Origin

Zatanna is the daughter of adventurer John Zatara and his wife Sindella, a member of the mystic tribe of sorcerers called the Hidden Ones, or Homo Magi. Zatanna inherited her mother's ability to manipulate magic and her father's penchant for heroism. Sindella later faked her own death to return the Hidden One's sanctum in Turkey, leaving her daughter in John Zatara's care.

Zatara and Sindella with their newborn daughter, Zatanna

Zatara travelled the world with his daughter and taught her to harness her magical abilities. Zatanna was later raised by strangers, however, when the evil witch Allura cursed Zatanna and prevented her from seeing her father. Zatanna was left to search fruitlessly for her natural parents.

Zatanna discovered her father's diary and created a stage persona for herself. Her quest to find her father led her into a brief affair with John Constantine. Later, with the help of the Justice League Of America, Zatanna was able to lift Allura's curse and reunite with her father and later her mother. Tragically, Sindella died rescuing her daughter from the city of the Hidden Ones, while her father died saving her and the spiritual dimensions from the Great Evil Beast.

As a long standing member of the Justice League of America, Zatanna fought countless super-villains and mystic threats. After the death of her father, however, she retired from active adventuring. She now lives in San Francisco, seeking a normal life while trying to preserve the balance of Earth's light and dark mystical community. In this role she serves as one of the Sentinels of Magic.

Powers

Zatanna is genetically talented with her magic abilities, being part of the Homo Magi race. As such, she can cast an incredible number of spells, which she usually does by speaking backwards as a tribute to her father. This, however, is not necessary for her to cast spells. Zatanna has shown great control of her magic ability, and has even beeen shown to contol the elements. These elements include fire generation, air control, earth control, liquid control, ice control, fire control, and weather control. Zatanna also is able to use her magic for telepathic purposes such as reading minds, remove specific memories, or wipe minds completely, which was shown when she erased Dr.Light's memory. She also has a tremendous amount more of abilities such as plant control, sense magic, telekinesis, probably manipulation, and so much more. The upper limit of her spellcasting ability is unknown, but she is amongst the most powerful magic users of her universe.

Identity Crisis

Batman discovers Zatanna altering Doctor Light's mind

During the Identity Crisis miniseries it was revealed that that Dr. Light raped the wife of Elongated Man, Sue Dibny, while she was alone in the JLA Satellite. The Flash, Barry Allen, discovered what was going on and the JLA were able to capture him, before he left. Superman and Batman teleport back to their Earth duties, leaving Light with the rest of the League. While in the custody of the JLA, Doctor Light threatened all the league members' families. This resulted in the JLA members that were present voting to erase Light's memories. The League members realised that, even without his memories, he could still be a threat and also voted, four to three, to let Zatanna tamper with Light's mind so he would not be a threat again in the future, and as a result, she lowered his intellect. Batman returns and discovers what is happening and tries to stop them, but Batman would have his memories erased by Zee.

When Batman found out what Zatanna had done to him, their relationship, needless to say, was strained even for the Dark Knight. Zatanna helped Batman investigate the Lazarus Pit but when she asked him why he needed her, Batman said, "I needed someone I can trust, But I had to settle for you." In Detective Comics #824, although Zatanna still feels like she owes him, they seemed to have reconciled their relationship. The issue sees Batman asking for her advice in what for him is a much more sociable manner and even saying to her a "Thanks Zee".

Doctor Light was not the only villain to have their mental faculties tampered with. Catwoman learned that her new found morality was caused by Zatanna. She then asks her to wipe the memories of those villains that had deduced her identity.

Seven Soldiers

Zatanna losing control

Seven soldiers was a collection of seven miniseries plus two issues serving as book ends all written by Grant Morrison. Each of the seven characters (Bulleteer, Frankenstein, Klarion, Manhattan Guardian, Mr. Miracle, Shining Knight and Zatanna) had four issues devoted to them. During the Seven Soldiers miniseries, Zatanna is suffering from a complete lack of confidence. Accidently incinerating the other members of a mystical expidition she was leading in another dimension brings matters to a head. This causes her to stop using her powers. With the help of her new apprentice, Misty Kilgore, she goes in search of her father's lost books in order to recover her abilities.

