NAME — Katherine Rebecca Kane
ALIASES — Kate, Katya, Candy | Batwoman
AGE —3233 34
D.O.B. — October 24
GENDER — Female
HEIGHT — 179cm / 5'10"
WEIGHT — idk lol
SEXUALITY — Homosexual
MARITAL STATUS — Single
SPECIES — Human
NATIONALITY — American
OCCUPATION — Vigilante
THEME —
FANDOM — DC Comics
CANON —post-Detective Comics #863 post-Batman, Inc. #4
LOSS — the knowledge of Alice's true identity, subsequently erasing the memory of fighting with her father.
ROOM — 303
JOURNAL —soldarius PLOTTING & CRIT —hmd | permissions ACTIVITY —posts | logs | threads PLAYER —Nita
Kate’s life is just one disaster after another. From the time she was a young girl, she and her family often moved around from city to city (sometimes countries) due to her father’s job in the military. Wherever he was stationed, the Kanes would have to follow and it was not uncommon for them to be quickly uprooted once again while barely settling into a new home. This never sat well with their twin daughters, Kate and Beth. However, they knew as long as they had each other they would manage. Family is forever after all, no?
NOPE. This is comic world where everything must be grim dark. And if you’re joining the Batfamily’s legacy, I don’t know, it’s got to be somewhere in the fine print MUST HAVE A TRAUMATIC CHILDHOOD OR YOU’RE NOT PART OF THE COOL CLUB!!
So... sadly, on the twins’ twelfth birthday when on the way to be treated to waffles and chocolate by their mother Gabrielle Kane (another military personnel) their car was ambushed and their escort was killed. All three Kanes were abducted for an unknown period of time before Jacob Kane and his team were finally able to locate them. However it was too late for Gabi and Beth; Kate’s mother was executed earlier and Beth’s motionless body was the last image Kate would see as her father pulled her away from the scene. This would traumatize Kate for years and she would never once get over what she had seen and what had been done to her family. They had been torn apart through senseless murder and terror – and honestly, at the delicate age of twelve, how could a child forget what it was like to be frightened out of her wits? To be in the same room where she presumably heard the gunshot that killed her mother? Perhaps she would have been a different person today... but when she left that room, survivor’s guilt would creep up on her.
And there had to be something she could do to fight back; to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Kate knew what she wanted to do... she would become a soldier, like her mother and father. It would be all she ever dreamed of.
Years later at the United States Military at West Point, Kate rose to the top of her class as a cadet and brigade XO. She proved herself to be an honourable and dedicated cadet which even the BTO acknowledged. It looked as if she would graduate and her dream would finally be achieved after years of hard work but suddenly she would find herself under allegations of violating Article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Despite being under investigation, Kate was given the option of denying all these accusations and while she would lose the opportunity to be first captain, she would still be able to graduate and stay in the army. Only Kate couldn’t do it – she couldn’t and wouldn’t dare lie about herself. In a heart wrenching moment, she admitted she was gay and was discharged from the army.
Returning home, the Kane family was expanding again. Jacob had met Catherine Hamilton, a socialite and had become engaged to her. Telling her father she couldn’t tell the academy what they wanted to hear, he admitted to being proud of her but now concerned for his daughter’s future. What was Kate going to do?
Her dream shattered and far removed from her, Kate turned to partying, drinking and spending her stepmother’s money meaninglessly in Gotham. It was during this time, she would meet Renee Montoya and the two would become lovers, Renee becoming one of the most important figures in Kate’s world. For a short time, she had found happiness in her life. Unfortunately, she was not so understanding or sympathetic toward Renee and berated her for keeping her homosexuality a secret from her work and family when Renee lectured her on dropping out of college. Their fight would end with Renee walking out on Kate and then the latter realized her mistake, calling her in an attempt to make things right. One night when calling her again, Kate was attacked by Random Mugger™ and she went into SCREAMING WARRIOR MODE and proceeded to beat the shit out of that dude. Batman had been watching in the shadows the whole time and decided to step out after Kate had smashed Random Mugger’s™ head against a brick wall. Because Kate had picked up the pipe he had conveniently dropped and was going to beat that dude silly – only to be caught by surprise by the Dark Knight. They never exchanged words once but the meeting snapped her out of her stupor. She had come to realize what she could do after all.
