Cassandra Cain/Black Bat

Subject Facts

Full Name: Cassandra Cain-Wayne
Codename: Black Bat
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Archetype: Vigilante
Aliases: Cass, Batgirl, Orphan, Kasumi, The Nothing, Mist, She Who Is All
Marital Status: Single
Affiliation: Bat Family | Batman Incorporated (current), League of Assassins, Titans East, Young Justice, Outsiders (all formerly)

Subject Attributes

Meta-Human Abilities: N/A

Standard Abilities:
Peak-human Conditioning: Cassandra possesses the near-peak athletic strength and endurance of a woman who regularly engages in intensive physical exercise, and her physical attributes exceed that of most athletes.

Martial Artist: Due to a lifetime of training, Cassandra has an incredible working knowledge of near all known martial arts - and indeed some unknown. Boasting training from the likes of the League of Assassins, Batman, Onyx and Lady Shiva, she is able to seamlessly alter her fight style in order to best her opponents. Cain is also mastered 'Dragon Kung Fu' and 'The Falling Leaf', ancient arts often guarded by their practitioners. Indeed, only 3 people within the DC universe know of and are able to use The Falling Leaf - an ancient Chinese nerve pinch, able to instantly disable opponents.

Muscle Analysis: Cassandra has the ability to read the musculature of her opponents, having a near-innate understanding of their body language and positioning. This offers her a unique insight into how people think and their planned actions, and she is able to react masterfully to their movements before they make them. She has been shown able to 'read' a variety of opponents, including non-humans and even alien lifeforms once given a chance to learn their body language. This has, in the past, enabled her to identify disguised and transformed individuals too, recognising them from personal twitches and tells.

Masked Detective: As with many newer members of the Bat family, Cassandra studied the art of investigation under both Bruce Wayne and Tim Drake. She is knowledgeable in everything from escapology to criminology, to stealth, to disguise, to breaking and entering.

Acrobat: Cassandra is a natural acrobat, and further training has made her an incredible gymnast, capable of near-impossible feats of human balance, contortion and movement.

Intimidation: While many newer members of the Bat-family lack Bruce's natural flair for intimidation, Cassandra leans heavily into that aspect of vigilante work. Her tendency toward silence, her use of a full face mask - hiding her emotions from others - and her sharp, darting movements, reacting before it should be humanly possible to do so, make her a terrifying adversary even the most hardened of criminals fear.

Paraphernalia:
Bat Family Arsenal: As a member of the Bat family, Cassandra has access to a plethora of bat-themed gadgets. From grapples to batarangs, from bolas to smoke grenades, she is able to keep an arsenal of items stored in the utility belt worn about her waist.

Black Back Suit: On returning to Gotham after spending an extended period of time overseas, Cassandra has combined elements of her former 'Batgirl' uniform (notably, the faceless mask) and her 'Black Bat' uniform into a new costume. As with most Bat family costumes, it is emblazoned with the symbol of the Bat (worn proudly on her chest) and an array of in-built gadgetry and armoured pads. However, Cassandra's costume is much simpler in design and function than other members of the Bat family, Cain relying heavily on her martial prowess rather than the use of technology.

Shadow Belt: Previously, Cassandra owned and utilised a belt of Thanagarian origin that allowed her to transform into a living shadow, enabling her to traverse areas freely, totally intangible.

Subject Weaknesses:
Mortal: Cassandra is mortal, and suffers all the setbacks that entails.

Dyslexia: Though fluent in reading body language, Cassandra is severely dyslexic, and struggles both reading and writing. While she has made progress in this area, tutored by Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake-Wayne, she still finds both activities more frustrating and taxing than most.

Communication: For much of her life, Cassandra was mute, communicating physically through displays of body language. Though she has learned speech in recent years, it still feels unnatural, and she keeps comments clipped and short, never one to waste words. She can also find it difficult to think of the word she wishes to use, which can curtail conversations quickly, pushing Cass to act without verbalising her intent.

Muscle Analysis: Black Bat's ability to read the movements of others is both a blessing and a curse. It is so ingrained in her fighting style that she can struggle to combat those whose movements are confusing and chaotic, or indeed those that don't possess conventional musculature.

Self-reliance: Cassandra was raised to be self-reliant, and difficulties communicating with others furthered this, making it an almost natural inclination. Though she now has a family, she can forget in difficult or challenging moments to ask for aid, dealing with troubles alone.

