Consider a figure that possesses an unlimited amount of knowledge in terms of assassination tactics; next, consider a skilled martial artist and not just any, but one who has been specifically educated to kill.
Also, if we are going to take it a step further, no one has ever seen her face! With the exception of Terry McGinnis, who had participated in a battle with her as Batman, no one. We should also mention that Terry was terrified to death when he caught a glimpse of her before being kicked in the face.
Do you have any idea who we are talking about? Curaré, the Society of Assassins’ fiercest and most infallible killer, is the individual in question.
The genuine identity of the antagonist in this story is still unknown, and no one knows her real name. This silent assassin, on the other hand, has proven to be more than a formidable foe for Batman.
One may easily deduce that her face is deformed in some way based on the caped crusader’s reaction when he first saw it. In today’s video, we will not only talk about Curaré, but we will also go at her terrible origin story, her appearances in the Batman Beyond Animated Television Series, and what makes her such a lethal figure.
Are you prepared? So, let us get started!
Curaré – Tragic Origin Story Explored
JUSTICE LEAGUE BEYOND – CHAPTER 21 – BEYOND ORIGINS: GREEN LANTERN KAI-RO
Co-written by Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen, the narrative has High Lamas on the lookout for the next Dalai Lama. It has been more than five years but they still have not been able to find their chosen leader.
The current search has taken them to the sacred holy lake in central Tibet called Lhamo La-Tso so as to meditate and look for a vision. Or perhaps a voice – a voice of a wailing baby. Discovered by a monk, the child was brought to the temple nestled high in the Himalayas.
The High Lama counsel elders upon seeing the boy take him in and come to a decision to raise him in spite of being not sure if he is the next chosen one. They wish to determine that later through a test.
As years pass by, the boy Kai-Ro starts growing up. He is seen living a very contented life at the temple doing all the chores and relishing the simplicities of life. The young boy is particularly seen to share a rather special bond with one of the female monks there, whom he addresses as ‘sister’.
However, the duo’s views on life differed vastly; while the sister considered the temple as a cage, blamed her parents for leaving her with the monks, and was of the opinion that life beyond the temple would provide her with wealth, Kai-Ro was quite happy with what life offered him and prayed that his sister found peace at the temple just the way he did.
Soon, came the day of the test; if the ‘chosen one’ passes it, he would be the re-incarnated Dalai Lama that the High Lamas believe him to be. It is a huge gathering, one that’s attended by the Buddhists from three other monasteries, secular clergies as well as other monks.
While Kai-Ro is made to sit in the front for the test, the sister intervenes and asks the elders why were they not following the old tradition of deciding the chosen one by drawing a name out of the golden urn.
The High Lamas have clearly decided to do things a bit differently this time; therefore, they ask the sister to step back and observe much to her dismay. Soon, a list of gathered items is placed in front of the young boy. As part of the test, one of the items belonged to the previous Dalai Lama and if Kai-Ro could identify the right item, he would be seen as the ‘true re-incarnation of his predecessor’.
With Kai-Ro moving his hand closer to the items, a Green Lantern ring rises by itself and chooses him. The boy is selected to become the new Green Lantern of Sector 2814. While the question remained if he chose the ring or was it the other way round, all the monks present there were both filled with wonder as well as scared by the power Kai-Ro was suddenly in possession of.
Well, of course, the sister stepped in and attempted to take advantage of the situation by stating that they should be using the urn. But somehow, the urn gets knocked down and now shattered, it revealed the sister’s name on the sticks.
It is quite clear that all of the original sticks were replaced by the sister’s names, which is why the sister had been insisting on all this while doing things the traditional way and using the urn to identify the chosen one.
It was time for the monks to come to a decision and after witnessing the whole event, they made up their minds to not have elements of great power and the darkness of the soul on their sacred grounds. They asked the duo to leave.
Well, it was time for both Kai-Ro and the sister to forge new paths. The resentful sister refused to acknowledge Kai-Ro as the chosen one; as for the latter, he expressed his grief that his sister was too dazed and she just could not see past her own ambitions and abhorrence. Before the duo parted ways, the sister renounced Kai-Ro as her brother and vowed to meet him the next time as enemies.
Well, it was very clear that the duo headed in two opposite directions. While Kai-Ro put his faith in the path of light, the sister embraced the path of darkness. The sister was seen undertaking a certain procedure performed by a dark monastery, one that caused her skin to develop a particular blue pigmentation. No points for guessing who the sister is now. It is often assumed that it was this very method that caused Curaré’s transformation and had her cover her face for the rest of her life. With Kai-Ro joining the corps, Curaré eventually becomes a member of The Society of Assassins.
