Helena Bertinelli (New Earth)

Huntress
Mainstream Universe‎, 1986‎-2011‎
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Real Name	Helena Rosa Bertinelli
Main Alias	Huntress
Other Aliases	The Bat · Iron Owl
Relatives	Maria Panessa Bertinelli (mother, deceased) Santo Cassamento (biological father, deceased) Franco Bertinelli (legal father, deceased) Pino Bertinelli (half-brother, deceased) Tomasso Panessa (uncle) Salvatore Asaro (cousin) James Cooper (adopted son) See Bertinelli Family for more
Affiliation	Batman Family · Birds of Prey · Formerly Justice League of America · Checkmate · Outsiders
Base Of Operations	Gotham City · Formerly Sicily · New York City · Metropolis · Platinum Flats
Status
Alignment	Good
Identity	Secret Identity
Citizenship	American · Italian
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	High School English Teacher
Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5' 11"
Weight	149 lbs (68 kg)
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Black
Origin
Universe	New Earth
Creators	Joey Cavalieri · Joe Staton
First Appearance	Huntress #1 (April, 1989)

Every hero has a story. Not that I'm some kind of hero. But there comes a point when to survive, the hunted must become the Huntress.

— Helena Bertinelli

Helena Bertinelli is The Huntress, a vigilante and a member of the Batman Family. Born into a mafia family, of which she is the sole survivor, her career is inspired by a personal vendetta against organized crime. A "nightmare to the underworld", her ruthless methods and willingness to kill made her an outcast from the hero community, but in time she tempered her methods and became embraced by her peers. During No Man's Land, she became The Bat in Batman's absence. She has been a member of the Justice League and the field leader of the Birds of Prey. She is also a devout Catholic, and is very in touch with her Sicilian heritage.

History

Origins

It started in Sicily...

— Helena Bertinelli

In the late 1800s, 12 year-old Giuseppe Bertinelli, Helena's great-grandfather, came to Gotham from Ciminna, Sicily. Giuseppe had "made his bones" with La Cosa Nostra in Sicily and he would establish a major mafia family, in his name, in Gotham by 1920. When Prohibition was enacted, the Bertinellis flooded Gotham with alcohol, alongside the Beretti and Galante families. A gang war broke out between Bertinelli's alliance, and the Cassamento and Inzerillo families over control over the alcohol supply. The Inzerillos ultimately sold out the Cassamentos, and Giuseppe Bertinelli became Gotham's "Capo di tutti Capi" (the Boss of Bosses) and head of Gotham's "Five Families". Giuseppe died in 1949 and Alfredo Bertinelli, Helena's grandfather, succeeded him as "Godfather". The Panessa Family arrived in Gotham during the 1960s and Tomasso Panessa insisted on a share of the profits but Alfredo refused to open the books. A decade later, Franco Bertinelli, Helena's father, married Maria Panessa, Tomasso's younger sister, but the books remained closed. Alfredo died soon after and Franco became "Godfather", while Maria had two children, Pino and Helena Rosa.

During the first eight years of Helena's life, she lived in a Mafioso household in East Gotham. When Helena was six years-old, she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted under orders of a rival mafia Don purely to psychologically torture her father. As a child, Helena would spy on her fathers' "business" meetings, much to his chagrin. Maria was the subject of frequent beatings from Franco, although he was careful never to hit her in the face, and this caused Helena to resent her father. She once declared that she hoped to become Pope to make sure her father goes to hell and told him to his face that she wished he was dead. When Helena was eight years-old, an assassin barged into the Bertinelli household during dinner and shot Franco, Maria and Pino Bertinelli, sparing only Helena. Overnight, every person with the surname Bertinelli across the US was killed, with the sole exception of Helena.

The last supper.

Junior Galante then became "Godfather" and the books were finally opened to the Panessa Family. Helena was taken back to the old country, Sicily, where she would be kept safe. She was placed under the care of her Uncle Tomasso's relatives, the Asaros of the Mandragora Family, and was primarily cared for by her sixteen year-old cousin, Salvatore "Sal" Asaro. When arriving, she was terrified but fell in love with Sicily. Over the next three years, Helena would see Sal and her Uncle Nicola train and practice combat daily and disappear for days or weeks on end. Continuing to suffer from nightmares, Helena confided in Sal, whom she saw as a brother, and, one day, Sal would offer to teach her to fight so she no longer had to be scared. "Blood cries for blood", he told her, and Helena agreed to learn. She trained until the age of fifteen, growing into a deft crossbow wielder, knife thrower and close combatant. Helena also grew close to her tutor, Justina, a proud feminist whom Helena saw as a maternal figure and adopted a love of literature from. When the Italian authorities began cracking down on the Asaros during the Maxi Trials, Helena was sent to a boarding school in Switzerland.

"Blood cries for blood."

Ostracised because of her mafia ties and following the Maxi Trials closely, Helena realized that everything she had been told about the Mafia by the Asaros was a lie; that the Mafia was a force of crime and violence, that Sal and her Uncle Nicola were in fact hitmen and that her own family had been at the top of the mafia's operations in Gotham City. At age sixteen, she finally returned to Gotham City to spend Christmas with the Five Families, whom Batman would pay a visit. Inspired by the way Batman intimidated and fought the people she despised, Helena vowed to following his example. Helena began plotting her vengeance and after finishing school, she enrolled at the university in Palermo, where she learned all could about organized crime and La Cosa Nostra. Helena also felt bound to Omertà, not just a Mafia code of silence but a Sicilian code of honor born out of a distrust in the state following 2,000 years of invasions and occupations; the idea that one has to take it upon themselves to see justice served and honor restored.

Huntress: Year One

Justina...Why aren't there any women heroes?

— A young Helena Bertinelli

"You really are the last of the Bertinellis."

Helena returned to the abandoned Asaro Farm after completing her studies and was found by her Uncle Tomasso. Helena staged a failed attempt to break Sal Asaro out of prison but mysterious orders instructed the police let her walk. Tomasso brought Helena to a villa where the Panessa and Angelo families conducted business with a mafia boss called "The Pope". Over the next few weeks, Helena fell for Tony Angelo, the son of Boss Nino Angelo, but on the night before her birthday, Helena realised Nino had been raping her cousin Monica. When she offered to teach Monica to fight back, Monica instead pinned her injuries on Helena, fearful of Nino. Helena confronted Nino Angelo but found herself at a loss of what to do when he reminded her of his position of power in the mafia. That night, Helena donned a mask and attacked Nino Angelo in his sleep, leaving him badly beaten and believing a gang of thugs attacked him. Now twenty-one, Helena met the family consigliere to collect her inheritance. Shortchanged, she intimidated him into revealing the location of the rest of it. Tony soon confessed his love for Helena but she rebuffed him, afraid she would end up like her cousin or her mother.

Good hunting.

In the catacombs under an opera house, a masked Helena found mafioso Stefano Mandragora, the boss of bosses worldwide, dividing up her inheritance with other powerful and corrupt individuals, with one "making their bones" on a kidnapped woman. Helena subdued the criminals, took her inheritance and saved the woman. Soon after, Helena reunited with an escaped Sal Asaro, now a priest, who revealed to her that it was Mandragora who ordered the death of her family. Helena then began her crusade of vengeance; constructing a costume and assassinating Mandragora in his home. At a bar, Helena overheard a group of American lawyers toasting Mandragora's death and she warned them it was naive to think that death solves anything. "The Pope", knowing it was Helena behind the mask, led her to the man who pulled the trigger, Omertá, in Venice but she was bested in combat.

Batman and Catwoman at the birth of "The Huntress".

