Jim Gordon

> *For his late estranged son, see James Gordon Jr.*
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"*This city was already sick in a way that I hadn't realised. This has only made things worse. It's good that you're here. Don't forget that.*"
—Jim Gordon to Batwoman.[src]
Commissioner **James Worthington "Jim" Gordon Sr.** (born October 19, 1972) is the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, ex-husband of Barbara Kean, ex-husband of Sarah Essen and father of Barbara Gordon and the late James Gordon Jr.. Jim is also the former police captain of the GCPD and very good ally of Batman and his team. When Batman was first in town, Gordon didn't approve of vigilantes and was hellbent on capturing him until Batman saved his daughter from several of the city's monstrous villains, allowing him to realise that their goals aligned, growing to trust Batman more than the city's own police force.

Over the next approximate decade, Gordon would rise through the ranks of the GCPD, eventually being deemed Commissioner, and work closely alongside Batman, even having a Bat signal installed and filling him in on whichever case the GCPD would be focusing on in aid of his help.

## Biography

### Early Life

James Worthington Gordon was born in Gotham City on October 19, 1972. Growing up, Jim was very close to his father, an officer of the Gotham City Police Department, and idolised him. However, one morning when Jim was waiting for his father to get home, the police came to their house instead and told him his father had been in a car accident and has been killed.

When in college, Jim met and fell in love with Barbara Kean. When they both graduated, Jim proposed and she accepted. Jim then went through police academy and lived with Barbara in Chicago. When Jim graduated from police academy, he and Barbara moved back to his home town, Gotham City and bought a penthouse.

### Early Years in Gotham

#### Wayne Murders

One of Gordon's first cases were the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. He reached Crime Alley and met a young, distressed boy named Bruce Wayne who had just watched his parents be gunned down. Jim comforted him and assured him that everything would be fine and investigated the killings. However nothing came up and they couldn't identify the man that killed the Waynes, leaving Jim feeling guilty.

#### First Marriage

Jim and Barbara eventually got married and lived happily together. One night when Jim came home to the penthouse, he was still feeling extremely guilty about not finding the killer of the Waynes and began to give up and throw out his research into the case. When Barbara came in she looked extremely happy and told Jim that she was pregnant with their first child. Jim then hugged and kissed her, extremely happy that they were finally going to have their first child but still felt an overwhelming guilt that a child lost his parents that night. Barbara then assured him even more that he would find the killer and he shot a smile at her and pulled her in for a kiss. In 1994, Barbara gave birth to a baby boy, James Gordon Jr., who they named after Jim. Five years later, in 1997, Barbara gave birth to their second child, a little girl they named after Barbara. Jim then felt that he could finally be happy.

However, Barbara was later kidnapped by Jason Skolimski and tortured her and eventually managed to drive her insane. Jim was desperate to find her and eventually tracked her down to her childhood home, the Kean Mansion. When he got there, he found the corpses of Barbara's parents, Everett and Elizabeth and Jason walks out with Barbara by his side. Jim attempted to get Barbara to come over to him but she denied his request and told him to get out and leave her with Jason. However, Jim got into a fight with Jason and managed to grab his gun and shoot him in the head. Jim then expected to turn and hug Barbara but instead she came at him with a kitchen knife and attempted to stab him in the head until he was forced to knock her out by hitting her over the head with the hand of his gun. She was then taken to Arkham Asylum on the grounds of insanity.

Jim visited Barbara many times and attempted to bring her back to sanity but was ultimately unsuccessful and eventually he gave up after word got out that she had murdered a security guard. He later visited her and filed for divorce, angering her and making her badly injure a security guard with the other guards being forced to sedate her. After the divorce, Jim fell into depression and was only saved by a fellow GCPD detective Sarah Essen with the two eventually falling in love and they began dating. Sarah was later also attacked by Barbara, who had recently escaped from Arkham but managed to knock her unconscious and bring her back.

After treatment from Hugo Strange, Barbara was released and deemed clinically sane and attempted to reconnect with Jim. However, he quickly rejected her and explained that after everything that had happened and she left him, distraught and confused as to what to do. She later ended up meeting and becoming best friends with Tabitha Galavan and even became involved with the Falcone crime family, becoming one of the most feared crime lords in the city.

In 2000, Jim and Barbara's son appeared to have inherited insanity from his mother and attempted to slit his little sister's throat, being stopped by Jim just in time. He was then incarcerated at Arkham at only six years old.

#### Second Marriage

In 2002, after Barbara and her crime family were caught engaging in illegal activites, the entire GCPD were sent after her. They followed them for two blocks until they reached her safe house. After gunning down Tabitha, Jim made his way inside the building himself where he was confronted by Barbara. The two were involved in a scuffle until he managed to get the better of her, electrocuting and killing her. After this near death experience, Jim realised how much he could lose so fast, giving him the courage to propose to Sarah, which she accepted. The two then married and lived happily for many years.

