"DO NOT TOUCH THIS ARTICLE!!" |
| Selina Kyle | |
|---|---|
| Biological Information | |
| Status | Alive (incarcerated) |
| Universe Information | |
| General Information | |
| Occupation | The Rival's Lieutenant Defacto Leader of the Sirens Thief Sex worker (formerly) |
| Family | Joe West (father) Iris West (half-sister) Wally West (half-brother) Helena Wayne (daughter) |
| Alter ego | Catwoman |
| Actor | Jessica Lucas |
| Source | |
For her Earth Three counterpart see Iris West (Earth-3)
- "You love Barry right? Would you kill for him? If you thought he was dead and his killer was walking around free as a bird would you do nothing or would you get revenge? Well Iris tell me would you kill for the man you love? Would you kill for a future with him? Would he forgive you Iris if you crossed that line for him?"
- ―Selina Kyle
Selina Kyle was a sex worker turned thief. She would go on to have many encounters with Batman and eventually fall for him. However no matter how hard she tried he never returned her feelings not openly at least. However their relationship hit an all time low when Penguin captured Batman and seemingly killed him after exposing his identity. Selina then snapped and violently murdered Oswald Cobblepot in retaliation.
Fortunately Bruce Wayne was not dead but had barely escaped. Unfortunately he did not arrive in time to stop Selina and he immediately ended any association with her after she murdered Penguin. Batman then saw to it she was arrested for it. Selina was then freed by Edward Clariss who offered to grant her most desired wish something while unknown is explained that only he can grant. It is then revealed she was pregnant while in custody the fate of her unborn child is unknown however she reappears in Star City causing enough trouble to force Oliver to call Barry for help the Sirens then ambushed The Flash and Green Arrow while The Rival attacked Jay Garrick.
History[]
- "Some habits never die take me for example I lost my faith a long time ago but I still will catch myself praying to God from time to time."
- ―Selina Kyle
Early life[]
Prior to being a sex worker Selina was a regular young girl with dreams of one day becoming a civil rights activist much like her late child hood idol Martha Wayne. However she fell victim to a con artist and human trafficker who
Selina before her life took a tragic turn.
deceived her into thinking she'd been accepted into the prestigious Gotham University. Due to being an orphan with no family or friends she was considered the ideal victim.
Life as a sex worker[]
Tragically years of rape and forced drug use would cause her to develop a very jaded and selfish personality. Prior to this she was considered a highly intelligent young student with a bright future. This was back when she attended one of Gotham's best private all girl Catholic
Selina after being abducted
schools on a scholarship started by of all people her idol Martha Wayne.
Over the years as a prostitute she formed a plan to escape and make a name for herself. Selina began by secretly waning herself off the drugs taking less and less every day. Eventually she stopped all together. Selina then preyed on one of her client's weakness for priceless antiques telling him of a rare and expensive watch her pimp's boss owned she talked this client into having the man killed sparking gang war in the process and leaving everyone from her pimp to her client to even the other girl's(an unintended consequence of her plan) dead.
After this Selina would continue seeing her clients while secretly stealing(something that started as a fun little game for her just to see if she'd get caught) from them however, what began as a way to survive(her justification after obtaining her freedom) would become a pathological obsession. Selina found herself stealing whenever she could whenever she could.
Becoming a thief[]
Eventually it wasn't enough to just steal from a grocery store or from a client that was passed out drunk she felt the need to take bigger and bigger risks. This ultimately caused her stealing to evolve from simple theft and shopping lifting to full on cat burglary the more difficult or impossible the more she'd feel compelled to prove she could do it. The ultimate irony is that as time would go by she herself didn't even know why she'd steal as she eventually amassed enough wealth to take care of herself and her potential future descendants for generations she's even had to get multiple storage units for the things she's stolen never once selling them. As a result she's been called a hoarder and a kleptomaniac by her fellow siren Harley who claims to have made a professional diagnosis on Catwoman.
Sentenced to Arkham[]
Selina would spend a few years conning and stealing from her clients however her luck ran out when she crossed Penguin. After stealing from one of Oswald Cobblepot's associates she was arrested by dirty cops and sentenced to Arkham by a Judge on Oswald's payroll. Penguin "offered" her to one of his paid doctor's at the Asylum as a present for him to practice his "art" on and Selina spent two whole years suffering cruel, extreme, and even archaic medical practices.
Selina's mental state only continued to spiral eventually she broke from reality completely believing herself to be an actual cat. Which to her symbolized freedom and Independence. However her sense of self was not completely gone as she still maintained her kleptomaniac tendencies. She was fortunate though that a then newly hired Harley(prior to meeting the Joker) would take an interest in Selina. After learning enough Harley was able to discern enough as to why Selina was in Arkham and began treating Selina in secret.
