Renee Montoya (Prime Earth)

The Question
Mainstream Universe‎‎, 2011‎-present
Gallery
Real Name	Renee Montoya
Main Alias	The Question
Other Aliases	Detective Montoya · Commissioner Montoya
Relatives	Unnamed father (deceased), Benny Montoya (brother, deceased)
Affiliation	Justice League Unlimited · Formerly Gotham City Police Department, Batman Incorporated, Bludhaven Police Department
Base Of Operations	Gotham City · Formerly Bludhaven
Status
Alignment	Good
Identity	Public Identity
Citizenship	American
Marital Status	Single
Occupation	Watchtower Head of Security · former Police Commissioner
Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5' 8"
Weight	144 lbs (65 kg)
Eyes	Brown
Hair	Black
Origin
Universe	Prime Earth
Creators	Paul Dini · Bruce Timm · Mitch Brian
First Appearance	Batwoman Vol 2 #1 (November, 2011)

I've been one of you. Just because I chose the badge doesn't mean I won't do whatever it takes to keep this city safe.

— Renee Montoya

Renee Montoya is a GCPD officer and the vigilante known as The Question.

History

Early Career

Originally trained by Harvey Bullock, Renee became a skilled and competent detective. As a Gotham rookie, she had a brief romantic relationship with Kate Kane.

During the aftermath of the cataclysmic earthquake that shook Gotham, Renee physically put herself between Two-Face and Batman, showing him unexpected compassion. This, tragically, had unexpected repercussions; lacking the capacity to respond in kind, Dent then 'bastardized' her compassion, and nearly ruined her life in the process. The incident traumatized Renee greatly, and continued to effect her for years to come.

At some point, she left the force and became associated with the vigilante the Question, coming to consider Victor Sage to be her best friend. Their travels together took them to Kahndaq, where they met Black Adam. She saw Victor die of a wasting illness in her arms on a mountaintop and later took up his mantle as the new Question.

She later became a detective in Bludhaven despite her history as an officer.

New 52

Despite alterations to history, Renee was one of a number of individuals who retained fragmentary memories of their original history, though like the others, she struggled to reconcile those memories with her new history. Notably, Victor's death was initially erased from the timeline, but her memory of it remained.

Renee's relationship with Kate rekindled after Renee's return to Gotham City and well after Kate had become Batwoman; Renee accompanied Kate on at least one mission after they got back together.

Just before Bane's takeover of Gotham, Renee was involved in a police standoff with Black Mask that ended with him escaping (aided by Apex Lex) and killing two GCPD officers. Renee vowed to track Black Mask down.

Rebirth

About a month later, she had tailed him to Atlanta, where Kate Kane also happened to be living at the time, having been displaced by Bane's capture of Gotham. Renee enlisted her girlfriend's help to capture Black Mask, but once again he was able to escape, this time after wounding Renee.

Sometime later, Renee turned in her badge and became a vigilante in her own right, assisting Lois Lane as the Question to solve the murder of Russian journalist Mariska Voronova, and later to help discover the identity of Leviathan.

While investigating Mariska's death, she re-encountered Vic Sage, whom she had believed to be dead and whom had been resurrect as a result of outside forces manipulating reality.

Infinite Frontier

Around the time of A-Day, Renee rejoined the GCPD as a detective, and soon accepted Mayor Christopher Nakano's offer of the position of Police Commissioner, replacing Harvey Bullock.

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Criminology
• Firearms
• Investigation
• Martial Arts
  • Boxing
  • Karate
• Multilingualism: Renee is fluent in English and Spanish, and speaks some Russian.
• Stealth

Other Characteristics

• Alcoholism
• Mental Disorder: Renee suffers from depression and PTSD.
  

Paraphernalia

Weapons

• Handgun

Notes

• Renee Montoya was created by Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and Mitch Brian, first appearing in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Pretty Poison". However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Renee Montoya first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Batwoman (Volume 2) #1 by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman.
  

Trivia

• Renee watches the Canadian sitcom Letterkenny.

Related

• 152 Appearances of Renee Montoya (Prime Earth)
• 43 Images featuring Renee Montoya (Prime Earth)
• 16 Quotations by or about Renee Montoya (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Renee Montoya (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Previous Harvey Bullock

Commissioner of the GCPD

Next Vandal Savage

GCPD Officer This character is or was an officer of, or held a title in the Gotham City Police Department, in any of its various incarnations. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "GCPD members" and "Police Officers" categories.

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 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.