10 Comic Characters Who Totally Changed After Appearing On Screen
8. Batgirl
Barbara Gordon's alter-ego Batgirl has become one of the most celebrated members of the Bat Family, and a fan favourite superhero for many. But what few people realise is that before Batgirl, there was Bat-Girl!
The original Bat-Girl was the superhero persona of Betty Kane, a much more comedic take on the character. There honestly wasn't much to Bat-Girl, except for the fact that she was a Girl who dressed like a Bat. A Bat-Girl. She was created to be little more than a love interest for Robin, introduced for the sole purpose of convincing the censors that there was no romantic relationship between Batman and his sidekick. After a few appearances, she was dismissed by the editors as being "too silly", and was more or less retconned out of existence.
It was the sixties TV show that introduced the much more interesting Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon. As the daughter of one of Batman's closest allies, Commissioner Jim Gordon, she added a dynamic new layer to the series. Not only was she an ass-kicking vigilante, her inclusion added an exciting family drama aspect: she could never allow her father to discover that he was working alongside his own daughter. When the comic writers realised the storytelling opportunities this created, they knew they had to bring her into the comics canon immediately.