Who are Ms. Tessmacher and Mercy Graves?

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I love both of these characters, but far too many creators seem unable to tell the difference between the two, which has led to wildly inconsistent characterization whenever they appear.

Ms. Tessmacher first appeared in Donner's Superman as a fun mix of the traditional gangster's moll and wise-cracking ball buster whose ever-shifting morality becomes a major plot point in the 3rd act.

Mercy Graves first debuted in the 90s Superman cartoon and was a more straight-laced Bond henchwoman to the Blofed-esque Luthor. She had no moral quams about her duties and was ruthlessly loyal to her employer.

However, ever since Smallville's Ms. Tess Mercer threw both into a blender with Lena Luthor, these two characters seem to have become interchangeable, depending upon who is writing the story.

Given the current vagueness of DC continuity, how would you like their respective characters to go in whatever comes next?

[Agent Z]

Ms Tessmacher is Lex's PA. Graves is his bodyguard and personal enforcer.

[Riv86672]

Ms. Tessmacher first appeared in Donner's Superman as a fun mix of the traditional gangster's moll and wise-cracking ball buster whose ever-shifting morality becomes a major plot point in the 3rd act.

Mercy Graves first debuted in the 90s Superman cartoon and was a more straight-laced Bond henchwoman to the Blofed-esque Luthor. She had no moral quams about her duties and was ruthlessly loyal to her employer.

I think you pretty much nailed it.
The two are similar, but Ms. Tessmacher is, let’s say, Lex’s wiley all knowing receptionist and would deal w. plot lines along the lines of his business dealings.
Mercy Graves would be Lex’s driver slash muscle, and have his back as he does his behind the scenes villain stuff.

I could see the two interacting, as both sides of Lex’s world often overlap. They might be frenemies, vying for Lex’s favor.
Or not; just spitballing here!

[Jim Kelly]

However, ever since Smallville's Ms. Tess Mercer threw both into a blender with Lena Luthor, these two characters seem to have become interchangeable, depending upon who is writing the story.

Having just watched season 8 of SMALLVILLE (see what I said about that in the thread about that), I got confused who Tess Mercer was supposed to be. Ollie calls her Mercy--so I gather that's his nickname for her. But she doesn't seem like either the characters you describe. I think Miss Teschmacher is a sweet, adorable victim/admirer of Lex Luthor. She carries out his orders and she depends on him, but she would rather be one of the good guys, if she could. Don't know much about Mercy Graves (she lacks any pupils as I recall), but weren't Luthor's henchwomen actually Amazons in one continuity?

[Riv86672]

but weren't Luthor's henchwomen actually Amazons in one continuity?

In President Luthor: Secret Files and Origins, Circe changed Mercy and her partner Hope into birds (I think) and told Lex he’d need to get new Amazons.
The Amazon thing was also mentioned in Justice League: Cry for Justice.

[witchboy]

I think you pretty much nailed it.
The two are similar, but Ms. Tessmacher is, let’s say, Lex’s wiley all knowing receptionist and would deal w. plot lines along the lines of his business dealings.
Mercy Graves would be Lex’s driver slash muscle, and have his back as he does his behind the scenes villain stuff.

I could see the two interacting, as both sides of Lex’s world often overlap. They might be frenemies, vying for Lex’s favor.
Or not; just spitballing here!

I think Tessmacher can also work as Lex's mistress/girlfriend/moll outside the corporate world.
Tess on Smallville was a great character, but she was an amalgamation of Tessmacher, Mercy and Lena. They all have distinct personalities and roles so it's a shame that some writers can't get that right.
I wonder if Mercy being an Amazon originated in the comics or if they borrowed it from the awesome DC fan made audio plays?

[Jim Kelly]

Tess on Smallville was a great character, but she was an amalgamation of Tessmacher, Mercy and Lena. They all have distinct personalities and roles so it's a shame that some writers can't get that right.

Maybe Tess will improve in the next seasons I watch, but what I saw of her in season 8 was annoying. She seems to be whatever the writers want her to be in any given episode--she's Lex, Lana, Lionel, Amanda Waller--whatever. And that leaves the actress in a difficult position, because she has to play an ambiguity. Does she love Clark, does she hate him, does she worship him, does she plot his downfall? Who knows. She's a blank slate, a robot, an empty vessel. I grew to loathe her.

