Huntress

"Your father hoped to protect you by hiding you in a closet. But you saw it all, Helena. Steven Mandragora killed your parents while you watched. Helplessly. Isn't that what happened?" — Question.

Huntress
Real name:	Helena Bertinelli
Species:	Human
Hair:	Black
Eyes:	Black
Relatives:	Franco Bertinelli (father, deceased) Maria Bertinelli (mother, deceased)
Affiliations:	Justice League (formerly) Question
Abilities:	Martial artist
Weaponry:	Crossbow; bo staff
Voiced by:	Amy Acker

The Huntress was, briefly, a member of the Justice League after the Thanagarian invasion. She was dismissed after attempting to murder crime lord Steven Mandragora, after which she continued to work independently.

History

Early years

Helena Bertinelli was the daughter of Mafia crime boss and mobster Franco Bertinelli. As a child, she saw her mother and father murdered by their bodyguard and enforcer Steven Mandragora who lusted for power. This event sparked her desire for revenge as, years later in her adult life, she would train herself to become the costumed vigilante known as the Huntress.

She was part of the expanded Justice League roster as a faithful member following the Thanagarian invasion. Huntress was among the teams sent to contain the Dark Heart invasion.

Hunt for Mandragora

Huntress is out of the Justice League.

All this time, she lusted for revenge on Mandragora. She broke into his mansion and did not hesitate to shoot a dozen arrows at him when she assumed he was asleep in bed. However, it turned out that he was not even in the building. J'onn J'onzz had discovered her intentions and had Mandragora moved to a secret location. For daring to kill a man, Huntress was dismissed from the Justice League.

In her final moments aboard the Watchtower, she used her feminine charms to persuade The Question into helping her. Huntress also offered to give him information on Project Cadmus which he was investigating at the time and, in return, The Question agreed to track down Mandragora who was in a safe house, watched over by FBI Special Agent King Faraday and his men.

When Huntress and Question approached the safe house they were opposed by their colleagues Green Arrow and Black Canary who were part of the security detail and had been warned of Huntress' intentions. Huntress battled Black Canary and a personal animosity developed between the two women.

While the four fought it out, Mandragora's bodyguards, Tony and Cecil, helped him escape the Feds. To find him again, the Leaguers examined the house for clues. Question picked up something which Green Arrow took and recognized as a key to a locker at a local train station. After Canary and Arrow had gone, Huntress berated Question and his "mystery man mojo" but he revealed to her that the key was a red herring. He had actually found a shipping schedule which included details of a freighter coming from Mandragora's home country. They headed by car for the docks but were followed by Canary and Arrow who had seen through the deception. Question managed to evade their pursuers.

Huntress and Question made it to the port at the moment the freighter docked. When Mandragora himself arrived they were about to attack when Canary and Arrow turned up intending to take Mandragora back into custody. Mandragora beat off Arrow and Question and even resisted Black Canary's canary cry. Huntress was about to shoot him with her own arrows when Mandragora's young son, Edgar, suddenly appeared from the freighter. He had been kidnapped while abroad and Mandragora had been stalling long enough to get him back and arrange for them to slip away into anonymity.

Huntress still threatened to kill Mandragora but seeing the look of terror on the little boy's face reminded her of the horror she had felt when his father had killed her own parents. She contented herself with shooting the arrow to cut a rope from a nearby crane which caused a suspended crate to fall on Mandragora. He emerged unscathed and was taken to prison.

File:Huntress and Question Kiss.png

The beginning of Huntress and Question's romantic relationship.

Question had already revealed that he was aware that Huntress knew nothing useful about Cadmus and that he had known of Mandragora's real plans all along. When Huntress asked why he had taken so many risks for her, he shyly admitted that it was because he liked her. Flattered, Huntress kissed Question and dragged him away to somewhere private, thus starting their relationship.

Huntress versus Project Cadmus

Huntress and Question became lovers and also an unofficial team. She called him "Q" and assisted him in his investigation into Cadmus, though she found his obsession with it rather frustrating since it interfered with their social lives. At one stage, they broke into a Cadmus office in order that Question could get some files from a computer terminal. Huntress covered him by single-handedly beating up the security guards who tried to stop them! Question downloaded the files to a USB drive which Huntress suddenly took and would not return until they had had a proper date, including dinner, a movie and more...

Huntress grows worried for Question.

When he went through the files, Question saw a video from another dimension which showed the Justice Lord Superman killing US President Luthor. Question feared that such an event would take place in his own dimension and result in a superhuman war which would destroy the planet. To prevent this, he tried to kill his dimension's Lex Luthor but was instead captured.

Huntress herself saw the video but assumed that it was a fake. When Question went missing for about a week, she kidnapped Jimmy Olsen and used his signal watch to attract Superman's attention. Discussing the situation, they agreed to break into Cadmus' HQ in Covenant, New Mexico. While Superman used his x-ray vision to search the premises, Huntress single-handedly beat off dozens of guards.

They eventually found Question being sadistically tortured by Cadmus' Dr. Moon to find out what he knew about them. Although Moon surrendered, Huntress was so angry and outraged that she came close to killing him and had to be called off by Superman.

Huntress rescues her boyfriend.

As they made their way out, they found themselves blocked by Captain Atom who had been reinstated back into the USAF and was under orders to stop them. While he and Superman fought it out, Huntress got the seriously injured Question out of the building where she used Superman's com-link to contact J'onn J'onzz. He at first refused to teleport her aboard the Watchtower due to her dismissal from the League but eventually agreed when she told him about the situation.

Huntress stays by Question's side.

