Alias: Oracle, previously known as Batgirl
Nicknames: Barb, Boss-Lady, Red
Occupation: Information database for all superheroes, computer expert, librarian
Base of Operations: Gotham City Clocktower
Affiliations: Bat-family, JLA, Birds of Prey
Marital Status: Single
Height: 5' 11" Weight: 130 1bs
Eyes: Green Hair: Red
Barbara Gordon is a fascinating character, in more than one way, of course. But one thing I find very interesting is that her life, particularly her childhood, like so many of Gotham's heroes is marred by tradgedy. Yet, when one thinks of Babs, of Oracle, tragdedy is not the thought that immediately follows as it does for characters such as Batman, Huntress, or even Nightwing.
That is because Barbara is an icon - of strength, perseverance, and new life.
Barbara's earlier history is a story not as well-known as her later endeavors, but it is existant. Born in Ohio to Roger C. and Thelma Gordon on September 23, Barbara grew up dreaming of being a superhero with her best friend, Marcy. Rocketgirl! Supergirl! Batgirl! But neither would expect that any of these fantasies would come true.
But after her mother was killed in an autobmobile accident when Babs was four, and her father died later due to grief and
As a teenager, it was out of girlish fascination with the Dark Knight that Barbara honed her martial arts and gymnastic abilities and even sewed her own Bat costume. She was precocious and driven, taking interest in her father's investigations and police cases. Barbara devoted herself to training - and perhaps even becoming Batman's partner someday - for several years. But like youthful "obsessions" so often do, her ardency for Batman cooled. College and more realistic dreams began to sidetrack her. She managed to skip a few years at school and went to Gotham State at the age of sixteen. After graduating she became Head Reference Librarian at Gotham Public Library.
But fate -- in the guise of Killer Moth -- intervened. To surprise her father and to relive the childhood excitement of pretending to be a superhero, Barbara had designed and made a fully-functional "Batgirl" costume to wear to the policeman's masquerade ball. But on the way there, she happened upon Killer Moth's attack on Bruce Wayne and instinctively leapt into action. She provided enough of a distraction for Wayne to slip away and become Batman, and the two heroes met for the first time. He was his usual, charming self... it wasn't a pretty scene.
It didn't take long for Batman (or her father) to figure out who she really was. Initially skeptical about the new heroine, confronting her and making her actually stop proved harder than the Dark Knight expected and, in the end, it was she who won the confrontation while also convincing Batman to train her.
And she figured out his secret identity to boot.
Barbara frequently assisted Batman and Robin, and enjoyed a rather flirtatious relationship with Robin, who had been in love with her since the moment he laid eyes on her. Batman accepted her as part of his team, and in her
What made Batgirl a success was her humanness. She had frequent plagues of self-doub and often questioned the real effectiveness she had as Batgirl, if she had any.
Months after Barbara had �retired� the Joker came to her father's house where Barbara was visiting, and bluntly shot Barbara when she opened the door at point blank range. The shot shattered her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down, crippling her permanently. No high-tech gizmos to save the day, no alien cyber-suits, no magic fingers to heal her broken back. She would never walk again. Ironically, the Joker had no idea he had paralyzed the former Batgirl; he was only using her to get at her father
Now confined to a wheelchair for life, Barbara spent the next few months hidden away from the world, broken and battered, feeling defeated and useless, only going out for physical and emotional therapy sessions. Batgirl was dead, and Barbara thought her life was over, too. Nobody would have blamed her if she became the sad sack of the Batman family, the poor former Dark Knight Damsel who couldn't wiggle her toes, nevermind cartwheel across rain-slicked rooftops. She could have remained cocooned in her father's apartment for the rest of her life and never heard from again and no one would have blamed her..
But come on, people, this is Barbara Gordon we're talking about. This is the woman who deduced Gotham's best kept secret, battered most of Batman's Rogues Gallery, and had the Boy Wonder wrapped around her little finger. Even so, it's probable that Babs hadn't really grown up until after she'd been shot. Batgirl had started out as just for kicks, the passion to fight crime as a moral decision being there, but slower to develop. Once she was shot, Barbara personally experienced what crime could rob from a life - it was her moment in the alley. So she grew up.
Barbara quickly learned how to maneuver in this strange new cyber-world. She made on-line contacts and learned how to track information on the web. With a little renewed self-confidence Barbara began paving a way to become whole again. Despite her refusal to approach her family or friends for help, she gained one of them as a benefactor, anyway; an on-line acquaintance named "Matches" (who was really Batman) arranged for her to learn escrima, the Phillipine art of stick fighting, from martial arts master Richard Dragon. Training for months, Barbara not only honed the working parts of her body, but also strengthed her confidence and determination to follow the path of self-discovery.
In the dream, she found herself, as Batgirl, speaking to a robed, masked woman in a Greek temple. The woman -- like the mythical Oracle -- told her it was time to mature into her own identity, use her new-found talents, and fight
Barbara, as Oracle, became the premier information broker, hacker, and on-line detective for the superhero community. Today, Oracle is the ultimate source for information. Setting up a vast information network that spans the globe, Barbara uses the Internet and cyberdata ports to disseminate information to aid in the war against crime. The Dark Knight has come to rely heavily on Oracle's information-tracking skills; she's also a member of the JLA (now in reserve), "sitting" at the round table and taking her place as the team's resident Athena - the goddess of wisdom, appropriately enough. Babs has also done freelance work for numerous heroes across the DC Universe.
