Selina Kyle was born on the parallel world known as Earth-Two in the year 1920. By the time Selina was eighteen-years-old, she found herself trapped in an abusive marriage to a man who valued personal wealth and status over family. She eventually left her husband, and turned her aggression towards crime. In 1938 she donned a disguise and become a professional jewel thief known as the Cat.

In one of her earliest adventures, the Cat made a play to steal a valuable diamond necklace from a rich heiress named Martha Travers. Several criminal gangs likewise sought the necklace, and the theft earned them the attention of Batman and Robin. Robin was the first to learn about the mysterious Cat and revealed his findings to Batman. Batman encountered the disguised thief, whereupon she attempted to convince him to give up his heroic lifestyle and join her crew. Batman was unwilling to entertain such a notion, but found himself attracted to the seductive thief nonetheless. Even though he captured her, he "allowed" her to escape his clutches.

A short time later, Batman encountered the Cat a second time; however, she had now adopted a feline costume, calling herself the Cat-Woman. Batman discovered her in the midst of a jewel robbery, but she distracted him by giving him key evidence regarding the whereabouts of a much deadlier adversary – the Joker. Although the Dynamic Duo gave pursuit, Catwoman managed to escape by diving into Gotham River.

Later, an organization known as the Diamond Syndicate hired the Catwoman to steal a large quantity of diamonds. The theft was actually a front, enabling the Diamond Syndicate to collect on the insurance money. Batman and a Gotham City police detective named McGonigle investigated the case, but once again, the Catwoman managed to elude capture.

Catwoman soon resurfaced, this time assuming the guise of wealthy socialite Margerite Tone. As Tone, Catwoman and her gang prompted a faux scavenger hunt, which turned out to be yet another scheme to steal precious valuables. Batman investigated the case, and captured the Catwoman, whereupon she kissed him. Once again, Batman found himself in an awkward position and allowed Catwoman to escape from captivity.

Not long after this event, Catwoman met playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne. Unaware of Wayne's dual identity as the Batman, she ironically began to fall in love with him. Wayne was determined to bring Catwoman to justice, but unlike his other foes, Bruce believed that he could reform Catwoman. Disliking the idea of rehabilitation, Selina continued to conduct a crime spree, though ultimately Batman captured her – this time sending her to prison.

Selina soon escaped confinement and embarked upon one of her most courageous schemes to date. Selecting Bruce Wayne as her next target, Selina adopted the identity of a socialite's maidservant, Belinda. She lured Wayne's butler, Alfred Beagle, into a trap – a trap that culminated in bringing Batman and Robin to her lair. She managed to capture the Dynamic Duo, and used their captivity as an opportunity to raid Wayne Manor. Batman and Robin managed to escape however, and using Alfred as a decoy, succeeded in apprehending the Catwoman.

Never one to stay in prison for very long, Selina soon escaped and reformed her criminal gang. More villainous than ever, she accentuated the feline nature of her crimes, often using household cats to aid her in her criminal endeavors. She actually held more confidence in her cats than she did in her various henchmen. Not only did she pursue items of great monetary value, but she also expressed an obsessive desire for any object based upon the theme of a cat.

After nearly a decade of daring adventures, Batman eventually put a stop to the Catwoman's crime-spree. In 1950, a brick struck Selina Kyle in the head re-awakening years of suppressed memories. Selina claimed to have suffered from partial amnesia for the past ten years, and attributed her criminal lifestyle as a side effect of the amnesia. With her "true memory" restored, Selina Kyle renounced her life as a criminal and revealed her secret identity to Batman. Batman learned years later, that Selina lied about her amnesia. She believed that the fabrication was the only way that Batman could truly love her.

Working on the side of law and order, she assisted Batman and Robin in capturing a criminal known as Mister X. She later used the guise of Catwoman to apprehend a gangster named "Whale" Morton – a man who unsuccessfully attempted to lure Selina back into a life of crime. Shortly after this brief heroic stint, Selina hung up the cape and cowl for good, turning her costume and arsenal over to police commissioner James Gordon.

