Tatsu Yamashiro

Tatsu Yamashiro
Biological Information
Species	Human
Status	Alive
Universe Information
Home universe	Earth-1
General Information
Occupation	Vigilante
Affiliation	Crescent Order (formerly)
Family	Maseo Yamashiro (husband; deceased) Akio Yamashiro (son; deceased)
Actor	Rila Fukushima

"No more Akios will die here as long as I am here to protect them."

—Tatsu Yamashiro^[src]

Tatsu Yamashiro (山城達 Yamashiro Tatsu) is one of the former handlers of Oliver Queen. Tatsu is also the wife of the late Maseo Yamashiro and the mother of the late Akio Yamashiro. She later became a guardian of the Lotus as part of the Crescent Order. After giving the Lotus to Nyssa al Ghul, Tatsu left the Order and returned to Hong Kong to be its protector.

Biography

Housing Oliver Queen

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When Oliver awoke in her house, she welcomed Oliver to her home.

Some days later, Oliver asked where Tatsu was where Oliver stated that she disliked him. Maseo corrected Oliver that Tatsu hated Oliver.

A while later, Tatsu told Maseo that she just wanted to go home but was told they can once they deal with Chien Na Wei. After Oliver was interacting with her son, Tatsu demanded Oliver to stay away from him. She proceeded to give him a meditation that helped Oliver remember where he saw the man hide the envelope. After Oliver thanked her for helping him remember, Tatsu demanded that Oliver leave their home as soon as possible.

After Oliver left his dirty clothes, Tatsu reminded Oliver that she isn't his mother or wife and told him to do his own laundry. Hours later, Tatsu worried something had gone wrong as Maseo said he should only take an hour. Tatsu calls a friend to watch over Akio while she left with Oliver to search for Maseo. When they arrive at the docks, they meet the triad. After Oliver attempted to greet them, Tatsu rescued Oliver, using her katana. Tatsu asked one of the men what happened, where she was told that they killed three A.R.G.U.S. agents. When Tatsu arrived home, she was shocked seeing her husband alive.

Oliver and her husband began capturing triad members and torture them for information. After they kidnapped a man that stole the Omega virus, Chien Na Wei tracked down the house of Maseo. Chien broke into her home and confronted Tatsu and her son. Tatsu told Akio to run, however, Chien blocked the way and picked up one of the swords. Tatsu threw a chair and grabbed a sword after which she fought Chien in a sword fight. Tatsu got injured and lost against Chien who took her away.

Maseo and Oliver go to meet with Chien to trade the Omega virus for Tatsu. However, Amanda Waller anticipated that they would hand over the virus and swapped it for a fake, which Chien found out, forcing the trio to fight their way out. They managed to get away successfully and Tatsu was reunited with Akio.

After the conflict was done, the Yamashiros and Oliver planned to return to Japan. Tatsu, no longer hating Oliver due to his role in saving her life, offered to continue to provide housing for Oliver until he returned. However, the four were ambushed by Shrieve's men.

Sometime after Akio's death, Maseo leaving and losing contact with Oliver, Tatsu went to live a life of seclusion and later became a member of the Crescent Order in Japan. During her time in the order, Tatsu learned of a cosmic being known as Mar Novu and an upcoming crisis.

War with the League of Assassins

After Oliver lost his death match against Ra's al Ghul, Maseo secretly brought Oliver's unconscious body to Tatsu for her to heal him.

Tatsu cradling Maseo, singing the song she once sang to their son, Akio.

When Ra's planned on unleashing the Alpha-Omega on Starling City, Oliver told Malcolm Merlyn to recruit Tatsu in stopping him. Upon meeting John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, and Laurel Lance, the team initially didn't trust Tatsu nor believe Malcolm. It wasn't until Tatsu told Felicity about her past that Team Arrow agreed to let Tatsu come with them to Nanda Parbat to stop Ra's mission.

As the League surrounded them, Tatsu was forced to battle her husband. In the end, she killed Maseo and sang a song to her husband as he died in her arms, after which she broke down in tears. Tatsu and Team Arrow were eventually surrounded and captured. Before Ra's locked the team in a room with the Alpha-Omega virus, Tatsu was transported to another room as she had been inoculated years ago.

While being transferred, Tatsu was freed by The Flash. When Laurel asked her to follow them back to Starling City, Tatsu refused and told Laurel she had to go back to her own life.

Helping Oliver

In early 2016, Nyssa al Ghul and Talibah confronted Tatsu in Kyushu, attempting to take the Lotus. Tatsu denied Nyssa's request as it was her responsibility to protect the elixir. The two engaged in a sword fight, but eventually found their skills to be too evenly matched for a definite outcome. Nyssa then gave Tatsu the option to keep fighting until one of them drops from exhaustion or give up and listen to what she had to say on an issue concerning Oliver. Upon the mention of Oliver, Tatsu agreed to listen.

Nyssa explained that Oliver's sister, Thea Queen, needed the Lotus as she was dying from her bloodlust. Tatsu then willingly gave Nyssa the Lotus to save Thea's life. This led to Tatsu being forced to leave the Order, and she soon returned to Hong Kong, serving as a vigilante to protect the city.

