Batwoman

Katherine Kane is the daughter of Jacob Kane, a retired Colonel, and the step-daughter to Jacob's second wife, Catherine Hamilton, the well-known heiress to the Hamilton Arms fortune. She is seen as the consummate socialite, drinking, partying, and having a wild time of it. Kate is an out of the closet lesbian and has been seen on the arm of many a woman, famous, infamous, or not.

Batwoman is a vicious vigilante that is new on the scene. She is noted for her blood-red hair and a crimson bat symbol across her chest. No one knows where she came from, but many assume she is associated with Batman in some manner. Many have noted that she is far more violent than her counterparts.

Background
Katherine "Kate" Rebecca Kane was born a military brat along with her twin sister Elizabeth Kane. Both her father, Jacob Kane, and her mother, Gabrielle Kane, were career officers in the military. Most of Kate's young life was spent moving from town to town, school to school. Until her parents were assigned to Brussels, Belgium and life for the twelve year old girl would change forever. Gabrielle was taking her two daughters shopping for the day when a terrorist attack occured. The group that called themselves the Religion of Crime took the three to an abandoned building, for what reason, no one knows to this day. Jacob Kane was given command of a small tactical force and infiltrated the building, however the mission went awry. Both Gabrielle and Elizabeth were executed right before Katherine's eyes. Katherine spent the next few years traumatized, even though she insisted she continue her schooling.

Jacob and Katherine became closer after their loss and relied upon one another. Kate decided at the age of seventeen she wanted to enter West Point Military Academy and join the service. She wanted to make her dad proud of her. Jacob was indeed proud of her as she excelled in all her classes and training.

However, Katherine had a secret. She was gay. Not only was she gay, but she had been romantically seeing her roomate, Cadet Captain Sophie "Gimme" Moore. Kate's commanding officer got word that she was in a homosexual relationship. Kate admited she was gay, but protected Sophie from being outed. As per the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, Katherine was dishonorably discharged from the Academy. Afraid that she had greatly disappointed her dad, she found that he was extremely proud of her for being honest and true to herself. She never saw or heard from Sophie again, despite Kate's attempts to contact her.

Jacob meanwhile married Catherine Hamilton, heiress to the grand fortune of the Hamilton Arms estates. Kate and her step-mother did not see eye-to-eye on a great many things. Catherine did not approve of her short hair, gothy appearance, or her propensity to wear mens clothing. So Katherine spent much of her time away from the Hamilton mansion, becoming known for her partying ways, heavy drinking, and... other pursuits.

Upon driving home drunk from one of these said parties, Kate met Renee Montoya, the cop that pulled her over. Instead of hauling the redhead to jail for DUI, she helped Kate get home. The attraction was instant and intense. When the cop arrived the next afternoon to check on the hungover Katherine, a fiery romance blossomed. Despite the fire never going out of the relationship, problems arose quickly. Kate continued her partying and drinking. Kate's new girlfriend tried to bring direction into her life, urging her to do something meaningful. To have some sort of goal or cause to work towards. Katherine remained stubborn on having a good time and only Renee's attraction kept the cop from leaving her. Not for long though... Being the step-daughter of a rich stepmother allowed Katherine to be quite open about her sexual preference. Renee on the other hand was a cop, a woman in a mainly male dominated career. She had to be quiet about her personal life. She began to resent Katherine for being able to be so open about her lesbian lifestyle, and became fearful someone would find out that Katherine and she were seeing one another. This, along with her disgust at Kate's aimless life, gave Renee the motivation to break-up with Katherine.

