Huntress (Helena Bertinelli)

The Huntress (Helena Rosa Bertinelli), is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She is the third DC character to bear the name Huntress and is a longtime member of the Birds of Prey.

DC Comics character.

Originally introduced as a new interpretation of Helena Wayne, no longer depicted as the future daughter of Batman and Catwoman as part of DC's post-Crisis on Infinite Earths relaunch, she was later established to be the modern-day equivalent, namesake and predecessor of Helena Wayne.

Fictional character biography

She is the orphaned daughter of a murdered mafia family who grew up swearing deadly vengeance on the criminal underworld. Batman has frowned on her for her willingness to kill, although over time she has gotten used to more conventional methods of crime-fighting and found wider acceptance as a vigilante.

Skills, abilities, and resources

Similarly to Batman, Huntress possess no inherent super-powers and instead relies on her natural abilities. An expert martial artist, Huntress has mastered several unspecified martial arts and is considered a superb gymnast. She is also an expert on various weaponry and is a skilled marksman, able to use weaponry such as a bullwhip, crossbows, and throwing weapons (blades, darts, boomerangs, arrows, etc.). Her skills were suited enough to surprise and garner some praise from one of DC Universe's master martial artists, Lady Shiva. Huntress is also noted for her high pain tolerance, being able to withstand a beating from aforementioned assassin, giving her the title of "Iron Owl".

Among her strongest skills is her ability to disguise herself, her mastery allowing her to portray herself as a wide range of people and personalities and is capable enough to convince a serial killer of being their relative in one instance. Huntress's New 52 incarnation retains similar skills and abilities with some newer ones: a former agent of Spyral, she possess extensive espionage training with ties to a network of spies and informants. Her time as a agent of Spyral also made her an expert helicopter pilot and motorcyclist.

Among the weaponry Helena possess is a customized crossbow, her preferred weapon of choice. She also utilizes a customized motorcycle as her main mode of transportation.

In other media

In the first two seasons of Arrow, Helena Bertinelli is played by actress Jessica De Gouw. The character made her cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe movie Birds of Prey (2020), portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead.