Scandal Savage

Origin

Scandal Savage was born the daughter of Vandal Savage and a Brazilian woman, said to be the only mortal woman Savage ever truly loved. She was left with her mother and raised in Brazil, but it seemed she was kept fully aware of her heritage. She was even left with a set of Lamentation Blades. The composition of these blades and possession of them was somehow unique to the Savage family.

Creation

Scandal Savage was created by Gail Simone and Dale Eaglesham and deceptively introduced as an attractive administrative assistant to aid Mockingbird in running the Secret Six. It was quickly revealed that she was in fact a dangerous villain in her own right and that her last name was Savage, revealing her as the daughter of Vandal Savage.

Major Story Arcs

Villains United

For further details: Villains United and Infinite Crisis

In the build up to Infinite Crisis, Lex Luthor blackmailed Scandal and five other villains, using the alias Mockingbird, into harrassing the Secret Society of Super Villains who were under the leadership of an alternate Lex Luthor. For Scandal, working with the Secret Six was about saving her mother. However, she grew close to her team mates, intimately so with Knockout who was working as a mole within the Society. Knockout broke her cover by aiding Scandal in her fight with Talia. The Secret Six were mostly successful, despite overwhelming odds and the group stayed together after Lex released them.

Six Degrees of Devastation

For further details: Six Degrees of Devastation

While vacationing with Knockout, a sniper attacked Knockout with an explosive bullet. To save her lover's life, Knockout threw her into the nearby ocean. Scandal dug through the wreckage to find Knockout alive, but badly burned. Scandal took revenge on the sniper, Pistolera and tortured her for information. Scandal could not kill her however, despite her rage and Deadshot did instead. They would later discover that her father was responsible for this and other attacks in his efforts to try and force Scandal to give him an heir. The six attacked Vandal's compound in Japan taking on him and his allies.

Scandal engaged her father in combat, fighting back against his attempts to force his will on her. Deadshot interrupted their duel, shooting Vandal Savage in the head. Together, the two Savage's fell over the side of a high wall. Scandal managed to grab onto the ledge, and Vandal held onto her. He told her she looked so much like her mother, and that was why he wanted her bloodline to go on. He decided he did not want to take her with him and released his hold, letting himself fall to another one of his apparent but impermanent deaths.

Whitewater

Later, the Six take a mercenary job from a wealthy general in Azerbaijani to protect what they understand to be some sort of military secret. This sets them up against the Birds of Prey, who came to steal it from the general. During their pursuit of the Birds, Scandal catches up to Hawkgirl, and the two fight each other one-on-one. It seemed that Scandal came out the victor as Hawkgirl is next seen as a hostage of the Secret Six.

Hawkgirl soon got a rematch against Scandal when the situation escalated into an all out brawl between the two groups. This fight ended abruptly when Spy Smasher forced Deadshot to shoot Scandal repeatedly in the back. Hawkgirl stopped fighting to try to help the now bleeding and unconscious woman. When Scandal awoke, she tried to continue her fight against Hawkgirl without understanding that the hero had just been trying to help her. Once that is made clear, both women team up against the Rocket Red Brigade who had shown up to attack them all. The revelation that the military secret being protected was a kidnapped Ice soured Scandal's and the rest of the Secret Six's feelings on this particular job.

Salvation Run

For further details: Death of the New Gods

The Secret Six came apart soon after Azerbaijani, and Scandal was left alone with her lover Knockout in a Metropolis motel. Kidding around, she made a comment about how Knockout was too busy getting beaten by Big Barda. This sent Knockout off in a rage to find Big Barda and prove who was the better combatant. Knockout would not return as she was intercepted by the mysterious killer of the New Gods.

Scandal was left devastated by her love's death, and she descended into a drunken stupor until being ambushed by the Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag of the Suicide Squad. She was gunned down with a fifty caliber and abducted on the spot. She was later made an offer to join the Suicide Squad, but she refused and preferred to threaten to kill King Faraday for this instead. As a result, she was thrown into Amanda Waller's Salvation Run operation and exiled to another planet with the rest of the world's metacriminals.

During her stay on this planet, Bolt made the mistake of groping her. She nearly killed him before the fight was broken up. Also while there, she was reunited with her fellow surviving members of the Secret Six. She was among those to escape from the planet through Lex Luthor's bridge device.

