Cassandra Cain

Black Bat Cassandra Cain in Red Robin v1 #25.

Cassandra Cain is a female comic superhero who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Batgirl Cassandra Cain in Batgirl v1 #1.

Cassandra Cain was the black haired daughter of noted assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva. Her birth was the product of a breeding program that started as a theory by the assassin David Cain. At the time, Ra's al Ghul was not satisfied with the fickle loyalty of most mercenaries and wanted a new generation of assassins for his League of Assassins. With the Demon Head's blessing, Cain sought the training of a large number of young children but this was a catastrophe as most died in infancy and the one survivor was insane forcing an Ubu to be dispatched to put the child down. As a result, Cain re-thought the theory and sought a single child that was to be trained by the entire League. A few of the early ones died in this manner with David deciding that genetics was the key. (Batgirl v1 #67) To that end, he sought a mate and found one in Sandra Woosan where he killed her sister to motivate her rage to find him. He then defeated her when she reached the League of Assassin's stronghold and gave her an offer to be the greatest fighter with the two sleeping together in order to produce a child. The child born was Cassandra Cain and an hour after she was born Woosan took the mantle of Lady Shiva as she left her daughter in the care of David Cain. (Batgirl v1 #73) Among the young girls instructors was the fierce warrior Bronze Tiger. (Batgirl v1 #67)

Around 10 years ago, her father took her to a target named Faizul who was to be her first kill and she came to murder the man using her hands alone. However, the experience caused her to fall apart at having taken her first life and haunted her for the future. David Cain came to film the event and hid the records of the man's cause of death but regretted having put Cassandra through her first kill at such a young age. (Batgirl v1 #5)

Runaway Cassandra found herself in the wilderness and observed a hungry pack of wild dogs attacking a cow. She felt for the beast and fought off the dogs, earning the pack’s acceptance. They’d fatally wounded the cow, so she put it out of it’s misery. Cassandra and the dog pack ate the cow’s raw flesh hungrily, and she was happy to not be alone for a moment, even if her companions were animals. (Batgirl v1 #71)

She attended a language session with Barbara Gordon where she left after they were done for the day. Whilst out, she came to sight her father and followed him without drawing his attention. She saw him finding a spot at an abandoned building where he used the upper floor as a sniper spot where he attempted to murder Commissioner James Gordon. Upon learning of this, she went into the path of the sniper sight to prevent David Cain from making his kill and thus saving Gordon's life. Afterwards, she was questioned by Barbara Gordon where she came to reveal that she was the daughter of David Cain. (Batman v1 #567)

Batgirl

Batman continued training the new Batgirl, and had a training session with her where neither of them were holding back. Batman defeated her, but she made him bleed, and he was proud of her. She encountered a criminal that she remembered from having maimed as a child when Cain was training her. Despite the guilt she felt she apprehended him. Batman gave her license to operate on her own, but demanded she stay away from Gotham's costumed villains. (Batgirl v1 #1) Batgirl rescued John Robinson from a mobster and his goons. Robinson was a good Samaritan who stopped the mobster from killing his ex. Batgirl later learned that the mobster came back and kidnapped Robinson. Oracle helped Batgirl track down the mobster, but by the time she found Robinson he was dying. She tore into the mobsters, and delivered a goodbye note from the deceased Robinson to his wife. That night she practiced learning to write. (Batgirl v1 #2) Batman expressed his disappointment in Batgirl for not being able to save the life of good Samaritan John Robinson. He told her they had to succeed despite impossible odds, no excuses. Batman and Batgirl rescued the daughter of the Imperioli crime syndicate's book keeper Benny Johannse from the syndicate. They had to fight their way past superhuman Imperioli muscle Meta, and recovered microfiche detailing the Imperioli's illegal dealings from the girl's teddy bear. (Batgirl v1 #3)

With her reading ability gone, she tested her skills in the Batcave only to find that her talents were completely gone and that she had to re-train again to learn them. According to Batman, she would need 10 years under him in order to re-learn her fighting skill. This was not acceptable to Cassandra and she asked Oracle to send a message to Lady Shiva in order for them to meet on the rooftop. She then requested Lady Shiva to train her and help her re-gain her former skill due to the similarity in their fighting style. Lady Shiva agreed but on the condition that from a year from then that the two would engage in a duel to the death where they fought with their entire skill to see who was the superior fighter. After a short time, she returned to Batman where she showed that her fighting ability was now completely restored ad she could resume being Batgirl. (Batgirl v1 #9)