As a civilian, Selina Kyle opened up her own pet shop in Gotham City. However, an unforeseen series of circumstances caused Selina to resume her past criminal lifestyle. Following a brief stint as a cat burglar, Selina reformed herself and swore to abandon the Catwoman identity once and for all.

Selina Kyle's early life was defined by tragedy. When she was just a girl, her brutalized mother Maria committed suicide and her violent father Brian drank himself to death not long after. Separated from her younger sister Magdalena and remanded to the Sprang Hall Juvenile Detention Center, an abusive state home for orphaned or delinquent girls, she opted instead to take her chances on the streets of Gotham City. Amid the crime and corruption of the poverty-stricken East End district, she survived through petty theft. Sharp wits and an amazing natural skill as a gymnast led to her becoming the slickest cat burglar the Gotham City Police Department had ever dealt with. To protect herself, she studied martial arts. Later ex-heavyweight champ Ted Grant (Wildcat) taught her boxing. For a time, she was the most accomplished thief nobody knew. She was also one of the most generous, spreading her ill-gotten gains among the downtrodden and destitute of the East End. She would have continued to rob with impunity if not for the Batman. Spying the Caped Crusader from her window on one of his first outings, she watched him in action and was suitably inspired to take up her own costume when prowling the Gotham night.

Although originally introduced as an equal opponent for Batman, Catwoman's status as hero or villain is ambiguous; she has her own moral code (she abhors killing, though has resorted to it at times) and has occasionally teamed up with Batman and other heroes against greater threats, even saving the lives of the entire Justice League on one occasion. She represents a gray area in Batman's otherwise black and white life where the line between good and evil blurs, and his attraction to her stems from this perception that, in her way, she's kind of a female version of himself: another dark, beautiful creature that prowls the night.

During the events of Crisis of Conscience, Catwoman further proved herself an ally when she fought alongside Batman and the League against the old Secret Society, of which she had once briefly been a member. Wounded, she was taken to the Batcave to recover. When Despero and a faction of brainwashed League members infiltrated the cave and succeeded in brainwashing Batman, Catwoman was able to send a distress call out to the unaffected League members. After a fierce struggle, Despero was subdued. However, this was something of a hollow victory, since all recognized that Despero was able to pit the JLA members against one another by drawing upon pre-existing animosities and distrust. In response to Batman's inquiry about her wounds, Selina departed the Batcave after curtly informing Batman that he had already "done enough."

Catwoman appears to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman true (although brash and unpredictable). However, it is now unclear if her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. Selina had no inkling that any villains had been mindwiped until Batman informed her of the events of Identity Crisis, and he now worries that her reformation may be due to mental manipulation.

Latert an influx of supervillains seized control of the East End, leaving Selina with no choice but to join the new incarnation of the Secret Society. While her initial intentions were unclear, Selina shared her plans to infiltrate and destroy the cadre of East End villains with Batman.

Selina made a deal with a former criminal who had powers similiar to Clayface's, who had promised to help her in exchange for his freedom. The man impersonated her, and allowed several villains to shoot and dismember him, giving the impression to the underworld that Catwoman was really dead (like Clayface, the man was able to survive what would otherwise be fatal wounds). Capitalizing upon the advantage which her "resurrection" provided her (the villains believing she had somehow managed to cheat death), Catwoman dismantled the new East End cadre of criminals, one villain at time. After she was done, Zatanna appeared at her side, informing her that she had some "bad news", hinting at an important revelation about her past.

Selina ended up shooting Black Mask while dealing with the East End criminals.

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, the DC Universe jumps forward in time. "One Year Later" Selina Kyle is no longer Catwoman, has left the East End, and has given birth to a daughter named Helena (whose father is initially unknown). Holly Robinson takes over as the new Catwoman while Selina, living under the alias Irena Dubrovna, turns her attention to caring for her daughter. (Selina's alias was inspired by the name of the main character in the 1942 film Cat People.)