Appearances In Batman Beyond Animated Television Series
A Touch of Curaré
Directed by Dan Riba and written by Hilary J. Bader, the 12th episode of Batman Beyond marks the first appearance of the unstoppable assassin, Curaré. Still bragging a current IMDb rating of 8.1, the episode begins with Commissioner Barbara Gordon enjoying a late-night walk inside the Gotham Park with her husband, District Attorney Sam Young when they suddenly get attacked by a strange woman dressed in white, boasting blue skin and a covered face.
Judging by her appearance, she clearly looked like an assassin and a deadly one, if we may add. Anyhow, she starts attacking them with her scimitar, one that is actually sharp enough to cut trees. Barbara does her best to defend herself as well as her husband and starts shooting at her only to see the mysterious woman deflect the shots easily using her sword.
With the intervention of Batman in the scene, Barbara is able to buy herself just enough time to inform the police of the attack. With the police arriving, they start shooting both at Batman as well as the woman. While Barbara tells her men to leave Batman and focus on the woman, the latter easily manages to escape.
Later at the Batcave, Terry learns more about the mysterious woman from Bruce, who tells him her name, Curaré, and even shows him the only photo that the Interpol has of her. As a member of the Society of Assassins, she is deadly and also in possession of a scimitar that’s honed to perfection by lasers. With Terry deciding to look after Barbara in case Curaré attacks her again, Bruce tells him that she isn’t Curaré’s target.
That’s precisely when Barbara arrives at the Batcave and tells them who the main target is – her husband. Of course, Terry is shocked to see the commissioner there and wonders how did she even manage to get inside. Barbara discloses to both of them how her husband is scheduled to testify at the trial of Fyodor Davis, the international arms dealer.
Without the testimony, Davis is a free man and that’s why he has arranged for a hitman for her husband before the deposition. As for Terry, he is further shocked to discover that Barbara was once Batgirl. Before leaving, Barbara tells both of them to stay outside the matters of police.
Post-Curaré’s first attempt to assassinate Sam Young gets thwarted, and she is reproached by the Master Assassin for her failure. The Master gave her a reminder of how she has been taught to expect the unexpected and that no one for that matter should make a difference to her. Further reminding her of the price of failure, which by the way happens to be dead, she is sent back to complete her task.
The next scene shows Sam Young being kept inside a heavily guarded house. Curaré makes her move right after she sees Barbara leaving the house. It goes without saying that she is effortlessly able to take out all the men and makes it very easily inside the house, followed by Terry of course. Post a brief struggle between the duo, Terry is successful in taking off her mask and is shocked to see her face.
But Curaré kicks him right in his face and makes her way inside the D.A.’s room. Inside, she hurls her scimitar at the D.A. and in this case, a dummy which means the whole thing was a set-up. While both of them manage to escape, a Batarang is left behind, disclosing his involvement.
Post discovering the Batarang, Barbara decides to have a word alone with Terry. When she tells him that she will arrest him as well as Bruce if she finds them involved, Terry questions her regarding her hatred for Bruce. That is when Barbara tells him that she does not hate him and later over coffee, she tells him about her past as Batgirl, the fact that she called it off with Dick Grayson just so she could stay behind with Bruce, and that she gave up the life when it dawned upon her that Bruce would always choose his vigilante life over everything else.
Well, soon came the night of the trial and Curaré gets to know how Sam is being taken to the court. As for Bruce, he tells Terry about the Society of Assassin’s usual procedure of killing their very members who fail to carry out the task given to them. Speaking of Curaré, she is the best, one who has never failed the Society. Next, we are shown Sam Young on a train with Barbara.
As always, Curaré is seen to pursue them. Not only does she manage to overthrow the guards but also manages to derail the train. This results in Sam Young’s train compartment getting separated from the rest and crashing into the side of a building. Barbara and her husband are seen taking refuge inside a meat processing plant, one where they seal themselves.
While Barbara assures her husband that there is a 10-inch thick steel door that’s separating them from Curaré, she is absolutely shocked to see the assassin easily getting through the door by cutting a circle on it via her scimitar of course. Curaré is just about to strike them when she gets intervened by Batman for the third time in a row.
What ensues is a deadly fight with Curaré now throwing daggers at her opponent as well as attacking him with her sword. With one of her daggers activating the meat grinder, the fight leads them right over it. Curaré is about to incapacitate Batman with her sword when Barbara throws a Batarang towards her, one that actually knocks her sword and lands it right into the grinder. Curaré is ultimately captured by Batman.
Terry is later seen talking to Bruce over the phone when he gets to know from a news report about Curaré escaping from police custody. While her whereabouts remain unknown, Bruce tells Terry not to worry because she has other concerns to take care of. The episode ends with Curaré driving a police car when a sword suddenly stabs right down through the car roof next to her.
