Last updated: June 21, 2026·🔄 Guide reviewed and refreshed ahead of Halloween 2026.· By Seckin Peker

Halloween Costume Guide

The Huntress from Birds of Prey Halloween Costume Guide

She practiced her introduction in front of a mirror for years. Her name is The Huntress. Nobody uses it.
DC Mary Elizabeth Winstead Archery Badass Women Hunter Leather
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Quick Answer: The Huntress Halloween costume is a dark metallic vigilante look where the crossbow and diagonal chain are the recognition anchors.
  • Shiny Metallic Leather Long Jacket (essential)
  • Dart Crossbow (essential)
  • Shiny Metallic Pants
  • Shiny Leather Crop Tank Top
  • Plastic Chain
  • Leather Fingerless Gloves
  • Black Motorcycle Boots
  • Tactical Nylon Belt

Helena Bertinelli spends most of Birds of Prey methodically crossbowing every man responsible for her family’s murder, one throat at a time. The metallic jacket and crossbow are the core of this build, but the diagonal chain worn across the torso is the wearable detail that makes the costume specifically Huntress rather than a generic action character. Birds of Prey (2020) was directed by Cathy Yan and has a dedicated following (Wikipedia), though Huntress is the character people tend to remember after Harley Quinn. At a general party, the crossbow does most of the recognition work.

Items Total11 Items
DifficultyMedium
VibeDark Metallic Vigilante
Cost$65–$180

The Huntress Halloween Costume Items

The Huntress from Birds of Prey Halloween costume infographic showing shiny metallic jacket, metallic pants, leather crop tank top, plastic chain, fingerless gloves, dart crossbow, motorcycle boots, and tactical belt

The Huntress Costume Items

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The Huntress Birds of Prey Helena Bertinelli DC
  • 1 Shiny Metallic Leather Long Jacket (essential)The visual anchor of this entire build. Without it, the rest of the pieces read as separate fashion items rather than a costume. Look for one with enough length to hit mid-thigh, a structured shoulder, and a finish that reflects light. Wear it open all night. The moment you zip it, the crop top and chain underneath disappear and the whole look loses its shape.
    See on Amazon
  • 2 Shiny Metallic PantsThe metallic finish connects the lower half to the jacket so the costume reads as a deliberate uniform rather than two mismatched pieces. Avoid anything with heavy embellishment or texture that fights with the jacket.
    See on Amazon
  • 3 Shiny Leather Crop Tank TopThe base layer worn under the open jacket. The exposed midriff shows when the jacket is open and gives the look a deliberate edge. Any dark leather or faux-leather crop top in a similar finish works if the listed item is unavailable.
    See on Amazon
  • 4 Plastic ChainDrape it diagonally across the torso from shoulder to hip, the same way you’d wear a crossbody bag strap. This is the most character-specific wearable detail in the build. Huntress fans will notice it immediately. Everyone else will think you made an interesting accessory choice, which honestly also works.
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  • 5 Leather Fingerless GlovesStandard for the character and practical for holding a crossbow all night. Check your closet before buying; black fingerless gloves are common.
    See on Amazon
  • 6 Charmeuse Solid Satin Fabric (optional cape)Drape a length over your shoulders and pin it in place. Adds a dramatic silhouette. Skip it at crowded venues or if managing extra fabric all night sounds like the opposite of fun.
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  • 7 Tactical Phone HolsterUseful for holding your actual phone and freeing up your hands for those stretches of the night when the crossbow needs to be visibly in play.
    See on Amazon
  • 8 Dart Crossbow (essential)Gotham’s underworld knows her as “The Crossbow Killer,” which she hates, and which she would like everyone to know is both her business and none of their business. The crossbow is the single item that guarantees recognition from anyone who has seen Birds of Prey. Carry it visibly. If someone calls it a bow and arrow, you have two quotes prepared. Use the appropriate one. The other one is also available.
    See on Amazon
  • 9 Black Motorcycle BootsAny black boot with ankle coverage and a chunky sole works. The boots anchor the lower half and keep it from reading as purely fashion. Check your closet before buying.
    See on Amazon
  • 10 Tactical Nylon BeltCinched at the waist to define the silhouette and break up the head-to-toe metallic finish. A plain black tactical belt from any outdoor or military surplus store works just as well.
    See on Amazon
  • 11 Huntress Funko PopA prop for photos. The official figure gives people something to reference when the full costume isn’t landing the way you hoped. Leave it at home if the venue is crowded and you don’t have a surface to keep it on.
    See on Amazon
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress in the Birds of Prey 2020 movie, wearing dark tactical costume with crossbow in hand

