Tess Mercer

From Smallville Wiki

Tess Mercer
Family	Father
Occupation	CEO and Managing Director of LuthorCorp and Daily Planet
Played By	Cassidy Freeman
Status	Alive

"Tess Mercer is a pit bull in Prada" - Lois Lane

Tess Mercer is the CEO of LuthorCorp. While Lex Luthor was missing, Tess took control of his estate and ruled it aggressively.

After she discovered that Lex was spying on her, she was filled with anger and agreed to merge LuthorCorp with Queen Industries. She later announced the creation of the Mercer Media Group.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Early Life 3 Season Eight 4 Season Nine 5 Appearances 6 Trivia 7 Notes 8 Relationships 9 See Also 10 References

[edit] Personality

Tess cares deeply for the Earth and nature. ^[1] She believes that humankind is destroying the planet Earth, and that the Kryptonian race is the solution. ^[2] Based on this conviction, when she read about The Traveler in the Luthor journals, she believed it was her role to help him become a hero and battle the ultimate Destroyer. Later, she believed that Major Zod would help save humanity, which is why she released him and his fellow Kandorians from the Orb. (Crossfire).

Tess strives to be on equal terms with her partners, from her professional interactions with Lex Luthor to her attempts to save humanity with Clark Kent and Major Zod. This may be the result of her brutal treatment at the hands of others: she was physically abused by her father, held hostage by Marcos, and controlled by Lex. Currently, she does not hesitate to manipulate people or use unconventional methods to get what she want and who has demonstrated no remorse or guilt for her actions. She is willing to go to great lengths to achieve her goals: she even allowed herself to be brutally interrogated by Major Zod's army in order to learn more about the Kandorians.

Tess is capable of great brutality and violence, especially in vengeance or if she feels it is for the greater good.

• Tess personally poisoned her old kidnapper Marcos dooming him to an almost certain death, after purposefully bailing him out of jail. (Toxic)
• She was deeply upset and filled with vindictive rage against Lex when she discovered that he had been spying on her through ocular implants. To get revenge, she merged LuthorCorp with Queen Industries leaving Lex without resources to continue managing his projects of life support hoping to kill him with it. (Bulletproof)
• Tess also brutally beat and killed Regan Matthews. (Power)
• She also attempted to kill Lana Lang and Dr. Groll, in an attempt to destroy Lex's Project Prometheus. (Power)
• Tess blew up Davis Bloome in his car after discovering he was a serial killer. (Eternal)
• Tess had Parasite take Livewire's superpowers away, and then killed Livewire. (Injustice)
• Tess shot Winslow Schott in the leg without remorse, forcing him to leave Oliver alone. (Echo)
• Tess overpowered (or perhaps killed) the Kandorian security guard that Major Zod had sent to interrogate. (Crossfire)

Tess respects strength and power. Tess gave Lois a raise.^[3] despite the fact that Lois always gets in her plans and has a hostile encounters with her. She also wanted a rematch with her after having fought and lost in the Daily Planet.^[4].

Tess appears to be cold on the outside, but on several occasions she has been seen crying alone. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Early Life

Tess was born in Louisiana. She taught herself to read in a swamp house. Tess was abused by her father when she was young, and often envied those that had such "blissful" childhoods. At the time, she ended up with a ruptured eardrum and a thrice-broken arm. She got into Harvard at fifteen and graduated from college at the age 17. She was a marine biologist.

Tess found Oliver Queen on an island in the South Pacific and after she and her friend were kidnapped while on a marine biology trip. Oliver was poisoned by a flower on the island, but Tess, who was an expert in that field, saved his life. He then returned the favor by saving her life using a makeshift dart on their kidnapper before they left him for dead and set sail for Star City.

While gathering viruses for LuthorCorp (possibly during Project Mercury, about two to three years previous), Lex saved Tess from an explosion. However, it was at that time during her recovery that Lex implanted a nano-transmitter in her optic nerve, so that she could be “Lex’s eyes and ears” in case he needed her in the future.

In 2008, Tess was ordered by Lex Luthor to kidnap Lana Lang and to force her to create a farewell videotape to Clark before transporting her to a secret facility for her own safety. She was reassured by Lex that it was for her own safety and that the coma that Lana had been in was because of Clark Kent.