Subject History

Cassandra Cain was born the daughter of David Cain and Sandra Wu-San – infamous assassins with strong links to the Leage of Shadows. Born not out of love but for a purpose, she was tutored in martial arts since birth, a girl raised in such a way that combat was as natural to her as breathing, moulded to be the ideal bodyguard for Ra's al Ghul. She represents the last of many attempts to train 'The One Who Is All', and came the closest to achieving the League's ultimate goal.

As a child, Cassandra spent much of her time with her father, following his instruction as she honed her physical prowess in order to become the 'perfect weapon.' Indeed, from the age of one, her mother was entirely absent and contributed nothing to her upbringing. Instead of being taught to speak, read and write like most children, Cain was instead trained to read body movements and speak through actions. In doing so, the speech and language processors in her brain were focused solely on predicting and analysing the body language of others, allowing Cassandra to assess, with unerring accuracy, an individual's next movements. However, this also caused Cassandra to suffer from a multitude of learning and emotional difficulties – the most apparent a severe dyslexia that hampered her ability to talk, read and write.

After neight years of strict, unrelenting instruction, David Cain finally felt ready to test his protégé (for he barely, if ever, referred to Cassandra as his daughter), sending her to assassinate a Macanese 'bookmaker' named Faizul. Without fully realising what it was she'd been asked to do, seeing the murder of her target as little more than a training game – the likes of which she and her father often played – she struck a deathblow to the male's neck. As he lay dying, Cassandra interpreted what had occurred in the only way she knew: through the reading of muscles and body language.

Watching Faizul fall still, not breathing or showing any of the signs she associated with life, Cassandra was scarred emotionally. Quickly understanding that murder was wrong, and not wanting to aid or abet those that partook in it, she fled from her father and the League of Shadows as soon as she was able, using the lessons she'd been taught to evade recapture and keep from being found. For nearly nine years, she wandered the world, stricken with guilt. Where she could, she tried to help those in need, using her talents to punish those that murdered others and to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. Cassandra was a tragic heroine, unable to reach out and communicate with those she strived to aid – unable to speak or write.
Finally, she found herself in Gotham, and it was there she found her purpose.

During the events of ‘No Man’s Land’, Cassandra was employed as one of Oracle’s agents, serving as a watchful eye in No Man’s Land. After saving Commissioner Gordon's life from her father and the League of Assassins, she was awarded the title Batgirl with the approval of both Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon. She became Barbara's ward, and in a sense, the Batman's adoptive daughter. Despite early teething problems, with Cassandra acting without any sense of restraint, engaging in confrontations with criminals almost suicidally in certain situations, Bruce instilled in her a sense of self-preservation that was lacking, and began to aid her in seeing a path to some sort of redemption and, indeed, self-acceptance. This path was not easy, however, and numerous events in her later life would re-awake her more self-destructive tendencies, all linked to her early childhood trauma.

Cassandra quickly became one of the Batman’s most loyal and trusted followers. Although the fact that she couldn't talk frustrated members of the Bat family on occasion, she proved herself a capable listener, able to read people’s body language even if she couldn’t understand their words. She played a key part in tracking disappearing corpses throughout Gotham, and aided the Bat family when they became the target of the Bloodhawks. Her successes saw Batman begin to trust Cassandra with operating alone throughout Gotham City, but gave her express instructions to avoid conflict with costumed villains – the likes of Joker, Bane and Riddler – and asked her to remain within his protectorate. From going undercover in Madras alongside Batman, to saving local heroes from the mob, Cassandra continued to impress as the new Batgirl. Despite Batman's warnings, she faced off against a meta-human and won, and was formally invited to be a reserve member of Young Justice. But Cassandra's career was not the only thing that was growing. In the background, a rift between Oracle and Batman was slowly emerging, disagreeing about how to continue Cassandra’s training.

Bruce eventually learned about Cassandra's past when her father, David Cain, delivered a recording of Fazul’s death to the Batcave, hoping that it would tear Cass’s new father figure from her. However, somewhat unexpectedly, Batman continued to tutor and mentor Cassandra, though their relationship was somewhat strained when a psychic altered Cassandra's mind so that she could understand words. In doing so, Cass lost her ability to read body language and thus, her ability to fight properly. After she almost died while trying to protect the psychic from assassins, Batman took away her costume and began retraining her. However, his efforts proved fruitless - in part due to Cassandra dwelling on her lost ability instead of focusing on learning all over again. Cassandra began to roam the streets of Gotham, with or without her costume, and lacking in the abilities that had once made her so dangerous.