[Riv86672]

I think Tessmacher can also work as Lex's mistress/girlfriend/moll outside the corporate world.
Tess on Smallville was a great character, but she was an amalgamation of Tessmacher, Mercy and Lena. They all have distinct personalities and roles so it's a shame that some writers can't get that right.
I wonder if Mercy being an Amazon originated in the comics or if they borrowed it from the awesome DC fan made audio plays?

I agree, Tess def. has a crush on Lex!
A lot of times merging characters is ok/doesn’t bother me, but Tess and Mercy serve very different purposes. Writers just need to pick one and go w. it.

[stargazer01]

I see Tess as a kind of needy, clingy girlfriend with low self-esteem who does almost anything for Lex. But she's not evil just misguided.

Mercy is a henchwoman with no morality perhaps. She owes Lex something and he manipulates her.

Both great characters that shouldn't be mixed. Both deserve their own origin.

[Osiris-Rex]

I love both of these characters, but far too many creators seem unable to tell the difference between the two, which has led to wildly inconsistent characterization whenever they appear.

Ms. Tessmacher first appeared in Donner's Superman as a fun mix of the traditional gangster's moll and wise-cracking ball buster whose ever-shifting morality becomes a major plot point in the 3rd act.

Mercy Graves first debuted in the 90s Superman cartoon and was a more straight-laced Bond henchwoman to the Blofed-esque Luthor. She had no moral quams about her duties and was ruthlessly loyal to her employer.

However, ever since Smallville's Ms. Tess Mercer threw both into a blender with Lena Luthor, these two characters seem to have become interchangeable, depending upon who is writing the story.

Given the current vagueness of DC continuity, how would you like their respective characters to go in whatever comes next?

On the Supergirl TV show Eve Teschmacher was a mole planted by Lex Luthor to keep and eye on Catco as Cat Grant's personal assistant but when Lena Luthor took over Catco then Eve Teschmacher became Lena Luthor's PA.
Later on it was revealed that Eve Teschmacher was a mole working for Leviathan to keep tabs on Lex Luthor. Most recently Lena Luthor used mind control to convert Eve Teschmacher into an AI named Hope.

Lena Luthor is Lex Luthor's half sister. Both are Lionel Luthor's children but they have different mothers. Lex is Lillian Luthor's son and Lena is the daughter of Lionel's mistress.

Mercy Graves had been Lex Luthor's bodyguard but had betrayed him and helped send Lex to Prison. She was killed by a Hellgrammite.

Otis is Otis Graves, her brother, also one of Lex's bodyguards. Otis was also killed by a Hellgrammite but Lex used Metallo technology to bring Otis back to life a couple times. Later Ben Lockwood killed him a third time and so far Otis Graves is still dead.

So, like you say, depends on who is writing the story.

[Frontier]

I don't think I've ever seen writers confuse the two that much, Mercy is pretty distinctive and almost always used more than Tessmacher.

[Digifiend]

In the Young Justice cartoon, Mercy is a robot. So different yet again.

[DochaDocha]

I don't think I've ever seen writers confuse the two that much, Mercy is pretty distinctive and almost always used more than Tessmacher.

Ditto. First time I heard that the characters' origins were intermixed.

Ms. Tessmacher is a lot more interesting, IMO. I only liked Mercy in STAS and then subsequently JL, but in the former, she was best as a bit of comic relief serving as Harley's foil.

[Jim Kelly]

Who is this "Ms Tessmacher" you speak of? In the SUPERMAN movie and on the SUPERGIRL show, she's Eve Teschmacher.

It never registered with me until now, but when Lena turned Eve into a mind-slave, she was called "Hope." Luthor's two henchwomen were Hope and Mercy, right?

[Frontier]

Ditto. First time I heard that the characters' origins were intermixed.

Ms. Tessmacher is a lot more interesting, IMO. I only liked Mercy in STAS and then subsequently JL, but in the former, she was best as a bit of comic relief serving as Harley's foil.

I like Ms Tessmacher but she generally comes off a little too comedic to work as well as Mercy does in my opinion.