For Batman fans, there are few characters as iconic as Catwoman. In fact, Catwoman may be one of the most iconic characters of any franchise. Even the most casual of fans could easily determine who she was by merely glimpsing her silhouette.
It isn’t just her black leather costume and bull-whip that make her so recognizable; it’s also her complicated love/hate relationship with the Dark Knight. Thanks to a well-developed and long-running history, Catwoman has become the go-to female villain in Batman’s highly impressive Rogues Gallery. For all these reasons and more, hardcore fans seem to know almost everything about her. However, they could be very surprised to find out a few of the strangest facts about Selina Kyle and her cat burglar alter-ego.
Of course, we’ve seen Catwoman in many incarnations. She’s been portrayed in multiple television shows, such as 1966’s Batman, Gotham, Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
Catwoman’s also starred in multiple movies alongside The Caped Crusader in Batman Returns, The Dark Knight Rises, and, of course, in the horrible spin-off movie, Catwoman.
Finally, there are all of her comic-book appearances that date back to 1940. No matter the version of the character, we’re always treated to an array of peculiar traits that are specific to her.
For this list, every version of the character will be taken into account, with special attention given to her rich history in comics canon.
Without further ado, here are the 20 Strangest Things About Catwoman’s Body.
20 She’s Had Multiple Origin Stories
Due to having to fit this character into many different film, comic, and television show worlds, Selina Kyle’s origin story has changed over the years.
Originally, Catwoman was simply known as “The Cat” and was a jewel thief that dressed up as an elderly lady in order to steal.
There was no major backstory for her until Batman #62, where Selina claimed that she was a stewardess who turned to a life of crime after hurting her head in a plane crash. Then in 1983, this story was changed to reveal that she was fleeing an abusive partner and turned to a life of crime.
Tim Burton changed Catwoman’s origin story again in his 1992 film Batman Returns, which saw Selina Kyle as a lonely secretary to evil businessman Max Shrek, who pushed her out a window. This turned her into Catwoman and actually became comic canon.
19 She’s Physically Unable To Reveal Batman’s Identity
One of the most surprising and strange facts about Catwoman’s abilities is that she’s unable to reveal Batman’s true identity.
This comes in handy because she is one of the only people who are aware of the man underneath the cape and cowl.
She often comes into contact with villains would love nothing more than to find out Batman’s identity in order to destroy him.
This actually happened in the Gotham City Sirens comics, when Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy dosed Selina, knowing that she knew the hidden truth behind Batman.
Luckily for both Batman and Catwoman, Talia al Ghul, Batman’s other main love interest, helped Selina find a way to be unable to reveal Batman’s identity.
Talia did this through a meditative practice she taught Catwoman that actually ended up working.
18 She Became A Werecat
In the alternate Earth story Batman: Bloodstorm, Batman became a vampire in order to defeat Dracula. There’s also an alternative version of Catwoman who is called “Cat-Woman,” as she is part cat and part human.
Selina Kyle becomes this cat-like creature after being bitten by a vampire named Creach.
She later teams up with Batman in order to help him catch other vampires and quench his bloodlust.
The two discover that The Joker is the one responsible for all of the vampire attacks and the pair attempt to bring him down. However, Cat-Woman gets in the way of a cross-bow arrow meant for Batman and ends up losing her life.
This storyline was short and tragic, but showed a new side of Catwoman. In it, her skills were enhanced to superhuman abilities as she was essentially a werecat.
17 She’s Faster And More Agile Than Batman
In many ways, Selina Kyle and her alter-ego, Catwoman, are the flip-side of the coin to Batman and Bruce Wayne. One of the reasons that the pair share connects on such a complicated and yet deep level is that they are really quite a lot alike.
Both are shadows of the night with leanings to the lifestyle of the vigilante, even if Catwoman often does things to suit herself and her own desires. Additionally, both have a particular struggle with duality,
To be able to go toe-to-toe with The Dark Knight, Catwoman needs to have a certain skill-set. Although Batman is known for his tactics, skill, and brute strength, Catwoman has agility on her side.
Without a doubt, she is far faster, lighter, and more capable of moving her body in ways that can side-step the Dark Knight.
16 She Was Paralyzed
Flashpoint is one of the most famous storylines in all of the DC comic universe. It explores an alternative reality where Batman is actually Thomas Wayne, who lost his son, Bruce. His wife, Martha, is the one who became The Joker.
The identity of The Joker wasn’t the only major change that the Batman villains experienced in this trippy timeline.
Catwoman was the one who took over the role of Oracle.
Oracle is usually portrayed as Barbara Gordon after she was paralyzed by The Joker. She is wheelchair-boun helps Batman with his adventures by being his eyes and ears from behind the computer screen.
In Flashpoint, it’s Selina Kyle who takes on the role of being Batman’s Oracle.
Gotham‘s season 4 finale featured Selina’s spine being damaged by a bullet, leading fans to wonder if the show is pursuing this storyline.
