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    Kate Spencer

    Character » Kate Spencer appears in 209 issues.

    Katherine Spencer is a lawyer and former district attorney. She took on the identity of Manhunter to correct the wrongs the judicial system could or would not. In doing so Spencer has frequently worked with Barbara Gordon's Birds of Prey.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Kate Spencer last edited by Doc-Holiday on 01/24/24 04:33PM View full history

    Disambiguation

    This page is for the 9th Manhunter, Katherine 'Kate' Spencer.

    Origin

    Kate Spencer's father was a villain and her grandparents turned out to be the original Phantom Lady and Iron Munroe, though Al Pratt was listed as the father on her birth certificate. Kate became a lawyer and bore a son, Ramsey, before she and her husband were divorced.

    Kate became district attorney of Gotham City, but when the villain Copperhead escaped, Kate stole equipment from the evidence locker and becomes the hero known as the Manhunter. Kate would eventually quit her job and work for Mr. Bones, defending such criminals as Dr. Psycho.

    Major Story Arcs

    Trial by Fire

    The Trial of Doctor Psycho

    After his latest failure in the Metropolis invasion, Edgar Cizko ends up getting arrested and Director Bones assigns Kate Spencer as Cizko's defense attorney. Kate goes to Peter’s home to deliver a stuffed Supergirl bear for Ramsey’s baby sister Violet. Kate feels out of place being at her ex-husband’s home with his new wife and baby girl until Damon calls from the courthouse saying that the verdict for Dr. Psycho has just been submitted by the grand jury. Kate enters courtroom 4-C and sits next to Cisko who is feeling nervous about the verdict. Just as the verdict was about to be read, the Secret Society remotely unlock the neural barriers that were inhibiting Psycho’s telepathic abilities. Cisko uses his telepathic to inflict everyone in the courtroom with hellish hallucinations. The security outside the courtroom calls in DEO while Kate remains at the mercy of Dr. Psycho.

    Psycho eventually discovers that Kate is the vigilante Manhunter and notices she is going for her briefcase which contains her suit. Psycho forces his will onto Kate and tells her to strip slowly in front of him and everyone in the courthouse. Psycho then tells her to put on her Manhunter garb and French kiss him. Psycho loses his concentration from the pleasure he was feeling and Kate bites Psycho’s tongue. Psycho screams from the pain and Kate tazers Psycho in the head which immobilizes him permanently. In the end, Kate picks up the verdict sheet from the floor and feels a sense of pride. The verdict for Dr. Psycho was not guilty. Director Bones calls Kate later that night while she was bathing to congratulate her for the victory in court because now every supervillain will want Spencer to represent them and that will mean crucial intel being shared with the DEO.

    Trial of Wonder Woman

    The next day, Peter’s wife Julie asks Kate if she would be willing to be Violet’s godmother. Kate was naturally stunned. Later on, Kate gets a surprise visit from Wonder Woman who needs representation. Diana was exonerated by the world court for the execution of Maxwell Lord but the president’s administration is filing suit because Lord was still a federal agent when he was killed. Kate agrees to take Diana’s case pro bono but under the condition that Diana trains Kate in close unarmed combat.

    The case of the United States vs Wonder Woman seems to be going well for Kate and Diana until a bombshell falls into their laps. Ted Kord aka Blue Beetle appears in front of a group of reporters who were questioning Diana and Kate. The three of them escape the paparazzi and reporters by boarding Ted’s flying beetle craft. Diana confronts Ted because she feels skeptical that Kord’s death was exaggerated. All of a sudden the ship comes under attack by the Madmen. The trio managed to escape by crashing the Beetle ship into a nearby mountainside.

    Diana explains to this supposed Ted Kord that his sudden resurrection could be damaging to her case like her justification for killing Maxwell Lord. Diana uses her lasso and Blue Beetle answers truthfully to all of her questions. Batman arrives and takes a blood sample from Ted since he doesn’t trust reliability of magic like Diana’s lasso. Ted realizes his cover has blown and exposes his true self as Everyman. Kate tases Everyman but Hannibal escapes. Everyman returns to Circe who gave him the Empathy Enchantment in order to fool her Lasso of Truth. Kate goes to her apartment later that night where she is greeted by Sasha Bordeaux. Sasha has evidence that can prove that Diana was justified in killing Maxwell Lord.

