Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, is a cat-themed thief and was the lover of Batman. After the latter's death during Fool's Night, Selina was wrongfully arrested and imprisoned for a decade. When she was released, she found herself in a Gotham City run by Mayor Harvey Dent.
History
On the eve of the fateful Fool's Night when the Joker incited mass anarchy across Gotham, Selina offered her condolences on Alfred's death and that Bruce needed to think about life after the cowl. The latter said on the rare occasions he allowed himself to dream, Selina was there. When Fool's Night began, she fought with the Batman Family to stop him.[1] Confronting Joker on the GCPD rooftops, Joker revealed that he had bound Commissioner Gordon to the Bat-Signal and revealed that if it were turned on to stop the riot, Gordon would die. After a skirmish, Gordon and Joker were killed, while Bruce was fatally wounded. In his dying breaths, he gave Selina a cryptic regarding "Orpheus," and gave her a Batarang. Selina was arrested before she could work out what that was.
In prison, Selina took to protecting a girl named Yoona, who was frequently abused by the other inmates at their female prison. Despite her efforts, Yoona died.[2]
Ten years later, Selina was released, and entered a new Gotham under the guidance of Mayor Harvey Dent, who had recently come to an agreement with his Two-Face persona. Encountering a new type of officer dressed in the bat iconography, Selina returned to her penthouse suite, where she found her cat Monty, who had been loyally waiting for her. Going into the city and seeing the new dystopian measures Dent had put in place, Selina bought some roses and trespassed onto the grounds of the abandoned Wayne Manor, where she paid respects to the Bat-Family.
Meeting with Emperor Penguin, Selina tried to get a loan to get back on her feet, but he declined, saying it was too risky, knowing about her aging body. He then tried sexually harassing her, which ended the meeting on bad terms.
Trying and failing to make a comeback heist, she met with Barbara Gordon, now a councilwoman and Dent's rival in the upcoming mayoral election. Offering to assassinate Dent, Selina was told by Barbara that their old ways were silly and pointless, pointing out that cooperating with the common people and using Bruce's money in more practical ways did far more to improve Gotham than before. Barbara then said she didn't want Selina near her family, saying that even if she didn't kill Batman, she didn't save him either. Selina tried to ask about "Orpheus," but was forced to leave when Barbara's assistant came into the room.
Heading to The Stock Pot, the oldest bar in Gotham, run by Ma Hunkel, Selina caught up with Waylon Jones, AKA Killer Croc. However, Mayor Dent walked in, and told her that she needed to retire, as she was too old to get a job, and she would die in prison if she went back to her old ways. After standing up to him, Selina proposed to partner with Croc to break into the Batcave, which is where Batman told her to take him as he died, on the day of the election. Later, Selina narrowly broke into the GCPD and left with the Batarang she was given that night, as well as Commissioner Gordon's pipe, which she sent to Barbara.[3]
Speaking with Barbara at Lady Green Beans Tea & Coffee, Selina found out "Orpheus" was a complete mystery and that it was in the Batcave, which was still locked. Training with Croc for the heist, she then went to Chinatown to enlist the aid of her friend Rowena, who offered to fix up the catsuit and also give Selina the assistance of her son, Winston.
Booking the Empress Suite, a deluxe luxury room in a hotel, she ran into Edward Nygma, AKA the Riddler, and his daughter Edie. After a night of catching up with her old acquaintance, Selina was informed by Winston that they needed Alan Scott's Green Lantern Ring to get into the heavily-guarded Batcave. Breaking into S.T.A.R. Labs, however, she found that the Power Battery was broken, and needed to use the last of the ring's power to teleport away from security.
