| “ | Some questions can only be answered with a mask. | „ |
| ~ Renee Montoya. |
| “ | Lives we can't remember, it doesn't mean they didn't happen. Somewhere, they did. It's all real, that's what I'm saying. It all matters. | „ |
| ~ Prime Earth Montoya. |
Renee Montoya, also known as The Question II, is a supporting character in the DC Universe, specifically serving as a supporting character in the Batman franchise, and a major character in the Detective Comics franchise.
Originally a Gotham police officer turned detective, Montoya was initially partnered with Harvey Bullock during her tenure, encountering the Dark Knight and his rogues gallery. After the death of her partner Cris Allen, Montoya left the force and was taken under the wing of the Question. Originally appearing in Batman: The Animated Series, the character would debut in the comics during the 1990s, and has appeared in numerous media.
She was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini for Batman: The Animated Series, and in March of 1992, she made her debut in the comics in Batman #475.
Biography[]
Background[]
Renee Montoya was born in Burnley, Gotham City on September 7th, 1970 to Hernando and Louisa Montoya, and the older sister to Benny. Wanting to become a police officer, Montoya joined the police academy and graduated at the top of her class, and joined the Gotham City Police Department.
Protecting Gotham[]
Becoming an officer for the GCPD, Montoya was initially assigned as Commissioner James Gordon's assistant until she was transferred to the major crimes unit. She partnered with Harvey Bullock, and the two encountered several criminals and villains from Batman's rogues gallery, such as Victor Zsasz, the Riddler, Firefly and the False Face Society. The officer also had several encounters with the caped crusader on several occasions, stopping him from beating Zsasz and attempting to save him from his injuries after fighting Bane. Some time later, Renee was promoted to detective, but continued to work with Bullock and Batman to stop threats. When she started to notice Batman's bizarre behavior, she and the GCPD attempted to hunt him down until they learned that it was an imposter when the original Dark Knight arrived.
Following Gotham's destruction by an earthquake, Montoya befriended Two-Face, managing to reach to his original self despite his mental instability. However, the criminal would fall in love with her, and decided to frame her for murder and expose her sexuality to keep her for himself. Montoya was then sent to prison, but was rescued by Two-Face, and proceeded to fight him before Batman arrived and stopped the criminal. Despite being freed from Two-Face's scheme, Renee's relationship with her parents soured after they learned of her sexuality, ending with them disowning her. Following this, Montoya returned to the police department and was partnered with Crispus "Cris" Allen.
Later on, Montoya became determined to resolve Allen of Black Spider's murder, but found herself becoming obsessed with the corrupt investigator Jim Corrigan following the case. Cris attempted to help Renee in ending her obsession, but was killed by Corrigan when he started an investigation on him. Wanting to avenge her partner, Renee confronted Corrigan after beating his girlfriend, but walked away and left the GCPD for good.
The Question[]
Broken and guilt-ridden, Renee turned to alcoholism, resulting in her becoming isolated, her girlfriend breaking up with her, and having one night stands. She soon caught the eye of the Question, who hired her to help him investigate a building where a creature was being held. The two continued their investigation with Kate Kane, and later traveled to Kahndaq to investigate connections to the Intergang. While receiving training from Richard Dragon, the Question explained that he was preparing Montoya to be his replacement, as he was dying from lung cancer. When he began to suffer from near-death madness, Renee refused to perform a assisted suicide, and later adopted the mantle as the second Question.
Prime Earth[]
On Prime Earth, Montoya was trained by Harvey Bullock in the Gotham City Police Department, but was transferred to Blüdhaven for five years. She returned to Gotham soon after, and began a romantic relationship with Kate Kane, whom would later become the vigilante Batwoman. At some point, she left the force and become the Question, helping Lois Lane investigate the murder of Mariska Voronova and the identity of Leviathan. However, Montoya returned to the department and was given the title of commissioner.
Portrayals[]
Films[]
- In Batman: Bad Blood, she was voiced by Vanessa Marshall, who also voiced Olga Gurlukovich in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, EVA in Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Strangelove in the Metal Gear Solid series, Irwin Dracula in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Black Widow in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Black Canary in Young Justice and another version in Injustice 2, and Hera Syndulla in Star Wars: Rebels.
- In the DC Extended Universe, she is portrayed by Rosie Perez.
- In Batman: The Long Halloween, she was voiced by Alyssa Diaz.
Television[]
- In the DC Animated Universe, she was voiced by Ingrid Oliu and Liane Schirmer.
- Schirmer reprised her voice for the character in Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and Lego DC Super-Villains.
- In the Gotham Girls web series, she was voiced by Adrienne Barbeau, who also voiced Catwoman in the DC Animated Universe.
- In Gotham, she was portrayed by Victoria Cartagena.
- Cartagena reprised her role as the character in Batwoman.
Video Games[]
- In Batman: Dark Tomorrow, she was voiced by Erin Quinn Purcell.
- In Batman: The Telltale Series, she was voiced by Krizia Bajos and Sumalee Montano, who also voiced Arcee in Transformers: Prime.
- Bajos reprised her voice for the character in Gotham Knights.
Radio[]
- In BBC's Batman: Knightfall, she was voiced by Lorelei King.
Gallery[]
.jpg "Renee Montoya (DC Extended Universe).jpg (710 KB)")
Trivia[]
- Ranked 87th on IGN's "greatest comic book hero of all time".
- Ranked 80th on Wizard magazine's "greatest comic book character of all time".
External Links[]
- Renee Montoya on the DC Database Wiki
