History Headscratchers / Batwoman

** Might be RealityIsUnrealistic, since real redheads ''can'' actually be that pale (in fact, the person writing this is such an example), since they're physically incapable of producing the enzyme that causes people to tan. That aside I'd guess it's an artistic choice, since the model sheet of her was described as having "vampire porcelain white" skin. And check out [[http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44933000/jpg/_44933710_pa_girlsaloud466.jpg this photo]] of Nicola Roberts of Girls Aloud if you think Kate's unrealistic.

** The hair Kate has while she's Batwoman is a wig attached to her mask, which would get noticed and assumed to not be Batwoman's real hair color. Same for the pale skin; as far as the public is concerned, who knows what all these costumed freaks put on at night? Pale makeup wouldn't be too outlandish. Also, Kate's public persona is the RichIdiotWithNoDayJob and she's relatively well-known in Gotham, so she's safe in that regard, too.

* After seeing the preview page from her ongoing series, something bothered me: she's a little ''too'' pale. Pale is fine, but then again, there's ginger, and then there's [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]]. She just looks a little UncannyValley-ish standing next to others. Is there an in-story reason for this? Skin bleached by weird chemicals? ComicBook/TheJoker's sister?

* Related to the above: Are the Kanes Pre-Crisis and the Kanes New 52 related? Pre-Crisis Batwoman (Kathy Kane) was Bruce's aunt-by-marriage (married Martha's brother Nathan), as well as Bette's aunt (Bette was a Kane so in all likelihood she's Bruce's first cousin). The New 52 Batwoman, Kate Kane, is said to be Bruce's cousin and also Bette's cousin, the daughter of Jacob Kane (relationship to Martha unknown). At first it seemed that one continuity voided the other, but then Grant Morrisson had Kate meet Kathy. So is Kathy Kane also aunt-by-marriage to Kate Kane, and these identically named, related young women just independently become Batman?

* After seeing the preview page from her ongoing series, something bothered me: she's a little ''too'' pale. Pale is fine, but then again, there's ginger, and then there's [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]]. She just looks a little UncannyValley-ish standing next to others. Is there an in-story reason for this? Skin bleached by weird chemicals? SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker's sister?

** A few reasons. First, much like Kate's pale skin, her natural hair color is exaggerated in the artwork for effect; in-universe, her hair isn't dyed (it's the same shade when she's six years old), so her actual hair color is likely just a regular shade of red (i.e. orange or possibly light auburn) and not literally red as it appears on-panel. The fact that Maggie never suspects Kate or mentions that she and Batwoman have the same hair color gives weight to this. Second, a blonde wig would clash with her costume. That may sound silly, but the reason her costume was designed with a black-and-red color scheme is because red "doesn't pop during night ops," according to her father. That may not be true in RealLife, but it's the in-universe justification, which works fine. So why not a black wig? Well, that brings up the last and possibly most important reason of all: RuleOfCool.
* Can having more than one bat-themed hero in the same city hurt Batman/Bruce Wayne's chances of being a dark mysterious creature of the night? Bruce doesn't seem bothered that there are others wearing Batsuits, running around Gotham.
** Why and how would it hurt his chances? And Bruce doesn't mind most of the Bats because they've trained directly with him and have his endorsement. Kate's really the only one who hasn't, because she adopted her own Bat after being inspired by Batman. She and Batman butt heads a bit over various things, but he accepts her because she's loyal to what the symbol stands for and is really good at what she does.
** Wouldn't new criminals in town see Batman as "just another person in a Batsuit" since there are other bat-heroes running around? Before the Batwomen, Batman was an urban legend all crooks feared. I'm guessing from the crooks' perspective, they probably see the women as "fan-girls inspired by an urban legend".
** No, because he's ''the'' Batman. You're overthinking this complete non-problem.
** Plus, the whole "Batman as an urban legend" thing isn't a necessary part of the Batman mythos, and is in fact a relatively recent development (IIRC it came about sometime in the '90s). And even if he ''was'' seen "just another person in a Batsuit," ''so what?'' Why in the world would that matter?

*** Wouldn't new criminals in town see Batman as "just another person in a batsuit" since there are other bat-heroes running around? Before the Batwomen, Batman was an urban legend all crooks feared. I guessing from the crooks' perspective, they probably see the women as "fan-girls inspired by an urban legend".
** No, because he's ''the'' Batman. You're overthinking this complete non-problem.

