Barbara Gordon (character)
You may be looking for the fanartist, Barbara P. Gordon.
Character | |
---|---|
Name: | Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl, Oracle |
Occupation: | librarian, superhero, information broker, hacker |
Relationships: | Dick Grayson (love interest), Bruce Wayne (mentor), Dinah Lance (Black Canary, ally), Huntress (ally) |
Fandom: | DC Comics, Birds of Prey, DC Animated Universe, Batman (1966), The Batman cartoon, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Young Justice (TV Series) |
Other: | |
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Barbara Gordon is a character from DC Comics. She has appeared in comics, TV, animation, and movie versions.
Canon
Comics
She is the redheaded daughter (sometimes niece/adopted daughter) of Commissioner Jim Gordon of the Gotham police. Inspired by Batman, Babs became Batgirl when she was not allowed to join the police force herself. She has studied law and library science. After being shot by the Joker and paralyzed from the waist down (in "The Killing Joke" graphic novel), Babs left the streets and began fighting crime as Oracle, using her extensive computer hacking and information gathering skills. She works with Batman and Robin, created the team Birds of Prey, and has trained two successors to her role as Batgirl.
Batman (1966)
In the third and final season of the Batman TV series, the Barbara Gordon version of Batgirl was portrayed by Yvonne Craig. Unlike her comics version, this Barbara is a brunette and wears a long, red fall under her cowl as Batgirl. The actor's likeness has been used in tie-in comics and crossover mini-series.
DC Animated Universe
Birds of Prey (TV Series)
Barbara Gordon is one of the main characters in Birds of Prey. In flashbacks, Barbara (played by Dina Meyer) is often seen in her Batgirl persona. In present scenes, she's portrayed in her Oracle persona, due to the Joker's attack her which paralyzed her, just like in the comics. She's partners with Helena Kyle (Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle's daughter) and Dinah Redmond (Black Canary's daughter).
Smallville
Barbara Gordon makes her first appearance in Smallville Season 11 as Nightwing (instead of Batgirl). She's the first assistant/partner of Batman (Bruce Wayne).
Fandom
Disability
TBA: something about the discussions when it became known that Oracle would be healed, Oracle as visible disabled character.
When DC Comics relaunched all their titles and rebooted their universe with the New 52 in September 2011, Barbara Gordon stopped being Oracle, was healed of her paralysis, and went back to being Batgirl. Many fans were outraged by this because of their love for Babs as a disabled character.
ABLE BODIED COMICS FAN: will you ever get over Barbara not being Oracle anymore? It's been almost 10 years...ME, A DISABLED: IDK, do you know how rare it was for us to have a wheelchair user who did more as a wheelchair user than she ever did as an able bodied person? How rare it is for someone to say that their life is different and possibly even better after becoming disabled? call me back after the only person w/ your physical ability who was portrayed in a positive, 3 dimensional light gets retconned out of existence.[1]
Others felt there was a double standard in the treatment of the male Robin characters and the female Batgirl characters, with multiple male Robins allowed to grow up and move past that role, and Babs being regressed to Batgirl and the later Batgirls (and girl Robin) being written out of the story.
Nobody claims that “Dick is the only real Robin”, because that would be ridiculous. But when people say that about Barbara, suddenly it’s fine? This despite the fact that most people agree that she’s better as Oracle? It’s insane. When DC rebooted, they brought Barbara back as Batgirl because she’s “more iconic”, but Damian Wayne continued to be Robin, despite the general public having no idea he exists! Dick Grayson got to keep his character development, and the other Robins (save Stephanie, gee, why could that be?) got to keep their legacy![2]
Prior to the launch of the "New 52", some fans also saw her continued paralysis as a double standard. They questioned why Barbara couldn't be cured when characters like Batman had recovered from serious spinal injuries. A criticism of Barbara's work as Oracle is that she is relegated to a secretary-like role, having to stay in the Batcave to be available to support others providing information and back-up.
Pairings
Babs is most commonly shipped with various members of the Batfamily and Birds of Prey. She had a canonical relationship with Dick Grayson which is frequently explored in fanfic. She is often femslashed with Dinah Lance, Helena Bertinelli, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown. She has also been shipped with Bruce Wayne.
Fanworks
Fics
- A Little Craft Project by DawnsEternalLight
- Being Wanted (The Aggravated Assault Remix) by Mara
- Reconfigurations by Rysler
- And I Do by Shobogan
- A Prophet for Your Eyes by Goodluckdetective
- Industrial Run by Merfilly
- The Directive by RenaRoo
- (of a) Kind by kerithwen
- Connect (the communication is a liar's game remix) by Runespoor
- One Steps At a Time by blueofthebay
Art
- Barbara Gordon Oracle by frelncer
- Barbara Gordon by m-u-d-c-a-t
- Barbara Gordon Batgirl by josephcaesarsd
- a really quick babs by macydraws
- Oracle Commission by avataarandy
- Batgirl by lightningstrikes
- Oracle by kurawastaken
- Old School Batgirl by rhiroxyerface
- Oracle by ectology
- Batgirl Ready for Battle by peetietang
- goodnight goodnight by 2-jun
- Real deal by mikathetattletale
Vids
Archives and Fannish Links
DeviantArt
- Works tagged Barbara Gordon on DeviantArt
- Barbara-Gordon-FC
Fansites
- Wings Unbroken (defunct, BOP TV)
- the Batgirl/Oracle Site (defunct)
Resources
References
- ^ Tumblr post by fancyfade, July 2019.
- ^ Tumblr post by littlemissonewhoisall, May 30th, 2016.