Though she might not be the most integral member of the Bat-Family, Huntress is still a valuable force for good around Gotham City. The name is also the superhero moniker of two women with connections to Batman. Despite that, it's ironically the heroine with the least amount of relation to the Dark Knight who is the better character.

Helena Bertinelli was the second superhero named Huntress, but she's actually a superior character to her Bronze Age counterpart. Her stories allow her to be only tangentially related to Batman, offering her incredible narrative potential of her own. Add in the lack of need to tie her to Justice Society geezers, and Bertinelli simply shines in a way that Batman's daughter never did.

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Helena Bertinelli's Huntress has More Story Potential in the DC Universe

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The original Bronze Age Helena Wayne was the daughter of Batman and Catwoman on Earth-2, and she became a superhero long after her parents' heyday. This put her in the same generation as Power Girl and Jade, who were all children of the original Justice Society. Of course, this meant that her stories necessitated a pre-established Batman and Catwoman who were now old, which somewhat limited her stories beyond the timeline of Earth-2. Helena Bertinelli was her "successor" and introduced after the reboot following Crisis on Infinite Earths. No longer on Earth-2, this version of the character operated concurrently with Batman himself.

This is because Bertinelli wasn't related to Batman, but rather the daughter of a crime boss in Gotham City. Following her tragic origin story, Helena Bertinelli took on the Huntress persona and became a violent vigilante. Batman would come to disapprove of her methods, though other members of the Bat-Family were more accepting of her methods. She was also a founding member of the Birds of Prey, a group of female superheroes who mostly operated on a street level. Being unrelated to Batman by blood and being a somewhat tertiary part of his world meant that her actions and stories weren't as dependent on his. That's the exact opposite of Helena Wayne, whose very premise hinges on her being the daughter of Batman and Catwoman. This removed legacy also offers Bertinelli a great thematic benefit.

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Helena Bertinelli Doesn't Depend on the Legacy of the Justice Society

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Helena Wayne, as a member of Infinity, Inc., can only exist in a world where her parents are somewhat out of action and two generations of superheroes have preceded her. Thus, it's impossible for her to interact with the "present day" DC Universe, since she has to be younger than the original DC heroes' sidekicks. After all, Dick Grayson, the original Robin, was far into adulthood by the time Helena Wayne became Huntress. That's likely why she's had almost no appearances outside the comics, with DC Comics adaptations only recently utilizing legacy more through the recent appearances of the Justice Society.

Helena Bertinelli doesn't have this disadvantage, as she's part of the same modern generation of heroes as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. This is despite her being around the same age as Dick Grayson, who started his superhero career as the young Robin. Having nothing to do with Bruce Wayne or the Justice Society, her origin can be told completely independently and without bogging the heroine down in a lengthy explanation of her parentage. To this end, DC Comics later undid their mistake of replacing Helena Bertinelli with Helena Wayne, and though Batman's daughter is finally returning to comic books, she'll be playing second fiddle to her more mainstream counterpart.