Batgirl (2009 comic book)

What, this? Oh, it's nothing, just my gargoyle. Why, don't you have one? [1]

"It's only the end if you want it to be."

Batgirl was an ongoing monthly comic-book series written by Bryan Q. Miller with pencils and inks done by Lee Garbett and Trevor Scott. Running from 2009 to 2011, this series features Stephanie Brown as Batgirl, the third person to bear the title, while she simultaneously attends Gotham University. This is the second ongoing series to be named after and feature the Batgirl character; the previous series focused on the preceding Batgirl, Cassandra Cain.

Stephanie Brown herself is a teenager with what can only be described as a complicated relationship with the world of crime and superheroics in and around Gotham City. The daughter of the Cluemaster, a B-List Riddler knockoff, Stephanie came to despise her father and crime in general because of the traumatic childhood his escapades created. She adopted the identity of 'the Spoiler' and, true to her title, went around and spoiled her fathers crimes. Soon she began fighting criminals apart from just her father and became one of the numerous costumed vigilantes operating in Gotham City. However, unlike the other vigilantes, she put the 'normal' in Badass Normal. Stephanie did not have the technological support or lifetime of training that Batman and Robin did and, despite her best efforts, she never quite earned their respect or their acceptance. She did eventually enter a romantic relationship with Tim Drake, the third Robin, but this was likewise dampered by their professional friction. When Tim briefly stopped wearing the Robin uniform Stephanie broke into the Batcave and demanded that Batman accept and train her as the new Robin. Stephanie then instigated a massive gang war in Gotham and was brutally tortured and murdered by the Black Mask, and it was later revealed that Dr. Leslie Thompkins, one of the oldest recurring characters in the Batman mythos and personal friend to Bruce Wayne, had deliberately withheld medication from Stephanie so that her death would serve as a warning to other teenaged vigilantes.

After the massive fan revolt began to die down DC Comics recognized that they had made a mistake and it was revealed that Dr. Thompkins had not let Stephanie die, but had faked her death and smuggled her out of the country for her safety. She eventually returned to Gotham City and resumed heroism as the Spoiler, but with continued opposition from the other established masked heroes of the city.

When it was decided to launch a new self-titled Batgirl series, the executives decided not to use the currently-existing Batgirl as its star. In the first issue, Cassandra Cain, who had worn the mantle of Batgirl since the Bat Family Crossover Batman: No Man's Land in the 1990's, retired as Batgirl in the wake of the death of Batman. Stephanie, who had an established friendship and even a pleasant working relationship with Cassandra, decided to use the costume and assume the mantle of Batgirl. Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl, found out about this and at first tried 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 upright and cheerful protagonist still faces the same horrors and challenges facing any hero, but perseveres without ever losing her positive outlook.

The series ended in August 2011 with the New 52 Continuity Reboot of the DC Universe, after which a new Batgirl series was released featuring Barbara Gordon as the titular character. There has been no comment on whether or not the current story or characters will be continued in the new series, but there have been comments that indicate that Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain will still exist in the new DCU.

For the character page covering the Batgirl persona and the various women have worn the identity, see Batgirl.

Tropes used in Batgirl (2009 comic book) include:

"Here we go."

