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| Empress | |
|---|---|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Young Justice #16 (January 2000) |
| Created by | Peter David Todd Nauck |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Anita Fite |
| Team affiliations | Young Justice |
| Abilities |
|
Empress (Anita Fite) is a fictional character, asuperheroine in theDC Comicsuniverse. She first appeared inYoung Justice #16 (January 2000), and was created byPeter David andTodd Nauck.[1]
Anita Fite is the daughter of Donald Fite, of the All Purpose Enforcement Squad, one of the Young Justice team's early enemies. She grew up learningHaitian Vodou from her mother and grandmother.[1] Her mother was killed when she was young by the villain Agua Sin Gaaz.
Empress first appears inYoung Justice #16, where she savesWonder Girl from dying of a poisonous snakebite.
Shortly afterward, during Young Justice's visit to theOlympics to support their former teammate,Cissie King-Jones (Arrowette), she meets the team out of costume. During this meeting, her father reveals to the team that Anita has been operating as a superhero under the name "Empress", a childhood nickname from her mother.[1] Anita reveals she had been inspired to become a superheroine after witnessing Arrowette stop a thief. Anita was so impressed that she began to use her vodou skills to fight for good. After this, Empress joins Young Justice, remaining a member for the rest of the run.
InYoung Justice #24 (October 2000), Agua Sin Gaaz returns and kills Empress' father, then retreats to the islandZandia, a haven for supervillains. Young Justice invades the island and successfully defeats Gaaz. Empress' parents are reincarnated into infant bodies during this arc, with Empress becoming a guardian to them.
In January 2006, Empress appears as backup in the fight to saveGotham City from wild magic in theInfinite Crisis special follow-up toDay of Vengeance. Anita appears again inInfinite Crisis #6, assisting the world's mystics at Stonehenge in summoning theSpectre.
Anita makes minor appearances in theWonder Girlminiseries in 2007-2008, helping Wonder Girl come to terms with the death ofSuperboy.[2] Toward the end of the mini-series, Empress appears in costume, assisting Wonder Girl and several other Young Justice alumni against theFemale Furies.[3]
Anita appears inFinal Crisis along withMás y Menos andSparx in a failed attempt to launch the League of Titans. The four are defeated byMirror Master andDoctor Light.[4] She next appears inSupergirl vol. 5 #33 (July 2008). After her parents (still in their infant bodies) are kidnapped, Empress seeks outSupergirl to help her retrieve them. It is revealed that Empress is leading Supergirl into a trap on the orders of the supervillain, in exchange for the safe return of her parents. Empress then double-crosses the villain and aids in saving her parents and Supergirl.
Empress wields a portion of theAnti-Life Equation, which gives her limited mind-controlling abilities. Additionally, she is a skilled practitioner ofvodou magic and wields a sword baton called the "Emperor's Stick".[1]
