Kate Kane

"I spent fifteen years searching for a place I fit, and I think I've finally found it. Some see fear, others hope. I see the freedom to be myself, to play by my own rules."

- Kate Kane

Katherine "Kate" Kane (born January 1988) is a wealthy individual, who is the daughter of Jacob and Gabi Kane, the sister of Beth Kane, the step-daughter of Catherine Hamilton-Kane, the step-sister of Mary Hamilton, and the cousin of Bruce Wayne. After returning to Gotham to save Sophie Moore from Alice's gang, she learned of Bruce's secret identity as Batman, and took up his mantle in his place secretly as the vigilante known as Batwoman.

Early life
Kate Kane was born to Jacob and Gabi Kane, along with her sister Beth. Growing up, Kate was very close to her cousin Bruce Wayne, who was like an older brother to her. When she and Beth were little, they once visited Wayne Enterprises, where Kate convinced Beth to sneak into Bruce's office. Kate noticed a woman's necklace in a square pyramid-shaped glass container. She was about to touch it, when Beth stopped and convinced her to leave the office immediately.

At some point, Kate and Beth acquired matching necklaces with a ruby gem attached to them.

In January 2003, Kate and Beth were in a car driven by their mother when they were rammed by a school bus hijacked by the Joker. The family's car veered off of the road, almost going over a bridge until it was stopped when Batman arrived and attached a grappling hook each to the bridge and to the car. Believing the car was safe, he immediately left to save the children on the bus from the Joker. The pillar of the bridge slowly began to give way; Kate quickly climbed out of the car, shouting for Batman and asking why he was leaving so suddenly. Beth tried to wake their mother, to no avail. Kate reached out for Beth's hand, but it was too late, and the bridge's pillar gave, plunging into the cliff's river below. Due to these events, Kate started believing Batman only cared about catching the villain.

The tragedy left Kate and her father Jacob broken, though Bruce comforted Kate through her healing process. At some point, her father married Catherine Hamilton, and Kate met her step-sister, Mary Hamilton.

Meeting Sophie Moore
Wanting to join her father's Crows Security, Kate studied at Point Rock Academy, where she met Sophie Moore. Despite the military's strict code of conduct against homosexuality, the two fell in love with each other and would secretly sneak off somewhere secret to make out.

Expulsion
A week before graduation, Kate and Sophie sneaked in the back of a shed, where they made out and engraved their names into the wood. A superior caught them and made them announce their violation of the academy's code of conduct. The academy made them deny the homosexual allegations against them, but Kate defied their orders and quit the academy, as opposed to Sophie, who wanted to graduate and accepted the school's offer. Due to their different ideals, the two broke up.

Training
Her father Jacob suggested that Kate leave Gotham to travel around the world and train under combat and survival specialists. Presumably, she received news of Bruce's and Batman's disappearance from Gotham around 2015.

Return to Gotham
By 2018, Kate was training under an old man in a barren icy region. She suddenly received a call from Mary, who informed her of Sophie's kidnapping by Alice's gang. Kate immediately left for Gotham City earlier than she would've wanted to, heading straight for Crows Security, where she visited her father. She asked for Sophie's whereabouts and offered her assistance to the Crows, but her father disagreed and left to answer a call.

Wanting answers, Kate drove to Wayne Enterprises to use the Wayne Security system. She scaled the building, arriving in Bruce's office and reminiscing over her time sneaking inside with Beth when they were little. Suddenly, the head of Wayne Security, Luke Fox, held Kate at gunpoint. Knowing she was going to be cuffed, she secretly grabbed a paper clip and went with him. She tried introducing herself as Bruce's cousin, but Luke refused to believe her. He took Kate to the surveillance room and called the police, when she broke free and cuffed Luke to a system unit, taking his keys. Kate logged into the system, copying surveillance of the gang and leaving Luke's keys for him just out of his reach.

Arriving at her father's house, Kate was surprised with a welcome-home party. She was bombarded by Mary's rambling, when Kate interrupted to ask why Mary called her from her training. Mary revealed that she had accidentally discovered a box of pictures of her and Sophie, and thought that Kate would want to come home. They were interrupted by Kate's step-mother Catherine, who asked for Mary to do a picture with the councilwoman. Behind her, she saw a picture of her father and Sophie's acceptance into the Crows, and recalled their tumultuous history. Showing her father the surveillance footage, they tracked the gang down to Burnside Orphanage, where the Crows converged upon. Kate went ahead first, fighting through a number of thugs, but ultimately being knocked out. Coming to, Kate came face to face with the gang's leader, Alice. Alice taunted her for some time, before knocking her back out and having her taken to a makeshift clinic run by Mary. Waking to find Mary stitching a wound on her arm, Kate headed back to Crows Security to inform her father of her findings. Instead of taking her intel, he became angry at her having run off, causing Kate to give up and do her own thing.