During the crisis of No Man's Land, Barbara managed to maintain both her databases and her health by tailoring her skills to the radically altered circumstances of Gotham City, and she took it upon herself to keep the history of this extraordinary �poque in the life (or death) of one of the two most famous cities in comic book history. This time brought both joy and heartbreak. Towards the end of NML, Barbara lost her step-mother Sarah Essen-Gordon to a bullet from the Joker - a blow from which she and her father are still recovering. But on a happier note, Babs gave her blessing to a young, nameless girl to take the role of Batgirl. In effect, not only has Babs accepted herself and put parts of her past behind her, Barbara has also passed on her cowl and cape to someone else. As a result, there is a new Batgirl swinging the rooftops of Gotham. Babs even admited that Cassandra looks �better� in the ears than she did. The new Batgirl lived with Oracle for a time and is still being mentored by her.
And she's even warmed up to the amorous Dick Grayson. Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon's once flirtatious relationship has blossomed into something more. After Babs and Dick at last enjoyed a long kiss, finally expressing their feelings for each other, the two have since begun a romantic relationship.
It is difficult to tell who does know who she is or if it's generally known amongst the superhero community that Oracle was once
Barbara has continued to be one of the strongest women in the DC Universe, has managed to carve out an indispensable place for herself in the world of crime fighting. She has gone from someone who was somewhat tentative about taking charge of a situation which might be considered "Batman's Turf" to someone who charges in with all guns blazing. This confidence has also made her the de facto second-in-command of the Batsquad and the one to whom all members of the team turn for advice and backup. The first person Batman turns to when he needs backup is almost always Oracle. During No Man's Land, when Batman decided to make the mute girl - whom Babs named Cassandra - into the new Batgirl, it was Oracle's word which swayed the rest of the team.
Barbara is sassy, smart, practical, determined, and a workaholic, which may be why she and Bruce have grown so close - once her mentor, Batman and Oracle now view each other as equals and as friends. Barbara acts as something of a mother figure to Cassandra, and a big sister to Tim. And of course, to Nightwing....well, let's just say half the DCU is waiting for these two to finally tie the knot.
No one else does what Oracle does and even Batman -- who relies on and trusts her as much as he does Robin, Nightwing, and Alfred -- rates her unique abilities even ahead of his own. Time and again, he calls on her to find the unfindable, and solve the unsolvable, and time and again, she comes through. As Oracle she is probably more effective than when she was Batgirl. Babs is probably one of the strongest women in the world, in body, spirit, and character.
As Batman has said of her:
"Barbara is stronger than she knows, and this is perhaps, her only great weakness. Hyper-defensive about her
--excerpted from Wizard magazine's Batman Special,1998, "Battle Plans" by Devin Grayson, p. 60
Oracle is always watching.
And Barbara - she fights, she perseveres, and she continues to be one of the most effective and irreplacable heroes the world - real life or comic - has even known.
To quote Dick Grayson, the person who knows her best, �She�s the 411 for the JLA. She�s the database for the G.C. Ex-P.D. She runs mercy operations around the world. And she bakes.�
Yeah. That's our Babs. And we wouldn't want it any differently.
POWERS AND ABILITIES
Like everyone in the Bat-family, Barbara has no superpower, unless you're counting brain-power. Babs is a genius-level intellect, possessing a photographic memory, keen detective and analytical skills, and know-how of all sorts of technology. She is an expert at researching and analysis, hacking, and providing and distributing intel. She has a brown belt in Judo, background in gymnastics & dance, as well as excellent general athletic abilities in her upper body. She has also mastered the martial arts escrima fighting, and carries two escrima sticks with her attached to her wheelchair (which has no handles being the "Miss Independent" that she is.) She has also equipped her Clocktower with it's own security system (which the Bat-men love to try and crack) and voice-activated defenses. Not a good idea to mess with this girl.
Barbara was the first to infuse the cowl with vibrancy and wit, making "Batgirl" more than just a female version of Batman. Her legacy carried on into the Batgirls that followed. Babs-as-Batgirl is one of the greatest precedents of all female costumed heroes.
But Babs-as-Oracle? Even cooler. So much cooler, so much more effective, so much stronger, that well, let's face it, Babs-as-Batgirl seems like - was - a female knock-off of Batman. Her identity was created purely by imitation. Funny thing, Babs freely admits it.
That's what I love about Babs - she's been hurt, but she's not about to let that stop her. She knows who she is because of past parts of herl life, but she is not allowing her past to be her life, nor let it shape how she will live. She's stronger than that, better than that.
If there's anyone worthy of being a role model, it's her.
Being the workaholic that she is, Babs can't let music distract her from whatever case file she's cracking into at the moment, but pure silence is too boring for this redhead. While she doesn't hate other music types, her particular muisc style is soothing and often poetic, including artists like Sixpence None the Richer, Ginny Owens, Nichole Nordeman, and Sierra. She also likes to throw Sting, Sarah McLachlan, and Vanessa Carleton into the mix.