Katherine was devastated. She had been left. Again. First her mom and sister, then Sophie, now Renee. Kate went into a deep depression and began to heavily medicate herself, her drinking became even worse. One night, after an incredible amount of drinking,she was kicked out of a bar in Gotham. She stumbled into an alleyway and encountered a tough looking fellow that was wielding a pipe. The thug saw a ripe target for robbery, and maybe even more. Well, he was wrong, so very wrong. Even as intoxicated as Katherine was, she was easily able to dodge and duck the thug's attacks. She even laughed and made a game of it. The laughter stopped when the thug got a lucky shot that connected lightly with her head. The sight of her own blood enraged Kate. In a fury she quickly beat the thug down, screaming at the top of her lungs, "You think I'm some sort of victim?" She stood over the fallen man, pipe in hand and screamed, "I'm a godamned soldier!" Kate raised the pipe overhead and was about to bring it down, to kill this slime before her, when a strong grip caught her wrist and held her in place with rock steadiness. Katherine turned to see whom this new attacker was. She looked into eyes that were sad and understanding, yet had a hardness that rocked her to the core. Katherine gazed into the eyes of the Batman.

The beaten thug ran off, forgotten. The pipe fell from suddenly nerveless hands, she shook herself from Batman's grip, stumbled, and fell on her rear in the dirty alleyway. The Batman loomed over her, every inch the Dark Knight. Just like a knight, he leaned over and offered Katherine a hand to help her stand. Awestruck, Kate took the gauntlet and stood. Batman peered at her knowingly and spoke in a soft, whispery voice, "Don't become like them." With that Batman produced a grappling gun, aimed at a rooftop and was gone without a sound. The bat signal shown in the sky, a call. For the innocent, a call for help. For the criminals, a warning. To Katherine, it was a call to serve.

Katherine uncovered her cause at that pivotal moment, or at the very least, made the last domino fall. She couldn't be a soldier. The system had rejected her because she was different. But she could fight. She could fight like Batman did. Everything changed in that instant. For the next year, Katherine would don black ops gear, go out, and find crime to fight.

Jacob had suspected for a few months something was up. Katherine would come home with unexplained bruises, cracked bones, and even once a knocked-out tooth. Not to mention a noticeable amount of non-lethal gear had vanished one evening at the base. The news spoke of a figure in black with blood-red hair, a new vigilante in Gotham. Jacob Kane was not a stupid man. When he entered Kate's apartment one evening and found a tear gas grenade near a wall, it all came together. With years of training, he easily found the switch that opened the secret door to the panic room. Jacob confronted his daughter and a heated argument followed.

Kate bared her soul to her dad, she told him about the thug, the encounter with the Batman, and even the thoughts that ran through her mind and heart when she looked up at the bat signal. Jacob looked at the screensaver on the laptop nearby, it was a picture of Kate, Beth, Gabrielle, and himself. Shoulders slumped, all he could say was, "Hooah."

Much to her suprise Jacob told her that if she wanted to be some damned crimefighter, she would need more training than what she had. Jacob used his contacts and his wife's money to send Katherine around the world. For five years Kate did nothing but train and study, spending every waking moment of every day. This was her purpose, this was her cause.

Katherine has arrived back in Gotham. Older, maybe not wiser, but more experienced and skilled. Her father has provided her with everything she needs to pursue her cause, to become what she was meant to be. Batwoman.

Personality
Katherine Kane is a woman of a mixed passions and natures. Raised by parents that were both soldiers taught her of honor, integrity, to be honest, and to be proud of who you are. Yet she has always been a free-spirit that enjoyed rebelling in a number of ways. Kate must have a cause, it is a fundamental need to her existence. Without a cause, a reason, she would become depressed and simply stumble through life. This has actually occured on more than one occasion before becoming Batwoman. She has become an incredibly dedicated person since donning the red bat symbol and because of that possesses a strength of will that would give even some psionics pause. Batwoman very seldomly backs down and it takes a lot to stop her. Though she tries to ignore the cravings for intimacy, be it friend or lover. She desires to love and be loved in return. Kate wants someone to hold her and take care of her every now and then. Katherine is a lesbian. She does not hide it, yet doesn't shove her sexual orientation in others faces, and she isn't a man hater. There is no quicker way to call down katherine's fury than to make disparaging remarks or actions. Similarly, crimes of hate will ignite swift, brutal, and, passionate justice.

Logs

 * TBA