Becoming a vigilante
Kate headed back to Wayne Enterprises, where she attempted to convince Luke to call Bruce. Before he could do so, she noticed an out of place heirloom on the bookshelf. She moved it back into place, revealing a secret elevator. Riding it down, despite Luke's objections, Kate discovered Batman's cave, realizing her cousin to be the vigilante. Seeing newspaper clippings regarding the accident in which she lost her mother and sister, Luke explained Bruce had thought he'd had the calculations perfect, only to make one slight miscalculation. Having Luke repurpose Bruce's old Batman suit, Kate took it to ambush Alice's gang. She entered into a brief scuffle, before diving as a bound Sophie fell off of the side of the skyscraper. The two fell through an abandoned building, miraculously landing on a bed. Kate promptly fled, using her grapple hook. When she returned to the scene, Alice was gone, but noticed and took the knife that Alice had lodged into a wall. Following this, Kate returned to Crows Security, where she ran into Sophie. They exchanged warm pleasantries, before Sophie's husband Tyler appeared, much to Kate's shock. Kate stopped off at her father's office, where he admitted that he had reservations because he was afraid of losing her like he did with his other daughter and late wife, but would accept if she wanted to join the Crows. Kate headed to Batman's cave, where she began writing letters to Bruce. Examining a knife Alice had thrown at her, Kate recognized the jewel embedded in it, comparing it to the one on her necklace, and realized that Alice was her twin sister Beth all along.

Taking charge of Wayne Enterprises
Kate eventually became known as "Batwoman", a vigilante who fights for Gotham after the disappearance of the Batman. She also took charge of Wayne Enterprises, planning to redevelop it into a real-estate development firm.

Meeting other heroes
At some point after reality was altered, Batwoman stood on the top of Wayne Enterprises.

After Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, and Kara Danvers were arrested. Kate posted their bail and had a guard escort them to Wayne Enterprises. Once they got there, she reluctantly offered to help so they could leave, as she didn't want "Oliver" to cause any more problems. She took them to the rooftop and gave them equipment to use to find who they were looking for while she watched them on a security camera. After a while, Kara came inside. Kara apologized for asking a lot of questions, realizing the name Bruce Wayne was somewhat notorious. Kate said she knew, as Bruce is her cousin. Kara mentioned that her cousin was frenemies with Bruce, then wondered if keeping his private life a secret broke him. Kate responded by saying that watching the city fall to pieces makes it hard to break and that Bruce was possibly forced to leave. Kara complimented her and then asked about John Deegan. Kate told her that he worked at Arkham Asylum. After Kara left, Kate took an elevator down to a cave, where her suit was located.

When Barry and Cisco were attacked by Arkham inmates she appeared as Batwoman and took down the remaining inmates including Psycho Pirate. She told them that Kate told them to leave and that they should have listened to her and walked away.

Later when the Flash and the Green Arrow were fighting each other, she neutralized them and made them realize that they were exposed to a hallucinogenic gas. At the asylum gate, she told them to get out of her city and had a chat with Supergirl who knew her identity because of her X-ray vision. She recognized Kara Danvers from earlier. They shook hands and then walked away.

After reality was restored back to normal, she contacted Oliver Queen asking if the deranged doctor they brought into Arkham was going to be a bigger problem since he already made a friend at the Asylum: the Psycho Pirate.

Potential future
Batwoman may be involved in the Crisis of 2019, along with the Flash, Supergirl, White Canary, and other heroes.

Erased future
When the Crisis of 2019 originally took place on April 25, 2024, Batwoman, among others, was involved in the events. During the crisis, the Flash fought the Reverse-Flash before disappearing from the timeline. However, based on various witness claims, there are contradictory versions of the events (whether the Flash was assisted by Supergirl and the Atom, or a team of Green Arrow, Batwoman and Elongated Man).

Personality
"So I have this thing with rules."

- Kate Kane to Luke Fox

Similar to her cousin, Kate is a no-nonsense and blunt individual. She is very open with her personal opinion. As Batwoman, she is very stoic and committed to helping Gotham City. While mostly an antisocial person, she can show respect to those she thinks deserves it, as she acknowledged Supergirl's worth as a hero.

Abilities
"She really is like Batman."

- Caitlin Snow

"I'd spent years traveling the world, training with combat and survivalist specialists so I could join the Crows."
 * Peak of human physical condition: As a vigilante and former member of the Point Rock Academy, Kate is in the best physical condition, strong enough to throw her enemies into the air and quickly master opponents much larger than her with relative ease. In fact, her physical strength seems to be even a bit inhuman, as she succeeded to lift and throw around full grown men with ease. She was strong enough to punch through ice from underwater, and kick open the boarded-up doors to Bruce Wayne's office. Kate has a high level of stamina, as she was capable of holding her breath for a long period of time underwater. Her father allowed her to join the Crows, putting her on par with former Navy SEALs and Green Berets.
 * Acrobatics/Free-running: Since becoming Batwoman, Kate has developed free-running skills and can fall from a height of several feet without hurting herself. Her abilities allow her to dodge and attack with fluidity from different directions without losing balance. She has also shown to be capable of reaching the tops of skyscrapers throughout Gotham. When Kate returned home, she was able to easily climb up to a window of the Wayne Enterprises building.
 * Honed senses: Kate's senses and reaction time are superb. She was able to avoid a sword strike from one of Alice's henchmen without looking.

