The Orphan was the right-hand man of Mother.
Biography[]
Born David Cain, the Orphan was utterly devoted to Mother and was her favorite child. Chosen to be Mother's Adam, David slaughtered the family of the girl who would become the Sculptor as she had been chosen to be Mother's Eve. David wanted to be a part of Mother's family, unlike Sculptor, and loved his role. He cherished wreaking havoc and terrorizing innocents and unlike Mother's other children, David actually loved his role.
As an ultimate tribute to Mother, David raised his daughter, Cassandra Cain, by barring her from anybody else. Never speaking to her, David theorized that her brain would rewire itself to create a language based only on movement. Trying to teach her to anticipate any action, David raised Cassandra to hate not just the sword, but also empathy and trust. To David, compassion was weakness. Keeping her in the Nursery, isolated and away from the world, David even managed to keep her from Mother for a while.
After Mother began to use the Fear Toxin of Jonathan Crane to create her children, David, completely devoted to the old ways, continued on as he always had. Realizing Cassandra's terror came from witnessing death, David repeatedly made her watch him kill. Once he believed her to become numb to death, David made her fight against the most skilled fighters he could find. Finding her eager to fight and prove her worth, David was pleased when she became unbeatable. Finally revealing Cassandra to Mother, she was displeased with David but he insisted that her old method was more pure than Crane's. Attacked by Mother, David was told to learn his place and never have Cassandra in her sight again. Still believing himself to be right, David assured Cassandra that he would make her see the truth.
At one point in time, David purchased a residency at Mudge Island. After Maxwell Dossey revealed to Bruce Wayne the activities of Mother, Orphan assassinated him and his wife Alicia Dossey. Orphan later met with Jonathan Crane and muscled him into going to Prague with Cassandra. When Bruce Wayne met with Mother, Orphan tried to attack him but was warded off and told not to pursue.
Years later, Orphan returned to Gotham City and nearly attacked a fleeing Dick Grayson. Locating Harper Row, Orphan beat her senseless only to be attacked by Cassandra. Retreating to a church, there Orphan was once again attacked by Cassandra and had his hand cut off.