Something that comes up a lot, at least in my mentions since I bring up the topic constantly, is the legacy of Cassandra Cain. Looking purely only in current continuity people seem to not want her to be Batgirl cause then she'd just live in Babs shadow.

People also don't want her to be Batman for similar reasons. Batgirl is more plausible than her becoming Batman anyway so idk why ppl always get so mad at me for that, but I digress. In the end people want Cass to build her own legacy. Dick Grayson becoming Nightwing...

is a favorite to bring up. Now this isn't a debate trying to explain why I want her to be Batgirl and/or Batman (I'd think it's obvious, but the way ppl disagree with me makes me think it's not) instead it's just me looking at this idea of Cass having her own legacy.

First off, her building her own legacy is the point of Orphan. Unfortunately possible due to lack of focus, or push back from certain Cass fans like myself Orphan hasn't hit.

(I don't think blaming Cass fans is exactly fair, but I've had ppl come at me saying it's my fault Cass can't get any real development cause I only want her as Batgirl and that's never gonna happen so here we are). So let's look at this more positively.

Orphan as the legacy for Cassandra Cain. To me Orphan is not a Bat character. Cassandra Cain is a Bat character, but Orphan is not. So if Orphan is the direction then I think surrounding her with the Batfam is a bad idea. I think Orphan should be a Ronin type moniker.

She's a traveling hero that never stays in one place too long. Never forms relationships that last. And never deals with major DC events or characters. Orphan would deal with the undiscovered, unknown, underrepresented parts of the DC universe.

So starting her off in a Batman book was a misstep imo, but not a bad idea to at least get her name out there. Keeping her in Bat books and integrating her into the batfam is a continued misstep. However I have been thinking about how she's been used as Orphan in the books lately

She's not Robin, Batgirl, or core batfam that gets to lead teams, protect sections of Gotham/her own city, or just in general have a sense of freedom with how she operates as a hero. While she's not chained by any means we've seen her be solo in a few panels before the team ups

but for the most part she's a superhero in training. Her appearances in team books aren't just her being part of a team, but her being a student. Outsiders is a bit different since Duke and Cass have kinda had their own story line, but I still get the impression...

that Duke and Cass are meant to be students to Jeff and Tatsu and that's why they don't go on every mission and why they hide things from the adults and why Batman is still extremely overprotective.

Now I can't pretend to know where Orphan goes from here...

but if this is her "training" phase it's possible DC phases her out the batfam whenever they decide to let her go solo. This allows her to be a badass that was trained by Batman and crew, but then they can start actually giving her the legacy as Orphan certain people want for her

Now the other way to see this is her having a legacy as Cassandra Cain, a bat character. I won't go too deep into that mostly because Orphan is not meant to be a Bat character. But here's the thing, she already got that. Batgirl is part of her legacy.

Black Bat, cut short sure, but it's part of her legacy. And with titles like DCeased: Unkillables and Shadow of the Batgirl that legacy of her as a Bat character is still going strong. Which all in all hurts her as Orphan in main canon.

In the end I am not convinced Orphan is a Bat character, however due to Cassandra Cain's legacy as a Bat character it's easier to believe no progress is being made to make Orphan a DC character and no progress is being made for Cass as a Bat character.

For some that might not be true and I acknowledge that, I'm just speaking for myself. I am not ignorant that there are people that don't want Cass to be a Bat anymore and prefer her as Orphan. My history with her as a Bat and the relationships and stories that came with it...

blind me sometimes to the ideas of her character not being allowed those same opportunities in this new canon. All in all I like to think we all want what's best for her as a character in general. And I hope everyone who is lucky enough to write/draw her want what's best.

And I hope DC allows them access to grow her story and her journey regardless of any new timelines that may emerge.