Onyx was a longstanding fully capable member of the League of Assassins, who eventually decided to retire from her life of murder.
History
When she left, she chose life in an Ashram Monastery (in the same order to which Green Arrow had once belonged to). The Ashram's Exalted Master was later killed by a renegade monk named "Lars," who intended to unravel the "Wisdom Key" that unlocked the powerful "Book of Ages." Onyx sought Green Arrow's help to defeat the villain. In the Ashram, Green Arrow and Onyx were defeated by Lars' minions, and the monk took the Wisdom Key from Onyx. Upon opening the Book of Ages, however, Lars was vaporized.
Later, Onyx appeared in Star City battling a villain named "Barricade"[1]. Barricade turned out to be Lars again, who had been revived by his underlings. The spell that had apparently killed him was reversed only as long as he remained in contact with the Book of Ages, but he was attempting to make the reversal permanent by possessing the Wisdom Key again. In a battle with Onyx, Green Arrow, and Black Canary, Barricade again met defeat, and was reduced to a heap of bones.
Following this incident, Onyx was not seen for several years. She briefly returned as part of Wonder Woman's team of super-heroines to battle Circe's minions[2].
War Games
Main article: Batman: War Games
Onyx returned to monastery life, but was called upon by the Batman to serve as a bodyguard for influential new Gotham City undercover Batman agent, "Orpheus."[3] As his bodyguard, Onyx was present at the moment when the gang war broke out in Gotham.[4] She was seriously injured during a battle with the Yakuza gang[5] and she was taken to Leslie Thompkins' clinic, where she escaped before being taken by police officers.[6] Onyx joined Orpheus and the Hill gang and started working to get the situation under control.[7]
While she was on a mission, Orpheus was killed by Black Mask. When she returned to him, Black Mask was posing as Orpheus and told Onyx to procure an special gas machine for him.[8] She contacts Batman and "Orpheus" to report the mission but Batman scolds her after he found Orpheus fighting Zeiss and she wasn't there to protect him.[8] Onyx returned to Orpheus' apartment at once and she discovered the dead body of Gavin King, the real Orpheus and she reports the news to Batman. However, it is already too late as Black Mask has already destroyed Batman's plan and Onyx has to go to Robinson Park to help Batman and the others.[9] She arrives a bit later to the battlefield, just in time to fight the dozens of criminals that Black Mask unleashed against Batman.[10] When the battle was over, and after learning of Orpheus' death, Batman told Onyx to take the leadership of the Hill gang.[11] However, Onyx found herself in troubles when Killer Croc's gang captured and tortured her for information about Croc's location. Onyx was saved by Batgirl's timely appearance.[12] Afterwards, Onyx was summoned along with all the Bat-Family to fight the final battle against Black Mask at Oracle's Watchtower. Onyx and the others fough against Scarecrow, who was transformed into the Scarebeast and after the battle, Onyx disappeared to avoid being captured by the police.[13]
Onyx assumed the leadership of the Hill Gang after Orpheus' murder and she organized the gang to fight against the forces of the new crimelord, Black Mask.[14] During one of the ensuing battles between the Hill Gang and the Odessa Mob, Onyx defeated Alexandra Kosov and told her to never again meddle with the Hill Gang.[15]
Onyx started investigating the drug dealing racket and after learning that the dealers were working for a new criminal called Red Hood, she tried to get more information by sneaking into a secret meeting of drug dealers. However, she was soon discovered by Red Hood, himself.[16] However, the criminal didn't hurt her and instead they teamed up to crash the meeting. They got out of the warehouse and Red Hood killed all the thugs, causing Onyx to turn against him. Red Hood stabbed her in the shoulder and got the upper hand before the fight even begun.[17] After a brief display of power, Red Hood took the dagger out of Onyx's shoulder and gave her a piece of garment that stopped the bleeding. Before he could hurt her further, Batman arrived and changed Red Hood's attention away from Onyx.[18]
Onyx was not seen again until it was revealed she is currently working as one of Oracle's contacts for the Birds of Prey.[19]
Onyx was most recently seen training with Cassandra Cain/Batgirl, in Blüdhaven.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Martial Arts: Onyx has fought in hand to hand with Cassandra Cain and managed to perform quite well.[20]
- Weaponry
- Stealth: Onyx is schooled in all known assassin techniques such as pressure points, killing techniques and stealth to name a few. She has previously worked with and been taught by the League of Assassins.
Notes
- Although this character was originally introduced during DC's Earth-One era of publication, their existence following the events of the 1985–86 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths remains intact. However, some elements of the character's Pre-Crisis history may have been altered or removed for Post-Crisis New Earth continuity, and should be considered apocryphal.
Recommended Reading
Related
- 41 Appearances of Onyx Adams (New Earth)
- 9 Images featuring Onyx Adams (New Earth)
- 1 Quotations by or about Onyx Adams (New Earth)
- Character Gallery: Onyx Adams (New Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ Detective Comics #566
- ↑ Wonder Woman (Volume 2) #174
- ↑ Detective Comics #795
- ↑ Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure #1
- ↑ Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182
- ↑ Detective Comics #798
- ↑ Nightwing (Volume 2) #97
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Batman #632
- ↑ Detective Comics #799
- ↑ Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184
- ↑ Nightwing (Volume 2) #98
- ↑ Batgirl #57
- ↑ Batman #633
- ↑ Detective Comics #800
- ↑ Batman #634
- ↑ Batman #639
- ↑ Batman #640
- ↑ Batman #641
- ↑ Birds of Prey #114
- ↑ Detective Comics #796
Batman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category. |
Birds of Prey member |
League of Assassins member |