Unhinged

For further details: Unhinged

After Salvation Run, the remaining members of the Secret Six chose to stay together and revive the mercenary team. Scandal was unfortunately still grieving over the loss of Knockout and not much use to anyone. That was until the others put a party together for her complete with a prostitute dressed as Knockout bursting out from a cake. She didn't accept this twisted act of generosity, but the gesture did succeed in snapping her out of her devastation.

Scandal booked the team a dangerous new job from an unknown employer. They were to retrieve a stolen item and the thief Tarantula from Alcatraz and bring both to Gotham City. Things became complicated when it was discovered what this item was. It was a " Get Out of Hell Free" card created by Neron. Scandal was one of the Six most tempted to keep the card for herself with the notion that Knockout must be suffering in Hell and it could be her salvation.

Another development was the attention being paid to her by Bane. He took a sudden and sternly fatherly interest in her, treating her like a child who needed to be cared for and instructed. The only thing stranger than his behavior towards her were the signs that it was working on her. She developed a rapport with the man and was the only one who wanted to rescue him when he had been captured by Junior.

After Junior and Tarantula were killed by a collective strike by an army of supervillains on the bridge into Gotham City, Scandal let everyone believe that Neron's card had been destroyed along with the two women. The truth was that she still had it.

Depths

Scandal's strange relationship with Bane continued to grow. Since the fight on the bridge into Gotham City, he was struggling with his reawakened addiction to Venom. She came to him during the night and spent the rest of it with him to help him get through it, telling him that this act both meant nothing and meant something. Later, Bane supported her when the Secret Six became divided on a job they had undertaken involving a slavery camp. Given the threats they were now facing, she began to urge Bane to take Venom. She insisted that was the Bane they needed to survive this. However, Bane would not capitulate to her requests. So she took the Venom herself and battled with the bastard son of her father and some cavebeast, one of the more interesting prisoners being kept in the slave camp.

As the Secret Six left this camp and this job behind them, Scandal began to feel the unpleasant effects of the Venom wearing off. This was not all she had to endure, though. Bane informed her and the others that he was replacing her as leader. He also informed her that she was now off the team. However, now that Black Alice joined the team, Scandal now does not usually fight in field missions, but relays info to the team from their headquarters.

The Darkest Horse

One day, Scandal is overwhelmed with grief because she misses Knockout and she begins to hate the idea that her new girlfriend Liana Kerzner is a substitute for the former New Goddess. Scandal decides that she can't take the pain anymore so she will use the Get Out of Hell free card for Knockout. But Scandal soon realizes the card has been stolen from its secret hiding place. Ragdoll has stolen the card in order to start his own reign in Hell. The remaining members of the Six go through the portal that Ragdoll used to enter Hell.

The team discover that Ragdoll is the new leader of Hell and he intends to marry Knockout just to spite Scandal. Fortunately, Knockout convinces Scandal that she has a chance at redemption and a happy life with Liana. Knockout also convinces Scandal to take Ragdoll back with them because he is upsetting the balance in the underworld. Scandal reluctantly agrees and the team is reunited back on Earth.

Scandal heads to Liana's apartment to embrace her with love and compassion but she soon discovers that her apartment has been thrashed. Scandal finds a blood trail which leads out of Liana's apartment to a nearby park. Apparently, Liana's ex boyfriend is an unstable born again Christian who wants to pray away Liana's homosexuality but when that doesn't work, the boyfriend tortures Liana. Scandal tortures and kills the ex-boyfriend then she takes Liana to a nearby hospital where she waits by Liana's bed side, hoping for a speedy recovery.

Powers and Abilities

Scandal Savage is very skilled fighter, having lasted in a duel with her father who practically invented violence. She wields a pair of gauntlets that carry her Lamentation Blades. These blades seem able to easily slice through most materials.

Scandal also seems to have inherited her father's regenerative abilities. Several times she has been shot or stabbed only to appear soon after completely without injury. It has also been implied that she shares her father's longevity. She has survived being shot in the head and can regrow organs.

DCs Legends of Tomorrow

Scandal Savage appears in the 13th episode of Legends. She is named Cassandra by her father Vandal Savage. Cold reveals the lies that Vandal has been telling his daughter her entire life and sides with the heroes and rebellion. She is portrayed by Jessica Sipos.

Other Media

Films

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

Scandal is in a relationship with Knockout and is part of her father's team, Vandal Savage. She is voiced by Dania Ramirez.