Reunion with Oliver

In late 2019, Tatsu saved Oliver and John Diggle from a group of Shu gang members and brought them to her hideout. There, she learned of Oliver's mission given by Mar Novu to look for a scientist named Dr. Robert Wong. Through her contact in the Hong Kong Police Force, Tatsu helped Oliver to track down Robert's location in a safehouse in the Wan Chai district. However, their attempts to take Wong failed when Chien Na Wei appeared and captured him.

Tatsu then assisted Oliver and Diggle in uncovering the project Robert was working on, discovering the project to have taken place in a heavily fortified PLA garrison. After Oliver managed to infiltrate the garrison, they learned that the triads were after the Alpha-Omega virus that Robert had recreated.

Later on, while Oliver met with Chien to negotiate an exchange of the virus with Robert, Tatsu and Diggle attacked the triads in an attempt to retrieve the virus. Tatsu confronted Chien by the docks and managed to defeat her. However, she was later injured with a distraction caused by Chien. Before she was finished off, Tatsu was saved by Laurel Lance with her Canary Cry. While Tatsu recuperates from her injuries, Oliver informed her that he was going to Nanda Parbat for answers on the Monitor.

Personality

It was stated that Tatsu hated Oliver, she did not hide this either when she openly told Oliver he can thank her for helping him with his tasks by disassociating himself with her family once his job was done, unaware that Oliver was only helping Amanda Waller to safeguard her and her family. She later warmed up a bit to Oliver as he confronted Chinese Triad members in an attempt to find Maseo, after Oliver played a vital role in saving her life and stopping the Omega weapon, Tatsu's opinion of Oliver changed completely, even offering to stay with their family in Japan for a couple days so he can relax before returning to Starling City.

Tatsu deeply cares for her son and husband, which may be the reason for her hostile stance towards outsiders.

Upon, reuniting with Oliver five years later, Tatsu now considers Oliver a friend as she addressed him by his name, something she never once did when she hated him. Tn the present day, although she still loves Maseo, Tatsu is estranged from her husband since he joined the League of Assassins.

Abilities

Tatsu killing two attackers at once.

• Peak of human physical condition: As a member of the Crescent Order, Tatsu is in top physical condition.
• Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: After becoming a member of the Crescent Order, Tatsu became an extremely skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, as she was able to defeat many members of the League of Assassins and hold her own against Maseo Yamashiro for quite some time before being bested. Tatsu had also became skilled enough to fight on par against Nyssa al Ghul and could defeat Chien Na White.
  • Master swordswoman: Tatsu is a highly skilled swordswoman, as she cut down multiple Shu gang members in mere seconds. Tatsu could hold her own for a while against Chien Na Wei, but was eventually bested. After becoming a member of the Crescent Order, Tatsu's abilities as a swordswoman have greatly improved, allowing her to easily defeat many members of the League of Assassins by herself and hold her own against Maseo for quite some time in a sword fight before being bested. She was also able to duel evenly against Nyssa al Ghul. She also managed to disarm Chien Na Wei of her knives and overpower her.
  • Expert knife wielder: Tatsu was able to kill a member of the Chinese Triad by throwing a knife at him.
• Medical knowledge: Tatsu has displayed a masterful level of knowledge and expertise when it comes to using herbs as alternative medicine, so much so that she was able to heal Oliver back to life after he suffered a fatal wound at the hands of Ra's al Ghul.
• Meditation: Tatsu is skilled in meditation and was able to guide Oliver into using it to analyze his memories.
• Multilingual: As a native Japanese, Tatsu speaks that language fluently, in addition to Chinese and English.

Equipment

• Yamashiro family katana: In battle, Tatsu wields a katana that was passed down through generations of the Yamashiro family, having once been wielded by Ichiro and Masako Yamashiro.
• Katana: After a period of only using one sword, Tatsu has started using a second katana along with her family sword.
• Suit: Tatsu wears a protective suit as her heroine alter-ego to hide her identity from her enemies. It is unknown what materials the suit made out of.

Appearances

Arrow

Season 3 "The Calm" (flashbacks) "Guilty" (flashbacks) "Draw Back Your Bow" (flashbacks) "The Climb" (flashbacks) "Left Behind" "Midnight City" "Uprising" "Nanda Parbat" (flashbacks) "Public Enemy" "Broken Arrow" (flashbacks) "The Fallen" (flashbacks) "Al Sah-him" (flashbacks) "This Is Your Sword" "My Name Is Oliver Queen" Season 4 "Unchained" "Sins of the Father" (mentioned) Season 5 "Missing" (flashbacks) Season 7 "Level Two" (mentioned) Season 8 "Welcome to Hong Kong"

Gallery

Concept artwork

Trivia

• Tatsu was Oliver Queen's fifth mentor, after her husband, Maseo.

Behind the scenes

• In DC comics, Tatsu Yamashiro is a heroine known as "Katana" and was originally associated with Batman as part of his superhero team, The Outsiders. She became a hero after the murders of her husband, Maseo Yamashiro, and daughters, Yuki and Reiko. Tatsu's main weapon is a sword called Soultaker, in which she captures the spirits of those who are killed by its blade and communicates with souls of deceased relatives.
  • In the Prime Earth continuity, Tatsu wears the same outfit as seen in Arrow​​.
    • Despite sporting her vigilante outfit from the comics though, she is only referred to as "Katana" in concept art and merchandise, never on-screen.
• Tatsu was originally supposed to be played by Devon Aoki but due to other commitments, Rila Fukushima was cast for the role.