  • Ascended Fangirl: In the Black Mercy inspired visions of issue #24, the final panel shows Stephanie, now an adult woman operating as Knightwing, with her own Batgirl partner. This young woman is Nell, the child that Batgirl encountered numerous times throughout the series and was her biggest fan and ardent supporter.
  • Badass Normal: Like the rest of the Bat-family, Stephanie relies on skill, training, determination (and plenty of gadgets) to triumph over creatures with abilities far beyond normal man.
  • Batman Gambit: Apparently, Bruce Wayne ordered Cassandra Cain to give up the Batgirl title in the event of his death with the express intention of the costume passing on to Stepahnie, which in turn would force her to mature as a person and as a crimefighter.
  • Bat Signal: Batgirl responds to the primary signal, reasoning that it is the Bat signal, not the Batman signal. However, when she is suspected of murder the police lure her in by shining the signal and ambushing her when she answers.
  • Battle in the Center of the Mind: Oracle and Calculator face off within Barbara's subconscious.
  • Blue Eyes: Stephanie has classic, beautiful blue eyes.
  • B-Movie: Stephanie and Supergirl go to a cliche'd, badly acted and cheesy Dracula film when Supergirl stops by one night for a visit.
  • Buffy-Speak: "How else are we gonna solve the mystery of the thingy stolen by the invisible super-guy?"
  • But I Digress: Stephanie has, on occasion, digressed from her own internal monologue.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: In her Bruce Wayne: The Road Home one-shot, Steph slaps Bruce after finding out he was secretly testing her and blows up at him for everything she had to put up from him over the years. They reach an understanding by the end of the issue.
  • Captain Obvious: "It means no one steals a gun to make cotton candy. You steal a gun to shoot it, usually at someone."
  • Casual Danger Dialogue: Stephanie has mastered the art of the Seinfeldian Conversation while facing her own impending doom.
  • The Cavalry: The Teen Titans are summond when Batgirl shouts "Shazam!" and arrive right in the midst of her battle with the Reapers.
  • 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. Wendy continues her character development that began after her brutal mauling in the Teen Titans series, where she and her brother Marvin were minor supporting characters that were heavily disliked by fans until their brutal exit from the series. She is coming to grips with being a paraplegic and reinventing herself as the superhero-in-training Proxy with the counseling and guidance of both Dr. Leslie Thompkins and Barbara Gordon.
  • Chekhov's Gun: Stephanie actually quotes the maxim, pointing out that nobody steals a gun unless they are planning to use it for something.

"If there's a gun in a scene, you use it."

Wendy Harris (Proxy): "What if I don't want to be a hero..."

Barbara Gordon: "It's time for Wendy Harris to decide what she wants to do with her future. Firewall is upgraded and ready to go whenever you are. Batgirl will be out on patrol soon. You have the ability to be so much more than you believe you can be."

Proxy: "Look, Barbara..."

Barbara: "Goodnight, Ms. Harris."

  • Death Is Cheap: "I've just been worried that if you ever popped up again - and I mean, who really stays dead nowadays anyways, right? You missed the zombies, by the way."
  • Determinator: Despite everyone telling her to quit, despite everything bad happening to her, she keeps going. Especially evident in the fear gas scene.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When Stephanie met Detective Gage for the first time in her civilian identity, having already formed a working relationship and infatuation with him under the guise of Batgirl, she absent mindidly comments on how awkward the situation is. It is only when he asks her what she means that she realized she said it out loud instead of in her inner monologue.
  • Disabled Love Interest: A subplot of the series is Barbara's potential relationship with Detective Gage. Her father sets them up on a date early in the series, and it closes with Batgirl recommending that he give her a call.
  • Dracula: What is worse than Dracula jumping off a film screen and attacking the audience? Twenty-four Draculas leaping off the screen!
  • Dressed in Layers: Supergirl rips off her shirt to reveal her uniform beneath it and asks if Stephanie is going to do the same. "Not unless you wanna see my bra."
  • Drugs Are Bad: "Don't do drugs" is the advice Stephanie shouts as she runs away after having beaten up a gang of thugs who jumped her one day.
  • Dual-Wielding: Stephanie and Padma take their Ping Pong games very seriously, and they were several games into a "Best of Seven" competition when Padma decided to go "double paddle."
  • Dying to Be Replaced: Cassandra Cain does not die, but the series was conceived with the intention of Stephanie being Batgirl and, as such, they had Cassie renounce the identity and costume in the first issue. It was later revealed that this was all part of a plan by Bruce Wayne that ultimately lead to Cass taking up the Blackbat identity.
  • Ephebophile: Commissioner Gordon finds it somewhat off-putting when he notices that teenage-Batgirl and one of his thirty-something detectives appear to have something of a flirtatious relationship (Don't worry, it is pretty much just a harmless crush on her part). When the detective complains that nobody says anything when he talks to Batman, Gordon responds that "I'm pretty sure Batman's legal!"
  • Faking the Dead: The series makes reference back to the War Games crossover and Stephanies subsequent "death," where she was smuggled out of the country to protect her from Black Mask.
  • Familiar: Klarion the Witch-Boy (dum, dum, dum) and his cat familiar Teekl appear in a Valentine's Day issue when Teekl goes on a murder spree after Klarion the Witch-Boy (dum, dum, dum) kept him away from his true love.
  • Fantastic Racism: Batgirl asks Supergirl if referring to aliens as "your kind" is considered offensive.
  • Flash Back: Frequently employed to bring readers up to speed.
  • For the Evulz:

Batgirl: "Why...why are you doing this?"
Miranda: "Because we can!"

  • Fumbling the Gauntlet: While in Limbo Town, Stephanie is trying to strike up a conversation with a native witch, but when Stephanie tries to complement the witch on her bonnet and asks where she got it the witch interprets that as a questioning of her craftmanship skills. Stephanie says that yes, she is questioning her craftmanship skills, provided that this will occupy at least two-minutes time. Unfortunately, the witch responds that she doubts Stephanie will last two minutes as Stephanie remembers "Oh. Right. Magic."
  • Fun with Acronyms: Supergirl actually recognizes that "BFF" is already plural ("Best Friends Forever") and "BFF's" is a tautology. This only makes her even more awesome in Stephanie's eyes.
  • Fun with Subtitles: Well, "Captions" instead of "Subtitles," but they give us such goodies as "Requisite Super-Collider Lab."
  • Gambit Roulette: The one-shot crossover with Bruce Wayne: The Road Home reveals that apparently everything that has happened so far in this series, including Cassandra Cain's rejection of the Batgirl title and its passage to Stephanie, was all planned by Bruce Wayne in the event of his death, with Cassandra Cain briefed on the details long ago.
  • 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 whacky situations. This leads to frequent Lampshade Hangings, such as quoting the Chekhov's Gun maxim verbatim, and even commenting on tropes that she herself has not yet experienced.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: The twenty-four Draculas running around campus sprung from a physics experiment that went in a direction other than planned.
  • Good Cop, Bad Cop: She and Damian Wayne (Robin) play "Bad Cop, Worse Cop."

Batgirl: Here's the deal---Me? I'm a "punch first, ask questions later" kinda gal. Him? He's a stabber.

Describing why she hates 'The Reapers' "Cliched costumes...says the girl with the thigh belt."

  • Implausible Deniability: "I'm not a monster" is a pretty brash claim to make when you are mind raping somebody at that very moment!
  • Incompatible Orientation: Stephanie began to develop a crush on Francisco, one of her classmates, and viewed herself as in competition with Jordanna for his affections. However, it turns out that he is already involved with someone else... (dramatic pause) a man! Jordanna already knew the whole story, but Stephanie only found out after she was dragged into his whacky family life as Batgirl.
  • Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Stephanie has never once lost her positive, upbeat attitude, never 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.
  • In Medias Res: Issues frequently begin in the middle of Batgirl's current adventure, later explaining How We Got Here.
  • Inner Monologue: Stephanie has, rather unfortunately, "inner monologue issues." She realizes this, after Barbara pointed it out to her the night before, when she accidentally says something out loud when speaking to Detective Gage in her civilian identity.
  • Insistent Terminology:
    • Barbara originally refused to call Stephanie "Batgirl" for a variety of reasons, both personal and professional, and it was when she finally did that helped Stephanie accept that she had earned the name.
    • Klarion the Witch-Boy...|dum, dum...|dum
  • Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja: Wendy remembers the night that she and Stephanie first met (During a Crossover with Red Robin) as the night with the ninjas. Stephanie herself simply describes them as "assassins."
  • It Makes Sense in Context: The regular use of In Medias Res often means that the initial scenes of an issue can not be explained using information that readers currently possess, forcing them to wait for later panels (Or even issues) to provide the proper context.
  • I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: As Batgirl leaps out of a helicopter in issue #23, she tells Detective Gage (Who she has had a crush on for the entire series) to give Barbara Gordon a call and ask her on a date. In an interview, Bryan Miller explained that he felt that scene was indicative of real growth in Stephanie's character; not that she would recognize she and Gage could never have a relationship, but that she would actually think to recommend he get involved with somebody else.
  • Jumped At the Call: Stephanie is one of the few superheroes in the DCU who loves her job and would not give it up. She is constantly told not to help, people explain all the problems and dangers that are inherent to the hero world, and they point out the personal benefits that come with not living a double life. Stephanie, however, will have none of it, and even if she has to do everything herself, with no help or appreciation from other heroes, she will not give up doing good.
  • Just for Pun:

Batgirl: (While imprisoning Clayface in a block of ice) "'Kay Mr. Policeman, quip's to you!"
Detective Nick Gage: "Uh...'Freeze!'"

Stephanie: "But seeing as how Proxy already has load of abandonment issues and none of my can-do, Devil-May-Care, Pollyanna...uh...unsinkable..."

Barbara Gordon: "You get a litle lost there?"

Stephanie: "You shoot from the hip, you don't always hit the mark."

Calculator: "I'm not a monster!"
Oracle: "Says the maniac with his hands around my neck while he Mind-Rapes me."

  • Offhand Backhand:
  • Oh Crap: "Balls."
  • 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.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: Batgirl's vampires are Hard Light constructs spawned from an old "Dracula" film that do not stop whining about their loneliness.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Stephanie is probably a more skilled martial artist than any person in the entirety of the Real World, but considering she lives in Gotham she keeps being humbled and humiliated by Batman and people with superpowers.
  • Pillow Fight: Supergirl suggest one to Batgirl...Awesome. Later in the issue, though the fight itself is not shown, Stephanies' bedroom is covered pillow feathers.
  • Playful Hacker: Proxy, Wendy's new superhero identity. Oracle would also qualify if her skills and operations were not so far above the norm as to blast the "playful" title right into space.
  • 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.
  • The Pollyanna: Stephanie describes herself as such. Barbara's final line of the series is to affirm this belief.

"That's my girl--Pollyanna to the very end."

