Batgirl's History
Before Arkham Origins Incident
Born the daughter of James Gordon and Barbara Kean Gordon, Barbara's only sibling was her brother James Jr. Early in her childhood, her mother left for parts unknown, leaving the family behind. Further sorrow came when her brother started turning psychotic, killing people and also abandoning the family.
When Barbara was 15 years old, she noticed some cops spying on their home. That same night, Barbara went to the GCPD. She found her father covered in bruises. Asking if it was his co-workers or the thugs, Barbara stopped herself and told him that they were the same. After he warned her being near the GCPD was dangerous at night, Barbara informed him that their home was being stalked.
Gordon offered to give her a police escort for her safety, but Barbara told him that the police were the ones stalking them. Hearing her father mumble "so it's come to this", Barbara was surprised when he gave her a radio and list of channels that the corrupt cops use. Despite knowing it can cost him his job, Barbara was told to hold onto it to stay safe.
Arkham Origins Incident
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Barbara in a heated argument with her father following the chaos on Christmas Eve.
Barbara was first seen in an argument about Batman with her father. She tried defending Batman's actions; however, her father only saw him as another criminal, instead of the hero Gotham needed.
Batman met Barbara in the GCPD Server Room while trying to access the National Criminal Database. While talking with Barbara, the GCPD SWAT Team tossed a smoke grenade into the room. Barbara ran outside to stall them so Batman could get away. After Batman exited the GCPD Building, Barbara hacked into Batman's communications and asked him for help. Penguin had weapon crates all over Gotham City and the Disruptor that Batman took out of the GCPD Evidence Room could prevent them from being opened. Batman agreed to help, and, after he disabled all of the weapon crates, Barbara told him that she thought that they made a good team, and, if he ever needed help or a partner, she was there for him, which hinted that she would become Batgirl soon.
Between Arkham Origins and A Matter of Family Incident
Barbara became Batman's partner, Batgirl, a few years after the Christmas Eve Incident. She took the mantle at a GCPD press conference where her father was trying to show the public that Batman was a man in a suit of armor and gadgets that anyone could purchase with enough money and not a super natural entity, as the public believed. During this conference, Killer Moth attacked and captured Commissioner Gordon. Barbara acted quickly, stole the makeshift Batman Suit and gadgets that the GCPD threw together, came in through a window up high, and announced herself as Batgirl.
She then proceeded to jump into the fray, took down all of Killer Moth's Henchmen, and disarmed Killer Moth of his trademark cocoon gun. Desperate to escape, Killer Moth attempted to kill Gordon by dropping him from up high, but Batgirl saved her father and disappeared as Batman arrived at the scene and caught the escaping Killer Moth. As Batgirl made her escape from the scene, she was interrupted by Batman who congratulated her on her efforts but asked her not to repeat it. Batman then inferred that he knew who she was.
Several months to a year later, Barbara was at a ball at Wayne Manor with her father. Not fond of being present, Barbara snuck off into a private area of Wayne Manor and attempted to hack into Bruce Wayne's Internet, in which she was successful, but was shocked as to why a billionaire would have 15 layers of encrypted walls protecting it. Eventually, Barbara got through all the layers of protection, discovered Bruce Wayne's secret, that he was Batman, as she unlocked the door to the Batcave. Bruce confronted her, revealed that he was aware that she was Batgirl, and that, rather than being mad, he was impressed with her, and made her a partner in his war on crime and mission to protect Gotham. Throughout her career as Batgirl, Barbara worked with all three Robins.
One day, Batgirl took down a group of three of the Joker's thugs with a police officer as hostage, who sat in the corner with his back to her. The hostage began to sob hysterically, before stopping abruptly, causing Barbara to become suspicious. When the hostage asked "Aren't you going to rescue me?", Batgirl replied "Not exactly" as she prepared for another fight.
The man then turned around revealing himself to be the Joker, and replied "Why don't you rescue Commissioner Gordon instead...?"
A Matter of Family Incident
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Robin (Tim Drake) met up with Barbara to help her save her father, (Commissioner Gordon) who was kidnapped by the Joker, along with many other police officers and who were held at the abandoned Seagate Amusement Park. As Batgirl went through the Amusement Park and saved the hostages, Robin located bombs, which Batgirl defused. Eventually, Robin found the Joker's location. The duo went to confront the criminal, where they fought the Joker, Harley Quinn, and many of the Joker's Henchmen. Afterward, Commissioner Gordon was saved, and the GCPD entered the scene, where Harley was captured and the Joker parachuted away, escaping.
