Kate Kane

Revision as of 17:52, 21 June 2021

Kate Kane in Batwoman v2 #9.

Kate Kane is a female comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Pursuing the Religion of Crime in 52 v1 #11.

Katherine Rebecca 'Kate' Kane was the daughter of Colonel Jacob 'Jake' Kane and Captain Gabrielle 'Gabi' Kane with her having a twin sister named Elizabeth 'Beth' Kane. Her parents were both career military and had worked extensively for the military intelligence services whilst Kate was close to her sister. During her youth, her parents would get promoted leading to Kate and her sister moving to a variety of towns and bases with her father often being away. The Kane family later moved to Brussels in Belgium when her parents began serving in NATO. On her twelfth birthday, Gabi Kane took her daughters out for the day to an expensive restaurant for chocolate and waffles that were their favorite dish. On the way to the restaurant, a group of heavily armed terrorists from the Religion of Crime kidnapped them after killing their bodyguard. Military intelligence managed to uncover the location of the hostages with Jacob Kane placed in charge of the tactical unit to rescue his family. By the time they arrived, Gabi Kane and seemingly Elizabeth Kane were killed in the crossfire between the terrorists with the tactical unit. Jacob Kane had arrived just in time to save his only surviving daughter namely Kate Kane who was traumatized as the sight of her dead mother and twin sister. In the years afterwards, her father had married the wealthy weapons heiress Catherine Hamilton. Kate attempted to please her father and decided to enlist into the military where she joined the marines. In her time there, she received excellent grades and ranked at the top of her class. During that time, she was at United States Military Academy at West Point where she roomed with Cadet Captain Sophie 'Gimme' Moore. In that time, she had entered into a lesbian relationship with Moore. Her commander eventually learnt of the relationship and approached Kane to ask her to disavow the allegation. However, Kate refused to lie and thus violated the DADT code at the Academy. Thus, she confirmed her sexual orientation by admitting that she was a lesbian forcing her to leave the school. She later confronted her father about the news who supported her where he held that she had held herself with honor and integrity. Kate later moved back to Gotham City where she began to attend college and began to pursue a wild socialite lifestyle with her becoming notorious for partying and drinking.

Batwoman

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

During her mother and sisters funeral she met her cousin Bruce Wayne. (Detective Comics v1 #975)

She later accepted an offer from her father to taking over the operations of the Colony with her bringing Azrael and Batwing alongside her. Kate intended to leave Gotham's safekeeping to Batman whilst she expanded the operations of the Colony into a global peacekeeping agency that sought to stop threats around the world. Both Fox and Valley agreed to side with her as they formally joined the Colony with among their first operations being against the Court of Owls. (Detective Comics v1 #976)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Kate Kane in Batwoman v1 #0.

Kate was said to have a beauty that left people speechless that was matched by a temper that left people bruised. (52 v1 #7)

For a time, she kept the fact that she was a lesbian a secret from the public. She and Renee Montoya always knew which buttons to press to trigger the other which was why their relationship was good yet another reason why it could never last. (52 v1 #7)

As children, she and her sister used to play a game that they called the "looking glass game" where they would mirror each other's movements. Kate herself noted that she never understood the rules but was fine with that as she simply followed Alice's movements. In this regard, she saw herself as being on the other side of the glass and felt comforted that her sister was there being her other half. (DC Pride v1 #1)

She came to find a new way of serving her country by becoming a vigilante that fought crime. Kate saw the bat symbol as a higher calling and a call to arms that she ended up answering. (Detective Comics v1 #860)

After her mother died, her father was noted to had married a Catherine Hamilton who was Kate's stepmother and who disapproved of her life style and choices. (Detective Comics v1 #856) She was noted for being rich with her fortune coming from the Hamilton Rile Company. (52 v1 #7)

Powers and abilities

Taking on the mantle in Batwoman v1 #0.

It was said that she was a senior elite in gymnastics. (Detective Comics v1 #860)

Her father made her go through extensive military training for her new life as a vigilante. (Detective Comics v1 #860)

She came to use a range of appropriated non-lethal military arms and equipment in the field. (Detective Comics v1 #860)

As a member of the Kane family, she was incredibly wealthy with her family said to be owning half of Gotham alongside the Waynes. The family home was the Kane Estate that resided at Kane Street in Gotham. (52 v1 #7)

Notes

• The Kate Kane Batwoman was created by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid and Ken Lashley where she made her first appearance in 52 v1 #7 (June, 2006).
• She was confirmed as being the cousin of Bruce Wayne in Detective Comics v1 #934 (2016) where it was established that her father Jacob Kane was the brother of Martha Wayne.

Alternate Versions

• In DC Comics: Bombshells v1 (2013), an alternate continuity setting set in the 1940s had Kate Kane operating as Batwoman.
• In Nightwing: The New Order v1 (2017), an alternate version of Tim Drake was shown in this world. In this future, Kate eventually left the life of being a vigilante after the death of Batman and devoted herself to the militar where she rose in the ranks of the Pentagon. Following a Metahuman incident in Metropolis, there was a public call for control over Metahumans with Kate stepping into the situation to manage it. It was decided that Dick Grayson was to head the new Crusaders Program with Kate serving as a co-leader though it was said she resented that Grayson became the public face of the successes achieved. Metahumans were illegal with arrested being made by the Crusaders whereby in 2028 they managed to neutralise 90% of the worlds super-powered population.

In other media

Television

• In the Arrowverse, Kate Kane appeared in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Arrow, Kate Kane made her first appearance in the live-action television series where she was portrayed by actor Ruby Rose. She was shown as the wealthy resident of Gotham City who took over her cousin Bruce Wayne's company of Wayne Enterprises after he disappeared following a tragedy.

Films

• In Batman vs. Robin, Kate Kane made a cameo non-voiced appearance where she was shown in Batman Bruce Wayne's nightmare of Damian Wayne growing up to be a ruthless Batman with Kate Kane being one of his victims.
• In Batman: Bad Blood, the Kate Kane Batwoman made her first major debut in the animated film where she was voiced by actor Yvonne Strahovski. She was the daughter of Jacob Kane with her mother and sister killed on her twelfth birthday. When she was an adult, she was ambushed by a street gang in Gotham City but was saved by Batman. Kate, however, rejected the Batman's help instead of showing gratitude as she believed she did not need any help. Despite that being the case, she was inspired by the Batman to become a vigilante herself two years later where she called herself Batwoman.

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, the Kate Kane Batwoman appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where she was voiced by actor Christina J. Moore.

Appearances

• 52 v1: (2006)
• Batwoman v1:
• Detective Comics v1:
• DC Pride v1: (2021)

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry

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