Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)

**Cassandra Cain** was born to the assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva as her parents, she was trained to become the perfect warrior. Her father deprived her of speech so she would learn movement and physicality as her first language. Bruce Wayne adopted her into the Batman Family, a few years before his death.

## Biography

### Early Life

David Cain trained **Cassandra Cain** in isolation and kept her away from human speech, raising her on the language of motion and violence. The idea was to adapt the language centers of her brain, and train it to interpret physical movement as a language. This gifted Cassandra with superb body-reading abilities, and has made fighting her "mother tongue" so to speak. However, this upbringing has also rendered her dyslexic, and when taught to speak, with audible speech-impediments.

When Cassandra was eight, Cain took her to carry out a hit in Macau. Cassandra did as her father trained and instructed her to do, and ripped out the throat of a local triad boss. Due to her body-reading ability, she was able to see how death effected the man, and was traumatized by her irreversible sin. Her father came to congratulate her, and she rejected him by delivering an emotional uppercut. Shocked, Cain did not pursue Cassandra when she fled in tears.

### Joining the Bat Family

Cassandra spent the next nine years homeless, beating herself up mentally over what she'd done as she traveled the world. Entering Gotham City in the ninth year, Cassandra came to be a courier for Oracle, even picking up rare delicacies like apples alongside her missions. Oracle took her on as a student and tried to teach her how to read and write. Over time Barbara began to see that Cassie had training and skill, but had been abused in some way. Cassandra became involved with the Bat Family after seeing the handiwork of her father, Cain, and realizing that he planned to kill Commissioner Gordon, she confronted him and saved the Commissioner. She was given the Batgirl costume with the blessings of both Batman and Oracle.

## Abilities

* **Peak Human Conditioning**: Through continuous intense training Cassandra represents the greatest fighting weapon ever conceived. She possesses peak level strength, stamina, speed and agility comparable to the finest human athlete.
* **Martial Arts**: Due to her life long training Cassandra has a master level knowledge of all fighting arts known and unknown and continues to learn with every new opponent she faces. She was trained by her father (David Cain), along with several other members of the League of Assassins. Upon taking the mantle of Batgirl, she was trained further by Batman, and Lady Shiva. She has also invented her own styles and techniques.
	+ **Dragon Style Kung Fu**
	+ **The Falling Leaf Technique** is a nerve pinch invented by Chinese monks in the 16th Century. Cassandra and her father are the only people who know how to use it.
* **Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)**: Cassandra is schooled in all known and many unknown assassin techniques such as pressure points, killing techniques and stealth to name a few.
* **Body Reading Ability**: Cassandra has the advanced ability to read body language enabling her to read what people are thinking and tell what they are going to do next before they do it. She has been shown able to read opponents far faster than herself, along with non humans and even alien lifeforms once she is given a chance to learn their body language. This enables her to identify disguised and transformed people as well.
* **Investigation**: She was also very briefly trained in detective methods by Tim Drake during their time in Blüdhaven.
* **Stealth**: Due to her excessive training she is also a master of stealth. This ability was furthered during her time as The Nothing and Kasumi.