Renee Montoya

Renee Montoya

## Background

### 1981 - 2009: Renee Montoya

Born off of Van Buren Avenue of Gotham's Burnley District, Renee is the oldest daughter of Dominican Republic immigrants Hernando & Louisa Montoya. Her parents moved shortly before her mother gave birth to Renee & years later would give birth to Renee's younger brother, Benny. The four of them lived above Montoya's Groceries, a small convenience shop owned by their family.

Growing up, Renee was known as a loud & straightforward individual with no cut cards. If she felt a way, you would know & if she needed something done, she would do it. And that's the same method she applied when she decided to enter into the police academy upon graduation. She showed herself to be a worthy officer, graduating at the top of her class. Upon graduation, she was assigned to the GCPD's Major Crimes Unit & was partnered with Harvey Bullock. They got off to a rocky start but soon considered each other great colleagues & friends.

Renee also rekindled a romance with socialite Kate Kane upon her return to Gotham. The two would cross paths when Renee had to pull Kate over for drunk driving. The relationship wouldn't last long as Renee couldn't get on board with Kate's party lifestyle & felt that she had no direction in her life. Single again, Renee focused on her polie duties.

When Gotham was destroyed by the 2008 earthquake, Renee was one of the officers to stay behind to help salvage the city & protect its citizens. She somehow formed a friendship with the criminal Two Face by reaching the kinder Harvey Dent persona but he fell in love with her. In simple terms, Two Face was still mentally unstable. He believed the only way to have her was by taking everything else away from her so he began targeting other officers before specifically targeting Sgt. Bullock then had her framed for murder.

Luckily, Commissioner Gordon was not one to be easily fooled. But that didn't stop Two Face from kidnapping Renee when she alone. He admitting to everything, from the attacks on her fellow officers & the framing of murder. She refused to believe it, thinking he really had changed for the better but instead, he became more unstable. As the two fought for control of his gun. Batman arrived with Bullock & was able to save Montoya but at the sake of letting Two Face escape.

### 2009 - 2016: Renee Montoya

After the no man's land decision on Gotham was repealed, Renee helped reconstruct the Gotham City Police Department & Gotham alongside the other officers. During Gotham's darkest hours, she was reassigned to be partnered with MCU Senior Detective Crispus Allen. While working a case one night, Montoya & Allen were apprehending the killer John LaMonica. In an act of self defense, Allen shot & killed the man. To prove that Allen killed in self-defense, the GCPD needed to recover the bullet but the corrupt crime scene investigator William Pettit stole & sold the bullet on the internet. In her pursuit of the bullet, Renee clashed with Pettit, eventually beating the name of the buyer out of him. Allen was cleared but Renee was not satisfied & became looking for information to expose Pettit's corruption.

Still on edge from her ordeal with Two Face, Renee had a gradual shift in personality. Allen soon noticed his partner's obsession & tried to persuade her to let the issue go. Renee refused, leading to Allen doing his own investigation into Pettit so he could expose him & save Renee from herself. While digging into Pettit's past, he came across one of his informants murdered. He was then shot by Pettit & left to die. Because of the dark lighting, Pettit's aim was off & Allen was only hit in the shoulder but lost a lot of blood. Renee knew it was Pettit but failed to build a case, due to the investigator's fake alibi.

Renee couldn't let it go & took it upon herself to bring him to justice. Tracking him down to his girlfriend's apartment, she beat him then drew her gun. He begged for his life but Renee ultimately couldn't pull the trigger. The next day, she quit the GCPD & left the city.

For the next year, Renee began drinking to the point that she developed alcoholism. Her girlfriend Daria had walked out on her, unable to watch Renee "destroy herself." On the flip side, she become reacquainted with her ex Kate, who eventually was able to help Renee get over her break-up & kick her drinking habits. After getting herself cleaned up, she marched herself up to the GCPD Headquarters & asked Commissioner Gordon for her job back. Obviously this was met with some distaste from the higher ups but Gordon knew what kind of officer she was & what she was feeling when she confronted Pettit. Going against his supervisor, he reinstated her but had her placed on probation.

Things began getting better for Renee. She worked her way off probation, maintained her sobriety & got married to Kate on the same day that New Jersey legalized same sex marriage.