Tracking Omertá back to Gotham, Helena uncovered a mafia conspiracy involving Nino Angelo, Gotham's mayor and billionaire Bruce Wayne. Unaware that Wayne was actually staging a sting, Helena attacked and interrogated him, and easily subdued Batgirl when she came to Wayne's defence. Looking for answers, Helena confronted Nino Angelo and witnessed his assassination at the hands of Omertá. Mistaken for Nino's killer, Helena fought off Tony and clashed with the Batman, escaping with the guidance of Catwoman, who applauded Helena's independence. Investigating the mayor, Helena discovered the conspiracy involved blowing up an east-side levee to flood Gotham, after which the mayor would use disaster to look like a hero in a bid for presidency while the mafia's construction business profited off the rebuild. Deducing that "The Pope" had Nino killed for his over-ambition, Helena asked him to help her foil the Angelos' plans. Extrapolating that the explosives were hidden under her abandoned old home, Helena ambushed Omertá, sent by "The Pope" to stop Tony and later ordered to execute Helena. Finally defeating her family's killer, Helena opted to cut off his tongue instead of killing him. Rejecting Batman's authority and moral rigidity, and Catwoman's self-serving bent, Helena declared herself the "first of something else" and baptized herself as "The Huntress".

Cry of the Huntress

Helena took a crimefighting hiatus, focusing on her English teacher job. She yearned for action after tangling with burglars and witnessing Batman fail to stop a robbery. She researched the tattoos she saw on the thieves, connecting them to Krasna-Volny, and bugged a pawn shop which she found suspicious. Batman was unhappy to see Huntress but suggested they work together to be privy to her findings. As Huntress suspected, her bug recorded conversations in Krasny, which lead the duo to an old Victorian where they found and subdued the thieves. The duo however realised that they were in the Krasna-Volny embassy, where the thieves had diplomatic immunity, and had to flee the police. Huntress's research uncovered bad blood between Krasna-Volny and Transbelvia while Batman discovered munitions in the embassy. Batman suspected that the thieves planned an attack on Volzcek Day, which commemorates a Revolutionary War general from Transbelvia. On Volzcek Day, the duo jumped the terrorists but one set off a two-minute timer to semtex explosives strapped to him. Huntress struck the bomber with a van and drove him into the bay, where he alone met a fiery end. Huntress had saved everyone at the festival but Batman berated her for killing.

Working off the record.

Huntress spied caporegime Tough Tony Bressi peddling a big score from Russian dealers. Breaking into the dealers' hotel room, she found that the merchandise was blank paper. Huntress later saved Robin from the Ghost Dragons gang and the pair realised they were both on the trail of the Hammer, a KGB-group-turned-criminal-organisation. The Hammer forced Mr. Dzerchenko to print their paper, and had since killed him and took his daughter Ariana. The duo agreed to work together behind Batman's back. Huntress found that Hammer was run by a "Commissar", employing Afghan War veterans, and an associate of Dzehenko pointed the duo to Hammer's illegal casino which the duo busted. However, when a mobster claimed they had killed Ariana, Huntress had to prevent Robin from murdering him. Huntress later found Robin in her flat, having deduced her identity, and he told her the paper was currency stock for counterfeiting. The duo interrogated the dealers in their hotel but were attacked by The KGBeast. Huntress ended the fight by pushing KGBeast through a high-storey window. Robin learned that the currency stock could copy currencies protected from counterfeiting and Huntress learned that Dzerchenko was master minter from Leningrad. Finding the site of the printing operations, Huntress snuck in but was captured by KGBeast. Robin, sabotaged the currency stock and interrupted the Hammer's interrogation of Huntress. She took out the Commissar although hanging by her wrists and, as the duo found Ariana, the Ghost Dragons subdued Hammer, looking to hijack their operations. Huntress then offered King Snake a deal he couldn't refuse; the secretly sabotaged currency stock in exchange for the duo leaving with Hammer's prisoners in tow. Huntress and Robin later shared a laugh over pulling a fast one over the Ghost Dragons.

Knightfall and Benedictions

During Knightfall, Huntress busted a group of the Riddler's former henchmen after they stole a large amount of money. Helena, an English teacher, noticed a black eye on one of her students, David. After class, Helena learned from David that his abusive, estranged father, Walker Stone, beaten his mother and him. A call with David's mother did little help and Helena, reflecting on her own abuse as a child, decided to confronted Walker as the Huntress. She however learned that Walker was also purchasing illegal weapons for an isolationist survival camp and intervened when Walker killed the sellers, though he escaped, convinced that his son sold him out. Huntress later found David dead by his father's hand. Livid, Huntress tracked down Walker's isolationist camp in the snowy mountains of Colorado. She sprung hunting traps to apprehend the white supremacists and, with new Batman Jean Paul Valley, launched an explosive assault on the camp, with Huntress brutally defeating Walker in combat. Back at her school, Helena suggested a moment of silence for David and warned her class of the cycle of violence stemming from abuse and harmful masculinities.

Chiaroscuro.

When "Tiny Knuckles" Inamorato was killed, mafia big names violently vied for his position and Batman promptly arrested Tommy Fortune, whom the press and police figured was favourite for don. Meanwhile, Huntress busted a subtler operation, apprehending mobsters torching a seemingly ordinary restaurant, used by the mafia to launder drug profits. After the books drew suspicion, the mafia planned to cash in on insurance and find another front. Helena correctly deduced that the frontrunner for don was dark-horse Mandy DePaulo, the envious daughter of a low-ranking Rizzi soldier, who grew up with Helena. Huntress expected DePaulo to kill Mickey Silver to climb the food-chain and she foiled her ambush with Robin's aid. The duo interrogated Silver, confirming Huntress' theory but while they staked out DePaolo's meeting, the mysterious Deathangel however crashed it, opening fire on DePaolo's men before fleeing. Recognising Deathangel, Helena searched her old boxes and found a comic of Deathangel given to her by Mandy's priest brother Danny as a child. Helena deduced that Danny became Deathangel to straighten out his mobbed up sister. At Danny's church, Huntress prevented Deathangel from killing Robin, although he escaped. Interrogating mob associates, Huntress and Robin learned that Mandy planned a sit-down with two capos in a landfill, which Huntress connected to Silver's waste-hauling contracts. Mandy was about kill the capos and takeover Silver's action when Huntress and Robin intervened. The duo subdued Mandy's men but Danny went after Mandy, who killed him. Furious, Huntress wanted to kill Mandy to avenge her brother but begrudgingly conceded to Robin's pleas and only apprehended her.

Darker Still

Huntress stopped a band of hijackers called the "Tranz-It Authority" from seizing a train, saving many peoples' lives including Commissioner Gordon's. Working together, Huntress and Gordon retook control of the train, earning her the trust of the GCPD despite Batman's apprehension. Gordon and Batman both admitted that Huntress' single-mindedness reminded them of Barbara Gordon, fearing she'd share her fate.

Contagion and Legacy

Batman's underboss.

During the Clench Outbreak in Gotham, Huntress went out during the violent riots and assisted Batman, Robin and Nightwing in containing them. She was the one who realised that Robin had contracted the Clench. Huntress also searched for one of her students who went missing after finding his family dead from the virus. Although she was able to find him, she was unable to save him from the virus as no cure yet existed.

After the initial crisis, Huntress tracked down and apprehended mobsters stealing from Clench victims. Batman officially left Huntress "in charge" of holding down the fort in Gotham while he and Robin left to investigate a possible resurgence of the virus among survivors. Under pressure from The Penguin, corrupt district attorney Seth Voder planned to push for the quarantine of all Clench survivors in hopes of creating chaos on Gotham's streets and preoccupying the police for the mob boss' benefit. Catching wind of the action, Huntress ambushed Voder and frightened him into abandoning The Penguin's scheme. When Ra's al Ghul came to Gotham intent on unleashing a new plague on its denizens, Huntress launched an offensive on the villain's yacht with Nightwing, facing off with Ra's and Talia al Ghul as well as their men. Huntress and Nightwing's attack provided a distraction which allowed Robin and Oracle to locate and decode the "Wheel of Plagues", hidden in the ship's computers, and find a cure for the disease.

