Origin[]
Anaya Bakshi was born to Indian Immigrants living in the United States. She was born just a few minutes after her twin brother Mohan. Her father was a teacher and her mother was a housewife. They lived a modest but comfortable middle-class life. In their early childhood, Anaya and Mohan were thick as thieves. They did everything together. When they were five, their parents took the twins to a county fair. Anaya and Mohan watched a violinist give an amazing performance that life the children entranced. When they got home, they begged their parents to let them take violin lessons. Their parents were wary of spending a lot of money but a kindly former music teacher offered to teach them for a modest price. After making them promise they wouldn't give up, Anaya and Mohan got what they wanted. Anaya went first at their initial lesson. Anaya was an attentive and good student but all that was nearly forgotten when Mohan went. It was clear that he was a prodigy at the violin which became clearer and clearer with every lesson.
After their parents saw how good he was, Mohan was soon in public performances and became a minor celebrity in their hometown. Meanwhile, Anaya was more or less ignored by her parents who were often off with Mohan at shows or interviews. Mohan still cared for her but didn't have any time for her between shows. The only one who had time for Anaya was her violin teacher. Music was Anaya's outlet. While she was never at Mohan's level, she became a very skilled violin player in her own right. In particular, she loved playing country and bluegrass music. Mohan's success pushed Anaya to be the best she could in the hopes her parents would start to pay more attention to her. When she was sixteen, she joined a local band. The band was fairly popular but her parents never wanted to listen to her "hillbilly" music. Anaya grew bitter towards her family. When the family went to India for a relative's funeral, Anaya spent most of her time brooding alone. he ended up talking to her grandmother, who told Anaya about their family had a history of snake-charming. Anaya at first dismissed this until her grandmother showed her the pungi that was used. Strange letters were carved into the side of it. When Anaya asked about this, her grandmother said it was a spell in the ancient Sanskrit language. She claimed that this spell caused who played the instrument to control whoever hear the music.
Intrigued, Anaya decided to carve it into her violin to honor her family's history. Before they left, her grandmother warned Anaya to be careful when she played down. When she came back, she asked her parents to listen to a song she had composed while in India. They dismissed her and told to find a more productive passion. Angry, Anaya ignored her brother when he asked to listen and told him she didn't his pity. Anaya began to play an wrathful tune alone in her room. After playing it, Anaya decided to close her window after feeling a chill. To her shock, a dozen birds were watching her. Then, as a family left for a show, the birds suddenly attacked them. The birds soon left but left her father needing stitches. While Anaya felt a bit guilty, she began see if she could really influence birds. During the times when her family was gone, she would play to birds or other random animals. She found she get them to do tricks and even steal things like cash and jewelry. Hating being under Mohan's shadow, she decided to leave. After about three months of this, Mohan and her parents came home after a performance to find Anaya gone
The Fiddler Went Down To Keystone[]
Using stage names like "Anya Bowin" and "Billie Bowe", Anaya traveled the United States as violinist. She played at bars and festivals, mostly ones that heavily played country music. Anaya was an excellent performer so was able to make a living off it. If she was ever low on cash, she just played a tune for from animals friends. A few people would find themselves missing some catch or having their watch stolen by bird. If they recognized this strange occurrence as theft, Anaya would have already been off it the next town. Anaya had thought that the violin's magic only worked on animals. That was until her twentieth birthday. She was filled with bitterness at the remainder of her family but she had a gig that night at a bar. Despite Anaya giving it her all, all the patrons didn't pay any attention. Anaya hated being ignored more than anything and she was already more sensitive than usual. While playing her song, she thought about how her audience should be listening to her. Suddenly, all the people in the bar stopped what they doing to watch Anaya. Anaya was confused at first but realized it was like when animals were hypnotized. After making sure they were in a trance, a curious and somewhat petty Anaya told the audience to put all their money into violin case. They did so without hesitation. With Anaya finished her performance and left. When the spell wore off, the costumers had no memory of what happened. When she got away with that, Anaya decided to try moonlighting in new profession: crime.
Anaya didn't always rob people. She mostly preferred music to crime. However, if she felt her audience wasn't appreciating her enough, she would help herself to their money. Moving from town to town, Anaya could've carried on like this for years. Until she discovered her brother was performing at an opera house in Keystone, Kansas. Anaya's envy got the better of her and she decided that she should get even with her brother. Traveling to Keystone, Anaya interrupted Mohan's first performance. She hypnotized the audience and forced them to laugh at a horrified Mohan. She made all the people present give her their money and valuables. Anaya gloated to her brother for too long as his deaf wife was able to escape Anaya's notice and leave to get help. Keystone's hero, the Flash, saw the deaf woman running through the streets. After figuring out something bad was happening in the opera, the Flash busted in. Anaya was shocked at first but was able to hypnotized the Flash long enough to get away. While Anaya was upset her revenge was ruined, she knew she had to get away. However, the Flash found her before she had time to flee. Once again, Anaya played her fiddle but Flash ran so fast he was unable to hear her music. With that, Anaya was caught and separated from her fiddle. No one knew the violin itself was magical, meaning Anaya was refused any instruments while in jail. Separated from her one comfort, Anaya began to grow bitter against the Flash for putting her in there.