Her quest forces her to tackle a number of mystical threats including a shapeshifter called Gwydion (that had been released by her failed ritual), a tempter demon and an evil magician named Zor. Along the way, she also has to deal with the Sheeda, the common enemy of all the heroes in the series. It is Zatanna who finally brings all the heroes together to face the Sheeda in the final book of the series.

Mystic Advice

Regardless of whether or not she is part of the League, Zatanna is highly regarded for her knowledge of the magic arts. As she is a performing illusionist, she also spends more time on Earth's plane than many other magical heroes. This makes her more available than others. She is also more friendly than some. Although the events of 'Identity Crisis' may have strained her relationships, she still has the trust of her allies. Recently she gave Superman help after he sought her advice on information from Arion (Superman #662). More recently, she had been helping Mary Marvel come to terms with her new powers in the pages of Countdown to Final Crisis. Countdown #37 further highlights the vast repository of mystic knowledge and artifacts at Zatanna's disposal. Unbeknown to Zatanna, Mary was under the influence of Eclipso, which caused her to attack Zatanna in an attempt to use her artifacts. Even with the incredible power of Shazam at her disposal, Mary was no match for Zatanna who quickly evicted her from her home.

Relatives

Zatanna is the daughter of John Zatanna and Sinderella. She is descended from Leonardo Da Vinci, as well as: Nostradamus, Alessandro Cagliostro, alchemists Nicholas Flamel and Evan Fulcanelli and King Arion of Atlantis. Her cousin is also a magician named Zachary Zatara.

Books Of Magic

Tim Hunter's guide in the Shadow World

Zatanna appears in as a support character in The Books of Magic published under DC's adult Vertigo banner. Here she counsels Tim Hunter in the secret world of magic, while his gude, John Constantine, travels to India. Zatanna explains that some magicians, like herself and her father, hide their magic in plain sight as tricks. Tim has already seen her before when she appeared on an English talkshow, hosted by Jonathon Ross. She introduces him to some of America's darker practicioners of magic and protects him when they try to collect the bounty on his head.

Life During War time

Blonde Zatanna

In this mini series, Humans (known as the Bred) are at war with the ruling Faerie races (known as the Born). Both sides worship The Hunter (Tim Hunter) who has hidden in an alternate Earth of his own making without war, religion or magic. Zatanna is in Jerusalem, which is outside the war zone, searching for the keys to the Books of Magick to aid humanity in the war. Unlike the main Zatanna, she has blonde hair. She is still a powerful magician and uses backwards speech to focus her spells. The books also reveal that she had a relationship with that dimension's John Constantine. She plays a major part in the Bred's efforts.

Other Media

Television

Animated Zatanna

Zatanna first appeared on television in Batman:The Animated Series as an illusionist. She grows close to the young Bruce Wayne, calling himself 'John Smith', when he seeks training from her father in escapology. Batman helps her when she is framed by a magic debunker.

She later appears in Justice league Unlimited, most notibly in the episode 'This Little Piggy' when Batman turns to her for help in restoring Wonder Woman to human form after an encounter with Circe. Zatanna and Batman are clearly old friends (or as close to friends as Batman gets), greeting him as Bruce and knowing about his feelings for Wonder Woman. This episode also features Batman singing 'Am I Blue' with great aplomb.

Her appearances were written by Paul Dini who, according to fellow writer Alan Burnett, is "secretly in love with her." Dini is married to a professional magician named Misty Lee.

Justice League Heroes

Zatanna is one of the main characters in Justice League Heroes for the Playstation 2 and Xbox. Her in game abilities include casting fireballs, healing, transforming enemies into rabbits, slowing time and casting protection spells. She voices her spells in her usual backwards speech ('Laeh' to heal for instance). She was included to add gameplay diversity to the group, as well as her being a fan favorite. Her voice is provided by Kari Wahlgrun.