Zatanna's History
Zatanna Zatara is a powerful Homo Magi. She is an important member of the Justice League Dark, using her magic to fight dark magic threats.
Origin
Zatanna Zatara was the daughter of famed magician Giovanni "John" Zatara. Zatanna was a successful stage illusionist herself before she discovered her true magical powers. She was once in a relationship with the powerful mage Nick Necros in New York City. John Constantine came to the city to study under Nick, who became obsessed with the search for the Books of Magic. As a result of his obsession, John and Zatanna were alienated from him, and fell in love with each other.
Nick felt betrayed, and tried to have them both killed by the Cult of the Cold Flame. Fortunately, they turned the tables, and his soul was sent to hell. Eventually, though, John characteristically broke her heart. Their relationship was further strained by the fact that one of his schemes intended to save the world resulted in her father's burning to death before her eyes.
With the Justice League Dark
Some time later, after discovering that the Enchantress had become a threat to reality itself, Zatanna reunited with Constantine in Madame Xanadu's so-called Justice League Dark, along with Shade and Boston Brand. Xanadu had seen an apocalyptic future, which she warned would come to pass if they did not all join together in fighting the Enchantress. As it happened, the Enchantress was seeking to reunite herself with June Moone, the human aspect of herself. Eventually, John Constantine and Mindwarp managed to bring about a series of events that led to the pair's merging. When they realized that the whole ordeal was caused by Xanadu's having split the Enchantress from June Moone in the first place, they team disbanded.
Rise of the Vampires
However, nightmares soon drove Zatanna and the others to reconvene under Xanadu, who explained that the dreams were possible futures that would come about if they did not remain a team. Their next mission fell into their laps, as not long after regrouping, they discovered that Andrew Bennett's untimely death had lead to the unleashing of an even older vampire called Cain, who had the power to absorb magic. While Constantine and Deadman searched for Andrew in the afterlife, Zatanna and the others fought off hordes of vampires in Gotham City.
The Black Room
After Andrew returned and absorbed Cain's powers, the Team decided to part ways yet again. However, when John Constantine was contacted by Steve Trevor to locate a mystical artifact, he came to Zatanna for help. In exchange for his help, John had been promised entry to A.R.G.U.S.' Black Room, a place where mystical items were collected and protected by the US Government. John told Zatanna that he had seen her father's hat in a photo of the Black Room, and begged her to help him convince the others to reform the team. After gaining two new team members from A.R.G.U.S. and with Andrew Bennett's help, the team located Felix Faust in South America. There, they discovered that the item they were sent to find was in fact, the map to the Books of Magic.
John wanted to seek out the Books with the map, but none of his team agreed. Zatanna intended to quit�??especially after discovering that the tale of her father's hat was a ruse�??but Deadman convinced her that if the two of them did not stay no one would be able to make sure that John didn't get corrupted by the Books when he found them himself. Regardless, the map was soon stolen by the Demons Three.[
When Faust broke into A.R.G.U.S. in search of the key to the map, Zatanna and the Justice League Dark attempted to stop him. In aid of this, John Constantine had Steve Trevor give him access to the magical items within the Black Room. Unfortunately, he also pocketed the key for himself. This made him a target for the betrayer in the team's midst: Doctor Mist. The map and the key were lost to Faust as a result.
The War for the Books of Magic
Though the map was lost to them, John saw the location that the books were supposed to be hidden on it: Slaughter Swamp. However, Zatanna's scrying showed that Faust and Mist had gone to Peru instead. Together with Deadman, she went to investigate in Peru while John and Black Orchid went to Gotham. The pair were attacked in Peru by the wood wizard Blackbriar Thorn. With Deadman's power of possession, they manage to render the wizard powerless for the moment, and are surprised when they discover that he was attempting to stop them from discovering the House of Secrets behind him. The house's current owner happened to be Nick Necro, returned from Hell at last, and eager to get revenge on Zatanna and John for their betrayal. Zatanna, however, had been driven to John by Nick's obsession with the Books of Magic. When John arrived with the others, he was surprised to learn of his enemy's identity. In anger, Nick attacked him, causing Zatanna to promise that she would give herself up in exchange for her friends' lives. Nick accepted the offer, and kidnapped her in the House of Secrets.
