Catherine Hamilton-Kane

"Batman gave up on us. It's been three years, Gotham. The Bat's not coming back."

- Catherine to her fellow Gothamites on the three-year anniversary of Batman's disappearance

Catherine Hamilton-Kane (née Hamilton; 1974 - December 2019 ) was a billionaire and philanthropist, as well as one of the most powerful citizens of Gotham City. She was the owner and CEO of Hamilton Dynamics and the financier of Crows Security. Catherine was also the wife of Jacob Kane, the mother of Mary Hamilton, and the step-mother of Kate Kane. Catherine was fatally poisoned by Beth Kane as revenge for being unwittingly responsible for her 11 years of suffering. Before succumbing to the poison, she managed to give Mary the antidote, saving her daughter's life.

Early life
Catherine Hamilton was born on 1974 in Gotham City and raised in a wealthy and prestigious family. In adulthood, she inherited her family's company, Hamilton Dynamics. At a young age, Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Mary.

In January 2003, Gabi and Beth Kane had a car accident falling from a bridge into the river below and Catherine, along with the whole city, searched for their bodies for months, until Gabi's was found. It was then that she met the late woman's husband and the lost girl's father Jacob Kane befriending him to the point that, seeing him and his surviving daughter Kate becoming increasingly obsessed and devastated by the research of Beth, Catherine decided to gave them closure by paying the coroner to fake the DNA test over some skull fragments of a deer found by some of her men somewhere close to Miller Farm in order to made them match Beth's DNA, prompting the authorities, and Jacob, to assume she was dead as well.

Over the following years, wanting to help Jacob cope with his sorrow and find a way to turn his pain into power, she funded and helped him build his private security company: Crows Security; the relationship between Catherine and Jacob intensified and eventually, sometime prior to 2008, they married.

At some point after Mary opened her illegal clinic, Catherine discovered about it and was very proud of her daughter, nevertheless she choose to keep her oblivious that she knew her secret.

Rise of Batwoman
In 2018, Catherine attended the switching off of the Bat-Signal with her family. While at the event, she was witness to Alice and her Wonderland gang terrorizing the citizen and kidnapping Sophie Moore. The following night, after Kate Kane had returned home to Gotham, Catherine helped organize a welcome home party for her. She warmly greeted Kate, before urging Mary to join her in taking a photo with a councilwoman because according to her, if they show everyone they feel safe, then their clients in turn feel safe as well. The night after, Catherine attended the city's Movie in the Park event alongside her husband, witnessing a new Bat vigilante. The next morning, Catherine read about the ordeal in the Gotham City Gazette.

The following day, during breakfast, Catherine spoke at the phone with a business acquaintance, remarking that she didn't like another company's response to their AR, and decided to pull out from their association and spark interest in Dubai. Then, after Mary commented Sophie being married to a man asking out loud what was her actual sexual orientation was, Catherine politely told her to simply drop it. Then Kate revealed to Jacob her suspicious that Alice was actually Beth, shocking everyone, especially Catherine.

That night, when Alice was arrested by the Crows at Burnside Park, on the way to Arkham Asylum, Catherine had the transfer truck bombed by Hamilton Dynamics on Loeb Bridge in an attempt on Beth's life in order to cover her past deed. Then, after Kate contacted Sophie to gave her Alice's butterfly knife she previously stole her to have it DNA tested, they got attacked by a group of thugs dressed as member of Wonderland gang, that manage to steal it back, however Shane McKillen, the leader of said thugs, is later revealed to be working for Catherine and gave her the butterfly knife receiving from her the order to destroy it.

A few days later, Catherine attended Tommy Elliot's party at the Elliot Tower and was approached by her daughter, who complained to her about the need of assigning her a bodyguard, to which Catherine replied it was inevitable as they lived in difficult times. Few moments later, Jacob received a phone call from Alice, who revealed to be at their house; in panic the man ordered his men to escort his family away and while Sophie and Tyler took care of Mary he accompanied Catherine at the elevator, however due to Tommy having planted bombs on three elevators, the couple found themselves stuck inside one of it and were subsequently saved by Batwoman. Later that night, after they came back home, Catherine find some playing cards left by Alice in her bedroom; getting scared she demanded Jacob to deal with her despite his concerns that she might be Beth.

