99 Surprising Batgirl Facts For All The Women Superhero Fans

Anamika Balouria
Sep 08, 2022 By Anamika Balouria
Originally Published on Jan 19, 2022
Edited by Jacob Fitzbright
Fact-checked by Pradhanya Rao
Read about Batgirl facts to know in detail about detective comics.
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Age: 3-18
Read time: 14.5 Min

Batman and Batwoman are often heard among the teenagers' group as their superheroes, but along with them is also the Batgirl character who helps Batman in solving crimes.

Batgirl is a fictional character, similar to many other superheroines you may have seen or read about in American comic books. DC Comics are American comic books that also have the superhero character of Batman.

Batman, from the very beginning, was accompanied by the Batgirl character of Betty Kane in 1961 by Sheldon Moldoff and Bill Finger. The place of Batgirl was later taken by Barbara Gordon, who was recognized by teenagers as the iconic and smart Batgirl. She kept hold of the character until 1988. Barbara Gordon was the daughter of police commissioner James Gordon, and most of her characters introduced or depicted in the detective comics were by artist Carmine Infantino and writer Gardner Fox. The Batgirl character revolves around Gotham City and is mostly accompanied either by Batman or Robin. Almost all the characters are masked vigilantes. The mantle of 'Batgirl' was taken by many characters from Gotham City families. Later, Helena Bertinelli is known to have gained the title of Batgirl, and prior to that, she was Huntress. She served Batman along with Robin, but violated the rules of Batman and went against them, so the title was taken away from her. Later, Cassandra Cain took over the mantle of Batgirl, which she shared with Stephanie Brown.

Cassandra Cain's parents declared her an orphan and she was adopted by the Batman family. Bob Kane, the fictitious figure, has extraordinary abilities that were thought to be beyond human comprehension. Batgirls carry mini-binoculars, bolas, tear gas pellets, smoke bombs, a swingline with a grapple on their utility belt, and even a little pocketbook that aids with a number of additional jobs. Batgirl is the most adaptable athlete, with good flexibility, and employs those abilities to combat the many tactics said to be imparted or learned by Batman. Her fitness was done in accordance with her quickness. She is skilled with her hands and understands which ones to employ when fighting. 'Gotham Knights' is a new animated character adventure game from WB Games Montréal that will be released in 2022 by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The players of the game seize possession of the Dark Knight's erstwhile allies, Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, and Red Hood, who have gone in their own directions but should again cooperate or battle alongside to reestablish peace in Gotham City and protect it from devolving towards anarchy.

Origin Of Batgirl

The need for a Batgirl was felt in the Batman family after the recommendation of the Batman television series. There are different Batgirls, and each of them has her own story of origin.

Betty Kane, in the golden age, was the lover of Robin and a family member of Batman. Betty Kane was characterized as the niece of Batwoman and lover of Robin. In 1964, Julius Schwartz, the editor, thought of removing the character of Batgirl from the family of Batman, as the Batman franchise was also dropping.

She came up with the idea of bringing originality to the character depiction, and Betty Kane was the one who removed the characters. Betty Kane is the reinvented or modified version of Bette Kane in the Golden Age. The persona of 'bat-girl' was revived as Bette Kane, who was Flamebird. Since her previous depiction of retroactive continuity was out of reality, the protagonist's background has remained a secret.

Betty Kane was a member of the Teenage Knights before disappearing from the 'Justice League' universe. It was Betty Kane who was the first adolescent star to become a member of the Batman family. She was the niece of Batwoman, Kathy Kane. She was a lovable character and had a deep interest in Robin.

This idea of an adolescent being in power and representing such a portrayal discouraged the audience, and the Batman television series thought of developing the fictional character in the detective comics. The editor of the DC Batman comics, Julius Schwartz, took the suggestion positively and worked upon it. After a few months, a new Batgirl character was introduced to the audience. Barbara Gordon's origin is recognized throughout the world.

It was Julius Schwartz who added the character of Barbara Gordon to the Batman family tree. The Batman series on television felt the need for a female fictional character. So, after doing great research work on the history of the story, the 'Bat-girl' character was created, taking all the points into consideration. Barbara Gordon is known to have held the mantle of Batgirl until 1988, and she first assumed the role in 1967.

It was the DC editorial verdict that retired the character of Barbara Gordon. She was good at hacking and was the world's best computer scientist, so she was given the codename Oracle. In the relaunch of 'the New 52', she again became the Batgirl in 2011. In her absence, she also becomes a mentor for the two Batgirls, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain. In 2022, Leslie Grace is starring the role of Barbara Gordon.

She helped the Batman family throughout whenever it came to the usage of technology or computer screens. Cassandra Cain was in the role of Bat-girl in the storyline of 'No Man's Land', where she received guidance from the Oracle along with Batman. Cassandra Cain is known to be the daughter of the assassins Lady Shiva and David Cain, where she learns to interpret the body language of humans rather than learn communication skills in both written and verbal form.