While Zatanna was trapped with him, Nick Necro explained that it had been he who engineered the creation of the Justice League Dark, all as a means of gathering John and Zatanna together so that he could exact revenge on them. After arriving in Nanda Parbat with the hope of collecting the Books of Magic, and then killing Zatanna before John's eyes, the unexpected variable of Tim Hunter's destiny to claim them makes Nick change his mind. He warned John that he would kill Zatanna unless John would Kill Tim Hunter in her stead. Not wanting to see Zatanna die, John obediently snapped Tim's neck, only to reveal that it had all been an illusion, thanks to Black Orchid's shape-changing. She then beat Nick senseless, distracting everyone from the fact that Tim had been drawn to the Books of Magic. When Zatanna realized that he was about to be taken into another dimension by them, she leapt into the portal after him, leaving the pair of them stranded on the other side.
The Death of Magic
Zatanna and Tim found themselves in another dimension called Epoch, where magic had been outlawed by a science-based community of humans called the Network. Having sensed their magic power�??which appeared to have been augmented by their arrival there�??a policeman named Vikar attempted to incarcerate them, but they were taken out from under his nose by the power of some wood nymphs. Underground, Tim and Zatanna learned from the small population of magical creatures living in hiding that Tim was expected to rule Epoch. When the magic users of that world had come into conflict with the humans and lost, a wizard called The Hunter had taken the Books of Magic to Earth in the hopes of sending a hero back to turn the tables. Tim was supposedly his successor by blood.
Despite being wary of the story, Tim and Zatanna decided that they had to lead an attack against Network anyway when they learned that their friends had followed them and been captured by Vikar. Together, Tim and Zatanna lead the army to the edge of Network's domain, prompting Vikar to come for them. Unfortunately, the opening of the portal between the two worlds that brought the rest of the Justice League Dark to Epoch had destabilized both realities, and Zatanna would not allow the innocent people of Epoch to be killed as a result.
In order to bring stability back to both worlds, Tim's father Jack Hunter entered the portal and convinced Tim to unleash a blast of magic that ended the turmoil in the skies, and the war between the two sides. While Zatanna and the others returned home, Tim and Jack remained in Epoch as wizard-kings. John Constantine, meanwhile, had been affected by Epoch's strange effect on Earth-magic, and had been unable to lie, which meant that he had confessed his feelings to Zatanna quite candidly. She was polite enough to ignore it. Following their return, John ended his team's association with A.R.G.U.S. and Zatanna decided to join him in a Justice League Dark, unchecked by government oversight.
Trinity War
Billy Batson, the young boy now possessing the power of Shazam, flew in the nation of Kahndaq to deposit the ashes of his former enemy, Black Adam. This violates several diplomacy agreements and could trigger a war between the United States and Kahndaq itself. As the powers of Billy are magical in nature, the Justice League asks Zatanna to come by and help them. While in Kahndaq, a conflict between the Justice League and the JLA is triggered, as Superman accidentally killed Doctor Light. Soon, Diana makes an hypothesis about what could have led Clark to lose his control: a previous meeting with Pandora and her Box. Seeking magical help, Diana contacts the Justice League Dark.
Zatanna is still in the A.R.G.U.S. facility where Superman is detained, assisting Batman and Cyborg in the autopsy of Dr. Light to discover if any kind of magic conditioning was involved in the matter. While performing the examination, the Phantom Stranger appears, telling them Wonder Woman sought the help of the Justice League Dark and this could lead to a catastrophe. Zatanna follows Flash and the Stranger in tracking down Diana. Once in the House of Mystery, two different factions split up: one sustains Batman's point of view, as the detective thinks that Superman's behavior and the Box are all scientifically connected. The other agree with Diana, sustaining that everything is driven by a magical force. Zatanna sides with Diana and, when things start to heat up, the sorceress decides to teleport away all of Diana's allies.
