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Batgirl is one of a number of characters acting as a [[Distaff Counterpart]] to [[Batman]] and/or Robin. The character has served as an ensemble and background character in numerous Bat-titles and has also independently starred in three self-titled series. The first series featured Cassandra Cain, the second "official" Batgirl, the second ongoing series featured Stephanie Brown, formerly known as the Spoiler, and the third series features Barbara Gordon, the original woman to bear the title. Batgirl has also headlined two miniseries, the 2008 series with Cassandra Cain and an origin series, ''Batgirl: Year One,'' starring Barbara Gordon.
Comics titled Batgirl have their own pages:
* The first series was published from 2000-2006 and featured Cassandra Cain, the [[Legacy Character|third]] Batgirl, found [[Batgirl (2000 comic book)||here]].
* The second series was published from 2009-2011 and featured Stephanie Brown, formerly known as the Spoiler. This series is found [[Batgirl 2009|here]].
* The third series began publishing in 2011 and featured Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Despite her lengthy publication history, this is the first ongoing series to feature her as the title character. Its page can be found [[Batgirl 2011|here]].
== Betty Kane ==
[[File:betty_kane.png|frame]]
Batwoman and Bat-Girl were [[Brother Chuck|summarily dumped]] from the Bat-titles in 1964 as part of the new editor's cutting away some of the high silliness that had accumulated during [[The Interregnum]]. Years later, when Dick Grayson had become Nightwing, "Bette" Kane showed up in the ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' series as [[Continuity Nod|Flamebird]], a part-time costumed heroine with a crush on him. She's popped up every so often for brief appearances with the Titans, but avoiding a deep look at her continuity. Recently, the Interregnum-era stories have been brought back into continuity, albeit with the more outlandish ones being retconned into hallucinations that Bruce had during an exceptionally troubling phase in his life. The original Batwoman and Bat-Girl in particular have been confirmed as having been real.
* [[Action Girl]] / [[Faux Action Girl]]: Betty's level of competency varied wildly by the needs of the story--but usually she needed rescuing from whatever jam she and Batwoman had gotten themselves into this time.
* [[All Love Is Unrequited]]
* [[Animal
* [[Distaff Counterpart]]
* [[Hair of Gold]]
* [[Magic Skirt]]
== Barbara Gordon ==
[[File:batgirl1.jpg|frame]]▼
[[File:BatgirlBarbara4 31.jpg|thumb|200px]]
In story, Barbara Gordon had created a "Batgirl" costume for herself to go to a masquerade ball, showing her personality by spending the time and effort to make it fully workable as a crimefighting outfit as well as a costume party winner. On the way to the party, Barbara saw a crime in progress by Killer Moth, and wound up helping Batman and Robin solve the case after an initial misunderstanding or two. Thrilled by the adventure, Batgirl opted to take up heroing full time.
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Many adaptations of the Batman material have made Barbara much younger at the time she became Batgirl, and much more Batman's sidekick.
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Animal
* [[Badass Bookworm]]
* [[Combat Stilettos]] (though in Batgirl: Y1 she switched to flats after her heel broke on her first mission)
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* [[Distaff Counterpart]]
* [[Hot Librarian]]
* [[May
** She has now been retconned to the same age as him thanks to Flashpoint. They were already about the same age in earlier works such as Batman: TAS.
* [[Redheaded Hero]]
* [[Retcon]] / [[Ret Canon]]: Barbara's age. She was originally a college graduate with a Ph.D while Dick Grayson was still in high school (later a Congresswoman while he was in college, meaning she was, at some point, at least 25), but has been gradually de-aged over the years until the post-[[Flashpoint]] reboot has them at the same age, and barely out of college. Rumor has it that one of the reasons for the reboot was that word around the office was that Barbara was probably pushing 30 by this point, and that wasn't workable. This arguably began with ''[[Batman:
* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]: Her injury in ''[[The Killing Joke]]'' is this, no question. It's been noted that she's not so much a ''character'' in that story as she is a plot device to cause Commissioner Gordon and Batman pain. Alan Moore is on the record saying that this was a case where DC probably should have
== Helena Bertinelli ==
[[File:huntress_as_batgirl_super2.gif|frame]]
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Animal
* [[Anti
* [[Identity Impersonator]]
{{break}}
== Cassandra Cain ==
[[File:batgirlcover.jpg|frame]]
In her backstory, Cassandra was raised by her father, notorious assassin David Cain, to have body language as her "native tongue," allowing her to read people's movements and emotions from the tiniest of clues. With the addition of constant martial arts training, Cain hoped to turn Cassandra into a superhuman assassin. The training had the side effect of making Cassandra unable to understand spoken or written language. However, when Cain had Cassandra kill a human being for the first time she read the victim's dying agonies and understood on a primal level what death was, and silently vowed never to kill again, escaping from her father.
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While the ''[[Batgirl]]'' title was a decent seller, it was not quite up to Bat-family levels and it was decided to end the series. A lot of rumors on the internet say this decision was meant to clear the way for the new [[Batwoman|Kate Kane Batwoman]], who DC planned to make a major push on in conjuction with the ''52'' series, but this has yet to receive any sort of official confirmation. The character was not in limbo long, as [[Executive Meddling]] made Cassandra the [[Face Heel Turn|new villain]] of the ''Robin'' series, with nearly a one hundred eighty degree turn in her characterization, skillset and competency. This did not go over at all well with the fans, among the strongest reactions being the creation of ''[[Cass Toons]]''.
Eventually, it was revealed that Cassandra's new personality was the result of being [[Brainwashed and Crazy|drugged by Deathstroke]], which was either an [[
Despite reestablishing her as a hero, DC decided to separate Cassandra from the Batgirl persona and had her renounce the identity in the first issue of a new ongoing series, replaced by Stephanie Brown (See below). DC then declared that 2010 was a "big year" for Cassandra, but fans have called [[Lying Creator]] since her only appearance was in ''Red Robin #17'' as a crime fighter in Hong Kong. In this comic Tim gave her back her old costume and said that he hopes she will wear the symbol. [[Gail Simone]] had said that she would appear in ''[[Birds of Prey]]'', but unfortunately [
A quick side note: Cassandra briefly took on another identity, Kasumi, in the ''[[Justice League]] Elite'' title.
* [[Abusive Parents]]
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Animal
* [[Anti
* [[Big Eater]]: At least after really tough fights.
* [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]: Super body language reading. Moreover, her [[Training
* [[Combat Stilettos]]: [[Deconstructed]]. Cass tries on Babs outfit and immediatly stumbles when trying to fight in the heels.
* [[Corruption of a Minor]]
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* [[No Social Skills]]: What with her upbringing, it would be odder if she did ''not'' have trouble interacting.
* [[The Quiet One]]: After gaining the ability to speak, but before her [[Face Heel Turn]]. Somewhat restored after her [[Heel Face Turn]].
* [[Put
* [[Tap
* [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]]: Because of her ability to read body language, when she made her first kill she was able to understand the fear of death on an intimate level, and vowed to never take another life.
* [[Training
* [[What Could Have Been]]: The miniseries "Batman: Gates of Gotham" was originally conceived as a solo story about Cassandra. The final product heavily featured her, but she had to share it with her brothers.
== Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe ==
▲==== Tropes exhibited by the Charlotte Gage-Radcliffe Batgirl include: ====
▲* [[Animal Themed Superbeing]]
* [[Catch Phrase]] - "Darrrrrrrrrrk Vengeance!" (despite being a bright, bubbly girl)
* [[Identity Impersonator]]
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* [[Kid Hero]]
* [[Redheaded Hero]]
6) As of October, 2009, a [[Batgirl 2009 (Comic Book)|new]] ''[[Batgirl 2009 (Comic Book)|Batgirl]]'' [[Batgirl 2009 (Comic Book)|series]] started with a new Batgirl: Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler and Robin IV. As shown in the first issue, Cassandra Cain has retired as Batgirl (but the [[Word of God|author]] says she's not out of the picture...oops, now she is because DC has "big plans for her"...) and Stephanie decides to use the costume instead. Barbara Gordon finds out about this and at first tries to stop her, but after seeing a demonstration of her bravery vows to guide and help her. The series is [[Lighter and Softer]] than many of the other Bat-related titles currently being published by DC, but is an embodiment of the [[Tropes Are Not Bad]] ideal: Its [[Plucky Girl|upright and cheerful protagonist]] still faces the same horrors and challenges facing any hero, but perseveres without ever losing her positive outlook.▼
{{break}}
Early reports stated that Stephanie would be Spoiler post-reboot, but she has yet to appear in actual continuity. This originated from an attempt to fit Grant Morrison's "Batman: Leviathan Strikes!" into the New 52 continuity, but this got to be too complicated. They finally said "screw it," set the story in pre-Flashpoint continuity, and kept Stephanie as Batgirl for the duration.▼
For tropes on the series itself see [[Batgirl 2009 (Comic Book)|here]]▼
== Stephanie Brown ==
[[File:steph_batgirl_large2.jpg|frame]]
▲
▲Early reports stated that Stephanie would be Spoiler post-reboot, but she has yet to appear in actual continuity. This originated from an attempt to fit Grant Morrison's "Batman: Leviathan Strikes!" into the New 52 continuity, but this got to be too complicated. They finally said "screw it," set the story in pre-Flashpoint continuity, and kept Stephanie as Batgirl for the duration.
