Leprechaun

The stereotypical image of a leprechaun bedecked in green is particularly strong in the United States, where it is widely used for a variety of purposes, both commercial and non-commercial. The Black Cat is also a feline-themed thief, although she eventually reformed (but still commits the occasional theft) and became Spider-Man's partner and lover for a time. Many Irish people find the popularised image of a leprechaun to be little more than a series of offensive Irish stereotypes and a trivialisation of Ireland's rich and ancient culture. Marvel Comics' Black Cat, as initially seen in The Amazing Spider-Man, was originally intended to be a homage to Catwoman, although she eventually developed in a much different direction. Movies, television cartoons and advertising have popularized a specific image of leprechauns which bears scant resemblance to anything found in the cycles of Irish mythology. One of the recurring villains in the cartoon Xiaolin Showdown was called "Kat-nappe," and was similar to Catwoman in appearance. The term leprechaun language, used by some Unionists in Northern Ireland, is a pejorative for the Irish language. Another blond Catwoman, her costume and history appeared to be based on the Batman Returns version of the character.

Leprechauns have also been used in jokes regarding fiscal irresponsibility, the idea being that the politician or political party being attacked has found a pot of gold, or is going to ask a leprechaun for the location of such a pot, accommodating their spending. Catwoman was portrayed by Maggie Baird. Costello addressing the Oireachtas in 1963:. Selina Kyle appeared briefly (and was killed off) in the first episode of the short-lived 2002 television series Birds of Prey, which featured Catwoman's daughter by Batman, the Huntress. This can be seen from this example of John A. In the TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, Julia Rose appeared as Catwoman and the young Julie Newmar. In the politics of the Republic of Ireland, leprechauns have been used to refer to the twee aspects of the tourist industry in Ireland ^{[17] [18]}. Halle Berry won the 2005 Razzie award for worst actress in a film for her role as Catwoman, and collected it in person; only the second Razzie 'winner' to have done so.

The cluricaun is considered by some to be merely a leprechaun on a spree ^[16]. The movie became a box-office failure, and was panned by critics & fans alike. Some writers even go as far as to substitute these second two less well-known spirits for the leprechaun in stories or tales to reach a wider audience. In addition, the original "Catwoman" outfit that Patience wears when she robs a jewelry store is patterned after the "Catwoman" outfit worn by Eartha Kitt in the 1960s "Batman" tv series. The leprechaun is related to the cluricaun and the far darrig in that he is a solitary creature. Ophelia Powers then throws photos of previous catwomen down to her, and one can clearly see a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer's "Batman Returns" version of the character, which hints that either there is some link between Patience Phillips and Selina Kyle, or that it was done as a means of paying homage to the original character. The modern image of the leprechaun is almost invariant: he is depicted wearing an emerald green frock coat, and bestowed with the knowledge of the location of buried treasure, often in a crock of gold. In the scene where Patience is told of the history of the Catwomen, she is pushed off the balcony and lands in the living room floor.

^[15]. The film was heavily criticized by both film critics and fans of the comic book character and was a failure in the box office, losing the producers far more money than it earned. Some commentators accuse Allingham of leaving the legacy of the modern image of the leprechaun described below. Though Phillips has the same skills as the villain version of Catwoman, the film's story has nothing to do with Batman (who isn't mentioned during the film). In a poem entitled The Lepracaun; or, Fairy Shoemaker, the 18th century Irish poet William Allingham describes the appearance of the leprechaun as:. The movie alludes to other women in the past who have been granted such cat- like abilities. Yeats, in his 1888 book entitled Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry describes the leprechaun as follows:. Patience had gained the powers from the goddess Bastet, through a gathering of cats lead by an Egyptian Mau.

