Tess Mercer
Character Name: Tess Mercer
Playby: Cassidy Freeman
Age: 30
Height: 5'8
Weight: 130
Eyes: Pale green/blue
Hair: Red
Personality: From a young age, Tess has be forced in one way or another to be strong in order to survive. She is a very driven woman who isn't afraid to set high goals for herself and outwardly has the confidence it takes in order to achieve them. Inwardly, she has doubts stemming from her childhood and certain key events that have shaped her life into what it is today, but has never been the type to wear her insecurities on her sleeve. She has been known to use manipulation and seduction to get what she wants and knows that to get to the top of the world she's chosen for herself, you have to be aggressive and able to hide weakness. She excels at both.
At first appearances, Tess comes across as cold and maybe a little superior, although she has been occasionally known to warm up for the right people. It's difficult for her to have trusting relationships with people since she has, in her words, been screwed over by too many people who called themselves her friends. If she were honest with herself, she would probably change her jaded nature but as it is, it's just another facet to her personality that can be honed and used to her advantage.
Skills: Physically, Tess is very fit and skilled in Aikido and kickboxing. Her most notable strengths however have nothing to do with fighting skills or how many languages she can speak. For a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, Tess is also very capable of understanding the scientific side of Luthorcorp's many projects, stemming from her history in Marine Biology.
In addition, Tess is also very business savvy and has a good head for business management which is evident in the fact that Lex has entrusted to her so many of his affairs. Whether this is another one of her self-taught skills or the product of Lex's preparations, Tess will probably never say.
She has a certain ruthlessness that makes her a worthy opponent against almost anyone who could potentially be an obstacle between her and getting what she wants. While some would call it a deficit, Tess often embraces her ruthlessness and would call that one of her skills.
Weaknesses: Her blind faith in Lex. Her inability to forgive or forget. Her almost destructive need to know the truth. A nice pair of heels. Tess human and is physically vulnerable in all of the ways that any other human would be.
History: Tess was born and grew up in rural Louisiana where her father raised her, although she would say that he did little in the way of actually seeing that she grew up. He was neglectful at best and abusive at worst, the worst example being when he ruptured her eardrum and broke her arm in three places. At the age of 5, Tess taught herself to read. This drive to better herself paid off when she entered Harvard at the young age of 15 and graduated two years later with a degree in marine biology.
Tess has kept much of her life private. A few years after graduating from Harvard, her and her best friend Megan were on a marine biology trip in the south pacific when they were captured by drug runners and taken to an island. On the island, she met and nursed a poisoned Oliver Queen back to health. The kidnappers planned to ransom Oliver and end up shooting Tess' friend Megan. When the gun was turned on Tess, Oliver jumped between her and the bullet. He later stages their escape and uses the drug runner's boat to get off of the island. Upon returning to the states, Tess and Oliver develop a romantic relationship which ended with Oliver cheating on her. To this day, Tess still wears the bracelet that she had given to Megan before she was killed.
A few years after the incident, while gathering virus samples for Luthorcorp, there was an explosion which Lex Luthor saved her from. She developed a strong devotion to him because of this, which become beneficial to running his afairsin the future.
Today, Tess has taken over as Luthorcorp's CEO in Lex's absence. Her time is split between Metropolis, where she spends much of her time in her offices at The Daily Planet and Luthorcorp, and Smallville, where she resides in the Luthor mansion.