It was during these 'unauthorized' vigilante outings that she encountered her mother. The Lady Shiva attempted to murder a wealthy young heiress, and Cassandra intervened, though was quickly bested, left knocked out where she’d encountered the superior fighter. Upon waking, however, she set about tracking the assailant down, despite having a dead arm, to find out why Shiva had spared her. Shiva revealed that she had come to Gotham to combat Batigirl, and thus had left when she felt Cassandra was no longer a challenge. When she explained why her skills were lacking, Shiva recognized what her daughter had lost, and offered to train in a way that would allow her to rediscover them. In exchange, they would fight to the death after a years’ worth of tutelage. Though she knew she had no chance of succeeding, she accepted the offer, desperate to understand movement as she once had, but also realising that failure would satisfy the deathwish she still harboured, awoken once again by her loss of ability.

Cassandra began training immediately; learning from both Shiva and Bruce, and she actively targeted the most dangerous criminals that she could, hoping to learn from them, even in defeat. After hearing of the Joker’s notoriety, Cassandra actively sought to free him in order to apprehend him again, hoping to gauge just how dangerous he was, and assess how easily he could be defeated – the answer was not very. All the while, the rift between Batman and Oracle continued to grow. Both understood Cassandra’s reckless behaviour was a result of her childhood murder of Fazul, but they disagreed with how best to channel and aid her in dealing with the resulting emotional scarring. It was around this time that Batgirl met Spoiler – a costumed heroine who would soon become her closest friend.

As her training continued, Cassandra stood against more powerful opponents – seeking out meta-humans akin to Bizarro, Supergirl and Shadow Thief. Despite Barbara Gordon’s protests, Batman made no move to halt her tutelage under Shiva, even though he knew how dangerous Wu-San was. He was impressed with the results it harboured, and though it remained unsaid, believed in the young Cain. When Cassandra’s year was up, Barbara confronted Cass, hoping to persuade Batgirl not to stand against Shiva. Paralysing Oracle with a nerve strike, Cassandra apologised and left to face her fate. Despite her best efforts, Shiva won the battle fairly easily, killing Cassandra with a shot to a nerve cluster near the heart. After the battle, however, within a temple devoted to her, Shiva brought Cassandra back to life. Shiva's price: A rematch. However, accepting that she had died, Cassandra believed her former death wish-satisfied, and she fought more defensively and carefully, allowing her to best her mother. She became the first to defeat Lady Shiva in martial combat. However, she spared Shiva's life, who in turn vowed to return to kill Cassandra.

Unfortunately, her victory would be short-lived. Bruce Wayne was in jail on suspicion of murder. Cassandra arrived back at the cave in time to see Batman leave. Cassandra's resulting investigation revealed that Batman and Bruce Wayne were, in fact, the same person – something that she, up until that point, was yet to learn. Later she, along with Spoiler and Nightwing, discovered critical clues that pointed to Bruce Wayne's innocence and, eventually, incriminating evidence to the real culprit: David Cain. Working together, they managed to apprehend her father and clear Bruce’s name. With her father safely behind bars and no battle-to-the-death with Shiva to train for, Cassandra was free to focus on her crime-fighting career.

Over the next few months, Cassandra was involved in taking out the Doll Man and Black Wind, and she had her first date and kiss with Superboy of Metropolis – though they decided they were better off as friends. Stress and feeling overwhelmed caused her to make a number of mistakes during an investigation into ‘The Lost Girls’, for which Batman initially banned her from operating as Batgirl, but her insistence to continue in the role (stealing Barbara Gordon’s old outfit when hers was confiscated), led to her and Bruce becoming closer, Cassandra showing a fatherly adoration that her own had denied her. Together, they were able to overcome Doctor Death, despite being dosed with Soul, and Bruce returned her costume to her and reinstated her as Batgirl.

