Beatrix Kiddo

The Bride, codename "Black Mamba", was a former member of "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad", an elite, shadowy group of assassins. A formidable, ruthless warrior trained under martial arts master Pai Mei, she served at the right hand of Bill, her boss and lover, a position that provoked the furious envy of the other Vipers, especially Elle Driver, who was also Bill's lover. Kiddo, a master of the Tiger/Crane style of kung fu, was the only Viper to learn the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique," a method of killing an assailant by quickly striking five pressure points around the heart. Pai Mei refused to teach this technique, which was said to be 'the deadliest blow in all of martial arts', even to Bill.

Kill Bill Vol. 1

Beatrix vs. Vernita Green

Kiddo abandoned the dangerous life of an assassin after she learned she was pregnant with Bill's child. Thus she faked her own death and hid in rural Texas under the name "Arlene Machiavelli," and got engaged to a young man named Tommy Plympton. Bill found her, however, and gate-crashed her wedding rehearsal with the other Vipers and murdered everyone inside. Bill then shot her in the head, leaving her in a seemingly irreversible coma. She remained comatose for four years and six months, during which she was repeatedly prostituted and raped by an orderly named Buck.

Awakened just as one of Buck's "clients" was about to violate her, she killed the would-be rapist and then Buck, before beginning a mission of revenge on the other Vipers. She first traveled to Japan, where she convinced the legendary swordsmith Hattori Hanzō to come out of retirement and forge her one of his peerless katana. After getting the sword, Beatrix (wearing a yellow motorcycle jump suit) arrived at the House of Blue Leaves where she faced O-Ren Ishii.

The Bride's Sword. Photo courtesy of CG Imports

Beatrix followed Sofie Fatale to the toilet, where she recognize her Auld Lang Syne ringtone, and rembered her from the El Paso massacre. Beatrix captured her and brought her to O-Ren Ishii, where she cuts off her left arm, as a means of both seeking revenge on her for her presence at the massacre in El Paso and showing Ishii her intentions for a duel. O-Ren Ishii sent a few henchmen, who are the Crazy 88, and Gogo Yubari, to fight and kill Beatrix, however are all killed by Beatrix. O-Ren then dispatches dozens of the Crazy 88 to deal with The Beatrix, who proceeds to a bloody wage war on her henchmen. The Bride then turns her attention to O-Ren, climaxing in a dramatic swordfight in a snowy garden.

The Bride faces off against the Crazy 88.

After killing O-Ren, Beatrix then tortured Sofie Fatale, for the locations of the rest of the members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Beatrix then sent her rolling down a hill to a hospital for medical attention so she can live on and tell Bill what has transpired, and that Beatrix is still alive.

Beatrix Kiddo then finds Vernita Green, who renounced her life as a hired killer and started afresh in a quiet suburban neighborhood with a new Husband and Daughter. Beatrix showed up at her doorstep and engaged her in brutal hand to hand combat. However, during the fight her daughter, Nikki, came home from school, and Beatrix was unwilling to kill Vernita in front of her child. Vernita tried to apologize to Beatrix however Beatrix had no mercy. Thinking quickly Vernita shot at Beatrix with a handgun, but missed. Beatrix quickly threw a knife at Vernita, killing her.

Nikki went to the kitchen just in time to see Beatrix kill her mother. She tells the girl that she's sorry for killing her mom in front of her, and that if the young girl wishes to revenge her death when she grows up, she'll be waiting.

Kill Bill Vol. 2

The Bride vs. Elle.

After killing Vipers O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green, she went after Budd, Bill's brother. Budd shot her in the chest with a shotgun loaded with rock salt, then buried her alive in order to collect a bounty from her old rival, Driver. She escaped, however, and went back to Budd's trailer — where he lay dead having been bitten by a black mamba, with Driver standing over him. Driver engaged her in battle, and revealed that she had killed Pai Mei as revenge for tearing out her eye. Enraged, Kiddo tore out Elle's other eye and left Driver to die in the middle of the desert. She then pursued her final target, Bill.

The Bride vs. Bill.

When she found him, however, she discovered that their daughter, B.B., whom she presumed had died in utero, was alive and well. They spent the evening together as a family until B.B. went to bed, and then Bill and Kiddo settled their differences; Bill explained his reasons for nearly killing her, while she admitted she couldn't be happy as anything other than a warrior--except, perhaps, as a mother.

At the end of their conversation, a brief battle ensued where Kiddo fatally struck Bill with the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. As Bill died, the two forgave each other and made their peace. The Bride then disappeared with B.B. in the middle of the night.