Elizabeth Kane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Beginning as a supervillain and eventually evolving into a superhero, she was created by Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III and first appeared in August 2009 in Detective Comics.
Her relationship with her twin sister Kate Kane defines much of Batwoman's emotional life. During The New 52, it is established that Kate and Beth are cousins of Bruce Wayne, the alter-ego of the superhero Batman, through his mother Martha Wayne (née Kane).
Her origin story involves getting kidnapped by terrorists alongside her mother, Gabi Kane, and Kate, and because she wasn't rescued by their father Jacob she was presumed dead. However, she was in fact alive, and eventually became the leader of the Religion of Crime, before becoming an antagonist to her sister, who had begun her career as Batwoman.
After being once again presumed dead following her fall from a plane, she was resurrected by the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.) and decided to redeem herself after getting psychological help, becoming an ally to her sister from that point on. She has used villainous identities such as Alice and the Mother of War and the heroic alias Red Alice through her history.
Alice appears in the Arrowverse TV series Batwoman as part of the main cast, portrayed by Rachel Skarsten.
Publication history Alice was created by Greg Rucka and J. H. Williams III, making her first appearance in Detective Comics #854 (August 2009), having an antagonistic role in Batwoman: Elegy as a whole.
After the DC Universe was reset during The New 52, Beth make cameo roles in story arcs such as Batwoman: Hydrology and Batwoman: Webs, before having a main role in Batwoman: The Unknowns, this time under the heroic identity of Red Alice, appearing in nearly all issues. Much later, she had a villainous role in the story arc Batwoman: Fall of the House of Kane.
Fictional character biography
Origin story Alice's origin is told in flashback. Elizabeth "Beth" Kane is the identical twin sister of Katherine "Kate" Kane, and was older than Kate by two minutes.Batwoman/Supergirl: World's Finest Giant #1 (March 2019) She is the daughter of Jacob Kane and his wife Gabrielle Kane, both career soldiers in the U.S. Army. The Kanes are Jewish,Detective Comics #860 (February 2010). DC Comics.DCU Infinite Holiday Special (February 2007); Detective Comics #977 (May 2018). DC Comics. and Jacob Kane inherited vast wealth along with his other siblings.Batman Incorporated #4 (April 2011). DC Comics. Bette Kane (the superheroine known as Flamebird, and later Hawkfire) is a cousin,Detective Comics #854 (August 2009). DC Comics.Batwoman (vol. 2) Annual #1 (June 2014). DC Comics. and Bruce Wayne's mother Martha Kane Wayne was Jacob's sister.Batwoman (vol. 2) #25 (January 2014). DC Comics.Batwoman (vol. 3) #13 (My 2018). DC Comics.
Jacob Kane is promoted to colonel and assigned to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. When the twins turned 12 years old, their mother took them to a restaurant for a birthday dessert. A terrorist group (later revealed to be the organization known as the "Many Arms of Death")Batwoman (vol. 3) #15 (July 2018). kidnapped the family, and Col. Kane led a rescue mission to save them. During the battle, Gabrielle was murdered by the terrorists.Detective Comics #858 (December 2009). DC Comics.Batwoman: Rebirth (April 2017). DC Comics. The terrorists kidnapped another young girl and murdered her too. Kate, seeing the body of a young girl under a blanket, is left with the impression her sister died. Col. Kane, however, knew that the terrorists had Beth. Despite looking for years, Col. Kane never found Beth. He never told Kate that Beth might still be alive. The Many Arms of Death needed twins to rule their organization, but since Kate Kane was rescued this meant Beth was not useful to them. Beth's fragile psyche led the Many Arms of Death to send her to the United States, where she was raised by the Religion of Crime.
15 Years later, Kate Kane becomes Batwoman.52 #7 (August 2006); 52 #11 (September 2006); Detective Comics #823 (December 2006). DC Comics.
First appearance
Alice makes her first appearance in 2009 in Detective Comics #854 (August 2009). With the death of Bruno Mannheim, the supervillain group known as the Religion of Crime is leaderless. The thirteen covens that make up the Religion of Crime elect Alice to lead the group, giving her the title "High Madame". Beth is shown to be insane,Batwoman (vol. 2) #1 (November 2011). DC Comics. as she dresses in clothes and makeup to resemble the character Alice from Lewis Carroll novels and only speaks in quotations from the Alice novels. She kills a number of members of her own group when they fail her or question her abilities.
Alice kidnaps Col. Kane,Detective Comics #856 (October 2009). DC Comics.Detective Comics #857 (November 2009). DC Comics. who immediately recognizes his now-grown daughter,Batwoman (vol. 2) #0 (January 2011). DC Comics. and uses him to gain access to a military base near Gotham City. She seizes chemical weapons from the base and intends to kill everyone in the city by dispersing them from an aircraft. During her final battle with Alice, Batwoman pushes her from the aircraft and Alice falls into Gotham Bay. Batwoman believes Alice to be dead.
The Gotham Police, however, never recover a body. Alice's final words implied that Col. Kane was her father. Taking Alice's blood spatters on her Batwoman costume, Kate Kane utilizes DNA testing to discover that Alice is her sister, Beth. The knowledge that her father hid Beth's possible survival from her led to a long rift in Kate and Jacob's relationship.
