Lynx

(Ling)

Comics DC Universe

Power Level: Street-level

Game system: DC Heroes Role-Playing Game

Role: Character (Villainous)

Context

Lynx is primarily an enemy of Robin (Tim Drake), and mostly appeared in 1990s Robin and Batman books – first as King Snake‘s lieutenant then solo.

Lynx is a hardened criminal, street fighter and martial artist who received some interesting character development.

Background

Real Name: Ling (first or last name unrevealed).
Marital Status: Single.
Known Relatives: Unnamed mother (deceased).
Group Affiliation: Leader of the Ghost Dragons.
Base Of Operations: Formerly Hong Kong, now Gotham City.
Height: 5’7” Weight: 120 lbs. Age: About 16 or 17.
Eyes: Brown Hair: Black

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Powers and Abilities

Lynx is a pretty good martial artist – nearly on the same level as an early Robin (Tim Drake), and she can take on large number of mooks if she is highly motivated (i.e., burns her HPs). She can’t hope to go more than a few rounds against a master such as the Black Canary, however – even before Canary started training with Shiva.

Lynx is skilled with a large variety of weapons, especially knifes and staves – and later swords. She strikes very hard for her weight class (in DC Heroes terms, EV substitution from Martial Artist).

She is also a ruthless gang leader, with excellent skills in criminal management and the ability to head a major underworld concern in Gotham. And she’s mean.

Enter the Ghost Dragons

The Ghost Dragons were a huge Chinese street gang – so huge that they were a player in the world of the international syndicates, and had strong Triad contacts. Their gross was enormous, especially in the narcotics department, and they were known as a ruthless bunch, extremely skilled at street fighting.

After they recentred on Gotham and were cut off from King Snake, the Dragons became much smaller and less influential, though Lynx worked hard on keeping the operation together and salvaging whatever connections she could.

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Their current power level seems to be that of a tough street gang with a surprising network of connections in Asia and solid combat experience. Still, even on a Gothamite scale, they’re not a key player.

The Ghost Dragons prefer to settle matters with fists and melee weapons, but they are no fools – if they think they are likely to encounter opponents with firearms, they will pack pistols, machine pistols and submachineguns.

History

Ling is the only known daughter of a very poor urban Chinese family. When she was 4 or so, they managed to reach Marseilles, but their condition didn’t improve much – they were just locked in a sweat chop sewing clothes for the American market, and barely kept alive by the owner.

When Ling’s mother took ill, she was thrown out to the street and died soon after – despite the care provided by her little daughter, they couldn’t afford any drugs. Ling had to become a thieving street urchin to survive.

She became an adept pickpocket and thief while a teenager, making enough to live with some comfort.

One day Ling picked the wrong pocket, that of a local Corsican crime lord. He and his men were about to give her, at best, a bad beating when they were killed by Sir Edmund Dorrance. For unrevealed reasons, the future King Snake had decided to rescue the urchin.

Ling was just a warm body in the Paris chapter of the Ghost Dragons until a group of Dragons was defeated by ex-DEA agent Clyde Rawlins and Robin (Tim Drake). When reporting that Rawlins had escaped from them the Dragon leader, Billy Hue, lied to their boss King Snake. Dorrance sensed it and killed him with one punch.

Ling then stepped forwards and offered a brief and accurate situation report, again bringing her to King Snake’s attention. When the next field leader failed, Snake killed him too and made Lynx field leader.

The leader of the pack

Lynx headed the Dragons in recovering 2 bio-warfare supply crates from a lost 1940s German lab in France. However the intervention of Rawlins, Shiva and Robin forced them to abandon one of the crates.

Soon the pattern was repeating itself and Lynx had to lie to the murderous King Snake, telling him they had eliminated the interlopers.

That caught up with her when the trio showed up in Hong Kong but King Snake, considering himself a gentleman, couldn’t kill a woman. So he had her maimed, having his chauffeur put out one of Lynx’s eyes and scar her face to make sure he had made his point.

