Lian Harper (Prime Earth)

I have no memories of a childhood. No visions of an early birthday, candles or cake. No idea what the world looks like from up on my father's shoulders. No memories of paper lanterns or of lions dancing to the rhythm of fireworks. All I have is a recurring dream. And a mask.

— Shoes ^src

Lian Harper, also known as Shoes, is the daughter of Arsenal and Cheshire. Presumed dead, her true identity is unknown even to her. She is currently Catwoman's sidekick using the code name Cheshire Cat.

History

As a child, Lian was apparently killed by The Electrocutioner. Her father and the world at large believed she was dead.^[1]

In reality Lian had somehow survived, but was suffering from amnesia. Her earliest memory is being rescued from a band of ninjas by Cheshire and abandoned on the steps of a church.^[2]

Years later, now known as "Shoes", she joined the Alleytown Strays, a group of street kids in Gotham's "Alleytown" area. They survived as thieves and muggers living in "The Nest", a building which had once been the headquarters of Mama Fortuna. One day she and her friends attempted to rob a wealthy woman who wandered into Alleytown. Shoes stole the woman's watch only to find that it was fake and in the process the woman had pickpocketed her Gamekid. Later that day back at The Nest, Catwoman arrived and announced that she had bought The Nest and intended to turn the Strays into a gang of thieves under her leadership.^[3] The Strays helped Catwoman to bring down the organised crime groups operating in Alleytown and become the "Queen" of Alleytown.^[4]

Shoes later became an amateur vigilante in Alleytown as Cheshire Cat wearing a homemade mask based on Cheshire's, the first thing she could remember seeing. Her first attempt at heroics went poorly as she was outnumbered and overpowered by her larger opponents. Catwoman arrived to save her and accepted her as a protégé.^[2] She accompanied Catwoman to Siddhart Roy's house to rescue Poison Ivy.^[5]

Siddhart Roy was working for Simon Saint, a wealthy businessman plotting to take over Gotham. The GCPD, supplemented by private security forces working for Saint, cracked down on Alleytown, looking for Catwoman. They arrested the Strays and demanded they tell them everything they knew about her. Shoes told them they would never find Catwoman, recounting a story from Selina’s own days as a Stray when she memorised the entire network of service tunnels beneath the city, allowing her to move about undetected.^[6]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic): Shoes has received some training from Catwoman but is still inexperienced.^[2]
Stick Fighting: She wields two batons as her primary weapons.^[2]
Thievery^[3]
Throwing^[2]

Paraphernalia

Transportation

Skateboard^[3]

Weapons

Batons^[2]

Notes

Lian Harper was created by Marv Wolfman and Eduardo Barreto, first appearing in New Teen Titans (Volume 2) #23. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Lian Harper first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Catwoman (Volume 5) #25 by Ram V and John Paul Leon.
Although Shoes first appeared in Catwoman (Volume 5) #25, her identity as Lian Harper was not revealed until DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1. It was not revealed that Lian had existed in the history of the current DC Universe until Infinite Frontier Secret Files #2.
There was no indication that Lian Harper existed in the post-Flashpoint universe prior to the Infinite Frontier event. It appears she was added to the history of Prime Earth following the "unknotting" of the timeline after the events of Dark Nights: Death Metal.

Trivia

Lian's hair is naturally black, but she dyes it blue. She also wears blue lipstick and nail polish.

Lian Harper (Prime Earth)

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