Lady Blackhawk

Zinda Blake is a skilled private pilot without much of a known past.

Lady Blackhawk is connected to the Birds of Prey and rumored to have been around in the late 1950s...but sure doesn't look it. Ahem.

Background
Zinda was a military brat. Her father saw action as an aviator in World War II, and she grew up determined to follow in his footsteps. Both of her parents tried to let her down easy multiple times. There was no way the budding United States Air Force would take a woman as anything but a desk clerk...and a desk clerk, clearly, would not satisfy a tough child who grew into a fiery young woman. Despite this, she applied to join...and was told by the recruiting officer that they had a very nice office job for her.

This...was not good enough. With some quiet support from a father who understood the need to fly, but dared not encourage her openly, she decided she was going to prove that a woman could fly a fighter as well as any man. Very rapidly, she realized she would have to be not twice as good, but even better than that.

She taught herself to fly a number of different planes, demonstrating her skill as an aviator and an adventurer. By the time she was nineteen she had a name for herself...but it was combat she wanted. And the military would not budge. Yes, Miss Blake was talented, but the rules were the rules and a dogfight was no place for a lady. Not that she was growing into anything anyone would call a lady...hard drinking and hard partying. But this was when she gave up on trying to convince the Air Force. Instead, she set her sights on something else.

The Blackhawks. They were the elite, they were the very best in the world...and they were not bound to rules set by politicians. Unfortunately, they were no more willing to accept a woman into their ranks. She knew that she was going to have to be beyond exceptional, prove that they would be fools not to take her.

Eventually, she proved herself, rescuing several members of the squadron from trouble on an island. But they treated her more as a mascot than a full member of the team, even, as she put it, 'using her legs as a recruitment tool'. After a year or so, she took an extended leave of absence and attempted a career as an actress. This move proved to be about as sensible as it sounds. Hollywood was not a place she stayed long, and before too long she was back in the cockpit.

Proving herself over and over again, she became as much one of the guys as she could without turning into an out and out butch tomboy. She had learned one lesson; people would never take her seriously because she was a pretty girl. All she could do was her best...and her best was very good indeed.

Then, in the late 1950s, Lady Blackhawk and her plane vanished. Eventually the search was given up, and the world assumed that she was dead. They were wrong. A rift in time had cast her forward. She would not admit that she crashed...if you walk away, it counts as a landing...but now she was isolated in the start of the twenty-first century, a world in which she did not know the customs, or the slang, or anything. Guy Gardner helped her out, hiring her as a waitress until she got her wings back. Then she met Oracle.

Now, she has more or less adapted, knowing there is no way back to her own time and rather appreciating this decade's rather different attitude to women...although the Air Force still won't get with it, dang it. She works as a private pilot and chauffeur...and supports the Birds of Prey as their pilot, driver, and, yes, gets into the odd fight at their side. It's a life and a living...and one she has grown to care for a lot, along with her friends.

Personality
Zinda grew up in an era when men were men and women were women. Men were heroes...and women kept the home fires burning. She was not content with this. Nor would she settle for flying a desk, or even a transport. She was good, and determined to prove it. In that time, women did not just need to be twice as good to get half as far...a female fighter pilot was unheard of. In some ways, she was in the position of the man who integrates a sports league...out in front and way ahead of her time.

It is perhaps because of this that she is hard drinking, hard partying, and hard fighting. Zinda is 'one of the guys'. She likes beer and bar fights, preferably together. Whiskey's good to add to the mix too. Fighting is part of how she proves that she can keep up with any male ever born in her chosen profession. So is being driven and pushing herself to the limits. In no part of her life will Zinda Blake settle for second best.

Despite all of that, Zinda is not a tomboy. She dresses like a woman, she wears her hair like a woman. She might be accused of seeking the best of both worlds...to be both a 'girl' and 'one of the guys', except that she doesn't like being seen *only* as a woman. She still regrets the decision to pose for a recruiting poster, after the military basically used her legs as a sales point. She is aware that she has looks and appreciates them, but really would rather be seen as a person, not a pin-up.

Also, Zinda is a fighter pilot. It takes a certain kind of personality to do that particular 'job', and she has it in spades. Arrogant? Check. 'I don't have superpowers. I don't need them'. Cocky? Definitely. Reckless? Oh, most certainly, and having to be rescued after going in over her head...oh, what an embarrassment. But it tends to happen. Her reach sometimes does exceed her grasp in a world where she is a normal human amongst those with powers that at times approach 'god-like'.

Lady Blackhawk is always loyal to her friends, demonstrating a deep caring for them. If she were to let them down, she would be miserable for days...and anyone who mentions any brainwashing episodes that might have occurred will get a scowl and a face made at them. Yeah. She doesn't want to remember that. Finally, she is rather notorious for having the worst 'gaydar' ever. If a girl is going to go straight for the guy in the room who is taken AND gay...it'll be her.