Manhunt

Three is a crowd.

Helena met Archer Braun at the opera and dated him for a month, feeling he could almost read her mind, before he vanished. She later recognised Braun as the perpetrator of the Bengston Mint Heist, and ambushed him and his men at his penthouse, where she found Black Canary and Catwoman working the same case. When Braun escaped, the three women shared their strikingly similar experiences with the con-man and began working together, against Oracle's wishes. The trio fled the police and tracked Braun to an airfield, where Braun escaped again, taking Black Canary prisoner. Looking for a lead, Huntress and Catwoman infiltrated criminal receiver Solomon Cadiz's estate. Huntress held off security while Catwoman learned Braun's location. Contacting Oracle, Huntress and Catwoman made their way to Katchik 9-9, a hideaway for international fugitives in Kazakhstan. Oracle discovered that Braun was a former KGB agent and a telepath, explaining his unnatural combat prowess, and Huntress and Catwoman ambushed Braun and his allies. Separated from Catwoman, Huntress defeated Braun and his men by emptying her mind of calculated thoughts and fighting purely on instinct. Huntress left Braun to die a fiery death and fled on horseback with Catwoman and Black Canary.

The Final Night and Bigger Game

"Big Sister".

During The Final Night, Gotham City suffered a four day blackout. Huntress teamed-up with Robin to contain the chaos on the dark streets and protect the innocent, with the duo learning to trust each other more despite their differences. When Huntress asked Robin why he stuck around her, he answer that maybe it had something to do with faith.

Huntress and Robin were on the scene when the Trigger Twins and their "long lost sister" Tonya stole priceless computer chips and had the Bandidos bike band blow up a bridge to create a massive gridlock. Huntress and Robin tailed the Triggers on horseback, and although they escaped, Huntress deduced that they were operating out of the "Gotham Gulch". With the rising sun in their eyes, the duo, along with Nighthawk, Cissy Chambers, Pow-Wow Smith and Shotgun Smith, had a Western-style standoff with the Triggers and Bandidos. Although outnumbered, the vigilantes won the day by using mirrors to reflect the rising sun back at the Triggers and Bandidos. Tired but gleeful, Huntress and Robin rode off together into the sun.

Helena learned that one of her students had died of a drug overdose and that police were doing nothing about a known drug house close to her school. Taking matters into her own hands, Huntress raided the drug house. She planned to donate the money she'd find to a program for youths with drug problems but Catwoman had beaten her to the safe box. After hearing out Huntress' cause, Catwoman suggested they team up to score bigger and steal from the Cartegena Cartel's secret compound. The duo stealthily dispatched the security but found themselves face to face with Raphael "Skullface" Cartegena and his men after neglecting a guard dog. With the help of a micro-explosive, the duo fought their way through the gangsters and raided their safe. Catwoman expected 10% of the score but Huntress secured the whole take by shooting Catwoman's share out of her hands. Catwoman insisted that Huntress simply ask nicely the next time.

Cosa Nostra

This thing of ours.

When a prostitute was murdered in mafioso Frankie Black's hotel room, Huntress investigated the case with Nightwing, who confirmed Black's alibi. Huntress was prepared to let the Black, a seasoned killer, go down for a murder he did not commit but Nightwing insisted on finding the guilty party. At the crime scene Huntress and Nightwing concluded that the murder had not been premeditated. Although they clashed over method, the pair began growing fond of one another, with Huntress stating that as Gotham's vigilantes were just as "Familia" as the mafia. Assuming that no one likes to work alone, the duo found and interrogated Black's partner, Pasquale, learning that Black booked the hotel room as part of a ruse to escape the mafia, so he could be with his girlfriend, Moira. Despite working seamlessly, Nightwing had reservations about his partnership with Huntress until she suggested that it was inevitable; that vigilante life is "in the blood" and ties people like them together. At Gotham Central, Huntress learned that the murder victim was an undercover cop and found Officer Mason, who brought Black in, rifling through Black's case files. Mason feared that Black would kill him if he did not go down for murder and Huntress agreed to help him. Soon after, Black's boss, Serge Malfatti, broke him out of custody. Reconvening, Huntress and Nightwing shared their findings and, after he requested it, she shared her name with him. The pair kissed and spent the night together in Helena's apartment.

Star-crossed heroes.

The morning after, Helena pressed Nightwing for always looking over his shoulder for Batman and refusing to reveal anything personal despite expecting that from her. Huntress later jumped Malfatti, offering a deal. She suggested that she take Pasquale in as the police's pound of flesh, expecting Malfatti to kill Black and leave Pasquale in jail for their betrayal. As she expected, Malfatti agreed to the deal and she brought Pasquale in. At Gotham Central, Mason was later found to be the true murderer, who killed the "prostitute" when she refused to sleep with the troubled and lonely man. Mason however escaped in the ensuing chaos, tailing the released Pasquale back to Black. Huntress reconvened with Nightwing, explaining her plan but he insisted that they not let another person die on this case, particularly Moira. Huntress tracked Malfatti and Black to a property in Greenwood. On the drive there, Huntress amicably ended her romance with Nightwing despite their shared feelings, citing their irreconcilable methods and relationships to Batman. At the property, Huntress and Nightwing witnessed Malfatti coerce Black into killing Moira, and Mason arrived intending to frame Black for his own murder. As a fight broke out, Huntress took down Mason, Black and Pasquale, notably without use of lethal force, and Nightwing prevented Malfatti from escaping. Nightwing found Helena after school one day to tell her that Black testified against Malfatti, finally bringing the powerful mob boss to justice.

Cataclysm and Blunt Trauma

"Know what it's like trying to live down a major hood of a father?"

When a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Gotham City, Helena's subway car derailed and a deranged mobster took passengers hostage, believing it to be an elaborate scheme to apprehend him. The Huntress, although injured, came to the commuters' rescue. An aftershock caused a rockfall that crippled the mobster, whom Huntress left for dead, resolving that Gotham needed her brand of justice. At the Westerberg Mall, Huntress saved The Spoiler from a fall and Spoiler patched up Huntress' injured arm. Meanwhile, various escaped convicts were raiding the mall for weapons and equipment. Working together, the vigilantes began subduing the convicts, although Spoiler grew wary of Huntress' brutality. To complicate matters, Spoiler realised that one of the convicts was her father, the Cluemaster. Huntress and Spoiler clashed but opened up to each other, connecting over coming from families of criminals. When separated, Spoiler reluctantly allowed her father to escape, fearing for his life, and, although a thug Huntress fought accidentally killed himself, Huntress kept it from Spoiler so as to not spook her. With Huntress succumbing to fatigue and prior injuries, Spoiler helped her to safety. Huntress had been working non-stop to help Gotham's residents, neglecting rest and sleep. She found safe-raiding thugs refusing to help a family trapped in a nearby basement. Furious, she brutally beat the thugs until Batman stopped her. The pair exchanged words but worked together to free the trapped family. Batman suggested that Huntress rest but she waved him off.

"She can be saved. She does see."

When a bus meant to reunite children with their parents disappeared, Huntress tracked it to Skidmore. Huntress found the children in a slaughterhouse, captives of crazed cannibals Hogg and Lucullus who planned to eat them. She brutally took down the cannibals but spared them after she realised that she was scaring the children. A teacher by day, Huntress comforted and connected with the children, and they sung songs together by candlelight while waiting for emergency patrols. One girl thanked Huntress for saving her and Huntress replied that she saved her too.

