Batwoman is a name used by several characters of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, both in mainstream continuity and Elseworlds. The best known Batwomen are Kathy Kane and

Kate Kane Batwoman (Katherine Rebecca Kane) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Kane is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources toward ...

History

* The first Batwoman, Kathy Kane, debuted during the

Silver Age of Comics The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...

within the "pre-crisis" mainstream

DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...

. * The 1996 limited series '' Kingdom Come'' by Mark Waid and Alex Ross presents a Batwoman portrayed as a Batman admirer from

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gre ...

's Fourth World. Her costume mixed Kirby-esque elements with those of the original costume. The character rode a giant bat-winged dog named Ace. * '' Batman: Dark Knight Dynasty'' (1997) features Vice-President Brenna Wayne who becomes Batwoman in order to stop

Vandal Savage Vandar Adg of the Blood Tribe, more widely known as Vandal Savage, is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is said to be a Cro-Magnon warrior who gained immortality and advanced healing abilities after encount ...

. Wayne discovers a conspiracy against her family after investigating the last thirteen generations of the Wayne family. * '' JLA: The Nail'' (1998) by Alan Davis features Selina Kyle adopting a Batwoman costume based on the costume worn by Kathy Kane. The 2004 sequel, '' JLA: Another Nail'', features her fashioning her own Batwoman persona. * ''

Superman/Batman ''Superman/Batman'' is a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular superheroes: Superman and Batman. ''Superman/Batman'' premiered in August 2003, an update of the previous series, ''World's ...

'' #24 (November 2005) presents a world where the genders of the characters are reversed with Helena Wayne as Batwoman. DC later placed this alternate reality as "Earth 11" in the post-''Infinite Crisis'' multiverse. *

as Batwoman debuted in 2006 in the series '' 52''. * In the ''

Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...

'' storyline "

Titans Tomorrow "Titans Tomorrow" is a storyline of a possible alternate future in the DC Comics Universe, from ''Teen Titans'' vol. 3 #17-19 (2005), by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone. The story arc has been collected as part of the ''Teen Titans: The Future is Now' ...

" (2005),

Bette Kane Mary Elizabeth Kane, better known as Bette Kane, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in the 1960s as "Betty Kane", the Batgirl#Betty/Bette Kane, Bat-Girl. Her name was later mod ...

is Batwoman, and wears a costume similar to Kathy's pre-Crisis one. In the follow up storyline, "Titans of Tomorrow... Today!" (2007), Bette Kane remains Flamebird and former Batgirl Cassandra Cain becomes Batwoman. * In ''

DC Comics Bombshells DC Comics Bombshells refers to a line of figurines released by DC Collectibles depicting DC Comics superheroines in a retro 1940s look based on designs by Ant Lucia.alternate history version of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, there are three versions of the character outside of Kate Kane: ** Katherine Webb, a member of the Kane family and the aunt to both Kate and Bette, is the Headmistress of Pinkney Orphanage. She was left in charge of the orphanage by Kate before she left Gotham. Headmistress Webb is a xenophobic woman, who uses the orphans to make robots in order to protect the country from foreigners, whom she characterizes as evil. She is later defeated by a team of Batgirls, including Bette, who come to the orphanage to save the orphans. ** Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne, an auto mechanic and the leader of a team of Batgirls, who protect the city during Batwoman's absence. Along with Kathy, the team includes Nell Little,

Harper Row Bluebird (Harper Row) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is a supporting character of Batman. Harper Row was created by writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo, first appearing in ''Batman' ...

and later on

Alysia Yeoh Alysia Yeoh is a fictional character created by writer Gail Simone for the ''Batgirl'' ongoing series published by DC Comics. She is Barbara Gordon’s best friend and a trans woman. At the time of her debut appearance, she was noted for being th ...

and Bette Kane.''DC Comics Bombshells'' #8 Upon meeting Bette, Kathy immediately recognizes her as a baseball player and later figures out her real identity as well as her connection to Batwoman but promises to keep it a secret. The Batgirls save the orphans of Pinkney Orphanage from the devious Headmistress and later expand their team, welcoming

Tim Drake Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in ''Batman'' #436 (August 19 ...

, Cullen Row and

Felicity Smoak Felicity Smoak is a fictional character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. Her first appearance was in ''The Fury of Firestorm'' #23 (May 1984), created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Rafael Kayanan. She was originally the manager of ...

, and creating a Bat family. ** Sonia Alcana appears as an officer of Gotham City Police Department, partnered with Crispus Allen and working with Maggie Sawyer to aid Batwoman into her fight against crime in the city. * In the 2019 ''

Young Justice Young Justice is a fictional DC Comics superhero team consisting of teenaged heroes. The team was formed in 1998 when DC's usual teen hero group, the Teen Titans, had become adults and changed their name to the Titans. Like the original ''Teen ...

