Batgirl (2000 comic book)

There's a new bat in town... and she's trouble

Batgirl, a DC Comics monthly series published from 2000-2006, was the first ongoing series to star the character Batgirl, who had existed in the comics continuity since 1967. The starring character was Cassandra Cain, the second woman to hold the Batgirl mantle, which she assumed in the Bat Family Crossover Batman: No Man's Land.

Cassandra Cain had been raised by her father, notorious assassin David Cain, in complete language deprivation. She was never spoken to or taught to speak or read, and as such became adept at interpreting body language, able to deduce complex thoughts and emotions from minute movements. This made her an almost unmatchable fighter, since she could predict where you would strike before you began to move, but also made her completely unable to communicate with other people. When her father had her commit her first murder (at the age of six), she read the victims dying spasms and understood the horror of killing, and ran away. She wound up in Gotham during the "No Man's Land," when the city had been damaged by an earthquake and formally severed from support or authority of the United State government, and received tutoring and care from Oracle (Barbara Gordon), who had been the first Batgirl before she was crippled. When they learned of her history, Oracle and Batman adopted her into the Bat-Family and gave her a costume as Batgirl.

The series focused on her ongoing adventures in crimefighting, as well as her relationships with the other Bat characters, as she attempted to adjust to her new life and heal from the abuse she received as a child. It was cancelled in 2006 and briefly revived for a six-issue limited series in 2008.

Tropes used in Batgirl (2000 comic book) include:
  • Abusive Parents: Cass's father, notorious assassin David Cain, raised her in complete silence and forced her to kill a man when she was six years old. When he would get angry at her he would shoot her and likewise played "two for flincing" with guns.
  • Amazon Brigade: Most of the Gotham street gangs that Cassandra fights are composed solely of women.
  • The Atoner: She works as a vigilante because she feels regret of her first kill.
  • Back from the Dead: Twice, both times by Lady Shiva
  • Black and Grey Morality: Tarakstan is ruled by an oppressive regime supported by foreign interests who have hired Dr. Death to build them biological weapons (One of which turns dead bodies into oil), and it is opposed by a local terrorist organization that kidnaps foreign businessmen and executes hostages.
  • Brought Down to Normal: She lost her ability to read body language in favor of normal language comprehension. She gets it back several issues later.
  • Captain Obvious: When Superboy wonders how Batgirl managed to discover his secret identity, she first just says "detective," but later also points out that he told her where he lived when they first met.
  • Combat Stilettos: Cass once wore Barbara's original Batgirl costume in the hopes that it would help her understand why people reacted to her as they did. She looked beautiful in it (As Robin would not stop commenting), but the high-heels proved horribly impractical to fight in, and she tripped while fighting a pair of common muggers. Even Barbara admits that they were a horrible idea, and she explains that she should have done away with them and worn simple boots instead.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Cass is the darkest of all the Bat characters, wearing a costume of solid black the includes a full-face mask, and frequently terrifies the people she meets even more than Batman. However, she is the one most dedicated to not killing, and is just as helpful and well-meaning as all the other heroes.
  • Defiant to the End: After her first fight with Shiva ended badly we have this internal monologue:

Cassandra: Uh-oh. Kill shot. Nothing I can do. Guess I could still... spit on her face.

Cassandra: Terror. Then... nothing.

Barbara Gordon: Of course, you can just beat up every mob in Gotham until you find the right one
Cassandra: hmmm...

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