Huntress stalked and swiftly took down National Guardsmen who were raiding a medical vans bound for a triage tent. The Question helped her transport the supplies and revealed that corrupt National Guardsmen had been hijacking medical supplies to sell them off in Hub City. Working together, the pair learned that Lt. Alex Kofey headed the scheme and subdued Kofey and his men. Huntress fired a spike just past the bound Kofey's head and, although she expected Question to press her on why she did it, he instead suggested that the right question to ask is why she did not kill Kofey.

No Man's Land

I'm the Bat. And I'm your worst nightmare.

— Helena Bertinelli

Helena becomes The Bat.

During the "No Man's Land" declaration in Gotham City, Helena remained in the city and spent months as the only Gotham field vigilante tackling the city's now unbridled crime and violence. She donned the guise of "The Bat", in Batman's absence, to again strike fear into the hearts of Gotham City's criminals, whilst also operating as The Huntress. She began the habit of marking territories in No Man's Land, which would be adopted by the gangs and GCPD. The Huntress offered her protection to the Faith Sector, where she protected its denizens from the encroaching threats of Black Mask and Penguin's gangs. Huntress reacted angrily to the refugee centre taking in the Scarecrow with open arms, suspecting ulterior motives. As The Bat, she and Batman set a trap for a group of False Facers, but after an arson attack, she helped the False Facers to safety although she knew they would escape capture. She was sceptical of the reformed False Facer residing at the refuge centre, but later made it known that she extended her protection to him as well and helped save him when he was beaten close to death by his former associates. At the refuge centre, Huntress discovered that the reverend had been storing weapons for the Penguin in exchange for food, in line with an elaborate scheme by the Scarecrow to sow fear and hate into the sector. When the False Facers and the Penguin's men came vying for the weapons, Huntress refused to give them up, and attempted to prevent a massacre by quelling disorder within the refuge centre and taking a stand against the two gangs with Batman. Huntress then foiled the Scarecrow's fear-mongering from inside the centre by encouraging its residents to offer the villain forgiveness instead of raising a hand in violence.

Darkest (k)night.

Huntress called on her JLA teammates for support while in the thick of rescuing vulnerable Gothamites and trying to quell angry mobs. Huntress was furious when Superman explained that their presence in Gotham would be illegal but was emboldened by the JLA's trust in her as the lone JLAer on the ground. As the Bat, Helena formed an alliance with the returning Batman after he witnessed her guiding a destructive and lost Ferak, a sentient creation of Poison Ivy's, back to its home in Robinson Park. Alongside Batman, The Bat helped to take back much of Burnley and Coventry from the Black Mask's False Facers, and single-handedly defeated Black Mask during his assault on the Gotham Clocktower. The Bat had an unfriendly encounter with the GCPD Blue Boys but insisted that they were welcome them in her territory. She also directed the homeless in the south to the Blue Boys for sanctuary. Huntress got acquainted with Cassandra, one of Oracle's informants when helping Cassandra fend off armed thieves, and later caught up with her while helping the injured to a medical camp. In late May, with gangs vying for territory, Batman tasked The Bat to protect their own territory by herself while he followed up on intel in Two Face's turf, inadvertently walking into a trap. When Penguin and his gang invaded their territory, The Bat made a stand, taking out a dozen men, saving a hostage and seriously wounding Penguin, but she was vastly outnumbered and retreated. With much of their territory lost and 6 people killed, Batman and Helena's partnership broke down.

"I don't take orders. And certainly not from you."

From May to August, The Bat worked alone to take back Midtown. Batman, growing concerned with the activities of Billy Pettit's renegade Strong Men group and unhappy with Helena undermining his authority, manipulated Helena into joining the Strong Men so that she was able to keep them in line. Batman did this by making a show of unmasking Helena, taking the Bat symbol away from her and giving the Bat costume to Cassandra Cain to isolate her from his allies and the GCPD, hence forcing her into accepting Pettit's offer to join his sect. As a member of Pettit's group, Huntress unknowingly enacted Batman's wishes, eventually acting as a voice of reason and standing up to the unstable Pettit when his men would not, even foiling Pettit's attempt to kidnap Oracle. At a medical camp, Huntress prevented Zsasz from killing a reformed False Facer and clashed with Dr. Leslie Thompkins over her decision to keep the injured Zsasz in her sector. Considering the doctor's plea for pacifism, Huntress later stopped pettit from fighting in the hospital zone. Huntress also tangled with Harley Quinn, uncovering The Joker's plot to make explosives with fertilizer and disabling the bombs before they could be used.

The Huntress takes a final stand.

As winter arrived and the No Man's Land seemed to be drawing to a close, but Huntress found herself frequently defending Pettit's own men from his lashing out. Pettit was growing more paranoid and neurotic and insisted on a whole-sector Christmas Eve dinner, worried that its denizens may abandon them. Wary of Pettit's instability, Huntress took it upon herself to stop him if need be, confiding in Clarence Foley. On Christmas Eve, The Joker launched an attack on the Strong Men sector, enacting a plan of mass infanticide. Panic broke out and The Joker manipulated the deteriorating Pettit into shooting at his own, captured men. Huntress told Foley to run for help, only for him to be killed by Pettit. A furious Huntress then took down Pettit, whom The Joker subsequently killed. Taking a final stand on her own, the unarmed Huntress defeated nineteen of The Joker's men before The Joker shot her four times. She was able to hold off the Joker and his men until help could arrive, and Batman and Nightwing's appearance caused The Joker to flee. Batman paid her his highest complement; a prompt "good work", and Nightwing brought the dying Huntress to Leslie Thompkins' camp, where the doctors were able to save her. During the countdown to the New Year, Nightwing brought Helena flowers and they shared a kiss.

Outlaws

Investigating drug lord Karros, Huntress was knocked out, bound and gagged by child criminals. She gathered that they worked for Karros but planned to rob his buyers, whom they mistook her for. Afraid the buyers never intended to pay, the gang left two siblings to take the fall. Huntress resisted getting involved but when the sister removed her gag, she resolved that as a teacher, it's what she does. Huntress gained the scared children's trust, learning that they killed Karros, who abused them. When the buyers attacked, Huntress untied herself and chased them away, but the brother was killed and the sister fled, wary of police.

Not-so-lone wolf.

Huntress followed the activities of the extremist "Quakist" group and contained a riot with Azrael's help. Huntress was on the scene soon after Nicholas Scratch manipulated Azrael into believing he lost control and killed a Quakist. Considering Scratch's eyewitness account, Huntress tried to contact Batman but Azrael knocked her down and fled. Huntress tailed Azrael to Oracle's clocktower but he escaped when the police interrupted their fight. Against Batman's wishes, Huntress tracked down Azrael, resolute on a rematch as well as apprehending him. As Huntress beat Azrael however, Batman arrived with evidence proving his innocence, also telling Huntress that he valued justice over vengeance.

Gotham City's vigilantes became fugitives after a fear-mongering campaign by the F.I.A.. Thirty-five military "Bloodhawk" helicopters descended on Gotham to terminate the vigilantes while Huntress was busting a drug operation, and she escaped with Nightwing's aid. Batman ordered his allies to operate as usual and not to injure military personnel, earning Huntress' protests. The Bat-clan rendezvoused with Commissioner Gordon and Huntress discussed with him her suspicions of a mob connection or greater conspiracy to the military operation. Coming under attack, the group barely escaped with their lives. Gordon and Oracle later confirmed Huntress' theory; the head of the F.I.A. had ordered the assassination of a senator investigating his misdeeds and was worried the vigilantes were on to him. With evidence vindicating their actions, the Bat-clan led an assault on the F.I.A. base. Huntress, Nightwing, Robin and Batgirl took care of the ground forces while Gordon and Batman apprehended the F.I.A. head.

Gods of Gotham

Up on the Gotham pantheon.

