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Barbara Gordon is a recurring character on Harley Quinn and is the daughter of James and Barbara Eileen Gordon. After seeing her father hit rock bottom with Batman missing and helping Harley Quinn defeat the Riddler, she becomes inspired to assume the identity of Batgirl.

At the end of Season 4, Barbara gets paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by the Joker, however, she emerges herself in the world of computers and hacking to continue to fight crime and resigns from the Bat Family, joining the Gotham City Sirens.

Appearance[]

Barbara has short red hair draped around the back of her head. She has light skin and freckles on her cheeks. She has green eyes and usually wears glasses while in her civilian persona.

As Batgirl, she wears a purple leather jacket and pants with a black stripe on the sides, a yellow bat symbol across her chest, a black cape that snaps on the shoulders, yellow snap-on gloves, and black boots. She wears a mask that covers half of her head and leaves the mouth and nose unmasked.

Purple seems to be the primary color of both her civilian and vigilante wardrobes. When away from college Barbara wears a purple hoodie, and at the premiere event of the Thomas Wayne biography in "The Horse and the Sparrow", she wears a sparkly purple dress.

Biography[]

Background[]

Barbara Joan Gordon is the daughter of Barbara Gordon Sr. and GCPD commissioner James Gordon. She also had at least one uncle on her mother's side.

She was attending Gotham University when the Injustice League took control of Gotham City after Batman's disappearance, resulting in the Riddler taking over the university. Barbara became suspicious of the mysterious disappearances at the campus and started investigating, wanting to take down the Riddler. As her parents' marriage fell apart, her father became depressed and started living with her at her dorm after he snuck in before the Riddler took over.

Season 2[]

"Riddler U"[]

When Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn infiltrated the University, pretended to be students "Izziadora Staplebuntkin" and "Heather Witherbee", to find out why the University was the only place in town with power as well as take down the Riddler, Barbara was the one showing them around the campus. Later, she witnessed "Heather" beat up the school's mascot, believing him to be the real riddle, in a fountain causing her disguise to wash off. Harley noticed her so she fled the scene, using some sort of parkour or acrobatics to escape.

Riddler U

Barbara with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy

However, Harley and Ivy track her down to her dorm and break in, only for Barbara to ambush Harley and hold her at bay with pepper spray. Ivy then jumps in through the window and soon disarms her, tying her up with her houseplant. Harley angrily exclaims that she was gonna rat them out to the Riddler, but she then claims she actually wants someone to take him down. She turns up music in her dorm to mask their voices and explains her worry about the mysterious disappearances around campus. Ivy questions how they can trust she isn't going to turn them in the second they untie her. Her father comes in while she's still expended in mid-air by the plant, which gets him suspicious, but she gets rid of him, claiming it's just an internet thing that he wouldn't understand, earning the trust of Harley and Ivy, who let her go. Barbara shares her theory that people are going missing at a particular fraternity. Harley then steals the wristbands that Barbara had to a party there and leaves without her.

While Harley and Ivy have gone to the frat party, Barbara tries to motivate her father to help take down the Riddler, but he claims the city needs the bat, motivating Barbara.

Barbara gun

Barbara takes on the Riddler

Meanwhile, Harley Ivy and Clayface has discovered Riddler's has been forcing college students to run on human hamster wheels to power the university and themselves gotten captured and forced to run for power. Barbara then arrives, dressed in a dark hood and face cover, ready to save them. She manages to dispatch a guard and clumsily attempting to shoot the power switch to the generator, prompting Harley to criticize her for not just shooting the Riddler. She misses but tosses her gun at the Riddler and knocks him into it, causing the generator to fail and release the human hamsters. Once released, Harley, Ivy and Clayface fight the remaining of Riddler's goons alongside Barbara. She exclaims how she feels like a superhero and asks to get Riddler to Arkham together, although Ivy and Harley say they'll do it and swiftly leave.

Later, at Barbara's dorm, she's seen stitching together the last of a costume and putting on the mantle of "Batgirl" before leaping out the window.

"Batman's Back Man"[]

Batgirl selfie

Batgirl on social media

With Batman still missing, Batgirl has stepped up to protect Gotham and gained a major following of 1.3 million followers on social media in the process by live-streaming her crime-fighting and sharing safety tips with her audience. After Batman, finally wakes up from his coma, he watches one of Batgirl's streams and complaints about her usage of the bat symbol.