And some other stuff happened like her stealing handy weapons and such from the military’s stock and single-handedly taking down some dealers and other criminals. But Kate wasn’t very good at disposing any evidence of her thievery and father caught her red-handed. Jacob automatically disapproved of his daughter’s actions and the path she was descending down, but with persuasion and Kate’s persistence that this was her calling, father and daughter partnered up on the condition she would get serious about this. Kate would disappear from Gotham for two or so years, possibly abroad in Indonesia or Malaysia, and master every form of martial arts, espionage and sharpen her detective skills while Jacob built their own secret Bat bunker.
Returning to Gotham, Kate took on the mantle of Batwoman and set out to do what she had always wanted, to protect and serve. It was not too long after she would reunite with Renee, whom was investigating a warehouse owned by the Kanes. Despite her efforts to pry the information from her, she was shut out and instead began to pursue Renee and Vic Sage/The Question (now going as “Charlie” for I DON’T KNOW WHY?) from the shadows. Eventually Renee and Charlie would uncover a disturbing “Bible of Crime” depicting “the twice named daughter of Cain” having her heart carved out and immediately realized the woman in the photo was supposed to be Kate. Joining forces, they would all try to take down Intergang and during this investigation Kate would meet Nightwing who welcomed her unofficially into the Batfamily. Kate and Renee rekindled their relationship but would soon be torn apart again when Charlie’s cancer took a turn for the worse and Renee would try to take him to Nanda Parbat. By the time she returned, Intergang had realized Batwoman and the Twice Named were the same woman and kidnapped her. During the rescue, Kate was stabbed in the chest but while Renee fought with Bruno Mannheim, she dislodged the knife from her chest and STABBED HER STABBER in the back, killing him. She would later be rushed to a hospital where the doctors were puzzled over how she miraculously survived such a grave wound (Renee had used the pseudoderm to stop the bleeding except that’s poisonous on open wounds but okay, Kate is conveniently magical here) but they didn’t realize they were living in comic land where life threatening injuries don’t mean jack half the time.
Then more stuff happened like Kate recovering and Renee returning to Gotham after months and Kate being extremely ticked off about being abandoned for the 98437389478th time but they team up anyway to get a copy of the Crime Bible from the Penguin. Then they fought over how messed up Renee’s obsession with the book was and Kate walked out. There was also some Countdown stuff that happened... during this I guess but it was stupid and not important in the least.
Some time after, a new leader of the Religion of Crime arrived in the city. After a brief investigation, Kate confronted them with a burning desire to know what exactly they wanted with her and why they tried to murder her. Attempts to get answers out of the new High Madam Alice were unsuccessful and resulted in her being poisoned, then having to be rescued by the True Believers and her father. Jacob is kidnapped by Alice in a ploy to unleash a toxic, airborne chemical over Gotham but Alice and her henchman are foiled by Kate and the True Believers. In a clichéd showdown, both women are nearly thrown off the plane and Kate makes an attempt to save Alice, who revealed she was Beth Kane all along before forcing her sister to let her plummet to her death. This revelation has left Kate stunned and deeply hurt by her dad deceiving her all these years over Beth’s death. Confirming the blood from Alice is that of a monozygotic twin, she broke off ties with the Colonel. Only once she grudgingly accepted his help after weeks of not speaking to each other when an old criminal Batman fought in the past resurfaced and began kidnapping and mutilating young girls. Bette, her cousin, was kidnapped in the scuffle but Kate rescued her, consequently revealing her identity to her during the fight. Bette then demanded Kate take her as her partner, and revealed herself to be ex-Teen Titan Flamebird.
