Zealot (Wildstorm)
Zealot is a female comic character who features in Wildstorm.
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Biography
Wildstorm
Zannah was a female member of the Kherubim race born on the planet Khera and came to join the order of warriors known as the Coda.
As was tradition on Khera, she was selected to mate with a member of the nobility in order to produce a child as the Kherubim had a low birth rate. Thus, Lady Zannah found herself to engage in a mating with Lord Majestros where she found herself to be pregnant. Kherubim society held that any female Kheran who became pregnant could no longer devote their times to the warrior arts and instead rear the child. Such a fate horrified Zannah and she felt that she would die on an emotional level if she was forced to become a mother. Instead, her mother decided to take matters into her own hands claimed that the resultant young girl born was her child instead thus allowing Zannah to continue to pursue the warrior arts. The child was named Kenesha which meant 'the Survivor' in the Kherubim language. (Wildstorm Winter Special v1 #1)
Zealot just survived thanks to her lover, Stratos, who put her in an escape pod. Zannah and the other survivors were scattered, forced to hide themselves amongst the human population. Their enemies had likewise been forced down, and though less humanoid, the Daemonites used their powers of possession and shapeshifting to blend in, too. For the next few millennia, a secret war raged, with the Kherubim defending the vulnerable and oblivious humans from their would-be conquerors.
Zannah took the name Zealot when she formed a sisterhood of warriors, known as The Coda, on earth. She fought with them for many years, even leading the group for a while. However, an incident occurred in Troy, causing her to be branded a traitor and expelled from the order. She arranged for the Coda to help the Greeks conquer Troy in exchange for 99 female babies to be raised as new coda. She helped Ulysses conceive of the trojan horse and stationed Coda warriors inside it. During the fighting she decided that the killing of all of the unarmed women and children of Troy was going too far, so she saved the life of the royal family. In doing so it was decided by her fellow Coda that she had betrayed the precepts of the Coda. She was engaged in combat by her closest friend Artemis, whom she beat, but refused to kill. This was considered by Artemis to be a mortal insult. The two violations of Coda precepts made her a lifetime (in their case nearly immortal lifetimes) enemy of the Coda. Subsequent to this event, Zealot spent a century serving the witch known as Tapestry. She did this as payment for Tapestry saving Kenesha's life after having been poisoned. During this period Tapestry tried to brainwash Zealot to her way of thinking, but although Zealot was changed by her time working for the witch, she managed to retain her true self inside. During her stay with Tapestry though, Zealot became a proficient wielder of magics. The magic taught though was dark magic and soul corrupting. Because of this Zealot swore never to use it again, but had to break her promise when she battled Tapestry many years after her original servitude.
The Coda pursued Zealot relentlessly, demanding satisfaction for her betrayal. The Coda caught up to her at a temple of Artemis, and although Zealot fought bravely she was outnumbered and prepared to face her death. Promethos saved her, and she was none too happy to see him again. Zealot recovered from her injuries on Mount Olympus, where Promethos had set himself up as a god, with the local Greeks worshiping him as Prometheus. Promethos said neither of them could return to Khera, and he’d simply made the most of the situation. Promethos said she could rule at his side and they could carve out their own empire on Earth, but Zealot said he was shirking his duty in the Kherubim / Daemonite war. She’d betrayed her own duty once by freeing him from captivity, and said she’d never make the same mistake again. Promethos said she owed him for what they used to mean to each other, and she stabbed him in his hand with her honor blade, saying that whatever they used to have was long gone. Zealot said she wasn’t going to kill him, but warned him that they should never cross paths again. Promethos was in a rage, saying he’d offered her the world, but she’d forsaken him for honor so he’d henceforth be her mortal enemy. (Zealot v1 #1) Zealot traveled to Lord Chochin’s monastery to learn new combat techniques to aid her in the war against the Daemonites. She fell in love with fellow student and warrior Taisho. When her training was complete Chochin asked her to remain at the monastery to train other, and Zealot was tempted, especially because she saw a future with Taisho. The Masked Warlord sent an emissary to inform Zealot that her sister Savant had been captured trying to steal a valuable statue, and the warlord demanded her presence on Honshu Island. Zealot knew she was being led into a trap, but had no choice with Savant’s life at stake. The Masked Warlord turned out to be Promethos, who’d won and lost kingdoms in the time since he’d last seen Zealot but had landed in Japan by fate. He promised to spare Savant’s life if Zealot would pledge to be his servant. She refused and they fought, with Promethos getting the advantage and stabbing her with the honor blade she once pierced him with. Taiso came to rescue Zealot, but Promethos killed him. Taisho had given Zealot enough time to free her sister, and she promised Promethos one day she’d have her revenge against him. (Zealot v1 #2)
Promethos rose in the ranks of the Third Reich, and at a base in the German Alps he offered the Nazis the secrets of atomic energy. Zealot arrived, slaughtering the Nazis present. Promethos mused about all the times they’d recently crossed paths, from North Dakota in 1848 to Vienna in 1916. Zealot told him mankind was not ready for atomic weapons, especially a murderous empire. Promethos thought it fitting that he be the one to gift mankind with a new “fire” and said he was banking on Nazi Germany to take over the world. He planned to one day kill Hitler and finally achieve his ambition of ruling Earth. They engaged in combat, and Zealot prevailed, beheading Promethos. She blew up the facility, hoping nuclear weapons would never fall into mankind’s hands. (Wildstorm v1 #3)
