"Trust me, I know I'm not a symbol or a name or a legacy." "Exactly, so why do you think you're worthy of wearing it?" "Because I'm a number. I am the 327th baby of a black woman who died during childbirth that year. I'm a $20-a-day check to a group home. I'm inmate 4075, serving 18 months for a crime I didn't commit, but I can live with all those numbers because the mama who adopted me, I was her number one, but it turns out she's just one of a quarter million murders in this country who have not seen justice, and that is a number I can't live with, so you can have this damn suit back when her killer is dead."
Ryan Wilder (born c. 1991)[1] is the daughter of a late unnamed man and late unnamed woman, the adoptive daughter of the late Cora Lewis, and a homeless resident of Gotham City. She briefly assumed the mantle of Batwoman after finding the suit in a plane crash where the original Batwoman, Kate Kane, went missing, determined to find her purpose and take revenge against Alice, the leader of the gang that killed her adoptive mother. Ryan has since received Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton's blessing to operate as Batwoman in Kate's place; until the missing Kate returns, becoming the second "Batwoman" and a member of the Bat Team in the process.
Ryan Wilder and Angelique Martin at a foster home.
When Ryan Wilder was born, her mother died right after giving birth to her while her father had died sometime prior. As a result, Ryan was put into foster care,[2] where she met some girls who were bullying her, and Angelique Martin. Angelique noticed that Ryan read the comic book featuring Ghost Kid, which she also liked. She started reading the book and a friendship formed between the young girls.
In 2003, Ryan went to Hero Galaxy Comics in Wayside Heights, to collect some comic books, where she was kidnapped by Candice Long, who convinced Ryan to look at the comics in her van. She was taken to a house where she was held for several days. One day, the woman gagged Ryan and told her to be quiet. Ryan saw through the window that there were young men asking the woman if she had seen a girl. Ryan tried to ask for help but when she realized that they were looking for a white girl, she gave up.
Later, the woman also captured Angelique, who actually let herself be captured to find Ryan, who was very happy to see her friend, but feared for her since she herself had been there for weeks without a ransom. Hidden behind the door, Angelique attacked the woman, who retaliated with an aerosol spray that blinded Ryan, who had jumped between the two. Angelique hit the woman with a jar of candy and knocked her out. She then woke Ryan up so they could escape.[1]
She was later adopted as a teenager by Cora Lewis.
Ryan and Cora move to their new apartment.
Ryan would develop a strong relationship with Cora and come to see her as her actual mother. With Cora's guidance, Ryan was able to graduate from high school and eventually come out as a lesbian, which her adoptive mother was very accepting of.[2]
At some point, Ryan received a vase of flowers from Angelique, which she later gave to Cora.[3]
One day, Ryan and Cora were moving into a new apartment where they were attacked by the Wonderland gang.
Cora dies in Ryan's arms.
The gang killed Cora and their landlord, before proceeding to beat Ryan up until the arrival of their leader, Alice, prompted them to leave. Ryan tried to save her adoptive mother with CPR, only to find that she was dead, leaving her alone to mourn for Cora. Ryan was subsequently instilled with a lasting hatred for Alice and her gang. According to Ryan, her world fell apart that day.[2]
Without a path
Sometime after this incident, Ryan entered a troubled relationship with Angelique Martin. Victor Zsasz came to know about the women's domestic problems.[4] After being together for some time, Ryan noticed that Angelique's drug use had turned her into a different person. Trying to restore Angelique to normalcy, Ryan found and stole her drugs. As she left Angelique's house, though, she was noticed by two Crows, who discovered the drugs Ryan was carrying.[5] They charged Ryan for drug use, and though she asserted that they were not hers, the Crows did not believe her, causing Ryan to serve 18 months in prison; a lesser sentence for a greater charge presented to Ryan by the judge presiding over her case, that she was forced to make a plea deal of. Ryan was sentenced to Blackgate Penitentiary where she was left with no other choice but to cope within the prison’s rough and secluded environment, filled with ragtag occupants. For her own survival, lest she not live to see the day of her release, Ryan improved herself not just in body but also in mind. In this meantime, Ryan met Crows agent Sophie Moore.[6]
When Ryan was finally released, she was left living in a van with her mother's plant and struggled to put her life back together from scratch. It was implied that she even took up martial arts and did part-time teaching for people who were at least willing to hire Ryan for her tutelage and training services.[2]
Ryan is surprised by the thugs.
One Halloween night, Ryan was walking through the streets of Gotham with a backpack and wearing a cat-ears hairband when she was approached by some criminals who ambushed and tried to rob her. They were about to kill her when they learned Ryan didn’t have much to offer, but she was saved by Batwoman.
Ryan is saved by Batwoman.
During the scuffle, Ryan handled and somehow capably threw a Batarang for the first time, disarming a robber from a distance while the vigilante fought the man's cohorts. Ryan then looked on in complete awe and admiration as the Bat-themed crimefightress used her custom grapple gun to depart from the scene.[6]
Discovering the Batsuit
Ryan finds the Batsuit.
Two months later,[6] Ryan was sleeping in her van one night by the riverside, when she was awakened by debris falling from the sky that landed right in front of her van; she went to see what it was when she saw an airplane crashing from the sky and into the waterfront. Ryan immediately rushed to it and found a man groaning in the wreckage. Unlike her adoptive mother, she was able to reach him just in time and revive him with CPR though she ended up puking as a result. She looks around and stumbles upon a red and black suit with a wig and figures out that Batwoman had been on the downed plane.
Ryan talks to Susan Stevens.
The next morning, Wilder went to Susan Stevens and said that something good had happened in her life. And seeing Ryan's noticeably bright and indeed positive mood, the parole officer asked if it was a home or a job vacancy, and Ryan said no. Ryan said that nobody wanted to employ a former inmate, even one with a martial arts background like herself. But that did not matter; not with the recent developments happening to her life.
Ryan wearing the Batsuit.
Ryan then decided to wear the suit and defeat some members of the False Face Society, and all while also with the intent of grilling them for information on Alice's whereabouts. Choosing to privately don the Batsuit in an unkempt public restroom, she produced it from her bag and proceeded to displace her civilian clothes. It took a while for Wilder to figure out how and even mildly struggled as she garbed the outfit unto her person along with its affiliated accessories (i.e. wiggled cowl, gauntlets, cape, boots and compartmentalized belt). She finishes in the end and there she was: fully-attired in the Batwoman gear and Ryan, for a moment, struck a hands-on-hips pose as she checks herself out and admires the view of her wearing the suit being shown in and reflected back at her from the room’s mirror before setting forth to undertake what she intended to do whilst wearing it that night.
Ryan wears the Batsuit for the first time.
She soon homed in on her targeted individuals — a pair of masked thugs loitering by their parked car in a secluded alley and getting ready to get high on some acquired dope. Ryan, with her gear’s installed voice filter switched on to make her voice unrecognizable, arrived thinking she could take them by surprise and then subdue them easily in Batwoman's guise, only for one of them to pull her down as she perches upside-down trying to scare him from overhead, slamming Ryan hard against the pavement.