Samuel Lover, writing in the 1831 describes the leprechaun as,. This film's Catwoman bore nearly no resemblance to the comic version, besides sharing the name "Catwoman." In the film, Berry played Patience Phillips, a woman who eventually became Catwoman, a hero with supernatural cat-like powers, after a near death experience. The leprechaun originally had a different appearance depending on where in Ireland he was found.^[11] Prior to the 20th century, it was generally agreed that the leprechaun wore red and not green. In 2004, Catwoman, a movie, starring Halle Berry as Catwoman. In other stories they are told of riding shepherds' dogs through the night, leaving the dogs exhausted and dirty in the morning. While many viewers and critics enjoyed the richness and complexity of the character, not to mention the way Pfeiffer looked and acted in the heavy makeup and the shiny black costume, fans of the original comic books disliked the notorious alterations and considered not only the character but the entire film to be more Tim Burton than Batman. ^[10]. you've kind of a dark side, don't you?", to which she answers, "Not darker than yours, Bruce"), and this relationship seems to be Selina's only grip on sanity as her mental state seems to deteriorate (along with her costume, which is actually a metaphor of her) throughout the movie - now unrepressed thanks to her nightly alter-ego, the rage and resentment of her dark side are actually starting to destroy her.

the leprechaun shouts at her that she is being chased by a swarm of bees, but when she looks around there are no bees and the leprechaun is vanished. behind the Cat"), just as Bruce Wayne finds a reflection of himself in Selina ("You.. She takes him up in her hand and sets out to find the treasure, but all of a sudden she hears a louds buzzing behind her. the woman.. In another story, a young girl finds a leprechaun and bids him show her the location of his buried money. Accordingly with the film's interest in the schizophrenic aspects of its characters, Catwoman finds a reflection of herself in Batman ("Who are you?", she asks him, "Who's the man behind the Bat? Maybe you can help me find.. Upon his return he finds that every weed in the field has been tied with an identical red ribbon, thus making it impossible to find the treasure.^{[8] [9]}. She is at the same time a feminist version of Batman, defending meek damsels in distress - exactly what she was at the beginning of the film, and probably during most of her life - but insulting them for being so, and a terrorist of sorts, blowing up an entire floor of Shreck's department store and ultimately seeking to kill him.

Releasing the leprechaun, he leaves to get a shovel. Mysteriously given new life by alley cats (in a memorable Burton-esque scene) after her corrupt boss apparently kills her, her repressed rage and sexuality - and, as one could argue, some sort of mystic feline influence as well - create Catwoman, an extreme version of everything she was never allowed - by both society and herself - to be: a loveable rogue, a sexual predator and a powerful woman. The farmer ties a red ribbon to the plant, first extracting a promise from the leprechaun not to remove the ribbon. Behind this cartoonish and rather stereotypical character, however, lies a shattered soul filled with frustration and self-loathing who only needs - and quite literally gets - a little push to break into insanity. The leprechaun assures him that the treasure is buried in an open field beneath a particular ragwort plant. As recreated by Daniel Waters and Tim Burton, Selina Kyle is a beautiful but shy and clumsy young woman who always says the wrong thing, thinks aloud, frequently insults herself and works as the harassed secretary of evil tycoon Max Shreck. A farmer or young lad captures a leprechaun and forces him to reveal the location of his buried treasure. Catwoman was played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1992 movie Batman Returns.

Many tales present the leprechaun as outwitting a human, as in the following example:. Catwoman was voiced by a different actress, Gina Gershon, in the 2000s series The Batman. By nature, leprechauns are said to be ill-natured and mischievous, with a mind for cunning. Whether her hair was dyed or her natural color was never made clear. Among the most popular of beliefs about leprechauns is that they are extremely wealthy and like to hide their gold in secret locations, which can only be revealed if a person were to actually capture and interrogate a leprechaun for its money. In the second series, however, she appears to have shorter black hair. Although rarely seen in social situations, leprechauns are supposedly very well spoken and, if ever spoken to, could make good conversation. In the first animated series Selina/Catwoman had blonde hair, coinciding with the release of Batman Returns, in which she was played by blonde actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

