Helena Bertinelli (Earth 1)

**Helena Bertinelli**, better known as the **Huntress** and, by the police and newspapers, as **the Crossbow Killer**, is a vigilante, former assassin and the only surviving member of the Bertinelli family.

## Helena Bertinelli

### Aliases

HuntressThe Mafia PrincessThe Crossbow Killer

### Affiliation

Birds of PreyBertinelli crime family (formerly)

## Appearances

### Appears in

The Birds of Prey

After fighting against crime lord Roman Sionis alongside Barbara Gordon, Katana, Black Canary, and police detective Renee Montoya to protect pickpocket Cassandra Cain from his wrath, the trio managed to save Cain, killing Sionis in the process.

Afterwards, she became a member of the crime-fighting group known as the Birds of Prey along with Black Canary, Oracle, Orphan, Katana, and Renee Montoya.

## Biography

### Early life

#### Bertinelli massacre

Helena Bertinelli was the young daughter of the Bertinelli crime family, once the most powerful and richest crime family in Gotham City. One day after coming home from school, she witnessed the slaughter of her entire family in a mob hit. Shielded by her mother and brother, she was secretly taken away by one of the mobsters to be raised by his father and brother in Italy. There, she underwent years of arduous training, all with the intent of taking revenge on those who had massacred her family.

### Seeking revenge

#### Investigations

Years later, she returned to Gotham City, taking up a crossbow and taking out those responsible for her family's death before they even know what hit them. As she left a trail of crossbow-inflected murders, she became known as the "Crossbow Killer," much to her chagrin, as she thought of herself as "Huntress." One night, she killed one of her enemies at a nightclub around the same time that Harley Quinn declared her emancipation from the Joker by ramming a truck into Ace Chemicals. The attack was investigated by Renee Montoya, a detective of the Gotham City Police Department, who was also pursuing an investigation into the activities of the crime lord Roman Sionis.

Soon, the only one left on her hit list was Victor Zsasz. After asking Doc about his whereabouts she began tailing Zsasz.

#### Battle at the Booby Trap

In pursing Zsasz, Helena followed him and Dinah Lance to The Boarders of Gotham. They had arrived in order to retrieve the Bertinelli Diamond from Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain.

While the retrieval went sour, Helena killed Zsasz just as he was about to kill Dinah and Cassandra, saving their lives. She initially thought that her work was done, but Renee explained that the person who was truly responsible for the death of her family was Sionis, who had just arrived with a small army. After Barbara made a plea for all six of them — Barbara,Katana,, Helena, Dinah, Cassandra and Renee — to work together, Helena reluctantly agreed to team up in order to escape the boarders. Together, they successfully made it to the entrance of the building, but failed to keep Cain safe; Cain was taken by Sionis.

#### Rescue of Cassandra Cain

After escaping the fun house, Helena helped Barbara chase after Sinois and Cain by using her motorcycle to pull Barbara behind her.

After Gordon saved Cain, Helena joined the rest of the team for celebratory margaritas.

### Birds of Prey

After this ordeal, Huntress joined up with Dinah, Gordon, Cain, Katana, and Montoya to form the Birds of Prey. While Quinn took the diamond, she did give the information hidden inside to Helena so that she was able to reclaim her family's money. Helena used the fortune to fund the group.

## Relationships

### Family

* Bertinelli crime family
	+ Uncle †
	+ Franco Bertinelli † - father
	+ Maria Bertinelli † - mother
	+ Brother †

### Allies

* Bertinelli crime family
* Doc

* Birds of Prey - teammates
	+ Barbara Gordon/Oracle
	+ Dinah Lance/Black Canary
	+ Renee Montoya
	+ Cassandra Cain/Orphan
	+ Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana

### Enemies

* Black Mask's criminal organization
	+ Roman Sionis/Black Mask
	+ Carlo Rossi † - victim
	+ Happy † - victim
	+ Victor Zsasz † - victim
* Galante crime family
	+ Stefano Galante † - victim