  • The Power of Trust: When Detective Gage says that he trust Batgirl, even if he does not know exactly why, Stephanie actually says the word "Squee" in her internal monologue.
  • Precocious Crush: Stephanie has become somewhat infatuated with the detective that is shaping up to be 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.
  • Psycho Electro: Livewire, the electric villain Batgirl fights in in Rising arc.
  • Punny Name: Detective Nicholas Gage is known as "St. Nick" around the office.
  • Refugee From TV Land: Dracula. Perfect.
  • The Resolution Will Not Be Serialized: The last pre-Flashpoint story involving Stephanie Brown, which was originally going to be published in issues #8 and #9 of the ongoing Batman, Inc. series, has been collected into an oversized one-shot and will be published as Batman, Inc.: Leviathan Strikes.
  • Ret Canon: "The Gray Ghost" was a show featured in Batman the Animated Series about a masked crime fighter that was one of Batman's favorite shows as a child. In issue #19 it is revealed that it now has been (Oy, tenses are always trouble in a Retcon) a show in the DCU. The train hijacker of issue #9 is dressed as "The Mad Bomber," a villain from the fictional show, and he later re-appeared with the crime-fighting name, costume and weaponry of the Gray Ghost character himself as he tried to become Batgirl's sidekick and get her to go on a date.
  • Rule of Cool: The explanation for twenty-four Draculas running around campus does not make sense, but it does not matter since it is Batgirl and Supergirl fighting Draculas.
  • Secret Identity: Batgirl is really Stephanie Brown, freshman at Gotham University and formerly the Spoiler and Robin. Oracle is really Barbara Gordon, the original Batgirl and current leader of the Birds of Prey. Proxy is really Wendy Harris, formerly of the Superfriends (By way of the Teen Titans) and daughter of the Calculator.
  • Secret Test of Character: According to revelations made in the one-shot crossover with Bruce Wayne: The Road Home theentire series has been a test set up by Bruce Wayne to see if Stephanie can grow as a crimefighter and as a person. When Stephanie discovers this she is extremely upset and slaps him across the face.
  • Ship Tease:
    • When one of Barbara Gordon's male sudents sends a text message to Jen, the girl siting next to him in class, commenting that Barbara is hot, Jen clutches her phone to her chest and says "Yeah, she is."
    • After Wendy Harris begins to assist Oracle and Batgirl as Proxy, she begins to hallucinate seeing her dead brother Marvin, who tries to coach her through her physical and mental recuperation. Both Wendy and "Marvin" are pretty clear that this is a manifestation of Wendy's subconcious, not some sort of ghost or hologram, so when Marvin comments on how hot Barbara is Wendy can not help but wonder at what that says about herself and her mind.
  • Shock and Awe: Livewire, a Superman villain that originally appeared in Superman: The Animated Series, guest stars in the first arc of the series, Rising.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Barbara Gordon is simultaneously starring in both this series and Birds of Prey, and Stephanie will often refer to her absences as being related to "the Birds." In a one-shot crossover with Bruce Wayne: The Road Home Stephanie is overjoyed at the possibility of a team-up with the Birds, saying "it's about time," and describing it as "Batgirl and the Birds...the Birds and Batgirl...Team Batgirl vs. the Birds vs. Casper the Not-So-Friendly-Tech-Thief In: The Lightning Saga."
    • "Okay. So, barring us running into "Moriarity" or "Evil Lincoln" or anyone else that escaped the Holodeck..."
    • When fighting a super-powered foe that can become invisible, Batgirl (and later Oracle and Proxy) refers to him as Casper.
    • Stephanie's mom, growing concerned that her daughter is spending too much time at school and 'work study,' advises her "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you'll miss it." Stephanie then informs her that that is from a movie that the two of them watched.
    • When Stephanie is challenged to a Wizard Duel her opponent asks her what spell she would prefer to start with. Her response is "accio fist," though she admits afterwards that "accio face" would be the more accurate description.
    • "Strictly for rapport purposes--what is a plucky heroine in need of banter supposed to call you? Pretty sure Black Lightning is already taken."
    • "Here's my boomstick!"
    • In issue #23, Batgirl summons the Teen Titans assistance by shouting "Shazam!"
    • Bombshell, a member of the Teen Titans, has been experimenting with new catchphrases.

Bombshell: "Like 'it's blank time!'"
Stargirl: "What's the 'blank' for?"
Bombshell: "I'll let you know when I'm done clobberin'."

  • Show Within a Show: Stephanie and Kara watch a cliched, badly acted and cheesy Dracula film when they decided to go out for Friday night.
  • Shut UP, Hannibal: What she does with Scarecrow
  • "Shut Up" Kiss: Stephanie forcibly kisses Klarion the Witch-Boy (dum, dum, dum) in order to distract him and keep him from turning Jordanna into a frog. Stephanie, apparently, tastes like Christmas.
  • Simple Staff: Stephanie's Weapon of Choice is a collapseable staff that she wields to bruising effect
  • Smoke Out: She is a Bat...
  • Spoiled Brat: Damien Wayne had a childhood of horror based around combat training and lethality, but he is still a spoiled little twerp who does not seem to realize that Batgirl does not have to automatically bow down to his obvious greatness.
  • Squee: Stephanie herself squee's relatively often, as she is a teenager who has managed to remain light-hearted and chipper despite the traumas in her own life. When the possibility of a team-up with the Birds of Prey comes up she is ecstatic. When Detective Gage says that he trusts her, she actually says the word "Squee"...okay, she only thinks it, but it was the exact word.
  • Stalker with a Crush: The train hijacker Stephanie beats up in issue #9 begins asking her out midway through his beating, and he reappears in later issues in pursuit of her affections and calling himself "The Grey Ghost."
  • Stealth Hi Bye: "The Grey Ghost" has been "tracking" Batgirl for a week now, thinking that he had her totally unaware.