Between A Matter of Family and Road to Arkham Incident
After she saved her father from the Joker, Barbara's career as Batgirl came to an end when she had an almost fatal encounter with the Joker. She was sitting at home reading, when she heard the doorbell ring. Wondering if it was her friend Colleen, she went to answer it. On the other side of the door was the Joker, who shot her through the spine, leaving her paralyzed from the waist down, and began taking pictures of her. This incident lead to Barbara requiring use of a wheelchair for the rest of her life (that we know of). Not wanting to give up on life and crime-fighting, Barbara adopted the new identity of Oracle: a computer expert and information broker who assisted Batman behind the scenes in a hidden base inside Gotham's Clock Tower. At some point, a cataclysmic earthquake devastated the entirety of Gotham City. Thanks to the additional structural upgrades made by Bruce Wayne's construction company, the Clock Tower was known to be one of the few buildings that managed to stay intact, protecting Barbara and the wealthy residents living within.
Road to Arkham Incident
After Batman foiled the Joker's latest scheme and transferred him to Arkham Asylum via the Batmobile, Oracle contacted him, heard of the events prior, and stated that the Joker was his third 'big gun' in the last month, following Victor Zsasz and Scarecrow. Batman discussed his suspicions with Oracle about the similarities and convenience surrounding the three captures before he arrived at Arkham Asylum.
Arkham Asylum Incident
Shortly after Batman arrived with the Joker at Arkham Asylum, the Joker was escorted by a team of armed and armored security guards to the Holding Cells at the Intensive Treatment Center, when he broke free. The Clown Prince of Crime killed a guard and a doctor in the area before he freed all of the prisoners that were housed in the Holding Cells. While Batman fought them off, the Joker ran amok through the Intensive Treatment Center, and killed the asylum guards in his path. Batman followed him, and left Commissioner Gordon, Barbara's father, inside a reception area guarded by Frank Boles, a decorated Arkham security guard. As he arrived at the Patient Pacification Chamber, Batman contacted Oracle via his communications system. He assured Barbara that her father was safe. That proved to be wrong, however, as Frank Boles was secretly in the Joker's employ and he clubbed Gordon with a nightstick, kidnapped him, and regrouped with the Joker's partner-in-crime, Harley Quinn.
Batman informed Barbara of that calamity, but she remained calm despite her fears. Batman contacted her again, and told her he was going to the office unit where Gordon had been to see if he could pick up a trail. Batman isolated his cowl's vision to detect traces of alcohol that was left by Boles' flask, allowing Batman to follow him. Batman contacted Oracle again after he saved Henry Smith, an Arkham guard from a falling elevator that was cut by Harley, and told her that: "Harley Quinn tried to slow me down. Dropped an elevator on me." In reply, Barbara asked if it worked, to which Batman responded to with: "Of course not." Batman also found that the Joker's thugs had gotten control of some firearms and shot many of the asylum's guards. Oracle helped Batman use his cowl's vision to detect armed henchmen, which appeared in red. The Riddler later used the same "primitive communications system" that Batman used to contact Oracle to assign him the challenge of solving 240 challenges across Arkham Island.
"Wild Country? Gordon's favorite tabacoo. Gordon's smarter than he looks; he's left me a trail to follow. He's alive, Barbara. "
—Oracle learns Batman has found a way to find her father
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Batman contacts Oracle using a communicator in his cowl.
Upon arriving in Arkham East, Batman contacted Oracle and asked her to shut down the Batmobile's countermeasure system when Harley and several escaped inmates thrashed the Batmobile with pieces of pipes, since if she still was holding Gordon captive, he would get hurt as well. Oracle disabled the security system for Batman. She was then called on by Batman again after he arrived in Arkham North, where he had found Commissioner Gordon's pipe at the scene and Barbara revealed that she had given it to him as a birthday present and that he would never leave it. Batman used that piece of information to deduce that Gordon was leaving him a trail to follow. He was correct, as Gordon had left clumps of tobacco in his wake for Batman to follow. Batman later tracked Gordon to the Medical Facility in Arkham West.
