Gotham City

**Gotham City** (ゴッサム・シティ, *Gosamu Shiti*) is a large metropolitan city in the United States. It is known to be serves as the home of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, who uses his alter-ego of Batman and the Bat Family to protect the city against infested, organized crime and corruption. Gotham City is known to be the home to many super-villains like Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Joker, Penguin, Two-Face, Black Mask and Bane. Gotham houses many historic locations such as Blackgate Prison, Arkham Asylum, Wonder Tower, Crime Alley and Arkham City.

Its name comes from the gothic, dark architecture the city holds, building up a unique atmosphere that best identifies it. Gotham is the darkest of America's cities, and only rumors of a Batman give it hope.

"*Once, long ago, I saw a beautiful city and brilliant people rising from this abyss. I have seen the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I saw that I held a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it was a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known. But now, Gotham is no longer a city anymore, it's become a battleground, and whoever controls the most turf..is going to rule this whole town.*"

—James Gordon.

## Locations

### Uptown Gotham City

* Diamond District
	+ Royal Hotel
	+ Gotham News Building
	+ Gotham Theatre

### Midtown Gotham City

* Wayne Tower
* Gotham City Stadium
* Wayne Enterprises
* Gotham Pier
* Prewitt Building

### Downtown Gotham City

* Park Row
	+ Church/Medical Center
	+ Ace Chemicals Building
	+ Solomon Wayne Courthouse
	+ The Black Canary
	+ Finnigan's Bar
	+ Liquors
	+ Gotham Hardware
	+ Glass, Mirrors, Shades
	+ The Stacked Deck
	+ Hotel Aventine
	+ Vote Harvey Dent Campaign Office
	+ Live Nudes
	+ Baudelaire
	+ TYGER Confiscated Goods Vault
	+ Mad Hatter's Lair
	+ Monarch Theatre
	+ Crime Alley
	+ Selina Kyle's Apartment
* Amusement Mile
	+ Gotham Casino
	+ Gotham City Olympus Nightclub
	+ GCR
	+ GCPD Building
	+ Prawn Shack
	+ Gotham Sea Pier
	+ Scallop Bar
	+ W. White - Gotham Fish Monger's
	+ Krank Co. Toys
	+ Dini Towers
	+ Leslie Thompkins Medical Clinic
	+ Poison Ivy's Lair
* Industrial District
	+ Sionis Industries
	+ Steel Mill/Joker's Funland
		- Waste Exchange
		- Loading Bay
		- Assembly Line
		- Smelting Chamber
		- Cooling Tunnel - B
		- Cooling Tunnel - D
		- Freight Elevator
		- Boiler Room
	+ Bill's Hotdogs
	+ South Gotham Docks
	+ Tricorner Naval
	+ Zsasz's Hideout
	+ Storage Warehouse 5B
	+ Otis Flannegan Pest Control
* Subway
* Subway Station
* Subway Tunnels
* Subway Terminal
* Subway Maintenance Access
* The Bowery
	+ Bank of Gotham
	+ Gotham Merchant's Bank
	+ Live Nudes
	+ Monorail
	+ Sal Maroni's Italian Restaurant
	+ Cyrus Pinkney's Institute for Natural History (Museum)
		- Trophy Room
		- Gladiator Pit
		- Torture Chamber
		- War Room
		- Armory
	+ Iceberg Lounge
	+ Shreck's Department Store
	+ Jezebel Center
		- Gotham Casino
		- Carnival Toys & Games
		- Gotham Perfumes
		- Glass, Mirrors, Shades
		- Italian Cuisine
		- Subway Station
	+ Magic and Props
* Wonder City
	+ Collapsed Streets
	+ Wonder Avenue
		- Grimberg's Occult Store
		- Muftic Barbershop
		- Underhill & Davies Books
		- The Tea Hut
		- Wonder City Jewelry
		- Billingham Butchers
		- Adamson & Stjernberg Drugstore
		- Furniture Store
		- Fruit & Vegetables
		- Cloney Cobblers
		- Wonder City Textile Manufacturing
		- Crazy Clown Toys & Dolls
		- Royal Flush Tobacco
	+ Wine & Spirit
	+ Secret Corridor
	+ Chamber of the Demon
	+ Wonder Tower
		- Tower Foundations
		- Observation Deck
		- Security Control Center

### Other Gotham Locations

* Gotham Pioneer's Bridge
* The Palisades
* The Narrows
* South Channel Island
* South Hinkley
* The Batcave
* Wayne Manor
* Bruce Wayne's Penthouse
* Gotham National Bank
* Gotham General Hospital
* Gotham City District Courthouse
* Arkham Asylum
* Blackgate Prison
* The Ocelot
* Puccio's
* Mob Hideout
* Lou's
* Bruce Wayne's Warehouse
* Gotham City Hall
* Gotham Stock Exchange
* Pettsburg Terminal
* Sheal Maritime Building
* Gotham City Pizzeria
* Gotham Tunnel System
* Gotham City Opera House
* Gotham Carnivalland
* Gotham University
* Triad Restaurant
* Paulie's House of Ribs
* Gotham Zoo
* Thomasina Arms
* Rossi's Deli and Grill
* St. Swithuns Catholic Church
* Betty's House of Pies
* Pasquale's Bistro
* Gotham International Airport
* Kinsley Travel
* Acme Security Systems
* Law Offices of Joseph Candoloro

## Overview

The city is a very large, with approximately 12-million people residing on the islands. It is also corrupt and teeming with criminals. The architecture in Gotham City is a mix of different styles, ranging from Art Deco to Modern.

## History

### Founding

Scandinavian settlers arrived on these islands in the mid-1600's and laboured through harsh winters to build the foundations of Gotham City. There are many tales about what these settlers endured-from encounters with mythical beings to fights over Native American burial grounds. Much of Gotham's early history has been garnered through folklore passed down orally during those first trying years.

### Wonder City

Over a century ago, the mysterious Ra's al Ghul arrived in Gotham City and met with the Gotham elders. Even then, Gotham was a crime-ridden, lawless place. Ra's promised a brighter future for all in exchange for a deed to the north end of the city. The Gothamites laughed at this strange man, until he produced more gold than they had ever seen. The deed in hand, Ra's began construction of a new city, a utopian vision powered by clean, free energy. With no crime, the future would be bright, and as the last brick was laid by the slaves he had shipped in from his homeland, Ra's presented the future of Gotham: Wonder City.

Mechanical guardians watched over the population of Wonder City while behind the scenes, lawbreakers were removed and executed. Wonder Tower stood above it all, a monument to prosperity. But for Ra's, the real reason for choosing this location was simple. Beneath the streets, he had located a chemical source that he called Lazarus. In small doses it would rejuvenate a person, but Ra's believed that with enough power the Lazarus could be super-changed to defeat any aliment... even death itself!

Unknown to all but Ra's and his engineers, Wonder Tower was actually a giant lightning rod. When the time was right, he would test his theory.

Wonder City continued to operate for months before the effect of prolonged exposure to the Lazarus chemical became clear; it was driving the city's inhabitants insane. When Ra's al Ghul failed to act, the newly formed Gotham City Hall did. Wonder City was declared a public health hazard and quarantined. Troops dragged the screaming citizens out of their homes, straight to Arkham Asylum. Ra's al Ghul disappeared. As Gotham reached into the sky, new neighborhoods were built over Wonder City, until the site was all but forgotten. Some years later, Ra's returned in need of his old Lazarus Pit. As his forces began the mining process, the streets above collapsed, but Ra's forced them to keep digging.

## External links

* Gotham City *Wikipedia*
* Gotham City *DC Database*