This was just due to her father's nurturing to make her more adaptable to becoming the deadliest killer in the world. When she committed her first crime of killing, she never thought of doing that again and took an oath. She was known to be the first Asian-origin character that was depicted in American comic books in 2000. In 2006, Cassandra left the role of Batgirl.

Again, she appeared in the Batman family series, but this time as Blackbat. She reappeared in the Batman and Robin Eternal comic series. She was an orphan and later became a member of the Batman family. Stephanie Brown, before being a Batgirl, was Spoiler and Robin. She died in 2006 and made her return in 2009, where she was given the role of Batgirl.

She wore the Batgirl costume until the relaunch of 'the New 52' in 2011. She is known to share the mantle of Batgirl with her close friend, Cassandra Cain. She was in a relationship with Tim Drake, who is also believed to have a daughter. Helena Bertinelli was Batgirl for a very short time period in 1999 in the storyline of 'No Man's Land'. At first, she was given the mantle of Batgirl, but later it was taken away from her because she violated the code of conduct of Batman.

Thereafter, she returned to her own role of Huntress. In the comic 'Birds of Prey', after Cassandra Cain left her role as Batgirl, a new Batgirl appeared with some superpowers. As there was no one to take the honor of the mantle, she took this opportunity. Barbara Gordon, on the other hand, rapidly resisted the adolescent from remaining in the position. Charlie Gage-Radcliffe agreed but altered her disguise and identity with the name Misfit.

Powers Of Batgirl

It is believed that Batgirl was so good at physical fitness, particularly in terms of strength and flexibility, that she did not have any supernatural powers; instead, it was her strength. 

The fictional character of Bob Kane had some exceptional powers that were believed to be beyond human power. On their utility belt, Batgirls carry mini-binoculars, bola, tear gas pellets, smoke bombs, and a swingline with a grapple, as well as a small pocketbook that helps them with a variety of other tasks.

Batgirl is the most versatile athlete, possessing good flexibility and using those reflexes to fight with the various techniques thought to be given or trained by Batman. Her conditioning has been done according to her agility. She is good with her hand techniques and knows which one to use while combating. She can easily disappear and escape the enemy only because she has been instructed or taught to live in the dark shadows.

Batgirl is very quick with her actions and motions. Batgirl has excellent accuracy, allowing her to strike the target and hit it when she launches a shot. Batgirl is extraordinary in her technology-related skills. She is no doubt a good hacker and has been portrayed by Dina Meyer as Barbara Gordon in the Warner Bros. Batgirl movie series, the 'Birds of Prey'.

She is an expert on computers and is the world's best hacker. Batgirl possesses a powerful memory ability known as didactic memory, which allows her to retain and recall information quickly and completely. Batgirl has a utility belt which also helps her fight off evil.

In her utility belt, there are different technological weapons such as batarangs, which have shuriken similar to boomerangs, and pocket explosives, which are small needle-like bombs that blast with the set timer and also help her escape the site of the villains. It also has gas pellets, which are small stone-like objects utilized to produce a large cloud of smoke to confuse the enemy with quick errors.

These pellets also help her escape her enemy with quick movements. Each Batgirl is skilled in her own way and has the ability to fight the evil powers. Barbara Gordon is believed to be very good with her hand gestures and knows the martial arts at her best. She is the best computer scientist and can easily crack anything down related to computer technology.

She is also good with the usage of different languages and has a very good memory for recalling things in detail. Betty Kane is good with her hands and knows martial arts. She knows the usage of electric bolas. Helena Rosa Bertinelli is good at gymnastics, martial arts, and is highly knowledgeable in the usage of hand gestures.

Cassandra Cain is also good in martial arts, good at hand to hand combat, can easily know human conditioning, has a good ability to smell, and anticipate actions through human body gestures. Stephanie Brown has no special or superhuman abilities, and she has just been able to train herself in martial arts, flexibility, detective skills, interrogation, and strength training.

Harley Quinn was once a villain but later turned into a vigilante.

Batgirl’s Family

There were many Batgirls in different series. So, when it comes to Batgirl's family, each of the Batgirls had their own unique family members, with the majority of them having direct or indirect ties to the Batman family.

Bette Kane, who was formerly Flamebird, was later known to be the heroine of Hawkfire. She was known to be the niece and a student of Batwoman, Kathy Kane. Her original name was Mary Elizabeth Kane, and she was a fictional character in the American comic books which were published by DC Comics. She made her first appearance as Betty Kane. Later, the name was changed to Bette Kane.

The father and mother of Bette Kane are unknown, while her grandfather was Roderick Kane. She was a member of Gotham City's Kane family. Her cousins were Kate Kane, Elizabeth Kane, and Bruce Wayne, while Damian Wayne was her first cousin. Jacob Kane and Philip Kane were her uncles, while Martha Kane and Gabrielle Kane were her aunts. She also had a step-aunt, Catherine Hamilton. She was affiliated with the United States Army.

The next Batgirl, Barbara Joan Gordon of Gotham City, was the best known Batgirl and a master at hacking computers. Barbara Gordon is the adopted daughter of Barbara Eileen Gordon and Commissioner James Gordon. Originally, she was born to Thelma Gordon and Roger. Barbara Gordon had an affiliation with the Batman family. Joker is the one who shoots Batgirl which ends her career.