    House of Hush: Manhunter vs Two-Face

    Kate Spencer visits Dylan Battles, a former thug turned Manhunter's weapons designer, at the Gotham Hospital for information. Kate learns that Dylan has been working for Two-Face for quite some time. Kate leaves Dylan's room disappointed while Two-Face makes his entrance from the shadows. As Two-Face begins to smack Dylan around, Kate hears the thrashing coming from Dylan's room. She quickly changes in to her Manhunter suit and confronts Two-Face. The battle between Manhunter and Two-Face causes them both to fall out of a hospital window. Fortunately, the Dynamic Duo swoop in to rescue them both from their deadly fall.

    Batman and Robin prevent Kate from killing Two-Face but she pushes Harvey off a ledge in order to distract the Dynamic Duo from her escape. Harvey is later made to stand trial at the Gotham courthouse. Harvey informs the court that he intends to represent himself. Kate tries to dispute Harvey's plea to defend himself to the court but Dr. Jeremiah Arkham speaks on Harvey's behalf. Dr. Arkham states that Harvey's actual personality is in control while the Two-Face personality is no longer dominant. Kate decides to talk to some of the Arkham inmates that Two-Face was intimate with. She chooses to have a sit down with Jane Doe. Kate offers Jane the chance for life imprisonment instead of facing the death penalty if she testifies against Harvey's sanity. Jane tells Kate that she’ll have to think about it seeing as how Two-Face has made Jane a counter offer.

    Dent asks the court for a bench trial due to his facial scarring. The judge agrees to Harvey's request and Kate angrily asks the judge to recuse himself from the trial. This of course, upsets the judge and he adjourns the court until the next Thursday. In Los Angeles, Kate’s son, Ramsey, has decided to head to Gotham in order to help his mother. Ramsey tells Kate that he is riding in the boxcar of a train heading toward Gotham. Later that night, Manhunter is seen beating up a thug for information regarding Two-Face until she is met by Huntress. Huntress offers Manhunter her help in finding evidence that will bring down Two-Face. Thursday comes to pass and both parties meet up at the courthouse. In the courtroom, Kate calls in Commissioner Gordon to the witness stand and when Dent takes his turn to conduct his examination, he asks Gordon why the commissioner would have kept Dent alive if Gordon knew Dent had killed district attorney Janice Porter. This line of questioning upsets Gordon, and Kate knows she is in over her head.

    Kate Spencer has joined up with the JSA and other established heroes in Monument Point to battle Doctor Chaos and Scythe. She has not formerly become a member.

    Characteristics

    • Height: 6' 2"
    • Weight: 165
    • Eyes: Blue
    • Hair: Black

    Status

    • Identity: Secret Identity
    • Occupation: Lawyer, Adventurer
    • Citizenship: American
    • Place of Birth: United States
    • Marital Status: Divorced
    • Known Relatives: Walter Pratt (father, deceased), Arnold Munro (Iron Munro, grandfather), Sandra Knight (Phantom Lady, grandmother), Peter Robinson (ex-husband), Ramsey Robinson (son)
    • Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California

    Weapons and Abilities

    Kate Spencer, as Manhunters is armed with an discarded Darkstar exomantle that amplifies her strength but lacks any other function. Also uses gauntlets than belonged to Azrael and as weapon uses the Manhunter staff than belonged to Mark Shaw.

    Other media

    Kate Spencer in Arrow
    Kate Spencer in Arrow

    Kate Spencer appeared in the tv series Arrow in the episode Damaged. She was portrayed by Chelah Horsdal. In the show, she is the lawyer prosecutor of Oliver Queen, who's been arrested by Quentin Lance with the charge of being the masked, murderer vigilante who's attacking the wealthy people of Starling City. The case never goes to trial. That is the only appearance of her character in the show so far.

    In season 2 Spencer promotes Laurel to ADA after the former ADA was kidnapped. She makes another appearance in episode 17 when Laurel blackmails her into rehiring her, and in episode 19 when Laurel threatens to sue her if her father isn't released from prison.

    Kate Spencer's final appearance was in the episode "Streets of Fire", when she is murdered by one of Slade's soldiers.

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