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Description
"Just because I look like a 'killer whale' doesn't mean I'm dangerous to everyday people. Criminals and fish? That's another thing."

Dr. Grace Balin was truly devoted to her work. A promising Marine biologist, she graduated college by the age of 22 with a job at Gotham City Aquarium's Marine Mammal department. As it happened, the field of marine biology that Grace specialized in was geared towards marine mammals. She studied and worked with the aquarium's dolphins, seals, walruses, sea lions and sea otters, while also barring the barbaric practice of keeping captive orca whales for the amusement of the public, as well as starting a rescue program for injured seals. However, early in her career, while rescuing an injured vagrant walrus, she was attacked by a great white shark. Grace managed to survive the attack, but the bite wounds she sustained left her paralyzed from the waist down. She would never be able to walk, run, or even swim again; forever bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her days. Desperate to regain her mobility, Grace looked into the research notes of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, and how he managed to mix his DNA with that of a bat: which turned him into the nightmarish Man-Bat. Grace tried to refine Kirk's experiments, and adapt it for use with odontocete DNA.

Grace knew that orca whales had the unique ability to regenerate their spinal chords, and thought that if she could integrate this gene into the human DNA chain, it could cure paralysis in all humanity. However, fearing that she'd never be able to use her legs again, she tested the serum she concocted on herself. The result was a resounding success! Grace was able to move about on her own two feet again, but her rash experiment had horrific consequences. Over the following days, Grace began suffering bizarre changes in her body. Her nails curled to claws, teeth filed to fangs, the webbing between her fingers and toes increased, and her skin started becoming black and white. It got so bad, she couldn't even wear clothes anymore, until finally, she transformed into an anthropomorphic orca whale! Grace thought that she was now a monster, but because orcas, like all other dolphins, have one of the largest brains of any animal, she was able to overcome her initial horror.

Eventually, Grace ended up moving to Bludhaven, and joined a therapy group called the Run-Offs, former criminals from Gotham who were trying to reform. However, Grace left the group, because she felt that she wasn't a criminal at all: just a victim of a twisted experiment gone horribly wrong. Desperate, alone and afraid, she ultimately fell in with a bad crowd, a gang called the Whale Enders. They promised her a place among them and a home, if she could protect them. Grace thought she finally found her place, when in reality, the gang only hoped to use her in order to weaponize her condition and make themselves into whale monsters. However, luckily, Grace's temporary path of villainy did not last. Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, had left Gotham with his fiancée and fellow Titan, Starfire, to establish themselves in Bludhaven. While they were there, and getting started, a series of killings were happening across town, and the Run-Offs were being framed for the murders. The Whale Enders, not wanting a new duo of superheroes barging in on their turf, gave orders for Orca to kill Nightwing and Starfire, but before she could do it, she was confronted by the Run-Offs. Grace tried to explain herself, saying that the Whale Enders didn't treat her like a monster. However, when the truth came out, that they were only keeping her in order to weaponize her condition, She was heartbroken. Feeling betrayed, Grace swam off wanting to be alone.

Luckily, Starfire and Defacer were both able to reach out to her, persuading her that her newfound abilities could be used for good, to become a hero. Realizing that more gangs like the Whale-Enders, and crime lords like Blockbuster, would return to try and use her as a tool, Grace saw that Starfire and Defacer both cared for her. After this touching realization, Grace decided to take up crime-fighting to redeem herself, and devoted herself to protecting the waters and harbors of both Gotham and Bludhaven as Orca!

So, in case you guys aren't aware of this character, Orca was a minor Batman villain in the comics, introduced before the New 52, but was killed off by Great White Shark in order to drive Harvey Dent insane to the point that he would become Two-Face again. However, in the Rebirth story arc, she was brought back to life and played a role in the Nightwing comics, initially as a villain, but later she went on to help Nightwing stop Pigeon and Raptor from turning all the people of Bludhaven into monsters. I loved how she had a redemptive story arc, and decided to incorporate both elements of her pre-New 52 and Rebirth character arcs into this version of her.

