History Characters / Batwoman

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[[Characters/BatmanTheCharacter Batman]]\\

!Kane Family

[[folder:'''Batwoman II''' (Katherine Rebecca "Kate" Kane)]]
[[quoteright:342:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kate_bat.jpg]]
Katherine "Kate" Kane first appeared in ComicBook/FiftyTwo as an old flame of [[ComicBook/TheQuestion Renee Montoya]], a rich socialite who turns out to be Batwoman. Kate is a military brat; her father is a Special Forces colonel and her mother was a captain in the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. When she was 12, she, her twin sister Beth, and their mother Gabi were kidnapped by terrorists. During their rescue, Gabi and Beth were killed.\\
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Afterward, Kate aspired to serve her country in the Army like her parents, especially to have the inner strength and resolve she saw in her father Jacob. She attended the United States Military Academy and excelled there, eventually achieving the rank of Brigade Executive Officer. However, she was expelled under Don't Ask, Don't Tell when she refused to lie about her sexuality.\\
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After her expulsion, Kate drifted for awhile, relying on alcohol and romance to help with her crippling depression. One fateful night, she took down a thug in an alley right before Batman showed up, and seeing him in person made her realize that if ''he'' could protect others, then she could too, and vigilantism could be her new path in life.\\
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With the bat symbol as her inspiration, she began crimefighting on her own. When her father found out, he agreed to help her if she would go through with training he specifically designed to get her to quit. She made it through regardless and returned to crime fighting. Kate protected Gotham City in Batman's absence, and after he got back.\\
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Kate is Bruce Wayne's first cousin, and has an unofficial place in the Batfamily. At first, she preferred to keep to her own cases, and repeatedly turned down Bruce's offer to join Batman Inc. or join him, for fear that he would take over. In time, she became a more frequent (though still independent) ally to the Batfamily, including taking a position leading and training a team of young vigilantes [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg (and Clayface)]] in ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsRebirth''.

[[folder:Bat-Girl / '''Flamebird''' / Hawkfire (Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane[=/=]Betty Kane)]]

[[folder:Maria Salvaje/'''La Llorona''']]

[[folder:Rush/'''Hook''']]

[[folder:Mary Worth/'''Bloody Mary''']]

[[folder:Waylon Jones/'''Killer Croc''']]

[[folder:Tahani/'''The Knife''']]

[[folder:Evan Blake/'''Wolf Spider''']]

[[folder:Natalie Mitternacht/'''Nocturna''']]

[[folder:Anton Knight/'''Night-Thief''']]

[[folder:Derek/'''Killshot II''']]

[[folder:'''Green Fairy''']]

[[folder:Simon Samuels/'''Colony Prime''']]

[[folder:'''Abbadonia''']]

[[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn ([[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harleen Quinzel]]) | [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ([[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's Al Ghul]] | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanMrFreeze Mr. Freeze]] | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]]\\

[[WMG:[[center:[-''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' '''[[Characters/{{Batman}} Main Character Index]]'''\\

* IdleRich: Like [[Franchise/{{Batman}} her inspiration]], Kate maintains this image, and before finding her purpose she really was one. In the first issue of her run in ''Detective Comics'', her girlfriend breaks up with her because she thinks Kate is not responsible enough and has been "tomcatting around" when she has actually been fighting crime. When Batman begins to shadow Kate Kane in order to determine if she is the woman in the Batwoman costume she goes clubbing, apparently picking up random women, before he loses sight of her in a dark alley.

* {{Expy}}: Of [[Franchise/JamesBond SPECTRE]] (down to the similar meanings of their logos), with a dash of [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3 Cobra Unit]] thrown in as well.

See the Characters/TeenTitans character sheet for more info.

* PeacefulInDeath: Her goal, and [[spoiler:implied to be her happy ending after Maro’s death.]]

[[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn ([[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harleen Quinzel]]) | [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ([[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's Al Ghul]] | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | [[Characters/BatmanTwoFace Two Face]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]]\\

[[caption-width-right:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco010_1469387811.jpg Bette Kane as Post-Zero Hour Flamebird]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here to see Bette Kane as Post-Crisis Flamebird:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/okuxf3ts5t0b1.jpg]][[/labelnote]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click here to see Bette Kane as Bat-Girl:]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/207915619.jpg]][[/labelnote]]

During Pre-Crisis, Betty Kane was the niece of Kathy Kane and dressed up along with her aunt in order to meet their heroes (and potential love interests) Batman and Robin. She was routinely turned down by Robin, as seen below, but that didn't deter her! That is, until the [[CrisisCrossover Crisis on Infinite Earths]] occurred. Post-Crisis, Mary Elizabeth "Bette" Kane (pronounced the same way, mind you!) was a teenaged tennis prodigy who, after becoming infatuated with the red and green fellow with a cute butt and a domino mask, decided to become a superheroine herself. From there, she created the identity of [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike Flamebird]], making a metajoke on "Nightwing and Flamebird," a Kryptonian superhero legend that there really wasn't a way for Bette to know about.
She was part of the Teen Titans for a while and did her best to attract that cutie Dick Grayson, eventually failing and giving up on the whole superheroine thing. However, not being a superheroine and just being a tennis prodigy with perfect grades and lots of money got boring after a while, so she attempted to reignite her Flamebird identity.

In the New 52 (& Rebirth), how much of Bette's history is still intact is left vague. She is the cousin of Kate Kane, who treated her as a rookie who needed lots of training, although Batman implied in his study of Kate that Bette had been first on the scene. When Kate tried to fire her for her own safety, Bette responded by taking to the streets to prove herself. Her uncle Col. Jacob Kane promised to train her if she still wanted to be a vigilante when she was gravely injured and rendered comatose by the villain Hook. Under the tutelage of him and his Murder of Crows, she became Hawkfire and successfully took down Hook. As of Rebirth, she is enrolled at West Point and seems to be in her yearling (sophomore) year.

