DC WIKI- CASSANDRA CAIN A.K.A BATGIRL III Daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, Cassandra left her father as a child after she killed a man. After saving Commissioner Gordons life, she was adopted by Bruce Wayne. Becoming the new Batgirl with Batman and Oracles blessing, Cassandra later took on the mantle of the Black Bat. Due to the harsh training she went through as a child, Cassandra is one of the greatest martial artists in the world and is a master assassin. Some of her feats include shattering brick and stone as well as a sword. She has used nerve strikes and pressure points. She has dodged bullets at point blank range and even disarmed a gunman before the bullet could hit her. She has invented her own styles and techniques. She can lift about twice her weight and carry 230 lbs while running. Her upbringing using body language as her exclusive mode of communication also had the effect of enabling her to read minute changes in an opponents expressions, breathing, muscles, joint position, and center of gravity which in turn allows her to see or predict an opponents moves before they happen. It is possible this ability is only partially the result of her upbringing and that there is a genetic predisposition to it since Lady Shiva, Canssandras mother, is the only other martial artist known in the DC universe to have this ability. When a telepath rewired Cassandras brain to allow her speech, this had the unintended consequence of blocking her ability to predict attacks. Eventually, Lady Shiva helped her to regain this ability, but how this was done is never revealed. Cassandra also exhibits extraordinary resistance to pain. On more than one occasion she has been described as being able to take a bullet wound and not even bat an eye. As a side effect of her fathers training, Cassandras brain developed learning functions different from most. Having been brought up by Cain deliberately without speech, the communication centers of her brain learned body language instead of spoken or written language. Thus, she originally had as much trouble learning spoken and written language as a normal individual would have in learning body language. Although she was able to learn some very basic things (no, yes, me) the same way a normal person can learn to recognize smiles and frowns, it took a telepath rewiring her brain to teach her to speak and understand English. Even then, she only spoke with extreme difficulty (very falteringly, short sentences with long pauses, frequently using the wrong words, etc.). In Batgirl #67 (October 2005), Oracle performed a number of tests on Cassandra, determining the severity of the problem: The language centers of your brain are all over both hemispheres. Not centralized like with most people. When you try to read or write, your brain doesnt know how to keep it cohesive. In the 2008 Batgirl mini-series, the first issue delves into an explanation as to Cassandras increased verbal and literary skills. It is explained that during the year in which Batman, Nightwing, and Robin were abroad, Cassandra and Alfred took it upon themselves to help develop the skills that she lacked due to her less than conventional childhood. By day she took speech and ESL courses. The formal training aided her thought processes related to language and thus her verbalization improved rapidly. Cassandras costume as Batgirl is composed of black skin-tight leather. Her mask covers all of her head with the exception of the eyes, which are darkened, and symbolic stitches surround the mouth of the mask. Cassandra wears a yellow-rimmed black logo rather than the yellow bat version of the logo worn by Barbara. The costume was first created and worn by the Huntress in the early stages of No Mans Land. Like the other members of the Bat-Clan, Cassandras Batgirl also wears a yellow-pouched utility belt which contains grappling hooks, batarangs, mini-explosives, tracking devices, a hand-held computer, binoculars, PlastiCuffs, and smoke pellets. However, Cassandra rarely uses any of these devices. The costume displays slight variations in Titans East. The cape shows a yellow lining and Cassandra wears a capsule utility belt rather than pouches. In Teen Titans (vol. 3) #43, the once hollow bat-symbol appears to have been filled in and her cape is once again completely black; a new line of stitching goes up the forehead of her cowl. This version of the costume apparently results from one artists interpretation, as Cassandras appearances elsewhere show her wearing her standard Batgirl costume. Her costume as Blackbat incorporates her former Batgirl costume, with some modifications. She now wears a domino mask and exposes the rest of her face and head. Her cape is now severely torn, looking ragged and almost smoke-like. Her hands are wrapped in bandages rather than her former scalloped bat-gloves.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jul 2014 03:48:21 +0000
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