15 She Has An Unusual Feline Empathy
It’s pretty obvious that Selina Kyle loves cats. Her alter-ego is “Catwoman” after all. Her entire costume design is based around them, including the dark outfit, the retractable claws, the ears, and whip that doubles as a tail when tied around her waist.
Selina also has a connection with cats that runs much deeper. Some versions of Selina can actually communicate with cats on a far more supernatural level than what we see in most takes on her character.
She has a very unusual empathetic connection with them; they gravitate toward her.
They see her as a mother and protector.
This is because she goes out of her way to show her love and affection for them. In a way, she actually understands their needs. It seems like Catwoman prefers felines to people.
14 She’s Very Flexible
To aide her agility, Catwoman learned how to become extremely flexible. This was because she trained in gymnastics. This made her able to silently sneak across rooftops, scale buildings, and squeeze into the smallest of places.
She can even contort her body to get around security lasers.
This level of flexibility also makes her a dangerous opponent to anyone who gets in her way. Even the likes of Bane has a hard time keeping her in one place.
This quality adds to her alias, “Catwoman”, as cats are known for being outrageously flexible and able to get in and out of practically any scenario.
13 She’s Weaker than Elektra
Many have wondered which DC heroes and villains would win in a battle against the heroes and villains of the Marvel universe. To appease these desires, Marvel and DC teamed up for a cross-over miniseries in 1996 called “DC Vs. Marvel Comics”.
Though the storyline was pretty bare, it did pit some of the most iconic characters against one another. One such battle included a fight between Catwoman and the famous assassin, Elektra.
Unfortunately for Catwoman, there was barely a fight to be had.
It was determined that Elektra was far more skilled than the cat burglar.
In fact, Elektra not only sliced Catwoman’s whip in half with her sai but also tossed her off a building for good measure.
12 Zatanna Wiped Her Mind
Catwoman has come into many a conflict with some of the other women in Batman’s life before, including Talia al Ghul. Another major conflict was with Zatanna, who wiped her mind in the famous storyline Identity Crisis.
Batman finds out that, at the request of the Justice League, Zatanna wiped Catwoman’s mind in order to make her turn from her crime-life. This made her a “good guy” in many scenarios, including making her the “savior of the East End.” It also made her commit to a relationship with Batman.
Though he enjoyed the time, Batman’s morals get the better of him and he forced Zatanna to come clean. In response, Selina became furious and tossed her out a window.
11 She’s Incredibly Skilled With A Bull-Whip
Every hero and villain is associated with a weapon of some kind. Though Batman has his grappling hook, much like Iron Man, he is best associated with his amazing suit of armor. Wonder Woman has her lasso and Scarecrow has his poison gas.
Undeniably, Catwoman’s most famous weapon is her whip, even though it’s not been present in some of her storylines such as in The Dark Knight Rises.
Selina uses this whip as both a weapon and a tool that allows her to climb up and swing from high places.
In some situations, however, she uses a grappling gun much like her bat-obsessed rival.
Catwoman is very skilled with this weapon, allowing her to get the upper-hand in multiple scenarios where she’s either outnumbered or facing a foe that’s far more powerful than her.
10 She Studied To Be A Ninja
Selina Kyle learned to become a ninja after losing a stolen item to another thief who happened to be trained in ninjitsu. After fighting him and losing, Selina follows the ninja, Kai, to a dojo.
Initially, she is not welcome, but the Master of the dojo is so impressed by her skill and desire to learn that he takes her on as a student.
She eventually becomes so skilled that she overpowers Kai, which embarrasses him so much that he ends up quitting.
These ninja skills have come in use multiple times throughout Selina’s life as Catwoman. They also inspired her to get formally trained in other arts, which make her a skilled warrior and impressive thief.
9 She Got Married To Batman…
After a romantic proposal, Batman and Catwoman decided to get married. In Batman #50, the pair actually made it all of the way to the altar. However, Selina decided to leave Bruce there. She then sent him a letter explaining that she worried that Gotham City would lose Batman if the two got hitched.
Eventually, the pair decided to elope on a rooftop with two witnesses. Many fans felt that this ending was anti-climatic due to the fact that there was very little explanation for why Catwoman changed her mind.
The same argument was explored in the previous issue where The Joker tried to stop Catwoman and Batman from getting married, since he too worried that Batman would go away.
8 She Was Turned Into A Humanoid Cat
In the beloved Batman: The Animated Series, there’s an episode entitled “Tyger, Tyger”, where Selina Kyle is abducteded by a man-beast and taken to a remote island. There she meets Dr. Emilie Dorian, who is turning certain subjects into animal-human hybrids, not unlike the classic story of The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Before Batman learns of Selina’s kidnapping and travels to the island where she was taken, the mad scientist turns her into a humanoid cat-like creature.
With the help of Batman and the creature that adbucted her to begin with, Catwoman is able to retrieve then serum from the doctor that reverts her back into a human.