[edit] Season Eight

"One of the most important things that Lex taught me is you can't afford to live in the past" Tess Mercer to Oliver Queen, Committed

Four weeks after Lex Luthor disappeared, Tess went to the Arctic tundra to take command. She found a LuthorCorp excavation team headed by Regan Matthews, searching for signs of their missing CEO. A helicopter landed and Tess Mercer emerged wearing black snow boots. She explains to Regan that she has been left in charge of LuthorCorp in the event of Lex's absence. Suddenly, one of the scientists finds some human remains in the snow. Little do they know that they are being ambushed by the Justice League - Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Aquaman.

Back at Lex's mansion, Lois Lane, disguised as a maid, is searching for clues on her cousin Chloe Sullivan's whereabouts. Suddenly, she is interrupted by Tess. She tells her that she has known about her for a while and that if Lex had Chloe arrested, then Chloe must have been guilty. Tess then has her assistant escort Lois out the mansion.

At the Luthor Mansion, Tess' assistant brings Tess a box containing something they found around the remains of the Fortress and a photo of a footprint, but it does not belong to Lex. She opens it and finds the Crystal of Knowledge glowing brightly.

Later on, Tess was almost killed by a blast from Bette Sans Souci's powers on a bus, but she escaped harm; she claimed that she "ducked" to avoid the explosive blasts. Clark found her in the demolished blast, and carried her out to safety. Later, at the Daily Planet, Tess and Clark meet face-to-face in Tess' office. Tess noted that Lex told her all about Clark and the fact he likes to save people. She wondered if Clark has any suggestions on where to find Lex, but Clark honestly admitted he has no idea. Tess concluded by thanking Clark for saving her life. As he leaves, Clark warns that he'd hate to see Tess' life get consumed by the job the same way that Lex's was. Tess' assistant comes in and asked if they should have Clark watched but Tess figured Clark was hiding something and vowed to watch him personally.

Later, Tess and her team intercept the prisoner bus on its way to Belle Reve and Tess talks to Bette about coming back to LuthorCorp. She says that she is trying to help her and shut down the facility where she was held previous. She says that Bette is a hero and that she can be part of a team of heroes Tess is putting together.

During a Metropolis fundraiser, Oliver Queen was poisoned by Marcos, a crook who kidnapped them while they were in the Pacific on an island. When Tess was working late at the Daily Planet, Lois entered her office and noticed pictures of Oliver Queen at the fundraiser stumbling. Lois questioned her motives about the pictures and Tess remarked that she wouldn't put Lois on the story because of her involvement. Lois said she could handle it and then left. Clark then entered her office later to ask about a LuthorCorp facility that contains various toxins and vaccines. Tess denied knowing about the place until Clark mentioned that his friend who was poisoned was Oliver, but she told him it was in Brazil and could not help him in time.While leaving the Daily Planet, she was attacked by Marcos seeking revenge on Tess and Oliver for what they did to him on the island. He was about to inject her with the toxin but Clark arrived in time to save her use his heat vision. Later when Marcos was released on bail, Tess stopped him at his cab and scratched him with the flower poisoning him, telling the cab driver to take him to the hospital.

Tess is able to track down Dr. Groll to research the crystal she found as he is highly regarded by Lex. Dr. Groll tells Tess that the crystal is a super-computer hard-drive and that it is alien but she doesn't believe him. He proposes a test on it and it sends a beam of light shooting into the sky. Tess is sat in the Luthor Mansion when one of her assistants comes into the office and gives her a gift. Tess opens it to reveal a green dress with a note from Oliver asking her to meet him at the Ace of Clubs. She tells her assistant to decline the offer and she leaves when Maxima appears to Tess and demands to know where the Kryptonian is knowing the beacon was sent from here. Tess tries to get Maxima to tell her what she knows about the crystal but Maxima leaves throwing Tess across the room and taking the dress. She then goes to the Chloe's apartment as she is leaving, needing her assistance. Tess wants Chloe to hack into a super computer but she declines the offer. Tess then goes back to Isis and finds Clark who she shows the crystal asking him if he knows anything about it. Clark says he has never seen it before when she recognizes the picture of Maxima he is carrying telling him that she is looking for the owner of the crystal.

Tess is sparring with her kickboxing instructor when Chloe arrives and confronts her about breaking into the Isis Foundation. Chloe threatens to press charges and Tess backs down, then offers to take a look at the supercomputer. Tess informs her that the crystal was stolen and plans to find out who has it and get it back. Later at night, Tess is checking her emails when one pops up from a anonymous sender telling her that she isn't ready yet.