Huntress discovered a cult growing under the leadership of gangster Maxie Zeus, who's followers' faith had empowered three evil Greek gods possessing The Joker, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy. After setting Batman on their tail, Huntress contained Maxie Zeus and his enhanced followers with the help of Artemis, whilst having a heated but thoughtful exchange about faith with the Amazon. Batman, Wonder Woman and their allies then defeated the evil gods in battle, with Helena, prompted by Artemis, using her faith in her God to conquer the fear that Phobos induced in her and capturing the Scarecrow. Wonder Girl asked Huntress what would happened to the lost cultists now, to which Huntress replied that they will keep searching for their life's purpose, and that maybe some will find it.

Cry for Blood

When blood cries for blood, you answer the call.

— Helena Bertinelli

Huntress is a wanted woman.

Helena's cousin Claudio Panessa, a capo in the Panessa Family, washed up dead in Gotham Harbour with a purple crossbow bolt in his chest, leading Batman and the police to falsely suspect Helena as his killer. Batman paid Helena an unwanted visit to voice his suspicions. Huntress' old ally The Question offered her his help but she rebuffed him. After a reporter on the take publicised these suspicions, Huntress investigated her. Huntress and discovered the reporter similarly murdered by a crossbow and an anonymous tip off called Batman and the police to the scene, framing her. Batman and Nightwing attempted to arrest Huntress but she escaped the ensuing skirmish, wounded. She was found by The Question, who brought her to Canada to escape the heat. In Canada, Helena trained with The Question's old teacher, Richard Dragon, for three months, finally allowing herself to slow down and find herself. Huntress and Question then traveled back to Gotham, where she shared her story of becoming the Huntress and the pair grew closer, sparking a relationship. In Gotham, Batman acknowledged his error and offered Helena a chance to make things right. Robin Helena a friendly visit to share notes on his and Oracle's investigation into her life following her disappearance, which revealed an affair between her mother and mob boss Santo Cassamento. Meanwhile, Question discovered a private investigator hired by Mario Cassamento, Santo's son, to keep tabs on Helena's apartment until she reappeared.

"Now it's enough."

Confronting Boss Cassamento, Huntress learned that she is not the biological daughter of Franco Bertinelli but of Santo Cassamento. Deducing that Cassamento had figured out her secret identity, Helena also pieced together that he had been the one framing her. Cassamento explained that, on Mandragora's orders, he arranged her family's assassination but with an amended instruction to "spare the sister", referring to her mother, Tomasso's sister, but that Helena was spared instead. Cassamento then made Huntress an offer she could not refuse; he promised to keep her identity a secret on the condition that she would act as his enforcer. Cassamento knew that publicizing Huntress' identity would likely forfeit her life and that she could not kill him as that would again make her a target of Batman and the police. Backed into a corner, Helena attended her cousin Monica Panessa's wedding with Vic Sage, deciding to play on an old Sicilian tradition; that a father cannot refuse an offer on the day of his daughter's wedding. Helena told Tomasso that Cassamento was responsible for killing his sister and son, and asked him to kill Cassamento for revenge. After spending a night together, Huntress and Question ambushed Mario Cassamento, forcing him to flee Gotham. The next night, Helena lured Santo Cassamento to the docks, where he was killed by Tomasso Panessa, who in turn was caught in the act by the police, following an anonymous tip by Helena. Helena had debilitated the Cassamento and Panessa Families but Question broke off his partnership and romance with Helena over her methods. "Damn you", he told her but she replied "Happened long ago, Vic". With her family avenged, Helena resolved that enough blood had been spilled and she threw her cross into the Gotham harbour.

Last Laugh

When business gets personal.

During the Joker's Last Laugh, Huntress stopped jokerized and escaped Slab prisoner La Cucilla from killing dockers with Sasha Bordeaux, Batman's new protégé, although the villain escaped. Tracking down La Cucilla, the duo argued over use of lethal force and Huntress warned Bordeaux that she was just a tool to Batman, recounting how Batman manipulated her during No Man's Land. Bordeaux, against killing, engaged La Cucilla alone and but she was overwhelmed, Huntress subdued the villain, non-lethally. The duo learned that La Cucilla was in fact an uncover D.E.O. agent, driven mad by the Joker serum but Huntress cautioned Bordeaux of the price of seeking Batman's approval.

Huntress then went to Arkham Asylum in search of the missing Robin, curing a "jokerized" Ventriloquist and fending off a horde of jokerized criminals while tracking Robin to the sewers below. Huntress was ambushed by a jokerized Killer Croc and, during the their skirmish, she found a corpse in the fragments Robin's costume. Livid, Huntress beat the jokerized Croc to a pulp, despite their strength differential, and informed Oracle of Robin's "death" through tears. Huntress wanted to kill the beaten Croc but spared him to honor of Robin's convictions. Huntress, Batman and Spoiler then took down Zsasz and fought their way past various jokerized supervillains in Cathedral Square only to find that Nightwing had killed the Joker in anger. Robin was however revealed to be alive. Batman resuscitated the Joker and Huntress apprehended him.

Family

Huntress was furious with Batman for granting his official sanction to Bane, kicking him square in the chest and calling him a hypocrite. Nightwing defended Batman, who instead admitted that Huntress spoke the truth. Nightwing tailed Huntress but she rebuffed him, saying that she no longer desired Batman's approval.

Going to the mattresses.

Athena's specialised crime family, the Network, planned to take control of Gotham City and waged war on the Batman Family. Huntress, closely investigating the sudden rise of the small-time Rosetti Crime Family, busted a paramilitary group's purchase of weapon from them. She recalled when Boss Rosetti caught her spying on him and her father as a child and told her nothing is more important than "family". Infiltrating Rossetti's estate, Huntress learned that the Suicide King recently became the Rosettis' enforcer. Huntress held her own against the Suicide King but fled when outnumbered. Busting the Rosettis' after-hours casinos, Huntress continued to investigate the case despite Batman's protests and suspicions of a conspiracy, reaffirming her independence from his "family". Meanwhile, the Network discovered Huntress' identity and resolved that psychological warfare was required to defeat her. The Suicide King lured Huntress to her old home, where her family died, having strapped a time bomb to the hostage resident family. The Suicide King taunted Huntress over her past traumas as they fought but was still overpowered by her. With the bomb counting down, however, Huntress allowed Suicide King to escape so she could disarm it and save the family. Batman made a personal plea for Huntress' aid and she agreed on the condition that the Suicide King was her's to handle. Working with the Batman Family to foil the final stage of the Network's scheme, Huntress defeated the Suicide King, non-lethally, in the Rosetti estate as it burned down, and brought a dying Gabriel Rosetti to a hospital.

Hush

A friend of ours.

During the Hush Conspiracy, Huntress was approached by Thomas Elliot, who she initially vetted as clean, and he provided her with a new costume and equipment. Soon after, Batman's line was cut and he fell many stories into crime alley, fracturing his skull. Called to the scene by Oracle, Huntress defeated over a dozen gangsters in close combat defending the gravely injured Batman. She helped Batman to safety and he vowed to properly bring her into the fold, thinking to himself that she was better than she knew but wasted too much energy proving it. She was later affected by Scarecrow's fear toxin and attacked Catwoman, hallucinating her as a past version of herself she wanted to live down. Catwoman injected Huntress with Batman's antiserum but she stole the Bat-Cycle and escaped, prompting Batman to remind Catwoman that Huntress was better than everyone knew, including herself. As the Hush case was closed, Huntress began rethinking her place in the hero community, which she long had a turbulent relationship with. Catwoman found her for a heart to heart, telling her that changing loyalties is worth it if done for oneself and not for others' approval.

Knight Moves

Code of silence.

