Rachel Dawes is the childhood friend and romantic interest of Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins (portrayed by Katie Holmes) and The Dark Knight (portrayed by Maggie Gyllenhaal). She works as a secretary for the DA's office and becomes aware of Bruce's identity as Batman at the end of Begins. In The Dark Knight, she is dating Gotham's new district attorney Harvey Dent.
Death[]
After The Joker is arrested, both Rachel and Harvey are taken away by police who are on the take from Salvatore Maroni, who has been working with the Joker. They are taken to separate locations and tied up amongst several oil drums that have been wired to blow up. A radio is set up between the two locations so that Rachel and Harvey can share their final agonized moments with each other and Rachel tells Harvey she'd rather not be saved if she cannot be with him. The police arrive at the abandoned apartment block where Rachel is kept, but they arrive just in time to watch the building explode, with Rachel being killed in the blast.