Revealing the truth to Jacob and Mary
Few days later, Catherine went to a Jewish cemetery somewhere in Gotham City and watched as a backhoe dug up the graves of Gabi and Beth Kane. She was then approached by Alice and her gang next to her car; the villainess asked her if Jacob knew what was actually buried under Beth's grave, saying that she would have kept what Catherine was doing to herself if Catherine had given her a top-secret weapon from her defense company. Alice told Catherine to give said project (which she knew was Catherine's idea) to her by 10 pm the next night or Jacob would have know all about how she convinced him that Beth was dead all those years ago. In response, Catherine sent her men into one of Alice's lairs, but the Wonderland gang easily capture them and, a few hours later, McKillen, the group's leader, met with Catherine in a parking garage showing her his severed wrist tendon, which was a message Alice intended to send her. He told Catherine that she would have to do it herself and left, then Alice called her at the phone telling her that it was now "too late" before hanging up. Then, Catherine went to Jacob's office saying that Alice came to her and was interested in Hamilton Dynamics newest project, however she refused to gave such a weapon to a terrorist. The phone rang and Catherine begged Jacob not to answer it saying that it may be Alice and the truth she would have said would have been better if told by Catherine herself, so she finally revealed to her husband that years ago she made him believe that Beth was dead by making pass deer bone fragments for Beth's and paying the coroner to manipulate the DNA test, so that he and Kate would move on. Furious, Jacob told her to stay away from him before walking out of his office in anger, leaving Catherine in tears.

The next day, during a walk by the river with her daughter, Catherine also revealed to her the truth about her past deed, deeply upsetting Mary who deemed it as an "horrible thing" and walked away from her in a state of shock, which leave Catherine in tears.

A few days later, as Mouse infiltrated Hamilton Dynamics posing as Dean Deveraux and entered the room in which the company newest secret weapon was kept, he was immediately intercepted by an equipe of scientist and Catherine herself, who complimented "Deveraux" for having accomplished such a thing as making their weapon work properly. She asked him how does he resolved a specific engineering problem and, being unable to answer it, the latter save himself saying it was a classified information, to which Catherine reacted collegially pointing out that it could not be otherwise being it a weapon designed to penetrate the Batsuit.

Family crisis
Jacob asked for a divorce from Catherine and left from Gotham in order to clear his mind and investigate August Cartwright's whereabouts, meanwhile Catherine go to see the lawyers, accompanied by her reluctant daughter Mary, who pointed out that she had yet to forgive her and wished to be everywhere but there with her. Then she received a call from Hamilton Dynamics informing her from their secret weapon's disappearance as well as Deveraux's death. After Pyra Electrics' employee Derek Holcomb was murdered too, Catherine realized they were getting targeted for being the only individuals capable to replicate said weapon, the coil accelerator, as it can penetrate Batwoman's suit; so she went to Jacob's office in order to speak with him and told him everything about her discovery, the man agreed to let her know when the Crows would have found the weapon and allowed her to oversee the operation after it was found in possession of the Rifle, who has a confrontation with Julia Pennyworth (disguised as Batwoman) after which the latter was briefly captured and subsequently freed by Kate. Catherine managed to convince "Jacob" to hold off filing for divorce stating that no matter how difficult everything went they could face it as long as they were together. However, unknown to her it was really Jonathan disguised as Jacob Kane as a part of Beth Kane's machination for her "tea party".

Death
Having to receive the Humanitarian Award during Gotham's annual Humanitarian Ball, Catherine went to the Orpheum Theatre with her daughter Mary and the man she believed to be Jacob (actually Mouse) while on their limousine they had a toast of champagne in her honor. Later, at the gala she was introduced to the audience by doctor Ethan Campbell and started to make her speech, however, at some point she noticed Alice between the audience and on her teleprompter appeared a message from the villainess informing her that the Wonderland gang had infiltrated the Crows and was now surrounding the building, thus, forcing her, in order to avoid anyone to get harmed, to admit all of her crimes in front of the audience declaring to be the real villainess of Gotham together with her husband. Then she started to feel dizzy and collapsed to the ground, prompting the ceremony to end. After Catherine was transported to the back of the stage, Mary called the hospital while "Jacob" left stating that he was going to look for help; later Alice entered the room revealing that Catherine was poisoned with an Hamilton Dynamics toxin by Mouse under the pretense he was Jacob and that she got the antidote with her. After pouring the antidote into a teacup, Alice forced Catherine to apologize to her for the years of suffering she endured because of her deception then, after having received said apology, she revealed Mary was poisoned too and that there was only enough antidote for one of them. With her last wish, Catherine forced her daughter to take the antidote claiming Mary was the only good thing that she had done in her life and revealing how proud she was about her, and what she was doing at her clinic, whom she was aware about it. Then, Catherine died in her daughter's arms.

