires, because Drago never intended to give Cheshire her freedom back. Their attempt to defeat Drago and escape fails miserably. Later, Drago explains to Cheshire that he needs an heir, and she is going to provide him with one.Titans (vol. 2) #34 (April 2011) Drago tries to convince Cheshire to succumb to him, reading her mind and using her thoughts against her.Titans (vol. 2) #35 (May 2011) Cheshire is rescued by Deathstroke and the Titans. When Drago is defeated, Deathstroke allows him to live and the Titans leave his island. Cheshire and Roy choose to re-join the Titans.Titans (vol. 2) #36 (June 2011) Upon returning to the labyrinth, Deathstroke reveals to them that his preceding deeds are being used to create a healing machine called a "Methuselah Device" for his dying son, Jericho.Titans Annual 2011 (July 2011) After healing Jericho, Deathstroke claims the machine can also resurrect the dead, offering Cheshire and Roy the chance to revive Lian. Cheshire accepts, but Roy refuses, saying that he has been punishing himself for his daughter's death and that Lian is in a better place. Cheshire joins Tattooed Man and Cinder in fighting the other Titans to destroy the Methuselah Device.Titans (vol. 2) #37 (July 2011) After Cinder sacrifices herself to destroy the Methuselah, Cheshire leaves and tells Roy that she will never forgive him.Titans (vol. 2) #38 (August 2011)
New 52 onward In this new mainstream continuity, Cheshire's backstory and early life and is initially considered shrouded in mystery. This revised continuity also identifies her as simply Vietnamese, her background no longer tying to Pullman or Chaumont thus far.DC FESTIVAL OF HEROES: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1 (2021)
In The New 52, Cheshire first appears in Grifter, becoming a team with Deathblow to aid Cole Cash. In this timeline, the character is originally only referred to as Niko, not as Cheshire.Grifter #9 (July 2012) Later, she betrays Grifter and Deathblow revealing she was an undercover agent for Helspont, but later was defeated by them when they tried to stop Helspont's plans.Grifter #12 (October 2012) Cheshire is later seen as a member of the League of Assassins when they plan to recruit Red Hood.Red Hood and the Outlaws #21 (August 2013) Cheshire appears in Aquaman and the Others, teaming up with KGBeast and a group of terrorists known as Mayhem to steal the launch codes to a Soviet-era satellite full of nuclear weapons to hold the Earth to ransom.
DC Rebirth In Rebirth, Cheshire appears as one of the bounty hunters trying to kill Wonder Woman.Wonder Woman (vol. 5) #28-29 (October 2017) Cheshire is also one of the assassins hired by the Ninth Circle to eliminate Green Arrow.Green Arrow (vol. 6) #21-24 (June - August 2017) She later attempts to kill Batman. She is stated to be one of the most toxic individuals on the planet, along with Copperhead. They attack Batman on a train, and he responds by blowing himself up into a lake below. Cheshire and Copperhead comment on his resilience.All-Star Batman #2 (November 2016)
Arsenal is shown tracking Cheshire down in Nightwing #43. It is stated that they used to date but parted ways due to Jade's villainous tendencies. Cheshire is seen leading a mission for the League of Assassins with the intent of carrying out a citywide catastrophe, but her plans are thwarted by Nightwing, Damian Wayne, and Roy.Nightwing (vol. 4) #43 (June 2018)