When government intelligence agency Checkmate lost their "Queen", they abducted Helena, whom they knew to be the Huntress. Helena was drugged by Scarecrow and Mad Hatter for a psychological assessment, and "King" David Said, gave her the choice of becoming either a fugitive or their "Queen" in exchange for information on Batman. Loyal to Batman, Helena jumped through a window of the skyscraper she was held in, while straitjacketed. She caught herself on a flag pole, freed herself and made a hasty escape, disguised. Question, who had been searching for Helena, sabotaged Checkmate's surveillance and contacted her for the final time to tell her that her apartment was compromised. The pair said their final goodbyes and the injured Helena was soon found by Batman, who finally brought her to the Batcave. Batman applauded Helena's loyalty and, with Checkmate soldiers tailing them, Huntress defeated those which slipped past the Batcave's defences. With Batman's blessing, Huntress became Checkmate's Queen to infiltrate it as his double agent. Soon after, Huntress retrieved all Checkmate intelligence on Kobra for Batman.

Of Like Minds

The books are open.

Huntress caught wind that mafioso Dante "Bones" Bonino was making an ambitious play to climb the ranks in the Cassamento drug trade. Cracking a few heads, Huntress found Bones buying an addictive performance enhancing super-drug from a criminal chemist. When Bones tested the drug on his associate Phil Turner, Huntress began her ambush. The drug bust was complicated by the thunderous appearance of Black Canary and Turner's enhancement. Initially vexed, Huntress worked well with Canary and set Turner on Bones so they would take each other out. The bust was successful but Turner was killed by Bones. Huntress expected Canary to disapprove of her methods but she did not, and the pair left to get better acquainted.

When Black Canary was kidnapped by blackmailers Savant and Creote in a scheme to learn Batman's identity, Oracle requested Huntres' help. Huntress first tracked down an abducted baby and saved from her kidnappers, before racing to Canary's location. She took down Creote, after a long, hard fight, and pinned Savant's hand to a wall, then helped an injured Canary to her feet, so she could knock out Savant herself. She apprehended both criminals and brought Canary to safety, as Oracle stole Savants' files. Senator Bob Pullman soon asked for a chat with Black Canary and Helena impersonated her injured friend as a favor. Pullman, a former client of Savant, threatened "Canary" to release Savants' files to which she refused. When Pullman's private muscle chased after Helena, she defeated them with Dinah's help.

Hero Hunters

The Huntress soon found herself allied with Oracle and Black Canary and continued to fight crime in both Gotham City and Metropolis as an official member of the Birds of Prey.

While with the Birds of Prey, Huntress once served with the Outsiders when Arsenal (Roy Harper) was shot five times in the chest and was put out of the line of duty for three months. However, she was at constant odds with Nightwing, despite their past relationship. Immediately after Arsenal was able to serve again, Huntress left the Outsiders.

The Battle Within and Perfect Pitch

Fearing that Oracle was manipulating her just like Batman and feeling guilt over her past, Huntress abruptly left the group and returned to Gotham. Using Creote and Savant as backup, she gave an offer to the Mafia saying she wanted in and would eliminate the compettition. Barely accepted, she set her plan by setting the mobs against each other. In truth she was gathering information on the mob for Batman to use. Batman confronted her but was pleasantly surprised when Huntress handed her "atlas" to him.

Progeny and Headhunt

One year after the events of Infinite Crisis, Huntress became the Birds of Prey's field leader following Black Canary's departure from the group. Her replacement heroines included Big Barda and Manhunter. During this time, Huntress redesigned her costume to fully cover her body. She was among those who went with the team to its new base in Platinum Flats, California.

Final Crisis

"All part of the plan."

During Darkseid's invasion, the Religion of Crime transformed Vandal Savage into a personification of the biblical Cain, armed with the Spear of Destiny. Cain went on a warpath in Gotham City, where the Anti-Life Equation was turning people into mindless thralls, and enslaved The Spectre. The new Question, Renee Montoya, took a futile stand against Cain and was rescued by The Huntress, who shot crossbow bolts straight through Cain's eye and mouth. Huntress and Question retreated into a church which The Radiant warded from Cain and his thralls. Huntress came to Radiant's defence when Question chastised her refusal to guide them and Radiant revealed that humanity's choices must determine the outcome of this "war for God's greatest gift"; free will. Question resolved that the Spear of Destiny, which can grant a divine wish, was key to defeating Cain, although Huntress warned that absolute power corrupts. Cain forced The Spectre to recite the Anti-Life Equation, remaking the world in Darkseid's image and weakening Radiant. Huntress and Question implored Radiant to keep faith, and they planned and launched a desperate final charge for the spear. Although Huntress and Question were mortally wounded, their plan came to fruition when Cain stabbed Question with the spear, putting it right in her hands. Question used the spear to bring Crispus's soul peace, freeing the Spectre, who ended the battle by punishing the disarmed Cain by searing the Mark of Cain into his face. Radiant healed the vigilantes, who teased each other about their "divine plan".

Battle for the Cowl and Life after Death

"His city", no longer.

After Batman's "death", Helena as part of Batman's "Network", worked to quell the chaos in Gotham following Final Crisis. Huntress helped Knight and Nightwing against the street gangs, and, with Black Canary, she chased away pretender-Batman Jason Todd after he shot Damian Wayne in the chest. She worked with Batgirl and Oracle to break up a lethal gambling game run by Hugo Strange and was left in charge of the Network's by Nightwing when he left to confront Todd.

Huntress ran into a berserk Man-Bat, and pursued him to stop him from harming any civilians. She had resolved to kill him before his actions could cost anyone's life, but discovered that Man-Bat was in fact hunting a killer, who had the ability to turn invisible. Huntress teamed up with new Batman Dick Grayson to take down this killer and the timely actions of a shotgun toting priest allowed them to capture him.

The new Black Mask was cornered in Devil's Square, but suspected of turning ordinary citizens into new False Facers using a new form of brainwashing, and the Falcone Crime Family, long fallen from grace, was massacring the False Facers in a play for power. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson and Helena attended the Arkham Research Benefit together to spy on Gotham's elite. The duo discerned Jeremiah Arkham's sudden secrecy over Arkham Asylum's operations and kissed to deflect attention, to an overhearing Oracle's displeasure. Oracle set Helena on the tail of a young thief in the lab, who escaped by detonating a bomb. The only person willing to inform Batman on the thief, a boy, was shot. Huntress informed Batman that Penguin was on the run from Black Mask, and connected the thief to the Riddler and Gene Core Lab's Dr. Singh. She also gently told him that the informant boy had died. Huntress was tailing Mario Falcone's convoy into town when Black Mask's ally the Reaper brutally ambushed them. Huntress and Batman prevented Reaper from murdering Falcone. Huntress joined the Batman and his allies' frontal assault on Devil's Square, where Black Mask, revealed to be Jeremiah Arkham, was defeated.

Pipeline

History repeats itself.

The Question and Professor Rodor, friends of Helena's old flame Vic Sage, discovered a global trafficking operation and brought Huntress onto the case for her organized crime expertise. Huntress and Question busted the "Network's" operations in Tunisia, Malta, Turkey and Ukraine, following the pipeline back to its source under Huntress' advice, and the duo began to grow closer. Helena explained that profit was key to understanding such criminals. With profits plummeting, the Network hired former Cosa Nostra assassin Zeiss to execute Question and Huntress. Helena and Renee intentionally led Zeiss back to their base, unbeknownst to Prof. Rodor, and the vigilantes sprung a trap. With a crossbow pointed at his head, Zeiss was made an offer he couldn't refuse; to give up a laptop connected to the Network and fake the vigilantes' deaths in exchange for his life and Helena's Lamborghini. Prof. Rodor left the team, believing Vic would not approve of how Helena and Renee operated, and Helena instead consulted Oracle, who learned that Zeiss' payment was routed through a cybercrime launch site in Odessa. Infiltrating the launch site, Huntress handled the guards while Question executed Oracle's on-site hack, which revealed that the Network's profits were being laundered in the secret Oolong Island.