During the events of War Games, it was revealed that illiteracy and dyslexia still proved a problem for Batgirl: despite a greater understanding of spoken language – she struggled deciphering a bomb’s self-destruct code. Having worked closely with Stephanie Brown for a number of years, Batgirl was hurt to find she’d been fired as Robin, and when Gotham descended into all out gang warfare, Batgirl did her utmost to stop her operating as Spoiler, though Stephanie refused to listen. During the chaos that engulfed the streets, Cassandra fought against the Lucky Hand Triad, the Hill Gang and Latino Unified. She was one of many to believe Stephanie Brown had been killed by the Black Mask, but continued to support Batman in solving the crisis, even when the GCPD were told to shoot vigilantes on sight.

Following War Games, the Gotham City Police Department declared all costumed heroes illegal. Because of this, and indeed Nightwing being injured during the War Games, Batman suggested that he and Batgirl move to Blüdhaven. There, she quickly made a name for herself by defeating the Society of Evil. Deathstroke later took on a contract from the Penguin to kill Batgirl and decided to let his daughter Rose Wilson (the current Ravager) to accept the contract instead. Cassandra bested Rose, critically wounding her and giving Deathstroke no choice but to get her medical attention. It was during fathers' day that Cassandra became infatuated with knowing who her mother was. Interrogating all the contacts she had (including Batman and her father, David Cain) she eventually found her mother to be Lady Shiva – the woman who wanted her dead.

Cassandra later joined the Justice League Elite, masquerading as an assassin named Kasumi to monitor the team for Batman, during which time she utilised a belt of Thanagarian origin. Ultimately she helped them save the world from the Worlogog and a psychic impression of Manchester Black that had taken over the team's leader, Vera Black. She revealed herself to her teammate Coldcast, personally standing by him in attempting to clear his name following murder charges.

On returning to Gotham City, Cassandra discovered that the Batfamily had departed Gotham on a training exercise, and that Bruce had left a cured Two-Face in charge of protecting the city. Cassandra still retained the Batgirl persona, and though she battled anxiety and a feeling of being forgotten, she patrolled Gotham whilst residing at Wayne Manor under Alfred's care. Here, she would gradually learn to read and write, attending ESL classes between her nightly activities. It was during one of these patrols, however, that Deathstroke – intrigued by her following their former meeting - managed to not only inject her with a controlled dose of a dangerous serum, but influenced her to join him in creating an army consisting of David Cain's 'daughters'. Under Slade's influence, Cassandra gained control of the League of Assassins, apparently murdering Nyssa al Ghul in the process. She also became a member of his Titan's East. During this period, she orchestrated an attempt to kill Kara Zor-el and masterminded the escape of David Cain from prison. She was cured when Timothy Drake injected her with an antiserum during a confrontation between the Teen East and the Teen Titans. However, suffering residual effects of the drug, she briefly worked for David Cain in attaining the drug Pheno before fully coming to her senses and returning to the Bat Family.

Feeling, in part, responsible for what happened to Cassandra, Batman allowed her to return after a detoxification program and gave her a strict curfew. Nightwing, however, was not so accepting, regarding her with open hostility and suspicion. Cassandra began to secretly plan vengeance upon her father and Slade Wilson, but unfortunately, her activities eventually were found out, resulting in her clashing with Nightwing and stealing a Batwing from the Batcave. Teaming up with her half-sister Marque, she fought Deathstroke and David Cain once again, culminating in Cassandra almost killing her father. However, she stayed her hand, remaining loyal to the Bat Family’s crest, which Batman witnesses. At the end of the ordeal, Cassandra was officially adopted as Bruce Wayne's daughter.

Cassandra was then drafted into the short lived Outsiders, operating with the team – though they didn’t trust her – until it was disbanded following Batman’s apparent death. Desperate to reform the group, hoping to stand in for Batman and protect Gotham, she was met with resistance from Nightwing, who still held Cassandra culpable for her actions with the League of Assassins, and suffered while mourning his adoptive father’s passing. The skirmish between the two was interrupted by Alfred, who in turn was able to convince the pair to reconcile any differences. Cassandra gave control of the Outsiders – who she’d planned on naming the ‘Network’ - over to Grayson, joining the team under his leadership, rather than her own. During this period she worked alongside the Huntress, though also fought against her, trying to stop her from killing Hugo Strange in cold blood.