Ryan says boo.
Wincing as she was loomed down upon, Wilder curses herself under her breath for her own imprudence by not considering that the False Face Society, and particularly these two members thereof that she was now facing against, may not fear Batwoman. The one who slammed her lunges at Ryan again, grabbing her by the shoulders, but with her right hand she manages to bring out the Grappling gun in time firing it over his right shoulder and at the rafters from above, freeing then pulling the Batsuited Ryan upwards and away from the thug’s hold; only to remain suspended and clumsily swinging to-and-‘fro there for a brief while as she is continuously shot at by the criminals from below.
Ryan activates Batsuit devices.
She tumble-rolled then safely landed on all fours back on the alley’s street and getting back up on her feet, Ryan excitedly laughs in relief when she observes there’s not a mark on her as she stood up proper, realizing that wearing suit renders her impervious to gunfire. However, the cowl’s night vision eye-lenses were somehow incited and set into infrared mode by Ryan’s somewhat rough landing — causing her to unexpectedly see her attacker’s thermal readings though those lenses.
Ryan's reaction to accidentally shooting a False Face thug.
Confused, Ryan begins tapping randomly at the buttons on her gauntlets, unknowingly activating the suit’s tracker and allowing its present location to be detected from the Batcave by Luke Fox. She eventually presses what retracted the lenses and the thugs, wonder and ask themselves if they are being confronted by a “wannabe Batwoman”. At that point, Ryan, who was still experimenting with her gauntlets, jabbed at a button on the left one. This launches forth Batarang that embedded itself through the right leg of one of the thugs, excruciatingly sending him down on one knee. Ryan awkwardly apologizes as the injury was accidental and thereby not her intent, not when she planned to interrogate them for some intel and that cannot happen if she incapacitates both of them.
Ryan threatens a False Face thug.
The felled crook badmouths her in response and Ryan decides to use her own words. Telling them that she is searching for someone in the city’s criminal underbelly, and that their society may or may not have the information she seeks — hence the altercation taking place in the alley they are in. But the other masked thug did not appear ready to comply without a drawn-out fight yet. He tries to take this “Batwoman” on, resulting in the latter drop-kicking him onto the hood of his car and then rolling off to its side. The disguised Ryan kicks him again, slumping him by the vehicle’s right front wheel, and then menacingly threatens him with another button on her left gauntlet as she points the wearable item itself at him, hinting that she is still unsure of her suit’s overall capabilities and nor will she take responsibility for what will happen next after pressing that particular button if the goon doesn’t tell her anything useful.[2]
Meeting the Bat Team
Ryan meets Mary and Luke at Gotham underground sewers.
Obtaining new knowledge that not a single member of her Wonderland gang has been sighted for weeks, Ryan treks down into Gotham's underground sewers and was walking there all by herself when she was found by Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton, thanks to the Batsuit’s tracker evidently left still active. Spotting her costumed figure moving in and across of the tunnels, they mistook her for Kate in the Batwoman suit and ran up to Ryan only to see, in disappointment, that the young woman wearing the suit was one of color when she turned to face them. Understanding that they were confidantes of the original wearer of the suit she is currently donned in, whom this encounter just confirmed was the still-missing Kate Kane, Wilder blandly apologizes for disappointing them this way.
Ryan refuses to relinquish the suit.
Mary declares that keeping the suit is pointless, for it has an encrypted GPS tracking signature, and that Ryan must return the suit to them on the grounds that is still the original Batwoman’s property. Instead, Ryan takes off the cowl and formally identifies herself to them, then crassly refuses to return the suit since she has yet to conclude her interests for having it and even derided Kate for what she believes were shallow reasons as to why the billionaire took on the mantle as Batwoman, in response to Mary emphasizing that the Batsuit was explicitly meant to be worn by a hero - and certainly not up-for-grabs or to frivolously adorn someone who merely happened to salvage it from the plane crash that night. Luke chides her, indignantly expressing to Ryan that she doesn’t even begin to understand the full significance of the suit she’s presently wearing, let alone what it stands for whenever Kate wears it.
Ryan says she knows she's not a symbol.
Wilder confirms that, completely self-aware that what she stood for was practically next to nothing. That she did not have credit to her name and nor was she a symbol or a legacy, prompting Mary to challenge why someone like Ryan - with said questionable worth - should be in Batwoman’s literal trappings if that be the case? Ryan lashes out a retort that all her life she's been disadvantageously cornered and her foster mother, the person in Ryan's life who made it all bearable for the latter, was murdered with her killer still out there roaming free and that is just one case of many not graced by justice in the country; Ryan herself is an unjustly accused person and that she wanted to exact revenge for her mother's untimely death upon the parties responsible.
In conclusion, she callously assures Luke and Mary that she'll hand them back the Batwoman suit once she's finishes what she set out to do. And with that, Ryan used the grapple gun to get away leaving both of them impressed at Ryan’s skill with it and, at the same time, stumped at the rogue's macabre conviction.
Ryan reads the article about Kate.
Ryan then returned to her van and presumably figured out how to deactivate the traceable signal from the suit. In the following morning, she reads a news item in the newspaper about Kate's disappearance; Ryan was researching the person who wore the Batsuit prior to her, for the time of when Batwoman came to her rescue from a couple months back was still fresh in Wilder’s mind. She read and was moved by Kate's due story, leading to Wilder concluding that she was a real hero, suit donned or otherwise. Deciding that Kate Kane’s legacy deserves better and thus the suit needs to be in better hands, she promptly reactivates the installed beacon on the gauntlet so Luke and Mary could discern its location, and then she could surrender it to them when they arrive. Then Ryan fell asleep.
Ryan is woken up by Luke
She was woken up by Luke's urgent voice on the suit’s communicator compelling her to get up and investigate. And right on cue as Ryan saw, after peering through her ride's rear door window, the Batmobile speeding towards her from behind so she started the van, culminating in a high-speed car chase across the abandoned amusement park where Ryan had her vehicle parked. As she drove past the rides, tents and stalls, Ryan asked if Batman was following her and Luke said “No!” over the comms, that it was actually Tommy Elliot, a fugitive from Arkham who looked like Bruce Wayne and would kill anyone to get the suit, not comforting Ryan in the slightest. Ryan opined to throw the suit out the window in hopes of drawing away the other vehicle’s driver away from her van and give up the chase, but Luke and Mary quickly said and insisted otherwise. For if Tommy got the suit then he would be Gotham's most dangerous person. Luke urges Wilder to get as far away from Tommy.
Ryan is chased by Tommy Elliot
At Mary's hesitant suggestion, Luke succeeded at remotely hacking the Batmobile and Ryan managed to lose Tommy. Ryan’s armed pursuer now moving on foot gave her time to put on the suit and tried to catch him off-guard, but he had a shotgun with a single, substitute bullet out of Kryptonite - that was able to pierce the suit - loaded into it. Unaware of that, Ryan, again as Batwoman, descends down from the dilapidated roller coaster’s elevated tracks and lands several feet away from Tommy’s back. She announces that she knows the person there with her is not Bruce Wayne; and Tommy responds likewise, saying that neither is she Gotham’s premier queer heroine.
