Catwoman (Arkhamverse)

"What little girl doesn't dream of being bait for her strapping Dark Knight?"

- Catwoman's sarcastic greeting at Riddler's orphanage

Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, is a recurring character and a supporting antagonist in the Batman: Arkham video game franchises.

She is voiced by Grey DeLisle.

Past
Selina Kyle was orphaned at a young age who lived in the streets. Over the years, she committed thievery to survive and was determined to improve her skills, such as learning martial arts and gymnastics, to master cat burglary on her own. After she heard Rumors about Batman, she became the villainess Catwoman.

Arkham Origins Blackgate
While stealing data from a building in Gotham City, she attracted the attention of Batman. He intends on taking her in, but the pair are interrupted when a D.E.O. squad shows up in response to Catwoman's theft. Batman argues with the squad, insisting that he will be the one to take Catwoman in, which buys the Cat Burglar enough time to escape. Batman and the D.E.O squad chase after her, but neither are able to catch her, and she mocks them for it. Batman eventually does catch up to her and the two fight, and while Batman defeats her, she was still able to successfully upload the data she had stolen to her employer. She is then imprisoned at Blackgate Prison following her defeat.

The prison is overthrown by Joker, The Penguin, and Black Mask shortly after she is taken there, and gang members from each faction began pestering Catwoman about joining their group. Batman arrived and incapacitated them. Catwoman clues him in on recent events and tells Batman that there are hostages suffocating to death in the Arkham Wing vault. She offers her services in exchange for being transferred to a lower security prison and having her sentence reduced, telling Batman that Blackgate is no place for a thief like her. When Batman questions her motives, she convinces him to accept her help by telling him that she isn't a psychopath that wants the hostages to suffer. From that point on, Catwoman supported Batman, giving him valuable information and advice, urging him to hurry up and reach the Arkham Wing.

There are no hostages when he gets there, however; the only thing in the vault is a weakened Bane attached to several tubes. Catwoman appears, telling him the truth - there never were any hostages and she had manipulated Batman to get to Bane from the start. Batman tries to sympathize with her, telling her that many will get hurt or die if Bane is freed, but she coldly replies that it helps her sleep at night if she doesn't think about the negative repercussions of her actions and that she is only doing it to pay off a debt. As she had planted bombs all over the prison, Batman was unable to stop her and she was able to escape the facility with her objective. As Bane was incredibly weakened, she was only able to make it to the docks before Batman caught up to her, however. She urged Bane to escape and the two fought again, resulting, once again, in Catwoman's defeat. Batman asked who she her employer is, but she is unable to answer his question as she was hired anonymously.

An unnamed federal agency, led by Captain Rick Flag, appeared and took Catwoman and Bane into custody. A final scene revealed that a woman referred to as Director Waller had Catwoman released with an expunged record and the thanks of a grateful nation, suggesting that Catwoman was working for this agency.

Arkham Asylum
Catwoman does not appear in the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum. One of the riddles from the Riddler revolves around her.

Arkham City
Batman is found surrounded by TYGER Guards in a trap set up by Strange to capture him. Fortunately, Catwoman helps Batman, who had infiltrated the Prison, and rescued him using a prisoner convoy vehicle she had stolen from a TYGER Guard that was transferring Poison Ivy from Arkham Asylum to Arkham City. Catwoman tells Batman that she had made an uneasy alliance with Ivy. Batman warned her that she shouldn't be playing such a dangerous game with Ivy. Straight after Arkham City had closed its gates on Gotham's criminals, only three remained at large; Two-Face, Catwoman and Batman. While Catwoman sat in her apartment, debating whether to flee or to stay, her phone rang. It was the voice of Catwoman's enemy: Two-Face.

He says "Sorry, Kitty-cat, but one of us had to go down." After that TYGER Guards were at her door. Catwoman fought her way through guard after guard to the safety of a nearby roof. She watched as the TYGER Guards ransacked her apartment until they found her safe. She readied her claws, but a shadowy figure appeared behind her and held a gloved hand over her mouth until she passed out.

Catwoman then woke in the Batmobile as it raced through Gotham's streets. She angrily told Batman that he should not have gotten involved. Batman then advised Catwoman to give up her loot and to leave town before it was too late. She then asked how Batman knew about Arkham City. He explained that he found a secret room in Quincy Sharp's Office back at Arkham Asylum, filled with plans for the new prison complex. Catwoman thanked him and pressed the emergency eject button on her seat and disappeared back to Arkham Asylum.

Two-Face was already at the Warden's Office in Arkham Asylum, photographing the plans to the secret vault inside Arkham City.

Catwoman then burst into the room and by then, Two-Face laughed and tossed the plans into the fire. Furious at him, she knocked him to the ground, grabbed the camera and fled. The TYGER Guards are then alerted to Arkham Asylum and there was no escape for either Catwoman or Two-Face.

Suddenly, Batman pulled Catwoman to safety and left Two-Face to be captured. Later, Catwoman opens the camera and finds that the memory card has vanished. She looked down on Two-Face who was waving the card, before swallowing it. Furious, Catwoman sliced through the line and fell to the ground, only to be surrounded by TYGER Guards. She was then arrested and taken to Arkham City.