Though she takes her role as a new mother quite seriously, Selina dons the costume for a run through the East End some days after Helena's birth. Having understandably gained a few pounds, Selina finds that her costume is now a tighter fit. In addition, she is easily distracted by a common criminal. Although the situation is defused through Holly's opportune arrival, the fact that there are two Catwomen active in the city is caught on video.

Selina returns home from her adventure to find that the mysterious movie aficionado Film Freak has deduced her alias, joined with Angle Man, and grabbed Helena.

After rescuing her daughter, Selina convinces Zatanna to mind-wipe Film Freak and Angle Man in order to preserve her secret identity. Following the procedure, Angle Man turns himself in to the authorities; Film Freak, however, embarks upon a murderous rampage. Ted Grant informs Selina that Holly has been arrested for the murder of Black Mask; Selina infiltrates the police station and frees Holly. Finally defeating Film Freak, Selina returns home to find that Slam Bradley has deduced that Helena is Sam Bradley's child, and therefore his granddaughter.

Batman asks Catwoman to infiltrate the violent tribe of Bana Amazons during the Amazons Attack! crossover. Posing as a criminal, Selina gains the Bana's trust and thwarts a terror attack aimed at causing mass casualties in Gotham City.

Selina questions whether she should be raising a daughter when her life as Catwoman has already proven to be such a danger to the child. After enlisting Batman's help in faking the death of both herself and her daughter, Selina puts Helena up for adoption. A month after Helena is placed with a new family, Catwoman asks Zatanna to erase her memories of Helena and change her mind back to a criminal mentality. Zatanna refuses, judging that such an act would be cruel to both mother and daughter. She tells Selina that she could never reverse Selina's mindset, since she was on the path to becoming a hero on her own. Believing she can no longer function as a criminal, Selina decided to become one of Batman's Outsiders. She quickly quits, however, and was replaced by Batgirl.

Catwoman is sent to the Prison Planet. She allies herself with Lex Luthor in an attempt to return to Earth, and mistakenly ends up on an alternate universe-Earth where Catwoman is a notorious villain. It is later revealed that this Earth is a creation of her own mind, and she has not left Prison Planet. When accused of being a traitor by Luthor, she reveals Martian Manhunter is posing as Blockbuster, which would soon lead to the hero's death.

Using the trust she regained in Luthor's eyes, she earns a passage to the "real" Earth, in a jury-rigged teleport machine built by Luthor for letting the villains escape. On Earth, she resumes being a hero, with occasional lapses into thievery by commission, simply for the thrill of it.

Later, uncertain if she should pursue her "relationship" with Batman, Selina talks with Bruce about Jezebel Jet, his current girlfriend, and then has a pep talk with Zatanna, whom she believes is also courting Bruce. Zatanna confirms and admits her feelings, adding that she has since chosen to forgo them, but encourages Selina to open her heart to Bruce before Jet is able to "seal the deal". Hush eavesdrops on the conversation, targeting both women as a way to hurt his enemy, Bruce Wayne.

Hush attacks Selina, surgically removing her heart. She is delivered anonymously to a Gotham hospital. Batman receives word of her situation, and while he goes in search of Hush, he leaves Selina in the care of Doctor Mid-Nite, who is considered the superhero community's chief doctor.

Batman recovers her heart, and Dr Mid-Nite restores it to her body; however, the doctor also makes a prognosis on whether she can still return to her former life swinging through rooftops. While Selina is still in a coma, she encounters Zatanna, who apologizes for not warning her about Hush. She tells Selina that she was so happy about her relationship with Bruce that she ignored the other warnings in the cards. Zatanna gives her a little bottle supposedly containing aloe vera for her post-op scars. It is hinted that there is a little magic in there to help Selina with her recovery. Selina is sad that she might end up alone again. In the meantime, Bruce enters the recovery room and, believing her unconscious, launches into a soliloquy. He goes as far as declaring that she was the only woman who has ever held his heart. He ends by telling Selina that he will always love her, when she opens her eyes and reveals to him that she was awake all the time and heard his confession.