Ryan fights Tommy.
Tommy fired, hitting Ryan square in the chest and knocking her down with the shot, and Ryan pretended to be down-for-the-count dead for her shooter to approach in order to collect the Batsuit from her body. When he got close, she rose up, grabs and disarms him, then tries to put Tommy in a submission hold using her legs and an arm around his neck, only for Elliot to roll-flip the dark-clad Ryan over himself breaking her hold. And clambering up her feet first, Ryan swung a low kick that sent her adversary to the grass-covered ground again. Ryan dodges a lunge then kicking him after he careens past her, leading to Tommy slamming to the rear doors of Ryan’s van and causing them to open.
Ryan watches Tommy's face leave.
They continued to fight; Tommy swings his fists at Ryan, who avoids them using agile right and left side-steps before thrusting forth a straight kick, stopping Elliot, then doubles it down with a full-clockwise spin hitting Tommy across the face with a right backhand that spun and sends her opponent stumbling to the rear threshold of the Batwoman-outfitted Ryan’s van and she follows. Reaching inside for a usable weapon, Tommy grabs then broke her mother's plant in the van. This elicited a big “No!” from Ryan and got her so furious that she violently gets into the altercation, blocking his hits while cleanly landing unopposed some of her own. All of it amounting to her felling Tommy down on his back, then Ryan mounting on him and brutally beating him up on the grass until his fake face came out. Standing teary-eyed but victorious, she informed Luke that it was over.
Ryan shows the piece of Kryptonite to Mary and Luke.
She went to Wayne Tower, before dawn, where she coolly returned the suit, in a duffel bag, to Luke and Mary noting to them, unimpressed, that the suit was not as impervious as she initially thought and even tossed to Luke the Kryptonite fragment that Tommy fired at her, having apparently performed first-aid on herself to dislodge the shard from her body, much to his and Mary’s concern with the latter wanting to see Ryan’s sustained injury herself since weaponized substance was said able to kill the wearer of the Batsuit, but the latter dismisses it. Ryan apologizes for her part regarding the suit’s present state, then kindly wishes them luck at finding Kate.
Ryan Wilder's wound caused by the Kryptonite fragment fired at her by Tommy Elliot.
Ryan takes her leave as Luke further inspects the damaged Batsuit on Kate’s desk; but Mary runs after her forcing the former to stop by the office’s threshold, turning around to face the latter again. The influencer-in-the-making brings up all the things Ryan said the night before as to why she needed the suit, and the homeless vagabond resignedly accedes they were right and that she was not worthy to wear much less use it, and left. She then returned to her van; and that night, Ryan with her beloved plant (now in a new pot) between her legs sat atop of her van as she gazes up to the sky at the Bat-Signal and as she contemplates her recent actions as of late, Ryan winces and she discovers that her fresh Kryptonite wound near her collarbone was affecting her in some way.[2]
Returning to normalcy
Ryan at Bolton Security.
She was next seen in formal attire and seated at a job interview at Bolton Security. Ryan, hoping to land a job there as security, confidently discloses her proficiency with the orthodox combative arts and the man, reviewing her offered file and resume, sees that she did time at Blackgate. Tentative, she confirms that though the circumstances that led up to her incarceration there were stacked against her - as she was presented by the judge with a choice in the plea she made, and it was either 18 months or 15 years that all made the difference.
Ryan realizes she won't be hired.
Sensing that bringing up her ex-con background was not giving her much headway with the interviewer’s good favor, Ryan continues saying her time at Blackgate hardened her to not only be able to stand for and defend herself if need be, but also sharply assess any given situation to single out potential threats or simply to glean on another person's drives and motives just by the look on their faces. The interviewer leans back on his chair, intrigued but hiding it well, then asks Ryan what she thinks of him and Ryan sighs, saying that he was already prepped to turn down her application.
Ryan arrives at the pharmacy.
Later, Ryan walked between the aisles of a grocery store in what appears to be the Vitamins and Supplement section. Browsing the merchandise, she tried to get an item from one of the shelves when her shot injury, courtesy of Tommy Elliot, began to act up again halting Ryan. She gets flashbacks of the night that Elliot shot her in and through the Batwoman suit. Wincing as she feels around her still-recent wound with her right hand until the aching begun to wane again, she switches her selection and instead picks up a small container of extra-potent Ibuprofen with her other hand.
Ryan sees the assault going on.
Shrugging and unsatisfied, she calls out for a grocer nearby if they have any generic versions of that particular medication; and that was when Ryan spots an armed robbery in progress; two masked men, whom she did not notice until then, had just entered the establishment. One of them stood as lookout by the entrance and with a shotgun held in his arms, while the other striding towards the counter brandishing a gun at the cashier standing by the counter's other side.
Ryan beats the thugs.
The cashier complies, extending out the cash to be taken and then pocketed by the one holding him at gunpoint. But that wasn't enough, it seems; demanding the grocery store’s office safe be opened next, the robber hits his hostage over the head with the butt of his firearm when the worker was slow to comply. And in an instant, Ryan was already on the assailant, hitting him in turn over the head with a piece of hard merchandise. The other one sees this and point his weapon at Ryan, forcing her to take cover behind the end of one of the aisles in proximity to both the door and the counter,
Ryan tries to help the old man.
and narrowly avoiding getting shot at the cost of destroying some merchandise. After a second shot was fired, she grabs another grocery item and forcefully throws it at the stalking gunman, drawing out a loud groan from the latter. He brandishes his shotgun to try shooting her for the third time, only for Ryan to close the distance again by sliding across the floor towards him and rising half-way up to intercept his aim. Then, Ryan stands up to kick him up the groin and between the legs. She wrenches the gun from the robber’s hands and followed-up by swinging the weapon’s butt at his head - sending him crashing against the displaying shelf near the entrance.
Ryan is surprised by a Crows agent.
But at that point, the other robber has stood up and recovered, ambushing Ryan from the side and behind with a rabbit punch that struck her at the back of the head and knocking her down. Miraculously, instead of inciting upon her more harm, he goes to help his felled cohort and together they ran off, leaving the grocery store as Ryan slowly rises up with her right hand over the occipital region of her head. Looking out to see that they're gone, Ryan then rushes over to the incapacitated grocer to inspect his condition. Just then, the sound of a gun click drew her attention back to the door to see a Crowsagent pointing a gun at her and ordering her to submit. Ryan could only roll her eyes and she complied with a sad sigh.
Ryan is held on a Crows base.
She got taken and later seen in one of the Crows’ interrogation rooms. And this was not an unfamiliar sight for Ryan. Even less of a stranger was the distinct Crow operative who came to badger her: Sophie Moore. Ryan, jaded, looks at Moore as the latter enters the room and both of them exchanged familiarity-filled glances at each other. Walking up to the table at the room's center where the younger woman whose right wrist was cuffed to and already seated at, Sophie tosses her some ice cubes contained in a sealable plastic baggie, then opened up a case file that she brought with her and stood at the table’s other side opposite of Ryan. Moore starts the conversation by humoring Ryan who takes the baggie and gingerly presses it against the aching back of her head, and Ryan similarly responds by teasing Sophie back about her hair, saying she likes it.