### Batman Begins

#### First Sighting

Years later, in 2013, Jim and Sarah were still married and both worked at the GCPD and were parents to teenager Barbara Gordon.

## Personality

His whole life, Jim had always followed the rules and done everything by the book. This trait was only heightened when he became employed as a police officer in Gotham. During his early days in said job, he was one of the only honest cops in the entire city, not taking bribes or doing favours for crime lords.

## Abilities

* **High-Level Intellect/Expert Tactician:** Jim is very intelligent and is capable of planning out a complete strategy in order to fish out the Batman. He also learned a great amount of things in police academy.
	+ **Expert Investigator:** Having gone through police academy, Jim is able to study a crime scene for a small amount of time and quickly deduce most of the events that took place.
* **Expert Marksmanship:** Having gone through police academy, Jim is extremely well trained in guns and can shoot someone from a long distance with ease.
* **Peak of Human-Physical Condition:** Being a member of the GCPD, Jim trains and pushes himself everyday in order to stay in shape and go out onto the field.

## Equipment

* **Guns:** Jim always keeps a gun holstered at his thigh and uses it regularly against Gotham's criminals and anyone who may attempt to attack him.

## Appearances

### *Batman: Anarky*

Season 1
* "Pilot"
* "Hey, Diddle Diddle"
* "Die One, Die All"
* "Green Fingers"
* "Venom"
* "Night of the Pyg"
* "Shattered Bloodline"
* "Cold, Cold Heart"
* "Treat Them Mean, Keep Them Kean"
* "The Demon's Head"
* "Legacies"
* "The Secret Six"
* "Past Sins" (mentioned)
* "Heir"
* "Battle for Gotham"

Season 2
* "Fallout"
* "Loyalty"
* "Frost Warning" (mentioned)
* "Lost Love"
* "Abandoned"
* "Fractured Minds"
* "We Are The Freaks"
* "Man of Steel" (mentioned)
* "Frostbite"
* "Hello, Junior"
* "Swimming With The Fishes"
* "Bat Family"
* "Welcome To Earth-2" (mentioned)
* "Escape From Earth-2" (mentioned)
* "Vengeance"
* "Metapocalypse"
* "Arkham Has Fallen"

Season 3
* "New Beginnings"
* "Narrows Rising"
* "A Woman Scorned"
* "Born On a Monday"
* "Family Matters"
* "Pain Is Weakness Leaving the Body"
* "Eye For an Eye"
* "Bloodlines, Part 2"
* "Jokes On You"
* "Nothing To Fear"
* "Fear of Man"
* "A Bird That Can't Fly"
* "Demons"
* "Batgirl Begins, Part 1"
* "Batgirl Begins, Part 2"
* "Wildcard"
* "Joker's Wild"

Season 4
* "Blood Is Thicker Than Water"
* "Family Is Everything"
* "Whom To Trust?"
* "How To Solve a Problem Like a Falcone"
* "The Hangman"
* "Betrayal"
* "Joy of the Holidays"
* "Amazons Attack, Part 3"
* "Two-Faced"
* "Agencies"
* "Better Half"
* "Order & Chaos"
* "Huntress Becomes the Hunted"
* "Friend or Foe"
* "So You Wanna Start a War?"
* "Shadows"

Season 5
* "Crazy Love"
* "The Owls are Watching"
* "Allegiances"
* "Watch Your Back"
* "Girls Night Out"
* "Backstabber"
* "Heritage"
* "Underworld Unleashed, Part 1"
* "Speak Not a Whispered Word"
* "Regrets"
* "Harley & Ivy"
* "Attack on the Nest"
* "The Joke's On You"
* "The Gray Son of Gotham"
* "Judgement Day, Part 1"
* "Judgement Day, Part 2"

Season 6
* "No Man's Land"
* "Fear the Reaper"
* "Fire and Ice"
* "We Are Legion"
* "Chaos Lives"
* "Enter the Sirens"
* "Gotham in Green"
* "Hope"

Season 7
* "Mad as a Hatter"
* "The Identity Thief"
* "The Laughing Cult"
* "Trial of the Batman"
* "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (mentioned)
* "Desperate Measures"
* "The Retribution of Bruce Wayne"
* "Hush, Hush"

### *Superman*

#### Season 2

* "Underworld Unleashed, Part 3" (mentioned)

### *Batwoman*

#### Season 1

* "Pilot"
* "Sister, Sister" (mentioned)
* "Curiouser and Curiouser" (mentioned)
* "A Mad Tea-Party" (mentioned)
* "No Use Going Back To Yesterday"
* "The Duchess! The Duchess!" (mentioned)
* "Off With Her Head"

## Behind the Scenes

* In DC Comics, **Commissioner James "Jim" Gordon** is one of Gotham City's very few honest cops and one of Batman's closest and oldest allies. He is also the commissioner of the GCPD and the father of Batgirl.