Mercy Graves is a supervillain appearing in multimedia and American comic books published by DC Entertainment and DC Comics. Created for the DC Animated Universe (DCAU), she first appeared in 1996 on Superman: The Animated Series as the personal assistant and bodyguard of Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor, returning in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, voiced by Lisa Edelstein. She has since been introduced into comic books published by DC Comics.
In live action, the character has been played by Tao Okamoto in the 2016 DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, by Cassidy Freeman in Smallville (as Tess Mercer), by Rhona Mitra in the fourth season of the television series Supergirl, and by Natalie Gumede in the second and fourth seasons of the series Titans on DC Universe and HBO Max.
DC Animated Universe
Superman: The Animated Series
Mercy Graves was created for Superman: The Animated Series as a tough young woman with a checkered past, serving as Lex Luthor's personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Originally the leader of a gang of female thieves, Mercy once daringly swiped Luthor's briefcase from under the billionaire's nose. She did not get far before Luthor's men hunted her down. However, rather than take revenge, Luthor, impressed by her mixture of ruthlessness and street savvy, offered her a job. He took her in, cleaned her up, and made her his right-hand woman. Trained in unarmed combat, she was entrusted with his personal security and also to carry out his dirty work.
Her demeanor reveals a sardonic wit and her habitual dress is a chauffeur's uniform with a very short skirt, a chauffeur's cap, nylons, and short, high heeled boots. Mercy is loyal and respectful to Luthor, and she claims to be "the only one in Luthor's entire company who can get away with calling him Lex".
In the episode "Brave New Metropolis" Lois Lane travels to an alternate reality of Metropolis. Mercy Graves is the commander of Lex Luthor's law-enforcement group. She and her soldiers raid the hideout of the revolutionaries led by Jimmy Olsen where they arrest the revolutionaries, confiscate the stolen Kryptonite, send the adults to prison, and send any children of the revolutionaries to the LexCorp Orphanage. When she hears Jimmy call out to Lois, Mercy had her brought before Lex Luthor after the DNA tests prove that she is Lois Lane. Lex Luthor decided that to keep Superman at bay, it would be best to dispose of Lois. He sent Mercy to kill her in the city. On their way, they came across Angela Chen, who managed to distract the commander. Lois stole Mercy's gun and before she could react, Angela had bitten her leg. Lois made her getaway. Lois and the alternate Superman met where he learned what Lex Luthor has been doing behind his back. In the LexCorp building, Mercy was present when Lois and Superman confronted Luthor. Mercy fought Lois, but ultimately lost when Lois planted a jaw-breaking left hook. Rebels stormed into the room and poured onto the hated Mercy while Superman pursued Lex Luthor.
In the episode "Ghost in the Machine", Mercy teams up with Superman to find a missing Lex Luthor. Superman tries to convince Mercy that Luthor does not actually care for her, but Mercy tries to prove him wrong. After a battle with Brainiac, Mercy is pinned under a pile of fallen machinery while the room was effected by a strong vacuum. Although Luthor could have saved her, he flees instead causing Superman to save her.
During the "World's Finest" crossover episode, Mercy develops an intense rivalry with Harley Quinn, the Joker's henchwoman and on again/off again girlfriend as Joker himself forms a tenuous alliance with her boss to kill Superman. During the arc's climactic episode, Harley and Joker gag her and Lex and tie them to a killer android that attacks Batman and Superman. She and Lex are saved by the two, and is later seen watching television and laughing to herself as Harley is publicly arrested.