'' series, Stephanie Brown is the Batwoman of

Earth-3 Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in ''Justice League of America'' #29 (1964), and the concept has been r ...

In other media

Television

* A loose adaptation of Batwoman appears in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Criss Cross Conspiracy!", voiced by

Vanessa Marshall Vanessa Marshall (born October 19, 1969 in Los Angeles, California, U.S.) is an American voice and television actress who is most active in films, cartoons and video games. She is the daughter of actress Joan Van Ark and reporter John Marshall. ...

. This version is visually based on the Kathy Kane incarnation, but is depicted as series original character Katrina Moldoff / The Bat Lady, thrill-seeking heiress to the Moldoff Circus fortune and a trained circus acrobat whose crime-fighting style endangers bystanders. After being publicly unmasked and humiliated by the Riddler years prior, she is forced to give up her crime-fighting lifestyle before seeking revenge in the present by encouraging

Felix Faust Felix Faust is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Justice League of America #10'' (1962), created by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky. He is depicted as an mystic sorcerer obse ...

to give her a spell to switch her and Batman's bodies, allowing her to get closer to the Riddler without the police coming after her. After she fails, Batman rescues her and convinces Faust to switch them back before she quietly turns herself into the police. Series director Ben Jones confirmed that the decision to rename the character was brought about after DC Comics voiced concerns about this depiction of the character having a negative impact on the new ''Batwoman'' comic book series, the first issue of which launched less than a month after the episode's initial air date. * In

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

's '' Batwoman'',

(portrayed by

Ruby Rose Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986) is an Australian model, actress, disc jockey and television presenter. Rose was a presenter on MTV Australia (2007–2011), followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, including Maybelline New Yor ...

) initially holds the mantle of Batwoman before she disappears and passes it on to series original character

Ryan Wilder ''Batwoman'' is an American superhero television series developed by Caroline Dries based on the DC Comics character Batwoman, a costumed crime-fighter created by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen. It is set in th ...

(portrayed by

Javicia Leslie Javicia Leslie ( ; born May 30, 1987) is an American actress. After landing her first major role in the Lifetime film ''Swim at Your Own Risk'' (2016), she appeared as a series regular on the BET drama '' The Family Business'' (2018–present) a ...

Film

A variation of Batwoman appears in the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans referring to the creators and producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini respectively) is a shared universe consisting primarily of superhero-based animated televis ...

film '' Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman'', voiced by

Kyra Sedgwick Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (; born August 19, 1965) is an American actress, producer and director. For her starring role as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson on the TNT crime drama ''The Closer'', she won a Golden Globe Award in 2007 and an Emmy Awa ...

. This version is Gotham Police Detective Sonia Alcana (voiced by

Elisa Gabrielli Elisa Gabrielli is an American actress and comedian, who played "Pepper" Potts in the animated movie '' The Invincible Iron Man'', among other roles. Gabrielli also played the part of Miss Linley in ''The Brady Bunch Movie''. In the 2005 animated ...

), Wayne Tech employee Dr. Roxanne "Rocky" Ballantine (voiced by

Kelly Ripa Kelly Ripa (; born October 2, 1970) is an American actress and talk show host. Since 2001, she has been the co-host of the syndicated morning talk show '' Live! with Kelly and Ryan'' in various formats. As an actress, Ripa's best known roles ...

), and Kathleen "Kathy" Duquesne (voiced by

Kimberly Brooks Kimberly D. Brooks (née Lawson) is an American voice actress who works in the voice-over, film, video games, and theatre industry. She has voiced in video games since the mid-1990s. She has played Ashley Williams in the ''Mass Effect'' serie ...

), who all hold grudges against the Penguin and Rupert Thorne, and Carlton Duquesne, a gangster in the crime bosses' employ and Kathy's father. Alcana, Ballantine, and Kathy pooled their resources and skills together and take turns operating as Batwoman to draw suspicion away from each other, with all three using lethal force to achieve their goals. In the DVD and Blu-ray special features, the producers explain that DC did not want the filmmakers to use Kate Kane in a family-friendly movie due to the violence associated with her character.

References

{{Justice League characters Articles about multiple fictional characters Batman characters code names DC Comics female superheroes Characters created by Bob Kane Characters created by Edmond Hamilton Characters created by Geoff Johns Characters created by Grant Morrison Characters created by Greg Rucka Characters created by Keith Giffen Characters created by Mark Waid Characters created by Sheldon Moldoff

History

In other media

Television

Film

See also

References