How to Style the Huntress Halloween Costume

The jacket needs to be open, not zipped. Zipping it hides the crop top and chain underneath, and the look collapses into generic metallic fashion rather than a specific character build. The diagonal chain across the torso is the one wearable detail that makes this specifically Huntress, and wearing it wrong or skipping it is where most builds lose their specificity. Keep the crossbow visible.

Helena stands at the mirror and practices her introduction. She has the cadence right, the pause in the right place, the quiet menace dialed in precisely. She walks into every room ready to finally use it. Everyone calls her the Crossbow Killer. She does not have rage issues about this. She would like that noted.

Secure the chain before you leave the house

A diagonal chain draped loosely from shoulder to hip will slide off within the first hour. A small safety pin at the shoulder point keeps it in position all night. Moving it back into place every 20 minutes is the kind of low-grade annoyance that Huntress would find intolerable, and she does not have rage issues, so that tells you something about how annoying it actually is.

The crossbow is a prop, not a permanent hand accessory

Most people underestimate how inconvenient a dart crossbow becomes four hours in. The tactical phone holster frees up your hands for stretches of the evening when the crossbow doesn’t need to be actively in play. Stow it at your back between photos. Pull it out when someone needs convincing. That is its primary function at a party.

The Huntress Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Couples Idea

The Huntress & Harley Quinn (Birds of Prey)

Excellent couple dynamic built on the sharpest possible visual contrast: absolute chaos next to absolute focus. Harley is neon, improvised, and genuinely delighted by everything. Huntress is dark, methodical, and has been rehearsing this moment for years. Anyone who has seen Birds of Prey will place the pairing. Anyone who has not will understand the dynamic within about 30 seconds of watching you interact.

The Huntress Harley Quinn

Duo Idea

The Huntress & Black Canary (Birds of Prey)

Strong duo from the same film, with two fighters who came from completely different directions. Huntress in dark metallic with a crossbow, Black Canary in yellow leather with a sonic scream. The visual contrast is enough that the pairing reads even at a party where nobody has seen Birds of Prey. Among fans of the film, the specific friction between these two lands immediately.

The Huntress Black Canary

Group Idea: Birds of Prey Cast

The Huntress, Harley Quinn, Black Canary, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain

Excellent group concept with built-in anchor recognition. Harley Quinn is the most recognizable figure in the group, which means even people unfamiliar with the film still have a clear entry point. The range of looks across all five characters gives the group real visual variety. Works best when every member plays their specific character rather than a general “cool DC woman” version of it.

The Huntress Harley Quinn Black Canary Renee Montoya Cassandra Cain

Group Idea: Iconic Archers

The Huntress, Daryl Dixon, Katniss Everdeen, Hawkeye, Green Arrow

Might work, but you are putting the woman who will loudly explain that her crossbow is NOT a bow and arrow into a group called Iconic Archers. The thematic connection is real enough that most crowds will accept it, and the range of costume aesthetics across all five is genuinely varied. Just be ready for Helena to have a very specific opinion about the group name that she would like on record.

The Huntress Daryl Dixon Katniss Everdeen Hawkeye Green Arrow
Renee Montoya, The Huntress, Harley Quinn, Cassandra Cain, and Black Canary from Birds of Prey 2020 standing together as a group, showing all five Halloween costume options side by side

The Huntress Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This is not a thrift-friendly build at its core. The metallic jacket and pants have a specific finish that most second-hand stores won’t carry. Buy those specifically. Everything else is more forgiving.