### 2016 - Present: The Question

While in bed one night with Kate (one of the few times they were both home at night), the Bat-Signal was aimed at their penthouse but into the shape of a question mark. Assuming it was mistake by the operator, they closed the blinds & ignored it to continue watching their movie.

The next night, the Question appeared in their bedroom after Renee arrived home from her shift. He left behind the address of an abandoned building, where she met him later that night. The Question hired her to look into the building, giving her money for expenses. In her off time & sometimes during the clock, Renee kept watch before seeing a large humanoid creature enter the building. Renee waited for the Question before entering the building, where he used a futuristic gun to dissolve the creature. As she looked further into the building, she found a connection between the abandoned warehouse & the Kane family. While Kate looked into seeing her family's connection, the Question revealed his secret identity to Renee, showing a level of trust in the detective. Kate revealed everything she knew about the building but Renee refused to explain, believing she was keeping her safe.

They further investigated the building, leading to them being attacked by henchmen of Whisper A'Daire, a member of Intergang. While looking into their Intergang links, Question & Renee went to Kahndaq. She was able to prevent the Suicide Squad's attack on Black Adam & Isis, an action that earned her the the respect & gratitude of both. Upon parting ways with the married couple, Renee & the Question travelled to Hub City so Renee could meet Vic's mentor, Aristotle Rodor or "Tot." The Question revealed that someone was out to get him & he was grooming Renee as his replacement as a fail safe. Shortly after her training was complete, Vic was killed not too far from Tot's lighthouse by an unknown assailant.

Since then, Renee has taken on the mantle of The Question & joined the Justice League while operating alongside Batwoman & members of the Birds of Prey (especially Huntress). She also is investigating the death of her mentor Vic Sage.

## Romantic Relationships

* Daria Hernandez: Girlfriend (2009)
* Kate Kane: Dated (1998), (2004); Girlfriend (2010 - 2013); Wife (2013 - )

 Powers & Abilities

* **Firearms:** Her training as a police officer leaves her with a proficiency with firearms & a willingness to use them.
* **Stick Fighting:** She has a preference for using short clubbing weapons such as batons or nunchucks.
* **Investigation:** Renee is an excellent detective, solving crimes for years both with & without her mask. She may not immediately pick up on details as other detectives can, but to her merit her investigative skills are attuned to bigger pictures which cost her more time.
* **Hand to Hand Combat/Martial Arts:** Renee is a master combatant; she received training from the GCPD & later by The Question. She can control her nervous system, enabling her to deaden her body to physical pain, control her emotions & even control her bleeding rate. She is a skilled boxer, capable of defeating an opponent even while suffering from broken ribs.
* **Multilingualism:** She is fluent in English , Spanish & knows some Russian.
* **Pseudoderm Mask:** The mask giving the Question her faceless appearance is made of pseudoderm. Although the mask covers her eyes and mouth, she is fully able to both see & breathe.
* **Binary Gas:** Stored in her belt, this chemical compound is the agent that binds the pseudoderm mask to her face. It also has the effect of altering the color of specially treated clothes & hair.

### Ratings

* **Intelligence:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strength:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Speed:** 3 - Average / Basic
* **Occult:** 2 - Impaired / Below Average
* **Weapons:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Range:** 4 - Trained / Learned
* **Strategy:** 5 - High / Exceptional
* **Combat:** 6 - Expert / Advanced
* **TOTAL:** 104 - Threat Level 3 / General Threat

## Trivia

* Renee & Kate have been in a civil union in 2010 but got married in 2013 after New Jersey legalized same sex marriage.
* Kate forced her to kick her alcoholic habits.
* Her nickname is Sunshine by Kate.
* While investigating a murder, she believes that she re-encountered Vic Sage, who is believed to be dead.
* Renee had previously dated Kate back in high school for a short amount of time. Kate, being the party girl she was, ended up at the same party as Renee.
* During one of their missions, Harvey Bullock tried to flirt with Renee. She rejected him instantly.
* She has been aware that Kate & Batwoman are one & the same since The Cataclysm. When Kate was severely injured, Renee was the first officer to show & helped her (and Bette) escape after Kate revealed her identity.
* Her brother is a firefighter.

## Notes

* John LaMonica is the name of the second Black Spider.
* William Pettit was GCPD Sergeant who lost his grip on reality, killed several of his offers then was killed by the Joker. Pettit, takes the place of Jimmy Corrigan (not the same Jim Corrigan that was once the Spectre's host)