Mercy Graves
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Mercy Graves is a fictional character from Superman: The Animated Series, voiced by Lisa Edelstein. A tough young woman with a checkered past, Mercy serves as Lex Luthor's personal bodyguard and chauffeur. Originally the leader of a gang of girl thieves, Mercy once daringly swiped Luthor's briefcase from under the billionaire's nose. Naturally she did not get far before Luthor's men hunted her down, but rather than take revenge, Luthor offered Mercy a job. He was impressed with her mixture of ruthlessness and street savvy so he took her in, cleaned her up, and made her his right-hand girl.
Though she usually relies on her cool and sardonic wit as her first form of defense, Mercy can be very physical and is an absolute demon in a fight. She uses a rough, street-form of kickboxing as her preferred form of attack, and can take anyone this side of Superman in one-on-one combat. She's also an expert with most forms of handheld weapons and has no problem with using them when she has to.
Mercy is loyal and respectful to Luthor, but never servile. She claims to be "the only one in Luthor's entire company who can get away with calling him Lex". In the Superman episode "Ghost in the Machine" Mercy teamed up with Superman to find the missing Lex Luthor. Superman tried to convince Mercy that Luthor did not care for her like she did for him. Mercy tried to prove him wrong, but after the ensuing battle with Brainiac, Mercy was pinned under a pile of fallen machinery while the room was caving in. Luthor could have saved her, but he instead fled, leaving her to die. Afterwards Mercy continued serving Luthor and probably tried to forget his betrayal. This was the only episode of Superman: The Animated Series to prominently feature Mercy.
When Mercy reappears later in Justice League ("Tabula Rasa"), the nature of their relationship becomes more clear. Mercy has agreed to take over LexCorp while Luthor is in prison, and is hesitant to return it to him because she feels their former relationship was not one of equality. Luthor exacerbates this by becoming verbally and physically abusive with her. There is also a repeated implication that their relationship was less than platonic, perhaps even sexual. While Mercy assists Luthor in escaping from the Justice League, after he is caught she hangs up on him on his only phone call when he requests help in obtaining a lawyer and doctors for his kryptonite cancer.
However, recent events ("Clash", to be specific) have shown Mercy taking Lex's orders again, since he gained his freedom after helping the League. Her newfound self-confidence, at one's best guess, has likely been cut short. (Her presence was cameo-length, so no answer is distinctly evident in the episode.) Now that Lex has reverted again to form and joined the Legion of Doom, it is unknown if Mercy has once again taken control of LexCorp in Luthor's absence.
[edit] Comics
Mercy has appeared in comics as Luthor's bodyguard, along with another hired muscle named Hope. It is thought that they are Amazons as they have been able to exchange blows with Superman. This assumption is later referenced again when the witch Circe attempted to visit Lex Luthor at the White House. Upon her approach Hope and Mercy attempt to stop her by saying that they could always recognize her, denoting previous familiarity, which the Amazons in the Wonder Woman comic have. Although Hope's time as a LexCorp employee has passed, Mercy can still be seen with the fugitive Lex Luthor.
Recently, in the series 52, she was seen alongside Luthor at the unveiling of his "Be Your Own Hero" program, so she apparently survived the events of Infinite Crisis, and is still in Luthor's employ as recently as 52's Week 40.
As she was first introduced in the Superman: The Animated Series, she could be considered analogous to Harley Quinn, The Joker's sidekick from Batman: The Animated Series who was later adopted by the comics. In World's Finest AKA "The Superman/Batman Movie", the two serve as rivals to each other, culminating in a ferocious catfight while Joker and Luthor civilly discuss business. A Mercy/Harley fight was also seen in Action Comics #765 (May 2000)
A tribute to Mercy can be found in the Chasing Dogma comic books produced by filmmaker Kevin Smith. The characters is referred to by name as Mercy and uses martial arts against Jay for approaching her employer's car, who, instead of Lex Luthor, was a bitter Mister Rogers. The only major difference from the main character was purple clothing and darker skin tone.
