Shakira
Context
Shakira was one of the main characters in DC Comics’ Warlord stories. She appeared some years in, in 1980, and her hips don’t lie.
Warlord is a mix of Tarzan, heroic fantasy, pulpish land-that-time-forgot and planetary romance. And no doubt a few other things. There are swords and dinosaurs.
These here notes are primarily about porting her once hard-to-find Mayfair DC Heroes RPG stats. It’s not a full-featured character profile.
Background
- Real Name: Shakira.
- Marital Status: Single.
- Known Relatives: None.
- Base Of Operations: Skartaris.
- Group Affiliation: None
- Height: 5’7” (as cat, 15”). Weight: 118lbs (as cat, 12lbs).
- Eyes: Blue-green Hair: Black
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Powers and Abilities
Shakira can transform herself at will from a woman into a cat and back again, presumably by magic. She retains her human intellect in her cat form.
In human form Shakira has great cat-like agility. She is a superb athlete and hand-to-hand combatant, and highly skilled in the use of Skartarian weapons such as spears.
History
In the extradimensional realm of Skartaris , Travis Morgan, the adventurer known as the Warlord was once captured by giants known as the Titans. In battling the Titans, Morgan killed one of them, which left only five of their race alive. Their queen, Amarant, decreed that as a punishment Morgan was to be killed.
In captivity Morgan met Shakira, a young woman Amarant kept as a slave. Shakira wanted Morgan to help her escape, and so Morgan killed two more Titans before he and Shakira were captured again.
Amarant placed them in an arena to battle a savage woolly rhinoceros. Using her remarkable agility, Shakira defeated the beast. Amarant fell to her death, and Shakira and Morgan killed the remaining Titans. Afterward, the startled Morgan witnessed Shakira transform into a cat.
Shakira has been a frequent ally and companion of Morgan ever since, but she has not revealed her past to him.
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The Tamara quandary
During more recent travels Morgan met a young woman named Tamara, who greatly resembled Shakira. An orphan, Tamara became the ward of her uncle. He was an alchemist who abducted young women and tried to turn them into cats. She did not know how often he succeeded.
Many of the women on whom her uncle experimented when the local townspeoples, outraged at the kidnappings, burned his home. However, Tamara and her uncle escaped.
He later experimented on her, with the result that Tamara became a weretigress. Her uncle claimed that repeated transformations would eventually cause the subject to change from being a tame feline into a savage, man-killing beast. Finally, Tamara, transformed into a tigress, attacked her uncle. What happened to them is unknown.
Under the collar
When he returned to Shakira, Morgan noticed that she wore the same kind of spiked collar that Tamara and her uncle’s other experimental subjects wore. Morgan wondered if Shakira and Tamara were somehow connected, and if Shakira would herself someday become a savage killer beast.
Since then Shakira has met an old friend named Daimon, who also wears a spiked collar and can become a small black cat.
As yet the mystery of Shakira’s origin remain unsolved. Morgan has even speculated that she might not be a woman who turns into a cat, but rather a cat who turns into a woman.
Description
See illustration.
Personality
Shakira has many of the traits popularly associated with cats : she’s fiercely independent, secretive, hates water, enjoys stalking prey, and her mood fluctuates between playful and aloof. She’s a tremendous flirt and (depending on the writer) sexually promiscuous.
Her relationship with Morgan, though, seems strictly platonic. She clearly has great affection for him, but is often exasperated by his pretentiousness and macho swagger. If she feels he’s making too big an ass of himself, she’ll respond with sarcasm, give him the cold shoulder, or abandon him completely (though she always comes back, sooner or later).
Quotes
“I leave you alone once, and look what happens ! Can’t you do anything right ?”
Game Stats — DC Heroes RPG
Tell me more about the game stats
Shakira
| Dex: 06 | Str: 03 | Bod: 03 | Motivation: Thrill |
| Int: 04 | Wil: 02 | Min: 05 | Occupation: Cat |
| Inf: 06 | Aur: 03 | Spi: 05 | Resources {or Wealth}: 002 |
| Init: 020 | HP: 035 |
Skills:
Acrobatics (athletics, climbing): 11, Charisma: 05, Evasion: 09, Martial artist: 07, Military science (tracking): 09, Thief (stealth): 10, Weaponry (melee, missile): 09
Advantages:
Alter ego (cat form), Lightning Reflexes.
Connections:
Travis Morgan (High).
Drawbacks:
Dark Secret (origin), SIA to thinking and act like a feline, even in human form.
Equipment:
Spear [BODY 02, Enhance (EV): 02 (cap is 06), Descriptor: Bludgeoning, Piercing, R#3, Limitation: Bludgeoning has Limited penetration]. If the spearwielder’s opposition is within a four feet range, the spearwielder gets a -1 to the final roll of their melee attacks while the opposition gets a +1 to the final roll of their melee attacks. If the range is greater, these are reversed.
Alter ego : Cat form
| Dex: 04 | Str: 01 | Bod: 02 |
Powers:
Analytical smell/tracking scent: 04, Extended hearing: 03, Shrinking: 04, Super-hearing: 03
Bonuses and Limitations:
Shrinking is Always On and already factored in.
Skills:
Acrobatics*: 04, Military science (tracking): 08, Thief (stealth) 10
Source of Character: Warlord comics (DCU).