Real Name: Selina Kyle
Occupation: Villain/Hero
Weight: 133 lbs
Height: 5ft 7in
Eyes: Blue-Green
Hair: Black
Base Of Operations: Gotham City
Group Affiliations: Batman Family, Secret Society of Super-Villians, Injustice League, JLA
Marital Status: Single
Relatives: Carmine Falcone (Father), Maria Kyle (Mother), Brian Kyle (step-father), Magdalene Kyle (sister), Helena (daughter)

First Appearance: Batman #1 (1940)
Created by: Bill Finger, Bob Kane

Selina Kyle was born in Gotham’s East End, the part of town you don’t go to after dark. Her mother was depressed and distant, associating more with her cats then with her. Brian Kyle, the man she believed was her father, was an abusive alcoholic. Selina tried her best to take care of her younger sister, Magdelena, but this was complicated by her mother’s suicide, and her father’s finally succumbing to alcohol poisoning and dying. The two sisters were sent to separate wards, and it would be years before they saw each other again.

Selina escaped from the orphanage and took to the streets, stealing to survive. She was apprehended, and sent to the Sprang Hall juvenile facility. There she met Sylvia Sinclair who would come back into Selina’s life later. Selina had always been good at gymnastics, one of the few things that had drawn attention from her mother, and used these abilities to sneak out. She found out the director of Sprang Hall was embezzling, and when Selina confronted her, the woman tried to drown Selina. Selina survived, slipped out, and sent the evidence to the police.

Selina lived back on the streets, getting better and better at her stealing. She met Ted Grant, the boxer who was once Wildcat, and he trained her in boxing. She also encountered the Sensei, a martial arts master who served the League of Assassins, who took her into his dojo. Selina became his number one pupil, ousting the old number one, Kai, who swore a debt of vengeance against Selina.

Selina had now started taking part in Gotham’s prostitution trade. She often used her johns as ways to find out new places to rob, the way she still made most of her money. She took a young prostitute Holly Robinson, or as she went by then “Holly Gonightly,” under her wing, protecting her. One night, Holly’s pimp attempted to hit her, and he was stopped not by Selina, but by Bruce Wayne in disguise. Selina saw this, and she and Bruce fought. This was the first time, but far from the last.

Selina saw the Batman, and thought the idea of the costume was a good one. Thinking of her and her mother’s affinity for cats, she fashioned a suit and became the Catwoman. She started robbing from both the guilty and innocent, and quickly ran afoul of Gotham’s reigning crime boss, Carmine “the Roman” Falcone. She also met Batman mask-to-mask for the first time. The chemistry between the two was immediate, but they were on opposite sides of the law, and so they fought.

Selina also found her sister, Magdalena, who was now Sister Maggie. Selina gave Holly over to her custody, knowing the life she now lead was too dangerous, and Maggie and Holly left for the west coast. Catwoman then became involved in Batman’s investigation of the Holiday murders, and Selina became involved with Bruce Wayne. Selina had made a great deal of money as a thief, and she and Bruce met at a number of parties. They began falling in love, but Bruce’s life as Batman stood in the way. At the end of the Holiday affair, Catwoman stood by Batman against the forces of both the Roman and Two-Face, developing a personal grudge with the Roman’s daughter, Sofia.

During the time of the Hangman killings, Selina finally had enough of Bruce’s disappearances, and left Gotham for a time. She went to Rome to investigate something she had suspected, and after finding it out, returned to Gotham, and again aided Batman, adding to the confused feelings the two shared. After the end of the Hangman affair, Selina went and stood by the grave of her real father: The Roman, who had an affair with Maria Kyle years before.

Catwoman and Batman continued their dance, and Bruce and Selina continued theirs. Catwoman began to develop her own foes, including Hellhound, who was in reality Kai, the Sensei’s student who hated her. She confronted Azrael while he was Batman, and knew he was not her old sparring partner. She was captured by a black ops government agency, and forced for a time to do their bidding. But at the back of everything she did, there was always her rivalry with, and attraction to, the Batman.

When Gotham was declared a No Man’s Land, Selina fled to New York City. She continued being Catwoman, but also took Selina public, running for mayor. When it was revealed she had rigged the election, she was forced to fake Selina’s death. She was then contacted by Batman, who needed her help in getting files that would help in the resurrection of Gotham. She helped, and was back in the city of her birth when it was reborn.

The new mayor of Gotham decided that he wanted to make an example of Catwoman in his new Gotham, and tasked Jim Gordon to catch her. Batman was unwilling to help, and Gordon set up a sting that nabbed her. Unwilling to reveal her name, Selina was tried, convicted, and sentenced to rehabilitation in Cinque Rehabilitation Center. The Center’s “experimental” methods included solitary confinement and other harsh punishments. Imprisonment, coupled with a latent reaction to a dose of Scarecrow’s fear toxin, caused Selina to crack.

Selina escaped Cinque with the aid of Harley Quinn, who used her as part of a scheme to embarrass and then kill Commissioner Gordon. Selina’s fractured mental state made her help Harley, and then find information to blackmail the mayor. She also began acting in two costumes, believing her sister had returned and was acting as another Catwoman. Selina’s mind was restored, but too late to save her from the Mayor’s wrath. He had hired Deathstroke to eliminate her, and Selina was forced to fake her death again, this time as Catwoman.

