Batgirl has been a staple of the Batman mythos for decades, much like Much like Robin, the boy/girl wonder — though for not quite as long. The one near-constant of this title is that the girl in question usually ends up as the current Robin’s girlfriend. That might not be so bad, except the role sentences the unsuspecting Batgirl a slew of terrible fates (in no particular order): being shot, paralyzed, raped, tortured to (apparent) death, and even wiped out of existence. Mostly.

Regardless, I’m sure fans everywhere remember when the very first Bat-Girl, Betty Kane, burst onto the scene with her red, green, and gold outfit.

…bwuh??

Read on to see more about Batwoman’s sidekick, and her not-quite-as-long-as-Robin line of unhyphenated successors.
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It’s not a great thing to be Batman’s protege. You get shot at, blown up, killed, and — like Menudo, the Boy Scouts, or the Disney Channel — you get kicked out once you get too old. Robin is little more than a brightly colored sprite for criminals to shoot at instead of Batman, much like how a magician would use a sexy assistant to distract the audience. Except this sexy assistant is (usually) a nubile young boy, and stands a much better chance of actually getting sawed in half.

Robin has been part of the Batman mythos for 70 years. Even in real time, that means Batman must have gone through a slew of supple young teens by now. But in comic time? Hoo boy.

So just how many goddamn Robins are there anyway? (And why isn’t Batman clever enough to think of another alias for his underage sidekicks?)
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