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| Vanessa Kapatelis | ||||
| Real name | Vanessa Kapatelis | |||
| Debut | Wonder Woman v2 #3 (April 1987) | |||
| Created by | George Pérez | |||
| Affiliations | see In other media | |||
Vanessa "Nessie" Kapatelis is the daughter of David and Julia Kapatelis. She later became the third Silver Swan.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Nessie was among the first people to meet Wonder Woman when her mother, Julia, took her in. At first, she was jealous of Diana's beauty, but after Diana had rescued her from Decay, who had magically aged her by decades (and later restored), Nessie started to love her as an older sister. The high school student would sometimes dream of fighting evil alongside Diana.
The trauma of her father's death while she was a child and the later suicide of her best friend Lucy made Vanessa go over the edge and she began to blame herself for every bad thing that would happen to the people whom she cared about. Meanwhile, Doctor Psycho started to cause her to have nightmares. To help her daughter recover, the school counselor told Julia that Diana had to leave their house.
Nessie eventually recovered but she could not forgive her mother for making Diana leave and she then started to blame Diana for abandoning her. Her mixed emotions were a perfect target for Circe who decided to use her to help get her revenge upon Diana. Dr. Psycho and Circe used mental conditioning and physical implants to transform Vanessa into a new Silver Swan and then released her against her former friend.
After Circe was defeated, Diana took Nessie to a hospital in Buenos Aires so she could heal. While she was recovering, Sebastian Ballesteros, the man behind Nessie's transformation, abducted her. Veronica Cale, a woman who hated Diana very much, then bought Nessie from him and transformed her further into a cyborg, and then sent her back to fight Diana. However, this time when Diana defeated Nessie, she begged Doctor Leslie Anderson to operate on her and remove the cyborg implants. Diana then sent her to Themyscira for recovery. Vanessa's recovery from her ordeals has been slow.
Silver Swan[]
Vanessa Kapatelis is the third individual to assume the alias of the Silver Swan. A longtime friend of Wonder Woman, Vanessa was kidnapped and brainwashed into hating her former idol.
"Nessie" had the chance to meet Wonder Woman at a young age. When Wonder Woman first came to the United States, Nessie's mother, Julia, invited her into their home. At first, Nessie was jealous of Diana's beauty, but eventually the two got to know one another and formed a close bond, with Nessie loving Wonder Woman as an older sister. Only a high school student, Nessie dreamed of fighting evil alongside Wonder Woman.
Nessie had already been traumatized by her father's death when she was a child, but she was pushed over the edge when her best friend Lucy committed suicide. She began to blame herself for all the bad things that happened to the people she cared about. Doctor Psycho began causing her to have nightmares and, to help Nessie recover, the school counselor recommended that Wonder Woman leave the Kapatelis house.
Nessie recovered, but could not forgive her mother for making Wonder Woman leave. Eventually, she would start to blame Wonder Woman for abandoning her. Circe, in conjunction with Doctor Psycho, decided to use these mixed feelings as a way to use Nessie against Wonder Woman. Employing cybernetic implants and mental conditioning, they turned the young woman into a killing machine - the new Silver Swan.
After defeating Circe, Wonder Woman tried to help Nessie recuperate. However, Sebastian Ballestros, who had been behind Nessie's initial transformation, kidnapped Nessie and sold her to Veronica Cale, a woman who hated Wonder Woman. Cale ravaged Nessie's body even further, making her her even more of a cyborg and sending her to fight Wonder Woman once more.
Defeating Nessie again, Wonder Woman begged Dr. Leslie Anderson to remove Nessie's cybernetic implants once and for all. Nessie was then sent to Themyscira for recovery. It is presumed that after Themyscira vanished, Nessie returned to the care of her mother.
Sadly, it seems that her battle isn't over - the Silver Swan was forcefully exiled to a prison planet by the Suicide Squad with dozens of other arch-criminals and Injustice League members in Salvation Run. She sides with Lex Luthor when the villains break up into three groups, led by Luthor, The Joker, and Vandal Savage. It is in this group that Lex had her attack Martian Manhunter (who was masquerading as Blockbuster) with her sonic abilites. She is one of the villains used to power the teleporter, and is seemingly killed when it explodes.
Managing to survive, the Silver Swan eventually made her way back to Earth.
Most recently, Vanessa has appeared during Final Crisis as a victim infected by the Anti-Life Equation.
- Powers and Abilities
Silver Swan has the ability to create powerful sound waves with her voice. Her "swan song" is capable of devastating a small area of land with its destructive force. By creating a low-level humming, the Silver Swan can form a protective shield around herself that can deflect bullets and projectiles. Unlike the original Silver Swan, Vanessa Kapatelis needs artificial wings to control her flight motion. She also has the telepathic ability to control birds.
In other media[]
