Nocturna () is a fictional supervillainess character appearing in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s published by

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 ...

, created by

Doug Moench Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948) is an American comic book writer notable for his ''Batman'' work and as the creator of Moon Knight, Deathlok, Black Mask, '' Electric Warrior'' and '' Six from Sirius''. He is also known for his critica ...

and

Gene Colan Eugene Jules Colan (; September 1, 1926 – June 23, 2011)Eugene Colan
at the

. The storyline involving her began in '' Detective Comics'' #529 (August 1983), and her first appearance was in '' Batman'' #363 (September 1983). The pre-''Crisis'' incarnation of Nocturna appeared in the first season of the

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

series '' Batwoman'', portrayed by

Kayla Ewell Kayla Noelle Ewell (born August 27, 1985) is an American actress known for her roles on television as Caitlin Ramirez on CBS's long-running soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', as Maureen Sampson on NBC's ''Freaks and Geeks'', and as Vicki ...

Fictional character biography

Pre-''Crisis''

Natalia Knight had a hard childhood. She grew up on the streets as a beggar. She was eventually found and taken in by Charles Knight, who adopted her and provided her with a life of luxury. She has a passion for

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

and the night and eventually found a job at

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

Observatory. While working there one night, she became victim to a radioactive laser, which drained her skin of all

pigment A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compou ...

. It also rendered her sensitive to light. After Charles Knight was murdered, she discovered that her lifestyle was funded by criminal activity. It was then that she met Charles' son, Anton Knight, who fell in love with her. They both decided to keep the inheritance and took it upon themselves to keep them in their accustomed lifestyle through burglary, since Natalia needed expensive medical equipment to treat her hypopigmentation. Anton, having spent much time in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, proved to be a highly capable martial artist. He and Natalia entered a life of crime together, he as the Thief of Night, and she as Nocturna, Mistress of the Night. Their burglary soon brought them into conflict with Batman. After several clashes with Batman, Anton was captured and sent to prison. Nocturna remained free and continued her life of crime along with a new ally, Nightshade. Nocturna would conceive the plans of robbery and theft, Nightshade and his people would carry out the crimes. Once the scheme had run its course, Nocturna called it quits. During this time, she became an intimate friend of both Bruce Wayne and the Batman, something that made both lives more complicated, especially after they had slept together after Bruce lost custody of Jason. She also became a

surrogate mother Surrogacy is an arrangement, often supported by a legal agreement, whereby a woman agrees to delivery/labour for another person or people, who will become the child's parent(s) after birth. People may seek a surrogacy arrangement when pregnan ...

Jason Todd Jason Peter Todd is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #357 in March 1983, Todd was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin (chara ...

, the second Robin, and even adopted him. Not wanting Bruce out of Jason's life she proposed that there was only one sensible solution: she and Bruce must get married at once. Although this seemed to be for his wealth, it is later revealed to be because she is in love with him. Anton Knight finally escaped and, after being rejected by his beloved Nocturna, changed his style and became the murderous Night-Slayer. He killed Nightshade and traded identities with a delirious Batman. After being betrayed one time too many by Nocturna, Anton vowed to kill her. Before he could do so, Night-Slayer was captured by

Catwoman Catwoman is a fictional character created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Debuting as "the Cat" in ''Batman'' #1 (spring 1940), she is ...

. Nocturna, having been stabbed, was last seen being put into a hot air balloon by Jason Todd.

Post-''Crisis''

Natalie Metternich (who also used the alias of Natalia Mitternacht) is introduced in ''Robin'' (vol. 2) #100. She is a former astronomer that encounters Robin and

Spoiler Spoiler is a security vulnerability on modern computer central processing units that use speculative execution. It exploits side-effects of speculative execution to improve the efficiency of Rowhammer and other related memory and cache attacks. Ac ...