On Oolong island, Helena and Renee were imprisoned, violently interrogated and brought before industrialist Veronica Cale, who was using the island for illegal research. The duo offered to handle the Network before international actors could connect it to Cale, and Cale provided her boss' location. In Syria, Huntress and Question came face-to-face with the Network's head; their old enemy Vandal Savage, branded with the Mark of Cain. When Savage attacked Question, Huntress shot a crossbow bolt through his right eye and took the fight into melee when forced to but the duo was overwhelmed. Savage explained that he built a criminal empire from the shadows because the Mark of Cain forced him to hide, and that, using Zeiss, he led his old foes to him so that one could take the curse mark from him, in exchange for their lives. Question was willing to take the mark, in order to flush Savage out of the shadows and having brought Huntress onto the case. However, Huntress, calling Question a good friend, knocked her out. Through tears, Huntress prayed for forgiveness and began the ritual to take the mark, only for Question to interrupt it. The duo escaped, leaving Savage in the burning building but Huntress deduced that Question now wore the mark, under her mask.

Birds of a Feather

Oracle gathered the Birds of Prey back together in Gotham. Helena initially displayed anger towards Oracle over her perceived abandonment of the team in order to help train the new Batgirl, but nonetheless tearfully accepted her offer. Huntress then aided Black Canary (who had now left the Justice League) in a battle against a new villainess calling herself the White Canary.

Convergence

Swan song.

During Convergence, Gotham City was trapped under a dome by a future Brainiac and cut off from the rest of the world. Huntress continued to fight crime and had The Question move in with her. A year after the dome appeared, Huntress stopped thieves from stealing food rations and came home to find Renee checking her face for the Mark of Cain, which Helena insisted was gone for good. After hearing that Two-Face helped Renee get morphine for her dying father, Helena reminded her that Two-Face can't be trusted. Renee responded it's herself that she's having difficulty with. Later, the dome vanished and a disembodied voice called on selected champions from Gotham to battle champions from converging cities of other worlds for their city's survival. Huntress quickly located Question, knocked out while trying to reason with a suicidal Two-Face, and gave her an I-told-you-so as she patched her up. Expected to go after Two-Face, Huntress brought Batwoman as backup. The trio made their way to the Gotham Courthouse, where Two-Face, one of Gotham's champions, planned to fight and die at the hands of his doppelganger. Huntress and Batwoman covered Question as she searched for Two Face. Batwoman voiced her jealousy over Huntress and Question's closeness but Huntress insisted that they were roommates. After Question took a bullet for Two-Face, Huntress helped Batwoman resuscitate her and told Two-Face that she did it because she thought he was worth saving. Helena was also there to embrace Renee at the hospital when her father passed. Helena was later one of Barbara Gordon's bridesmaids, along with Dinah Lance and Zinda Blake, during her wedding to Dick Grayson.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Acrobatics: Huntress is a very talented acrobat and excellent gymnast. She once survived a fall from the top of a skyscraper while straitjacketed, pivoting off a flagpole to break her fall.
  • Gymnastics: Helena had the potential to pursue Olympic gymnastics as a teenager.
• Driving: Huntress is a very skilled driver, able to pilot her motorcycle in high stress and combat situations; being shot at, accelerating to high speeds and over semi-separated bridges.
• Escapology: A proficient escape artist, Huntress has freed herself from restraints on her own.
• Espionage: Huntress is a capable intelligence operative, working as Batman's double agent in the intelligence agency Checkmate and successfully infiltrating the Gotham mafia to debilitate it from the inside.
• Hunting: Huntress is an elite hunter, adept at pursuing, stalking, capturing and killing her mark. Sal Asaro called a fifteen year-old Helena "the greatest hunter [he'd] ever seen". She was trained in the craft by the Asaro assassins and developed into a deft assassin herself. She assassinated heavily guarded Don Mandragora, head of La Cosa Nostra globally, during a party at his home.
  • Scouting: Huntress is practiced at covertly gathering intelligence about enemy forces or unfamiliar terrain.
  • Stealth: Huntress can be extremely stealthy. She has made nocturnal ambushes by her lonesome seem like gang attacks to her quarry. She is a practiced infiltrator, frequently operating covertly and behind enemy lines, although she sometimes prefers a head-on fight.
  • Survival: Huntress is proficient at using resources of the wilderness to create and spring traps. As well as being an elite hunter, she also knows how to butcher the game she hunts.
  • Tracking: Huntress is a skilled at deducing and following the movements of her targets in both urban environments and the wilderness.
• Indomitable Will: Huntress has been greatly praised for her iron will. Lady Shiva granted Huntress the moniker of the "Iron Owl" due to the unwavering determination and fortitude she showed during their fight to the death, in which she was able to withstand Shiva's attacks and even knock Shiva off her feet before the fight was interrupted. Helena has also gained a reputation for standing up to swarms of foes on her own. During No Man's Land, Helena, by her lonesome, took down Black Mask and his gang, incapacitated The Penguin and twelve of his gang, and defeated an amok Billy Pettit and nineteen of The Joker's men, in three separate last stands. She even earned Batman's "highest complement" for the latter feat.
• Interrogation: Huntress is an effective interrogator, able to get mobsters, sworn to secrecy, to talk.
• Intimidation: Called the "nightmare to the underworld", Huntress is known for her ability to instil fear in her quarry, inspired by the Batman. Huntress has also built up a fearsome reputation in criminal circles due to her vicious modus operandi.
• Investigation: Huntress is a skilled investigator, benefiting from an expert understanding of organized crime. She is credited as the "Batman" of the Birds of Prey and regularly spends her free-time solving cold cases especially when the Mafia is involved. Batman, himself, has complemented Huntress's investigation prowess, stating that her Atlas of Organized Crime in Gotham, is "outstanding work".
• Lock Picking: Huntress is a proficient lock-picker.
• Martial Arts: Helena could throw a palm strike that could drive a man's septum into their brain by the age of 15. In hand-to-hand combat, she can dispatch foes many times her size with ease. Huntress was more known as a cunning street fighter before honing her skills in martial arts. She spent many years getting into intentional fights just to prove and test her mettle. She has since fine-tuned her skill after years of work with Black Canary. She learned various disciplines of martial arts, is skilled enough in hand-to-hand combat to prove a challenge for even Lady Shiva. She prefers to use a specific kind of Kung Fu learned from Richard Dragon.
  • Boxing
  • Dragon Style Kung Fu: One of the many disciplines she has learned is Dragon Style Kung Fu.
  • Karate
  • Muay Thai
• Multilingualism: She can speak English, Italian and Sicilian fluently.
• Peak Human Condition: Huntress works relentlessly to keep her body in peak physical condition. The Suicide King compared her to an olympic athlete, constantly training. She stated her costume change to include more skin was a result of her 700 sit-ups a day.
  • Peak Human Agility
  • Peak Human Endurance
  • Peak Human Reflexes
  • Peak Human Senses
  • Peak Human Strength
• Pedagogy: A teacher by day, Helena has taught English literature at various inner-city public high schools, and even ran a special education English class for at-risk children before No Man's Land. She frequently demonstrates a knack for connecting with youths, regardless of their disposition, and encouraging them to open their minds. She has also been a trusted ally and mentor to young heroes such Robin and Misfit.
• Sewing: Helena sewed together her costumes as The Huntress and The Bat.
• Social Studies: Huntress has a strong grasp of the humanities, arts and social sciences, notably in regards to organized crime.

  

  The Huntress' speciality.