Despite still being wounded, Batman attempts to dissuade Batgirl from her vigilantism. Batgirl chases a criminal at the rooftops of Gotham when Batman unexpectedly turns up. She squeals excitedly when she first sees him but assumes that his concern is her using a copyrighted logo, only to brush off his concern then when he expresses that he doesn't think it is safe for her. She insists that she can handle herself, only for Batman to knock out a petty goon behind her contemptuously. Batgirl's joy overflows, and she announces to all of her followers that Batman is back. Batgirl's announcement prompts the city's residents to rise up against the Injustice League's tyranny.

Batgirl in action

One of Two-Face's goons feels the painful wrath of Batgirl's boot

Despite still being injured, Batman gets out to fight crimes but is almost killed by Bane and Two-Face's goons. However, just in time, the Maccaroni and Batgirl arrive to save him. Batgirl helps take down the goons and bring Batman to safety. Batman, finally admitting his limitations, comes before Jim Gordon, tells him that he isn't physically able to work as he did before, and introduces him to his new partner: Batgirl. Batman gives Batgirl his blessing to take up the standard in his stead until he has healed to keep the hope that comes with the bat symbol alive. However, Gordon is not entirely pleased to work with Batgirl, although Batgirl insists they'll have the best time, and he reluctantly shakes her hand before she takes up her phone to announce to her followers.

"There's No Place to Go But Down"[]

Batgirl finds Gordons flask

Batgirl is disappointed

Batgirl and Commissioner Gordon searched the sewers to catch the Ratcatcher and stop him from using them to smuggle weapons across Gotham. As Gordon stumbles along and questions what they are even doing there, an irritated Batgirl asks if he's drunk, which he denies saying he has a high tolerance. After locating the Ratcatcher, Batgirl ordered Gordon to stay put and wait for her signal while she circles around to block the exits. Drinking yet more, he eventually got drunk enough to drop his flask, and when he drunkenly lurched for it, Ratcacher spotted him and sent the rats after him, disrupting the plan and allowing him to escape. An irritated Batgirl was forced to pull him out of the sewer canal and was disappointed when she noticed his flask on the ground.

After the botched capture of Ratcatcher, Batgirl is back home as Barbara Gordon and forced to listen to her father complaining about Batgirl over dinner. Barbara tries to talk to him about his drinking but he insists that he doesn't have a drinking problem whilst squirting a heap of mayonnaise into his liquor and drinking it. Barbara begs him to consider laying off the booze for her sake, and although he begins to consider her words, they are interrupted by gunfire from Two-Face's goons. Two-Face is now set on killing Gordon, and so throws a grenade into their home. As Gordon surrenders himself to Two-Face, asking only that he tells his daughter that he loves her, Batgirl arrives and incapacitates his goons, allowing them to get shot to death in the confusion and Two-Face flees, swearing that he'll be back.

Batgirl revealed identity

Batgirl reveals her identity to Gordon

Gordon resentfully asks why Batgirl saved him, insisting he only gets in the way while getting out his flask to take a sip. However, Batgirl snatches it away with her whip and tells him to stop feeling sorry for himself. Gordon insists even his own daughter sees him as a joke, but Batgirl assures him that's not true and that he inspired her. Although he laughs it off, saying Batman was her inspiration, Batgirl claims he only inspired her costume, saying her dad inspired her while lifting her mask, revealing her identity to a stunned but proud Gordon.

Later, Barbara explains to Gordon how she became Batgirl. She becomes alarmed when he gets up to open a bottle of wine, only for him to pour it all out into the sink and ask her to lend a hand in a "montage where we skip past the hard parts of beating an alcoholic addiction and cut to the part where I'm clean". After helping Gordon clean up his act and pouring out the remainder of his alcohol, Gordon vows to take back the GCPD headquarters from Two-Face. Later, they arrive at the station where Batgirl starts formulating a plan, but Gordon tells her he's got it, and she waits outside, occasionally asking if he needs any help. At the same time, Gordon singlehandedly takes back the GCPD.