Arkham Asylum's former administrator, Quincy Sharp, won the election to become Mayor of Gotham, incarcerated all prisoners and mental patients from Blackgate Prison and Arkham Asylum within a sealed-off perimeter known as 'Arkham City', including Catwoman. Lawlessness reigned and armed mercenaries patrolled the walls of the prison city to ensure no one attempted to escape, with Sharp hoping that the society of villains housed inside will kill each other and rid Gotham of its worst criminals.

While in Arkham City, Catwoman decided to break into Hugo Strange's Office to retrieve her loot that was confiscated upon her arrest. TYGER Guards capture her and take her to Strange, where he conducts a psychological interview with her to discover her criminal motives and her relationship with Batman. Catwoman refused to answer his question until he threatened her by revealing he has a TYGER agent who has Holly Robinson in sight, waiting for an order from Strange to kill her if necessary. Catwoman then answered his questions, and in return, Hugo reveals the location of the Confiscated Goods Vault plans is located in Two-Face's vault in his former campaigning office which he used when he was running for District Attorney of Gotham City.

She then infiltrated Two-Face's old campaign office in order to find the Confiscated Goods Vault plans, beat up members of Two-Face's gang, but ended up captured by Two-Face.

She was then about to be publicly executed by Two-Face in the Courthouse, due to her previous theft as a means to ensure Two-Face would rise in the ranks of Arkham City. Two-Face then decided after flipping a coin to hold a trial instead of killing her immediately. This conveniently gave Batman enough time to infiltrate the courtroom and beat up his gang. Before Batman is shot by Two-Face, he is going to execute her, but she frees herself and scratches the good side of his face. Two-Face then takes out a second gun to kill Catwoman, but Batman captured Two-Face and left him hanging above the acid vat. After she is saved by Batman, she doesn't elaborate on any knowledge on what is going on in Arkham City or on what Hugo Strange is up to, but she doesn't trust the latter either way as he was absent for a year and then came under command of Sharp. As she tried to tell him more, the Joker tried to assassinate her only for Batman to quickly move her out of the way. Batman told her that she's not safe in Arkham but Catwoman told him she'll be fine.

With Batman busy, Catwoman plans on stealing her loot from Strange's vault. However, she is unsure about how to get in. After retrieving her weapons from her apartment, she went to Poison Ivy for help. Ivy refused to help Catwoman because of their last encounter, in which Catwoman accidentally killed a rare plant of Ivy's, the last one that remained in Strange's vault. Catwoman made a deal with Ivy to retrieve the plant from the vault if Ivy could get her in. Ivy agreed and smashed the door down with her plants. Catwoman snuck in and stole security cards from the TYGER Guards and was able to take them down stealthily and enter the vault. Catwoman found Ivy's plant, but she smashed her plant for trying to tie her up in it. In the midst of all this, Strange activated Protocol 10, destroying a whole city block nearby. Catwoman reluctantly left behind her stolen goods and went to rescue Batman, who the TYGER Guards said to be nearing death. She found Batman buried beneath rubble and helped him get out from underneath it. At the very end, Catwoman watched Batman carry Joker's corpse out of the Monarch Theater.

After the Joker's death, Catwoman went to her apartment to get her stuff and leave the city, but her apartment was destroyed in an explosion that was triggered when Catwoman tried to enter. Catwoman was briefly knocked unconscious. A group of Two-Face's thugs surrounded her and wondered if she was still alive. Catwoman woke up and quickly beat up the thugs. Angry, she interrogated a thug and threatened to slice him to pieces with her whip in order to tell her where her things were taken. The thug told her that Two-Face had her things at Penguin's Museum, and Catwoman responded by knocking him out with a knee to the face. She went to the museum, fought Two-Face, and discovered that due to his obsession with duality, Two-Face kept half her stuff and gave the other half away, angering Catwoman who then knocked him out with a solid punch to his face. Soon after, she then went around the city to fight Two-Face's thugs and got her items back.

Arkham Knight
Catwoman showed no interest in Scarecrow's plans for Gotham, believing they would fail. Instead, she decided to infiltrate Arkham Asylum in order to eavesdrop and get information she could use as leverage against Batman when he eventually confronted her about her crimes. She manages to get in, but makes a misstep and is discovered by a security drone. She curses herself for being careless and escapes without learning any useful information.

She is eventually contacted by the Riddler, who invites her to a meeting by claiming he wants to hire her to steal a special power core for his newly-built robots in exchange for information regarding Scarecrow's plan. As she is usually hired by other villains to steal items they need for their plans, Catwoman doesn't suspect his intentions and complies; however, upon meeting him at the Cyrus Pinkney Orphanage, she is taken by surprise by one of his robots, which already are active, and outfitted with an explosive collar that would go off should she try to leave the building or pick the lock on the collar.