An amnesic and homless Jacob Marlowe was down on his luck until he met Void who turned his life around. She told him he was once Lord Emp, a Kherubim responsible for defending Earth against the Daemonites. Marlowe ended up becoming a billionaire CEO operating out of the Halo Building in NYC. They assembled the WildC.A.T.S., a group of gifted Kherubim and half-Kherubim to combat the Daemonite invasion of Earth. The freebooter Gnome sold Marlowe information about 'gifted ones', and their roster included Spartan, Warblade and Maul. Void started having visions of the past and future possible timelines about an Orb of Power and realized they had to get it before the Daemonites or the world was doomed. Marlowe‘s secretary Janet told him Gnome had a new gifted one for him, and Marlowe met Gnome’s contact in a nightclub. The contact was an attractive woman and Marlowe came on to her. She rejected him, sending Marlowe into a depressive spiral, and he spent the night drunk in an alley. Ballistic and the C.O.P.s spotted him while they were chasing Velocity, but assumed he was too drunk to be credible witness or threat to them. While the WildC.A.T.S. waited for Marlowe to return to the Halo Building Spartan ran Warblade and Maul through combat training against battle-droids. Warblade had a temper, was filled with bloodlust, and couldn’t wait to test his skills in actual battle against Daemonites. Hellspont and the Cabal were seeking out both gifted ones and the Orb of Power. Cabal member Alberto Cassini sold out his group, revealing the location of gifted one Priscilla Kitaen to Gnome in exchange for money. Grifter and Zealot were seeking the gifted one who had “the sight,” the ability to see and exorcise Daemonites, and were on Gnome’s trail. Gnome ordered his hired muscle the Triad to attack them, and Zealot insisted Grifter find Kitaen while she dealt with them. Priscilla was an exotic dancer working under the stage name of Voodoo, and Grifter found her at the Hot Spot. Gnome sold the information he had on Voodoo to Marlowe, asking not for money but for a favor with no questions asked. The Cabal dispatched two Daemonites and a Coda warrior to the Hot Spot, where they fought the WildC.A.T.S., Grifter and Zealot over Voodoo. The battle ended when the fatally wounded Coda warrior set off an explosive on her body, blowing up the Hot Spot. Helspont checked in with B’lial, a Daemonite mole posing as vice president Dan Quayle. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #1)
Void warped them away from the explosion, and the I.O., who were investigating them, tried to pull them into their field headquarters using one of their psionics. Void warped the team away from I.O. hq back to the WildC.A.T.S. MIRV. I.O. director John Lynch wasn’t thrilled with a rogue covert action team on the loose and dispatched a squad of Black Razors to deal with them. Grifter and Zealot informed Marlowe that the Cabal was using their mole B’lial and the U.S. government’s resources to construct a dimensional gateway to the Daemonite homeworld in a project called Reunification. Marlowe said he’d need Voodoo to exorcise Dan Quayle of the Daemonite possessing him, and Voodoo said she had no idea what she’d landed herself in. Zealot explained that the Kherubim and Daemonites had been at war for eons, and the WildC.A.T.S. and Cabal were from groups stranded on Earth long ago. Thirty years ago the Daemonites scored a major victory, and without Voodoo’s help they’d win the war for Earth. The Black Razor squad came at the WildC.A.T.S., deciding to shoot first and ask questions later. After a brief fight Lynch told Marlowe he wanted to make a deal with him, the identity of the Daemonite mole for the location of Project Reunification. The WildC.A.T.S. went to S.D.I. Astronomics, where Dan Quayle and the Cabal were set to receive the Orb of Power needed for Project Reunification from NASA. The WildC.A.T.S. dealt with the Cabal members, but Dan Quayle introduced his bodyguards, the government sponsored superteam Youngblood. (WildC.A.T.s v1 #2)
For a period in the 20th century, Zealot lived in America and went by the name Lucy Blaize. During this time she worked for the US Government and went on to become a member of the ill-fated Team One, with fellow Kherubim Mr. Majestic (the father of Savant) and Lord Emp. After an affair with John Colt, Zealot became pregnant. Not wishing for the child to become involved in the Kheran/Daemonite war she gave the child away to a human couple living in Siberia. During an adventure many years later, the psychic oracle character, Providence, told Zealot that she would be reunited with her long lost child. Soon after she meets the Stormwatch hero, Winter, and is surprised to see his white hair similar to her own and hear his Russian accent. Despite her suspicions, Zealot decides to not tell Winter of her discovery. Years later, Zealot formed a close relationship with Cole Cash, and took the unprecedented step of training him, a man, in the ways of the Coda; he became the superhuman known as Grifter. Later both of them joined the WildC.A.T.s. She served with them for a number of years, though she also briefly joined Wildcore during a period when the rest of the WildC.A.T.s were believed dead. During a mission with the WildC.A.T.S to destroy an Irish village full of genetically engineered soldiers created with Daemonite technology, she and Grifter found a group of kids hiding in a basement. The two of them tried to get the kids to a safe place before they could blow up the village. Zealot was shot whilst protecting the children and was left behind by her teammates, who believed her dead after the explosion. However, it was revealed she wasn't dead, but had been targeted by several Coda factions. It was during this time that Zealot found Grifter in a bar. He was having one-night stands with women similar to her and he was too drunk to realize she wasn't just a lookalike. They had sex and were attacked by several Coda warriors. After the battle, she ran away, but they later caught up with each other.
