Catwoman

Member of the Secret Society (Formerly)
 Age
 Status
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**Selina Kyle** is **Catwoman**, a costumed adventurer who's been both a super-hero and super-villain. Beginning her career as a thief and enemy to Batman, she later turned to crime-fighting and became part of the Batman Family. Despite her villainous nature, she works hard to protect the East End of Gotham City.

## Biography

### Early Life

**Selina Kyle's** early life was defined by tragedy. When she was just a girl, her brutalized mother Maria committed suicide and her violent father Brian drank himself to death soon after. Selina was separated from her younger sister Maggie and she remanded to the Sprang Hall Juvenile Detention Center, an abusive state home for orphaned or delinquent girls. Eventually, she escaped the Center and tried pick pocketing the crowd at a carnival outside Gotham City but failed. She was caught by the man who ran the place and he offered her to join the carnival. Selina agreed and soon she learned the art of contortionism, gymnastics, magic and trickery. Using her new learned skills, Selina also improved her pick pocketing skills. When the owner of the carnival died in a tragic accident, Selina decided to take her chances on the streets of Gotham City.

### Coming of the Cat

Several years into Selina's life in Gotham she's shown as a prostitute working in East End. Selina takes care of an underage girl named Holly Robinson while working for their abusive pimp Stan. Detective George Flannery sends her to Ted Grant, who teaches her how to fight after Stan beats her up. When she sees Batman in action for the first time, he inspires her to become **Catwoman**. Selina beats up Stan and takes Holly with her. To distinguish herself, she claws the faces of her victims starting with Carmine Falcone. Stan kidnaps her sister Maggie Kyle and dies fighting Catwoman. Batman confronts her about this, and she kisses him then wounds his chest and escapes. Holly is left with the nun Maggie to be raised in a convent.

### Origins of Catwoman

Although originally introduced as an equal opponent for Batman, Catwoman's status as hero or villain is ambiguous; she has her own moral code and has occasionally teamed up with Batman and other heroes against greater threats, even siding with the Justice League. She represents a gray area in Batman's otherwise black and white life where the line between good and evil blurs, and his attraction to her stems from this perception that, in her way, she's kind of a female version of himself: another dark creature that prowls the night.

## Abilities

* **Acrobatics**: Selina is a gifted and accomplished athlete, with heightened acrobatic prowess. Her feats have been so amazing, one could argue that her athletic ability is somewhat superhuman.

* **Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: She is a dangerous, clever and resourceful fighter, known for precise, agile attacks and speedy getaways. Her formidable hand-to-hand combat skills are augmented by her cat-like speed, reflexes, balance, and flexibility.
	+ **Boxing**
	+ **Capoeira**
	+ **Hapkido**
	+ **Jujutsu**
	+ **Dragon Style Kung Fu**
	+ **Karate**
* **Stealth**: Selina is as stealthy as any large cat. She has easily been able to sneak up on large groups of people and even other vigilantes on patrol. She shows marked prowess in this ability while she's on the prowl for her next job.
* **Thievery**: Selina is a master thief, known throughout Gotham City for her burglary of cat-themed objects and/or gems and jewels of the highest quality. Hardly one to knock over a bank, Catwoman would rather break into the chairman's office and take his personal documents.
* **Disguise**: To pull off her many capers, Catwoman resorts to disguises and aliases. She once posed as an old lady in order to steal a valuable piece of jewelry while on a cruise ship. Later, she posed as a night club goer in order to get acquainted with it's owners and return later to rob them.
* **Feline Empathy**: Catwoman has a good affinity for cats. Feline species tend to flock to her, accepting her almost immediately, recognizing somehow that she is not an enemy but a friend. This allows her to calm injured cats, train them, befriend them, and form strong bonds with them. These animals will even sometimes come to her defense when she is attacked. This has proved most beneficial, especially when it has involved big cats.

### Equipment

* **Catwoman Costume**: The skintight costume features retractable razor-sharp claws in her gloves and spring-action climbing pitons in her boots. Catwoman's costume is designed to give her maximum flexibility and movement while providing her some anonymity, and stealth. Her mask covers her features, keeping her from instant recognition in her civilian identity. The material is a thick insulating cloth, protecting her from cold and wet, while being fire retardant.