While King Snake was making preparations to destroy Hong Kong, he had Lynx sail to America (and more precisely Gotham) with his fortune – Snake wanted to reinvest everything in the US. She thus was away when Snake fell to his apparent death during a fight with Robin in Hong Kong.

When Lynx arrived in Gotham, Robin and Batman intercepted the cash shipment. Lynx, scarred and missing one eye, was still too psychologically shaken from the torture to pose much resistance.

Welcome to Gotham City

However King Snake had survived, and although they lacked much of their money the Ghost Dragons rapidly became major players in Gotham.

At first, they centered their operations on Chinatown. They took control of much of the area, evicting Jimmy Wing, the Chinatown “mayor” – i.e., the biggest crimelord.

They grew so confident that, when a major guns shipment they had ordered from Asia was intercepted by the Feds, Snake sent Lynx and a heavily armed party of Dragons to recover the guns before they were transported out of Gotham.

Lynx’s decisive thinking allowed the Dragons to repossess their guns, but Batman later defeated King Snake.

Lynx confronted Robin a few months later along with a pack of Ghost Dragons. Due to frustration issues Robin charged in, and had to be saved by the Huntress (Helena Bertinelli).

King Snake then had Lynx manage the growing friction with the Russian mafia, and more specifically the Hammer mob, which was encroaching on King Snake’s territory. The Dragons struck well and drove the Russians back. Lynx killed the Commissar, Hammer’s chief, while King Snake was fighting KGBeast.

Growin’ up

As Lynx grew up, she became more of a junior partner in King Snake’s operation – though it remained clear that Dorrance could easily kill her. She still hated him, though, in good part because he was a White man in a position of power in an Asian mob.

This got worse when King Snake, out of sheer arrogance, declared war on his own suppliers in the Golden Triangle. The resulting fighting to become the top supplier of Asian-produced narcotics in Gotham shook the city. Not wanting to see the Dragons wasted in a needless war, Lynx even tried to kill her boss.

The showdown didn’t go well for Lynx and her crew, but King Snake didn’t kill her immediately. Lynx’s life saved by Robin and the Huntress. By this point, the Ghost Dragons were now more loyal toward her than toward Dorrance.

King Snake’ uncharacteristic choice not to kill Lynx as soon as he could may have been romantically motivated. Lynx was once referred to as “Snake’s concubine”. Whether that is true is unrevealed, but they might have had something going back to their first year in Gotham – not necessarily with Lynx’s consent.

Underworld

With Snake cut off from his power base, Lynx was in control of most Ghost Dragons in Gotham, and started clashing with the loyalists. Once those were out of the picture, rival gangs moved in to eliminate the Dragons while they were weak.

Furthermore, the new powers-that-be in the Golden Triangle sent the Silver Monkey to Gotham, perhaps to take direct control of the market.

Lynx attempted to consolidate her new power with another attempt at killing King Snake, but Batman thwarted her. King Snake was arrested, and Lynx slipped away. She was presumably quite busy leading the beleaguered Ghost Dragons, now a redoubtable street gang but no longer a huge criminal concern.

Lynx managed to expand the Ghost Dragons a bit more, regaining some holdings in Asia and making them feared again. They were even employed as muscle by a major international terrorist.

However, as they were working on blowing up a large dam, Lynx and a number of her men were taken down by the Black Canary (Dinah Lance). Canary then went after their employer.

No Man’s Land

Lynx was later seen in the ruins of post-earthquake Gotham, where the Ghost Dragons were nearly destroyed by a new post-quake gang called the Fists Of Heavenly Serendipity. She led the investigating Batman to her enemies, and he quickly discovered how the FoHS could power their turf – they had slaves locked underground, pedalling on training bikes hooked to generators.

Spotting a little girl among the slaves, Lynx grew angry as she was reminded of her past. She fought along with Batman against the FoHS until the pair had to retreat due to being outnumbered.

