Selina Kyle

[Source]

"*What this situation needs is a woman's touch.*"
―Catwoman[src]
**Selina Kyle** (also known as **Catwoman**) was a Human professional thief, vigilante and later the executive of the Wayne Foundation.

## Biography

### Early life

Selina Kyle was born on July 28, 1958 in Dayton, Ohio to Brian and Maria Kyle. She was the oldest of three children; the others of which included a brother, Karl, and a sister, Felicia. As a child, Selina became fond of animals, particularly cats, and took piano lessons under her mother's instructions. She became somewhat rebellious during her teenage years and often shoplifted for fun. Finding herself to have a talent for stealing, on one occasion she tried pickpocketing the crowd at a carnival but failed. She was caught by the man who ran the place and got in trouble for it. She later participated in the 1976 Miss Ohio USA pageant but lost to Karen Myers.

Eventually, with the disapproval of her parents, she escaped to New York City in hopes of having an acting/modeling career. After failing to get any work for several months, she ran out of money and lost her apartment, surviving on the streets as a thief out of necessity. Not long after, Kyle was spotted and taken in by a talent agent by the name of Stan, who unbeknownst to her at the time, was a member of a new-age cult. Her career soon took off thanks to her talent agent and his connections, but most of her money went to Stan and the group. They took control of her entire life, she became a vegetarian under their influence, and was at times beaten by Stan if she challenged them.

### Married to the Mob

She took work as a singer and waitress at a jazz club called the Gabriel's Horn, where she met Vincent Mario Falcone of the Falcone crime family. Soon after, Falcone offered her a job as a secretary for Falcone Shipping. There, she and Falcone fell in love; the two eventually got married. However, the marriage was not a happy one and she soon found herself trapped in an abusive marriage to a man who valued personal wealth and his status in the family over Selina. She regularly chastized him for his underhanded line of work, much to the anger of her husband. As Vinnie consolidated more power, and purchased more opulent things for Selina, she became visibly more and more detached from reality. As a result of her troublesome life, Selina became addicted to cocaine. After being sent to the hospital following a beating from Vinnie, Detective George Flannery took pity on her and sent her to Ted Grant, who began teaching her how to fight.

Eventually, Selina had had enough and planned to escape the mafia scene, but was harassed by Vinnie's father, Carmine, every time she considered doing it. Upon making the acquaintance of bumbling, seemingly sincere Samuel Bradley Jr., Selina was convinced that Bradley was just another mob flunky. In actuality she had earned the suspicion of Bradley and Ed Benitez, two NYPD officers who were assigned to monitor all of Selina's movements as part of an undercover surveillance operation to bring charges against the Falcone family. Soon, Selina and Bradley became romantically involved and the police officer reluctantly blackmailed the woman into setting up a bugged rendezvous with Vinnie.

While at dinner the next day, Vinnie was extremely intoxicated because of stress, and noticed Selina had not touched her plate. He asked why Selina had not touched her food, to which she replied that she had lost her appetite. This sparked a massive public fight between the two, with Vinnie incriminating himself in various criminal activities during the conversation while also berating Selina for her drug usage and depression, which he perceived as laziness. Selina responded by throwing her glass at Vinnie, screaming at him, and attempted to physically charge at him. However, Selina collected herself, and told her husband that she was leaving him. Soon after leaving, Bradley and other NYPD officers entered the restaurant and arrested Vinnie on the spot. The audio collected during the dinner was enough evidence to have him prosecuted and Vinnie was convicted to a one year prison sentence. During the prosecution process Vinnie had agreed to a divorce with Selina, but she received no money in the settlement as a result of their prenuptial agreement that Carmine Falcone had insisted on. As a result, the angry Selina stole a Falcone family heirloom and left, hoping to start life anew.