When the Mayor hired Slam Bradley to look into his suspicions that Catwoman lived, Selina returned to Gotham and decided to take up residence there. She began acting as a robin hood type figure, stealing from criminals and defending Gotham’s East End, where she was born. She was aided by Slam Bradley, who had fallen in love with her, and Holly who had returned to Gotham City and had become a drug addict. With the help of Leslie Thompkins, who Batman had sent her too, she helped save Holly, and she became a valuable ally.

Selina had become a major thorn in the side of the mob boss who had been running the East End mobs, the Black Mask, and he decided to take revenge. He blew up the new community center Selina had built. He captured Maggie, who had left the sisterhood and had gotten married, and her husband, and killed him and tortured her. All of this information he received from Sylvia Sinclair, Selina’s old friend, who was working as one of his goons. After he captured Holly, Selina finally found his lair, but too late. Maggie had slipped into a traumatic coma, and Holly had been tortured. Selina fought Black Mask, who apparently plummeted to his death, and Holly was forced to shoot Sylvia to save Selina.

Selina fell into the machinations of the villain Hush. She and Batman were forced into situations where they worked closely together, and the romantic embers they shared burst into full flame. They worked closely together for a time and Batman decided he trusted her enough and finally revealed that he was in fact Bruce Wayne. But Bruce’s emotional issues, and the end of his battle with Hush, cast a pall over their relationship, and they stopped seeing each other.

The Penguin started moving in on the East End and had the hitman Zeiss attack Selina and her friends. Zeiss stabbed Slam Bradley, attacked some of Selina’s other aides in the East End, and eventually threw down with Selina. He stabbed her nearly fatally, and she was only saved by the intervention of a cult worshipping the children of Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess. Selina escaped the cult and returned to Gotham, reuniting joyfully with Holly and Slam, and having one night of romance with Bruce. She then went back out onto the streets of the East End renewing her quest as Catwoman.

Catwoman appeared to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman true (although brash and unpredictable). However, she has learned her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. Zatanna gave no reason for her actions, but in flashback it was shown that she had acted with the consent and aid of five of the seven JLA members who had helped her mindwipe Dr. Light and Batman. Catwoman's response to this revelation was unequivocal: she pitched Zatanna out a window. (Zatanna survived the fall.) Afterwards, she was seen covering her bed with past versions of her Catwoman costume.

Still unbalanced and uncertain of herself, Selina was forced (like Wonder Woman and Aquaman) to decide whether to kill a supervillain. The Black Mask, in an attempt to "improve himself," threatened the most important people in Selina's life, from Slam Bradley to Holly. Still thinking that Selina adhered to a strict no-kill rule, Black Mask was caught by surprise when Selina shot him in the head.

One year Later Selina Kyle is no longer Catwoman, has left the East End, and has given birth to a daughter named Helena. Holly takes over as the new Catwoman while Selina, living under the alias Irena Dubrovna, turns her attention to caring for her daughter. (Selina's alias was inspired by the name of the main character in the 1942 film Cat People.)

Though she takes her role as a new mother quite seriously, Selina dons the costume for a run through the East End some days after Helena's birth. Having understandably gained a few pounds, Selina finds that her costume is now a tighter fit. In addition, she is easily distracted by a common criminal. Although the situation is defused through Holly's opportune arrival, the fact that there are two Catwomen active in the city is caught on video. Selina returns home from her adventure to find that the mysterious movie aficionado Film Freak has deduced her alias, joined with Angle Man, and grabbed Helena.

After rescuing her daughter, Selina convinces Zatanna to mind-wipe Film Freak and Angle Man in order to preserve her secret identity. Following the procedure, Angle Man turns himself in to the authorities; Film Freak, however, embarks upon a murderous rampage. Ted Grant informs Selina that Holly has been arrested for the murder of Black Mask; Selina infiltrates the police station and frees Holly. Finally defeating Film Freak, Selina returns home to find that Slam Bradley has deduced that Helena is Sam Bradley's child, and therefore his granddaughter

Batman asks Catwoman to infiltrate the violent tribe of Bana Amazons during the Amazons Attack crossover. Posing as a criminal, Selina gains the Bana's trust and thwarts a terror attack aimed at causing mass casualties in Gotham City.

Selina questions whether she should be raising a daughter when her life as Catwoman has already proven to be such a danger to the child. After enlisting Batman's help in faking her own and her daughter's death, Selina puts Helena up for adoption. A month after Helena is placed with a new family, Catwoman asks Zatanna to erase her memories of Helena and change her mind back to a criminal mentality. Zatanna refuses, judging that such an act would be cruel to both mother and daughter. She tells Selina that she could never reverse Selina's mindset, since she was on the path to becoming a hero on her own.

Selina has decided to make herself one of Batman's Outsiders. SKILLS:
Catwoman is an excellent martial artist and acrobat. She was trained by Ted Grant, whose boxing coupled with the Sensei’s martial arts, makes her a tough opponent. Her costume includes night-vision capability and retractable claws. She is also a master of all forms of whips.