Ryan talks to Sophie.
This sours Sophie’s mood a little, who would rather Ryan address her more formally but Ryan pipes up that they were too familiar with each other at that point to not be on a first-name basis. She then wonders if Moore got demoted, given the latter’s status in the Crows' ranks, yet currently overseeing a case of a petty armed robbery. Sophie responds in turn that such was a step-up in Ryan’s case, as she is usually brought in for questioning in regards of drug-related cases; apparently, she used to have a partner in that sad enterprise whom Ryan now parted ways with. Therefore, she could not give Sophie any information in that area. Ryan then defends herself saying that she didn’t rob the store, but Moore reviews the file detailing that Ryan was found standing over the unconscious cashier, with the shot gun at the crime scene bearing her fingerprints, and reading that out loud for Ryan to hear.
Ryan argues that she in fact tried to stop it from taking place - and a skeptical Sophie understandably has her misgivings of the former playing the role of hero. And given Ryan’s recent stint at Batwoman not so long ago, that she of course cannot divulge to Sophie, she could only nod silently at the Jacob Kane's right-hand woman. The room’s door opens and in came the same agent who arrested Ryan at the store. He whispers to Moore of having reviewed the establishment’s security footage, which confirmed Ryan’s side of the story. Sophie scowls at Ryan, who gave her a triumphant smile knowing that Moore has no reason to hold here there now that this whole affair had just been cleared meaning that she’ll have to un-cuff Ryan and soon. Sophie apologizes and proceeds to do just that. And she heads over to untether Ryan, the latter cynically comments that the last jumble-up she suffered as result of the Crows not doing their job right only resulted in her staying behind bars for almost two years.
As Sophie undid the cuff, she gives Ryan a piece of advice: if staying in that part of Gotham puts her at a disadvantage day after day, perhaps Ryan should just pack up and move elsewhere where her luck might change. That struck a nerve. Ryan asks where can she find such a place in a city where the word of Crows Security is essentially the law. And they’ve cuffed people like Ryan more times than can be counted because they were easier to bring into custody than a murderous criminal mastermind like Alice, or any member of her gang. She stands up, edges in and gets into Sophie’s face confronting the latter that she knows why Jacob Kane and the rest of Crows has yet to fully resort lethal force in hunting down the Wonderland gang, particularly Alice herself. Sophie gets nervous but hides it; she informs that any feeling of sympathy Jacob may have had for Alice is long gone by now.
Ryan stares at Sophie, confused and has absolutely no clue as to what the Crows agent meant by that. It was then revealed that she thinks Kane being secretly racist as the reason why he had been seemingly lenient towards Alice, by virtue of the criminal being Caucasian. Realizing that she may have said too much, Sophie gets defensive and promptly ushers Wilder away, showing Ryan the way out. Still nonplussed, Ryan repeats and muses on Sophie’s words, looking over her shoulder at Moore standing in the middle of the room as she left.[6]
Becoming the new Batwoman
Ryan at Mary's secret clinic.
After talking to Sophie, Ryan realizes that Alice is Jacob's lost daughter Beth Kane. Ryan goes to Mary's secret clinic to confront her on this and becomes sympathetic to her when Mary reveals she hates Alice as much as she does due to Alice killing her mother. Ryan apologizes and then a team of doctors bring in Jonathan Cartwright's corpse, leaving Ryan disgusted as Mouse's corpse is covered in bite marks. Ryan stayed with Mouse’s body on a metal slab as Mary conducted her medical forensic tests in the other room when Luke walks in, quipping that people from all walks of life can indeed come in and go from Mary’s secret place either at their own leisure, stressing Ryan’s presence there.
Ryan sees Jonathan's body.
Wilder rolls her eyes as Luke himself moves over to inspect the corpse, wondering what manner of fauna could have done this much damage — which he identifies as severe bite marks and apparently too many to count for the assumption that all of it was done by a single individual. Wilder morbidly voices that dying like this counts as unthinkable in her book. Mary approaches, denoting to Fox and Wilder that Mouse’s wounds happened after he died apparently by poison. And not just any poison; Mary affirms that the same toxin that claimed her mother’s life was used. Only one individual outside of Hamilton Dynamics would have access to it; Alice. Just then, the corpse they were observing suddenly spasms. The spasm went on, intensifying until a bat burst from and flew right out of poor Jonny’s chest then glided about in the clinic. Witnessing that, Ryan screams and both Luke and Mary cast incredulous looks at her. Wilder reveals that she hates bats.
Mary recaptures the bat.
They later recaptured the bat and placed it inside a glass case. Wilder notes it coming out of Mouse postmortem that Alice must have allowed the bats to feast on his body. Finding the idea disturbing kept on flying within the case’s confines, Mary replies with a grimace that this must be how Alice sees “closure” should be like. Luke walks in with his smartphone in hand and informs them of just receiving a call from Julia Pennyworth. Alice all but admitted to Pennyworth of having a massacre planned out and already in the works, before stabbing her in the back, but Luke told Ryan and Mary that Julia was fine. When Luke and Mary tried to find out where Alice would carry out her plan, Ryan saw a protest being broadcast on TV and realized it would be there. She then warned Luke and Mary. Ryan suggested that she dress up as Batwoman so she can disperse the crowd before the attack, but Luke said they would realize that she was not Batwoman, since she was white and Ryan is colored. After a brief discussion between them, Ryan is allowed to wear the Batsuit by giving the people a sighting of Batwoman.
Ryan as Batwoman.
Ryan put on the Batsuit and awkwardly landed on the roof of one of the tall buildings near Gotham Plaza. From the Batcave and through communications on the hood of the Batsuit, Luke assures her that no one saw her lose her balance when landing; except him and Mary. Luke at one tells Ryan that she could have used her cape as a parachute to further stabilize her descent, ensuring a disgruntled response from her. Ryan then went to the front of the building so that the protesters could see it, but it didn't work out of the blue. Ryan then waited for tips on how to look legitimately heroic and inspirational as the vigilante she was trying to impersonate. Amongst the protesters, a teenage girl spots Ryan in the Batwoman suit and notifies the others of that, telling them of the vigilant bat returning at last before the public’s eye. Noticing she's garnering the crowd's sought attention just like she and the Bat Team planned-with her spoken words voice-filtered, she proceeded imploring to the rallied protestors to depart immediately from the plaza, for something terrible was about to happen there. Unfortunately, they were unable to hear her as she was very much on top of and several storeys up above the crowd.
Ryan on top of the building.
Failing to properly hear or comprehend even a single word from what “Batwoman” was saying to them, the protestors stood their ground showering adulation up at the vigilante, much to Ryan’s frustration. Just then, she heard the slow sound of clapping from somewhere behind her. Turning from her perch, she finds a less-than-impressed and condescending Alice, all alone and slow-clapping as she regards Ryan, knowing at once that she is not her sister but also admitting that this person in Kate’s vigilante get-up is a complete stranger to her. The shocked Ryan seemed fearful for a second before the surprised look on her face ominously transitioned into fury.