After a while, Diana finds Pandora and takes hold of the Box: the thing is corrupted and it possessed anyone who lays an hand on it, including Wonder Woman. After trying to shield everyone from its corruption, Zatanna finds out Constantine has it: the Hellblazer cannot be corrupted by it because he's too much corrupted of his own. The two try to escape the rest of the heroes, who all crave the Box, finding out from Madame Xanadu, who was held prisoner by the Secret Society, that its function is the one of a doorway. Then, the Outsider, leader of the Society, appears telling everyone it's time for him to open it.[21] Soon, the Box is revealed to be a gateway from another world and from it, the Crime Syndicate emerges, ready to conquer the planet.
The New Justice League Dark
The Last Age of Magic
While performing inside her father's theater, one of Zatanna's easiest tricks goes crazy, summoning an horrific creature that starts to attack the audience. Wonder Woman comes up, helping Zatanna defeat the monster and protect the people: she's there to recruit the sorceress inside a new formation of the Justice League focused on finding why magic seems to be broken. Zatanna acknowledges it, but refuses to join Diana's team telling her that the magic world has its own people, and those people should resolve this problem.
After meeting John Constantine before the reunion of several magical beings in Wintersgate Manor and discussing the matter with him, Zatanna notices that Swamp Thing was spying on the encounter without actively being in it. She goes to Salem, where the Tree of Wonder grew, and talks with Swamp Thing himself about the matter and his take on it. Swamp Thing explains her that the Tree was a way for the Omega Titans to measure the Wonder of our world, but after what happened the Tree has no purpose, and he's evolving to find another. Zatanna tells him to communicate to the Tree that she's angry and that she wants to get control of her magic again, as it is her only way to connect to the world. The Tree surprisingly answer, in the form of Giovanni Zatara, Zatanna's dad, telling her that the Otherkind and their leader, the Upside-Down Man, are coming to take the magic back, as they were their original possessors.
In the vision that her father shows her, she fights alongside Diana and her team, thus making Zatanna understand that she and Swamp Thing should join forces with Wonder Woman, telling her she understood that magic, and even the planet, have them as their only hope. Still, she doesn't mention the fact her father said that a member of the team would be the key to saving or destroying magic once and for all Thinking that their best possibility is to reach out for the help of Doctor Fate, Zatanna and Diana discover that Nabu, the Lord or Order and entity who gives the Doctor its power, imprisoned his host, Kent Nelson, inside the Helmet and took control. As magic, especially now, is leading to chaos, Nabu decided to ally himself with the Upside-Down Man, making him come to Earth and eat all magic away, so that finally Order could reign supreme.
After what Nabu said, Zatanna remembers her father and his teachings: magic staffs, demon blood, even the backwards language the Zatara family utilized to handle magic, are system of Order to stabilize the force they are using, but maybe they are even something more. She remembers Giovanni telling her there were creatures in a dark place who didn't want humans to utilize magic, because it was theirs, and those systems were the only way to hide magic from them. Zatanna realized the monsters his father talked about are the ones that are coming out of the door Nabu opened: they are the Otherkind. Their leader, the Upside-Down Man, is a creature of pure terror and magic and without effort destroys most of the members of the team, even depriving John Constantine of its demon blood. When all seems lost, a mark of power activates on Wonder Woman's forehead, a mark of a type of magic Zatanna does not know. The Upside-Down Man is hurt by that power and so Zatanna teaches a spell to Diana to banish the creature away, succeeding in doing so and restoring all the damage he made, including bringing Detective Chimp and Swamp Thing back to life.
The Witching Hour
Zatanna started to help Diana understanding and controlling her new power, but was a little irritated when Diana chose to not talk about it with the Justice League during a meeting to talk about what happened with the Upside-Down Man. Back in the Justice League Dark headquarters, Diana suffers a breakdown as Hecate, the goddess of Witchcraft, is trying to take possession of her body: Wonder Woman was one of the five witch-marked, women chose by Hecate to host her power while the goddess waited an opportunity to size control of magic. After Zatanna reaches out to Diana to help her control herself, the team escapes through a dimensional portal, getting safe into the Oblivion Bar.
