10 DC Heroes Who Were Once Criminals

Most might assume that Batman would expect all Gotham vigilantes to follow his “no killing” code (but that wouldn’t necessarily be true). This doesn't mean that Batman abides those who kill, rather, there have been some in Gotham City who have gone about enforcing their own brands of justice.

Helena Bertinelli (aka Huntress) is a prominent example of this because her mission began as a vendetta to kill those who had murdered her parents. Before she became Huntress, Helena grew up in the shadow of organized crime - where her father was the leader of the Bertinelli crime family. His reign would one day come to a sudden end, however, when both he and his wife are assassinated as a part of an organized hit.

Following this incident, Helena would then set into motion a long-term plan for her revenge, by undergoing intense training in Italy - later then becoming the vigilante named Huntress. Batman himself would then learn of Helena's bloodthirstiness after she returns to Gotham City to start killing the men on her hit list. Batman obviously didn't trust her due to this quality of hers, but often just kept her at an arm's length when it came to crime-fighting.

She would finally come to earn his trust, however, during No Man’s Land, where Helena nearly sacrifices her life to protect innocent civilians. Eventually, Huntress would begin to forgo her deadly methods in favor of becoming closer to other vigilantes- like those a part of the Birds of Prey.