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Always Second Best]]: [[Character Development|She began to shine once she assumed the Batgirl title]], but Stephanie has a long history of failing to measure up against her compatriots. In particular, she and Cassandra Cain (The Batgirl to precede her, and with whom
{{quote|
'''Cassandra:''' Shot me.
''(Both laugh hysterically) ''
'''Stephanie:''' Oh, man. [[Always Second Best|I can't beat you at anything.]] }}
* [[Animal
* [[Blue Eyes]]
* [[Casual Danger Dialogue]]: Stephanie has mastered the art of the [[Seinfeldian Conversation]] while facing her own impending doom.
* [[Character Development]]: The theme of the series seems to be growing up in both the literal and figurative sense, with Stephanie Brown going to college and also approaching superhero work with a more mature and developed attitude.
* [[Determinator]]: Despite everyone telling her to quit, despite everything bad happening to her, she keeps going. Especially evident in the fear gas scene.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: Stephanie really is a product of her generation, with all the TV and movie knowledge that implies. She is ever-aware of the cliches that occur, and are expected to occur, in
* [[Goggles Do Nothing]]: Her thigh belt was revealed to be empty. apparently just there for aesthetics.
* [[Hair of Gold]]
* [[Hot Amazon]]: Once she finishes beating to a pulp a train hijacker in issue #9, he can only comment how beautiful she is.
* [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness]]: Stephanie has never once lost [[Plucky Girl|her positive, upbeat attitude]], never [[Darker and Edgier|descended to the same levels as the people she fought]], and also never so much as cheated on a test. She is the only Bat-character to never [[Angst]] or approach psychosis because of her affiliation with the icon.
* [[Insistent Terminology]]:
* [[Legacy Character]]: She picks up the immediate mantle from Cassandra Cain, becoming the third "real" Batgirl in current continuity, but she also struggles with the even larger burden of living up to Barbara's original legacy. This is exacerbated by the fact that Barbara [[The Obi
* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]]: You could rename this trope Pulling a Stephanie Brown.
* [[One of Us]]: Within the series, Batgirl likes Supergirl all the more because she is able to follow the [[Techno Babble]] explanation for their current crisis and has a sufficient grasp of grammar to realize that "BFF" is ''already'' plural.
* [[Overshadowed
* [[Plucky Girl]]: One of Stephanie's crowning characteristics is no matter what crap is loaded on top of her, she remains cheerful and pops back up.
* [[Precocious Crush]]: Stephanie has become somewhat infatuated with the detective that is shaping up to be [[The Commissioner Gordon|her contact with the local police]], but the age difference (And the implication that he has some serious relationship baggage) will probably preclude any sort of actual relationship.
* [[Secret Identity]]: Batgirl is really Stephanie Brown, freshman at Gotham University and formerly the Spoiler and Robin.
* [[Smoke Out]]: She ''is'' a Bat...
* [[Squee]]: Stephanie herself
* [[Took a Level
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Steph and her mom eat waffles at pretty much every meal. It is apparently her mom's way of bonding. Heck, even Damian was seen eating them with Steph more than once!
* [[You Fight Like a Cow]]: [[Witty Banter]] is a necessity in any life-or-death situation, and Stephanie always remembers to prompt somebody when it is their turn for a quip.
{{quote|
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{{reflist}}
{{IGN Top 100 Heroes}}
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