Dex Starling

## Actor(s)

*"It never ends. There's always another upgrade, another part. If you can afford it. Which I can't. I'm Dex. Technically, Dorothy Alexandra, but no one calls me that. Doesn't exactly scream out 'Gotham's fastest.'"*
―Dex Starling to Paul[src]
**Dorothy Alexandra "Dex" Starling** is a thrill-chasing street racer and criminal who helped the Batman take down an arms dealing operation in Gotham City.

## Biography

### Street Racing

Dex Starling was an illegal street racer who went to the same high school as Edward Nashton. Dex had previously met another street racer new on the scene named Paul, who unknown to her at the time was actually the billionaire Bruce Wayne.

After Edward was accidentally knocked over during one of their races, the young man recognized the group from school as some of the popular kids and realizing that they would likely just get off if he tried to report them due to their family's money, instead decided to get even his own way. One night Edward secretly planted a bomb in Dex's car in the hopes that it would cause a giant pile up on the road.

During the race, Dex's car exploded, and Dex was nearly killed but Paul stopped and was able to pull her out of the car and to safety before it could fully catch on fire. The two had a brief romantic relationship after this.

When she graduated from high school, her senior quote was *"Let's race!"*

### Forced into Organized Crime

At some point after Bruce left Gotham, Dex would somehow end up stuck under the mobster Piggy Porcello's thumb after the criminal framed her father for a crime he didn't commit. Using her father's upcoming trial against her, Porcello blackmailed her into helping smuggle his explosives.

Eventually, Bruce returns to Gotham and begins his crusade against crime. On one of his first nights out patrolling the city, he is unexpectedly reunited with Dex and is disturbed to learn that she is helping Porcello distribute the explosive gel supply. Digging deeper he discovers that Dex is being blackmailed by Porcello and after getting intel from a cop Janice Dure, he follows Dex to a correctional facility where she visits her father Bennett Starling.

Bruce goes undercover as a visitor pretending to meet another inmate named Smitty. He tries to talk with Dex, but she leaves quickly, and Bruce keeps on following her. With all of the information gathered, Bruce suits up as the Batman and assists the GCPD in dismantling Porcello's operation, though Porcello manages to slip away before he can be arrested.

### Aftermath

A few days after they destroyed Piggy Porcello's operation, Bennet Starling is released from custody with his name officially cleared as a favor from Dure on behalf of Bruce Wayne. Dex meets with the Batman one last time and reveals that she wants a new life for herself and that she and her father have decided to move out of Gotham and into Metropolis where she plans to get a job at LexCorp. Bruce leaves the scene quickly before she was able to say goodbye, leaving her slightly upset as she had wanted to know more about the hero.

## Personality

Dex is first and foremost an adrenaline junkie, enjoying the thrill of the chase and with a particular love for street racing. Though she continuously breaks the law by engaging in illegal races, she is not a violent criminal like Piggy Porcello or the Riddler and never intentionally tries to harm anybody.

## Abilities

*"Well, let's see your handiwork. Pop the hood. We've got a little time before the race starts. Maybe I can fix whatever you messed up."*
―Dex Starling to Paul[src]
* **Skilled Driver**: *To Be Added*

## Relationships

Allies* Hannah
* Paul - Friend, Savior, and Former Love Interest
* Batman - Temporary Enemy
* Gotham City Police Department
	+ Janice Dure
* Falcone Crime Syndicate
	+ Carmine Falcone
	+ Oz Cobblepot/Penguin
	+ Piggy Porcello - Forced Employer

## Trivia

* Dex Starling is the first known love interest to Bruce Wayne followed by Selina Kyle.