"Inner (Para) Demons"[]

Harley kisses Batgirl

Harley kisses a confused Batgirl

As Gordon gears up to take down Harley Quinn to get Gotham accepted back into the United States, Batgirl arrives at Gotham Mall on her Batcycle to warn Harley of Gordon's plans. Although before she can, Doctor Psycho insults her uncreative name, and King Shark compliments the stitch-work on her costume. She warns Harley that Gordon is coming to take her down and asserts that she's not really a villain, which Harley angrily protests. Batgirl cites some of her heroic feats, but Harley refuses to listen and takes her warning about Gordon as justification to raise an army herself which Batgirl insists was the opposite of what she was saying. Harley then hysterically exclaims how unpredictable and reckless she is, kissing a thoroughly confused Batgirl on the lips to prove her point, then sending her out with a bewildered expression.

After failing to get through to Harley, Batgirl tries to talk to her dad, pointing out his excessive number of guns and weaponry as he prepares to take on Harley. She tries to discourage him from going up against Harley, warning him of her acquiring an army. Gordon seems to understand but then immediately concludes that he needs an army as well, and although Batgirl tries to clarify, he charges off and closes the door in her face. Later, Barbara calls her father once again try to convince him to back down but he stands firm and hangs up on her.

"Lovers' Quarrel"[]

Just lol

Batgirl and Gordon covered each others' eyes when Poison Ivy's memory of sleeping with Harley during "Bachelorette" was projected onto the sky by a vengeful Doctor Psycho.

The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour[]

"Journey to Love Part 3"[]

Nightwing and Batgirl vs Gordon

Batgirl goes to Blüdhaven on Batman's order to stop her father from letting his obsession with bringing Harley Quinn to justice go too far. She swoops in just as her father has his gun pointed at Nightwing (after he stepped between him and Harley) as Gordon threatens to shoot him to get to Harley. Batgirl questions if Gordon is willing to shoot her as well, leaving him thrown off balance by his daughter's arrival. She desperately pleads with him to put the gun down, insisting that he will lose his daughter if he continues like this. This allows Harley and Ivy to escape.

"Journey to Love Part 6"[]

Barbara worries over her father when her friend "Stephanie" calls. She asks what is going on with her dad but Barbara insists she doesn't want to talk about it and they instead start gushing about Harley and Ivy. After ending the call, she reflects the fact that she doesn't like lying to her best friend about being Batgirl but believing it is for the best, not aware of the fact that "Stephanie" has a secret identity as well. She later watches the news as Tawny Young reports on her father's failure to capture Harley and Ivy as they got away once more.

Season 3[]

"There's No Ivy In Team"[]

Batgirl and Nightwing tangled up

Nightwing and Batgirl tied up together

In the Batcave, Batgirl witnessed a confused Nightwing, who had just returned to Gotham after years away, viewing her costume that was displayed in his old alcove. Batgirl introduces herself, revealing she knows all about him although he remains unimpressed by her, even refusing to shake her hand. As the Bat Family get an alert that Firefly is attacking the Old Gotham Corn Factory, Batgirl heads there on her Batcycle. Well there, they watch from a distance Firefly and his goons start burning the corn factory and Batman starts laying out the plan. However, they soon realize that Nightwing has already left and confronts Firefly on the roof. This causes Firefly to spot the rest of the Bat Family and a fight breaks loose and Nightwing bicker as Batgirl accuses Nightwing of blowing up the plan. When batman spots Firefly, Nigtwing and Batgirl both swing towards him, causing them to collide and get all tangled up in their grappling hooks while Firefly gets away. Batgirl then notes they need to do something to work on their teamwork.

Batgirl then took the team to do an escape room to foster camaraderie, however, it turned out to be a death trap created by the Riddler where they would be killed unless they could solve the puzzle within a time limit. As Harley's Crew were there doing the same, Poison Ivy accidentally hit a switch, merging the two groups but trapping Nightwing with Ivy and Batgirl with Harley in opposite rooms on the sides. Trapped together, Batgirl and Harley bonded over their similar struggles with teamwork and attempts to foster camaraderie with this escape room, both having been pulled in by the catchy commercial. They were eventually let out as Batman solved the puzzle and the Bat Family returned to the Batcave where Nigtwing made amends with Batgirl, asking to start over. They were then alerted to another sighting of Firefly who was attacking an orphanage. Batgirl offered Nightwing a ride with her but he politely declined, hitching a ride with the Macaroni instead.