Arkham breakout[]
On the spur of the moment and during the first and largest breakout of Arkham thanks to Harley, Selina after being able to regain most of her sanity and was able to escape Arkham but not before slashing up the face of the doctors that used her as their lab rat for their "aggressive" forms of therapy. However Harley and her would lose touch and not meet again until Joker got a hold of Harley.
Despite trying to behave like regular person Selina found herself still maintaining cat like personality traits. Selina while now more stable found herself completely subservient to her more unhealthy vices such as stealing and sex. She in addition had developed a horrific violent streak assaulting men and women associated with Penguin without care for how they knew him or why they worked for him. Selina still traumatized by her experiences had begun to only answer to the name the papers gave her Catwoman.
Ultimately her violent spree and search for revenge against Penguin caused her to cross paths with Batman. Batman was able to keep up her self improvised free style and surprised her by being one of the first few people to show her kindness. She would in turn gradually become as she put it a "fr-enemy". Given more time she began falling for him and even let him call her Selena.
Killing Oswald Cobblepot[]
- "I did it for you! I did it for us! Please you don't understand Bruce!"
- ―Selina tries explaining to Bruce why she killed Penguin
Penguin, after discovering Selina was pregnant through her very doctor-who owed him money- Oswald Cobblepot had the same doctor collect DNA from the fetus under false pretenses using the DNA collected from the child Penguin was able to discover
Selina abducted on her date with Bruce.
Batman's identity he then abducted Selina while she was on a date with Bruce and before she had a chance to tell him she was pregnant. While Penguin held her prisoner he taunted her using her past as a victim of sex traficking to mess with her. He even went as far as to say if she was pregnant with a girl he'd be sure to put her daughter to work for him when she got older. He then
Selina is arrested
made her watch as he seemingly succeeded in killing Batman however he failed but before Oswald could discover his failure Selina broke free and killed him in a fit of mad rage.
Penguin up until the last moment of his life taunted her and believed she wouldn't cross the line and kill him because of how much she loved Bruce his biggest mistake was thinking her love for Bruce and her child wouldn't guarantee his death. Tragically Bruce still unaware of her pregnancy turned her over to the GCPD who informed her she'd be sent back to Arkham.
Siding with the Injustice Society[]
Abducting Iris[]
Selina after being arrested for murdering Oswald Cobblepot was to about to be sent back to Arkham when she was freed by The Rival. He made her an offer that at the time was a secret but was later revealed to be that in exchange for helping him and the Injustice Society he would change history so that she never killed Penguin
For her part Selina was along with the other Sirens sent to attack Team Arrow and force him to call Barry for help. While the Flash was distracted with Harley and Ivy, Selina abducted Iris to leverage The Flash into staying out of The Rival's way while he and Jay Garrick fought.
While she held Iris Selina was unusually friendly and hospitable treating Iris more like a guest. Although there were times when Iris felt threatened by the clearly dangerous and unstable Catwoman. Selina personally demanded that Joe West would be negotiate her release. These negotiations took place at a theme park where Selina forced Joe to spend the day with her it would later be revealed that Selina was Joe's illegitimate daughter resulting in an affair he had prior to Iris being born.
It would later be revealed that Selina and Wally had for many years known of each other and that out of respect for Selina, Wally never told Joe about her as she partly felt ashamed of her criminal past. Eventually Joe was able to persuade Selina to release Iris and turn herself in. After turning herself in her daughter Helena was given to Bruce who agreed to provide her with legal counsel and saw to it Selina was put in a more respectable treatment facility. It's implied that Bruce wants to repair his relationship with Selina towards the end.
Personality[]
- "Do I have to spell it out for you? Selina has severe PTSD, combined with cleptomania, nymphomania, and funny enough haphephobia. Basically what I'm saying is Selina's got more screws loose than me now let that sink in. Oh and don't get me started on her abandonment emotional intimacy issues."
- ―Harley
Selina as a teenager was very idealistic and kind and selfless always looking out for others. However after being forced into a life of sexual slavery and forced drug use very little of the once idealistic teen remains of her. As an adult she's very sexual and self centered and even seems to have an aversion and down border line fear of being kind and open with another person.
It has been revealed that one of her clients was into BDSM and had a fantasy about worshiping and being dominated by a cat "goddess" this was the start of her Catwoman persona and where Harley speculates that Selina began escaping into this persona to avoid dealing with her trauma. It should also be noted that Selina's outfit(her full body catsuit) seems to stem from her trauma as despite her clear sexual nature she demands that she not be touched without permission and does not like showing too much if any skin. This is further emphasized with her anger issues towards those that do touch her.
It should also be noted that Selina despite her violent and anti social personality has according to Harley been known to be clingy with Batman as she's willing to do anything for him though this is not really shown and is arguable.
Regardless of whether Harley's diagnoses is correct or not the one thing that can be said is true is Selina's desperate need and desire to be loved and to love. This is shown by how being abandoned and rejected by Bruce has completely broken her to the point of making her even more unstable than Harley herself. However unlike Harley who is motivated by a desire to fulfill a childish romantic fantasy, Selina seems to be motivated by her own despair over her rejection and fear of Bruce taking her child from her.