Zealot was captured and sentenced to death by Earth's Coda Sisterhood. While captured she was tortured to near death multiple times. It was her old friend Grifter (in control of the android Ladytron) and his ragtag group of warriors that later came to her rescue. Once more on the loose, she had to team up alongside Mr. Majestic yet again to fight an evil plot from the Shapers Guild to recreate Kherubim on Earth (using a device known as the planet shaper). It was during this battle that Zealot's mother, Lady Harmony, was killed. Shortly after Savant was told that her true parents were Zealot and Stratos. Zealot then teamed up with many former Wildcat members, such as Grifter and Majestic, to fight Zealot's longtime rival, Nemesis. Zealot joins with many of her ex-Wildcat teammates in an unofficial form of the group as they fight with Captain Atom. Zealot's lover, Stratos, did not die during the crash. He found the time-traveling WildC.A.T.s-member, Condition Red, on the ship before the crash and was taken along when Condition Red travelled back to the present in WildC.A.T.s #49. Stratos' storyline has not been explored since then. Zealot is in a Coda Sisterhood building on the planet Khera, having retired there from Earth. However, her (future) return to Earth was precipitated by a large Daemonite attack; although Majestic arrives and destroyed all the Daemonites, he drops to the floor and tells Zealot that their next target was Earth.
DC
Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.
When Zannah arrived on Earth, she encountered a homeless young woman and and saw her immense potential, taking her in. She trained her in the way of the Coda Sisterhood, and revealed to her the secrets of the Angel Breaker sword. Unbeknownst to Zannah, the sword spoke to the young woman, warning her that she would need to seek out the 'greatest sisters' of Earth to train and prepare for a coming threat. The girl stole the sword, taking its name as her own, becoming Angel Breaker. (Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special v1 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
She was the biological mother of Kenesha though she did not want to be a parent to her. Instead, she gave her child to her mother the High Priestess who claimed the girl was her offspring instead. Thus, it was believed that Kenesha was Zealot's younger sister and she was not aware of the fact that Zannah was actually her mother. (Wildstorm Winter Special v1 #1)
Powers and abilities
Zealot is a master in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat, and has displayed a low level of superhuman strength (up to 2 tons). Like her former mate Lord Majestros (Mr. Majestic) she is a Kherubim High Lord, gifted with extremely long life, superhuman constitution, stamina and durability.
She was once taught in the ways of Dark Magic by a powerful witch named Tapestry, which granted her godlike mystical abilities that put her on par with the former mistress who enslaved her; but willingly cast them aside twice due to their corrupting nature.
Notes
- Zealot was created by Brandon Choi and Jim Lee where she made her first appearance in WildC.A.T.S. v1 #1 (August, 1992).
Alternate Versions
- In The Wildstorm v1, a new version of the Wildstorm universe was created with all its characters appearing in the re-imagined setting. Zealot appeared as Lucy Blaze who was an agent of Skywatch on Earth who runs her own operation under Christine Trelayne and is a deadly assassin. Jacob Marlowe and Kenesha know her as Zannah, a fellow Kheran with a long history on the planet and a different stance to the one they've taken regarding colonization and protection of human life. She shares a history with Grifter, having trained him and considering him 'one of hers' in a telling bit of dialogue when she warns him of impending danger. They maintain a secret texting communication, but are generally estranged.
In other media
Television
- In WildC.A.T.s, Zealot was a main character in the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Roscoe Handford.
Appearances
- WildC.A.T.S. v1: (1992)
- Wildstorm Winter Special v1:
- Stormwatch:
- The Wild Storm v1:
- Wildstorm 30th Anniversary Special v1:
External Links
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