Later, Tess tries to figure out who stole the crystal. While thinking about this, Oliver visits her at her office and invites her to dinner. Instead of agreeing or disagreeing, she starts to fight with Oliver. Tess tells him about the bad parts of their former relationship and proves to be more skillful than Oliver in hand-to-hand combat. Tess beats Oliver, pinning him to a wall. But Oliver disarms Tess and Tess asks what part of their former relationship he was afraid of. Oliver states that it was Tess. The two stop the fight and they passionately kiss. Oliver and Tess slept together. After that, Tess told Oliver that what happened the other day between them had nothing to do with romance and that Oliver stopped their relationship when it was getting good. After Randy Klein emulated a serial killer, Tess sent her assistant Eva to go and recruit him to join her super powered team.

Tess hired Sebastian Kane to help her find her missing crystal,she sends him after Lois to see if she stole her crystal.Sebastian tells Clark that Lois doesn't have her crystal, but she does have a list of people from the Montana facility. Tess then tells Sebastian that Lois stole the drive from the mansion.

She goes to The Kent Farm after having a energy pulse on her reading there, believing the crystal was there but Chloe denied it. She met Faora while she was possessing Lois and wanted to work with her after she started talking about Kryptonian ships, but she wasn't interested. She later encounters The Green Arrow stealing her equipment but he gets away. Later, she gives Lois a raise. The next day Tess calls Clark into her office and reveals to him that she knows he was the last person to see Lex alive.

While training in martial arts, Tess was approached by Lana Lang, whom confronted her with the knowledge that Lex was alive and she knew where he was. It was until later at the Isis Foundation, that Tess told Lana that Project Prometheus was intended for Lex to survive, and was not about to let Lana prevent this. As they fought each other within the room, Lana won the battle by gaining the use of Tess's gun.Lana exposed to Tess the nano-transmitter in her optic nerve. Shocked, appalled, and feeling betrayed, Tess decided to repay Lex by closing his bank accounts, insuring his connection to the outside world would be lost. And she admitted, to herself and him, in the mirror as a view to Lex that she loved him. Moments later, Oliver appeared and Tess offered a merger with him...with any interpretation that he thought of.

Realizing that Lana had information about Project Prometheus, Tess went to see Lana. Clark later appeared and saw the apartment messed up, and Tess explained everything from Lana's awakening from the alien coma: Tess and other LuthorCorp employees under Lex's orders, forced Lana to break-up with Clark. Clark yelled at Tess and pushed her against a wall. Tess apologized, saying that Lex told her it as for Lana's own good. Clark interrogated Tess on the names of the LuthorCorp guards who kidnapped Lana. Tess said that the thugs Lex used were brand new, with no ties to his past. Tess spoke with Reagan Matthews, to gain information about Project Prometheus, which he refused to divulge. When she returned to the Planet, Reagan was there to prevent her from getting more information about Prometheus by killing her messenger. When he tried to kill her, Tess managed to get the upper hand and stopped Reagan, by stomping/kicking him to death. Tess went to a laboratory, where she saw Lana in a chamber with the Prometheus suit. To destroy the suit, the wearer had to die: which Tess was ready to do. However, Lana managed to defeat her and stop her from killing her and Dr. Groll. Later, Lana appeared to Tess to convince her to let go of her desire for vengeance against Lex.

Lex later used Winslow Schott to make a bomb to kill Oliver, Tess, and the LuthorCorp board members but Tess was out of town and Oliver survived the blast, but all the board members were killed. Later, Oliver destroyed the man who ruined Tess' life for good, Lex Luthor.

Tess wanted Clark to go to a press conference in L.A. with him and explained that she wanted to help with his career. On the private jet owned by Oliver Queen, she confided her deepest secret to Clark that her father abused her and wanted Clark to reveal his secret that Lex tried to uncover after all those years. Then the plane started to crash and Clark had to jump out with Tess. After they returned to Smallville, she thanked Clark for saving her and that he can trust her, stating she isn't Lex. Later it was revealed that Tess paid the pilot to sabotage the plane to get Clark to use his powers.

Late at night in the Luthor Mansion, Tess was reading over a journal held by Lionel Luthor discovering two boys fell to Earth that day, the traveler (Kal-El) and Doomsday (Davis). She discovered Davis was killing criminals and decided to take matters into her own hands. She followed Davis to the cornfield where he buried the bodies and set off a bomb in his car, planning to kill him. He survived and she took him back to the mansion to explore his past with the Luthors. After he recovered, he attacked Tess after she told him that the traveler can fulfill his destiny if Davis died. At the hospital, Clark visited her and she told him of the journal that was kept by Lionel Luthor. She believed that Clark and Davis were destined to kill each other. Then she told Clark that Lionel sent a team after the Traveler and instead got Davis, mistaking him for the Traveler. She also revealed he stayed for five days before Lionel got a phone call from Martha Kent and she blamed Clark for Davis getting abandoned in the first place. She came to the barn to confront Clark and he refused to listen to her but she secretly addresses him as Kal-El. She returns to the mansion and reveals that she possesses the Kryptonian orb.

With her team made, Tess had them signified with black jackets with the Kryptonian insignia that is on the Orb. After talking to the team, Tess talked to Clark about how she was trying to motivate him to do what must be done: slay the proverbial dragon. After learning that Doomsday killed one of the team members, Neutron, she had chastised them on working as a team to take care of one another. When Livewire wanted out of the team, Tess signaled Parasite to absorb her powers. She then did away with Livewire. As Tess continued to turn Oliver down for a date, she did express some regret but he made it out with her fingerprint. When Tess thought she lost her team, she returned home to find Oliver in her bed, waiting for another chance at romance. However, they were interrupted when Plastique and Parasite attacked and threatened to kill her. Luckily, Clark and Green Arrow appeared to save her. With the information that Eva relayed about Clark's Kryptonian information, Tess found the Black Crystal and destroyed it, so Doomsday can be actually be destroyed. Once she returned, Tess seemed to have been taking orders from the Orb and is enveloped in the glowing light.

Tess returned to the Luthor Mansion to find the Orb missing and that the vault was busted opened from the inside. She went to the Daily Planet, where she saw Lois in her office seeing a video of her holding a gun to Regan Matthews about the Orb. Tess confronts Lois, believing she stole the orb from her and when Lois tries to leave to find Chloe, Tess attacked her. Lois fought back and then was knocked out as a result, but failed to see Lois disappear with the Legion ring. After Doomsday was vanquished and the death of Davis Bloome, she saw the orb floating outside the mansion and then it burned the Mark of Zod outside the mansion and a naked man was transported on top of it, holding the orb in his hand.

[edit] Season Nine

"Because i see... I see what mankind is doing to this planet. The earth is doomed" - Tess Mercer to Jor-El Kandor (episode)

Having released Zod and his troops via the Orb, Tess was held prisoner for three weeks in the Luthor Mansion. During this time, she was savagely interrogated until she tried to fight back against Major Zod. She questioned him about his voice not being the same as that of the Orb and discovered that he did not know how he came to be on Earth.

At night, Tess discovered that the whole army had gone. One of her aides approached her and asked if she was ok and it became apparent that Tess had given them orders to not intervene no matter what happened since the day that the intruders took over the Mansion.

Tess went in search of Zod and his troops, which led her to an abadoned laboratory with stolen technology from LuthorCorp. Tess realized that it was a Kryptonian experiment and that Zod and his army were trying to get their powers in any possible way. Tess's team recovered the remains of the experiment and she asked if they could recreate it. Tess then discovered that Kryptonian symbols had appeared across the globe since the day that Zod arrived on Earth and that most appeared to be family crests. Tess then saw the House of El symbol in a picture and someone lying on it.

While she was investigating the disappearance of twelve soldiors, Tess was attacked in the Luthor Mansion by rabid zombies. Although she tried to defend herself with a sword, she was bitten and infected by the virus that mutated her into a zombie. When Clark and Lois visited her to ask what had happened she aggressively attacked them and was placed in quarantine to be studied in detail, as the doctors believed she was the center of the infection.

When Queen Industries was losing stock and a factory had exploded due to Toyman, Tess tracked Oliver down to Mexico as he was drunk and getting assaulted by thugs. Armed with a machine gun and attitude, Tess forced the thugs away. Tess could tell that Oliver was hurting as well as running away, for she used a comforting hand to reach out to her partner, which he felt compelled to reveal his secrets, but he didn't. Tess then had Oliver brought back to a shareholder's meeting in Metropolis at the Ace of Clubs. She later makes a deal with Toyman at his prison cell giving him Metallo's kryptonite heart.