However, Lynx’s fighting fury had inspired the slave kid, who triggered a revolt which broke the FoHs’ back. The girl, however, died in the fighting – leaving a confused Lynx alone to take the responsibility for her actions.

Recent sightings

There have been scattered Lynx appearances since, but they tend to be puzzling and took place in story arcs presenting continuity problems.

During the “War Games” gangland crisis in Gotham, Lynx was seen working as one of the operatives/enforcers/bodyguards for the Penguin. What she was doing there was unexplained.

As a No-Prize explanation , it is possible that she had the Dragons lay low during the worst of the gangland war so as to emerge stronger after it, and went on to gather information and discuss alliances with key players such as the Penguin.

A short while later she and her Ghost Dragons came to take control of Leslie Thompkins’ clinic, claiming it as their field hospital (perhaps she had the Ghost Dragons attempt a surge to take turf, but did it too soon and had her men beaten back). The tense Lynx also wanted to scour the clinic and finish off rival gang members, which of course meant the opposition of Dr. Thompkins and led to the intervention of Batgirl (Cassandra Cain).

Witnessing the incredible skill of Batgirl, Lynx summoned the Ghost Dragon spirit into her. She was still well on her way to be defeated, and a katana-wielding Ghost Dragon attempted to help her. Due to the speed of the two combatants, the man mistakenly slashed Lynx.

The consequences of the blow were left ambiguous – Lynx may have been decapitated, or may just have had her right ear sliced off.

Some months later, the corpse of a woman looking like Lynx, dressed in a fake Batgirl costume, was used as part of a League of Assassins conspiracy to have Robin be mistaken for a killer. Whether that was the real Lynx or some ringer with an eye patch remains unrevealed.

Description

In their most recent appearance, most Ghost Dragon members were wearing red hoods with a draconic motif.

Personality

Lynx is a brutal, angry, self-centered criminal who lives to amass power and for the rush of violence and transgression. She long lived in a complex balance of deadly fear and angry resentment toward King Snake, but the freedom and feeling of power she had when heading Ghost Dragon troops were intoxicating.

She sees herself as a sort of miniature female Conan, and hates it when the Dragons act like wusses – i.e., are not as unhinged, savage and unreasonably brave as she can get. She will kill her henchmen if they get in the way of a good shot, but is not as casually bloodthirsty as King Snake, and often resented him for wasting Dragons for no reason.

Lynx often burned her HPs in the first few Phases of a fight, making her look pretty tough – then found herself at a disadvantage if her enemy hasn’t been knocked out. She now appears to be much more careful – when she fought along with Batman, she kept the vast majority of her HPS to Push her OV and do LDDs.

Values

She dislikes it when White guys (“gwailo”) mess with the business of the Triads and Asian gangs in general. She also has an obvious soft spot for poor, oppressed immigrants, especially if they are kids.

She has expressed the opinion that, while boys were good at wanton destruction, it took a woman to have actual acumen and lead a gang constructively. Ironically, she herself acts in a very macho way when it comes to violence and pain.

On the surface, Lynx is still a tough, mean, angry criminal. However, when she fought along Batman to free the slaves, he noted that she was actually risking her life out of altruism. Lynx angrily denied that, telling him she was fighting just for the rush of it and her own selfish gratification – stating she just liked being that tough and taking pleasure out of imposing some rough justice.

Her anti-heroic Thrill of Adventure motivation seems to have become dominant over her Power motivation, and it is not impossible she has started a slow journey toward the Seeking Justice motivation.

Quotes

“Next time, bird boy…”

“Get your own damn jacket, Edmund ! I never was your handmaiden !”

“I’ve dealt with worse than this. I don’t need any pansy painkiller. What I need is PAYBACK !”

Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG

Tell me more about the game stats

Lynx (Classic)

Dex: 06	Str: 02	Bod: 04	Motivation: Power and anti-heroic Thrill
Int: 04	Wil: 04	Min: 04	Occupation: Gang leader
Inf: 04	Aur: 03	Spi: 04	Resources {or Wealth}: 006
Init: 016		HP: 020

Skills:
Acrobatics: 04, Charisma (Intimidation): 04, Detective (Legwork): 04, Martial artist: 05, Thief (Pickpocket, stealth): 04, Weaponry (Melee weapons)*: 06, Weaponry (Firearms): 05

Advantages:
Credentials (Ghost Dragons, High), Language (Cantonese Chinese, French).

Connections:
Underworld (Low), Street (High).

Drawbacks:
MPR (missing left eye), Minor Rage.

Equipment:
Lynx often has a Knife [BODY 06, EV 03 (06 w/Martial artist)] on her person, usually in a thigh sheath. Although she prefers unarmed combat or martial arts weapons, she will use a firearm in a pinch or if faced with opponents with guns – usually an assault rifle.

Growin’ up – possible later stats

The stats in the main block are intended for the classic Dixon issues of Robin – specifically for much of Lynx’s time in Gotham. Ling has been through a lot of Character Advancement both before and after that, though.

Back in Hong Kong, she wasn’t as good – DEX was two APs lower, and most of her Skills were one AP lower due to inexperience. She already had her 20 HPs, though.

As she consolidates her power over the Ghost Dragons in Gotham and continues growing up and training, her stats increase – by the time of the earthquake in Gotham, she’s clearly stronger, physically and socially, than the stats above. However, Ling’s appearances at that point become scattered and disjointed, and there’s simply not enough material to credibly offer stats.

Rather than pile up notes about the vague hints we have and their possible game meanings, here’s a stats block – but as noted, this is *extremely tentative* and poorly supported.

Dex: 06	Str: 03	Bod: 05	Motivation: Power and perhaps anti-heroic Justice
Int: 05	Wil: 04	Min: 05	Occupation: Gang leader
Inf: 05	Aur: 04	Spi: 05	Resources {or Wealth}: 006
Init: 018		HP: 025

Skills:
Acrobatics: 05, Charisma (Intimidation): 05, Detective (Legwork): 05, Martial artist: 06, Thief (Pickpocket, stealth): 04, Weaponry (Melee weapons)*: 06, Weaponry (Firearms): 05

Advantages:
Credentials (Ghost Dragons, High), Language (Cantonese Chinese, French), Misc.: Ghost Dragon Trance, see below.

Connections:
Underworld (Low), Street (High).

Drawbacks:
MPR (missing left eye), Minor Rage.

Equipment:
Ling is more likely to arm herself with a sword [BODY 06, EV 04 (07 w/Martial Artist)] than a knife at that point, though she may still pack knives as a backup.

Dragon trance

One of Lynx’s more recent appearance had her display a wholly new ability – the ability to enter something she called the Ghost Dragon Trance.

She meditated for some time, and when she was done her irises went solid grey, she was possessed of some improved abilities, and her moves were accompanied by shadowy, serpentine, somewhat dragon-like shapes. Her own shadow was that of a serpent-like dragon.

The enhancements derived from the Ghost Dragon Trance seem best represented as an Alter-Ego. Lynx in this alter ego seemed to be about DEX 08 STR 06 BODY 06, with Martial Artist: 09 and Jumping: 02, though there may be more to it.

It apparently took 3-4 Phases for her to enter the Ghost Dragon Trance, and activate her Alter-Ego. It is probably that activating this Alter-Ego comes with a HPs fee – perhaps ten points – since she seemed short on HPs while fighting, and had to keep what was left for LDD.

It is possible that mastering this mystical trance, apparently involving some sort of dragon spirit, implies that Lynx has developed some Occultist Subskills (perhaps knowledge and rituals at 02 APs, plus an Expertise in a specific area of Chinese mysticism), but this is even more tentative then the stats above.