Following the Battle for Batman's cowl, Cassandra began to feel emotional about her adoptive father's death, seemingly disillusioned with her role in Gotham. She passed her costume and mantle on to Stephanie Brown, revealed to still be alive thanks to the hard work of Leslie Thompkins, who took the title ‘Batgirl.’ Cassandra left via the Gotham City Airport, warning Stephanie not to follow her. After Batman's return, it was revealed that Cassandra had handed over her Batgirl mantle to Stephanie, acting in accordance with her mentor's will in the event of his death or disappearance: Batman believed that giving over the role would help Stephanie become a stronger hero, and showed his forgiveness after the events of War Games. During her absence, Tim Drake remained in contact with her, implying that Cassandra been working as an anonymous agent in Batman's plans.

During the events of Batman Incorporated, Tim and Cassandra were reunited, and after a brief meeting with him months before (in which they’d battled a villain known as Cricket), Cassandra had taken on the misnomer of Black Bat. Together, they tackled a neo-heroin smuggling ring, and took down a number of assassins in an international combat tournament – including the Daughter of Archeron and Promise. She has since returned to Gotham, reinventing her Black Bat identity. With her feelings of disillusionment ended, she has aligned her costume more with what once was. Cassandra continues to hunt the assassin known as ‘Cricket’, and is looking to track with a number of leads following her and Drake’s victory over Archeron and Promise, all the while protecting Gotham’s streets as one of its many caped crusaders.

Subject Interview

She stepped over one of the fallen figures that littered the warehouse floor, her boots creaking quietly, though the sound was almost a cacophany in the silence left in her wake. Two long strides were taken toward a sprawled out male ahead of her, easily distinguishable from a dozen others thanks to his attire - the blue uniform of the GCPD. Upon reaching him, she dropped into a neat crouch, and placed two fingers just beneath his chin, searching for his corotid artery – hopefully pulsating with signs of life. Even through the thick material of her gloves, she could feel the strong and rhythmic beating, and moments later, noted the deep rise and fall of his chest.

She let out a soft breath of relief.

Cassandra knew the other twelve were alive – even if they showed few obvious signs. A lifetime of martial training had taught her how and where to strike her enemies, and experience had feathered her blows, instilled in her a measure of restraint. The men on the ground were hurt, most certainly, and it would take days – perhaps weeks – to fully recover from the injuries she'd inflicted upon them. But they were alive: every punch, kick and throw had been intended to immobilise, and her intent had been flawlessly executed.

Killing was not Cassandra Cain's way.

But the patrol officer lying prone at her feet – he had not been one of her casualties. He had burst into the warehouse on hearing the undeniable raucous of a street fight; a brave interloper. The moment the embattled criminals had set eyes upon him, he had become their lifeline and soul focus. Those that were able turned their attention away from the Bat in their midsts; a lethal shadow they couldn't touch, and hoped to become predators rather than prey, to take the officer hostage, perhaps the only way to fend off their invisible assailant.

The Black Bat had given chase to those still able to run, and only one had come close to reaching the GCPD recruit. In sheer desperation, the thug had thrown the crowbar he held – striking the officer across the forehead. He had instantly crumpled, the criminal mimicking him moments later, the Bat's vengance being exacted swiftly – a forceful, opened palm shove to the mid-back twinned with a simple leg hook. The clown-masked smuggler had hit the ground with force and not moved since.

The shifting of the officer's shoulders - coupled with a slight groan - caused Cassandra to remove her fingers from where they rested, the vigilante instantly rising to her feet. The young man's blue eyes flickered open, and taking a moment to adjust the the dusk's half-light, finally came to rest upon the dark figure that towered above him. Letting out a gasp, he shuffled backward on his elbows – putting distance between himself and his saviour.

He only halted when his brain – no doubt slowed by his head injury – noted that the Bat had not given chase. A few seconds more, and he recalled where he was: Gotham, a city protected by more than just the police force. Recognition of her cowl followed soon after, and understanding finally dawned. “Batman?” he whispered, former terror turning to awe.

“No,” was all she replied, turning on her heel and heading toward the warehouse's site office. She had never been one for words. “Thank you!” he shouted after her, though she didn't stop or turn. Silence was her response.

Black Bat had returned to Gotham with work to do, and she had little time for pleasantries.

Author's Notes

Player Alias: Star

Other Characters: Koriand'r et al.

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