in a storyline that ran through ''Robin'' (vol. 2) #101-105. She first encounters Spoiler after leaving a theater where she had been playing the piano. Her music caused everyone in the theater, including Robin, to cry; with the exception of the Spoiler (who was recovering from a cold). Outside the theater, she is attacked by an unknown man, but rescued by the Spoiler. She refuses to share her name with Stephanie to provide to the police. This causes the Spoiler to become suspicious of her, and eventually the Spoiler and Robin perform a stakeout at the theater where she performs. During her performance, the Spoiler cries but Robin (who has his nose plugged) is unmoved by Natalia's music. The Spoiler later track Natalia to her apartment and helps her save her scientific research papers when it is discovered that her apartment is on fire. While Natalia stays at the Spoiler's house, Robin and the Spoiler learn that Natalia secretes a pheromone that causes those around her to become emotional and lose their inhibitions. They deduce that the pheromones caused her attacker, a former schizophrenic patient named Dylan Arthur Prescott, to relapse and attack her. When confronted with this information, Natalia denies any knowledge of her powers. She had been an aspiring scientist that eventually quit the scientific field once she contracted her powers, which caused her to lose her inhibitions and pursue other interests (including playing the piano, acquiring a medieval sense of fashion, and other unconventional choices). Robin and the Spoiler convince her to visit

S.T.A.R. Labs Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Laboratories (S.T.A.R. Labs) is a fictional scientific research facility and organization appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It first appeared in ''Superman'' #246 (December 1 ...

to have her powers examined. The Spoiler and Natalia developed a friendship and the Spoiler shared a great amount of personal information with Natalia while her nose was not plugged. When her nose was plugged, she was able to control what she said and how she behaved around Natalia. After the Spoiler contacted Natalia's estranged mother, Natalia fled from her. Robin and the Spoiler eventually found her as she was being confronted by Prescott. After a mental showdown, Prescott flees from Robin and the Spoiler and dies from electrocution on an underground railway. The Spoiler then convinced Natalia to return to S.T.A.R. Labs for further testing; otherwise, she would contact her mother again. Although she does not assume the Nocturna identity during this storyline, the title the story in ''Robin'' (vol. 2) #105 is ''"Exit Natalia, Enter... Nocturna?"''. Series writer Jon Lewis, who was reintroducing characters that had encountered various versions of Robin, confirmed that she is a "rebuild of Nocturna". ''

One Year Later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through books published by DC Comics. It involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'' storyline, to explore ...

'', Nocturna appears in the '' Black Canary/ Green Arrow Wedding Special'' #1 as a member of the

Injustice League The following is a list of fictional criminal and terrorist organizations that have been published by DC Comics and their imprints. 0-9 100 Originally based in Metropolis, the 100 kept a firm grip on the city's criminal underworld for years, ind ...

. She is next seen in ''

Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...

'' as a member of

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 ...

's camp, her appearance in this title borrowing from Bruce Timm's unused '' Batman: The Animated Series'' concept artwork. Recently, she appeared in ''

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

'' as an opponent to Hawkman, appearing in an updated version of her classic appearance and using a hot-air balloons as transportation. She then had cameos in the ''Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead?'' and ''Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive?'' one-shots, where she battles her former friend the Spoiler (who comments that Nocturna has given up on hot air balloons) and uses stealth technology to turn invisible during their fight.

''The New 52''

In September 2011, ''

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

'' rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Nocturna is re-introduced as an inmate of Arkham Asylum during the ''

Night of the Owls "Batman: Night of the Owls" is a comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics in mid-2012, and featuring the Batman family of characters. Primarily written by Scott Snyder, the arc is the first major crossover storyline of The New 52. Th ...

'' storyline. Her true identity here is Natalie Mitternacht. Later in the ''

Forever Evil "Forever Evil" is a 2013–2014 crossover comic book storyline published by DC Comics that began in September 2013 and ended in May 2014, consisting of an eponymous, central miniseries written by Geoff Johns and art by David Finch. It is the fir ...

'' storyline, Nocturna is among the villains recruited by the

Crime Syndicate of America The Crime Syndicate are teams of supervillains from one of DC Comics' parallel universes where they are the evil counterparts of the Justice League. The original team was specifically known as the Crime Syndicate of America and is sometimes abb ...

to join the Secret Society of Super Villains. Nocturna goes on to be the primary antagonist of the '' Batwoman'' storylines "Webs" and "The Unknowns", in which she manipulates her way into dating Kate Kane while secretly continuing her life of crime. She hypnotises Kate into believing that she is a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

, and that her bite has turned Kate into one as well, but Kate is snapped out of it by her sister

Beth Kane Elizabeth Kane, also known as Alice and Red Alice, is a fictional character created by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. Beginning as a supervillain, she first appeared in August 2009 in the comic book '' Detective Comics'', published by DC Com ...

''Infinite Frontier''

In DC's ''

Infinite Frontier Infinite Frontier is a 2021 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles in 2021. It is the follow-up to the 2016 DC Rebirth relaunch. The relaunch and event was shepher ...

'' relaunch, a slightly younger Nocturna (now using the name Natalia Metternich) is made a member of the

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

alongside

Peacemaker Peacemaker or The Peacemaker (in various forms) may refer to: Individuals and groups * UN Peacemaker, a project of the UN to support international peacemakers and mediators * Peace makers, a list of contemporary individuals and organizations inv ...

Superboy Superboy is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in American comicbooks published by DC Comics. These characters have been featured in several eponymous comic series, in addition to ''Adventure Comics'' and other series featuring ...

, Puerto Rican "Culebra", and the William Cobb incarnation of Talon. This version is later revealed to be from an alternate reality.

In other media

* Nocturna was scheduled to appear in an episode of the television series, '' Batman: The Animated Series'', as a

. The episode was canceled after

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

censors objected to the storyline, which would have involved Batman being turned into a vampire and craving human blood. Producer Alan Burnett later recounted the events by saying: "We also wanted to do a Nocturna story –

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

had drawn a hot model of her - but she's a vampire, which would've involved bloodletting, which was a huge no-no for kids TV". ** When asked about Nocturna appearing in the series' continuation, ''

The New Batman Adventures ''The New Batman Adventures'' (often shortened as ''TNBA'') is an American superhero animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, which aired on Kids' WB from September 13, 1997 to January 16, 1999. Produced by Warner Br ...

'', producer and writer

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

stated that they wanted to use her, but the B Networksaid 'no' to vampires. Ultimately, Nocturna never appeared in the show. ** Nocturna has a cameo appearance among the gathering of Batman villains in issue #12 of ''The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries'' comic book, which loosely spins off from both '' Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' and '' Batman: The Animated Series''. Her design in this title borrows from Bruce Timm's unused concept for ''The Animated Series''. * The Natalia Knight incarnation of Nocturna appears in the '' Batwoman'' live-action television series episode "Drink Me", portrayed by

. This version has a unique form of

porphyria Porphyria is a group of liver disorders in which substances called porphyrins build up in the body, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria, as symptoms are ...

, which makes her photosensitive. When her adoptive father Charles died of a heart attack two weeks prior, Natalia had to obtain blood on her own - taking on a vampire-like persona, getting fang-like dental implants, and utilizing

ketamine Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic used medically for induction and maintenance of anesthesia. It is also used as a recreational drug. It is one of the safest anesthetics, as, in contrast with opiates, ether, and propofol, it suppresses ...

to stun her targets in order to do so. When Batwoman finds her latest victim, Nocturna stuns her and takes some of her blood before fleeing. Nocturna then targets Alice and takes some of her blood, during which the latter reasons a specific blood type might be able to help with her condition. This led to Nocturna attacking Mary Hamilton-Kane. After Alice donates some of her blood to Batwoman to save Mary, Batwoman engages Nocturna and defeats her with her phone's UV light before leaving her for the Crows security agency.

Vesper Fairchild A collective of fictional characters appear in American comic books published by DC Comics featuring the superhero Batman as the main protagonist. Since Batman's introduction in 1939, the character has accumulated a number of recognizable suppor ...

later reports on Nocturna, stating that she is en route to Arkham Asylum.

References

External links

*
Nocturna
at the DCU Guide {{Suicide Squad Batman characters Characters created by Don Newton Characters created by Doug Moench Characters created by Gene Colan Comics characters introduced in 1983 Comics characters introduced in 2002 DC Comics female supervillains DC Comics LGBT supervillains Fictional beggars Fictional bisexual females Fictional characters with albinism Fictional professional thieves Suicide Squad members Superheroes who are adopted