Cassandra Cain is one of the best fighters in the DC Universe. The second Batgirl is actually the daughter of one of the world’s most dangerous assassins, so fighting prowess must run in the family. But this bond resulted in Cassandra entering more than one battle to the death against Shiva
How did Cassandra first discover her connection to Lady Shiva, and how did it result in the pair having to repeatedly kill each other in combat?
In the Post-Crisis DC Universe, Lady Shiva was one of the deadliest women who ever existed. An incredibly skilled fighter, Shiva was once known as Sandra Wu-San, alongside her sister Carolyn. But after impressing the assassin David Cain, Carolyn was murdered and Sandra was put on the path towards becoming the killer she would one day transform into. After making a bargain with Cain to spare her life, Sandra gave birth to his daughter Cassandra — leaving the child with him and traveling the world to become Lady Shiva. After training against the likes of Bronze Tiger and Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva grew to become one of the deadliest assassins in the world — with even the likes of Batman fearing her combat skills.
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Cassandra Cain had been taught in the way of fighting by her father, with combat being her only language. But after taking a life and being horrified by her actions, Cassandra abandoned him and eventually found a new home in Gotham as Batgirl. A confrontation with a telepath resulted in Cassandra losing this advantage, however, finally catching the full attention of Shiva in Batgirl #9 by Kelley Puckett, Damion Scott, Robert Campanella and Jason Wright.
Noting the “hole” in her fighting style, Shiva revealed she could repair it and restore Cassandra to her true potential — on the condition that a year later, they would duel to the death. Cassandra agreed, regaining her abilities and spending another year as Batgirl preparing for a battle she believed she had no way of winning. The battle finally came in Batgirl #25. Despite Oracle’s best attempt, Cassandra went through with the duel and battled Shiva — failing to defeat her and even falling in battle. But Shiva was able to revive her and actually take some to speak with her daughter, helping Cassandra work through the trauma of killing a man in her youth.
Finally fully utilizing her abilities, Cassandra was able to put up a much better fight and actually defeat Shiva — but ultimately choosing to spare her. Eventually, the two would come to blows again, with Cassandra learning the full truth of their connection. Finding Shiva in the story “Destruction’s Daughter” by Andersen Gabrych, Pop Mhan, Jesse Delperdang, Pat Brosseau and Jason Wright, Cassandra also found herself embroiled in the machinations of Nyssa Al’ Ghul, who had recently killed her father Ra’s and taken his place as the Demon’s Head — complete with recruiting Shiva to her side. In the chaos of their confrontation, Cassandra is briefly killed again — leading Shiva to revive her by placing her into the resurrection Lazarus Pit.
Upon revival, the two have one final battle, with Shiva finally admitting that the entire reason she had a child with Cain was out of hope they would eventually become the person capable of defeating and killing her. Shiva and Cain’s final fight is a brutal one, fought within the Lazarus Chambers and resulting in Cassandra breaking Shiva’s neck with a precise and powerful blow. Initially, Shiva resists being restored by the Lazarus Pits — leading Cassandra to instead impale her on a hook hanging above the pit, which allowed Shiva to eventually dip into the restorative waters and be revived. In essence, both women killed each other during their many duels to the death — but their bond kept them from ever making sure the deed could be done once and for all.