Legacy
Alice used Catherine's demise as part of a plan to successfully frame Jacob Kane for her death, leading to his incarceration. Following said victory, Alice and Mouse started visit Catherine's grave daily and having tea on it.

Despite Catherine's past questionable deeds, Mary, Kate, and Jacob were filled with grief over her murder. This tragedy strained Mary's relationship with Kate as the latter chose to believe in Beth instead of having her killed or arrested, which lead to Catherine's death, though they later managed to reconcile.

Catherine's murder finally convinced Kate to accept that her sister was truly beyond saving. When she visited Jacob in jail, they both agreed to put a stop to Beth's schemes once and for all.

Personality
Catherine was a very business-oriented, driven and practical individual, always thinking what was better for her company's profits and image, she was such a hard-working individual to not taking a break even during breakfast or in her spare time, an extremely serious woman, she was often embarrassed by her daughter's status as an influencer and habit to take selfies everywhere, as well as for Mary Hamilton free-spirit and inquisitive nature since Catherine tend to be polite over every argument and matter.

Catherine came off as a stern, rigid, ruthless and sometimes immoral individual, in an ends-justify-the-means sense; as she had made Jacob Kane believe that his daughter Beth was dead by making pass deer bone fragments for Beth's and paying the coroner to manipulate the DNA test, so that he and Kate would move on. However, she firmly believes that everything she did was out of love and for the better of her family, since she deeply loves Jacob, her daughter and her step-daughter, despite the fact ath they weren't family at the time.

However, Catherine's love for her family was very questionable; as she tried to have Beth killed in order to not have her deception discovered and even when she confessed her manipulation to Jacob, she did it under blackmail from Beth and not out of guilt as she still believed that her actions were justified, as she never displayed any signs of guilt, shame and remorse for her actions, although she did start crying when she confessed the truth to Jacob, it wasn't out of guilt but only because she knew that he would have never forgive her once he learned the truth, as she played god with the Kane family's lives; making Catherine indirectly responsible for Beth becoming a deranged sociopath.

Despite Catherine's flaws, she possessed some degree of selflessness; when she and Mary were poisoned by Beth, she refused to take the antidote as there was only enough for one of them; thus saving her daughter's life.

Abilities

 * High-level intellect/Great business acumen/Expert tactician/Leader: Catherine was an intelligent and cunning businesswoman, able to successfully run Hamilton Dynamics and help financing Crows Security. Under her direction, Hamilton Dynamics became one of the most important defense companies of the United States. Catherine was very charismatic and a capable leader, being Jacob Kane's right-hand woman in the business of the Crows.
 * Skilled investigator: Catherine had proved to be a quite capable investigator.
 * Expert of deception/Manipulator: Catherine maintained her image of a philanthropist and businesswoman, whilst doing illegal business and corrupting some public figures. She managed to deceive Jacob, GCPD, and the entire city into believing that Beth Kane was dead, with Bruce Wayne and Kate Kane being the only exceptions.
 * Expert engineer: Catherine was an extremely skilled engineer; having great specific knowledge on how the weapons developed by her company are manufactured and worked.
 * Network: As a businesswoman, member of the social elite, and Crows, Catherine had many contacts with significant figures. She also paid some thugs to do illegal business for her.

Batwoman
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Trivia

 * It should be noted that Catherine shares her first name with her step-daughter, whose full name is Katherine Kane, but is spelt with a "C" instead of a "K".
 * Catherine has similarities to the late Moira Queen;
 * Both were prominent businesswomen and philanthropists.
 * Both embodied an justify-the-means philosophy regarding their questionable actions in protecting their respective families.
 * Both grew estranged from their families once their lies and deceptions were exposed.
 * Both died protecting their children.
 * Catherine is the first major character from to die.
 * Jacob and Catherine got married in the hottest day of the year.
 * Unlike Jacob and the Kane family, Catherine does seem to be Jew, as she was not buried in a Jewish cemetery.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Catherine Hamilton-Kane is the heiress to the Hamilton arms fortune, the second wife of Jacob Kane and the step-mother of Kate Kane.