The “World’s Greatest Detective” moniker in DC Comics has always seemed to be best suited for Batman, but there may be someone else in the Bat-Family – Cassandra Cain‘s version of Batgirl to be specific – who might deserve the title even more. At the very least, this Batgirl may be best suited to follow Bruce Wayne in his footsteps as the World’s next Greatest Detective and is, by proxy, arguably an underrated candidate to take over as the next Batman.
Daughter of assassins David Cain and Lady Shiva, Cassandra was primed from a very young age to become an expert martial artist. However, one often overlooked skill is how she learned early on how to interpret key ideas just from small details and subtle body language. These, of course, are the key ingredients that make for a skilled detective.
Cassandra Cain showcases such detective skills early on in her run, most notably with 2002’s Batgirl #24 by Kelley Puckett and Damion Scott. At this point in time, Cassandra doesn’t know Batman’s secret identity. However, after overhearing two detectives in passing describing Bruce Wayne’s backstory and then seeing a look in young Bruce’s eyes from old newspapers, Cassandra is able to decipher correctly that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person. Merely from a few newspaper clippings and the smallest of detail regarding the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Cassandra is capable of figuring out the biggest secret in all of Gotham City.
Cassandra Cain’s Sharp Mind Does Not Get Enough Respect
From then onwards, Cassandra’s skills as a detective would only improve from there. More recently in Matthew Rosenberg and Eddy Barrows’ Task Force Z, Cassandra Cain’s Batgirl uses sheer wit alone to figure out all on her own the location of the Lazarus Resin while other members of the Bat-Family are too busy bickering to hypothesize. It’s also worth noting that over the years, Bruce has often expressed just how impressed he was with Cassandra’s abilities and her understanding of their job as crime fighters. He has even gone so far as to note the similarities they share together.
When it comes to Batgirls in general, Cassandra Cain is often overlooked and when it comes to Bat-Family members, Cassandra Cain gets left out of conversations even more so. However, the detective ability that she shows off so early in her run as Batgirl and the way she continues to gradually improve shows that perhaps Cassandra Cain deserves even more recognition. All things considered, an argument can be made for Cassandra being among the top candidates best suited to pick up the Batman mantle when Bruce Wayne finally sets it down. If nothing else, Cassandra Cain has proven on more than one occasion, especially in being savvy enough to figure out Batman’s secret identity, that her Batgirl has the potential to give The Dark Knight a run for his money as the World’s Greatest Detective.
