Savant (Wildstorm)

Savant is a fictional comic book character, created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Jim Lee, that has appeared in books published by Wildstorm Productions and DC Comics. She first appeared in WildC.A.T.S. #11 (June 1994).

Fictional character biography

Savant's real name is Kenesha. She is the daughter of Lord Majestros (Mr. Majestic) and Lady Zannah (better known as Zealot). However, Zannah, wanting to be a warrior, could not be a mother. Zannah chose not to kill her child, but to ensure her daughter's happiness, Zannah's mother Lady Harmony offered to pass the child off as her own instead. She names the child Kenesha, which means "The Survivor". This has led Kenesha to believe she is actually Zannah's sister, rather than daughter; only Zannah and Lady Harmony were initially aware of the truth.

Like the other Kherubim on Earth, Kenesha and her mother Zannah were stranded thousands of years ago when their Explorer ship crashlanded after a battle with a Daemonite warship. Kenesha and the other survivors are scattered, forced to hide themselves amongst the human population. Their enemies had likewise been forced down, and though less humanoid, the Daemonites use their powers of possession and shapeshifting to blend in too. For the next few millennia, a secret war raged, with the Kherubim defending the vulnerable and oblivious humans from their would-be conquerors.

Kenesha's mother, Zannah, embraces the Coda, a warrior lifestyle, and took the name Zealot. Kenesha chose another path, becoming interested in archeology. At one point subsequent to this, Kenesha was poisoned, and in order to save her life, Zealot made a deal with a Witch named Tapestry. The witch heals Kenesha, but demanded a century of servitude from Zealot in return. Realizing Tapestry was trying to reshape her personality to make them more alike, Zealot made her sister promise to kill her should the witch succeed. Over the years she eventually acquired a love of history and became a pioneer in the field of archeology. During this period, she discovers the legendary Seven-league boots which allow Savant to run incredibly fast and teleport herself to various locations. She also came into possession of a mystic bag that seemingly has no bottom. She uses the bag to store many of her treasured finds, which usually she can somehow swiftly find and pull out of the bag's opening no matter what size or length the item inside seems to be.

In modern times, Zealot helpes found a team of warriors, the WildC.A.T.S., to fight the Daemonites. When the original team appears to have been killed, Kenesha (now calling herself Savant) joins forces with another Kherubim, Majestros (a.k.a. Mr. Majestic). After a few setbacks, the duo form a new team to carry on their legacy. At the time both Savant and Majestic were oblivious to their relation to one another. The new team includes Tao, AKA 'Tactically Augmented Organism'. Savant forms a relationship with Tao, but he was simply using her and the team in order to gain power. The new Wildcats fall apart due to Tao's machinations. Savant herself is almost killed when Tao tricks her into stepping into Grifter's gunfire. Zealot saves Savant's life. Despite the new WildC.A.T.S. falling apart, Savant stays with and assists the old team on other occasions.

Savant is the focus of the limited series 'Shattered Image'. She tries to keep reality as she knows it from splintering into six different Earths. The heroes she recruits are not entirely successful; not all Earths are re-merged.^[1]

Other allies

Savant and Majestic end up forming another team, whose adventures were published under the title Savant Garde.

Savant later joins forces with Zealot and Majestic to fight Nemesis, who urges Zealot to reveal the truth about Savant's parentage. Zealot later revealed the truth to both Savant and Majestic after Lady Harmony's death while battling an evil plot by the Shapers Guild to recreate Khera on Earth using a device known as the planet shaper. Savant's knowledge of her true parentage was retconned after the events of Worldstorm,^[2] but she was informed of it (at least in part) during the climax of the Wildstorm: Revelations series. She recently worked with Jet, teleporting the younger adventurer and acting as her command and control back at base during a mission to retrieve and eliminate data from the base of Stormwatch.

References