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Selina Kyle is a Gotham City actress and socialite who campaigned for more police involvement against Jack the Ripper.

Born into a circus family in Europe, Selina trained from an early age as a lion tamer. She looked after her cats and loved them like family. Her father, a lion tamer, however, hated them and was constantly threatening to shoot them. One day, he got drunk and actually tried to carry out his threat, unaware Selina had removed the bullets from his gun. After the circus closed down, Selina moved to the United States and was taken in by Sister Leslie Thompkins. Selina reinvented herself as an actress, opening a theatre in Gotham City and becoming a star of the stage with her beauty and singing voice.

When Jack the Ripper started murdering women across Gotham, Selina accused the Gotham City Police Department of not trying to catch him since the victims were women. She disrupted the inauguration of Gotham World's Fair and caught the eye of the billionaire Bruce Wayne, who arrived there later. Walking home, she was baited into a trap by Jack the Ripper and tried fighting him, but was soon overpowered. The vigilante Batman arrived there in time to save her and though overpowered himself, was able to make him fall through the floor of the slaughterhouse they were in. Selina berated Batman after Jack fled and stated she could take care of herself, but found the vigilante gone when she turned around.

During her performance at the Monarch Theater, Bruce grew enchanted with her and she did likewise when they walked together to the Dionysus Club with Bruce’s friend Harvey Dent, whose attempts to woo her had been ignored by Selina in past. Bruce helped her sneak in to the club and impressed her by deducing details of her life. Selina told Bruce she knew from Leslie he liked to solve mysteries as he stated that she had taken care of him after his parents' death, said she always protected the destitute. Hearing this, he remembered how Jack had stated in his letter that he would eliminate the protectors of prostitutes too, but was unsuccessful in saving Leslie.

The police suspected Batman in the murder of Dr. Hugo Strange, and Selina while riding in a horse carriage, found the bleeding Brue on the streets. Letting him in, she took off his jacket to dress his wound, only to discover he was Batman. She pretended to make love with him, so the police who were searching citywide didn't suspect them. Later at their hotel, they actually made love and discussed their tragic lives. Bruce stated he wanted to take revenge against criminals for the murder of his parents, but knew it would never enough, making the two grow closer. Police chief Bullock soon arrived there and had Bruce arrested, since he was now the suspect in the Ripper murders with the killing of Marlene Mahoney.

Selina had initially contemplated going to Harvey to have Bruce released, but Bullock revealed Harvey was the one who told them where to find Bruce. After Bruce was jailed at Blackgate Penitentiary, she tried convincing him to reveal his identity to police commissioner James Gordon, stating Gotham needed Batman. Bruce rejected this saying that his effectiveness depended on secrecy of his identity. Selina decided to tell it to Gordon herself and went to the GCPD Headquarters, where she was confronted by Harvey, who accused her of being a whore trying to woo another lover. He caught her hand when she tried to slap him and warned her not to do it again, before informing that Gordon was at the world fair.

Selina reached the fair grounds and revealed Bruce's truth to Gordon, since Batman was known to have arrived only after Pamela Isley's murder. Gordon however injected her with a drug and revealed himself to be Jack, but she escaped his clutches after a fight. Painting a projection lamp with the bat symbol in her blood, she turned it on. This allowed Bruce to find him in time, but the Ferris wheel Gordon had taken her in soon caught fire as the two men fought. Selina soon escaped to the ground and rescued Bruce from the falling wheel after Gordon's death. Alfred Pennyworth soon arrived there in a carriage along with the the orphans called Outsiders to rescue them.

As Bruce and Selina watched the destruction of the fair grounds with sadness Dickie stated that it was pretentious anyway and they should build something that was new as well as better.


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  • Selina Kyle is voiced by Jennifer Carpenter.

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Footnotes


Batman Allies
Batman Family member
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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.

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