Batman, at one point, was exposed to Scarecrow's Fear Toxin and began to hallucinate. He found what he believed to be Commissioner Gordon's dead body slumped against the wall of an empty hallway outside the Morgue. However, when the Dark Knight tried to contact Oracle to inform her of her father's death, he was disconnected. After he recovered from the effects of the Fear Toxin, Batman went back to where he'd seen Gordon's corpse, only to find out that it was really just another Arkham security guard that Scarecrow killed earlier. Oracle remained Batman's radio contact for the rest of the Joker's takeover. On one instance, Batman called Oracle as he was going into Killer Croc's Lair to retrieve an antidote to the Venom-based drug, Titan. She told him that it sounded like a suicide mission. When asked about Croc, Batman responded that Croc was just an animal and that animals needed the right bait. Batman eventually detonated explosives under the ground as Killer Croc lunged for him, which dropped the villain into the Gotham River below. After the Joker's defeat, Barbara called her father up as the GCPD retook control of Arkham Island. He told her that doctors were treating the injured and that most of the inmates were back in custody. Gordon also informed his daughter that the Joker's men were recovering from the effects of the Titan drug the Joker had injected them with. Barbara asked how he was, and Gordon told her simply: "I'll survive." He promised to see her later that night.
Arkham City Incident
Oracle's dialogue with Batman was slightly reduced in this game, the first half of the game up to Penguin's Boss Fight taken up by Alfred. Oracle became concerned upon noticing that Batman's life sign readings were in distress. Alfred brought her up to speed, and explained that Joker had poisoned Batman, which forced him to go to Mister Freeze for a cure.
When Batman revealed that he had to find Ra's al Ghul, and acquire a sample of his blood to complete the cure, and in doing so, find Talia, his daughter, Barbara told him to not trust her. As Batman made his way into Wonder City, he discovered that Hugo Strange was providing weapons to Joker's gang. Though Batman wanted to find out the reason, Barbara reminded him to stay focused on his task. When Batman reached the heart of Wonder City and began to hallucinate, seeing his parents, Barbara frantically called his name, and brought him back to the real world. She informed Batman that he had mere minutes to live. Thankfully, Batman made contact with Talia and drank the Blood of the Demon, which prolonged his life for a few more hours.
"Don't let... her get in the way."
—Oracle's advice to Batman about getting Ra's blood
Once Batman had gotten a sample of Ra's blood and returned to the surface, Oracle overheard on the radio that Strange had just sent Mayor Quincy Sharp into Arkham City. She questioned how Strange even got Sharp arrested and for what reason. Batman rescued Sharp from five hostile inmates before he interrogated him, and learned that Strange had a partner. Though Batman wanted to investigate their identity, Barbara insisted that he went back to Freeze immediately, and requested that he do it for her sake. Unfortunately, no sooner was the cure to Batman's ailment was created that Harley Quinn stole it for the Joker. As Batman infiltrated the Sionis Steel Mill, Barbara gave him details of the Gotham City Council's approval of Strange's plan, Protocol 10, in part due to Strange's manipulation of the escalating gang war.
Batman was soon informed what Protocol 10 was: Strange's TYGER Guards and attack helicopters carried out mass executions via missile strikes against the prison populace. Batman told Oracle to see that Arkham City was shut down, as he planned on going after Joker, who took Talia hostage. Barbara pleaded with him to stop Protocol 10 before more lives were lost, an opinion that Alfred shared but Batman ignored them and ordered for all Wayne-Tech satellites to boost the signal on Talia's tracker. Thankfully, Alfred was able to convince Batman to do the right thing and save Gotham. After he accepted Alfred's advice, Batman told Oracle not to lose the signal on Talia. As soon as Batman made it to the top of Wonder Tower, he connected Oracle to the computers so that she could deactivate Protocol 10. Subsequently, she detected that the tower was going to self-destruct and shouted at Batman to "GET OUT OF THERE!". Batman managed to receive her warning in time, and once he made it to the ground, he informed Oracle that Ra's was the power behind Arkham City.
Arkham City 'Alternate' timeline
Although this is not canon to the Arkham timeline, if the player makes the choice for Catwoman to leave Arkham City with her stolen goods and not save Batman during Protocol 10, Oracle can be heard making a plea over the radio for help. Oracle revealed that everyone died, including her father and Batman, and that Joker had won. She desperately asked for anyone who heard the call to send help.