  • Criminology: Among Gotham's vigilante community, Huntress is considered the chief authority on organized crime, an expert on its operations, power relations and social drivers. She is often consulted by practiced detectives such as Batman, Oracle, Nightwing, Robin, and The Question. She grew up in a criminal environment and spent years surrounded by gangs and criminals. She pursued studies in criminology and the mafia at university, in Palermo, Sicily. She also continues to be privy to mafia intel through her familial connections and created the Atlas of Organized Crime in Gotham through years of closely and patiently investigating Gotham's Underworld. If there ever was a street-wise hero on the straight and narrow, it would be Huntress.
  • History: Helena is well versed in the histories of Sicily and the Mafia.
  • Literature: A high school English literature teacher by day, Helena is widely read and practiced at social and literary criticism.
  • Politics: Helena is critical and very attentive to relations of power, especially those related to organized crime. Socially conscious, most of the cases Huntress chooses to work are entangled with broader social issues and questions of power. As a high school teacher and a volunteer, Helena is active in helping socially disadvantaged persons.
  • Theology: Helena has demonstrated informed and also critical readings of faith and religion, particularly regarding Catholicism.
• Swimming: Huntress is a capable swimmer and an able underwater combatant while using a rebreather.
• Tactical Analysis: Huntress uses her expert knowledge of organized crime to strategically maneuver against criminal operations. As the field leader of the Birds of Prey, Huntress has also demonstrated astuteness as a battlefield commander.
• Weaponry: Huntress is an expert weapon fighter who honed her abilities under her assassin cousin Sal Asaro and is particularly known for employing an array of edged weapons in her arsenal.
  • Archery: Helena is an elite marksman, whose favored weapon is the hand crossbow. By the time she was fifteen, she could already put a crossbow bolt in a bullseye ten out of ten times from fifty meters. She once used a single bolt to split a speeding bullet in two, saving Catwoman. Helena also demonstrates ambidexterity, although she seems to prefer wielding her signature hand crossbow with her left hand.
  • Firearms: Over the years Huntress has adapted her arsenal to include various firearms.
  • Knife Fighting: Huntress, often employing stilettos and even crossbow arrows, is deft at stabbing her opponents in close combat. She is also adept at catching, dodging and redirecting knives thrown or aimed at her.
  • Stick Fighting: Huntress uses her battle-staff in close quarters, utilising its added reach to take on hordes of foes. She once took out over a dozen enemies with her battle-staff, while defending an incapacitated Batman, by herself.
  • Throwing: Huntress is a very accurate knife thrower, regularly employing stilettos as her thrown weapon of choice.
    

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Huntress Costume
• Utility Belt
• The Bat Costume (Formerly)

Transportation

• Huntress' Motorcycle
• Huntress' Lamborghini Diablo
• Helena Bertinelli's Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder (Formerly)

Weapons

• Huntress' Crossbow: Huntress' preferred weapon since she was a teenager is a hand crossbow, which she typically, but not always, wields in her left hand.
• Huntress' Battle-Staff: A collapsible, metallic combat staff that she has used since the very beginning of her adventures. Staff fighting is the subject of the Sicilian martial arts tradition known as "Bastone Siciliano".
• Huntress' Stilettos: Specialized daggers of Italian origin with a long slender blade and needle-like point. Huntress uses her Stilettos in close quarters but more often uses them as throwing weapons. Knife fighting is the subject of the Sicilian martial arts tradition known as "Paranza Corta Siciliana".
• Huntress' Wrist Launcher (Formerly): Huntress previously used a wrist launcher, mounted on her right forearm, which shot carbon-dioxide-propelled arrows or knives.

Notes

• Her first costume was modelled after that of Earth Two Huntress Helena Wayne.
• Helena was typically depicted as having brown eyes up from her debut up until Hush, since which she has been depicted as having blue eyes.
• When she was first introduced, Helena Bertinelli's middle name was Janice. After the reality-altering Zero Hour event, it was changed to Rosa.
  

Trivia

• Helena is around 8 years younger than Selina Kyle, having met a twenty-nine year-old Catwoman when she returned to Gotham as the Huntress at twenty-one.

  

  Sub rosa.

• Helena kissed Renee Montoya in a later illustration of New Earth continuity.
• Helena lives with a white cat.
• Helena lives in Gotham's Upper West Side, between Robinson Park and Miller Harbour.
• Renee Montoya moved in with Helena during Convergence.
• Helena celebrates her birthday towards the end of summer.
• Helena enjoys opera and is shown watching Rigoletto with her tutor as a child.
• Helena, who's middle name is Rosa, appears to have an affinity for red roses, often keeping them around her apartment.
• Helena once hallucinated Tim Drake calling her "Big Sister", testament to their bond.
• According to Tim Drake, Helena sprinkles Italian phrases into her English speech.
• Charlie Gage-Radcliffe was placed in Helena's care after the Birds of Prey broke up.
• Alexander Luthor revealed that if the Crisis on Infinite Earths had not occurred, Helena Bertinelli would have originally been a resident of Earth-Eight.
  

Recommended Reading

• Huntress Vol. 1 (1989-1990)
• Huntress: Year One (2008)
• Justice League America (1989-1996) #26, #30-31, #35, #42
• Justice League International Special (1990) #1-2
• Detective Comics (1937-2011) #652-653, #703
• Robin III: Cry of the Huntress (1992-93)
• Showcase '93' #9-10, "Huntress"
• Showcase '94' #5-6, Robin Vol. 2 #6, "Benedictions"
• Huntress Vol. 2 (1994)
• Batman versus Predator II: Bloodmatch (1994-95)
• Batman Chronicles (1995-2001) #1, #15, #19
• Batman: Contagion (1996)
• Batman: Legacy (1996)
• Birds of Prey: Manhunt (1996)
• Robin Vol. 2 (1993-2009) #34, Annual 6
• Catwoman (1993-2001) #51-52, "The Huntress: Big Game"
• JLA Vol. 1 (1997-2006) by Grant Morrison #16-19, #24-41
• Nightwing/Huntress (1998)
• Batman: Cataclysm (1998)
  • Huntress/Spoiler: Blunt Trauma (1998)
• Batman 80-Page Giant (1998—2000) #1-2
• Nightwing Vol. 2 (1996-2009) #26-29
• JLA/Titans: The Technis Imperative (1998-1999)
• Batman: No Man's Land (1999-2000)
  • Batman: No Man's Land Novel (2001)
• Azrael: Agent of the Bat (1995-2003) #63-65
• Wonder Woman: Gods of Gotham (2001)
• Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood (2000)
• Batman: Outlaws (2000)
• Joker: Last Laugh (2001-2002) #5-6, Detective Comics Vol. 1 #763, Robin Vol. 2 #95
• Batman: Family (2002-2003)
• Batman: Hush (2003)
• Batman: Gotham Knights (2000-2006) #38-40, "Knight Moves"
• Birds of Prey Secret Files and Origins 2003
• Birds of Prey Vol. 1 (1999-2009) #56-127
• Secret Six (2008-2011) #1, #7, #36
• DC Universe Holiday Special (2009)
• Final Crisis: Revelations (2008-2009)
• Batman: Battle for the Cowl (2009)
• Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009-2011) #3-6, #9, #13
• Batman (1940-2011) #692-697, "Life After Death"
• The Question: Pipeline (2009-2010)
• Birds of Prey Vol. 2 (2010-2011)
• Convergence: The Question (2015)

Related

• 452 Appearances of Helena Bertinelli (New Earth)
• 212 Images featuring Helena Bertinelli (New Earth)
• 40 Quotations by or about Helena Bertinelli (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Helena Bertinelli (New Earth)

Footnotes

Batman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Batman, and a member of the Batman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Batman Family members" category.

Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or simply the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Birds of Prey member This character is or was a member of the Birds of Prey, a team of female super-heroes that go on special missions across the world, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Birds of Prey members" category.

Checkmate Member This character was a member of the top secret government organization Checkmate. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Checkmate members" and "Government Agents" categories.

Outsiders member This character is or was a member of one or more of the teams known as the Outsiders. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Outsiders members" category.