Diedre Vance

* Biography
* Threat Assessment
* Trivia and Notes
* Gallery

## Query

* Query
* Diedre Vance

### Diedre Vance: 1990 - 2008

Diedre is the youngest of four children born to successful cattle rancher Frank Vance and Marie Dearden-Vance whose family were titans of industry in their own right. Diedre was raised in a very conventional Irish-Catholic home and found herself constantly struggling with the conflicting manner in which she was raised. While she was allowed to be a rough and tumble cowgirl on the ranch, Diedre would then be expected to be a dainty and demure lady at high society functions in order to make herself a fine wife to some wealthy suitor.

Though she became adept at playing both roles, Diedre decided to bail from home as soon as she had graduated high school. Passing up on a scholarship opportunity at Midwestern University, Diedre convinced her father to give her what money he would have spent on her college education to fund her moving out to Gotham under the premise that she would invest in cheap property during Gotham's restructuring and create a thriving business.

### Diedre Vance: 2008 - 2009

When Diedre arrived in Gotham, she bought herself an adult literature and novelties shop on Remsen Street in Otisburg. Operating under the premise that sex sells, Diedre renovated the store to house a nice apartment for herself on the second floor. She quickly grew bored of working solo as the shop's owner and manager.

Diedre fell into the world of BDSM when she was clearing out the show's neglected basement and decided to utilize some of the unsold merchandise she found there. Before she knew it, Diedre had designed a sex dungeon. Thinking she would get a laugh of it, she invited some of her shop's customers and employees down to have a look at her creation. Before the first show was complete, Diedre had several inquiries about how much she charged.

After a week or two spent on considering it, Diedre decided to visit Gotham's Red Light District in East End. After a few weeks of intense study with more than a few bruises, Diedre decided to become a full-on dominatrix herself. Just weeks into her new career path, Diedre found she had struck a very profitable vein as her schedule was packed — with many criminal clients who could not safely visit the East End due to various gangland disputes or having been blacklisted.

Among Diedre's largest pool of clients were the Sons of Batman whose clubhouse was just down the street from Diedre's shop. Within a month of her operation being up, she had received a dozen invites to come by the clubhouse. When she heard of a rally on one of her rare nights off, Diedre decided to do just that.

Within moments of arriving at the rally, Diedre found her clients keeping their distance from her. Though so many of the gang used her services, apparently not many wanted their peers to know that. Amused by this realization, Diedre went to the bar to test the promises of booze without the need for her fake ID.

Though Diedre was drinking heavily, she found herself unable to keep up with another girl at the bar and decided there was a reason for it. Diedre approached the young woman in black biker leathers and introduced herself. The woman replied that her name was Nina Damfino or "Echo" amongst the biker gang. After a brief inquiry, a very drunk Nina confessed to having lost her mother recently.

Not having many female clients, Diedre decided to take Nina home with her. Nina was curious about Diedre's work and one thing would lead to another and before they knew it, they were more or less best friends who slept together.

### Diedre Vance: 2009

    Eventually, Diedre and Nina both found their relationship with the Sons of Batman souring because they were trying to make Diedre's business their own. Wanting out, Nina came up with a plan and Diedre sold her shop to relocate to a brownstone in Cherry Hill where she would cater to a more refined clientele and the Sons would back off in exchange for Diedre not confessing their members more peculiar kinks.
Shortly after the move, Edward Nygma approached Diedre, wanting her services for a one-and-done scheme, but ended up partnering long-term with both her and Nina.

