Elaine Thomas is a Metahuman and the mother of Duke Thomas.
Chronology[]
Elaine's past is shrouded in mystery.
Some time ago, Elaine met a man by the name of Gnomon who offered her a great secret. During their time together, Elaine became pregnant with Gnomon's child but rejected him and fled to Gotham City. Some time before the birth of her son, Elaine Thomas was also approached by Immortal Man with an offer to become immortal and join and his House of Action; which she also refused. Once in Gotham, she hid among the Gothamites and eventually met Doug Thomas, who came to accept the her child as his own. (Batman and the Signal v1 #3) Duke Thomas was born in Gotham Mercy General Hospital, where he and Elaine were secretly flagged as metahuman. After his birth, the couple's took the boy home and raised him in the Tracy Towers apartments. Elaine became a social worker and hid her and her son's metahuman lineage, living a happy low-profile life while avoiding detection by Gnomon and other Immortals.
Zero Year - Elaine and Doug took in a injured Bruce Wayne, nursing him back to health.
post-Endgame
During The Joker's Endgame attack on Gotham, the villain jokerized Elaine and Doug Thomas in a twisted attempt to re-enact the Wayne Murders. It was later revealed that the Joker specifically targeted the Thomas family due Batman's interest in Elaine's hidden metahuman past. Batman manages to foil the Joker's re-enactment and rescue Duke, but following the attack Elaine and Doug became lost among the Joker's many other jokerized victims. Elaine and Doug remained lost for months and wandered Gotham aimlessly, unable to be located by the GCPD. The pair found their way to the Miller Psychiatric Hospital, where Duke eventually found them. (We are Robin: Jokers) Unfortunately, by the time Duke found them their jokerized state appeared permanent. Duke had them transferred to a facility on the Wayne Manor estate once he began is training under Batman.
Cursed Wheel/Batman & The Signal
After being locked away by Duke and Batman following the events of Superheavy, Daryl Gutierrez became fixated on Duke and his mother; sensing an anomaly in their physiology with his biokinesis. The former Mr. Bloom teamed up with The Riddler, using him to distract Batman while he broke out of Arkham to confront the Thomas family. Daryl ambushed Duke at Wayne Manor and freed his parents in the process. He held Elaine and Doug hostage while using his powers to tortured Duke from the inside, insisting Duke spill his family's secrets. Seeing Duke in danger, Elaine was able to regain a sliver of sanity by activating her meta powers and managed to aid her son before being knocked unconscious. Duke's metagene activated in response to his mother's, and with her aid, he took down the villain.
After his confrontation with Gnomon, Duke went to Elaine for answers about her past. Still jokerized, Elaine was unable to provide any answers.(Batman & The Signal #3)
Powers[]
- Metahuman Physiology: Elaine was revealed to secretly be a metahuman. When Elaine's metahuman abilities activated, her eyes glow in a similar fashion to Duke's and she was able to momentarily break free of her Jokerization. As she has remained Jokerized since this revelation it is unknown the full extent of her powers.
- Photokinetic Sight: Elaine's powers appear to have photokinetic properties similar to her son. We do not know the full range of her abilities but it's possible that she may possess a similar array of visual capabilities as Duke.