Batgirl and Batman investigated sailors who were traveling to Rhapistan to sell Gothamites considered MIA since No Man’s Land as slave labor. When the duo caught up with the slave ship it was going down; one of the prisoners exploded a bomb on the ship, preferring death to slavery. Batman and Batgirl rescued the prisoners, but Batman noticed Batgirl taking unnecessary risks that put her life on the line, indicative of the deathwish she sometimes displayed. After the last prisoner was evacuated Batman left and told Batgirl she would have to make the choice to save herself from the sinking ship. He would have come to her aid if she needed it, but he was pleased to see that she saved herself. (Batman: Gotham Knights v1 #2)

Batgirl and Azrael arrived at Arkham, where the Key was fighting Batman. Batgirl perceived that Batman was acting overly aggressive; the Key had brought out Batman's most violent side through the use of his psycho-chemicals. Batgirl kept Batman from killing Key, then followed him around to make sure he didn't badly injure any criminals in his addled state. Batman eventually shook off the drugs and defeated the Key. (Batman: Gotham Knights v1 #5)

Batgirl snuck into a GCPD precinct and deposited the beaten and broken Lady Shiva into a cell. D.E.O. agents Cameron Chase and Witt scoured Gotham to find the identity of the person who battered Shiva, assuming they were a dangerous new threat in Gotham. Chase guessed that it was Killer Croc. Batgirl followed them, and after helping them scare off some of Shiva’s thuggee cultists, informed them that she was the one who had had beaten Shiva. Batgirl later prevented teenager Tom Lavino and his family’s hired goons from killing mobster Albert Gabrini. Oracle later told Batgirl that Tom was seeking revenge on Gabrini for murdering his parents, and asked if Batgirl empathized with him, since she too had lost her parents. Batgirl never thought of it this way, but suddenly she did empathize with Tom. She visited Tom at Levins Correctional Facility and told him that even though he made a mistake, much like she once did, he could still make something of his life. Oracle could not find any cases for Batgirl to go on, so she encouraged her to try out a hologram combat training program. Batgirl fought a simulation of the original Batgirl, and after defeating the hologram a dozen times she got overconfident and their final fight ended in a stalemate. (Batgirl Secret Files and Origins v1 #1)

The GCPD were in a highspeed chase with criminals, and Batman blew out their tires with a batarang while Batgirl saved a homeless man they almost ran over. The old man was distracted because he was making chalk drawings on the sidewalk, and he told Batgirl he was drawing his vision of a perfect Gotham city that he’d seen in dreams. Batman worried about the man’s mental stability, but admitted some nights he wished Gotham City could actually be replaced by a utopia. Oracle dragged Cassandra Cain to Chris Colson’s art opening. Colson was an installation artist known for transforming environments, and Bruce Wayne funded his project of transforming two city blocks of Gotham destroyed during the earthquake into art. Cassandra was not keen on going, but Barbara reminded her there was more to life than crimefighting and she needed to experience new things. Bruce Wayne unveiled the project, with Colson having transformed the blocks into a luscious garden he proclaimed as a recreation of the original Garden of Eden. Bruce Wayne fell ill and had to leave the event, and Cassandra was disturbed that the garden had a strange effect on the patrons, as they stripped nude and gave into base desires. Cassandra had to leave, changing into Batgirl and returning to her comfort zone, fighting ninjas. As night fell the patrons turned more animalistic and started attacking each other savagely and Batgirl investigated. Oracle was in a feral state and attacked Batgirl, who had to restrain her. Batgirl found Chris Colson tied up in vines and hanging from a tree. He told batgirl that Poison Ivy inspired his art installation and grew the entire garden from a single seed, but he never knew what she was planning. Colson’s garden was spreading out across the city, and when he questioned Poison Ivy she told him she no longer had a use for him. Poison Ivy gathered the patrons, telling them she was glad the hallucinogenic properties of her garden’s flowers had forced them to return to nature, and said they should reject city life, which mother nature considered an abomination. Poison Ivy bragged about how her garden would turn all of Gotham into a new Garden of Eden, but Batgirl foiled her, setting the garden on fire. Batman commended Batgirl on her actions, and Batgirl checked in on her homeless friend dreaming of a better Gotham, and nodded approvingly. (Batgirl v1 #52)

Batman later asked her to infiltrate the newly formed Justice League Elite in order to watch over its members. For that role, she adopted the guise of a masked assassin named Kasumi with her using disguise to hide her true appearance behind fake scar tissue. (Justice League Elite v1 #9)

She was later invited by Batman to join the latest incarnation of the Outsiders that served under him. (Batman and the Outsiders v2 #2)