After disabling the militia in Grand Avenue Station, Batman sees that the Riddler has kidnapped Catwoman, holding her hostage at the Pinkney Orphanage on Miagani Island. Batman arrives to find that she has been outfitted with a collar that will explode and kill her if they don't work together to collect nine keys to unlock the collar via various puzzles given by Riddler.

After Batman frees Catwoman, she laments that he's all about work when he turns her down when she suggests they find a hotel room. She then leaves to plunder Gotham; teasingly suggest that she breaks into Wayne Manor aside from several art galleries. She eventually returns to assist Batman against Nigma (wanting revenge) despite Batman's insistence the situation was under control. She kisses Batman acknowledging his identity as Bruce Wayne and sadly departs after he tells her of his plan and insists on doing everything alone much to her dismay.

After the Arkham Knight Incident, Catwoman infiltrated Riddler's hideout to get revenge on him imprisoning her during Halloween. Catwoman tracks down his secret hideout being guarded by his own henchmen. She gains entry into the lab where she is greeted by Riddler's A.I. Computer and Riddler himself, still in custody of the GCPD and talking to his computer via a phone, pretending that he is talking to his lawyer. As he finds out that his lair has been entered, Riddler orders the computer to send robots after Catwoman. Catwoman fights the robots, surviving all of Riddler's deathtraps, lasers and even an electric floor. She gains access to the main computer and start's wire transferring all of Riddler's millions to her own personal bank account. As she activates the factory's self-destruct protocol and leaves the building, Aaron Cash can be heard tasering Nigma, as the talk with his "lawyer", was getting too heated and suspicious.

Personality
Drawing the fine line between hero and criminal, Selina Kyle is a master thief, ambiguous hero, deadly adversary and advantageous ally to Batman. Caring for own wellbeing above all, Selina went by less than favourable means to survive growing up on the streets of Gotham from a young age, such as looting and stealing. Penultimately, Selina is with morals but seems to prefer pretending to not have as she learnt to ignore scruples for the sake of survival and as it suits her alignment between both sides better for her own benefit rather than remaining on one side alone. That said her self-serving nature does not limit her from caring for another person such as fellow street urchin, Holly Robinson. Since her alignment with Batman, her burst of conscience surprise Selina herself. For a thief, Selina does her best to avoid killing enemies and only non-lethally incapacitates them although her more bendable morality makes her just as capable of killing as she seriously threatened Hugo Strange with death when he threatened Holly to get her to comply.

She seems to get along well with most of Gotham's criminals as she usually gives most of them affectionate if not slightly demeaning nicknames and comes to them - or them her - for help with her burglary. Selina hates the fact that other criminals believe her to have principles by feeding Batman information based solely on altruism, implying she enjoys her reputation as a criminal within Gotham

As Hugo Strange divulges through Arkham City Patient Files, Selina has a deep distrust towards men due to her own father abandoning her from childhood. Like most Gotham Sirens, she is portrayed as the pinnacle of the domination over men as her attire and combat skills employ her own sexuality to gain an advantage. Despite this level of misandry, Selina has displayed a close if not complex relationship with Batman. Given her reaction during Patient Files, she has obvious romantic feelings for the Dark Knight and this is displayed before Batman initiates the Knightfall Protocol outside of Riddler's orphanage. Her relationship with Batman has also caused her growing morality due to the two of them first encountering one another as an even more unscrupulous thief which implies the altercation between the two changed her personality. Amongst her more criminal traits that she still retains is her tendency for revenge such as destroying Poison Ivy's plant in reprisal for attacking her earlier and robbing the Riddler of his funds for kidnapping her in his orphanage.

Although originally adopting cat burglary as means of survival, Selina grew to enjoy the thrill of the chase and continued to steal further for no other reason than sheer thrill-seeking. Finding her games of cat and mouse between her and the ethical law of Gotham and Batman himself to be invigorating, she would willingly place herself within dangerous and life-threatening situations for little reason the thrill of it, even though she was perfectly capable of escaping Arkham City after almost being shot by Joker and realising the dangers of the maximum-security prison allows herself to stay, seeing the advantage of further stealing within the city. Despite being relatively unapologetic about her thieving lifestyle, Selina is not necessarily ungrateful as she showed genuine gratitude when Batman was risking his own life to help her, even if she usually responded with more sarcasm.

Trivia

 * Catwoman is a playable character. She can be added for free when the game is purchased new or available as DLC for a cost.
 * In Catwoman's third story mission, if the player chooses to have her leave Arkham City with the loot as opposed to saving Batman, the game will appear to end with Catwoman escaping into Gotham saying "Screw him". However, after a few moments of credits the game will suddenly reverse as though it were a video tape being rewound to the point were Catwoman exits the vault, so that the player may make the right choice and continue the story.
 * Catwoman has been taken hostage thrice, with Batman saving her two out of the three. She was captured by Two Face in Arkham City as well as being held hostage by Ivy but talked her way out of it. She was also captured by the Riddler in Arkham Knight though she eventually defeated him with Batman's assistance and got her revenge for being set up.
 * She has got an adopted child Holly Robinson.