* ActionHeroine: At some points, she's written as practically being in it partially for the thrill of it all. Kate's perception of this being true (regardless of the actual degree) causes friction between them.
** FauxActionGirl: Zig-zagged with her her Pre-Crisis Bat-Girl incarnation. She was by far the least capable member of the Bat-family and got herself in way over her head more often than not, but she was also shown to be resourceful and clever, implying she would grow up to become a capable crime-fighter. Her initial Post-Crisis appearances came off as this, as she was more concerned with showing off to look good and to try to gain her crush's attention.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: She's in love with Dick Grayson, but he doesn't really reciprocate. In Pre-Crisis, he actually did start to show interest in her, but she was written out before it could be explored. In Post-Crisis, he's firmly uninterested despite her frequent attempts.
* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: When Bette visits Kate while on leave from West Point, her uniform has a few discrepancies with the real thing. Perhaps most notable is that she's wearing a garrison cap, which cadets stopped wearing about a year or so before she would have enrolled. Even if she managed to get a hold of one somehow, by the time of the visit she wouldn't be required (or perhaps even allowed) to wear it.
* AscendedFangirl: This is how she started. In Pre-Crisis, she was an admirer of Batwoman until discovering that Batwoman's secret identity was her own aunt Kathy Kane, motivating her to make her own Bat-Girl costume and convince her aunt to take her on as her sidekick. In Post-Crisis, she developed a crush on Robin while hearing of his and Batman's exploits as a young girl, motivating her to take on a superhero identity of her own when she grew up in the hopes it would attract the attention of her crush.
* BoyishShortHair: After enrolling at West Point, she cut her hair very short.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome[=/=]PutOnABus: Happens to her so often and for such long stretches of time that she's really more of a permanent commuter. As of August 2023, her last appearance was in ''DC's Legion of Bloom'' where she reappeared as Flamebird alongside Hawk II and Bumblebee.
* ConvenientComa: Played with. While Bette does come out of her coma in a fairly dramatic fashion (after Jacob gives her a pep-talk of sorts), her recovery isn't treated as a certainty by any of the medical characters, and is shown to cause a strain on Kate and especially Jacob.
* EightiesHair: Initially had an outrageous perm when introduced as Flamebird.
* {{Flanderization}}: In her debut, Bat-Girl only flirted with Robin a little bit; her main motivation was to prove herself as a crime-fighter and show herself worthy of the "Bat"-moniker to Batman and her aunt. In later appearances, her crush on Robin became more prominent and the primary attribute to her character. Even still, crime-fighting always took precedence over her crush. Her Post-Crisis incarnation was portrayed as a downright StalkerWithACrush who became a crime-fighter solely to make Robin notice her although this finally went away during the events of the ''ComicBook/BeastBoy'' mini.
* GirlyGirl: As Bat-Girl she had a utility purse like her aunt, as well as wearing a dress. Though unlike her aunt and her successor, she actually wore flat shoes rather than heels when fighting crime. Conversely, she wore impractical high-heeled boots with her Post-Crisis Flamebird outfit.
* GoodBadGirl: She's a shameless flirt, a consistent trait in all her incarnations. As Pre-Crisis Bat-Girl she frequently made the move on Robin and came onto him rather strongly, [[NoGuyWantsToBeChased which intimidated the young teen]]. As Post-Crisis Flamebird she openly mused about Dick Grayson's "cute butt", even when he was in the same room. It extends to other guys as well; in ''Hawk & Dove Annual'' #1, her reaction to seeing her old friend Hank Hall (Hawk) was to excitedly jump into his lap and kiss him on the lips, despite mistakenly assuming that Donna Cabot was his girlfriend.
* GirlsHaveCooties: Robin's initial attitude to Bat-Girl, which rather undermined the whole "See? Love interest! Not gay!" thing. He later warmed up to her and seemed to start to reciprocate her feelings, shortly before her character was summarily dropped.
* InvisibleParents: Her parents have yet to be shown or named. When she was in a coma, the staff thought that Jacob was her father, and he was the only one shown to stay by her side. During her recovery, she stayed with Jacob and Catherine. The only mentions so far of either parent are in an imaginary future story from ''Batman'' #163 where an adult Betty Kane returns to Gotham, explaining she has been living with her businessman father in Europe for the past couple of years, and a brief reference during her coma that Bette's mother was finalizing preparations for her organs to be harvested.
* LonelyRichKid: Oh, so much. It's a side effect of DC not being sure what to do with her, and thus shuffling her around and not giving her any solid friendships. Dove points this out (see below)
* MagicSkirt: As Bat-Girl, and to an extent with her first Flamebird costume (though she did wear tights underneath).
* {{Retcon}}: Her history as Bat-Girl initially never happened in the Post-Crisis era, so readers were supposed to imagine her as Flamebird in any instances where she was with the original Teen Titans. It has since slowly crept back into the continuity, starting with a throwaway line in ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' before being stregnthened by Grant Morrison's Batwoman story, and her past as Bat-Girl is seemingly in continutiy again.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Her middle name is usually spelled "Elizabeth", but was spelled "Elisabeth" in Sean [=McKeever=]'s run of Teen Titans.
* StalkerWithACrush: Could be seen as this in her early career as Flamebird, as her primary motivation to become a crime-fighter was to attract the attention of Robin.
* StepfordSmiler: Implied in her appearance in ''Hawk and Dove Annual'' #1, by Dove's analysis of her personality that she's actually a lonely and depressed girl desperate for company and contact with others.
* SurprisinglyNormalBackstory: Kate discusses this when telling Bette that she's not cut out for vigilantism. Bette doesn't see it as a reason to quit.
* TookALevelInBadass:
** In the ''Beast Boy'' mini-series.
** Took another in the Batwoman ongoing, becoming Hawkfire.
* WellDoneSonGuy: She really wants Kate to respect her skills and trust her as a vigilante.

* {{Retcon}}: Her history as Bat-Girl initially never happened in the Post-Crisis era, so readers were supposed to imagine her as Flamebird in any instances where she was with the original Teen Titans. It has since slowly crept back into the continuity, starting with Grant Morrison's Batwoman story, and her past as Bat-Girl is seemingly in continutiy again as of Rebirth.

* {{Flanderization}}: In her debut, Bat-Girl only flirted with Robin a little bit; her main motivation was to prove herself as a crime-fighter and show herself worthy of the "Bat"-moniker to Batman and her aunt. In later appearances, her crush on Robin became more prominent and the primary attribute to her character. Even still, crime-fighting always took precedence over her crush. Her Post-Crisis incarnation was portrayed as a downright StalkerWithACrush who became a crime-fighter solely to make Robin notice her.