When out of costume and school uniform, Bea's fashion is relaxed and comfortable; large jackets, simple shirts, shorts or jeans. Heels are a common sight on the short girl. She'll dress up on occasion, even if she feels slightly out of place with a gown of silk covering her small, athletic frame rather than her normal clothes. Her thick curls are usually kept short, cut to her chin and styled straight when she has the desire. Make-up isn't common day-to-day, though she's not adverse to some lipstick ever so often. A few scars litter her lean, toned limbs, the result of past injuries from crime fighting, however those are the only marks she wasn't born with, for Bea bares no tattoos, though her ears are pierced.

Like her mentor, Bea's persona of Dusk wears a costume designed for stealth and to give her as many advantages as possible in a fight. All black with a golden streak on the chest, the tight, fitted outfit is made from material designed not to tear against most impacts. She wears a mask of the same material, able to fit around her eyes without risk of hindering her vision or falling to reveal her true identity. A soft, golden coloured belt sits around her waist, holding the various tools and weapons she requires for battle and espionage. Expandable batons, throwing spikes, a small knife, smoke bombs, lockpicks, and a small grappling gun, among other treats, fit on her belt. It's designed to be as unobtrusive as possible, and even when not in costume, Dusk rarely goes without. Of course, having to go without the larger items when not in costume. Unlike her mentor, Dusk doesn't wear a cape, but her shoes have shock-absorbing tech fitted into the soles to slightly cushion her if need be.

As a child, Bea's mother used to tell her that she could achieve anything if she had the will. The words struck a nerve, fuelling the girl's determination to succeed; infusing the child with a stubborn strength that would see her pick herself up off the floor whenever she'd fallen, and try again. That dogged resolve, along with pure, natural ability, is the source of many of Bea's achievements. She's learned martial arts and gymnastics with that persistence. When her muscles would ache in protest, the girl would keep going.

In Bea's academic pursuits the same can be said, though at least here, a natural curiosity also influences her keen sense of learning. She's quick, intuitive, and possesses an eye for detail. She favours science, loves the rules, facts, and discoveries that go with the discipline, though Leeds and the Academy have moulded her education into a much more well-rounded affair. Aside from a few of the duller subjects, which she'll groan at having to take, Bea's inquisitiveness pushes her to learn, her competitiveness making her seek to be the best she can.

That curious streak works perfectly for a young detective, where one can indulge in all the nosy eavesdropping one desires in the name of solving a mystery. Of course, her intentions are not always honourable, not always in the pursuit of a criminal. Sometimes, Bea just likes knowing secrets that few others know, and at other times a certain recklessness creeps in that propels her forward when more cautious individuals would wait. The Shadow always tells Bea that she's rash; possesses the impatience of youth. As Dusk she's trying to alleviate that flaw, allows herself to focus, to take a deep breath and think through a plan before acting. As Bea, she lets herself relax a little more.

She supposes that with age and maturity that patience will come. Bea's definitely the lighter hero to Shadow's brooding quiet, cracks a cheesy joke and makes quick comments when her mentor would remain ominously silent. She's like that with or without the mask; a bright, vivacious girl with an easy laugh and happy smile. Sarcastic at times, prone to lightly teasing her friends or mockingly prodding enemies, she'd hardly be considered an introvert. Bea likes being surrounded by her friends, gets attached easily to new faces, and happily drags old or new friends along when there's something to be done.

Yet, for all her apparent openness, you'd be forgiven for thinking the girl harboured few secrets. She'll only dwell on her troubles alone, keeps her inner most thoughts concealed, and deflects with the charisma of a professional. She trusts only a few people enough to let them know bits of her hidden truths; her mother's identity, her own secret identity, and other parts of her past. Bea's friendship is easily earned, while her trust is only reluctantly given.

Beatrice Jade Barlow, only daughter of Jessmina and Dante Barlow, was born on the outskirts of New York some seventeen years ago. Her mother was an infamous cat burglar, a woman who stole millions of dollars worth of property from the well-off in New York in order to provide (and then some) for her own family. She eluded the police for years, a constant enigma and frustration to the city's detectives, until eventually she was caught by the hero known as The Shadow. Though, Bea wasn't aware of her mother's activities when she was younger, she remembers plenty of 'games' involving lock-picking and so forth. She was seven when her mother was finally arrested, distraught at the temporary loss of a parent and many of the home stables that were removed because of Jessmina's crimes.

In comparison, Bea's dad was relatively normal. He worked as an engineer at Leeds Enterprise, where Bea would frequently visit following her mother's arrest. Dante taught her the basics of the science he loved, with extra bits of information from his work colleagues thrown in. Tragically, Bea was only nine when her father lost his life in an explosion on the job. With her mother still in jail and no other family to speak of, she was sent to a foster home, where Bea's nights were regularly spent sneaking out and utilising the tricks her mother had taught her. Agile, small, and smart, child Bea may not have been the great thief her mother was, but she had a knack for getting into places she shouldn't.

One night she found herself in Francis Leeds' mansion, where the anger she had been withholding due to her father's death was released and directed at the priceless contents of the home which housed her father's boss. Francis Leeds found her, and whether he felt pity for the parent-less child, who he had inadvertently deprived of both mother and father or was impressed that she had slipped past all his security, he took her home without a word of punishment. Bea wasn't to know at that stage that Francis Leeds was also the man who had jailed her mother, she would find that out later, when Leeds revealed himself to be the Shadow.

Bea still continued her nightly 'explorations' of places she shouldn't be, occasionally running into the Shadow, who would take her home every time. Bea was antagonistic at first to the hero, but eventually settled on a grudging respect, and then admiration for the hero. She found herself seeking him out most nights, though it was always him that found her. Already taking gymnastics thanks to encouragement by her mother, when she showed an interest in learning martial arts, the closest training centre received a mysterious donation to pay for all beginners' lessons, for all the students. Eventually, and with much persistence on Bea's part, the Shadow took her under his wing. She wouldn't fight criminals like he did, but he would train her to defend herself.

After the Shadow revealed his identity to Bea, it only followed that Bea moved into the Leeds' mansion, her new foster home while her mother remained in prison. Since then she's continued her training, leaning combat, stealth, and strategy from the hero, ad tagging along on numerous missions since the age of 13 when she officially became his sidekick. With the formation of the New Guardians, Bea's ready to prove herself. She's been at Ascot Academy since Leeds became her sponsor, and though none save those she counts as her closest friends know her duel life, Bea's more than ready to welcome the other heroes to the school.