Circe

Circe was a face model who seduced Janus Cosmetics executive Roman Sionis into murdering his parents, then dumped him once his career went down the tubes. After becoming the Black Mask, Sionis scarred Circe, who went to Two-Face with a plan of revenge.

Name:

Circe

Publisher:

DC Comics

Real name:

Unknown

Aliases:

The Red Witch

Birth date:

None

Gender:

Female

Powers:

Hypnosis
Intellect

First issue:

Detective Comics #553 The False Face Society of Gotham; Crazy from the Heat

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Origin

Everything about her, including her real name, is a mystery. What's known is that she called herself only Circe, and in her career as a face model, she applied to work at Janus Cosmetics. Meeting with Roman Sionis--Vice President of the company, underneath his parents--Circe supposedly "bewitched" Roman, who chose her to be "the face of Janus Cosmetics." After Roman's parents disapproved of Circe and Roman's relationship, they died the next morning in a fire of suspicious origins, but Circe provided Roman's alibi. She modeled Roman's grand new product line of full-face makeup designed to cover (rather than enhance) the features, but the line flopped. After Roman hastily released a line of waterproof makeup that caused facial damage and his reputation went down the tubes, Circe dumped the disgraced CEO for greener pastures. After Roman reinvented himself as the Black Mask, he and his False Face Society went on a rampage, targeting board members, Bruce Wayne, and Circe herself. Forced to wear a mask coated with a diluted version of the toxic face cream, Circe suffered horrible burns and facial scarring at the hands of her ex-lover and new boss, joining the Society herself. After Mask's arrest, she visited him in Arkham Asylum, leaving the mask as a reminder, but her desire for revenge would not be sated so easily.

Creation

Circe was created by Doug Moench and Tom Mandrake, making her first appearance alongside Roman Sionis in the origin of the Black Mask, 1984.

Character Evolution

In her original appearance, Circe was calculating and opportunistic character who seemed traumatized into near-passivity after having her face scarred by Black Mask. When she returned in a four-part Two-Face story, it seems that time had hardened her and made her thirsty for revenge. With her modeling career in ruins, Circe became a stripper, using her body but keeping her face to herself, hidden beneath her mask. Offering a chance to atone for her sins, Batman request her help in trying to save the sanity of Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face. Knowing that she had the reputation for being persuasive, and even possibly a witch, Circe was to hypnotize Two-Face into believing that he was a good person again. Circe had an ulterior motive, which was to send Two-Face back to Arkham and have him murder Black Mask. However, the hypnosis backfired, unleashing the fullest extent of Dent's evil side. After she escaped from Dent's attack, she escaped and seemingly vanished.

She returned in another story eight years later, also featuring the return of Black Mask. At some point, she became a homeless bag lady, living in subway tunnels and reading fashion magazines. She was found by members of the False Face Society, who brought her back to Black Mask. Seemingly mute and blank, she had become a living mannequin, acting only to save Bruce Wayne's life in a moment of inexplicable defiance. Black Mask knocked her down, and made his escape. When he next resurfaced, he kept the company of an actual mannequin which he named "Circe," but the fate of the real Circe remains unknown.