Helena Rosa Bertinelli was also on the list of Batgirls and belonged to the Bertinelli family, which was one of the most well-known families in Gotham City. She became Huntress and was also the last surviving member of her family. Her biological father and mother were Maria Panessa Bertinelli and Franco Bertinelli, respectively. Pino Bertinelli was her half-brother, while James Cooper is believed to be her adopted son. She had been in a relationship with Dick Grayson, who had been in multiple relationships. Dick Grayson belonged to the Batman family and was Robin, becoming Nightwing.

Cassandra Cain was a member of the Batman family and had an orphan moniker. According to the story of her origin, she is believed to be the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva. She was adopted by the Wayne family, and Bruce Wayne was her legal father, while Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake were all her brothers.

Stephanie Brown was previously known as Spoiler. She was the daughter of the Cluemaster, Arthur Brown, who was the villain of Gotham City. Crystal Brown was her mother and the wife of Cluemaster. She wanted to ruin all the bad ideas and plans, so she went on to become Spoiler as well as Batgirl. She is believed to be in a relationship with Tim Drake, and her relationship with Batman is unclear. She even had a daughter about whom many Batgirl facts are not clear. It can be said that almost all the Batgirls served as Gotham knights or 'Dark Knight' characters.

Fun Facts About Batgirl

There are many unknown facts about Batgirl, such as Batgirl's date with Superman, 'the New 52' erased two former Batgirls, the civilian job of Batgirl was as a librarian, Batgirl got engaged to Dick Grayson, and many more.

Superman and Batman have some of the most well-known superhero teams ever. Fans can't get enough of this potent pairing, whether they're working together as 'Justice League' heroes or attempting to murder each other in another realm. Superman had once shown an interest in another member of the Bat-family.

When Barbara Gordon was selected as part of the Congress, she moved to DC. At that time, she was almost getting away from being a Batgirl. When she was in DC, Batman wanted to be accompanied by Barbara Gordon to take up the new story of crime-fighting, and the same was informed to Superman, Clark Kent. In this way, both the characters are known to have gone on a date, which was known through their costumes.

Yvonne Craig is also one of the Batgirl characters, who only appeared in a few of the facts but was well recognized for her spin-off from the Batman series of Adam West's. The last show of Yvonne Craig was in 1967, in which she gave her best performance and is still remembered in the Batgirl costume. The Batgirls, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, and Barbara Gordon, were so unique themselves.

'The New 52' almost forgot about the two foremost Batgirls. Barbara Gordon got off the wheelchair, which took away the characters of Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown. Cassandra Cain is known to have her own solo series, while Stephanie Brown is known to play Batgirl, as well as Robin. First of all, it just seemed reasonable to accord Barbara Gordon due as the 'legendary' Batgirl, but followers shrieked discrimination after the introduction of male characters in 'the New 52' relaunch.

Four Robins were added, while two Batgirls were removed. In 2014 Stephanie Brown marked her presence as the Spoiler, while Cassandra took the Orphan moniker. In the DC comics version, many characters are introduced along with their aliases. However, Barbara Gordon's character mostly lived her life as a librarian in the library of Gotham City, requesting people to be peaceful and recovering unpaid charges.

Her character representation as a librarian somewhere had a great impact on the people with hidden abilities to fight crime and show martial arts. Her character represented the deep ideas in the detective comics and in the DC universe. In the comic books of DC comics publications, the character of Barbara Gordon's Batgirl is seen spending most of her time as a librarian, but along with that, she also works upon her technology skills to remove evil from society.

In the Batgirl movie, the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon, and spending her time in a wheelchair, as well as working as a hacker made her the best librarian on the screen, for which she was ranked among the top 10 by the British Film Institute. Among these Batgirl facts are instances of Batgirl becoming engaged to a member of the Batman family, Dick Grayson, also known as Nightwing.

Barbara Gordon was known to be one of the close acquaintances of Batman and worked with Dick Grayson. So, it was assumed by many that they both made the perfect couple. However, this was not the same case. From the very time they studied in school, they never took notice of each other the same way.

The two characters were almost engaged to each other but were unsuccessful due to other characters in the DC universe. It was when they both fell for each other that Robin changed his identity to Nightwing. The readers of the comic books about Batgirl would love to read about them as friends and fighting. In alternative realms, readers might have loved to see them married.

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Written by Anamika Balouria

Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in Secondary Education and Teaching, Master of Arts specializing in English

Anamika Balouria picture

Anamika BalouriaBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Bachelor of Education specializing in Secondary Education and Teaching, Master of Arts specializing in English

A dedicated and enthusiastic learner, Anamika is committed to the growth and development of her team and organization. She holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in English from Daulat Ram University and Indira Gandhi Institute for Open Learning respectively, as well as a Bachelor of Education from Amity University, Noida. Anamika is a skilled writer and editor with a passion for continual learning and development.
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