Tala

Tala
Species:	Human
Hair:	Purple
Eyes:	Transparent Blue
Base:	Cadmus Headquarters, Legion's Headquarters
Affiliations:	Project Cadmus, Legion of Doom
Rogue of:	Justice League
Abilities:	A wide range of mystical powers
Voiced by:	Juliet Landau

"Tala, you've come a long way since my untimely demise. But the student however gifted, still has much to learn from the teacher." — Felix Faust

Tala was a powerful sorceress who worked for Project Cadmus and was later recruited in Grodd's Legion of Doom.

History

Cadmus

File:Tala works on the Annihilator.jpg

Trying to reverse engineer the Annihilator.

Tala was the Division Head presumably responsible for magical and mystical projects. Her assignment was to concoct a plan to retrieve the Annihilator, and then remove its vulnerability. In order to accomplish the latter, Tala enlisted the unwitting help of her old mentor and implied lover― Felix Faust, after collecting his mortal remains from Tartarus, and trapping his soul inside a mirror. However, during one of her failed attempts to reverse engineer the armor, Tala was tricked into casting a spell that freed Faust and trapped her in his stead.

File:Tala trapped.jpg

Tala trapped in Faust's containment.

Legion of Doom

At some point, Tala was released from her magical prison by Grodd, who became the object to Tala's undivided gratitude and affection from that point on. Tala gladly joined Grodd's supervillain organization and placed her magical talents at his disposal. Tala teleported a team to the Himalayas and raided a Temple for the Heart of Nanda Parbat. At that point, Tala was completely loyal to Grodd, and also was the only one in the loop on his plan to turn every human on Earth into an ape ― herself included. However, Tala's allegiance quickly shifted once Lex Luthor disposed of Grodd and took control over the organization.

Tala asserted Luthor that his pursuit of Brainiac was a "pure wild goose chase", and was growing increasingly desperate over his obsession. She cast a spell on Brainiac's fragment to prove it was just a rock; however, upon doing so, she was assailed by images of Brainiac's demise in outer space, which allowed Luthor to determine the location and set off after it.

File:Tala sacrificed.jpg

Tala serving her last purpose before she dies.

Tala was very jealous, possessive, and longed for affection. As a result, her loyalty was volatile. She quickly grew tired of "competing with a dead computer" and being spurned by Lex Luthor. So, in an act of revenge, Tala turned to Grodd, who was being held prisoner within the headquarters, and raised a mutiny against Luthor. However, when Tala attempted to directly attack Luthor, she was subdued by her own magic thanks to a magic amulet that her former lover had purchased for just such a situation.

After Luthor's warring faction emerged triumphant, Tala begged for forgiveness, pleading insanity. Luthor strapped Tala into a contraption to use her as a mystical conduit to reassemble Brainiac. In the end Tala couldn't endure the painful process and died screaming, succumbing to the excruciating agony, but not before she used the last of her strength to interfere with the process to have it revive Darkseid instead as her final act of revenge on Luthor.

Powers and abilities

Tala seemed to possess the normal strength and stamina of an average human woman of her height and weight. Her greatest weapon was her knowledge of sorcery, which she could employ in various ways, including a vast knowledge of potion brewing and also but not limited to: teleportation, transmutation, and telekinesis.

File:Spell backfire.jpg

Hurt by her own magic.

She was seen creating mystical warps, exorcising and banishing Deadman, and shooting concussion blasts. She could also sense the history of certain objects by touching them such as the Brainiac fragment. However, Tala's magic had limitations, as she couldn't free herself from Faust's mirror entrapment. Her powers were also seen to be disrupted and negated by other forms of magic or mystical talismans, such as Grodd's spell that freed her, and Luthor's medallion that repelled her attack. Tala was also not immune to her own magic, seeing as she was knocked out by the energy bolt Luthor repelled against her.

Background information

Tala made her first appearance in Phantom Stranger Vol. 2 #4 (November–December 1969), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Neal Adams. Tala the Queen of Evil was an evil mystical entity and the mistress of the Dark Circle. Her agenda often consisted in tricking mortals into doing evil deeds, or unleashing the apocalypse onto the modern world. She was, however, always frustrated by the Phantom Stranger, a mystic wanderer whom she claimed to have taken a liking to. Her DCAU counterpart has different origins, here a seemingly human sorcerer with less ambitious goals in mind.

Appearances

Justice League Unlimited

• "The Doomsday Sanction"
• "Task Force X"
• "The Balance"
• "Dead Reckoning"
• "The Great Brain Robbery"
• "Grudge Match"
• "Alive!" (dies)

External links

• Tala at the DC Database

Project Cadmus
Members
Leader	Amanda Waller
Sponsor	Lex Luthor
PR / Manager	Maxwell Lord
Division Heads
Genetics	Emil Hamilton
Psychology	Hugo Strange • Moon
Splicing	Milo
Mysticism	Tala
Military Tactics	Wade Eiling
Agents
Captain Atom • Doomsday • Galatea
Ultimen	Downpour • Juice • Shifter • Long Shadow • Wind Dragon
Task Force X	Captain Boomerang • Clock King • Deadshot • Rick Flagg • Plastique