Harley Quinn's Revenge Incident
Two weeks later, after Arkham City was shut down, Oracle was Robin's contact, and helped him find Batman since he had been gone for two days. Barbara was worried about Batman since he didn't want to talk about what happened the night after Talia's and Joker's deaths since the incident. Robin then replied that they would help him once they found him, which was all they could do.
Robin later found Batman's utility belt and contacted Oracle, who asked if he had found him, to which Tim replied "Uh... KInda." When Barbara asked what that meant, Robin said that he was close. Later, after finding Batman trapped, Robin contacted her again, saying that he had found Bruce.
Before Arkham Knight Incident
Barbara tried to get her father and Bruce to forge a working relationship in an attempt to fund her desire for her father to run for Mayor of Gotham City. With Barbara's influence on her father and Bruce's money, an initially reluctant Commissioner Gordon began to come around to the idea after a jog in the park with the two of them together.
That night, a former Arkham City resident attempted to rape Barbara at knifepoint. Barbara pitied the thug, donned her Batgirl cowl, and soundly beat him unconscious.
Barbara brought in Tim Drake to help prepare her father for his mayoral campaign. During debate preparations at their home, Jim snapped at a question that Barbara had posed and Bruce had to step in to reassure Jim that Gotham needed him. Jim tried to deflect their concerns by trying to set Barbara up on a date and Bruce also reprimanded Tim for not asking Barbara out again.
Later, Robin and Oracle were examining the blood of Henry Adams, a school principal who had been infected with the Joker's blood. Some slight romantic tension arose when Tim's arm briefly grazed Barbara's neck. Tim then left, leaving Oracle to think about how Gotham was their top priority.
Arkham Knight Incident
"Dad would kill me if he found out I was still in town. He still blames himself for this."
—Oracle reminding Batman her father blames himself for her paralysis
Nine months after Arkham City shut down, Oracle returned to help her father and Batman stop Scarecrow's plan to destroy Gotham on Halloween Night for their final battle together.
Oracle was forced to lie to her father, who claimed that she left the city in response to Scarecrow's threat. Afterwards, she got on the line with Batman, who required the location of a lost patrol car. That led to Batman chasing down a rogue Militia vehicle, in which he got an uncontaminated sample of Fear Toxin from the driver. Oracle then ran an analysis of the compound while Batman investigated Scarecrow's potential hideout.
After Batman got Poison Ivy to the GCPD Lockup, Oracle invited him to the Clock Tower. By the time she arrived, Batman examined the outline of the Fear Toxin's core elements. Sadly, Barbara admitted that there's nothing to trace. However, Batman suggested that instead of tracking the Fear Toxin, that they track the manufacturing process. Running a simulation of the Fear Toxin's synthesis, Oracle noted a unique radiation spike. However, as there was not enough time to move the WayneTech satellites into position, Batman re-purposed two antennae at Panessa Studios and the Falcone Shipping Yard. Robin offered to help track down Scarecrow, but Batman ordered him to remain focused on his own task of curing Joker's disease, despite Oracle's efforts to back him up. After the antennae were set up, Batman managed to pinpoint Scarecrow's location at Ace Chemicals. However, Batman arrived to discover that an entire army occupied the chemical plant, and that their enigmatic leader wore the Arkham symbol. Oracle drew up intel from a black ops team that operated in Venezuela, discovered a training facility that used the Arkham symbol, and discovered that their leader was only known as the Arkham Knight. After Batman evacuated the two surviving chemical workers did he confront Scarecrow. That is when Robin offered once again to help Batman in his goal to stop Scarecrow, only for Batman to decline his offer, saying that what he is working on is more important. Barbara tried to convince Batman not be so hard on him, but he told her not to let her romantic feelings for Robin to cloud her judgement, much to her chagrin. But when the villain revealed that he was aware of Oracle's status, Batman attempted to warn her to flee. However, Oracle didn't believe that her position was compromised shortly before the connection was cut and the Arkham Knight stormed the place and kidnapped her.
While being transported, Oracle caused the Arkham Knight's armored vehicle to crash and free herself. As Oracle attempted to crawl to safety, she threw a scrambler amid a pile of boxes for Batman to find, before the Arkham Knight fired a warning shot and recaptured her.