When Batman disappeared, the Outsiders were looking for clues to his whereabouts and received a message from him that included an encrypted code to his location. Green Arrow had a gut instinct that this message was not from Batman but Cassandra believed that they could safely analyse the code for clues on her mentor's whereabouts. After being downloaded into ReMAC, the machine ran amok where he attacked the Outsiders before detonating with the incident leading to the death Salah Miandad and seemingly of Metamorpho with Anissa Pierce being left in a coma. This caused the Outsiders to disband with Grace Choi blaming Batgirl for the damage. In the aftermath, Cain came to learn that the Black Glove was responsible for the attack on the Outsiders with Batgirl vowing to create a new team to stop the criminal organization. (Batman and the Outsiders v2 #12) This saw her recruiting people to be part of her Network with these including the Vigilante and Riddler. This brought a disagreement between her and Nightwing until their fight was stopped by Alfred whereupon the two decided to reconcile with Grayson heading this new team. (Batman and the Outsiders v2 #14)

Black Bat

She then arrived in Cairo to track down Red Robin who was went there to track down the Covenant of Ka. This led to him being captured by one of the Daughters of Acheron who intended to bear his child as part of a ritual of life over death. Black Bat arrived just in time where she helped defeat the Daughter of Acheron and Promise but then seemingly stabbed Tim Drake in the back with her leaving his corpse on the ground. This registered the kill as part of the Assassination Tournament where Black Bat entered into the inner sanctum where she was congratulated by someone over the speakers. However, Cassandra had deceived the voice as Drake was alive and they had staged his death in order to try to meet the head of the tournament. The voice though triggered a self-destruct sequence though Black Bat and Red Robin managed to escape. After thanking her, Drake was asked by Cassandra to help her in taking down a supervillain operating in Hong Kong. This was the 10 year old white haired assassin known as the Cricket due to the chirping sound he made whilst fighting. Despite their skill, the two vigilantes were easily defeated by the young boy due to his incredible speed where he left Tim Drake with a broken arm whilst leaving Cassandra a promise that next time they fought he would not hold back. (Red Robin v1 #25)

During the rise of Batman Incorporated, Black Bat conducted a mission against Triad Neo-Heroin operations at Hong Kong. (Batman Incorporated v1 #6) She discovered a person selling large quantities of Semtex in Hong Kong but failed to stop the sale with the explosives being shipped to Gotham. They were used to destroy one of the Gates of Gotham with Cassandra arriving in the city at that point to assist the Batfamily in stopping the criminal responsible for the act. (Batman: Gates of Gotham v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

Cassandra Cain in Gotham in Batman and Robin Eternal v1 #3.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Cassandra Cain was the daughter of the highly skilled assassin named David Cain who served the mysterious woman known as Mother. David operated as her chief enforcer and was given the name Orphan as he aided Mother in her operations. A secret experiment he conducted himself was bringing about the birth of Cassandra and he began a period of training his daughter. At the time, Mother had been seeking to mold children through the use of psychedelics such as the Fear Toxin in order to create perfect soldiers. However, David believed in the older methods and kept his daughter hidden from Mother. During that time, he kept her at the Nursery where he did not teach her to speak and instead forced her to rely on discerning body movements as he taught Cassandra that words were used as lies by her enemies. He then made her witness to numerous deaths he had conducted before forcing her to engage in combat with other fighters. The ultimate goal of David Cain was to showcase Cassandra to Mother as being proof that the older ways were superior. When he presented her to Mother, she was displeased that David had disobeyed him and though she allowed him to keep his daughter he commanded that she never be brought to her again. David Cain, however, believed that if only needed an opportunity to show that Cassandra Cain was superior to the other child warriors that Mother had created. (Batman and Robin Eternal v1 #11)

As part of an assignment, Cassandra Cain was sent to murder Marcus Row and Miranda Row whereupon their daughter Harper Row was to be brought to Mother. This was so that he would be trained to be a child soldier and then given over to Batman who was looking for a new Robin. (Batman and Robin Eternal v1 #18)

With Mother returning, Cassandra went to Gotham City and approached Dick Grayson in order to give him a thumb drive containing files from Batman about this hidden enemy from his past. (Batman and Robin Eternal v1 #1)

She was operating as Orphan and fought crime in the Cauldron when Batman and Batwoman Kate Kane recruited her for a new Gotham-based team. They were joined by Red Robin Tim Drake, Spoiler, and Clayface Basil Karlo. (Detective Comics v1 #934)

Afterwards, she came to learn that Duke Thomas was badly injured after being targeted by a masked supervillain called Karma with Cassandra looking to help. She later found herself to be a target of the same villain who was looking to eliminate Batman's allies. (Detective Comics v1 #983)

Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown were later in costume in Bludhaven when they heard that Gotham was under a city-wide attack from the Joker and those working for him bringing about the Joker War. This saw the two rushing to the scene where they fought the Hench Master and his minions where the two looked to help in fighting the crime as the two began to both operate as Batgirl. (Batman: The Joker War Zone v1 #1)

Overview

Personality and attributes

Cassandra Cain in DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration v1 #1.

