History
Francine Lee was the girlfriend of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, the scientist who invented the bat-gland serum and involuntarily transformed into the Man-Bat. Refusing to give up her love for Kirk, Francine took the serum herself and was transformed into a female Man-Bat, which affected her mind. The Batman gave them both an antidote, and the happy couple was married. Some time later, an atomic blast reactivated the bat-gland chemicals in her blood, after which she was a She-Bat.
Still later, Francine adopted the heroic identity of She-Bat while fighting the villainous Snafu. These days, Francine is cured, and dedicates her life to bring up her children, Aaron and Rebecca. She was later kidnapped by Talia al Ghul, who blackmailed Kirk into providing the League of Assassins with a new Man-Bat serum. Kirk and Francine eventually began assisting the Outsiders, providing science help.
Francine is later seen with her children in Gotham, holding a device fitted with a timer. They appear to be suffering from the same delusions that Kirk was enduring as Man-Bat. The three of them then jump off a building but Batman and Robin grapple to rescue. The Dynamic Duo defuse the bomb and then interrogate Francine for information. They inform Francine about Kirk’s delusions and she tells them about the device she was holding but suddenly the building that they were in, begins to glow with a white light. The Langstroms escape the building while the Dynamic Duo deals with the White Knight.
New 52
Francine Langstrom has lost her husband to the Man-Bat virus. She looks over his incomplete notes and has an idea to bring her husband back. She drinks the serum to became a She-Bat and locate her husband, the Man-Bat.
Other Versions
Batman Beyond
In the future, Bruce explains why Kirk Langstrom has become a beast bent on revenge. When Francine Langstrom was cured of her She-Bat persona, Kirk swore off genetic manipulation until Francine developed an aggressive form of Parkinson’s disease. Kirk knew that if he subjected Francine to the Man-Bat serum again, the neurons in her brain would regenerate but she would mentally lose herself to the beast forever more. Kirk struggled for months to find the perfect solution for his Man-Bat serum but it was too late. Francine had died and Kirk’s children resented him for not giving their mother the attention she needed during her final days. Kirk eventually found the missing component to the Man-Bat serum. The element Kanium would allow anyone to transform into a beast like form without losing their mind to the animal.
In Other Media
Television
Batman: The Animated Series
Francine appears in the series, voiced by Meredith MacRae. She appears in the first episode, “On Leather Wings,” which features the first appearance of her husband Kirk as Man-Bat. At the close of the episode, Kirk returns to her after being cured.
She later returns in the episode “Terror in Skies,” where she transforms into She-Bat. Though Batman initially believes that Man-Bat has returned after hearing reports of a giant bat terrorizing Gotham, it later turns out that this is not the case. Instead, it turns out that Francine’s father had tried to recreate Kirk’s serum, and that Francine had accidentally become infected by during a minor lab accident. Batman manages to inject She-Bat with the antidote, but after being returned to normal, Francine nearly falls to her death. Kirk manages to save her, and reassures her that “The nightmare’s finally over.” Due to the stringent censorship placed on the show, She-Bat was depicted as a fruit bat rather than a vampire bat.
Kirk and Francine later make a cameo in New Batman Adventures episode “Chemistry”, where they are seen at Bruce Wayne’s wedding.
Film
Son of Batman
Francine appears in the movie, voiced by Diane Michelle. A loose adaptation of the “Son of Batman” storyline (where Francine was kidnapped by Talia), the film sees Francine and her daughter, Rebecca (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) kidnapped by Deathstroke. They are later rescued by Batman and Robin.
Video Games
Batman: Arkham Knight
Francine makes a minor cameo in the game, where it is revealed that she was supposedly killed by Kirk after his first transformation into Man-Bat. After returning to normal, Kirk realizes what he has done and breaks down in tears, violently sobbing over Francine’s death. However, if the player returns to the scene of Man-Bat’s “birth” after imprisoning him, the bloody hand print of a woman can be seen next to the message “Forever my love”. The message is scrawled across a smashed monitor (which had previously been in good shape), implying that Francine survived the attack and has now become She-Bat.