Anyway, some dumb stuff happens like teaming up with Dick!Bat against not!Bruce, and dying so Dick could resurrect her in a Lazarus Pit (right after not!Bruce comes out completely insane from it, yep). Then after his return, Bruce stalks her across Gotham for weeks to determine if she’s REALLY BATWOMAN which he confirms after getting his ass kicked by her.
Then a lot of delays happened so I don’t know what’s going on in Kate’s life right now. To be updated... incorporating DCnU crap. :V THANKS BARRY ALLEN.
"That bat they shine in the sky... civilians think it's a call for help. The bad guys think it's a warning... but it's more than that, it's something higher. A call to arms... I've found my way to serve."
First and foremost, Kate is not a victim. Despite everything that has happened to her, she vehemently opposes the assumption she is a defenseless woman and is shown to retaliate verbally and physically when treated as such. Attacking her is possibly one of the worst things you can do, because she is not afraid to strike back twice as hard and show you she’s a goddamn soldier. When Bruce (disguised as a mugger dear lord) attacks her in an attempt to gauge her abilities and reaction, he’s instantly struck down by her and he sees it in her eyes, “Those eyes tell me she won’t ever be a victim again.” He notes she is more than serious about taking up the cowl. Whether it’s fuelled by the anger she’s harboured deep in her heart for losing her mother and sister in horrifying circumstances, or something else she saw that night when encountering Batman outside the bar, it’s a mystery for now.
Like any other soldier, Kate has been instilled with a strong sense of justice and integrity. Important lessons her late mother taught her at a young, unruly age. This would never waver, even when faced with being discharged from West Point. Denying herself would only be an insult to herself and everything her family had taught her – she couldn’t do it. But in the end, she still kept her integrity and though it was a bumpy road, she wouldn’t regret it. Lying has never sat well with her and Kate is capable of holding powerful grudges against people who do wrong by her in that department. She and Jacob Kane have an incredibly close relationship as father and daughter and Colonel and soldier. After all, he is her only remaining relative left outside of Bette and her stepmother. Yet, the instant she discovers what he has been keeping from her for twenty years, she breaks off all ties from him and even goes as far as locking him outside the Kane penthouse. When she requires his help, she is straight to the point on what she needs and wants from him; it’s purely a mission and it’s her way of “saying” she is still angry with him. She has displayed regret over burning some bridges, like with ex-lover Renee Montoya.
And that’s a whole other can of worms.
Kate is a complex person, in that her behaviour varies with whom she is around. She doesn’t seem to have many friends, probably of her own choice and for their own safety. However, as Kate Kane she is diplomatic and generally easygoing and laidback among others. Her stepmother and some other relatives regard her as someone cold and with “attitude”... which isn’t entirely false. If she isn’t fond of you, she will let it show in her speech or body language. On the other hand, when she isn’t being too enigmatic one might say she doesn’t often act like an adult. Being at odds with her step-mother, she sometimes enjoys doing things seen as “embarrassing” to Catherine to gauge her reaction. Childish but since West Point, she has made it a point to never deny who she was and care less about what people thought of her. Those relatively close enough to Kate know she can be feisty but others can’t help but admire her for it. She’s generally civil with people as long as no one gives her a reason to treat them anything but.
Being a socialite, she certainly exhibits some of those “stereotypical” traits like indulging in expensive, materialistic goods (she spends her stepmother’s money freely) and partying at clubs for hours on end. She’ll even pick up a date but these are fleeting relationships; they are hook ups with no strings attached. Whether to keep people at arms length or because she just can’t (or won’t) settle down with someone, it’s up in the air. When Anna breaks up with her, she accuses Kate of tomcatting around Gotham and that she was only using her as a rebound which, strangely enough? Kate herself never argues back or denies this.