  • Metallic jacket: buy it. The finish is what makes it work and thrifting won’t reliably get you there.
  • Metallic pants: same situation.
  • Crop tank top: check H&M or Zara before Amazon. Often cheaper and faster.
  • Plastic chain: cheap and available everywhere. Easiest item in the build.
  • Fingerless gloves: any costume shop carries these. Nothing special needed.
  • Satin cape: drape and pin. A few yards of fabric, no sewing, done in five minutes.
  • Belt and phone holster: military surplus stores or the back of a friend’s closet.
  • Crossbow: a toy dart crossbow is completely fine. You are not actually hunting anyone.
  • Boots: any black boot with ankle coverage. Check your closet first.
  • Funko Pop: leave it at home unless you have a table or bag to keep it in safely. It’s a photo prop, not something to carry all night.

Playing Huntress at the Party

Helena is not unfriendly. She is focused. There is a distinction she considers important. She also has a very specific social rhythm: she reacts a beat too slowly, laughs at the wrong moment, and introduces herself with more gravity than most situations require. That is the bit to play.

  • When someone asks who you are: “The Huntress.” Full stop. Let the pause do the work. Do not add anything.
  • If they call you the Crossbow Killer: deliver the quote. Sincerely. No irony. That is the whole character.
  • If someone calls the crossbow a bow and arrow: the other quote. The one about being twelve. Same delivery.
  • She laughs a beat late. She takes things literally. Not a comedy bit; just how she is.
  • During the fight at the amusement park, she gave a terrified child her late brother’s toy car and told her to focus on it and ignore the killing around her. That level of compartmentalization tells you most of what you need to know about this character.

The Huntress Halloween Costume: FAQ

The shiny metallic jacket and dart crossbow are the two non-negotiables. Add metallic pants, a leather crop tank top, the diagonal plastic chain across the torso, fingerless gloves, a tactical belt, and black motorcycle boots. The chain and crossbow together are what shift this from generic action character to specifically Huntress.

Birds of Prey (2020) has a loyal following and is still in wide circulation on streaming, but Huntress is the character people remember after Harley Quinn. At a general party, the crossbow does most of the recognition work. Among actual fans of the film, the costume lands immediately.

Two lines define her. On her weapon, when someone gets the terminology wrong: “IT’S NOT A F*CKING BOW AND ARROW! It’s a crossbow! I’m not twelve!” On her personality, mid-fight, when someone notes she might have an anger problem: “I DON’T HAVE RAGE ISSUES!” Both are delivered with complete, genuine sincerity. That sincerity is the entire point of her character.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Helena Bertinelli (IMDb). She is also known for Royal Pain in Sky High, Nikki Swango in Fargo, and the title role in Kate (2021). Birds of Prey (2020) was directed by Cathy Yan.

She spent years practicing her chosen alias in front of a mirror. Her name is The Huntress, and she has the delivery down. The Gotham media invented Crossbow Killer on their own without consulting her, she finds it completely uninspired, and she is visibly annoyed every single time it comes up. She put in the work. Nobody uses it.

No. Helena Bertinelli survived a massacre at age eight, was smuggled to Sicily, and spent her childhood and teenage years training in acrobatics, tactical marksmanship, and martial arts. No powers whatsoever. Everything she does is the result of extreme discipline and a very specific list of people she needed to find.

The Bertinelli crime family embedded the account numbers to their fortune inside the Bertinelli Diamond. After the events of the film, Helena recovers those numbers, accesses the fortune, and uses it to fund the Birds of Prey vigilante operation alongside Renee Montoya and Dinah Lance. The criminal empire that destroyed her family ends up paying for the thing that cleans up Gotham. There is a lesson in there, and Helena has probably thought about it.

What nickname does the Gotham media give The Huntress, which she absolutely cannot stand?

After surviving her family’s massacre as a child, where was Helena Bertinelli taken to train?

How does Helena Bertinelli fund the Birds of Prey operation at the end of the film?