Ryan stares at Alice.
Alice mock-congratulates this unknown female wearing Kate’s Batsuit in front of her for easily deceiving the hapless percentage of Gotham. But being talked down as a fraud like that bore no weight for the life-hardened Ryan. She jumps down from the ledge and starts walking slowly in each step on the same level taken towards Alice. Luke tries discouraging the latter from engaging the latter into an altercation, but Ryan disregarded that despite not ignorant of Alice's infamy as a proficient murderer, seeing how the latter had an hand on the demise of her foster mother Cora. Ryan then says that she will kill Alice, which frightens Luke and Mary. Luke said she can't do that, since Batwoman doesn't kill, prompting Ryan to reply that she is not Batwoman, as Luke had said before. Ryan then disables the suit communicator.
Ryan fights with Alice.
Whipping out a pair of pistols, Alice repetitively shoots Ryan several times but to no avail since the Batsuit is bulletproof. Alice then realizes that this is the real batsuit. She decides to change tactics and challenge Ryan in hand-to-hand combat, in which Ryan narrowly won and was about to kill her.
Ryan hears the bats arrive.
so Alice uses a device to summons a swarm of bats that attacks the crowd below, distracting Ryan and allowing Alice to escape. Ryan was going to chase her but Luke managed to say that she had to choose the crowd. So Ryan let Alice escape. Luke espies through the sensors and relays to Ryan that a sub-sonic frequency is pulsing somewhere in the plaza — most likely a hidden transmitter planted by Alice that’s luring the bats there. He recommends Ryan to go down there and find it.
Ryan activates batsuit's eye-lense.
Luke also recommends Wilder to incite the cowl’s eye-lenses so he could remotely set their allowed perspective into the mode that “views” sounds inaudible to the unassisted human hearing ability so they hopefully may locate the sub-sonic transmitter. So, Ryan quickly descends and safely sets foot somewhere on the plaza after selecting she should land there and then jumping off from the ledge, cape-parachuting down. Upon landing, she surveys her chaotic environment with and through the Batsuit’s white-tinted, sliding cowl lenses over eyes; the Crows, GCPD, Gotham news anchor teams and even the generic civilians already got their hands full with rabid bats in a biting frenzy to pay the new Batwoman much heed.
Ryan finds the device.
Via the said lenses’ detection of sub-sonic, Ryan soon spots the device. The pulsing seems to be originating from one of the newspaper dispensers in a group of such close to where she landed on; so Ryan nears them and singles out the specific dispenser she seeks, disengaging the eye-lenses. That way, she can then see in normal view when casing that particular vessel and urgently rips open its compartment door on the side using both hands, revealing the beeping contraption that Alice hid inside. Ryan takes it, exclaiming to Luke on the comms of her find; then she glances behind her as her mind races on what she must do next. Not too far from where she is was Crows agent Sophie Moore saving helpless citizens from the attack, not noticing until almost too late that a bat was gliding towards her left. Thankfully, the critter was slapped down by Ryan Wilder. The agent observes this new arrival just as the costumed Ryan reciprocates to see if the former was alright. And like with her commanding superior, Sophie quickly distinguishes that this unfamiliar woman now garbed in the Batsuit is not the original.
Ryan saves Sophie.
Sophie asks who she was, and the latter pragmatically responds that she is her savior. Ryan then walks past the Crows agent as she converses, through the comms, with Luke on what her next step should be. The latter suggests destroying the gadget and Ryan refuses; for even with the transmitter gone, this colony of poisonous bats will still remain in Gotham. Luke brings up the “suggestion box” idea and one comes up in Ryan’s mind on the spot after looking down on and then up from the device in her hand. She says that neither of them shall probably like it. She then enters the Batmobile. Later, the car sped over and across Gotham’s paved streets. Soundly overtaking and driving past other moving cars as she steered on the streets - and all the while, a poisonous bat swarm gliding and flapping after the Batmbile.
Ryan drives the Batmobile.
With Luke in the Batmobile’s comms, he and Ryan spar-quibbled for a while on where to best attract the bats chasing the latter without machucar mais gente. Luke suggests a number of possible sites to bait the bats into — all of which were continually refuted by Ryan as she desperately drove. At some point, Wilder made the Batmobile do a crisp turn to the left, on an intersection, that fleetingly diverted the pursuing bats for a moment before they corrected themselves and went after the again.
Ryan points a gun at a crows agent.
Ultimately, Ryan glimpses a Crows’ affiliated detainment bus driving towards the Batmobile and that gave her an idea, piquing Luke’s attention. But Ryan defends that it was probably best she let her actions to the talking. She abruptly hits the brakes, decelerating at once before the bus and compelling the latter’s driver to follow suit. Noticing this from the Batcave’s feeds, Luke demands Wilder of her intent only for Ryan to confess that she isn’t so sure herself as she takes the transmitter, exits the Batmobile and strides over to the detainment bus and begs its driver to exit his respective vehicle. When said driver refuses, Ryan reacts by pulling out her grapple gun and brandished it at the Crow operative, intrinsically turning a pressing request between a vigilante and a lawman into an on-the-street stick-up.
Ryan runs away from bats.
Forced to do what she said, the driver promptly opens the doors on the right side of the bus and exits it through them. Wilder enters and hangs the transmitter by the bus’ rearview mirror, then closes the vehicle’s passenger doors. Then she jogs towards the bus’ rear door just as the bats concentrate on where she left the device coaxing them onto the device’s position. She opens the door wide for the critters to fly into the bus to collect them all inside, while also raising her cape up and making sure that it covers her well enough to keep them away from herself. It did not take long before every one of Alice’s weaponized bats were now in the bus’ interior’ so Ryan closes it shut before rearing a few steps back and unlatches a compact incendiary from her utility belt; she unpins and tosses it under the bus’ chassis.
Ryan saves a homeless girl.
Just then, Ryan turns behind her to notice a homeless teenage girl getting up from and out of a ramshackle tent, hearing all that vehicular commotion. Yelling to take cover, Wilder rushes over to her side and wraps the teen in her cape in time just as the bus detonates — killing all the bats. She and the girl she just saved straightened up, as Ryan pulls back her cape from the younger girl, at the sight of the destroyed vehicle; the latter wonders if the person next to her was Batwoman and Wilder declines. But the girl insists that Wilder is Batwoman, to her anyway, looking up with grateful admiration at the disguised Ryan.
Ryan in the Batcave.
Ryan later went to Batcave and received Luke and Mary's blessing to operate as Batwoman in Kate's place; at least until Kate returns; becoming the second Batwoman and part of the Bat Team in the process. Ryan started writing for Kate in his diary just like Kate did for Bruce.[6]
Fighting Victor Zsasz
Later, Ryan, as Batwoman, intercepted a transaction between an addict and a masked dealer from the False Face Society. However, her entry was not perfect, as she had a slight stumble when landing that almost unbalanced her after the touchdown, she said she would have made it if the boots didn't tighten. As she threw batarangs to try to stop the dealer, Luke tells her to stop wasting them, because it costs $ 1,000 each. The criminal said she was not the Batwoman and she waited for an answer from Luke, but did not come. The suit started to beep, so she knocked out the thug and asked Luke to call the police since she had another appointment.
