Kasnia

The flag of Kasnia.
Type	Country
Publisher	DC Comics

Kasnia or Kaznia is a fictional country which appears in the DC animated universe. It appears to be located in the Balkans, and to alternate (throughout the various time periods it is visited) between peace and a civil war between Northern and Southern factions.

DC Animated Universe

Superman: The Animated Series

Kaznia (spelled with a z) first appears in the premiere episode of Superman: The Animated Series, "The Last Son Of Krypton". At this point, it appears to be ruled by a "Regent", who makes a secret deal with Lex Luthor to acquire a prototype of LexCorp's new military battlesuit. Because Kasnia is under a trade embargo, the transaction is carried out by staging a theft from Lexcorp using a team of hired mercenaries, led by John Corben. Superman's fight with Corben in the suit marks his high-profile debut in Metropolis.^[1]

It was also featured in the first issue of Superman Adventures, the comic book based on the series, where Lex Luthor deploys an android Superman imposter to attack the Kaznian embassy both to discredit Superman and instigate Kaznian-U.S. problems. Superman, after destroying the fake, confronts Luthor and forces him to make a public statement admitting responsibility, as well as appropriate a large amount of money to repair the embassy.

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

In Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, a faction of the Kasnian military attempts to purchase a large number of high-tech weapons from Gotham mobsters The Penguin, Rupert Thorne, and the assassin Bane. The Kasnians never receive these arms and likely intended to retaliate against the Penguin and Thorne for cheating them.^[2]

Justice League

Kasnia makes several appearances in the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series.^[3][4]

In the Season 2 episode "Maid of Honor", the country becomes the vehicle for a plot by Vandal Savage. He manipulates Kasnia's substantial contribution to an International Space Station to mount an orbital weapon. After becoming affianced to Princess Audrey, the heir to the throne, Savage has the current incumbent, King Gustav, poisoned and takes the throne in Audrey's name (their wedding appears to be Greek Orthodox in nature).^[3][5]

After the Justice League foiled Savage's plot, their marriage was ended, either through divorce or annulment, and Audrey, as Queen, resolved to be a more conscientious ruler than her father.

By the episode "Hawk and Dove", a North-South civil war had erupted, and was further exacerbated when the overwhelmed Northern Kasnians were given a mobile battlesuit by the Greek god Ares. Though the Northerners and Southerners stopped fighting when they realized they were being manipulated by the god, it was clear that they intended to resume hostilities later.^[6]

Subsequently, in "The Great Brain Robbery", Kasnia had apparently reunified and joined the European Union, adopting the Euro as its official currency. The Secret Society attempted to steal a shipment of Euros as they were being transported into the country.^[7] In the same episode, a location in Kasnia is listed at the coordinates 45°9'8" N, 19°58'13" E. This would seem to locate the nation in the autonomous region of Vojvodina, Serbia, in northern Serbia.^[8] The second coordinate is unclear: although it appears to be 19°58'13", the "8" is obscured, and could be a "9" or "0".^[9]

Batman Beyond

In "Rebirth", the pilot episode of Batman Beyond, the Kasnian ambassador, Vilmos Egans, (who briefly appears as a background character at Audrey's engagement party in "Maid of Honor") appears in Gotham to do business with Derek Powers. Wayne-Powers has developed a lethal nerve gas, which the Kasnian government wishes to acquire. When Terry McGinnis's father, a Wayne-Powers employee, tried to expose the project, he was murdered on Powers's orders, causing Terry to become the new Batman.

Another Batman Beyond reference to Kasnia is in the episode "Spellbound", where the auction house director is locking up the "Princess Audrey Collection" of dresses.

Other appearances

Justice League: Gods And Monsters

The first appearance of the League features them infiltrating a bunker beneath the Kasnian embassy to retrieve data stolen by terrorists.

Batman: Arkham Knight

After completing the game, one thug will occasionally speak a line something like "I have another job lined up after tonight in Kasnia. We're supposed to dethrone or overthrow or assassinate a king or something."

Arrow

Kasnia appears in season 3, episode 17 ("Suicidal Tendencies") of the CW TV series Arrow. After Diggle and Lyla officially remarry, Amanda Waller (A.R.G.U.S.) interrupts their honeymoon to recruit them for a Suicide Squad mission to rescue Senator Cray from a kidnapping in the Republic of Kaznia. The kidnapping turns out be a ruse by Cray, to help his bid for presidency. The mission ends with Diggle, Lyla, Cupid and Lawton killing all the mercenaries and saving the hostages. Floyd Lawton, a.k.a. Deadshot, sacrifices himself in the explosion caused by the explosives rigged by Cray's mercenaries.

Legends of Tomorrow

In Season 1 Episode 10 ("Progeny"), Rip Hunter's team: Sara Lance, Martin Stein, Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, Ray Palmer, Leonard Snart, and Kendra Saunders, travels to the nation of Kasnia in an attempt to stop the immortal tyrant known as Vandal Savage from manipulating the heir to rule Per Degaton (played by Cory Grüter-Andrew). The country is shown to be largely Utopian, with apparently no crime, pollution, or poverty, but does feature a heavily advance police of A.T.O.M. robots. By the end of the episode, Rip Hunter is informed that the timeline has remained unchanged, and Per Degaton proceeds in murdering his father, causing a worldwide genocide.

Footnotes