Anaya spent months in prison when a strange man appeared in her cell. He said that he was Wotan and he would give her freedom in return for help in defeating the Justice Society. Knowing the Flash was a part of the Justice Society, Anaya agreed. Wotan teleported her out of the jail and found her fiddle. Just like that, Anaya became a founding member of the Injustice Society. The team created a fake disater to lure most members of the Justice Society to them. Then, Anaya hypnotized the heroes to make work for the Injustice Society. Combined with the already considerable might of the Injustice Society members, they had a brief reign of terror. Flash, Green Lantern, Wildcat, Power Girl and Doctor Fate weren't there to be entranced. The remaining JSA members fought the Injustice Society with Fiddler being separated from her violin long enough for the spell to wear off. When it became clear that the Injustice Society would loose, Wotan teleported his team away. The Injustice Society fought the JSA several times. Under Wotan's guidance, Anaya discovered that she could create sonic blasts from her violin. While Anaya often bickered with members of the Injustice Society, she felt a real sense of loyalty to the team. However, Wotan didn't feel the same as Anaya and the rest of the Injustice Society would learn during their last fight with the Justice Society.
Curtain Call[]
Wotan claimed he knew a way to permanently defeat the JSA but he needed a sinister artifact to complete the plan. The Injustice Society stole the strange book from a museum. The Justice Society desperately tried to stop them but they were too. However, the other members of the Injustice Society didn't know that Wotan was going summon an ancient abomination that could kill them all. Wotan attempted to bargain for power but it backfired. As the creatures' horrible minions began to attack both teams, they were forced to work together. Flash saved Anaya's life during the fight and she saved him later, because didn't like to be "debt", she claimed. In the end, they just managed to save the world. In return, the villains got a five minute head start before the JSA went after them. Anaya decided to lay low for a while. This was a good idea since the Worlds War happened within a year. With her bow and smarts, Anaya survived that terrible time. After that, Anaya continued her usual schemes. Her last act happened when she tried to steal money from opera. Anaya thought she had in the clear since the Flash was retired by that time. However, the civilian identity of the Flash happened to attending that same opera. The old enemies fought. The fight ended when her violin broke. Without her weapon, Anaya was brought back to prison.
During the next decade, Anaya reconnected with a very unexpected person. Mohan wrote her a letter, apologizing for taking away their parents' attention and blaming himself for her turn to crime. While Anaya couldn't shake her resentment of her brother, she did feel a bit of remorse for all she put him through. With both their parents' died by then, she decided to apologize in turn to Mohan. To her surprise, Mohan visited the prison she was in with his young son, Isaac. His wife never visited because she was understandably wary of Anaya but she built a awkward but decent relationship with her brother. Anaya became very close to Isaac, especially when the boy told he thought her supervillain past was "cool" when his father wasn't a listening. As Isaac got older, he tried to become a star like his father but couldn't find any work. By that time, he was old enough to visit Anaya on his own. When Isaac told Anaya that he was getting jealous of his own daughter after the girl was discovered to musical prodigy herself. Anaya had a way to solve this. While she hadn't had access to a music instrument but she had never forget the spell that gave her violin powers. She thought by giving Isaac the spell, she would both prevent him from resenting his daughter and keep her legacy going.
Isaac carved the spell into his arm that made his singing voice hypotonic. He used this to break into musical theater. Anaya believed that she done a good thing until Isaac responded to be fired from a play by making all the cast and crew walk into traffic. He had a brief career as the villainous Music Meister by was caught by the new Flash. Anaya was getting released from prison just as her nephew was entering it. Anaya did feel guilty about this so didn't take up her brother's offer to live in house. Anaya lived to a tiny apartment with the highlights are her day being when Isaac's daughter, Izzy. Izzy knew Anaya had given Isaac the spell but didn't blame her. In fact, Izzy wanted the spell because she was tired of competing and professionally performing. Despite knowing she shouldn't, Anaya told Izzy the spell and even gave her tips on how to use. At first, it looked like Izzy wasn't going to follow in the criminal footsteps of her father and aunt but couldn't resist getting some petty revenge. It quickly spiraled from there. Currently, Anaya lives in her apartment where she is visited by grandniece and occasionally teaches violin lessons...some more magical than others.
Powers & Abilities[]
Hypnosis-By using a violin that had a magic spell carved into, Anaya could control people by putting them into a trance. They would do whatever she wished them even when Anaya did not issue verbal commands. The trance will go as long as Anaya plays the violin. This trance lasts about three to ten mintutes after Anaya's stops her "performance". The victims will not remember what happened while under Anaya's control.
Sound Manipulation-When Anaya was very focused or very angry, she could release powerful sonic blasts. She could not keep up the entrancing spell while she was doing that. After being exposed to the spell for years, Anaya can use any music instrument to create a painful migraine in those she wishes though it takes a lot of energy out of.
Trivia[]
-Anaya was born on January 31, 1954.
-She became the Fiddler in 1976 and was last active in 1983.
-Anaya loves country music. She sometimes used songs for specific commands for her victims. For example, if she wanted people to stand in place, she would play Johnny's Cash's "Ring of Fire".
-She wears cowboy at nearly all times expect when she was being the Fiddler. Instead, she dressed in a almost business like green suit. Anaya claims this was separate her "music work" and her criminal "job".
-Anaya is nearly addicted to attention, possibly because of the emotional neglect she suffered from her parents. She often interrupts conversations to include herself and often demands to be the first one in a performance or an attack. The reason she decided to be supervillian was possibly because it caused her too be more famous than she ever was a musician.
Notes[]
This version of Fiddler is a composite of the original Golden Age Fiddler/Isaac Bowin and the second Fiddler, Anaya Bowin, created for the Stargirl television show.