20 Most Important Female Batman Characters (Ranked)

Over the years, there have been many iconic female characters that we have seen enter the DC Universe. Whether it was villains or heroes, they definitely made an impact on the readers and the viewers. Some of these characters might have smaller roles in the overall story but are not any less important.

When it comes to Batman, whom a lot of the DC fans adore, you will find that many of them will have all kinds of different favorite characters that you can find on this list as well. With the new reboot of the DC Universe, we can expect to see a lot of new characters on-screen, and that, of course, includes female Batman characters. The new James Gunn reboot will try to unite the Universe in a more coherent manner, following the Marvel Cinematic Universe formula. With all that said, we should take a look at the 20 most important female Batman characters.

We will reveal many different characters from the Batman Universe, so if you find all this interesting so far, you should stick with us and keep reading for more!

20. Julie Madison

Julie Madison is one of the original appearing characters, with her first appearance being around 1939. She didn’t have any special powers. She seemed to be a regular human character but with a special purpose. She and Bruce Wayne had a powerful connection, and they both slowly fell for each other.

Their relationship happened after Endgame, and Bruce suffered from amnesia after the events. Alfred appreciated Julie Madison since he felt like she could help Bruce recover. Her presence was very important to Bruce at that time, and she really helped him recover some of his memories.

19. Leigh Carson (Ankh)

Leigh Carson appeared in the Batman Confidential story arc. Her character was a curator at the Gotham Museum of Antiquities, and one of her co-workers, Victor Goodman, was obsessed with Tutankhamun’s Tomb. All he wanted was for the Gotham Museum to obtain it for an exhibition. When they brought the request for obtaining the Tomb to their board, it was denied.

The board felt it was far too dangerous to have such an important piece because of the many recent attempts by the Riddler to steal such objects. Leigh and Victor realized that no one cared about Egyptian history as much as they did, so they decided to embezzle the museum’s funds in order to get the Tomb.

18. Kate Kane (Batwoman)

Kate Kane is a character initially imagined as the love interest for Batman, but that series was canceled soon. She reappeared in the modern age, where she grew up with her twin sister Beth and their parents. Kate’s parents were on active military duty, so they moved a lot. Unfortunately, when they moved to Belgium, all of their lives changed.

Their mother wanted to take the girls out for their birthdays, and when they went out, they were attacked by terrorists. The military managed to locate them, but it was too late. Kate’s mom and sister were both killed. This shaped her in many ways, and she would later on become Batwoman, fighting crimes after seeing Batman and realizing that her calling lies in crime fighting.

17. Shauna Belzer (Ventriloquist)

Shauna Belzer was one of the Batman Universe villains, and she grew up in a very talented and charismatic family. Her mother was a ballerina, and her father was a piano player. She also had a twin brother named Ferdie. Compared to her family members, she seemed plain and uninteresting. Her twin brother was very popular and was on the way to becoming a child superstar actor.

Shauna’s jealousy grew every day, and then she decided to rig the swingset that her brother would usually use. When Ferdie used the swing, it broke, and he fell on the pavement and broke his neck. Ferdie was Shauna’s first victim, and eventually, she became a serial killer that would use ventriloquist dummies which represent all her past victims.

16. Zatanna Zatara

Zatanna Zatara, known just by her first name, was the daughter of the magician Giovanni Zatara. She belonged to the Homo Magi race; her powers were activated by talking backward. If she wanted to cast a certain spell, she would have to say what she wanted but backward.

Interestingly, on her father’s side, she was related to the artist and magician Leonardo da Vinci. She lived in a small house near the Arkham Asylum, and her mother faked her death so she could return to her people.

15. Charise Carnes (Knightfall)

Charice Carnes, also known as Knightfall, was the daughter of William Carnes. Her father was a very successful real estate mogul, and because of his wealth and status, a lot of the time, he would be involved in the politics of Gotham City. Charice was a beautiful young girl, but most of the time, someone would approach her to get her father’s money.

For many years she was not interested in dating, but when she met Trevor, she would eventually fall in love. It turns out that Trevor was a very disturbed young boy, and he ended up killing her family. Charise was accused instead and was sent to Arkham Asylum, where she met James Gordon Jr., who helped her survive.

14. Helena Bertinelli (Huntress)

Helena Bertinelli, also known as Huntress, is one of the characters from the Batman universe. Helena’s life changed after her parents got killed by a group of organized criminals. She swore she would fight against it after that happened.

Inspired by her personal vendetta, she became the Huntress, and in the beginning, she was ruthless, which wasn’t really accepted. Later on, she learned to control herself more, which is also when her peers started to respect her. Her Italian heritage is very important to her, and with that comes her love for her Catholic faith as well.

13. Duela Dent

Duela Dent is a character from the Batman Universe; she appeared in different series and has different origin stories because of that. She was the first part of the Batman Family series, and later on, she was a part of the Teen Titans series as well. What we know about her is that she goes by many aliases.

Her identity was never truly revealed, and she would claim that she is the daughter of Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, and Penguin. The closest answer to the truth of her identity is when she seduces Robin and reveals that she is the daughter of Two-Face.

12. Renee Montoya (The Question)

Renee Montoya is one of the important characters from the Batman Universe. Her journey started with joining the Gotham City Police Department and graduating at the top of her class. She was very motivated and wanted to move up the ranks.