Final Cut
Directed by Butch Lukic and co-written by Hilary J. Bader and Alan Burnett, the 28th episode of Batman Beyond has the unstoppable assassin, Curaré, reappearing. Boasting a current IMDb rating of 7.9, the episode is more like a follow-up post the events of A Touch of Curaré. It begins with a private jet making a brief landing at an airport. There seems to be a minor repair to be taken care of.
With the audience getting a peek at the passenger of the plane, it’s shown to be Devon, also known as Master Assassin, the head of the Society of Assassins. Devon is pretty nervous and he has every reason to be. Why else would he spend a constant three months traveling via his private jet, without ever touching down on land? He is seen telling another member of the Society, Mutro Botha, to reach out to Batman in order to defeat Curaré when the assassin is seen making her way on board the plane and waiting for it to take off.
As planned, she attacks the Master Assassin who is briefly able to dodge her initial attacks. Curaré throws a small gas capsule towards him that upon exploding, releases a certain chemical that sort of wipes his mind clean. Post that, she is seen jumping right out of the plane.
Back in Gotham City, Mutro Botha as the last surviving member of the Society of Assassins encounters Batman and tells him about the Society’s standard procedure of killing their members who fail to carry out the task given to them. He is obviously hinting at Curaré, who has been unsuccessful in completing her task and was supposed to be executed but the assassin ended up reversing the circumstances by hunting down the members one after the other. When he tells Batman that he required his protection, the latter points out that both of them were assassins at the end of the day and there was no point helping one from the other.
That is when Mutro discloses to Batman the real deal. He has implanted a bomb in the city and only he is capable of deactivating it but he would not do so if Batman does not defeat Curaré. Terry contacts Max and she is more than happy to help him out.
So, with Mutro leaving his hotel room, Max sneaks inside looking for clues. Of course, Batman is highly enraged to hear that Max is inside and while the latter tells him that she has everything under control, we get to see Curaré entering Mutro’s room.
The assassin is seen intensely attacking Max, who runs into the bathroom and locks it. While she hides behind the shower curtains, Curaré cuts through the door and slashes right through the curtain. Max lets out a shriek. Batman, who had been keeping an eye on Mutro leaves him in the middle of the street and goes back to the hotel room, where he is relieved to find Max alive and terrified. She tells him that the assassin backed off as soon as she got a good look at her. Batman tells her to go back home and stay indoors.
Meanwhile, Mutro gets ambushed by Curaré at a park and while he is able to dodge her first few attempts, the assassin eventually gets the better of him when she incapacitates him using a gas capsule. Mutro’s mind gets wiped clean by the time Batman returns for him. He is able to lay his hands on the timer device that had fallen out of Mutro’s hand while he was fighting Curaré. Upon seeing that the bomb will detonate in less than three hours, Batman reaches out to Max again but this time at her apartment.
While inspecting the remote control, Max in due course is able to figure out the possible location of the bomb – the Gotham Museum of Armaments. Batman is left with no other choice but to let Max come along with him in his batmobile to aid him in his search for the explosive. The duo reaches the museum and using a frequency scanner they are able to figure out to an extent where the bomb is placed.
It is at this very moment that Curaré reaches the same location and starts attacking Batman. Of course, he tells her about the bomb and how it’s going to kill everyone if it explodes but the assassin simply pays no heed to him. It goes without saying that a heated fight takes place between the duo amidst which the frequency scanner gets crushed. Max, however, is finally able to locate the bomb but there are hardly a few seconds left before the bomb goes off.
With less than five seconds to go, Max seeing no option options takes a leap of faith and rips off the bomb along with its wires. Luckily, that works. As for Batman, he is finally able to capture Curaré and the latter is taken into custody. Back at her apartment, Terry fixes up Max’s wounds and the latter asks him how is it that he saves the world and not tell anybody about it. Terry smiles at her and calls her his partner.
What Is It That Makes Curaré So Deadly?
Well, for starters, her chosen weapon happens to be a scimitar with a molecular edge. It is laser sharpened to an extent that lets her easily cut through anything for that matter. Be it a 10-inch thick steel door, trees or even statues, Curaré is unstoppable with her scimitar. She is also seen to be quite proficient while using dirks and gas capsules. We also just can’t disregard her levels of strength, endurance, and agility.
Jumping off a high-rise straight onto a moving train without hesitating even for once, that’s the fearless Curaré we are talking about. Her vast knowledge in relation to poison shows when she is seen easily taking down the strongest members of the Society, leaving them paralyzed and having their minds wiped completely clean. Besides all these, she is highly skilled in martial art forms and as mentioned before, she is designed to kill which is what makes her character so dangerous in the first place.
One has every reason to watch out for Curaré, who single-handedly wiped out her entire Society without uttering a single word apart from a few grunts here and there throughout her entire appearance in the comic television series.