## Threat Assessment

### Resources

* **Cowgirl Training:** Diedre grew up on a cattle ranch. She grew up learning the tricks of the of the trade.
	+ ***Animal Husbandry:*** Diedre knows the science of breeding and caring for cattle as well as horses and other common farm animals.
	+ ***Butchering:*** Diedre's family owns a major slaughterhouse and several associated butcher shops. Diedre is not a professional butcher by any means, but she does not flinch at the sight of blood and knows her way around knives. She claims to be able to fully break down a cow carcass by herself in six hours. She will often brag she can do the same to an adult man in much less time.
	+ ***Driving:*** Diedre usually owns and operates her own pick-up truck, but she is more than capable of handling any of Nina's motorcycles (though she prefers to ride with Nina) or any of the many souped-up vehicles in Riddler's fleet. Diedre is also skilled in the use of a variety of heavy machinery and forklifts.
	+ ***Equestrianism:*** Diedre claims she can ride a horse with the best of them.
	+ ***Firearms:*** Diedre is an accomplished markswoman who generally prefers to use handguns, shotguns, or long-range rifles. Diedre is generally the more cautious and measured shooter compared to Nina, who can get a little trigger-happy at times.
	+ ***Roping:*** Diedre knows how to use a lasso to capture and bind her targets. She is likewise familiar with the trying of a variety of knots. Some of this she learned from her time on the ranch, but much was acquired later during her work as a dominatrix.
	+ ***Whipmastery:*** Diedre is a master of the whip. Though she mostly only used this to herd cattle as a girl, she began using this in her adult work — mostly as an intimidating show of force for thematic purposes. However, she often does use the bullwhip as her go-to close-range weapon in her Query criminal persona to disarm or distract enemies until Echo can disable them.
	+ ***Wrestling:*** Diedre used to wrestle with her older siblings on the ranch. She would also have to wrangle various animals, most being much larger than herself. Diedre has adapted this knowledge well to hand-to-hand combat where she will utilize joint locks and nerve strikes to gain the reluctant cooperation of her enemies.
* **Self-Taught Dominatrix:** Diedre is an accomplished dominatrix, having worked as such for most of her adult life (even if only as a semi-legitimate side hustle).
	+ ***Extortion:*** Though she is not a blackmailer by trade, detesting the practice overall, she is willing to threaten or execute such tactics when she had clients or associates who attempt to betray or go against Diedre, her loved ones, or her active agenda.
	+ ***Interrogation:*** Rumor has it that Diedre is a effective good cop to Nina's bad cop in their partnered interrogation techniques. However, Diedre is more than capable of dishing out the pain when there is little time for pleasantries.
	+ ***Pain Tolerance:*** Though preferring the role of dominatrix, Diedre has played the submissive many times and knows how to find pleasure in pain when needed.
	+ ***Seduction:*** No surprise here, but Diedre is a very effective seductress who is more than willing to use her body and sexual attractiveness to her advantage.
* **Riddler's Lieutenant:** In the Quiz Crew, Diedre shares the distinction of Riddler's "got-to girl" with Nina Damfino. Under Nygma's instruction, Diedre has become a ferocious criminal.
	+ ***Leadership:*** Though Diedre was more than capable of assuming an aura of authority in her work as a dominatrix, Nygma taught her how to take that skill out of the bedroom (or sex dungeon) and put it to use in Gotham's criminal underworld.

### Weaknesses

* **Loved One — Nina Damfino:** Diedre would risk her life and limb to keep Nina safe.
* **Loved One — Edward Nygma:** Though it's likely her love for Nina outweighs her love for Edward Nygma, it's no secret that Diedre was the one to have fallen in love with the Riddler and convinced Nina and Edward to join her in a threesome relationship.
* **Vice — Lust:** Though she is usually the one using sex to her advantage, Diedre admits to having fallen into this lifestyle as a way of reckoning with her insatiable libido.

### Analytics

* **Physicality:** 2 — Basic / Typical
* **Occult:** 2 — Basic / Typical
* **Weaponry:** 4 — Expert / Enhanced
* **Expertise:** 5 — Master / Remarkable
* **Range:** 5 — Master / Remarkable
* **Strategy:** 3 — Trained / Exceptional
	+ **TOTAL:** 49
	+ **RANKING:** Low Threat

## Trivia and Notes

### Trivia

* Several times Nina Damfino risked her life and limb to keep Diedre out of harm or break her out of custody.

### Notes

* Diedre's family has nods to other characters from various media:
	+ Robert Vance and Bobby Vance are characters from the *Batman Beyond* Animated Series.
	+ Carol Vance-Martin was a Golden Age superheroine named Wildfire.
* In *Detective Comics #822* it's mentioned Riddler recruited Query and Echo in an S&M Club club.
* Name of her high school is a nod to one of her creators.

## Links and References

* Appearances of Diedre Vance

1. ↑ Network Files: Diedre Vance 1
2. ↑ Network Files: Nina Damfino 1