Character Spotlight: Harper Row

Inspiration is a powerful thing. It can make you become a better person, seeking to be the best you. Harper Row never really had it easy, so she made sure to never give up. How does one become a member of Batman’s team when he seems hesitant of the whole idea? Let’s find out!

Harper Row was born into a poor family, her mother died when she was young. Her father was mostly absent but when he was around, was abusive. The only real family she had was her brother Cullen, who she would take care of while fixing all the things their dad broke when he was home. This knack for fixing things would allow Harper to get a job working on Gotham’s electrical grid.

Cullen was often bullied at school for being gay, while he and Harper would do their best to defend him, there were always more bullies around the corner. One time, while walking home, one such bullying was about to be a brutal beating for Cullen and Harper both, then Batman arrived. This awed them both, Harper became obsessed, doing everything she could to learn more about Batman.

Working on the electrical grid, Harper was able to find how Batman hid himself in plain sight with all the close-circuit security cameras. She also saw that his system was helping the city’s electrical infrastructure. This endeared her more to Batman’s cause and decided to go and amplify his local systems, she was able to track him by where the power would weaken to shut the cameras off. She would learn after helping him take on a villain in a boat in the sewers, that she had made it harder for the cops to help Batman when he needed them. Batman insisted she stop trying to help him.

This did not stop Harper, who got more and more involved with Batman and his family of compatriots. She would even save Batman’s life at one point, still, he pushed her away. She thought this was due to him having just lost his latest Robin, Damien Wayne. Eventually she would hack her way into helping Red Robin, Tim Drake, who would be consistently bothered by her. Eventually, Tim would begin training her, if only for her own safety since she would not back down.

While she started working with Red Robin and his own team, she would stand back and hack until eventually building her own costume and identity, Bluebird. Using this to rescue her brother from the Mad Hatter, she would also have to fight mind controlled Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batgirl, showing her capabilities to Batman. This would allow her to finally be taken into the family proper with more training.

She would have several adventures with the Bat family, making a name for herself and proving her skills fit in perfectly. Sadly, Harper would learn why Batman had wanted to keep her away from him. The villain, Mother, had also been obsessed with Batman. So much so, she wanted to gift Batman with the perfect Robin. To do this, she found a child who needed to have both parents murdered, like Batman’s. Harper was supposed to be this child, her mother was killed, but her killer couldn’t continue to also kill Harper’s father. The killer was a young Cassandra Cain who had been manipulated to aide Mother. Batman knew all of this after the murder and felt immense guilt for the loss of Harper’s mother.

This shook Harper to her core, while she did not blame either Batman nor Cassandra Cain, she just had to take time to herself. She retired from Bluebird and decided to go to college to get an electrical engineering degree to further help the city’s grid. She still interacts with her friends in the Bat family but has stayed retired. Batman has made it clear that she’s always welcome to rejoin if she ever feels the need or desire.

There you have it! Harper has appeared in animation in the latest season of Young Justice. Will she ever make an appearance on the big or small screen in live action? We’ll just have to wait and see. Until then, see you next time!