"A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy"[]

Jim Gordon
Barbara, you're a cool, hip, popular young woman, gather up 3000 of your closest friends for me to talk to.
Barbara Gordon
Dad, I don't really have any- ... that many friends.
Rich assholes

"Okay, so where are these rich assholes?"

Barbara was in her fathers office as he complained about being crushed in the mayoral polls. She suggested he changed things up, shifting focus from his role as commissioner and onto him as a person. However, Two-Face, Gordon's campaign manager, insisted he needed to seek out campaign donations from Gotham's wealthiest and most skeevy residents. Barbara objected, giving a passionate speech about running for what he believed in. Gordon was touched and hugged her, but to Barbara's horror, quickly turned around, asking Two-Face how to get the donations.

"Joker: The Killing Vote"[]

Barbara was sat in har father's office while Two-Face reprimanded him for spending all his campaign money on adds and custom pez. Barbara insisted he didn't need any of that that to win but should use the debates to tell people what he stood for, although she quickly followed that up by asking what he actually stood for which Gordon struggled to answer. Later, after the Mayor of Gotham passed away during the debate against Gordon, he and Two-Face celebrated their near-victory while Barbara warned them against celebrating early, pointing out Gordon still hadn't figured out his plans for the city if he won.

Barbara
Joker's preaching policies like free health care, free tuition.
Gordon
Oh God, is my own daughter some kind of Jo-Bro?
Barbara
They prefer to be called "Sane Clown Posse," and I am not a Jo-Bro!
— Barbara has had enough.
Barbara Joker-Bro

After the Joker announced his candidacy Gordon questioned why the people loved him and Barbara explained it was because he had actually good policies unlike him. As Two-Face suggested they fight dirtier to win the people over, Barbara set her foot down telling her father to choose between him or her, telling him unless he fired Two-Face as his campaign manager and started working on his actual policies she could not support him. Gordon tried to insist he could choose "Two-Face then you" resulting in Barbara storming out. She was later seen at a rally supporting the Joker.

"Another Sharkley Adventure"[]

To be added

"Batman Begins Forever"[]

Bat family in the shadows

Bat-kids to the rescue!

After Bruce Wayne was kidnapped by Harley's Crew who wanted to enter his mind and find out where he was keeping Frank the Plant (whom he had kidnapped), Batgirl, Nightwing and Robin threw a sleep-inducing smoke-bomb through a window of Catwoman's Apartment. After the crew passed out on the floor, the Bat-kids tied them up and took them to Wayne Manor.

"Climax at Jazzapajizza"[]

To be added

"The Horse and the Sparrow"[]

To be added

Season 4[]

"Gotham's Hottest Hotties"[]

To be added

"B.I.T.C.H."[]

To be added

"Icons Only"[]

To be added

"The First Person to Come Back From a Business Conference Without Chlamydia"[]

To be added

"Getting Ice Dick, Don't Wait Up"[]

To be added

"Metamorphosis"[]

To be added

"The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time"[]

To be added

"Potato-Based Cloning Incident"[]

To be added

"Killer's Block"[]

To be added

Personality[]

In contrast with the more brooding members of the Bat-Family, Barbara is a fairly excitable and amicable person. She squealed in excitement when she first met Batman (of whom she called herself a "stan"). While she might be a nerd, she is quite outgoing and socially adept, knowing to live-stream her crime-fighting to inspire Gothamites while Batman was M.I.A. When her services are needed, she is highly professional, fearless, and resourceful. As Batgirl, she would find contacts that led her to Mad Hatter's conspiracy. Even before becoming Batgirl, these strengths were already present; she arranged intelligence to figure out something amiss at Riddler U, and used her WayneBox to drown out conversations that might've got her in trouble.

Batgirl is a virtuous, straight-laced member of society, best exemplified by how she actively avoids curse words (the farthest she goes is "frick"), a habit highlighted by some of the more vulgar characters like Harley. It's also implied she is a college student who doesn't drink, and that she doesn't have many friends at college. Furthermore, although Barbara already had skills like parkour before becoming Batgirl, she did not start out as a fighter. On her first outing as a masked vigilante — breaking into Riddler's generator room — she was nervous and struggled to be intimidating.