Feelings for Bruce[]
- "Look whose talking sweetie, you say I'm pathetic for loving Mr. J, but let's be real here you act like you love cracking the whip but when it comes to Bat's you prefer the submissive position."
- ―Harley confronting Selina about her feelings for Batman
Despite her cold demeanor Harley claims Selina's relationship and feelings for Batman are even worse than Harley's relationship with Joker who out right accuses Selina of being willing to do anything for even scraps of Batman's affection however given Harley's bitter and jealous nature this "diagnosis" is very debatable. However it's a shared belief among both of Selina's fellow siren's that Selina whether she admits it or not desperately wants normal life and even a happy family and Harley even suspects that Selina wants a happy little picture perfect life even more than she does.
Parents[]
- "My mother died doing what she believed was right. My dad though is a coward and loser who does nothing but let his kids down and spoil his sad little princess whose never known a day of real pain or struggle and just loves thinking the world is sunshine and unicorns. Sound familiar?"
- ―Selina Kyle to Joe West
Very little is known about her parents what is known is that Selina's mother was a disgraced Central City cop who was run out of Central City by a scandal of her having an affair with her training officer. Her mother regrettably died when she was in the sixth grade leaving her an orphan. Her father's identity is known only to Selina herself and is later revealed to be Joe West.
Possible Father[]
- "You know not everybody gets a nice little house like Iris. Not everybody gets to go to college and not everybody gets a father some just end up forced to work the streets hooked on drugs. Your little princess is just a needle away from walking a street corner I've seen it happen to better women. You say I'm a crazy bitch! Well guess what Iris is just a bad day from being like me! You think she's so awesome for writing what some stupid news article? In Gotham I've been the subject of more articles than that hack will ever write! But it is funny growing up before the drugs got me I use to want to be a cop just like you and you know what nobody remembers those losers that write the news but everybody remembers who makes the news!"
- ―Selina Kyle to Joe West
There is strong evidence to suggest her father is Joe West, the first being her need to constantly torment him emotionally and to get his attention after coming to Central City. The first thing she does is make him spend the day with her first at a fair, then she makes him go to the movies with her, and then finish the day with dinner. When asked why she immediately got defensive and asked if he liked spending the day with her only to slip into a rage when told her she was just a crazy criminal. However she grew even more enraged when she couldn't understand why he didn't enjoy her company. She at one point screams that unlike him she's never going to abandon her child and that her child no matter what will be raised by both her Bruce as a family.
She doesn't state why but despite never meeting him prior he completely sets her into a emotional roller coaster making her flash between excitement to easily cited fits of anger. It's further suggested by her complete jeleasy of Iris and her unusual need to pick a fight with and antagonize Iris while holding her captive. Selina while picking a fight is seemingly determined to prove that Iris would in fact forsake her morals if pushed to far. Selina even goes as far as to mock Iris by calling her a "princess" born with a silver spoon. However when not sliding into a moment of anger with Iris she is very kind almost polite in the extreme but this kindness fades if Iris doesn't return Selina's hospitality. Selina even accuses Iris of being rude when after arranging a dinner and getting her nice clothes and jewellery to wear she seems at first to want to connect with Iris and then when things go bad becomes determined to prove Iris would break the law and become a criminal if she was desperate enough however despite this obsession Selina doesn't harm Iris physically.
She also seems to be hurt when after trying flaunt her pride over being one of the best thieves in the world Joe tells her she's pathetic. However these very Harleyquin like moments are shown only with Joe and Iris. It should also be noted that she is revealed to have history with Wally even encouraging him to follow his dream as a racer. It's even revealed she resents Iris for trying to stop him from racing saying a "princess" like Iris had no right to decide how Wally lives his life. Wally oddly is the only one of the three that she seems to listen to and she even says it's because Wally is just like her that they were both "unwanted".
Her eradic behavior is later explained when Joe West is confirmed to be her father.
Trivia[]
- It's very likely that her goal is for the Rival to alter time so that Bruce will not reject her and they will be a family with their child. This seems to be added with her fear of Bruce stopping her as she fears Bruce taking her child from her. His rejection of her for avenging his "death" has seemed to cause Selina to spiral into an emotional break down as she's convinced the only way to give her child a good home is to get the Rival to stop her from killing Oswald in the past. However given the paradox that would create it's more likely the Rival is just preying on her pain.
- Fearing Bruce would take her child she has not told him and has hidden their child she claims is somewhere not even he could find but is very safe.
- Unlike most incarnations this version of Selina has been committed to Arkham and has clear psychological issues.
- Selina during her incarceration at Arkham was assigned Lazlo Valentin as her doctor with Johnathan Crane as a consultant.
- Selina was one of the first patients used in Johnathan Crane's test trials for his fear toxin.
- She was never officially released and is still considered a fugitive.