Batman's Bat-Family is one of the most popular superhero groups in comic books. Just about everyone knows the major players, like Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood. Each of them has appeared in movies, cartoons, and video games. But despite the boys getting most of the attention, they actually don't make up the majority of the Bat-Family, which has long been dominated by women.

Some fans forget just how big the Bat-Family actually is. While most people tend to think of the Bat-Family as just Batman, his immediate Robin, and maybe Nightwing or Batgirl, there are actually a lot of . At one point, the Bat-Family was almost stuffed with fifteen different people, and the majority of them were women. So, while the boys of the Bat-Family may get the majority of attention, they are from the majority of the family.

10 Carrie Kelley as Robin

First Appearance: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, and John Costanza

Carrie Kelley first appeared in the Elseworlds story The Dark Knight Returns, which featured an old, grizzled Bruce Wayne who had given up on being Batman. After seeing the state of his city and how everything has fallen apart, he eventually dons the cowl once more, which has the unexpected effect of inspiring the young Carrie Kelley to follow in Batman's footsteps with a store-bought Robin costume. While Batman is initially hesitant, he eventually ends up taking her under his wing.

While Carrie served as a great Robin in The Dark Knight Returns' universe, she didn't do much outside of it. While Carrie did appear in main continuity in Batman and Robin #19 by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, it was only as Damian Wayne's acting teacher. She never became Robin, and never officially ed the Bat-Family in the main continuity. Instead, she merely appeared as essentially a cameo before disappearing once again.

9 Harper Row as Bluebird

First Appearance: Batman #1 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia, Richard Starkings, and Jimmy Betancourt

Another Gotham citizen who was inspired by Batman's war on crime, Harper Row was an electrical engineer with mastery of the Gotham City electrical grid. During routine maintenance, Harper noticed some strange anomalies in the power grid. Tracking down the source, Harper discovered that Batman had been tapping into and feeding off the electrical grid. Noticing that it wasn't as efficient as it could be, Harper tweaked Batman's design to help him out.

From there, things escalated to Harper taking on the vigilante name of Bluebird and doing her best to help the Bat-Family directly. While Harper was initially indispensable during the New 52 era, she eventually gave up on the vigilante life. Wanting to make sure she could continue to her brother, Cullen, Harper began focusing more on work and simply staying at home to keep her brother company.

8 Kate Kane as Batwoman

First Appearance: 52 #7 by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Keith Giffen, Ken Lashley, Draxhall Jump Studios, Alex Sinclair, and Travis Lanham

Kate Kane has one of the most unique backgrounds in the Bat-Family: Bruce Wayne's maternal cousin, Kate was kicked out of the army due to being a lesbian. After being rescued by Batman, she was inspired to use her military training to follow in his footsteps. Because Kate is essentially one of the last of Bruce's immediate family, their relationship instantly took on a deeper connection.

Despite this deeper connection, Kate and Bruce haven't always seen eye to eye, esepcially as vigilantes. Because of Kate's military training and views on life, she is much more willing to use lethal force than Batman is. This stark difference has put the two at odds several times in their history, most notably when Kate made the choice to try and kill a rampaging Clayface, which saw her kicked out of the Bat-Family for her efforts.

7 Helena Wayne as the Huntress (and the Robin of Earth-2)

First Appearance: DC Super Stars #17 by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, Bob Layton, Anthony Tollin, and Ben Oda

Helena Wayne has a complicated backstory. She was originally created in the Bronze Age, pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, as the crossbow-wielding daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle of Earth Two. After the tragic death of Selina, Helena takes up a costume inspired by the vigilante identities of both of her parents and hunts down a criminal trying to profit from Selina's death. With her mother's honor preserved, Helena continued fighting crime as the Huntress.

Helena later has a much different origin post-Rebirth in Justice Society of America #1. This version of Helena became a vigilante after hunting down a petty criminal who had killed Batman. Helena murders the criminal as revenge and decides to continue being a vigilante afterward. This version of Helena eventually ends up on the Prime Earth after mistakenly being teleported there.

6 Helena Bertinelli as Huntress (and, Briefly, Batgirl)

First Appearance: The Huntress #1 by Joey Cavalieri, Joe Staton, Dick Girodano, Bruce D. Patterson, Nansi Hoolaahan, and Albert DeGuzman

While Helena Wayne was mostly kept separate from the prime continuity, that wasn't the case for Helena Bertinelli, who was introduced to Gotham lore post-Crisis. Helena was the daughter of a prominent mob boss. She was essentially a mafia princess, which, as expected, ended in tragedy when Helena's family was massacred in front of her by a rival mob. This gave Helena a deep hatred of the mafia and the criminals of Gotham City, a hatred that she was perfectly happy to use as the fuel for her lethal war on crime.

Naturally, since Helena was trying to fight crime in Gotham City, she eventually came across Batman, and the two teamed up several times. Helena's relationship with the Bat-Family was complicated, as she found Batman's rules about killing to be stupid and useless, leading her into conflict with Bruce pretty consistently. Her official hip in the Bat-Family is constantly fluctuating, with Helena often an outsider.