At first, she started out as an assistant, but before that, she worked with Harvey Bullock in the Major Crimes Unit. Bullock and Montoya fought against many different criminals, like the False Face Society, and even arrested one of the Cypher’s henchmen.

11. Jaina Hudson (White Rabbit)

Jaina Hudson, also known as the White Rabbit, is one of the villains from the Batman Universe. Her father was an American diplomat, and her mother was a Bollywood actress. She was born in India, and later she moved to Gotham City with her parents.

She went to certain private schools, and later on, she found her interest in social events. That is when she started to work as a charity fundraiser organizer, and on one occasion, she met Bruce Wayne. The two of them met at a charity function. They started to flirt and eventually agreed to go on a date together.

10. Sofia Gigante Falcone (Hang Man)

Sofia Gigant Falcone is the daughter of one of the biggest crimelords of Gotham City, Carmine Falcone. Sofia grew up with her siblings Mario and Alberto as a part of one of the largest criminal groups in Gotham. Carmine, her father, saw the potential in her and trained her to be just like him.

She eventually became very manipulative, strong, and rage-filled. These were all traits of a good gangster; she was also the most loyal of her siblings. Her merciless ways would eventually lead her to become a serial killer.

9. Talia al Ghul

Talia al Ghul is the daughter of Ra’s al Ghul, the leader of the League of Assasins. Talia was trained since she was young to become a member of her father’s group. The League of Assasins is a group of dangerous mercenaries that follow their leader Ra’s.

Once the group’s missions were interrupted by Batman, their new agenda was to find a way to either kill him or find a distraction for him. This is where Thalia came in, and she served as the distraction for Batman. The two of them ended up having a short-lived fling. Although, the result of their relationship was Talia getting pregnant and eventually giving birth to Bruce’s son, Damian.

8. Barbara Gordon (Batgirl)

Barbara Gordon is the daughter of James Gordon. Her father was a long-time ally of Batman and helped him many times during his missions. Following in her father’s footsteps, she also became his ally. To be precise, she worked with Batman and Dick Grayson under the name of Batgirl.

Later she would work under a new identity called Oracle, and she would operate as a data broker. Her technology was later used by many other superheroes. As Oracle, she was a member and the leader of the superhero team called Birds of Prey.

7. Sandra Wu-San (Lady Shiva)

Sandra Wu-San, also known as Lady Shiva, is one of the best martial artists in the world. Her story started after her sister Carolyn traveled with Ben Turner and Richard Dragon. The two martial artists had an uncle who was killed by a spy, and the same spy ended up kidnapping Carolyn.

Trying to get to Carolyn, a fight ensued between Dragon and the spy. Carolyn also intervened but unfortunately died in that battle. This motivated Sandra to avenge her sister and become Lady Shiva.

6. Stephanie Brown (The Spoiler)

Stephanie Brown was the daughter of Cluemaster. Her father was one minor villain of Gotham City, and he spent most of Stephanie’s life in prison. He claimed that he was rehabilitated, but that didn’t last long, and Stephanie didn’t believe him.

She would later decide that something needed to be done about him. She made herself a costume and started to leave traces for Batman and the police to find her father. This used to be Cluemaster’s trademark.

5. Dr. Leslie Thompkins

Dr. Leslie Thompkins was one of the characters that took care of Bruce Wayne. She was a doctor, and she ran her own clinic in Gotham City. She knew Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce’s parents. She was close friends with Thomas, and after he and Martha were shot, she decided she would help Bruce as much as she could.

The two of them worked with each other, Leslie would often disapprove of Bruce’s vigilante ways, but she understood that it was his way of trying to help people and deal with his past.

4. Pamela Isley (Poison Ivy)

Pamela Isley, also known as Poison Ivy, is one of the most notable villains in the Batman universe. She was part of a wealthy family, and she attended college in Seattle, where she met one of her teachers, Marc Legrand.

She started a relationship with him, and thinking that he loved her too, they started to experiment with different dangerous plants. Since both of them studied botany, this would later turn out to be the point of no return for Pamela. Marc tried to poison Pamela with some herbs she stole from him, but she survived the attack. His attempt made her immune to poison, which is how she became Poison Ivy.

3. Selina Kyle (Catwoman)

Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, is one of the most prominent characters from the Batman universe. Her character is known as the expert thief who mostly looks out for her own interests. Her behavior is very similar to a cat; she is also surrounded by them a lot.

The cats are drawn to her energy, and she is seen as their equal member of the pack. She also has many encounters with Batman. Their relationship is often described as romantic, even though she is considered to be a villain for a while. But in the latest chapters, she has mostly left her criminal activities, and she works as an ally of Batman.

2. Cassandra Cain (Batgirl)

Cassandra Cain, also known as the Batgirl. She is the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva, both of them were very skilled assassins. The result of the two of them having a child was that she would be trained in the same way.

Her father went as far as depriving her of her speech so she would learn movement first. She joined the Batman family, where she took on the role of Batgirl after Helena Bertinelli.

1. Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, mostly known as Harley Quinn, is one of the most known villains from the Batman Universe. The creators didn’t think that her character would stay for long in the series, but the fans ended up loving her.

Now she is one of the most beloved characters in the series. She started as Joker’s sidekick but ended up having her own animated show and movie that follows her as the main character.