She’s a woman with many anger issues that haven’t been explored in detail and she tends to keep those feelings to herself. When pressed, she grows defensive and angry, even with her own cousin Bette. For some people, it’s better to avoid being on the receiving end of her anger. Not only are people susceptible to being ignored months on end by her, she has lashed out physically, most notably with Renee. Her emotions are her weakness; she’s fuelled by anger and a desire for payback, and can lose sight of the big picture when she’s become emotionally invested in something. She is also obsessive to a point that she may shun others whether she notices or not. Kate is trapped in her past – every step forward is another two backwards in a way. She can’t let go of what happened to her, her family and she doesn’t want to let go, citing it’s too “complicated”. (Seriously, Kate. Stop being so goddamn stubborn.)
Of course, this might all be a turn off if she let people know these things. On the outside, she’s an intelligent, sexy and confident woman with a good sense of fashion and humour. She’s far from perfect but has at times revealed herself to be a lot kinder than she lets on. Tradition and family are important to her, as is her Jewish heritage. She is not very religious but celebrates common Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah, a way of keeping in touch with her proud roots and a part of who she is, but not what necessarily defines her. She doesn’t put up much of a façade – Kate is just careful with how she presents her demons, despite it being contradictory to her “be true to your self” mantra. More so when one thinks about the fact she is Batwoman, a woman fighting crime behind a mask.
Donning the cowl as Batwoman, Kate can channel all her frustrations when fighting. She in particular has an aggressive style when dealing with criminals. Bruce himself claims when observing her that he would not handle some criminals the way she does. She breaks bones without a second thought and carries a smug attitude while doing so. She is frightening, dangerous but sneaky all at the same time. She catches people off guard because she wants it that way... and she always wants the upper hand, to take criminals down. And she sure as hell is obsessed with getting answers when she wants them. She’s a daredevil and will persevere, no matter what the odds are. When stabbed through the heart and teetering on the edge of life and death, Kate forces herself up and rips the knife out of her own chest (RECKLESS AND BADASS AT ONCE. BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A DOCTOR TO UNDERSTAND HOW STUPID THAT IS) to prevent Mannheim from killing Renee. She stabs him in return, despite the fact she follows Batman’s no killing policy. But she does it anyway because of how much is at stake in that moment, showing that if she’s pushed to the brink the consequences don’t matter to her. However, she treads on dangerous grounds when it comes to the Religion of Crime. Having discovered the truth about Alice, she warns the heretics to stay away from her and her family. “... Or I will kill every last one of you.” She tells them. Only time will tell how Kate will act if they push her or come near those important to her again.
From a young age, Kate has always been active and physically fit. She has trained rigorously and was able to achieve senior elite level in gymnastics, meaning she could compete in national championships which she presumably never did. She enlisted in the army, another physical test she obviously had passed. In her late twenties, she was able to easily take down a mugger charging her after a couple of hits. She had even taken down a small drug ring by herself (with the proper equipment and weapon, of course).
Now? She's a skilled martial artist thanks to the Colonel having connections to people who put Kate through advanced training for around three years. She was tutored by ex-S.A.S, someone working Intel with USAF Security Forces and was mostly taught non-lethal combat. She's studied in Indonesia (or Malaysia?) for two or three years and has become a greatly disciplined fighter since then. Kate's been trained in many things, hand-to-hand combat, forensics, interrogation, acrobatics and stealth. She is shown to be capable of taking down even opponents way larger than her. TV Tropes puts it better than I ever will: "When The Question and Renee Montoya are about to be torn limb from limb by three mutated human/animal cultists, she appears in a full-page splash knocking out two of them at the same time, breaking one of their heads through a table while kicking the other one clear across the jaw."
Kate is unique in that her fighting style differs from most of the Bats; she is much more aggressive. She is not unwilling to break arms or ankles in a swift movement. When she goes into battle, she practically views them as a mission and uses the element of surprise often to give herself the upper hand. Bruce, when gauging her reaction, is caught by surprise when Kate pulls a move on him he's never seen before. This suggests she has come up with her some of her own techniques.