Reappearance Alice reappears alive inside a sarcophagus in Batwoman (vol. 2) #17.Batwoman (vol. 2) #17 (April 2013). DC Comics. According to Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) Agent Cameron Chase, the Religion of Crime (ROC) was in the process of founding a cult based on Batwoman. The cult retrieved Beth's body from Gotham Harbor and placed it inside the sarcophagus. The sarcophagus brought Beth back to life, and kept her in suspended animation. Agent Chase, tasked by the DEO to discover the secret identity of Batwoman, uncovered the cult. All the cult members died defending the sarcophagus, which was brought back to DEO headquarters by Agent Chase. Scanning by DEO technicians revealed Beth was inside, and although she was apparently conscious the DEO did not open the sarcophagus for several months.Batwoman (vol. 2) #20 (July 2013). DC Comics.
Now in the custody of the DEO, Beth appears traumatized by her months spent in the sarcophagus. Sometimes she's lucid, and other times reverts to her "Alice" personality. Mister Bones, director of the DEO, believes himself to be Jacob Kane's illegitimate son,Batwoman (vol. 2) #19 (June 2013). DC Comics. and wants to use Beth for his own purposes. Batwoman agrees to uncover Batman secret identity if the DEO will turn Beth over to her, destroy all its files on the Kane family, stop targeting Bette Kane, stop putting pressure on Maggie Sawyer, and agree to no longer see Batwoman as one of their agents.
Thanks to Bette Kane's electronic listening devices, Batwoman's entire family and Maggie Sawyer realize what Batwoman is up against and how high the stakes are. Col. Kane sets up the "Murder of Crows", the elite group of ex-military and intelligence operatives who trained Kate, to provide backup support for Batwoman. The Crows and Hawkfire kidnap Agent Asaf, Mister Bones' top subordinate at the DEO, and induce him to reveal the location of Beth Kane in exchange for Batwoman's help in discrediting Bones (which will allow Asaf to take over the directorship of the DEO).Batwoman (vol. 2) #23 (October 2013). DC Comics. Hawkfire and the Crows break into the DEO safe house and finds Beth,Batwoman (vol. 2) #24 (December 2013). DC Comics. but are captured. Batwoman and Batman agree to work together to stop Bones and free Beth. Bones, whose body generates cyanide, threatens to kill Beth rather than hand her over. Asaf shoots Bones in the head and Beth is freed.
Col. Kane takes Beth to the Kane family's private island for psychiatric treatment.
Red Alice In Batwoman (vol. 2) #36, Beth is depicted flying back to Gotham City,Batwoman (vol. 2) #36 (January 2015). DC Comics. where she takes up residence in the mothballed family manor house on the Kane estate.Batwoman (vol. 2) #37 (February 2015). DC Comics. She has returned to renew her relationship with Kate, having had a major breakthrough in her psychiatric treatment some weeks earlier (although she still speaks in quotations from Carroll at times).Batwoman (vol. 2) #39 (April 2015). DC Comics. Clearly aware of Kate's superhero identity, she breaks into Kate's city apartment and reunites with Batwoman.Batwoman (vol. 2) #38 (March 2015). DC Comics.
Calling herself Red Alice, Beth is introduced to Natalia Mitternacht (the vampire also known as Nocturna). Kate has abandoned her long-term relationship with Maggie Sawyer and formed one with Natalia. Beth instinctively realizes that Natalia is evil and has Kate under some sort of mental control. Beth says she wants to atone for the evil she did, and she shows familiarity with the steam-powered gun grappling hook Batwoman uses as well as incredible strength as she swings on filament lines above Gotham's city streets. When the witch Morgaine le Fey attacks an amnesiac Jason Blood in order to stop Etrigan the Demon from manifesting from Jason's body, Red Alice saves Jason from falling to his death. Red Alice later confronts Nocturna and accuses her of hypnotizing Kate. Nocturna has Batwoman attack Red Alice. Realizing she cannot defeat her sister physically, Beth offers her throat. The shock of almost being driven to kill the one person she loves more than anyone else allows Kate to break the hold Nocturna has on her. When Nocturna brags about the murders she's committed in Batwoman's name, Beth reveals that she's captured the admission on her mobile phone and live-streamed the admission to the Gotham Police Department. Afterward, Beth helps Kate deal with Natalia's emotional and sexual betrayal and successfully encourages her to reconcile with Maggie Sawyer.Batwoman (vol. 2) #40 (May 2015). DC Comics.
Red Alice also participates in Batwoman's battle with Morgaine le Fey. Morgaine manages to recover a magical tool known as the "sorcerer's stone", which will enhance her powers dramatically. She intends to transform the world into a version of Avalon, which herself as empress. To do so, she and her demon horde ascend to a space station in outer space (the highest point above the planet). Red Alice accompanies Batwoman, Etrigan the Demon, Clayface, and Ragman aboard a Space Shuttle into orbit to stop Morgaine. The helmet of Alice's spacesuit cracks in battle, and Ragman saves her life by absorbing her soul into his costume. Batwoman's team is defeated by Morgaine, and they crash back to Earth.Batwoman (vol. 2) #35 (December 2014). DC Comics. On a transformed Earth, Ragman restores Beth's soul to her body. The other evil souls trapped in Ragman's costume try to hold Beth back, but she resists them and screams that she wants to atone for all the wrong she has done. Red Alice then assists Batwoman's team in defeating le Fey and undoing the spell.Batwoman (vol. 2) Annual #2 (June 2015). DC Comics.
Reemergence of Alice In a flashback in Batwoman (vol. 3) #7, Beth is depicted receiving further psychiatric treatment at the Weiße Kaninchen Sanatorium near Geneva, Switzerland.Batwoman (vol. 3) #7 (November 2017). DC Comics.