Batgirl: "Peek-a-boo."
Clancy Johnson (The Grey Ghost): "Gah! (Drops binoculars) Those were expensive!"

  • Sting: Klarion the Witch-Boy verbally inserts his own "dum, dum...dum."
  • Stop Helping Me!: Batgirl wants to get Clancy Johnson to stop being the Grey Ghost before he hurts himself or gets somebody else hurt.
  • Strange Minds Think Alike: Their thoughts were not very strange, but during the "The Flood" arc many of Batgirl's and Oracle's Inner Monologue narrations were identical copies of one another.
  • Super Speed: Slipstream. However, when he and Batgirl fight she notices that, though his reflexes are fast, they are not superhumanly fast, and she is trying to figure out what that says about his powers.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: When Batgirl wakes up in a hospital, being tended to by her own mother.

"Thank you...registered nurse I've never met."

Klarion the Witch-Boy (dum, dum, dum): "You taste like Christmas."
Stephanie: "You say that like it's a bad thing."

  • Tear Jerker: Stephanie does not care for Damien Wayne, the current Robin, even a little bit, but sometimes she can not help but hurt at the obvious issues he has from his childhood.

Nell: "I'm Nell, what's your name?"
Robin: (While undercover) "It's...I'm new...er...my name is...Bruce."

Batgirl: (Internal monologue) My heart just broke for him a little. I must never let him know...unless it keeps him from killing me one day, But I Digress.

  • Teleporters and Transporters: Clancy Johnson, "The Grey Ghost," apparently has some sort of teleporter that makes him vanish in a flash of light.
  • Television Portal: Isn't it just like Dracula to leap off the movie screen and start attacking audience?
  • Tempting Fate: While waiting for Calculator to attack, Barbara Gordon comments that she hates waiting. However, when Calculator does attack mere moments later she immediately regrets her earlier thoughts.

"I take it all back, universe. Waiting was just fine, thanks. More waiting please!"

Batgirl: (While being strangled by Dracula) "Hopefully you won't hold this against me."

Supergirl: "That's what she said."

Batgirl: "You're funny."

Supergirl: "I try."

  • Took a Level in Badass: Referenced, but did not occur within her series. She is more self-assured, confident and competent than she ever was as either Spoiler or Robin, and is complimented on such by Bruce Wayne himself, but this dramatic change took place before the start of her tenure as Batgirl, and her improvements within the series are only incremental increases due to regular training and experience.
  • 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 Damien was seen eating them with Steph more than once!
  • Triple Shifter: Though she does more heroics in the daytime than Batman, her primary hours of hero duty are still during the night. Since she also has a full class schedule at Gotham University this leaves her very little free time for sleeping. As with most triple shifters the severe health and psychological problems that come with sleep deprivation are not mentioned, but the comic does deal with her almost constant exhaustion and she frequently oversleeps for both school and hero activities.
  • Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Stephanie finds it extremely disturbing just how emotionally damaged Damian Wayne is, especially when she learns he does not know how to play.
  • Unexplained Recovery:

Batgirl: "You're supposed to be dead."
Cluemaster: "I could say the same about you."
Batgirl: "I got better."
Cluemaster: "So did I."

