Huntress (comics)
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- For other uses of the term "huntress", see huntress (disambiguation).
The Huntress is the name of several fictional characters in DC Comics' universe.
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Helena Bertinelli
The current Huntress is Helena Rosa Bertinelli, who first appeared in Huntress #1 (April 1989). (This initial series lasted only ninteen issues and may be out-of-continuity.)
Mafia Family
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Helena was born into one of Gotham City's most prominent Mafia-connected families, the Bertinellis. While she believed her father to be Franco Bertinelli, her real father was Don Cassamento of a rival family, who had been having an affair with her mother Maria. When a Capo named Mandragora ordered the assassination of the entire Bertinelli family, his then-underling Cassamento sent word to spare Maria, but the assassin misinterpreted the message and left eight-year-old Helena alive instead.
Psychologically scarred, Helena decided to wage war on the criminal underworld, especially the mob. In the aftermath of the assassinations, her maternal family sent her to Sicily to live with her cousins the Asaros, a family of assassins. From age eleven to fifteen, her cousin Sal trained her in the variety of weapons and unarmed combat techniques she would use on returning to Gotham to become the vigilante Huntress. Like her Earth-Two predecessor, she uses a miniature crossbow and other ranged weapons.
Years later, after some council from Richard Dragon and a little help from love-interest The Question Helena would discover the truth of her parentage and her family's slaying. She confronted Cassamento and was told he would reveal her identity as the Huntress to the rest of the mob if she did not work for him. To preserve her identity, she went to her maternal uncle Tomaso Panessa and had him kill Cassamento.
Untrusted
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Batman has rarely accepted the Huntress, believing her techniques to be too 'unpredictable and violent'. He once sponsored her membership in the Justice League so he could keep an eye on her, but ultimately had her resign when she almost 'crossed the line' by attempting to kill a villain on one of their missions.
Then an earthquake leveled Gotham City, the government declared it a 'No Man's Land,' and Batman disappeared. To bring order to the city Huntress assumed the mantle of Batgirl (she discovered criminals feared her more than they did when she was the Huntress). When Batman returned, he said if she failed him she would have to give up the costume.
When Huntress, all by herself, failed to protect Batman's territory from Two-Face and his gang of over 200 criminals (while Batman himself was unconscious and tied up), he blamed her and stripped her of the Batgirl mantle.
Later, in the final days of "No Man's Land", Huntress was shot several times by the Joker when she prevented him from kidnapping and murdering the newborn infants of Gotham City. She almost died, but this seemed to earn her Batman's respect. However, this was only temporary; after NML ended and she recuperated Batman and his "family" became distant and combative again when she was framed for a series of murders.
Birds of Prey
More recently, the Huntress became involved with both Oracle and Black Canary in the comic series Birds of Prey, becoming close friends with Black Canary in the process. However, she recently left the small team when she believed Oracle was manipulating her. She continues to appear in the series in an ongoing subplot dealing with her mafia heritage.
Pre-Crisis
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Golden Age
The Golden Age Huntress was a minor supervillain who battled the Wildcat, seeking to add him to her collection of big game trophies. As a member of the Injustice Society, she fought the Justice Society of America; during this period she met the original Sportsmaster, who she later married. She was later retroactively renamed to the Tigress in the pages of All-Star Squadron. This Huntress had no powers or unusual technology, though she was a skilled hand-to-hand fighter whose nails were sharpened like talons.
Silver Age
The Silver Age Huntress was Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman on Earth-Two, an alternate universe in which the Golden Age superheroes of the 1930s and 1940s had continued on into the then-present day, and in some cases retired and/or had families. Her parents had married and retired by the time she reached adulthood, prompting her to take their place as the defender of Gotham City. She had no powers, but used a crossbow and other variations on her parents' equipment. She was a member of Infinity Inc. alongside the other children and successors of the original Earth-Two superheroes. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Earth-Two no longer exists in current continuity.
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Television Series
In the television series Birds of Prey, the Huntress (portrayed by Ashley Scott) is Helena Kyle, the 23-year-old illegitimate daughter of the Batman and Catwoman. Her mother died when she was 16, at which point she went to live with Barbara Gordon (Oracle). Unlike previous Huntresses, Helena Kyle possesses cat-like superpowers, as in the Birds of Prey version of the DC Universe, Catwoman had superpowers, too.
Though not necessarily a complaint, some thought her character and her relationship with Barbara resembled Black Canary more than it did the Huntress.
The Huntress has also appeared in the animated series Justice League Unlimited, primarily as love interest and partner to The Question. She is voiced by Amy Acker and starred in "Double Date." In this episode, Huntress' thirst for revenge against the murderer of her parents, Steven Mandragora results in her expulsion from the Justice League. Green Arrow and Black Canary chase Huntress only to find her ready to kill Mandragora, until The Question talks her down. In the subsequent "Question Authority" Huntress helps Question uncover a government conspiracy against the League.