Their pastime is in the making of shoes for other faerie folk such as themselves. Barbeau also voiced Catwoman in the 2000s online animated series Gotham Girls. In most tales and stories leprechauns are depicted as genuinely harmless creatures who enjoy solitude and live in remote locations, although opinion is divided as to if they ever enjoy the company of other spirits. She was voiced by Adrienne Barbeau in 1992's Batman: The Animated Series, and its revamp in The New Batman Adventures. The tales are usually told conversationally as any other occurrence might be told, whereas there is a certain solemnity about the repetition of a folk-tale proper. She appeared on the Batman cartoon of the 1970s ("The New Adventures of Batman") wearing an all-new outfit that has never been seen outside that series. Stories about leprechauns are generally very brief and generally have local names and scenery attached to them. She appeared in the Batman cartoon of the 1960s (on the "Superman/Aquaman Hour") wearing the green costume she wore during that time.

Leprechauns rarely appear in what would be classed as a folk tale, in almost all cases the interest of these stories centres round a human hero. Catwoman has been a major character in almost all of Batman's animated series. Some alternative spellings of the word leprechaun that have been used throughout the ages are; leprechawn, lepracaun and lubberkin. Cassandra," the next to last episode of the series. The original meaning was of some kind of spirit and not specifically associated with the Irish mythological character:^[6]. An uncredited fourth woman played Catwoman as part of a villain team-up in "The Entrancing Dr. The word leprechaun was first recorded used in the English language in 1604 in Middleton and Dekker's The Honest Whore as lubrican. Lee Meriwether portrayed her in the 1966 "Batman" motion picture, based on the television series, when Newmar was unavailable.

Another derivation has the word "leprechaun" deriving from luch-chromain, meaning "little stooping Lugh", Lugh being the name of a leader of the Tuatha Dé Danann.^[5]. Catwoman was at various times played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt in the live-action Batman television series of the 1960s, her first other-media portrayal. An alternative derivation for the name, and the one quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, is leath bhrógan, meaning shoe-maker — the leprechaun is known as the fairy shoemaker of Ireland and is often portrayed working on a single shoe.^[4]. She does not make an appearence in Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. This is the etymology given in the Collins English Dictionary.^[3]. Note that The Dark Knight Returns does not hold continuty with most of the newer Batman or Justice League comics as it was written in the 80's and that Catwoman's profesion in it was most likely based on her profession in Frank Miller's earlier work Batman: Year One. One of the most widely accepted theories is that the name comes from the Irish Gaelic word leipreachán, defined by Dinneen as "a pigmy, a sprite, a leprechaun; for luchorpán"; the latter word Dinneen defines as "a pigmy, a leprechaun; 'a kind of aqueous sprite'";^[2] this word has also been identified as meaning "half-bodied", or "small-bodied". She finally appears at Batman's funeral where she yells at Clark Kent that she knows who killed Batman.

There are a number of possible etymologies of the name "leprechaun". She warns him that the Joker is worse than ever, he kisses her and then leaves to follow the clue the Joker left. . He then apparently beats her, dresses her up in a Wonder Woman-esque outfit, ties her up, gags her and leaves her where Batman finds her later. ^[1] While anyone keeps his eye fixed upon them, they cannot escape, but the moment the eye is withdrawn they vanish. I'm lonely," second later on as an apparent prostitute whom the Joker uses to (after subjecting her to a mind control drug) gain acess to the governor through one of her girls. They are said to be very rich, having many treasure crocks buried during war-time. Catwoman appeared briefly in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, first early on as a phone message "Bruce, Selina.