  • Utility Belt: Stephanie's tenure as Batgirl is assisted by the usual assortment of gadgets and gear, but her costume actually seems to have enough pockets to carry it all. Unlike Batman, Robin and the previous Batgirl's, who managed to fit all their gadgets into a single belt, Stephanie Brown's costume has numerous gadget-belts. These include the traditional waist-belt, but also a ring of pouches that wrap around her leg.
  • Waking Non Sequitur: "...Kill you Abraham Lincoln..."
  • Wangst: In-universe, in the cheesy, over-acted movie the girls are watching the various Draculas will not stop whining about how alone they are. Or rather, how ALONE!!!!! they are.
  • "Well Done, Daughter" Girl:
    • Stephanie spends the early issues just looking for some validation and appreciation from Barbara, which she finally gets in issue #3. In that same issue, Scarecrow's fear gas revealed Stephanie's deep-rooted fears of being a failure as a superhero (to Batman) and as a girlfriend (to Tim Drake). In the Batgirl/Red Robin crossover in issue #8, her fears are assuaged when Tim tells her he is proud of what she has become.
    • She looked up to Batman during her tenure as Robin, and even asked him for validation during her death scene in War Games. When Bruce returns, however, she lets him have it instead of looking for his approval, as she recognizes that he was not a very good mentor/father figure.
    • Damian Wayne's Comedic Sociopathy and hostility with Stephanie is clearly all driven by his desire for approval and acceptance from Batman, either Batman, and he views her as a clear threat to that approval. What makes it so painful, especially to Stephanie, is that he clearly has no clue that his efforts are just driving his father figures further and further away, as he constantly tries to impress them with violence and aggression when all they want is for him to learn compassion.
  • What Could Have Been: The series finale features several scenes of Batgirl imagining what her life as a hero might be like. Several of these scenes were purely hypothetical, but in an interview author Bryan Q. Miller explained that some of them were plans that he had for future storylines and some were ideas he had for other series that he wished he could have taken part in:
    • Batgirl fighting the Queen of Fables with the Teen Titans, which would potentially have had its own story arc in this series if it had not been cancelled.
    • Batgirl, Robin and Oracle as Blue, Red and Green Lanterns (Respectively) in what Miller described as "the Blackest Night tie in I never got to write."
    • Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain (All as Batgirl) in a photograph with the Blackhawks taken in 1944 with Skeets floating above them, having all traveled back in time to find a missing Booster Gold.
    • Stephanie Brown graduating Gotham University with honors, being attacked by the Royal Flush Gang during the graduation ceremony.
    • The final two scenes were twenty years in the future, unconnected with the current storylines of the DCU. In the first, Stephanie is putting her son to bed with a wedding ring on her finger (Miller pointed out in the interview that a picture of "city-murdering Prometheus" was hung on her sons wall, implying that there had been some sort of reboot in the interceding years that turned him into hero) while the Bat Signal is seen outside her window. The second scene featured Stephanie as the crime-fighter "Knightwing," Agent of Checkmate, with her own Batgirl partner. This partner is Nell, the young girl Stephanie had met throughout the series and who idolized Batgirl.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Stephanie is not happy with Bruce's "test," and she lets him know. By slapping him.
  • What Would Oracle Do: She would use that joystick, that is what she would do.
  • Who's Laughing Now?: Dr. Newton first appears exclaiming that he will "Show them all!" and he "Won't go back!" but when his invention actually begins to act up he just stares at it in surprises and says "Balls." Then he helps Batgirl and Supergirl fix everything.
  • With Friends Like These...: Stephanie and Damian Wayne, the curent Robin, do not have a pleasant or cooperative relationship, and it verges right on the border of Divided We Fall. Only their ability to (so far) always pull success from the ashes has kept their relationship from actually turning violently hostile, and Robin still (frequently) makes reference to wanting to kill her. Stephanie does not think he is joking.
  • Witty Banter:

Batgirl: "Strictly for rapport purposes--what is a plucky heroine in need of banter supposed to call you?"

  • Wizard Duel: When Stephanie unintentionally insults the bonnet-making-craftmanship of a witch in Limbo Town she is challenged to a standard duel, to be conducted per the guidelines set in Alchan's Book of the Damned, Third Edition, Twice Removed.
  • Working with the Ex: She helped out Tim Drake/Red Robin in Batgirl #8, in attempt to thwart the assassination of Leslie Thompkins. Cue awkwardness, passive aggressive banter (especially on Tim's side) and lots of UST-- which almost caused them to hook up again but avoided by Stephanie thinking it was not good for her at the moment.
  • 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.

Batgirl: "Little late but nice effort."

  1. ↑ 'Its a Grotesque. Gargoyles have water spouts'
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