Barbara seems to have inherited her sense of justice and hope from her father and is possibly a time capsule of how dedicated Gordon was to his job and principles before he fell victim to burn-out and alcoholism. She says he was the one who motivated her to be a crime fighter and is gravely disappointed to see her father drink compulsively or become a corrupt mayoral candidate under Two-Face's influence. Barbara's optimism might explain why she is one of the first heroes to entertain the possibility that Harley is not truly evil actively.

After the death of Nightwing, Batgirl feels incredibly hurt and becomes depressed and a bit apathetic, she's also more aggressive and now all she wants is revenge for her partner. Also, due to being blinded by anger and revenge she's become more harsh with others, insulting Harley and her father for apparently not caring about how she feels. Batgirl is frustrated and since she doesn't know how to manage those feelings she unburden herself by drinking and getting into a brawl with the Legion of Doom members. However she calms down after taking a cold shower and returns to her former personality.

It felt good to do something that matters with people I care about, even if you did end blowing half of Gotham with a laser, you b.
— Barbara quits the Bat Family[src]

At the end of season 4, after being paralyzed from the waist down, Batgirl has become slightly less morally correct, although she still wants to help others. She accepts to hack a moon buggy, which is property of Lex Luthor, because Harley and Ivy asked her help, something in early seasons she would've never done. She also hacked the alarm system in every building Ivy was going to blow up with the laser to make sure people can evacuate. Later, she goes to Gotham cemetery, and while she still wants to fight crime now accepts the destructive tendencies of Harley, so she quits the Bat Family and agrees to form a new team with Harley, Ivy and Catwoman, choosing to do things in their own way. Also, she shows some changes in her behavior, while she retains her tendency to avoid curse words, she is now more flexible, openly calling Luthor an "asshole" after succesfully hacking his buggy and he demanded to speak to her "male superior". She also partially says some curse words (saying "b" instead of "bitch" or "f" instead of "fuck"), and is more tolerant of alcohol, drinking from a bottle of wine Harley offered her.

Abilities[]

  • Expert Combatant: Barbara is a skilled combatant, capable of taking down numerous things much larger than her.
  • Expert Acrobat: Barbara is an exceptional acrobat and gymnast, being able to perform incredible feats of agility and parkour, and has even been described by Harley Quinn, a master acrobat herself, as being "surprisingly agile."[1]
  • Sewing: Barbara sews her own costume.[1]
  • Expert Investigator: Like her father, Barbara is a skilled detective. When she was investigating the murder of Mally Tomberson, she correctly deduced her killer had experience performing surgeries after seeing the clean and precise cut.[2] She realized Joker didn't murder Nightwing as it didn't fit his modus operandi, and later found evidence that proved the villain had indeed been lying about having killed her team mate by analyzing Gotham's security cameras.[3]
  • Expert Hacker: Barbara is skilled as a hacker. She was capable of hacking the city's security cameras in search of evidence that the Joker didn't kill Nightwing and was able to intercept Doctor Psycho's radio program transmission and uploaded a tape showing evidence to expose Joker as a liar.[3] After becoming paralyzed, she emerges herself in the world of hacking even more, showing off her skills as she was able to hack into Lex Luthor's vehicle on the moon just using her computer from her hospital bed in Gotham.[4]

Equipment[]

  • Batcycle: As Batgirl, she uses a purple motorcycle, nicknamed the Batcycle, to get around in the city.
  • Grappling hook: Batgirl uses a grappling hook to swing between buildings.

Media Appearances[]

Season 2

The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour

Season 3

The Real Sidekicks of New Gotham

Season 4

Trivia[]

  • She is perfectly okay with destroying buildings as long as there is no one inside.
  • Batgirl getting shot in the stomach by the Joker in "Potato-Based Cloning Incident" is a reference to the scene from the classic 1988 comic Batman: The Killing Joke wherein the Joker shot Barbara Gordon in the stomach, resulting in the character being rendered paralyzed from the waist down, eventually taking up the identity of Oracle in future stories.
    • Her identity of Oracle is further alluded to in "Killer's Block" where she uses her hacking skills to aid Harley.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Riddler U" DC Universe (April 10, 2020).
  2. "Gotham's Hottest Hotties" Max (July 27, 2023).
  3. 3.0 3.1 "The Most Culturally Impactful Film Franchise of All Time" Max (August 24, 2023).
  4. "Killer's Block" Max (September 14, 2023).
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