In the Watchtower's infirmary, Huntress remained at Question's bedside. She used a special aerosol to clear his trademark blank face and reveal the actual face of his alter-ego Vic Sage. Huntress had once teasingly suggested that his blank face was because he was the "ugliest guy of all time", now she expressed actual attraction towards his real face. She then covered the window of the room in order for them to have some privacy.

Meanwhile, an outside force took control over the Watchtower's Binary Fusion Generator and fired it at the Cadmus facility in Covenant. In retaliation, Cadmus ordered an attack on the Watchtower, sending an army of Ultimen clones led by Galatea. When the clones attacked the infirmary, Huntress took them on but a Wind Dragon clone deflected all her crossbow bolts. A Juice clone crept up behind her but was knocked out with a bedpan by Question and Captain Atom joined in the fight on the League's side. Eventually, the League emerged victorious in the battle.

Meta-Brawl Returns

Huntress returned to fighting crime on the streets. She continued her romance with The Question. During the Mandragora affair, she had developed a personal animosity with Black Canary, both women eager to prove themselves superior to the other in hand-to-hand combat. One evening in Gotham City, Huntress saw Canary actually being knocked down by a man who turned out to be a mere pickpocket. Canary showed a high level of fatigue and Huntress was curious enough about this to tag her motorbike with a tracking device and follow her to Blüdhaven.

Huntress tracked Canary to a parking lot. After beating up an elevator filled with armed mobsters, she found herself in an indoor arena filled with wealthy punters. She changed into civilian attire and discovered that the place was a new Meta-Brawl hosted by crime lady Roulette with female members of the Justice League fighting one another in merciless battles with the Punters betting huge amounts on the fights. Huntress was horrified to witness Canary fight and resoundingly beat fellow Leaguer Fire, both fighters showing no mercy whatsoever for the other.

Later in the parking lot, Huntress confronted Canary over her behavior, but Canary lashed out. During the fight, Huntress accidentally broke Canary's com-link which enabled her to contact other members of the League. Canary suddenly looked surprised and confused and Huntress knocked her down but they were then held at gunpoint by Sonar and some other mobsters.

Locked in a cell, the two women reasoned that Sonar had found a way to interfere in the frequencies of the League's com-links, hypnotising the female members and luring them to the arena to fight one another. Since she was unable to control them, Roulette decided to get rid of them and made money at the same time: she had them sent back to the arena where they found themselves having to fight a hypnotized Vixen and Hawkgirl. In course of the battle, they managed to knocked the com-links out of their opponents' ears, destroy them and thus restore them to normal. Roulette, however, was not finished. She now brought up her ultimate female fighter: Wonder Woman!

While the Amazon Powerhouse battled Vixen and Hawkgirl, Huntress and Canary broke through the force field surrounding the ring and made their way to the box lounge where Roulette and Sonar were watching the fight. Huntress took on Roulette, originally assuming that she was the sort of fight promoter who would not actually be much of a fighter herself. Roulette, however, turned out to be quite skilled at martial arts, but Huntress still overcame her and, twisting her arms, forced her to admit that Huntress was the better fighter.

Sonar used a device which gave off high frequency ultrasounds to overcome Black Canary. Huntress destroyed the device then threatened to kill Sonar unless he stopped the manipulation of Wonder Woman who was brought back to normal before she could smash Vixen and Hawkgirl's heads together. The Meta-Brawl was broken up and Roulette and Sonar arrested.

Black Canary thanked Huntress for what she had done, addressing her as "Helena" and even offering to persuade the League to take her back in, but Huntress declined, preferring to operate alone. Although there was still tension between them, the two women appeared at first to agree that they were above fighting in order to settle their differences, before agreeing to settle the matter once and for all with a best-out-of-three combat. The winner of the contest remains unannounced.

Abilities and Weapons

The Huntress is a world class athlete, gymnast and martial artist, capable of disarming and defeating multiple armed opponents, including security guards and soldiers. She carries an automatic miniature crossbow that she wields with incredible ease and accuracy, as well as a retractable bo staff and other equipment used to bypass security measures.

Background information

File:The Huntress in various outfits.jpg

The Huntress in her various outfits: in "Duty of the Huntress" (top left); "Dark Heart" (top right); "Double Date" (bottom left); and as Helena Bertinelli in "Grudge Match" (bottom right)

Helena Bertinelli first appeared in 1989 in Huntress #1, based on the earlier Huntress, Helena Wayne. This new Helena was the daughter of a powerful mob boss. Growing up among crime lords and losing her innocence at a young age, she became a violent mob buster.

Years before her appearances in Justice League Unlimited, she featured in Batman & Robin Adventures #19. After losing her family at a mob hit of a wedding, she dons a costume and fights mobs violently, so much so that Batman has to stop her.

The relationship between Huntress and Question is likely a tribute to a brief liaison featured in the comics storyline "Huntress: Cry For Blood" which had been published in 2000. The Question takes Huntress under his wing when she is framed for mob assassinations she did not commit and there is a strong attraction between the two. Eventually, however, he leaves her in disgust when she lures an enemy into what she knows will be a fatal trap and does nothing to prevent it.

In the comics, Huntress is considered an occasional ally of Batman. However, unlike most of his other allies (such as Robin and Batgirl), she escaped the Bat-embargo.

Appearances

Justice League Unlimited

• "Initiation" ^(Cameo)
• "The Greatest Story Never Told" ^(Cameo)
• "Dark Heart" ^(Cameo)
• "Double Date"
• "Question Authority"
• "Flashpoint"
• "Panic in the Sky"
• "Divided We Fall" ^(Cameo)
• "Grudge Match"

External links

• Huntress (Helena Bertinelli) at Wikipedia
• Huntress at the DC Database