Their romance lasts only for a night because Bruce must continue to pose as Jezebel's lover to bring down the Black Glove. While still recuperating, Selina pulls off one more heist and exacts her revenge on Hush. With the help of a few allies on both sides — Oracle, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Slam Bradley — she taps into Thomas Elliot's assets, leaving him penniless and suffering from the wounds suffered at Batman's hand.

Selina is seen as one of the members of Nightwing and Robin's contingency team known as "The Network", where she is seen taking down a gang of thugs before seeing someone, presumably Tim Drake, dressed in a Batman uniform and is initially taken by surprise.

Selina runs into Bonebuster, a new villain trying to make a name for himself, and is saved by Poison Ivy. Selina, fearing the many dangers of a post-Batman Gotham, proposes that she, Ivy, and Harley Quinn team up, living together at a single base. Ivy agrees under one condition: using home-grown drugs to weaken Kyle's resistance, Ivy demands the identity of the true Batman. In it she flashes back 3 years when Talia requested her presence in Tibet. There she made it so Selina would not relinquish the true ID of Batman under any circumstances. After the interrogation is over and Selina sees Harley with Bruce Wayne on TV Catwoman says to Poison Ivy she knows it is Hush in disguise.

Real Name: Selina Kyle
Occupation: Hero
Marital Status: Single
Base of Operations:Gotham City's East End
Height: 5ft. 9in
Weight: 135 Lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
First Appearance: Batman #1 (Spring, 1940)
Created By: Bob Kane, Bill Finger


POWERS
While not considered superhuman, she is easily the fastest non-meta human around. She literally moves like a cat!

ABILITIES
Peak Athlete Conditioning: Selina is a gifted and accomplished athlete, with heightened acrobatic prowess. Her feats have been so amazing, one could argue that her athletic ability is somewhat superhuman.
Feline Empathy: Catwoman has an Good affinity for cats. Feline species tend to flock to her, accepting her almost immediately, recognizing somehow that she is not an enemy but a friend. This allows her to calm injured cats, train them, befriends them, and form strong bonds with them. These animals will even sometimes come to her defense when she is attacked. This has proved most beneficial, especially when it has involved big cats.
Expert Combatant: She was trained by the Armless Master in martial arts and by Wildcat in boxing and street-fighting. She is a dangerous, clever and resourceful fighter, known for precise, agile attacks and speedy getaways. Her formidable hand-to-hand combat skills are augmented by her cat-like speed, reflexes, balance, and flexibility. Has also mastered Dragon Style Kung Fu and Karate. Her skills are good enough to where she has fought off Batman, wounded him, and occasionally defeated him (more than once).
Stealth: Fittingly, Catwoman is a master thief possessed of unsurpassed stealth and cunning. An expert at both low- and high-tech heists, she is Gotham City's finest cat-burglar.
Seduction Expert: Selina has a body that heterosexual men usually only find in their dreams. She exudes a sensuality and sophistication that makes her very adept at seduction. She has grown adept at gauging men's moods and learning how to offer them what they want or need to appease them.

WEAPONS
Costume: The skintight costume features retractable razor-sharp claws in her gloves and spring-action climbing pitons in her boots.

Claws: Catwoman's gloves and boots contain special retractable claws which are formed of a strong steel which extend from and retract into her gloved fingertips and boots when she triggers pressure switches. They can shred a bullet-proof vest, punch through an aluminum frame car door, or dig into porous surfaces to climb.

Whip: Catwoman is highly proficient in the use of the bullwhip. She employs a 12 foot long, black leather braided bullwhip which is normally carried on her person either in her boot or in a small backpack.