She's fast and clever in a battle and while probably being able to take on a meta-human, she is ultimately a normal human herself so being stabbed, shot and tossed about will hurt her. She's virtually undetectable when spying on others unless she chooses to have her presence known. When Kate mentions she was watching Hal Jordan and some other DC heroes in Gotham during the events of Cry For Justice Supergirl is baffled, claiming she never once detected Batwoman's presence. Yeah, that's how damn good she is.
BRUCE WAYNE/BATMAN — this isn’t the same one from her world so her feelings are a bit complicated here. For one, she was unaware the richest bachelor in Gotham is also Batman until Steph spilled the beans. It’s not hard to differentiate them or see the reasoning behind Bruce’s act. Batman means something to her anyway; what he represents to all people and what he does. She isn’t looking for his approval but she’s always glad to be a part of the Bats. In Paradisa, she’s not particularly close to Bruce.
CATHERINE HAMILTON KANE — her step-mother whom she clashes with. Nothing big, they just don’t agree on a lot of things. She will never refer to her as her mother, however.
CHARLIE/THE QUESTION —
CLARK KENT/SUPERMAN — not the same Superman from her world but it doesn’t bother her. She knows she can trust him.
DAMIAN WAYNE/ROBIN — is a brat with entitlement issues. He doesn’t deserve her respect as Damian Wayne, not yet. He has done nothing to prove he deserves it so she could care less about that. She doesn’t hate him despite the fact he’s tried to pound her ovaries in. In fact, she might feel some pity towards him. However, he’s a child who needs guidance and he’s also an ally, so she would help him if he really needed it or requested it. Other than that? She just ignores his existence.
DICK GRAYSON — they were on okay terms. She allowed him to deduce her civilian identity and he welcomed her to the Batfamily. They have no issue teaming up together and she respects him. For some time, she didn’t know he was Batman so it came as a surprise. She always felt she should have told him she was gay as he liked to flirt with her. Oops.
ELIZABETH KANE — her twin sister who was the other half of her world. She “died” when they were twelve except she didn’t. Instead, she disappeared for twenty years and resurfaced as the new High Madam of the Religion of Crime, Alice. Kate had no clue about this until she was forced to drop her from one of the planes. Her beloved sister had been murdered by her own hands and now? Kate is 100% certain she’ll never get over it. Sadly, in Paradisa this piece of knowledge is her loss.
GABRIELLE KANE — her mother. Killed twenty years ago when they were kidnapped and held hostage. Sparked feelings of wanting justice and to serve her country, like her mother had done while she was a soldier.
HANK HENSHAW — who? No, seriously.
HARVEY DENT/TWO-FACE —
JACOB KANE — complicated. She’s a daddy’s girl and she wanted to join the army like he and her mother, to do the Kane name proud. She loves him and would do anything for him, almost losing her cool when he’s held hostage by Alice. But now their relationship is on the rocks since he had never told her Elizabeth hadn’t died – she was missing. He assumed things, it pissed her off and since the night Alice died, they’ve barely spoken.
RENEE MONTOYA — oh my god do we even want to go here. BRB.
STEPHANIE BROWN/BATGIRL — she... talks a lot and has this weird fear of Kate she doesn’t get. She doesn’t mind her but she does question (and judge) Steph’s choices in friends. She thinks she comes off as too passive with her friends at times.
➙ birthday is munfudged.
➙ though it's never touched upon in canon, when she puts on her cowl she speaks differently, similar to how Bruce puts on a Batman voice.
➙ there is no blue bird tattoo what!!!
➙ has blonde streaks in her hair. Yeahhh. I'd say they're extremely faded in Paradisa.
➙ plays both acoustic and electric guitar. Is also good at Guitar Hero. B)
➙ the lovely commission is by Noodles. Please don't take or edit it!
EditAdded by Nitakins