You'll notice that Orca's design is different, in that she has ears, as well as claws on her fingers, and even nostrils instead of a blowhole. And yes, she also has blonde hair. In the comics, Grace did have blonde hair before she became Orca, and I thought that she'd look better with it. As for the ears, claws and nostrils, those are actually traits I decided to give her that were actually common among prehistoric whales, especially Ambulocetus, hence why I also went for the increased webbing in her hands. She's also got this bulging head, and that is actually an echolocation organ. A lot of waters off the coast of Gotham and Bludhaven are murky, and have poor visibility, so Orca can easily find people she can save from drowning with sonar.

Since her transformation, Orca has become quite the voracious pescatarian. Her typical diet consists usually of saltwater fish, squid, octopus, crab and lobster among other seafood dishes, but she has also been known to eat poultry, especially waterbirds like duck and geese, and she even has the occasional craving for venison. Because of her pescatarian diet, Orca has become an avid fan of fishing. Every summer, she will even go spearfishing off the coast for invasive lionfish that she can catch, clean and cook. As a marine biologist, Orca's vast knowledge of marine animals and their habitats have proved useful in crimefighting, such as when she helped the Titans in a fight against King Shark. In their first encounter, Grace found out that King Shark, despite being a mighty and powerful shark god, was actually afraid of orca whales, and not without cause. Orca whales in the wild are the only known predators of the great white shark. Ever since then, in encounters with the Suicide Squad, she uses this knowledge to scare the ever living daylights out of King Shark, by exclaiming how she's hungry for shark meat, which makes King Shark believe that she wants to eat him.

Nightwing and Starfire's friendship with her is so strong, that they not only invited Orca to their wedding, but they also offered her a place among the Titans. At Titans Academy, Orca is one of the three faculty advisors of the swim team, along with Tempest and Tula. She and Beast Boy also are two of the heads of the zoology sub-field of the school's science department. Due to the fact that the island where Titans Tower sits on is also a regular spot for elephant seals to haul out onto shore, Orca has also had to occasionally save students from a charging bull elephant seal, or even a beachmaster.

Disclaimer: Orca belongs to DC Comics, Larry Hama, & Scott McNiel.

Description
"Just because I look like a 'killer whale' doesn't mean I'm dangerous to everyday people. Criminals and fish? That's another thing."

Dr. Grace Balin was truly devoted to her work. A promising Marine biologist, she graduated college by the age of 22 with a job at Gotham City Aquarium's Marine Mammal department. As it happened, the field of marine biology that Grace specialized in was geared towards marine mammals. She studied and worked with the aquarium's dolphins, seals, walruses, sea lions and sea otters, while also barring the barbaric practice of keeping captive orca whales for the amusement of the public, as well as starting a rescue program for injured seals. However, early in her career, while rescuing an injured vagrant walrus, she was attacked by a great white shark. Grace managed to survive the attack, but the bite wounds she sustained left her paralyzed from the waist down. She would never be able to walk, run, or even swim again; forever bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her days. Desperate to regain her mobility, Grace looked into the research notes of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, and how he managed to mix his DNA with that of a bat: which turned him into the nightmarish Man-Bat. Grace tried to refine Kirk's experiments, and adapt it for use with odontocete DNA.

Grace knew that orca whales had the unique ability to regenerate their spinal chords, and thought that if she could integrate this gene into the human DNA chain, it could cure paralysis in all humanity. However, fearing that she'd never be able to use her legs again, she tested the serum she concocted on herself. The result was a resounding success! Grace was able to move about on her own two feet again, but her rash experiment had horrific consequences. Over the following days, Grace began suffering bizarre changes in her body. Her nails curled to claws, teeth filed to fangs, the webbing between her fingers and toes increased, and her skin started becoming black and white. It got so bad, she couldn't even wear clothes anymore, until finally, she transformed into an anthropomorphic orca whale! Grace thought that she was now a monster, but because orcas, like all other dolphins, have one of the largest brains of any animal, she was able to overcome her initial horror.