5 Batcow as the Greatest Bat-Family Member

First Appearance: Batman Incorporated #1 by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Nathan Fairbairn, and Pat Brosseau

Bat-Cow is one of the least-talked-about of the Bat-Family, but she's arguably the most important. The Bat-Cow made her glorious entry into the Bat-Family after Batman and Robin broke up a crime ring in a slaughterhouse. During one of Damian Wayne's first real experiences with empathy, he decided to adopt Bat-Cow on the spot, as well as become a vegetarian. From there, the Bat-Cow simply hung out in the Batcave, defending it from intruders when necessary.

While Bat-Cow might seem like an easy character to dismiss, she's actually a pretty important member of the Bat-Family. It was Bat-Cow who started Damian Wayne on his path of redemption. Bat-Cow also has an undefeated record when it comes to combat, as she has taken on heavy hitters such as Laugh-A-Bull and Kalibak and won. While some fans might not recognize the importance of Bat-Cow, there wouldn't be a Damian Wayne as fans know him today without her.

4 Selina Kyle as Catwoman

First Appearance: Batman #1 by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson

One of the most consistent characters in Batman's mythology has always been Catwoman. She was in the very first issue of the Batman title, and she's been around him ever since. Sometimes she's a villain; sometimes she's an anti-hero trying to protect Gotham in her own way. But more often than not, she's a love interest to Batman. In canon, she was first accepted into the Bat-Family during Batman: Hush, where Bruce brought her to the Batcave.

Selina isn't really a member of the Bat-Family in the traditional sense. She doesn't often appear during big all-hands-on meetings between the Bat-Family. She doesn't hang out in the Batcave unless explicitly invited there for some reason. But, despite all that, when Batman needs help, one of the first people to help him out is Catwoman. She has been a consistent ally, even if she hasn't been a technically consistent member of the family.

3 Stephanie Brown as Spoiler, Robin, and Batgirl

First Appearance: Detective Comics #647 by Chuck Dixon, Tom Lyle, Scott Hanna, Adrienne Roy, and John Costanza

The Batgirl mantle is pretty important, and it's definitely every bit as important as the Robin mantle. While many different women have been Batgirl, Stephanie Brown was one of the best. Stephanie truly proved what a hero she is due to the fact that she never gave up, despite pretty much everyone wanting her to. Wanting to foil the machinations of her criminal father, Stephanie first took up the role of the Spoiler, specifically to ruin her father's crimes.

Stephanie Brown shared the spotlight with fellow Batgirls Cassandra Cain and Barbara Gordon in DC's Batgirls title, which is available now both digitally and in collected editions from DC Comics.

Her on-and-off-again boyfriend, Tim Drake, tried to force her into giving up the role of Spoiler, and then later, Batman tried to force her into giving up being Batgirl (after first firing her from the Robin role). Despite literally no one in her life offering her any kind of , Stephanie continued putting her life at risk to do what she knew was the right thing. That's why she's by far one of the most important women to ever the Bat-Family.

2 Cassandra Cain as Batgirl, Black Bat, and Orphan

First Appearance: Batman #567 by Kelley Puckett, Damion Scott, John Floyd, Gregory Wright, and Todd Klein

By all s, Cassandra Cain should be a supervillain. She was raised by one of the deadliest assassins on Earth, specifically bred and trained to be the bodyguard of Ra's al Ghul. Despite all of this, Cass managed to defy her fate. She was raised to be a weapon, and she chose to be a hero instead. Out of all the women who have been Batgirl, the mantle belongs the most to Cassandra Cain. Batgirl is the one identity she's had that truly and perfectly fits who she wants to be.

Other characters like Barbara Gordon and Stephanie Brown have taken on different identities over the years, but aside from the short-lived monikers of Black Bat and Orphan, Cassandra Cain has always just been Batgirl. Considering her devotion to Batman's mission of stopping crime and saving every life, it's hard to imagine any place Cass could have in the world that isn't part of the Bat-Family.

1 Barbara Gordon as Batgirl and Oracle

First Appearance: Detective Comics #359 by Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino, Sid Greene, and Gaspar Saladino

When it comes to legacy, few characters are more important than Barbara Gordon. While people often praise Dick Grayson for creating the legacy of Robin and leaving to become Nightwing, Barbara Gordon's creation of the Batgirl legacy and moving onto the identity of Oracle was just as important, if not more so. As Oracle, Barbara Gordon wasn't just an important member of the Bat-Family; she was an important member of the entire superhero community.

While DC has continually tried to minimize Barbara's importance in the Bat-Family, there was a point in time when there were almost two Bat-Families in the DCU. One was led by Batman, and one was led by Barbara Gordon. That's how powerful her influence in the family was. While those days are unfortunately in Barbara's past now, she's still the most important woman to have ever existed in Batman's Bat-Family.