Orphan Facts

Are you a fan of Cassandra Cain? Well, we got One Dozen Orphan Facts!

1. Cassandra Cain is the daughter of two assassins-Lady Shiva and David Cain-making her half Caucasian and half Asian. In the original canon her vocal cords were slashed by her mother as a punishment meaning she was mute and communicated through sign language. Over time her cords healed and she began slowly speaking. The new origin explains that David Cain taught her to never speak. Only by joining Batman did she learn to speak openly.

2. When first introduced, Cassandra was an apprentice of Barbara Gordon/Oracle/the first Batgirl. After saving Jim Gordon, Barbara claimed Cassy earned the mantle of Batgirl. She remained Batgirl from 1999 to 2009. 

3. She later gave the mantle to her friend Stephanie Brown/Spoiler and she became Batgirl. When we revisit Cassy in "Batman Inc." she is in Hong Kong using the new identity Black Bat.

4. In the New 52 story "Batman & Robin Eternal" we got a new origin for Cassy that ended with her betraying the villain known as "Mother" and her father David who called himself "Orphan" and joined Batman's allies. She takes the name Orphan to honor her father, despite his treatment of her.

5. In 2004, The Justice League took the remains of the anti-hero team The Elite and turned it into Justice League Elite to tackle black-ops missions. A new character named Kasumi was put on the team as a former assassin, but she was secretly Cassandra Cain in disguise. She was put there by Batman to keep an eye on The Elite.

6. During her time as Batgirl, Cassy was a member of Young Justice, The Outsiders, and Deathstroke's Titans East. She also went on a date with Connor Kent/Superboy.

7. Batman has admitted that-in a one on one fight with no gadgets-Cassandra Cain could defeat him in combat.

8. During her first year with Batman, Cassy spent her days learning skills she missed out on growing up with Alfred-such as language, cooking, and cleaning.

9. In the future of "Titans Tomorrow" Cassy was apparently killed by The Joker's Daughter. So Tim Drake-now Batman-shot and killed her, avenging Cass and crossing his moral line. In another "Titans Tomorrow" she became Batwoman and joined Lex Luthor's Titans. In the story "Future's End", Barbara Gordon leads a team of Batgirl with Stephanie Brown, Tiffany Fox, and Cassandra Cain.

10. Cassandra Cain makes an uncredited, unspoken cameo in the episode "The Savage Time" in "Justice League: The Animated Series". She, Dick Grayson, and Barbara Gordon are seen as part of a resistance group in an alternate future.

11. In 2001, Cassandra Cain/Batgirl had a four issue miniseries crossover with Dark Horse Comic's gun-wielding fem-fatale The Ghost. The two battle Two-Face and Malcolm Greymatter.

12. Cassandra's first murder was when she was 8 years old. She was tasked to kill a business man by the command of her father. When Batman took Cass on as Batgirl, David Cain uploaded the video of the murder to the Batcave. By the end, Batman stood by Cassy and refused to give up on her.

Thanks for reading.