Eventually, Grace ended up moving to Bludhaven, and joined a therapy group called the Run-Offs, former criminals from Gotham who were trying to reform. However, Grace left the group, because she felt that she wasn't a criminal at all: just a victim of a twisted experiment gone horribly wrong. Desperate, alone and afraid, she ultimately fell in with a bad crowd, a gang called the Whale Enders. They promised her a place among them and a home, if she could protect them. Grace thought she finally found her place, when in reality, the gang only hoped to use her in order to weaponize her condition and make themselves into whale monsters. However, luckily, Grace's temporary path of villainy did not last. Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, had left Gotham with his fiancée and fellow Titan, Starfire, to establish themselves in Bludhaven. While they were there, and getting started, a series of killings were happening across town, and the Run-Offs were being framed for the murders. The Whale Enders, not wanting a new duo of superheroes barging in on their turf, gave orders for Orca to kill Nightwing and Starfire, but before she could do it, she was confronted by the Run-Offs. Grace tried to explain herself, saying that the Whale Enders didn't treat her like a monster. However, when the truth came out, that they were only keeping her in order to weaponize her condition, She was heartbroken. Feeling betrayed, Grace swam off wanting to be alone.

Luckily, Starfire and Defacer were both able to reach out to her, persuading her that her newfound abilities could be used for good, to become a hero. Realizing that more gangs like the Whale-Enders, and crime lords like Blockbuster, would return to try and use her as a tool, Grace saw that Starfire and Defacer both cared for her. After this touching realization, Grace decided to take up crime-fighting to redeem herself, and devoted herself to protecting the waters and harbors of both Gotham and Bludhaven as Orca!

So, in case you guys aren't aware of this character, Orca was a minor Batman villain in the comics, introduced before the New 52, but was killed off by Great White Shark in order to drive Harvey Dent insane to the point that he would become Two-Face again. However, in the Rebirth story arc, she was brought back to life and played a role in the Nightwing comics, initially as a villain, but later she went on to help Nightwing stop Pigeon and Raptor from turning all the people of Bludhaven into monsters. I loved how she had a redemptive story arc, and decided to incorporate both elements of her pre-New 52 and Rebirth character arcs into this version of her.

You'll notice that Orca's design is different, in that she has ears, as well as claws on her fingers, and even nostrils instead of a blowhole. And yes, she also has blonde hair. In the comics, Grace did have blonde hair before she became Orca, and I thought that she'd look better with it. As for the ears, claws and nostrils, those are actually traits I decided to give her that were actually common among prehistoric whales, especially Ambulocetus, hence why I also went for the increased webbing in her hands. She's also got this bulging head, and that is actually an echolocation organ. A lot of waters off the coast of Gotham and Bludhaven are murky, and have poor visibility, so Orca can easily find people she can save from drowning with sonar.

Since her transformation, Orca has become quite the voracious pescatarian. Her typical diet consists usually of saltwater fish, squid, octopus, crab and lobster among other seafood dishes, but she has also been known to eat poultry, especially waterbirds like duck and geese, and she even has the occasional craving for venison. Because of her pescatarian diet, Orca has become an avid fan of fishing. Every summer, she will even go spearfishing off the coast for invasive lionfish that she can catch, clean and cook. As a marine biologist, Orca's vast knowledge of marine animals and their habitats have proved useful in crimefighting, such as when she helped the Titans in a fight against King Shark. In their first encounter, Grace found out that King Shark, despite being a mighty and powerful shark god, was actually afraid of orca whales, and not without cause. Orca whales in the wild are the only known predators of the great white shark. Ever since then, in encounters with the Suicide Squad, she uses this knowledge to scare the ever living daylights out of King Shark, by exclaiming how she's hungry for shark meat, which makes King Shark believe that she wants to eat him.

Nightwing and Starfire's friendship with her is so strong, that they not only invited Orca to their wedding, but they also offered her a place among the Titans. At Titans Academy, Orca is one of the three faculty advisors of the swim team, along with Tempest and Tula. She and Beast Boy also are two of the heads of the zoology sub-field of the school's science department. Due to the fact that the island where Titans Tower sits on is also a regular spot for elephant seals to haul out onto shore, Orca has also had to occasionally save students from a charging bull elephant seal, or even a beachmaster.

Disclaimer: Orca belongs to DC Comics, Larry Hama, & Scott McNiel.