Barbara was moved around the city constantly, including up to Simon Stagg's Airship. After Scarecrow escaped with the Cloudburst device, he revealed that he had Oracle locked up in the same safehouse where Poison Ivy was found. When Batman arrived, he was unknowingly doused with Fear Toxin, which made him hallucinate that Barbara exposed to the Fear Toxin and shot herself in the head.
"You want revenge on the man who hurt you? This is your one chance. Come home. Don't let Joker win."
—Barbara attempts to reason with Jason
Scarecrow later stirred Barbara from unconsciousness and tried to get information from her. He threatened to use the Fear Toxin, but the Arkham Knight intervened and stopped him. Left alone with the mysterious militia leader, Barbara tried to stall for time until Batman could find her, but the Arkham Knight attempted to plant doubt in her mind that the Dark Knight would choose the mission over his protege. When Barbara refused to believe him, the Arkham Knight removed his helmet and said "Look me in the eye and say that", revealing himself to be the presumed-dead Jason Todd, the second Robin, to her shock. Barbara then tried to reason with him, but Jason was too filled with hate toward Bruce to listen - though he couldn't resist asking her how Alfred was. Before she could get through to him, Scarecrow entered to announce that the Cloudburst was ready. Jason then ordered his men to gag Barbara, but threatened to kill them if they harmed her.
With Barbara as leverage, Scarecrow was able to coerce her father into turning on Batman. Gordon shot Batman over a railing, in exchange for his daughter's life, but Scarecrow instead pushed her off the roof. Thankfully, Batman was revealed to have survived, that Gordon knew what he was doing, caught her in mid-air, and used his body as a cushion upon hitting the ground. They were soon surrounded by drone tanks, and Batman tells Barbara that the Batmobile was destroyed, but Lucius Fox had created another, which arrived on scene and destroyed the tanks. Batman then transported Barbara to the GCPD to link up with the Batcomputer and find her father. Unfortunately, Scarecrow's men attacked the server room in the Clock Tower, which forced Batman to go out and deal with them.
""I just heard from dad. I was ready to hear his overprotective dad speech. But instead, he told me that he was proud of me."
"Maybe he finally sees you, the real you.""
—Batman confirms Gordon has finally stopped seeing Oracle as his helpless little girl
After she secured a connection, Oracle found that most of the data was corrupted, shortly before Scarecrow's remaining forces assaulted the GCPD and cut power to the building. Barbara aided Batman in the counterattack, first by directing him to the backup generator so he could get the Batmobile out the garage doors, before finding a weakness in the tank drones' network that she could exploit. Once all the drones were destroyed, a squad of Militia landed on the roof, and attempted to access the elevator. Oracle aided Batman in dispatching the attackers by using the steam pipes and electronics on the roof.
Despite the relief, Barbara detected her father's voiceprint being used at Panessa Studios, where Batman had kept four patients infected with Joker's blood. Batman investigated and discovered that Scarecrow had kidnapped Robin. Barbara was not happy to learn that Batman left his protege there and told him to get Robin back safe. Later on, before The Knightfall Protocol was engaged, Barbara thanked Bruce for saving both Robin and her father, but was sorry that, in order to do it, he had to reveal his identity to the whole of Gotham.
After Arkham Knight
After the assumed death of Batman via the Knightfall Protocol, Barbara was engaged and soon to be married to Tim Drake. Her father, Commissioner Gordon, retired from police duty and was elected mayor of Gotham City, and was seen getting a text from Tim reminding him to not forget the ring. During their honeymoon, Tim and Barbara sent Lucius a postcard from an island retreat.
A Flip of a Coin
""We're never getting back to the beach, are we?"
"Duty calls Barb.""
—The newlyweds get back to work fighting crime
Barbara and Tim's honeymoon was cut short when Two-Face broke out of jail and Robin went to bring him back in. Oracle assisted Robin on the comms during the incident, either complimenting, telling him to focus, or reminding him that he didn't need to be as good as Batman was, and that he should do things at his own pace. After Robin fought Two-Face's Gang, he was attacked and shot in the foot by Two-Face and was about to be killed, but he managed to take down the villain while he was distracted by his coin. Afterwards, Tim and Barbara decided that they could continue their honeymoon another time, and returned to crime-fighting.
Kill the Justice League Incident
The corrupted Batman mentions he plans to integrate Oracle into Brainiac's network along with Hack, due to their brilliance. It's also implied Barbara is now a widow, as the mask of Tim's suit is found on a blood stain in the Metropolis Batcave.