Ryan arrived at Susan Stevens' office, who asked her if she was late because she got a job. So Ryan went to Mary's clinic and said she was going to get a call and had to say yes. Mary got a call from Susan, who asked her if she had given Ryan a job at The Hold Up, and Mary said yes, with Ryan pushing her. Mary told Ryan that the job at the club would be a good idea for her to hide her secret identity, as they were going to spend the whole time together. Ryan then questioned her what "all the time" would be like since she would only be Kate's temporary replacement, so Mary said she needed to get back to work.
At the Batcave, Ryan, Luke and Mary saw on the news that a man had invaded Hamilton Dynamics and killed two employees. Ryan asked what he stole and Mary said that she did not know what it was, since she had sold her shares and does not participate in the affairs of the council. Ryan then realized that Mary is rich and asked why she earns so little at the club. Luke asked why she started working at Hold Up, and Ryan said that his probation officer kept asking for a job.
Eventually, Ryan also realized that the man who invaded Hamilton Dynamics is Victor Zsasz. Luke asked how she knew him and Ryan said that they know people in common. Susan called Ryan and said she was waiting for her at the club, so she had to go, and said she would look after Zsasz when they found his address.
When they found Zsasz, Ryan donned the suit and went over to his apartment, where she found the stolen drive, but Victor was there. Ryan looked for batarangs in the suit and Luke said she used them all, so he asked her to use the bo-staff. Zsasz asked what happened to the previous vigilate and Ryan said she didn't need to answer an old man who uses his skin to sharpen knives. Zsasz said the suit did not belong to her and she was not Batwoman. Then he fired a rocket launcher at Ryan. She manages to dodge by jumping out of the window and returns to Batcave. The Bat Team plugged the drive into the computer and saw a large list of names that Zsasz was going to kill. So Ryan volunteered to speak to him to find out who hired him, not as Batwoman, but as Ryan, with Luke's reluctance. So, she asked Mary to purse of money to make the deal with Zsasz.
She found him at a restaurant and asked if he remembered her. She said she was dating Angelique Martin, so Zsasz decided to listen to her. She asked him to kill Alice since her gang had killed her mother, but he denied it and left. Ryan then asked Luke if she had come close enough to his cell phone. Luke said yes and that the mystery customer was Safiyah.
Ryan later returned to Batcave and made some modifications to the suit. She then went to Wayne Tower and received a call from Mary, saying that the Desert Rose had cured the cancer of a patient. Luke realized that everyone on the list had been healed by the rose after the attack of infected bats. Later, Mary said that Zsasz broke into the clinic. Ryan told Luke to keep calling while she went to put on the modified suit. Luke said the suit was perfect and Ryan asked if he had seen the damn wig.
Ryan in the new suit.
When Zsasz was going to kill Mary, Ryan arrived in the new costume and stopped him. They had a brief fight and Zsasz took it down. So Ryan used the bo-staff and knocked him out. Mary came over and said she loved the new wig, Ryan smiled and used the grapple gun to leave.
The next day, Ryan returned to the parole officer. Where they talked about the new Batwoman and Ryan's new job. Susan later said that she should get a new home or she would report it. Ryan then started working on Hold Up. Luke arrived and asked how the journalists got a professional photo of Batwoman, and Ryan said that Mary was taking care of the publicity. Luke gave her a new batarang and Ryan said he would train his aim. Luke apologized for distrusting him and Ryan said he understands, but he needs to give her a chance until Kate comes back. Luke agreed and Ryan asked if she could make any improvements to the Batmobile. Luke said she went crazy and left, making Ryan smile.[4]
Facing her past
Ryan and Mary at Hero Galaxy Comics.
Ryan as Batwoman finds and interrogates a teenager addicted to Snakebite to learn who his dealer is; when she does, she chases him with the Batmobile. Even though her Kryptonite wound hurts, she manages to capture him. Suddenly, the alarm of a jewelry store activates. Ryan arrives there and is surprised by a boy. He made it ring to get Batwoman's attention so she can search for his brother Kevin who has disappeared for weeks.
She then tells the Bat Team and asks them to help her, so Ryan and Mary research the possible whereabouts of Kevin. In Ryan's van, Mary asks she to live with her in Kate Kane's penthouse above The Hold Up. They stopped at Hero Galaxy Comics while looking for Kevin, with Ryan thinking he may have been taken from the store as she was.
Ryan meets Jacob Kane.
Ryan then tells Mary her story and later calls to ask Angelique Martin for help but she refuses the call. Ryan and Mary peruse old clippings saved by Kate from Beth's disappearance and pinpoint the location of the house of the Candy Lady.
Ryan meets with the Candy Lady, but gets attacked and knocked out. When Ryan awakes and frees herself from bondage, she fights the Candy Lady and learns that Kevin has been given to the False Face Society.
Just as Kevin is about to kill Jacob, Batwoman attacks the thugs and saves Jacob. The two fight the gang members. Batwoman talks to Kevin and convinces him to renounce his membership and to surrender. Later, Ryan returns to Hold Up, where she meets Angelique Martin. They chooses to rekindle their friendship.[1]
Alliance with the Crows
Batwoman saves Jacob Kane from being killed by apprehending Pike and taking him somewhere to interrogate him later.
Ryan returns to the apartment and meet Angelique, who is making breakfast and listening to Vesper Fairchild as Vesper tells her listeners about the art thief Wolf Spider. Angelique sees Ryan's Kryptonite wound and tells her to have it checked, and Ryan says that she is fine.
Ryan saw the Bat-Signal and went to find Sophie, who asked for her help. Ryan reluctantly teamed up with the Crows to get the location of Coryana and find Kate.
The Bat Team debates the offer and Luke convinces Ryan to make the alliance, citing that he has more of a reason to hate the organization than she does, but he is willing to forgo that if it means the return of Kate. Batwoman watches as Sophie and Jacob interrogate Pike and learn that the Jack Napier's painting is a map to Coryana, before Pike commits suicide.
Batwoman meets Wolf Spider.
Ryan hoped to use a batarang as a way to gain the trust of Evan Blake when she wanted to enter an illegal auction; Blake admired the item and asked Ryan which of the bat female vigilante was the original owner, to which Ryan said "Batwoman 2.0". She fails to pass Evan's test so they deny her entry until Angelique vouches for her. Angelique tells Ryan that she is there as a drug dealer, but Ryan refuses to reveal her reason for being there. Deciding that it would be easier to steal the painting and analyze it at the batcave, Ryan puts on the Batsuit to find Wolf Spider already there, stealing it. The two fight for the painting; the Kryptonite wound slows Batwoman.
