Margaret Pye

"*Shiny, shiny.*"
—Margaret's catchphrase.[src]
**Margaret "Margot" Pye** (born November 18, 1989 as **Margaret Sorrow**) is a thief and criminal who suffers from extreme kleptomania. By day, Margaret Pye lived an ordinary life as the curator of the Gotham Museum of Antiquities, whilst by night, she would blackout and assume the identity of **Magpie** becoming known to steal shiny objects and replace them with explosive replicas. She was the first villain Batman and Superman defeated together.

After being further experimented on by Lex Luthor and having a rematch with Superman, Magpie was eventually apprehended and incarcerated in Arkham Asylum once again where she would spend the next few years and wherein she would form a friendship with Two-Face, being able to relate to a split identity. The two would then form a cautious allyship with Bruce Wayne after he was incarcerated at the Asylum.

## Biography

### Early Life

Margaret Sorrow was born on November 18, 1989 in The Narrows neighbourhood of Gotham City to a poor single father and raised alongside her sister, Reagan. Growing up, Margaret's father could barely keep a job and turned to alcohol for support. Whilst drunk, he would regularly physically abuse his daughter, scarring her both physically and mentally.

In order to cope, she developed an obsession with shiny objects, focusing on the beautiful things in order to escape the horrors of her life. Eventually, she was driven mad with the abuse and murdered her own father which resulted in her subsequently being arrested and taken to Arkham Asylum.

### Time at Arkham

#### Meeting Hugo Strange

While at Arkham, Margaret peaked the interest of the recently employed Professor Hugo Strange who promised her that he could rid her of all the pain she was feeling. Through the following months, Margaret went through several psych evaluations and medical tests until she was finally accepted as one of the first patients in the history of Indian Hill, as well as one of Strange's first experiments.

#### Release

After being heavily experimented on within Indian Hill by Hugo Strange, every evil thought and feeling she ever had was pushed back into her psyche, allowing her new and kinder personality to develop, making her appear sane. She was then released from Arkham Asylum and deemed a responsible member of society, living a life in Gotham City and becoming the curator of the Gotham Museum of Antiquities. However, she wasn't aware of the fact that all of the evil behaviour that had previously been repressed by Strange's experiments was manifesting into something worse and even stronger in her psyche.

### Life of Crime

#### Establishing Herself

By the time Batman had become prominent in Gotham City, the repressed thoughts and feelings had finally developed almost into a personality of their own that eventually began robbing the museums at night without Margaret's knowledge, acting as a sort of "blackout state". This then granted her the name "Magpie" and she became known as one of Gotham's most notorious and dangerous thieves, rivalling that of Catwoman.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Meta-Human Physiology:** After becoming one of the first test subjects of Indian Hill under the supervision of Hugo Strange, Margaret's physiology was heavily altered against her will, activating her meta-human gene and giving her access to her newfound powers.
	+ **Retractable Claws:** As a side effect to the experiments, Margaret's fingernails were mutated into sharp, retractable claws that are capable of piercing through skin and even bone. She is able to retract them back into her hands, keeping them hidden if necessary. After becoming Magpie, she injected her claws with the lethal poison, curare, that can deeply affect someone even if they are only scratched. In order for Magpie to have a chance against Superman, Lex Luthor later laced the claws with doses of Kryptonite, making Superman extremely vulnerable to Magpie.
	+ **Superhuman Durability:** As a result of her extreme experimentation and altered physiology, Margaret's durability as a whole was immensely improved. She was able to withstand several very aggressive punches from even Superman and was able to immediately get back on her feet after being sent through several concrete walls.
	+ **Pain Immunity:** Once again due to the heavy experimentation Margaret endured, her pain receptors were deactivated and she was left with the inability to feel pain. Even after being shot several times, Magpie felt nothing and simply continued her mission without even flinching.

### Abilities

* **Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant/Martial Artist:**

### Weaknesses

* **Memory Loss:** Due to the experiments Margaret endured at the hands of Hugo Strange, the entirety of her life as killer Margaret Sorrow was erased from her memory, longing her to get them back. However, she does have very brief and foggy memories temporarily come back to her before being erased once again.

## Appearances

### *Batman: Anarky*

#### Season 2

* "Man of Steel"
* "Frostbite"
* "Bat Family" (mentioned)
* "Welcome To Earth-2" (mentioned)

#### Season 7

* "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"
* "Desperate Measures"
* "The Retribution of Bruce Wayne" (mentioned)

## Behind the Scenes

* In DC Comics, **Margaret Pye** is a criminal and thief known as **Magpie** who was a museum curator while she was a civilian. She is the first enemy that Batman and Superman faced together which is also what happens in the show, acting as a direct reference.