WHY CASS IS IN SPIRIT WORLD
After reading Issue #5 of Spirit World, I foolishly went to the comments section. There I read a comment asking why Cass was included. Short Answer: She's Cool and needs more exposure Long Answer:
The author likes the character is as good a reason as any to place her here, as a fan of Cassandra Cain, I'll take all I can get :D .
But on a less frank/more lore-focused answer, Cass has never been properly engaged in her Mother's Eastern Culture [she was abandoned by Shiva at birth] hence this is a good place to explore that. It can even be said that in her growth as a character, studying or observing Chinatown would be in character. Moreover, she has canonically died for a few seconds hence the author can show her experiencing THIS afterlife briefly and explain what could have happened in those few seconds while tying it to the current plot.
This re-asserts the fact that, in DC, your afterlife is based on your culture; hence, all religions are canon [as shown in the Sandman Comics by Neil]. This, however, raises a strange question. Cassandra has never shown any religious inclinations, probably because it was never introduced to her and because of her difficulty/ lack of language, yet the story presupposes that she still ended up in the afterlife according to Chinese Mythology, WHY? Again, Cass never engaged in any religion in her lifetime so why was she in THIS afterlife? Was this influenced by Shiva being her mom? Was this because Shiva was the one who killed her? She always wanted a sense of normalcy as shown by her befriending Brenda and Zero before the Destructions's Daughter Run was put into motion, did she want to learn about and immerse herself in East Asian/Chinese Culture, thus relegating her to this afterlife? Did the current BBEG yank her soul there so she had no choice [personally, I believe this to be the answer]? This could be explored in the future if the comics are allowed to be extended and the team-up between Xanthe and Cass is kept.
From a more storyteller/ story role perspective, Cass serves as a measuring stick and a foil to Xanthe in terms of martial arts which does not outshine the MC when they are on the same page. We have to remember that Xanthe is still the main character and the comic must mainly revolve around them. Cass does not talk a lot but still bounces off Xanthe quite well when they quip or because of their beliefs. This keeps the attention and interest on Xanthe as Cass can't just magically solve the situation/solve the situation using magic, talk herself out of the situation, or outthink the other characters. She can; however, outfight/outspeed the other members of the cast [Frontline bruiser]. The same goes for Constantine, he's a great support as his skills, in this comic, are focused on magic [Backline Caster]. He is the old gruff veteran of the craft that is juxtaposed against Xanthe's plucky green horn character. They cannot outcast Constantine and it has been shown that John has way more connections and occult knowledge than Xanthe. This highlights what Xanthe can and cannot do. They can fight and cast spells but are outclassed in those fields by specialist characters who are the best at what they do [Flexible Mid-Range Support]. Thus, the comic's combat is more interesting as a result.