Batwoman arrives with the Batmobile and finds Wolf Spider on the ground after he is hit by the Crows. She takes him to Mary Hamilton's secret clinic to heal. Ryan also decides that she is leader of the team and that she should no longer be compared to Kate; she then berates Luke for choosing the Crows over his own father. Batwoman later meets Sophie, who tells her that she has fired the two Crows for their misconduct, but Batwoman is not forgiving and wants Sophie to resign as well.[5]
When Ryan's wound gets worse after she beat some bandits, Angelique takes it to Gotham General Hospital, where Ryan lies and tells the doctor that she has a spider's bite. Angelique uses her money from being a drug dealer to pay for the medical bill. Ryan tells her to leave this life.
When Ryan goes to work at The Hold Up, she is approached by Sophie, who attempts to blackmail Ryan with enough evidence to arrest Angelique on drug charges for her to place spyware on Angelique's phone to search for her supplier. Ryan makes a deal with Sophie.
Ryan makes a Hold Up shirt for Angelique and invites her to work with her, but Angelique denies it. They have an argument and Ryan's wound starts to hurt. When Angelique went to get the remedy, Ryan installs the app in Angelique's phone. They then reconcile.
At Batcave, Ryan and Luke receive a call from Mary, who asks them to take the coryana map to her clinic. They discover that something is wrong and Ryan, even in pain, arrives at the clinic and saves Mary and Jacob from Aaron Helzinger. But some criminals appear with Sophie and make her choose between herself and the map. Ryan then chooses to save Sophie.
Afterwards, Ryan receives a call from the doctor, who says his wound has radioactive features.
When Anglique finds out that Ryan has tapped her phone to the crows, they have an argument, which ends with their relationship and Angelique leaves, leaving Ryan sad.[3]
Ryan and Mary in Batcave.
When Ryan's wound got worse, she was cared for by Mary and Luke at the Batcave, while she was in pain and experiencing hallucinations. Batwoman later appeared on Angelique's apartment, who was with her new girl. Batwoman said that she was there because she sought Ocean. Angelique feigned ignorance, but gave Batwoman the hint that Ocean was able to grow mushrooms in the city. Batwoman threatened that Angelique could be arrested; noticing that the vigilante was acting injured, Angelique hit Batwoman off the fire escape causing her to fall hard on a car below. She was saved by Luke and Mary and taken to Batcave.
Later, after Ocean left his hideout, Ryan as Batwoman appeared and revealed her identity to Alice, saying that she wanted revenge for her killing her mother. They had a brief fight, but the Batwoman was too weak and let Alice go, but put a tracker on her without her knowing it. Back in Batcave, Ryan tells Mary that she would go to Coryana to save Kate and find Alice and the cure for her Kryptonite poisoning her.[7]
Ryan in Coryana.
Ryan write in her diary what she think will happen today. Ryan thinks she will find Kate in Coryana and save her. At the Batcave, Ryan, Luke and Mary watch Sophie and Jacob being kidnapped by the Many Arms of Death on screen. Ryan decides to take risks and fly Coryana to save them. Upon reaching the island, Ryan fought Safiyah's men but eventually she was captured and taken to her, where Alice was also with Ocean's fake body. Before being arrested, Ryan told Safiyah that this was not the real Ocean.
So, Safiyah took Alice to stay in the cell with Ryan, who she offered to cure the desert rose and Ryan accepted. During the match caused by Alice, Ryan is found by Sophie. Ryan tells her that Kate was never on the island and that she doesn't want to die alone. Luke tells the communicator that she needs to return to Gotham because they still have a desert rose that can save Ryan from dying.[8]
Initially, Ryan is cheerful, carefully laid-back and had a happy life.
However, after the death of Ryan's adoptive mother, Cora Lewis and being (wrongfully) incarcerated for a crime that she never committed, as, she has become withdrawn and cynical, Ryan has struggled to put her life back together, but it is almost impossible; due the fact that no one is willing to hire an ex-con, despite the she was innocent of the crime that she was convicted of, as she only pleaded guilty, because the judge gave a choice; do 15 years or 18 months in prison, as the former reluctantly agreed to the plea deal.
Despite the fact that Ryan never knew her biological parents, she had had a good relationship with her adoptive mother, Cora and came to see her as her actual mother; as she was extremely devastated by Cora's death.
Ryan is very stoic and committed to helping Gotham City. She apparently likes to get into hands-on-hips pose while wearing the suit, as doing so fills her with confidence; Ryan once even got mildly disgruntled when Mary discourages her from assuming that posture while she was trying to get the public's attention as Batwoman.
Ryan is proven to have good morals; for example, killing and torturing her enemies is a line that she would never cross, although she (initially) intended to kill Beth Kane; due to the fact she was indirectly responsible for her adoptive mother, Cora Lewis' death, but after Luke Fox points out that Kate Kane (the original Batwoman) never kills, Ryan realizes what she did was wrong, as it goes again what her processor stands for.
Ryan is extremely distrustful towards Crows Security to the point that she refuses to work with that organization, as she doesn't trust their intentions for good reason; partly due to the fact that two Crow agents (wrongfully) arrested her for a crime that she never committed (as they are indirectly responsible for ruining Ryan's life) and that Crows tried to kill her predecessor, Kate (the original Batwoman) in cold blood; but mainly due to their immoral and dishonourable ways. Ryan's dislike towards the crows is also to the point that she refers to them as "bastards".
Ryan is quite cold to the point of being hostel towards individuals she does not trust; such as Sophie Moore, due to her being a member of the Crows; as she coldly states to the latter; until Sophie resigns from Crows Security, we will no longer be working together.
Abilities
Peak of human physical condition: As a relatively-new vigilante, former martial arts instructor and ex-convict, Ryan is in top physical condition for a young athletic woman of her age; she is able to maintain her bodily equilibrium while both moving or staying stationary in variable positions she's in, strong enough to throw or land blows that stagger her enemies much larger than herself provided Ryan judges and secures the right fulcrum between herself and her target, quickly outmaneuvering around her opponents with relative ease and easily landing safely well on her feet almost every time after descending from a great height (and that was before Luke informs her that she could have used her cape to stably parachute down for an infallible landing).
Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: As a former martial arts instructor and ex-convict, Ryan is a highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist who (according to her) is versed in at least half a dozen fighting disciplines and could even mentor others in that respect; although it was inferred that she had been out of active practice for some time; however, despite this, Ryan was still able to subdue members of the False Face Society and bested Tommy Elliot in their first confrontation. Even Alice took notice and appreciated Ryan's apparent intent to kill following the brief skirmish between herself and this new Batwoman, deeming that the latter will prove to be a "handful" in comparison to Kate, who always stayed her hand from delivering the killing blow when it came to combating Kate's own twin, Alice.