### The Catwoman is Born

"*Life's a bitch, now so am I.*"
―Catwoman[src]
Kyle eventually got completely clean of her addiction and worked as a secretary for the powerful and ruthless Max Zorin, the owner of a business empire and the department store Shreck's. Despite being a secretary, Selina fancied herself as more as an executive assistant, since she helped out in more ways than a mere secretary. On Christmas Eve, Zorin forgot his speech and Selina tried to take it to him, but the city came under attack by the Joker Gang and she herself was taken hostage by one of the clowns. Batman intervened, and saved her by knocking the clown out. Selina instantly became fascinated with Batman, who then took his leave. Selina took her defeated clown captor's taser home as a self-defense weapon.

Selina later inadvertently discovered that Zorin’s proposed power plant would suck power from the city, store it, and effectively bring a large portion of New York City under control of the Zorin Family. Zorin himself appeared and confronted her about that information, and although Selina swore that she would not let it slip, Zorin pushed her out of the window in order to silence her. Selina fell through several red canvas awnings adorned with the Shreck department store cat logo, softening a fall that would have been fatal otherwise. She landed in an alleyway, knocked unconscious with only a mild concussion. She was mysteriously revived by local stray cats she fed from her apartment window, including her favorite Miss Kitty, and returned home in a daze. When her answering machine gave an advertisement on a perfume that was sold by Shreck department store, Selina suffered a psychotic breakdown: she ransacked her apartment, destroyed her possessions, and inspired by seeing Batman in action for the first time, she sewed a homemade cat costume, in preparation for her revenge on Zorin. After she called herself Catwoman, Selina became a vigilante in her own right; on her first night, she brutally beat a mugger then scratched his face as a signature to differentiate herself from Batman, for trying to rape a helpless woman, but then chastised the woman for being unable to defend herself.

Catwoman later attempted to rob the Falcone family again, and met Batman for the first time in her new vigilante disguise. Batman took out the bodyguards while Catwoman scratched her former husband Carmine Falcone, and they both escaped. The next day, Selina appeared at Zorin's conference room while he spoke with Bruce Wayne, covered in bandages and sported a more confident and assertive attitude towards her boss, which somewhat impressed Zorin. Selina feigned amnesia and an instant attraction developed between herself and Bruce.

## Personality and traits

"*A long time ago, before I put on this mask, I was afraid of everything.*"
―Selina Kyle[src]

## Powers and Abilities

### Abilities

**Expert Combatant**: Selina was trained in martial arts, boxing and street-fighting by Wildcat. She was a dangerous, clever and resourceful fighter, and became known for her precise, agile attacks and speedy getaways. Her formidable hand-to-hand combat skills were augmented by her cat-like speed, reflexes, balance, and flexibility. Catwoman also mastered Dragon Style Kung Fu and Karate. Her skills were good enough to where she was able to fight off and wound Batman.

**Peak Athlete Conditioning**: In her prime, Selina was a gifted and accomplished athlete with heightened acrobatic prowess.

**Stealth**: Fittingly, Catwoman was a master thief possessed of unsurpassed stealth and cunning. An expert at both low and high-tech heists, she was Gotham's finest cat-burglar at her peak.

**Mistress of Disguises**: To pull off her many capers, Catwoman resorted to disguises and aliases. She once posed as an old lady in order to steal a valuable piece of jewelry while on a cruise ship.

## Parelphia

### Equipment

* **Costume:** The skintight costume featured retractable razor-sharp claws in her gloves and spring-action climbing pitons in her boots. Catwoman's costume was designed to give her maximum flexibility and movement while providing her some protection, anonymity, and stealth. Her mask covered her features, keeping her from instant recognition in her civilian identity. The material was a thick insulating leather, which protected her from cold and wet and was also fire retardant. Her first costume provided little damage protection from weapons or blows however.

### Transportation

Catwoman occasionally used a motorcycle for long-distance transportation, but generally preferred rooftop prowling for short distances.

### Weapons

* **Claws**: Catwoman's gloves and boots contained special retractable claws which were formed of a strong steel which extended from and retracted into her gloved fingertips and boots when she triggered pressure switches. They could shred a bullet-proof vest, punch through an aluminum frame car door, or dig into porous surfaces to climb.

* **Whip**: Catwoman was highly proficient in the use of the bullwhip. She employed a 12 foot long, black leather braided bullwhip which was normally carried on her person either in her boot or in a small backpack.