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"Red is a very symbolic color. It's the color of love, but it's also the color of passion, courage, war. At one point or another, you're going to have to wrestle with all of these emotions, and what defines your character is how you balance them. So keep me close to your heart, because I'll be thinking of you when I wear mine. Mazel tov. I'm so proud of you."
—Gabi Kane to her daughters, Kate and Beth Kane[src]

Gabrielle Lorna "Gabi" Kane[1] (née Goldstein;[2] 1965[1]-January 26, 2003[3][4]) was the first wife of Jacob Kane, and the mother of Kate and Beth Kane.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Gabi Goldstein was born in 1965 in Gotham City and raised in a Jewish family.[5] In adulthood, she married Jacob Kane and on January 26, 1990, the couple had twin daughters, Kate and Beth Kane, short for Katherine and Elizabeth, respectively.[4]

Kate and Beth's Bat Mitzvah[]

On January 26, 2003, Gabi and her family celebrated Kate and Beth's Bat Mitzvah at their synagogue in honor of the girls' 13th birthday. After the party, Gabi and Jacob saw off the guests and packed up the many birthday gifts. There wasn't enough room left in Jacob's car for passengers, so Gabi decided to drive her daughters home and kissed her husband goodbye, promising to meet up with him later.

Gabi and her daughters

Gabi with her daughters, Beth and Kate, after their Bat Mitzvah.

After Jacob left, she surprised Kate and Beth two more gifts: necklaces adorned with garnets, their birthstones. As Gabi bestowed her daughters' necklaces to them, she explained the importance of the garnet's red color and how it would define their character. Gabi promised to always think of Kate and Beth whenever she wore her earrings, which matched their necklaces, and asked that they do the same. The three embraced and Gabi expressed how proud she was of both her daughters.[5]

Death[]

As Gabi drove Kate and Beth home, she suddenly noticed a school bus that was hijacked by the Joker fast approaching from behind. The bus then rear-ended her car, causing them to hit a bridge rail and knocking Gabi unconscious. The car began to veer off the edge but Batman intervened and affixed it to the bridge with his grappling hooks, allowing Kate to climb to safety. Before Gabi and Beth could get out though, the car's old engineering caused it to break off from the wires and crash into the river below, with them inside.[3] Gabi was instantly killed by the impact with the water, having her head severed from her body.[6]

Legacy[]

Original multiverse[]

"I swear to God on my headless mother's grave..."
Alice[src]

Gabi's death, along with the apparent death of Beth, would haunt Bruce Wayne for years, causing him to spend hours trying to figure out what went wrong that day.[3] The entirety of Gotham City helped the Kane family search for them until Gabi's body was recovered months later. She was buried in a Jewish cemetery next to (supposedly) Beth.[1]

Gabi received justice for her death when the Joker was arrested, tried, and imprisoned for his crimes.[7]

The accident which killed Gabi deeply affected Jacob and Kate, as they continued to mourn her for years. However, one year and four months after the accident, Jacob moved on and married Catherine Hamilton.[2] Gabi was one of the main catalysts for him to found Crows Security in order to protect and clean up Gotham better than Batman ever could.[3]

Beth witnessed Gabi's death up close, even catching a glimpse of her mother's severed head in the accident, severely traumatizing her; this would be one of the factors in Beth's crumbling psyche during her time in August Cartwright's captivity.[6]

New multiverse[]

Gabi's Head

Gabi's head in August's freezer.

Gabi's severed head was found by August and kept in a locked freezer at his mother Mabel Cartwright's urging in order to be preserved until he could give her Gabi's face. Nine years later, August gave Gabi's ruby earrings to Mabel as a gift, which Beth recognized. This caused Beth to remember her past and she discovered her mother's frozen head, much to her horror. Upon learning that Mabel wanted use Gabi's beauty to regain her youth, Beth murdered Mabel in revenge for this and the years of abuse the woman inflicted on her, becoming the psychotic criminal "Alice".

17 years after Gabi's death, Kate learned about August's intentions to desecrate her mother's face for Mabel. August taunted Kate that letting Gabi's face go to waste would have been a shame, causing Kate to strangle him to death in a rage over taking everything from her family. With Mabel and August's deaths, another justice was earned for Gabi.[5]

Alice views her mother's grave as the highest form of swearing.[8]

Personality[]

Gabi was a loving, compassionate woman deeply devoted to her husband, Jacob Kane and her daughters, Beth Kane and Kate Kane. She was a very insightful woman as well, gifting her daughters garnet necklaces as a symbol of the women they'd grow up to be and to ensure they would be connected to her. Gabi's whole world revolved around Kate and Beth, as she vowed to keep them close to her heart.[5]

Appearances[]

Batwoman[]

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3


Trivia[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In the DC comics, Gabi Kane was an Army Intelligence officer, and the mother of Beth Kane and Kate Kane. She was killed in a terrorist attack instead of a car crash.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Who Are You?"
  2. 2.0 2.1 "An Un-Birthday Present"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Pilot"
  4. 4.0 4.1 In "An Un-Birthday Present", parallel Earth Beth's driver's license shows her date of birth, January 26, 1990. She and Earth-Prime Kate later celebrated their birthdays, which means that Earth-Prime Beth is also born on the same day. Gabi died on the day of their bat mitzvah, their 13th birthday, which was also on January 26.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Off With Her Head"
  6. 6.0 6.1 "The Rabbit Hole"
  7. "I'll Be Judge, I'll Be Jury"
  8. "Initiate Self-Destruct"

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