- Kate Kane

"My cousin figured it out years ago. Be more terrifying than your enemy."
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Kate is a highly competent unarmed combatant and an extremely skilled martial artist. She was able to quickly subdue Oliver Queen, a master martial artist in his own right, and Barry Allen simultaneously when reality was altered and they had each other's powers and skills, although it took them by surprise. Her fighting style so far is comprised of boxing, tai chi, kung fu, and she has also displayed skill in grappling her opponents in a fight. Cisco Ramon referred to Kate as "badass" only moments after witnessing her in action, and Supergirl even stated that the two of them would make a good team, not dissimilar to their cousins' relationship. Before becoming Batwoman, Kate easily defeated several of Alice's henchmen, and even made use of her environment to fight them off, i.e. weaponizing a fire extinguisher, frying pan and a door.
 * Expert knife-thrower: Kate has shown to have great accuracy when she threw her Batarang at an escaped inmate at Arkham Asylum and caught it when it returned to her after subduing the inmate. She also accurately threw one to knock Alice's remote off a building.

- Kate Kane to Luke Fox

"Sitting at that desk, staring out that window, watching this city that we grew up in rot at its core, you find a way not to break."
 * Intimidation: As Batwoman, Kate has an intimidating appearance, capable of instilling fear in her enemies. This was seen when a criminal, from Arkham Asylum, cried out of fear when he saw Batwoman.
 * Keen intellect/businesswoman: Kate is very intelligent; despite her part-time vigilantism, she manages the big company Wayne Enterprises without any perceivable difficulty. Alice called her "clever".
 * Expert investigator: Kate is a very perceptive individual; she was able to quickly determine that Supergirl is Kara Danvers. She thought to access Wayne Enterprises' security camera feed, which was not included in the Crows Security network. She is also observant of small details; she recognized the miniscule writing on a paddle held by one of Alice's henchmen, which allowed her to locate her whereabouts.
 * Expert of deception: Kate is very good at keeping her own identity as Batwoman a secret; both the highly intelligent Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl were unable to deduce her alter-ego; Supergirl had to resort to using her x-ray vision to discover who Batwoman is.
 * Stealth/Infiltration: Kate is extremely secretive, being able to approach other people without being sensed. She was able to escape from a pair of handcuffs using a paperclip. Kate also quickly evaded her father's line of sight before she went to find Alice.
 * Expert driver: Kate rides a motorcycle.

- Kate Kane to Kara Danvers


 * Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: Kate has a high threshold for pain; she showed no discomfort when she received stitches on her shoulder.

Equipment

 * Batwoman suit: Kate wears a protective suit as Batwoman, to protect herself and hide her identity from her enemies when she goes out fighting crime.
 * Red wig: Kate wears a fake red wig to protect her identity from her enemies while fighting crime.
 * Batarang: Kate uses a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon.
 * Recording device: Kate has a special batarang with an audio-recording device built inside in order to listen in on both Roger Hayden and John Deegan inside Arkham.
 * Grapple gun: Kate uses a length of monofilament wire attached to a spool, and primarily is used for scaling buildings and ensnaring targets.
 * Motorcycle: Kate has a motorcycle to help her travel around Gotham.
 * Rebreather: Kate used a rebreather to save Alice from Bruce's collection of gadgets.
 * Laser saw: The device can cut through anything. Kate used the laser saw to save Alice.

Trivia

 * Kate has many tattoos, it is also implied by Kara Danvers that she has some that can't be seen.
 * Kate is vegan.
 * It should be noted that Kate, whose full first name is Katherine, shares her first name with her stepmother, Catherine Hamilton-Kane, but is spelt with a 'K' rather than a 'C'.

Behind the scenes

 * Kate is one of many major protagonists in the Arrowverse to have a villainous family member. Other examples would include Oliver Queen, Kara Danvers, Winn Schott, Mon-El, Tommy Merlyn, Eddie Thawne, Lena Luthor, and Nora Dhark.
 * In the main DC Comics continuity, Kate Kane is a superhero known as Batwoman affiliated with the Bat-Family. The character originated as Kathy Kane in 1956 and was a recurring love interest of Batman's until she was retired from the comics in the mid-1960s; she later returned in the 1970s but was killed off. In 2006 a new version of the character, now named Kate Kane and reimagined as being openly gay, was introduced in the post-Infinite Crisis continuity. The original version of Kane, however, was also reintroduced in 2011's Batman Incorporated series. The Arrowverse version of Batwoman is based upon the 2006 re imagining of the character.
 * In the comics, Batwoman had a relationship with Maggie Sawyer. The characters became engaged, but DC Comics vetoed their wedding, causing the then writers to leave the comic in protest.
 * Unlike her comic book counterpart, who is a natural redhead, Kate's red hair is only part of her suit.
 * In the comics, before the New 52, Kate had no familial ties to Bruce Wayne.