JOLENE KWAI grew up in Metropolis as an only child to a single father after her mother died in childbirth. Said father was always chasing get-rich-quick schemes and silently (and sometimes loudly) blamed Jo for her own mother's death and the poor state of his life. When Jo's meta powers activated as a preteen, her father pulled her out of school, both to help him with one business or another and to make it easier to keep her meta powers in control. Unfortunately, her powers were eventually activated during yet another argument, and a sixteen year old Jo found herself placed into foster care after attending his funeral.

When Jo turned eighteen, she booked it to Gotham, determined to make it on her own and, unlike her father, willing to work hard to do it. Working in a small bodega near her apartment in the Narrows netted her a friendship with the owner who, lacking children, eventually wrote her into his Will, leaving the shop to her when he passed after an illness. She works there alone now, hesitant to hire anyone else due to the bills already being high and the Narrows not being the safest place to ask someone to work in. She goes to therapy every other Tuesday evening both for childhood trauma and to deal with issues related to her meta powers.

Jolene's fugue state, Echo, is activated via music, and while in this state she can almost supernaturally perform perfectly, as if the entire world is choreographed and only she knows the steps. Jo's hearing aids are custom made ear pieces she developed from low cost electronics to muffle sound with white noise, regulating various sounds in whatever room she's in so she can limit when she fugues. If you can see her in public, this is her state, so turning on a radio isn't going to lead to any shenanigans unless it's particularly loud and shorts out the earpieces. (This means you, Canaries!)

On weeknights, Jo opens her fire escape window to any costumed person in need of emergency supplies, whether a bandage or a protein bar — taking care of the people who take care of the city. She also has a habit of accepting villain company as well, so long as they're not immediately a danger. (Joker and Scarecrow need not apply.)

Jolene's uniform originally held no symbol, and she took precautions to keep Echo active only on weekends and only in her own neighborhood in the Narrows to stay out of the way of the Bats. Once she received permission from the Batman, however (and went through a series of tests, naturally), she was given a logo and the code name of Starling, yet another bird to add to the ever expanding Gotham crew. She only taps in to the Bat communication network during emergencies.

◆ As a kid, Jo would track the exploits of Batman and, more importantly, Robin. Like Tim Drake, she too figured out the identities of the Bat family, but while Tim had pieced it together via tracking Dick, Jolene had concentrated on Robin fighting styles, and by the time Damian had taken the mantle, Jo knew every identity.

◆ Jo loves puzzles and is weirdly very good at them, even without using her Echo powers. Catch her playing puzzle games on her phone whenever she has a free moment. Picross and sudoku are her favorites, but she'll also entertain crosswords. She isn't quite on the Riddler's level, but not many are.

◆ Most of Jo's free time is spent watching action B movies or musicals on mute, finding new ways to cook near-expired food, and doing other people's laundry. She doesn't have very much free time, so in reality she spends her days sending strongly worded emails about missing inventory trucks and restocking shelves at the bodega.

◆ Jo is a hopeless romantic and very demisexual. Holding hands and cuddling is basically the pinnacle of her love life. Well, except for that one time she got pregnant.

◆ Speaking of which: she's got a son named Valentine Reynolds. Thanks to some time manipulation shenanigans, Valentine (or 'Fishy' as she calls him... don't ask) is a full grown adult and making his way downtown in his dad's city now. Good luck, Fishy! Don't forget to call your mom on Sundays!