Selena Kyle, aka the Catwoman, has always been one of the most morally ambiguous characters in the DC Universe. She has spent almost as much time fighting Batman as she has fighting beside him. In recent years she has taken steps to be seen as more of a hero than ever before, but that doesn’t mean she has gone soft. On the contrary, Selina Kyle has proven to be incredibly ruthless when the need arises. One prominent example of this is when the Riddler betrayed her while both were on a mission in Rome.
In Catwoman: When In Rome #6 (by Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, Dave Stewart, and Richard Starkings), Kyle and the Riddler had gone to Rome to determine whether or not Carmine Falcone was Selina’s father. During the trip, Catwoman had vivid nightmares and hallucinations of Batman always being there to rescue her, something she despises. Eventually she pieced together enough clues to realize that the Riddler had been dosing her with fear toxin the entire time in hopes that she would blurt out the secret identity of the Caped Crusader. Catwoman promptly confronted him and the three other villains that he had working for him.
This was not the end of their conflict, however. The Riddler tried to garner a consolation prize in the form of a ring that Catwoman had stolen from the Vatican. He ambushed Selina and coerced her to give him the ring before fleeing back to Gotham. However, much like he had the entire trip, the Riddler underestimated how clever Selina really was. She had handed him a fake, one rigged with a booby trap to dose him with fear toxin. So while Riddler was trapped on a plane he could not leave, he would suffer vivid hallucinations of the Joker, whose toxin he had stolen, claiming his vengeance for what would most likely be hours.
Selena’s vengeance against her peer was precise and cutthroat. By this point she knew the Riddler well enough to expect him to make a play for the ring. So she conned him into thinking she had what he wanted, using the proper bait to make him vulnerable before returning the favor and exposing him to fear toxin. She did not hesitate to seek vengeance, preferring an appropriate punishment for what was done to her, forcing the Riddler to experience the same horror and humiliation that he had inflicted on her.
It is worth noting, that while this vengeance is extremely ruthless, it was not intended to be lethal. Selina is many things, but she is not a killer at heart. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that the Riddler attempted to kill her multiple times in the span of the few days they worked together.
Still, the Catwoman is no pushover and was not going to take the Riddler’s actions against her lying down. Whereas before she allowed him to slink away after she beat him in a fair fight, she took a more ruthless approach when he attempted to rob her. There is a chance that Selina brought the trap ring as insurance rather than a surefire shot at revenge. Of course, given how predictable the Riddler is, him coming after her was almost a guarantee. The possibility exists though that had the Riddler just quit while he was ahead he could have had a peaceful flight back to Gotham. Instead, he learned the hard way that Catwoman is not someone to be underestimated, giving him an education in just how ruthless she can be when she wants to.
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