There, they find out another of the witch-marked, Witchfire, committed a massacre killing several young witches reunited there for a meeting of the Sisterhood of the Sleight Hand: witness to it was John Constantine, who as soon as he saw Zatanna come out of the portal stood up and kissed her. Shocked by John's audacity, Zatanna calms down when Constantine tells her he did it because he's convinced no one will survive the Witching Hour. Diana then decides to meet Circe on her island of Aeaea, as the Greek sorceress is one of the most faithful servants of Hecate. Zatanna does not agree with the plan, but follows through. In Circe's house, Wonder Woman and Zatanna start an argument, as the sorceress tells the amazon that her idea of using the witch-mark power against Hecate herself was stupid and incredibly dangerous: Zatanna knows that magic always comes with a dark, heavy price and she does not want Diana to take so much of a burden. Still, Circe is convinced that Diana had a good idea, and with her support the amazon activates her power, opening a portal to Nanda Parbat where another of the witch-marked, Manitou Dawn, is trying to seize the city for Hecate.
In Nanda Parbat, Zatanna and Constantine realize that Hecate wants to control all of magic's places of power: with the instability of the magical dimension caused by the Otherkind, Hecate knows this is the perfect moment to try rewriting magic in her own image. After the battle started, soon Diana was completely under the control of Hecate and only Zatanna and Constantine remained to face her.[28]Talking about what to do, Zatanna discovers from John that he developed a deadly form of lung cancer after the Upside-Down Man deprived him of his demon blood, and that he will die soon. Hurt by the news of Constantine's illness, the two still find a desperate way to try defeating Hecate, or at least succeeding in freeing Diana of her control: an exorcism. The two combine their powers and try to do it, but the combination of Hecate's power, which was different than the usual magic Zee and John crafted, and the instability of magic itself caused the rite to have a complete different effect: it cured Manitou Dawn and Black Orchid, transferring the power they possessed all into Diana.
Now with almost the entire power of an all-mighty goddess inside her, Diana heads to the last place of power still not in control of Hecate: the Sphere of the Gods. Zatanna and John seem to be destined to die, but all of Justice League Dark's members get transported by Circe back to Aeaea. The witch want them to try a final attack against Hecate because if she gets control of magic, all will be lost. Thankfully, in some way Diana came back in control and, opening the door to the Upside-Down Man, she defeated Hecate when the monster ate her. After using her last power to cure Olympus from the damage caused before, Zee and Diana talk to each other about the consequences of the Witching Hour and the counter-attack to plan against the Otherkind.
The Lords of Order
After helping Detective Chimp fix the mess he created inside the realm of Myrra, now under his protection, Zatanna received from her father, imprisoned by the Upside-Down Man, a powerful object: the Ruby of Life. Combining this gift with the last message John Constantine left her, to find the dark sorcerer Mordru, Zatanna embarked with Diana in a long research. The two women tried to find information on Mordru, questioning Felix Faust and Papa Midnite about it, but with no success. The only thing they discover is that Zee's father, Giovanni, met with both Circe and Mordru in the past, probably to discuss something that involved the destiny of his daughter. Trying to find out more, Diana and Zatanna reached Aeaea.
Talking with Circe, Zee discovered that John Constantine was in truth a disciple of her father, who instructed him to be part of Zatanna's life. The witch also told her that they would never find Mordru, but him would find them when the time was right. Furious with both her father and Constantine, Zatanna transported back both her and Diana inside the Hall of Justice. There, they found Mordru: the dark sorcerer described to them how he was the one who imprisoned Hecate, taking magic from her. He revealed them how chaos initially ruled magic, but then the Lords of Order, his own comrades, betrayed him and tried to control magic with instruments of Order, like formulas or weapons. Modrdu still believed in Chaos to be the key and, fulfilling a promise he made to Giovanni, he gave Zatanna and Diana the power of Chaos, transforming both ladies in Lords of Chaos.
Zatanna and Diana gather then with the rest of the League, who was dealing with the Lords of Order themselves. Nabu and the other Lords wanted to destroy magic and trap, sacrificing their own life, the Upside-Down Man. But this was not the solution: with the power of Chaos, Zatanna re-established the power of Jason Blood and then turned into Lords of Chaos all her comrades, Detective Chimp, Man-Bat and Swamp Thing. Now united and all-powerful, the Justice League Dark was able to extinguish the problem of the Lords of Order and then, imbuing the Ruby of Life with the power of Chaos, Diana re-forged the magical system itself, as Zatanna understood that only someone outside of magic, and not a sorceress like her, would decide in a right way how magic should be renewed.