Enlisting the aid of the Riddler and his daughter, Selina revealed the plan to infiltrate Ace Chemicals on behalf of Poison Ivy (who was Lady Green Beans) to steal Ace's newest fertilizer. After narrowly escaping, the crew flew to Ivy's base in Brazil. After sharing her anxieties with Pamela that night, Selina agreed to help Edie with her gymnastics.[1]
Returning to Gotham, the crew infiltrated Arkham Asylum to take a sample from Clayface. On their way to escape, however, their truck ran into a pothole and crashed into a tree, forcing them to escape into the subway. However, they encountered Dent's men. They escaped, but Croc was gravely injured under a pile of bricks. Knowing what Dent's men would do to him if they caught up, and in great pain, he asked Selina to euthanize him, which she reluctantly did.
After Croc's funeral in The Stock Pot, Selina expressed blame for herself and that she would get the rest of the crew killed. After Edward comforted her, she kissed him and they went back to her place for intimacy. Afterward, they talked about Selina's extreme drive to get into the Batcave, and then what "Orpheus" could mean, prompting Edward to have an epiphany.
Infiltrating a museum, Catwoman, Riddler, and Poison Ivy stole a Mesopotamian burial mask, which actually contained the Helmet of Fate, which they used to get Jason Blood to help them with their plans. Leaving Blood's home, they ran into the Batcops, who pursued her into a protest between Dent's forces and activists inspired by Catwoman. Selina escaped thanks to Barbara's help, but running into the Batcops again at an inconvenient time made her paranoid and caused her to push Edward and Edie away from the heist.
The crew infiltrated the grounds of Wayne estate by having Blood use the clay to impersonate Commissioner Tully and trick the guards into thinking the disguised Selina and Pamela would take their positions. Thanks to Pamela's connection to the surrounding flora, they were able to find the entrance into the Batcave, where Selina convinced Blood to summon Etrigan.[2]
Convincing the violent demon to help them, the trio bypassed a magical spell preventing anyone from reaching a stone wall by having Etrigan say "Open sesame" backward. Reaching a waterfall, the demon froze the top, allowing them to reach the door to the main Batcave. Selina then used the Batarang, which had indexed her DNA on that night as Batman lay dying to open the door. In there, they would the Orpheus Pit, which was a modified Lazarus Pit with its fluid mixed with Venom. The combination brought a person back from death without the negative side effects of both, but was only effective for a week. Realizing Bruce only wanted her to bring him back, Selina began to doubt what she was doing. After Pamela offered some words of comfort, they were interrupted by the Mayor's forces, who had been tipped off by the guards the two had replaced earlier. After Blood, turned back from Etrigan by Klarion the Witch-Man, had to save the women by teleporting himself, Klarion, and Teekl out, Selina detonated a cannister of fear gas while Pamela manipulated plant life to defend them. However, Dent's forces burned away the plants and fear gas, forcing Pamela to sacrifice herself saving Selina. Throwing bombs into the Orpheus Pit to blow up the Batcave, she simply sat down and accepted her incoming death, lamenting how she couldn't figure out what her life would be like after her own costumed career. However, she was saved by Eddie and Edie, the former of whom figured out the code to get into the Batcave.
Outside, Selina confronted Dent, and gave him a choice to let her live and use her to access Batman's files, or kill her. Flipping tails, the Two-Face persona reemerged, providing a sufficient distraction for Selina to throw the Batarang into Dent's unscarred eye and beat him into submission.
After Dent's incarceration and Barbara's victory as mayor, Selina instructed Edie on their plan to take down Emperor Penguin next. Selina met with the new mayor on the rooftops, they discussed how the city, despite its glamorous modernization, was still as corrupt as before, and that Barbara wanted Selina's crew to bring that corruption down. Selina responded that she wasn't a hero, but Barbara implored her to be a part of Gotham's future if she wanted to honor Batman.[4]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Peak Human Condition
- Multilingualism: Selina was able to fluently converse with Edie in Spanish.[1]
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Related
- 4 Appearances of Selina Kyle (Lonely City)
- 5 Images featuring Selina Kyle (Lonely City)
- 1 Quotations by or about Selina Kyle (Lonely City)
- Character Gallery: Selina Kyle (Lonely City)
Footnotes