7 She Was Recast twice In the tV show
Although she appeared in comics long before 1966’s Batman TV show with Adam West, it’s fair to say that he Catwoman we love today wasn’t popular until the show hit the air. This is, in part, due to the three actors who portrayed the character.
Originally, Catwoman was played by Julie Newmar, who is seen as one of the best Catwomen of all time. She had authentic chemistry with Adam West even though the show was undeniably corny. Newmar lasted for two seasons on the showm, but had to leave for the third season due to scheduling conflicts.
Eartha Kitt was brought in to play the character for the third season. She too was beloved by fans, although caused multiple controversies due to her outspoken political views, which angered the establishment at the time.
Kitt wasn’t asked back to the show after she was unable to star in the movie, where Lee Meriwether starred. Meriwether was eventually asked to replace Kitt on the television show after the movie version was successful.
6 She And Batman Had a Child
In one of the realities within the DC alternate timelines, Selina and Bruce Wayne conceived a child together. Yes, not only did the two get married on Earth-2, but they also conceived a daughter who eventually became the vigilante known as Huntress.
We’ve seen Huntress on the CW’s Arrow, but she is not known to be Selina and Bruce’s child in that canon.
Regardless, Huntress is best known for using her cross-bow which is usually attached to her arm.
In the main DC comic continuity, Selina also has a daughter named “Helena” but is not Bruce’s offspring, nor did she become Huntress. At this time, she is still a baby and was given up for adoption by Selina.
5 Hush Took Her Heart
One of Batman’s least-known, and yet most formidable, foes is undeniably Hush. Hush, AKA Tommy Elliot, was a childhood buddy of Bruce Wayne who turned into a jealous, angry criminal who goes to any length to destroy Batman.
In the “Heart of Hush” storyline, he decides to get plastic surgery in order to look just like Bruce Wayne so he can snuff him out and take his place. However, Catwoman manages to discover this plot and attempts to stop him. Hush captures her and takes her heart out.
He keeps Selina and her separated heart alive with aide from technology from Mr. Freeze.
Batman is able to swoop in and save her and the heart. He then takes her to a doctor who saves Catwoman from certain death.
4 There’s An Alternate Version of Her Character Named Gata
In a Batman comic called Batman: Digital Justice, a new Catwoman was briefly introduced. Sheila Romero was believed to be the daughter of the mayor of Gotham City, but she wasn’t the mayor’s daughter at all. She was, in fact, a clone created by her mother who wanted to keep her daughter alive forever.
This clone became a superstar singer with the stage name “Gata.” Eventually, she became really jealous of Batman, who was receiving a lot more media coverage than herself so she decided to become the new Catwoman.
Much like the original Catwoman, Sheila ended up falling in love with Batman instead of trying to bring him down.
Sheila only appeared in this specific comic. The story wasn’t further explored by the writers.
3 Michelle Pfeiffer Mastered The Whip To Play Her
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it was revealed that Michelle Pfeiffer chose to master the use of Catwoman’s iconic whip before playing her in 1992’s Batman Returns. In addition to this, she learned how to kickbox and did practically all of her own stunts. This added a level of authenticity to her highly physical scenes as Catwoman.
Though Michelle pretty much nailed the use of the whip by the end of training, after accidentally hitting her instructor on the first day, she found it infinitely more difficult when constricted in her costume and dealing with the lighting systems that were hung too low. They would often have to be moved in order for Michelle to properly fling her whip around.
2 She’s Been a Siren
Catwoman is the type of character that will do just about anything to get what she wants. This includes using the skill sets of other members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery.
Just because she’s willing to work with them doesn’t mean she won’t double-cross them.
In fact, she has a skill for doing just that. Selina Kyle, without a doubt, is a master manipulator and even the most dangerous of Batman villains can be persuaded by her.
However, that doesn’t mean she can’t be double-crossed herself, such as in one episode of Batman: The Animated Series when Scarface and the Ventriloquist get the better of her.
She’s also known for teaming up with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn to form the Gotham City Sirens. They worked well as a team for a while but Catwoman did end up double-crossing them.
1 She’s A Master of Disguise
As stated earlier, Catwoman is one of Batman’s oldest adversaries. In fact, she first appears in Batman #1, making her as old as the Joker, who also first appeared in the comic book, albeit in a separate storyline.
In her first appearance, Selina Kyle actually dressed up as an old lady in order to sneak aboard a yacht and steal a valuable necklace.
Later, Catwoman was portrayed as a woman with a mask that looked almost identical to a real-life cat. Then in 1966, Julie Newmar made the more modern-day Catwoman look iconic.
Throughout her appearance in the comics, Selina has often gone undercover in order to sneak into places to steal things. Her skills at disguising herself were even explored in The Dark Knight Rises, where we see her pose as a waitress and a high-end escort.
This talent made Catwoman a force to be reckoned with.
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What strange Catwoman facts did we miss? Let us know in the comments below!
