Origin Helena was born in 1957 to
Bruce Wayne and
Selina Kyle Wayne, and grew up enjoying the benefits of being in a wealthy household. As a youth, she enjoyed a thorough education, as well as being trained by her parents, Batman and Catwoman, to become a super-athlete. As a young girl she was amazed to learn that her father was the Batman and embraced
Dick Grayson as her older brother. She also looked up to
Alfred Pennyworth as a second father. After
Yale College and
Yale Law School, she joined the
law firm of Cranston and Grayson, one of whose partners was
Dick Grayson, alias
Robin. In 1976, criminal Silky Cernak blackmailed his old boss Selina Kyle into resuming action once again as Catwoman, an act which eventually led to her death. Helena, deciding to bring Cernak to justice, created a costume for herself, fashioned some weapons from her parents' equipment (including her eventual trademark weapon, a
crossbow), and set out to bring him in. After accomplishing this, Helena decided to continue to fight crime, under the code name "the Huntress".
Allies and enemies After her mother's death, Helena moved out of Wayne Manor and into a
Gotham City apartment. She soon found herself involved with the
Justice Society of America (her father's old team) and formally joined the group in
All Star Comics #72. Helena was also briefly associated with the superhero group
Infinity, Inc., a team made up of second-generation superheroes, mostly the children of JSA members. Helena also struck up a friendship with fellow new superheroine
Power Girl, who was also a part of both the JSA and Infinity Inc. In addition to Power Girl, Helena frequently worked with Robin and with a new hero named Blackwing. Some of her foes were the
Thinker,
Joker, Lion-Mane (one of her mother's embittered former minions), Karnage, Boa, and the
Earthworm. Her lover for a time was Gotham District Attorney Harry Sims. Despite the fact that she proposed a partnership ("I nail'em, you jail'em"), their relationship grew difficult in that he knew of her secret identity and was constantly worrying about her safety. She briefly flirted with Robin who, cited her father's choice in looking for a wife, told her that a normal man would not be able to satisfy her. She made several visits to Earth-One. Her first was in
Batman Family #17, where she met the Earth-One
Batman,
Robin,
Batgirl, and
Batwoman, and fought the Earth-One Catwoman,
Poison Ivy and
Madame Zodiac. Seeing in him her father returned to her, she took to calling the Earth-One Batman her "Uncle Bruce", and built a familial relationship with him. As a member of the Justice Society, she participated in several of the annual JLA/JSA meetings, most of which took place on Earth-One. She also participated in the battle against the Adjudicator as part of the female force of multiple Earths led by the Earth-One
Wonder Woman. Other heroines involved in this adventure included
Zatanna,
Supergirl,
Phantom Lady,
Madame Xanadu,
Power Girl,
Black Canary,
Wonder Girl,
Raven, and
Starfire. Despite the fact that she did love her mother and became the Huntress to avenge her death, she secretly feared that she might follow in her mother's footsteps. Either fighting a demonic version of her mother in a drug-induced haze or fighting her mother's Earth-One counterpart (who had never reformed), Helena had a difficult time coming to grips with her mother's criminal career, even going so far as to seek therapy. Looking at her mother's Earth-One counterpart, she secretly hoped that one day that the Earth-One Catwoman would reform.
Death in Crisis on Infinite Earths In
Crisis on Infinite Earths, Huntress participates in the battle to save all creation from the
Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor succeeds in destroying most of the multiverse, with the remaining universes being merged into a single universe. Huntress survives this process, but is traumatized to learn that Earth-Two was erased. Huntress, the Earth-Two Robin, and
Kole are killed while trying to save children from the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons. After
Crisis ended, Helena Wayne, like her parents and Earth-Two's Dick Grayson, disappeared and was forgotten.
Return in Infinite Crisis Following the events of
Infinite Crisis and
52, Earth-Two and Huntress are restored. In
Justice Society of America (vol. 3) Annual #1,
Power Girl is sent to Earth-2 by
Gog. There, she is discovered by the Huntress who recognizes her as the Power Girl from their world who went missing after the first Crisis. In this new Earth-2, the citizens remember having been the only Earth in existence following the Crisis. The Huntress re-initiates Power Girl into Justice Society Infinity brings her up to speed on her life. Following the death of Alfred, Huntress has become more estranged from her friends; Robin serves in Batman's place as a global protector, while Huntress protects the streets of Gotham. A version of Helena Kyle appears in the main universe as the daughter of Selina Kyle, though her father is unknown. Selina ultimately puts Helena up for adoption under Batman's arrangement for fear she would be unable to protect her. A month after Helena is placed with a new family, Catwoman asks Zatanna to erase her memories of Helena and to make her stop thinking of herself as a heroine. Zatanna refuses, because such an act would be cruel to both mother and daughter and because Selina was already on the path to becoming a heroine on her own.
The New 52 The Helena Wayne incarnation of the Huntress returns in the wake of DC's
The New 52 relaunch with a six-issue
Huntress miniseries that was released in October 2011. Alongside Power Girl, she later starred in a revival of the ''
Worlds' Finest'' series, written by
Paul Levitz and drawn by
George Pérez and
Kevin Maguire.
DC Rebirth In the 2016–2019 run of
Batman penned by
Tom King as part of the
DC Rebirth era, Selina and Bruce reconnected and fell in love once more, with the two almost marrying. In the possible futures of the story called "Last Rites" (in
Batman (vol. 3) Annual #2) and the series
Batman/Catwoman, Selina falls pregnant with Bruce's child whom they name Helena. After Bruce's death in a flash-forward she helps her widowed mother come to terms with it and ends up becoming the new Batwoman. Helena mentioned to her mother that she is currently dating a female doctor.
Dawn of DC A version of the character is reintroduced in the storyline
The New Golden Age, which deals with never-before-seen characters being returned to history after having been removed from existence. In a future scene, a young Helena is being stalked by "
The Stranger". Late one night, Helena spots Batman in her home and stabs him, only for him to reveal himself as her father Bruce. Her mother Selena is furious, knowing that this will start Helena down the tragic road taken by various Robins in the past. Because of this, Bruce retired from being Batman. Further in the future still when Bruce is murdered, an adult Helena swears vengeance, becoming Huntress. Huntress is later transported to the present day, where she encounters
Doctor Fate,
Deadman, and
Detective Chimp. After telling them about what happened in her future, Doctor Fate takes Huntress to the Justice Society of America while Detective Chimp and Deadman take the snow globe she had to
Madame Xanadu to get answers. Xanadu explains that the snow globe is keeping Huntress alive and contains the
Flashpoint universe within it. Once Per Degaton is defeated and imprisoned in the snow globe, the possible future that Huntress comes from disappears, though she remains alive. After Huntress and the JSA resolve a situation with the visiting
Legion of Super-Heroes, Helena accepts the Legion's offer to relocate to their 31st century, where she becomes a member of that era's JSA. ==Powers and abilities==