On her back, there were multiple scars from gunshot wounds made during her training where her father shot her from behind. (Batgirl v1 #9) Upon operating as a vigilante, she came to take the mantle of Batgirl. (Legends of the Dark Knight v1 #120) Whilst operating undercover as an assassin, she once took the name Kasumi where she hid her face from others to mask her true identity. (Justice League Elite v1 #9) After leaving the name Batgirl behind, she began to operate under the name of the Black Bat. (Batman, Inc. v1 #6) She came to take the name Orphan in honour of her father after his death. (Batman & Robin Eternal v1 #26)

It was said that she was brave, an incredible fighter and would take a bullet for a stranger without hesitation. (Batgirl v1 #3) Guilt was said to be responsible for driving her on the path to being a heroic vigilante. Her first murder came to haunt her and led to her eventually running away from her father as she realised that killing was wrong. (Batgirl v1 #5)

She was noted for being the daughter of the famed assassin David Cain. (Batman v1 #567) Despite being hurt by her father a lot, Cassandra was said to still care for David Cain. (Batman v #607)

Powers and abilities

The Orphan in Detective Comics v1 #955.

It was said that the language centers of her brain were all over both hemispheres and not centralised like most people. This was responsible for her struggle in reading and writing as her brain did not know how to keep it cohesive. (Batgirl v1 #67) Afterwards, a psychic came to implant in her the capacity of understanding words and speech though initially this began to affect her ability to fight. (Batgirl v1 #5)

The more she fought the easier the fights became as she could see hundreds of ways to kill her enemies by using her eyes to trace the pressure points. However, such was her fighting skill was that she had to exert a high level of control over her actions as slightest mistake could lead to even more harm caused by her. As such, she had to focus on choosing the strikes that would not kill her foes. (Detective Comics v1 #950) One of the techniques known to her was the Falling Leaf that was a nerve pinch invented in the 16th century by Chinese monks. With a simple move, she was capable of rendering people unconscious and thus removing multiple threats with this skill. Both her and her father were said to be one of the few known practitioners of this skill. (Batgirl v1 #49)

Cassandra fighting skill was said to be perfect and that she was a remarkable woman. (Batgirl v1 #4) Her father was noted to had trained her to the peak of fighting skill in the span of 8 years. It was noted that her fighting style was similar to Lady Shiva in that the two of them could see their opponent's moves before they could strike. Cassandra later cam to lose her ability to read people and decided to seek tutelage under Lady Shiva to re-gain her former ability. (Batgirl v1 #9)

From a young age, her father taught her to reassemble a gun as part of her training. (Batgirl v1 #3)

Notes

• Cassandra Cain was created by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott where she made her first appearance in Batman v1 #567 (July, 1999).
• The character was introduced as Cassandra in Batman v1 #567 (July 1999) but debuted as Batgirl in Legends of the Dark Knight v1 #120 (August 1999) and as Black Bat in Batman, Inc. v1 #6 (May 2011).
• Cain was re-introduced into the post-Flaspoint universe in Batman and Robin Eternal v1 (2015) though a character resembling her did feature in the Batgirl tie-in to Future's End v1 (2014).

In other media

Television

• In Young Justice, Orphan appeared in a non-voiced role in the animated television series. This version was shown as having operate in her superhero identity where she was part of the Batman Inc. faction within the Justice League.

Films

• In Birds of Prey, Cassandra Cain appeared in the 2020 live-action film setting where she was portrayed by actor Ella Jay Basco. This version had a vast different backstory and role where she was shown as being a young orphan who was in foster care. She was shown as being a pickpocket and a thief who was skilled in sleight of hand.

Video games

• In Batman: Dark Tomorrow, Cassandra Cain was the Batgirl in the videogame storyline. She and Robin rendezvoused with Batman after he defeated both Black Mask and the Ventriloquist who were in the midst of a gang war. During this time, the inmates at Arkham had taken over the asylum and Commissioner Gordon had been kidnapped. Batman dispatched Cassandra to patrol the warehouse district as they sought to rescue Gordon.
• In DC Universe Online, Cassandra Cain appeared as Batgirl in the MMORPG where she was voiced by actress by Mindy Raymond. She was shown as one of the vendors for better equipment on the Watchtower.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Cassandra Cain appeared as an alternate costume for Batgirl unlocked through an online challenge in the mobile version of the fighting video game.

Appearances

• Batman v1: (1999)
• Batgirl v1:
• Justice League Elite v1:
• Batman and the Outsiders v2:
• Batman Incorporated v1:
• Batman: Gates of Gotham:
• Red Robin v1:
• Batman and Robin Eternal v1:
• Detective Comics v1:
• Batman and the Outsiders:
• Batman: The Joker War Zone v1: (2020)

External Links

• DC Comics.com Profile Entry
• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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