Their trade is that of a cobbler or shoemaker and they are often described as being seen working on a single shoe. [3]. They usually take the form of an old man and enjoy partaking in mischief. The writer then revealed that the reason for Selina's retirement is that she's pregnant. Leprechauns and other creatures of Irish mythology are often associated with "faerie forts" or "faerie rings" — often the sites of ancient (Celtic or pre-Celtic) earthworks or drumlins. Selina is so smooth and polished; it's fun to write about someone who's a little rougher, a little sloppier." [2]. They are a class of "faerie folk" associated in Irish mythology and folklore, as with all faeries, with the Tuatha Dé Danann and other quasi-historical races said to have inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts. She's also going to handle her duties of protecting the East End in a completely different way than Selina, which so far has been very interesting to write.

In Irish mythology, a leprechaun (Modern Irish: leipreachán) is a type of male elf said to inhabit the island of Ireland. She's had training, and she's been on the mean streets, but she's going to make some mistakes. a familiar which increases the amount of meat recieved from killing an enemy in the online game Kingdom of Loathing. Writer Will Pfeifer has stated on the new Catwoman, "Without revealing any identities, the new Catwoman is someone with less experience than Selina Kyle -- though she's not completely inexperienced, and she's been part of that shadowy world Catwoman inhabits for years. former Deep Purple guitarist Richie Blackmore often dresses up as a leprechaun for promotional photo shots and when playing live. In the new year, Selina Kyle has been forced to leave the East End and is no longer Catwoman, and someone new has replaced her. Lucky Charms breakfast cereal. After Infinite Crisis #7, the DC Universe will jump forward one year in time.

the Wagga Brothers emblem. Afterwards, she was seen covering her bed with past versions of her Catwoman costume. the Boston Celtics logo. Catwoman's response to this revelation was unequivocal: she pitched Zatanna out a window. the mascot of the University of Notre Dame. Light and Batman. Alosha Trilogy, by Christopher Pike. Zatanna gave no reason for her actions, but in flashback it was shown that she had acted with the consent and aid of five of the seven JLA members who had helped her mindwipe Dr.

The books of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh, on which Darby O'Gill and the Little People was based. Zatanna proceeded to explain to Catwoman that she had magically tampered with Catwoman's mind, forcibly turning her from villain to hero. Rowling. After she was done, Zatanna appeared at her side, informing her that she had some "bad news", hinting at an important revelation about her past. K. Capitalizing upon the advantage which her "resurrection" provided her (the villains believing she had somehow managed to cheat death), Catwoman dismantled the new East End cadre of criminals, one villain at time. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. The man impersonated her, and allowed several villains to shoot and dismember him, giving the impression to the underworld that Catwoman was really dead (like Clayface, the man was able to survive what would otherwise be fatal wounds).

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Selina made a deal with a former criminal who had powers similar to Clayface's, who had promised to help her in exchange for his freedom. Artemis Fowl, by Eoin Colfer. While her initial intentions were unclear, Selina shared her plans to infiltrate and destroy the cadre of East End villains with Batman. Spellbreaker: Secret of The Leprechauns. At the start of the recent storyline ("The One You Love"), an influx of supervillains seized control of the East End, leaving Selina with no choice but to join the new incarnation of the Secret Society. Leapin' Leprechauns. Selina had no inkling that any villains had been mindwiped until Batman informed her of the events of Identity Crisis, and he now worries that her reformation may be due to mental manipulation.

The Luck of the Irish (Disney Channel Original Movies). However, it is now unclear if her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. Kabouter Plop (Plop the Leprechaun). Catwoman appears to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman true (although brash and unpredictable). Treehouse of Horror XII, an episode of The Simpsons. In response to Batman's inquiry about her wounds, Selina departed the Batcave after curtly informing Batman that he had already "done enough.". Finian's Rainbow. However, this was something of a hollow victory, since all recognized that Despero was able to pit the JLA members against one another by drawing upon pre-existing animosities and distrust.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People. After a fierce struggle, Despero was subdued. Leprechaun. When Despero and a faction of brainwashed League members infiltrated the cave and succeeded in brainwashing Batman, Catwoman was able to send a distress call out to the unaffected League members. Wounded, she was taken to the Batcave to recover. Recently in the JLA story arc Crisis of Conscience, Catwoman further proved herself an ally when she fought alongside Batman and the League against the old Secret Society, of which she had once briefly been a member.