Threatening to terminate Stuart to make their security system in the computers stronger, Tess displayed her twin solar towers to her meeting of LuthorCorp executives. She was joined by Zod, who infiltrated in a human dress suit, and congratulated her on her accomplishment. Zod asked her to help him find the “Blur”, but she denied any information about knowing who it is. However, she did ask him for equal partnership, but he told her that no human would ever stand with a Kandorian. The Kandorian Security Guard relayed a message to Tess that Zod wanted to know where the Blur is, or she would die. She didn't take threats likely, for she slew the spy returning his dog-tag/medallion to Zod, letting him know she is a force to be reckoned with...and a powerful ally in his corner.

[edit] Appearances

• Season Eight: Episodes featuring Tess Mercer

[edit] Trivia

• Tess' license plate reads "NO MERCY". ^[5]
• Tess wears a bracelet that she gave to her best friend and classmate Megan. Megan was killed when the two were kidnapped. Tess wears it in her memory.^[6]
• Tess can speak Chinese and knows kickboxing, aikido and various other forms of martial arts. (Bulletproof)
• Oliver first refers to Tess as "Mercy" in the episode Toxic is his delirium. He continues to do so through out the show as a playful nickname. He also called her Mercy in Committed, Bloodline and Bulletproof. This is a note to Mercy Graves, the villain who Tess is based on.
• Tess Mercer is 30 years old. ^[7]
• Tess Mercer graduated from college at the age of 17 also seen in an article in Turbulence
• Tess has two assistants, Kat (in Odyssey and Plastique) and Eva (in Committed, Prey and Injustice.)^[8]
• Tess can appear to go to the highest heights of extreme methods for her questions' answers.
• Tess has fought against two of Clark's love interests since her arrival in Season Eight. She fought Lana Lang at the Isis Foundation in Bulletproof and Lois Lane at the Daily Planet in Doomsday. She lost both times.
• Tess is one of three women to have fought Green Arrow. ^{[citation needed]} The first was Lois Lane, then Lana Lang. ^{[citation needed]}
• It is unknown if Tess met Lionel Luthor.
• Tess was the first person that Oliver Queen has saved in his life. (Toxic)

[edit] Notes

• Tess' name is inspired by Miss Eve Teschmacher and Mercy Graves, both loyal assistants of Lex from the movies and Superman: The Animated Series, respectively, but the character is an original creation of the producers. ^[9]
• Lex chose Tess to be his successor to his estate before he left for the Arctic Circle in case he never returned from his own personal destiny.
• In an act of revenge, Tess poisons Marcos with the same toxin Oliver was subjected to in Toxic. She informs the cab driver to take him to the hospital knowing the doctors would most likely misdiagnose him, which would result in his death.
• Tess inherited Lex and Lionel's obsession with the Traveler. Like Lionel, she wanted to help Clark fulfill his destiny ^[10]; and like Lex, she tested Clark to see if he had superpowers^[11]
• After Lex had saved Tess's life, she had fallen in love with him and would've done anything for him. ^[12]

[edit] Relationships

• Tess and Oliver – Details on their complicated romantic relationship
• Tess and Lex – Details on their complicated romantic relationship
• Clark and Tess- Details on their growing friendship
• Lois and Tess - Details on their rivalry  
• Tess and Zod - Details on their relationship

[edit] See Also

• Luthor Mansion
• LuthorCorp
• Injustice League
• Orb

[edit] References

1. ↑ She began her career as a marine biologist (Toxic), and also proposed building a solar tower to power Metropolis (Crossfire).
2. ↑ Tess said this to Jor-El in Kandor
3. ↑ She found that Lois had knocked out a security guard and even witnessed Lois using super speed. In actuality, Lois had been possessed by Faora at the time.
4. ↑ Doomsday (episode) and Metallo
5. ↑ The license can be clearly seen in Toxic
6. ↑ Toxic
7. ↑ As stated in the news paper article seen in Turbulence
8. ↑ Their names are given here.
9. ↑ http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=58151
10. ↑ She told Clark, "I have this feeling that you'll never fulfill your great destiny until you meet your greatest challenge."
11. ↑ Turbulence
12. ↑ She tells Lex in a mirror (while wearing ocular implants) that, "I did everything you ever asked. You've seen it with your own eyes, and apparently, with mine. But not anymore. I hope you watch with rapt attention as your bank accounts close, and you lose all contact with the outside world. I loved you, you son of a bitch."