Batman: The Animated Series 10 Best Characters

Like Harley Quinn and Mr Freeze, Renee Montoya was a character was created specifically for B:TAS. Unlike them, however, she ended up in the main DC universe before she appeared in the cartoon for the first time and has since become an integral part of Gotham-based storylines.

Starting as a uniformed officer with a few lines, usually bouncing off Detective Harvey Bullock, Montoya gradually moved up the ranks of the Gotham Police, eventually becoming a detective and more involved in the kind of serious cases Batman was mixed up in, even working with him in the episode 'P.O.V.'

Montoya is important not necessarily so much for what she did in B:TAS or it spinoffs, but for what the character became in the greater DC continuity.

Renee was not only representative of a minority at a time that the comics / animation world was mostly about white superheroes, she was one of the first comic book characters to be depicted as gay. She had relationships with other women in the DC universe, including Kate Kane, the modern Batwoman.

Montoya's career as a cop was also used to explore issues of police violence and corruption, acceptance of the LGBTQ community, and post-traumatic stress, mirroring real-world issues.

Renee eventually spent time as hero The Question and becomes Police Commissioner after Jim Gordon retires. Not bad for starting as a background character with a few lines!