At the end, Catwoman broke off their relationship when Batman believed that it had been influenced by the villain Hush. During the Hush storyline in Batman #608-#619, Batman and Catwoman briefly worked together and had a short affair, during the course of which Batman revealed his true identity to her. This series met with critical and fan acclaim, especially for its first 25 issues. In this series, Selina Kyle, joined by new supporting cast members Holly and Slam Bradley (a character from the early Golden Age DC Comics), became protector of the residents of Gotham’s East End, while still carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar.

This storyline led in to the newest Catwoman series in late 2001 (written by Brubaker initially with Cooke, later joined by artist Cameron Stewart). In a backup storyline Trail of the Catwoman, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke, the reader followed private detective Slam Bradley's attempts to find out what really happened to Selina Kyle. Catwoman then appeared in a series of backup stories in Detective Comics #759 to #762. Soon afterwards she disappeared and was thought killed by the assassin Deathstroke the Terminator, ending her series at #94.

Although later cleared, she displayed increasingly erratic behavior throughout the story. When later that year during the Officer Down storyline in the Batman titles, Catwoman was initially the chief suspect. Harleen Quinzel (the supervillain Harley Quinn), became mentally unbalanced. While in prison, she escaped, and under the influence of Dr.

However immediately following that, she was arrested by Commissioner Gordon and put on trial, followed by being sentenced to imprisonment. As Catwoman, Kyle assisted Batman against Lex Luthor in the reconstruction of the city. Selina then returned to Gotham, which at this time was in the midst of the No Man's Land storyline. However, her plans were ruined when the supervillain the Trickster inadvertently connected Kyle to her Catwoman alter ego.

She intended to use this position to run for mayor. As the series neared its end, Selina moved to New York and through blackmail, became first corporate vice president, then CEO of Randolf Industries, a mafia-influenced company. The series also fleshed out more of her origin, revealing her beginnings as an underage thief, her difficult period in juvenile incarceration, and the training she received from superhero Ted (Wildcat) Grant. Storylines included her adoption of a teenage runaway named Arizona, whom she briefly took on as a sidekick; aiding the criminal Bane, followed by helping Azrael to defeat him; and Selina Kyle as a reluctant government operative.

This series, written by an assortment of writers but primarily penciled by Jim Balent, generally depicted the character as an international thief with an ambiguous moral code. In 1993, following the success of Batman Returns and Selina Kyle’s prominent role in that film, Catwoman was given her first ongoing series. However, characters introduced in these stories (such as Selina’s young friend Holly from Batman: Year One and her sister Maggie from the 1989 miniseries) continue to appear regularly in the Catwoman series, and aspects of those plots are occasionally referenced, including recent issues that show Hollie remembering her days as a prostitute with Catwoman. It is currently unclear how much of these stories remain canonical to Catwoman’s current origin, as various stories and editors' statements over the years since then have stated that Selina was never a prostitute and that other events depicted in those stories never happened.

Though more circumstantial evidence was added to the theory of Selina's Falcone heritage, no definitive proof was provided. Selina's connection to the Falcone family was further explored in the recent miniseries Catwoman: When in Rome (2004-5). Further, Batman: Dark Victory, the sequel to The Long Halloween, implied that Catwoman suspected she was the long-lost illegitimate daughter of Carmine Falcone, although she found no definitive proof of this. This led Selina to kill Stan, leaving Selina in an unbalanced mental state.

This series showed how Catwoman’s early career was tinged with tragedy as her former pimp Stan abducted Selina's sister Maggie and violently abused her. Birch. This origin was expanded on in the 1989 Catwoman limited series (collected in trade paperback form as Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper) by writer Mindy Newell and artist J.J. In the course of the story, the origin of Catwoman was also re-envisioned, as a 5'7" Selina Kyle was reintroduced as a cat-loving prostitute/dominatrix who was inspired to become a costumed cat burglar when she saw Batman in action.