Keen-level intellect/Expert investigator/Expert tactician: Ryan is very intelligent individual and an excellent investigator; she suspected that Kate Kane is Batwoman after she found the Batsuit from the wreckage of Kate's crashed plane and her encountering both Luke and Mary down in the sewers only confirmed that when they approached Ryan there, thinking she was Kate for sporting the specialized outfit on herself. The next morning, she read up the front page article in the newspaper (and the Gotham news-publishing industry, by virtue of due diligence, is very astute in their line of work) regarding Kate's life, further substantiating her discovery that Kate is Batwoman; due to the fact that the female bat vigilante arrived in Gotham City around the same time as the former and then later discerned Alice's connection to the Kane family as their long-lost Beth after Sophie unwittingly spills out to Ryan that Jacob Kane no longer holds any sympathy for the serial murderer that used to be his daughter, Beth. Despite of Ryan's status living as a low-class citizen, she was able to figure out how to operate most of the Batsuit's advanced tech, in record time, but it took her longer to master the others - discounting the fact that she faced some difficulty exploiting them in the heat of battle for the very first time. As a former convict of close to a two-year sentence, Ryan is also experienced in threat assessment, gauging people and looking over her shoulder in order to survive, having been in the company of Gotham's worst during her stay at Blackgate and still thriving in the presence of the unscrupulous and uncivilized living here and there as a homeless person on the city's treacherous streets. That said, Ryan is very knowledgeable with the transient community of Gotham to know where such individuals or groups of them can be found clustered together or individually scattered after being pushed aside from the presence of the upper and middle classes, along with where those on the opposite side of the law would usually nest or briefly stay to simply enjoy their leisure. Ryan is also quite an adaptive thinker and problem-solver who can conceive immediate solutions and credible answers, respectively, on the fly; moreover, she is just as quick on her feet enabling her to execute them near-efficiently and close to flawlessly. With these serendipitous qualities, Ryan saw to it that Alice's toxic bats were expunged from the city without risking anyone else as collateral damage, using herself to lure them away as she sped off in the Batmobile. And as Ryan puts it, word-for-word to Luke and Mary, her time in the company of criminals acclimated Ryan with the workings of crime, organized or petty, in Gotham's dark underbelly - giving her the insight on how criminality plots and operates, particularly in their city. But most importantly, how to break off said perpetrators and their bearings, if need be, in ways that Kate Kane - due to her privileged upbringing - must have and inevitably overlooked.
Stealth: Ryan is able to appear and disappear without much notice. This was seen on Ryan's first night wearing the Batsuit; she managed to sneak up in a dark alley and closed in on two masked thugs, who only detected her presence after she made it apparent with a Batarang she threw at them and when Ryan tried to scare one up-close.
Expert driver: Even while near-panicking, Ryan's skills as a driver is at least that she can not only outpace the Batmobile for a time with her van, but even effect evasive maneuvers while driving to evade ordnances fired upon her from the former vehicle by Tommy Elliot. Later, in the Batmobile, she expertly drove the specialized conveyance through Gotham while being pursued by a colony of envenomed bats - making an abrupt turn at one point that momentarily threw them off as they were hot on Ryan's trail.
Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain/Master survivor: A driven and determined individual, Ryan is nearly fearless and almost never gives up under most situations. After being shot with Kryptonite, Ryan immediately rose up again within seconds to readily fight and took down her shooter; she has shown able to put up with the lasting effects of the inflicted wound displaying signs of discomfort for only brief periods. Ryan would later display her tenacity in single combat against Alice - matching the latter nearly blow for blow, despite of the apparent size difference between them, until the former finally succeeds restraining the criminal by forcing her down on one knee and then gripping firm with both hands around Alice’s neck.
After a shot of kryptonite from Tommy Elliot, Ryan's blood changed in color around where she sustained that injury; the veins found in that area have also began to glow an incandescent green and spreading outwards from that point. Sometimes, the infection distracts Ryan from her current mission. Ryan had felt exhaustion and even dizziness as the wound had gotten more infected. It is eventually revealed that the kryptonite's radiation is still in Ryan's blood system, as it is slowly poisoning her; the only medicine that can cure it, is the Desert Rose.
Equipment
Van: Since Ryan got out of Blackgate, she no longer had a home. So she got a van, which is her current "home" that she lives and sleeps in.
Batwoman suit: After finding the Batsuit, Ryan decided to use it to fight crime. After defeating Tommy Elliot, she graciously returned the suit to Luke Fox and Mary Hamilton. A while later, they agreed to let Ryan use it as part of her vigilante work. Luke also made new changes to the batsuit, like a new bat-belt and a new wig.
Red wig: The get-up has a red wig that Kate Kane wore while fighting crime as Batwoman; so her enemies do not mistake her for Batman or Kate herself as she has shorter brunette hair in her civilian identity. In Ryan's case, this hides the fact that she sports a longer mane of untamed, dark-brown hair. And for a time, Ryan wore Kate’s same wig that is part of the Batwoman guise until the former adopted a new look to her own version of the Bat-themed superheroine who came before her — sporting a dual-toned, very curly brown wig with red endings spreading and trailing down the back of her cowl.
Voice filter: As Batwoman, Ryan used a voice filter to disguise her real voice from individuals who knew and could recognize her while wearing the batsuit.
Expandable bo-staff: Ryan used an expandable bo-staff in her battle against Victor Zsasz.
Bat-Belt: Just as Kate did, she has her own version of the utility belt. Ryan's belt is very similar to Batman's in design, with the main difference of having a red-shaded coloration.
Batarang: As Batwoman, Ryan used a roughly bat-shaped throwing weapon and has several of these at her disposal. It was seen that she has a natural aptitude for employing it as a hand-thrown projectile weapon even before coming into possession of the suit and the rest of Kate Kane's Batwoman equipment. Ryan can deploy these either by hand - either as a melee or throwing weapon - or by firing them from a special launching mechanism that Luke included into one of the Batsuit's gauntlets. Luke personally modified one of the Batsuit's custom-built gauntlets into a projectile weapon launcher; pressing a specified button on It would result in a Batarang fired forth from the wearable - an alternative way deploying the normally hand-thrown implement into battle.
Grappling gun: As Batwoman, Ryan used a length of monofilament wire attached to a spool, primarily used for scaling or reeling on to buildings, swinging from one establishment to the next and ensnaring targets.
Batmobile: On her second night of imposture as Batwoman, Ryan was allowed use of the Batmobile by Luke as she needed it to outpace a cauldron of poison-laced bats that were following her due to taking sound-transmitting device that was drawing them to Gotham, plaguing its citizens with a deadly toxin that Alice stole from Hamilton Dynamics.
Ryan hates bats; this is an indirect reference to Bruce Wayne's fear of bats from the DC comics.[6]
The scene of Ryan being saved by Batwoman from thugs on a Halloween night,[6] is inspired by Kate's story in the comics, when she is saved by Batman from being raped in Detective Comics #859 (January, 2010).
Ryan had never been on a plane before she went to Coryana.[8]
Behind the scenes
Despite being an original character created for the series, Ryan made her first comics appearance in Batgirl #50 (December, 2020).
Although Ryan's first official image as Batwoman came out in October 2020, an image of her already in suit with several other heroes was released a month earlier on the DC FanDome, made by artist and publisher Jim Lee.[9]
Ryan Wilder is the first starring protagonist to debut in the new multiverse's Earth-Prime.
She is also the first character to replace the titular character of a series.
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