*** Wouldn't new criminals in town see Batman as "just another person in a batsuit" since there are other bat-heroes running around? Before the Batwomen, Batman was an urban legend all crooks feared. I guessing from the crooks' perspective, they probably see the women as "fan-girls inspired by an urban legend".

*** Wouldn't new criminals in town see Batman as "just another person in a batsuit" since there are other bat-heroes running around? Before the Batwomen, Batman was an urban legend all crooks feared. I guessing from the crooks' perspective, they probably see the women as "fan-girls inspired by a urban legend".

** Why and how would it hurt his chances? And Bruce doesn't mind most of the Bats because they've trained directly with him and have his endorsement. Kate's really the only one who hasn't, because she adopted her own Bat after being inspired by Batman. She and Batman butt heads a bit over various things, but he accepts her because she's loyal to what the symbol stands for and is really good at what she does.

* Can having more than one bat-theme heroes in the same city hurt Batman/Bruce Wayne's chances of being a dark mysterious creature of the night? Bruce doesn't seem bothered that there are others wearing a bat suit, running around gotham.

** A few reasons. First, much like Kate's pale skin, her natural hair color is exaggerated in the artwork for effect; in-universe, her hair isn't dyed (it's the same shade when she's six years old), so her actual hair color is likely just a regular shade of red (i.e. orange or possibly light auburn) and not literally red as it appears on-panel. The fact that Maggie never suspects Kate or mentions that she and Batwoman have the same hair color gives weight to this. Second, a blonde wig would clash with her costume. That may sound silly, but the reason her costume was designed with a black-and-red color scheme is because red "doesn't pop during night ops," according to her father. That may not be true in RealLife, but it's the in-universe justification, which works fine. So why not a black wig? Well, that brings up the last and possibly most important reason of all: RuleOfCool.

* Speaking of wigs, why would Batwoman wear a wig that is the same color as her real hair? Wouldn't it make more sense for her to wear a blonde wig if she's trying to throw people off?

** The general public has gotten them confused on a few occasions. In the ComicBook/New52, Batgirl gets mistaken for Batwoman a couple times, and a group of thugs once confused Huntress, who isn't even Bat-themed, with Batgirl. All that confusion could just be because there aren't photos of any of them, plus they tend to operate at night, plus they only get seen by maybe a dozen people at a time, tops. The cops and (probably) the local media are well-informed enough to realize that they're different people, though.

* How come criminals and the media don't mistake one bat-female for another, or think all the bat-women are the same person? So if one Bat-girl goes rogue, would cops go after Kate and Barbara? Kate didn't always have pale skin, so I'm surprised people didn't mistake her for Barbara Gordon.

* How come criminals and the media don't mistake one bat-female for another, or think all the bat-women are the same person? So if one Bat-girl goes rogue, would cops go after Kate and Barbara? Kate didn't always have pale skin. I'm surprised people didn't mistake her for Barbara Gordon.

* I'm not sure how many Bat-females are operating in Gotham, but wouldn't crooks and the media mistake one for another, or think all the women are the same person? If one Bat-girl goes rogue, wouldn't cops go after Kate and Barbara?

** Let's avoid bringing Batgirl into this as it's not her page, just for ease of discussion (plus you could make the same argument for literally any superhero with long hair who doesn't tie it back). Batwoman's wig is detachable just like Batman's cape is. In Detective Comics Alice tries grabbing her hair but only ends up tearing the wig off, and in the ongoing (IIRC, I don't have the issue on hand right now) she gets hit hard enough that her entire mask flies off. As for the hair getting in her eyes, Kate was trained to fight while blindfolded and while exposed to various incapacitating agents like tear gas and flashbangs, so it's not unreasonable that a bit of hair getting in her face wouldn't bother her too much. I'll admit that those aren't 100% satisfying explanations, but this may be a matter of RuleOfCool or other AcceptableBreaksFromReality that you just might not ever accept, and that's fine. Also, I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that either of them is among the best fighters in the world; they're good, but among normal humans neither of them is even in the top 20 (or possibly even top ''40'') best in the DC universe.