A revision in Catwoman's origin, and the introduction of the modern version of her, came in 1986 when writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli produced Batman: Year One, a revision of Batman’s origin. Several stories in the 1970s featured Catwoman committing murder, something that neither the Earth-One or Earth-Two versions of her would ever do; this version of Catwoman was assigned to the alternate world of Earth-B, an alternate Earth that included stories that couldn't be considered canonical on Earth-One or Earth-Two. Catwoman's first Silver Age appearance was in Superman's Girl Friend Lois Lane #70 (November 1966); afterwards, she continued to make appearances across the various Batman comics. The Earth-Two/Golden Age Selena Kyle eventually died in the late 1970s after being blackmailed by a criminal into going into action again as Catwoman (as shown in DC Super-Stars #17).

Selina enjoyed this experience so much she decided to become a professional costumed cat burglar, and thus began a career that would repeatedly lead to her encountering the Batman. However, her husband had kept her jewelry in his private vault, and she had to break into it to retrieve the jewelry. It was revealed that Selina Kyle had been the wife of an abusive man, and eventually decided to leave her husband. In Brave and the Bold #197, the Golden Age origin of Catwoman given in Batman #62 was elaborated on, after Selina revealed that she never actually had amnesia.

In the 1970s comics, a series of stories taking place on Earth-Two (the parallel Earth that was retroactively declared as the home of DC's Golden Age characters) revealed that on that world, Selina reformed in the 1950s (presumably after the events of Batman #69) and had married Bruce Wayne; soon afterwards, the couple gave birth to their only child, Helena Wayne (the Huntress). Selina appeared again as a criminal in Batman #84 and Detective Comics #211, her final appearance for many years (until 1966). She wound up reforming and stayed on the straight and narrow for several years, helping out Batman in Batman #65 and #69, until Selina decided to return to a life of crime in Detective Comics #203. In Batman #62, it was revealed that Catwoman (after a blow to the head jogged her memory) was an amnesiac flight attendant who had turned to crime after suffering a prior blow to the head during a plane crash she survived (although in the final issue of The Brave and the Bold, she later admitted that she made up the amnesia story because she wanted a way out of the past life of crime).

There have been many versions of Catwoman's origins and backstory seen in the comic books over the decades. . It has a more high tech look, with domino-shaped infrared goggles on her cowl. Ed Brubaker, the master-mind behind the 2001 revamp of the character, has stated that Selina's current costume was inspired by Emma Peel's iconic catsuit [1].

In recent years, she has usually alternated between these two costumes. In the 1990s, she usually wore a skintight purple bodysuit, before switching to a black leather outfit that recalls Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman costume in Batman Returns. In the 1960s, Catwoman's bodysuit was green in color, which was typical of villains of that era. Later, she wore a dress with a hood that came with ears, and still later, a bodysuit with attached boots and either a domino or glasses-mask.

Catwoman, in her first appearance, wore no costume or disguise at all, and it was not until her next appearance that she donned a mask, which was a theatrically face-covering cat-mask that had the appearance of a real cat, rather than a more stylized face mask seen in her later incarnations. She represents a gray area in Batman's otherwise black and white life where the line between good and evil blurs, and his attraction to her stems from this perception that, in her way, she's kind of a female version of himself: another dark, beautiful creature that prowls the night. Although originally introduced as an opponent for Batman, Catwoman's status as hero or villain is ambiguous; she has her own moral code (she abhors killing, though has resorted to it at times) and has occasionally teamed up with Batman and other heroes against greater threats, even saving the lives of the entire Justice League on one occasion. Her real name "Selina" derives from the ancient lunar deity Selene.

Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, she first appeared in Batman #1 (Spring, 1940), where she was initially known as "The Cat". Catwoman (real name Selina Kyle) is a DC Comics character, associated with the Batman franchise.