My Barbara is a mixture of canons that have been presented by DC and headcanon, blended into a version that is very specific and personal to me. If you have any questions about my portrayal/if something is canon/etc, please feel free to reach out!
trigger warnings include: parental death, car accidents, alcoholism mentions, guns, shooting, paralysis, the joker
name . . . Barbara Joan Gordon
age . . . primary verse sets her at 25, but flexible. open to younger verses as batgirl (19-22 or so), and flexible verse-dependent to make sense of other Bat-adjacent members.
date of birth . . . September 23
place of birth . . . Gotham, New Jersey
occupation . . . Archivist for the GCPD, operating as Oracle and spear-heading the Birds of Prey
gender . . . Cis woman
pronouns . . . she/her
sexual + romantic orientation . . . demisexual & panromantic
primary faceclaim . . . Sophie Skelton
+ logical, detail-oriented, extraordinarily intelligent, thorough, observant, loyal, resilient, quick-thinking and sharp
- manipulative, short-tempered and hot-headed, cold, obsessive, tunnel-visioned, anti-social, logical to a fault, stubborn and hard-headed
Barbara is the adopted daughter of James Gordon. Her mother passed away in a car accident when Barbara was a young child, and her biological father found himself unable to raise her due to his grief. James took in her with his wife (also Barbara, who was the baby’s namesake) and raised her as his own, finalizing the adoption uncontested within the first few months of her staying with them. Barbara is their second child, following James Gordon Jr., their biological son.
Barbara’s intellect showed at a young age, and she flew through elementary, middle and high school, graduating high school early at the age of fifteen. Gifted with an eidetic memory, Barbara was easily able to commit just about anything to memory and she used her gift wisely. She was accepted into Gotham State University after graduating from high school, choosing to major in library science.
She was thirteen when she first found herself dipping her toes into the vigilante world and found her identity as Batgirl, which would shape her life as she knew it. In truth, Barbara found a secondary identity in Batgirl. She’d been watching Batman closely since she was a child, and constructed a costume of her own. Jim had enrolled Barbara in martial arts at a young age, and Barbara felt confident in her skills and abilities...enough to construct a costume similar to Batman’s, the name ‘Batgirl’ floating in the back of her mind. After attending a charity event and saving Bruce Wayne from a kidnapping attempt (prior to learning he was in fact the vigilante she admired so much), she caught the attention of both Batman and Robin. It wasn’t long before the two revealed their true identities to Barbara, and she was initiated into the Bat family.
Batgirl steadily became her favorite part of every day, be it training or patrols. She spent her days at school, working in the Gotham University Librar, though Barbara truly lived for the nights as Batgirl. Barbara pushed herself to every limit, and found that the adrenaline and the feeling of just doing something good was an addiction she’d never want to give up. Moreover, she found a sense of family with Bruce and the others that he collected to his cause over time.
Barbara’s academic achievements continued, graduating with her bachelor’s degree before her eighteenth birthday and accepting a research position at the Gotham Public Library. Barbara spent her days working towards her doctorate and working at the library and spent most nights patrolling the streets as Batgirl. Upon finishing her doctoral degree, she began to work as an archivist for the GCPD, which aided her Batgirl-themed-adventures. Her vigilante dream was cut short when the Joker knocked on her door one night. He shot Barbara in the stomach, severing her spine; Barbara would need to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
After recovering, Barbara reinvented herself once more. She focused her time instead on technology, and developed a highly complex computer system that would aid the heroes she called her friends and family. With her voice in the ear of Gotham, she became the Oracle: an overwatch aiding vigilantes in their mission. With her system, Barbara was able to hack into even the most top-rated securities and gather information from just about any source. Before long, Barbara founded the Birds of Prey. The Birds of Prey were a mostly-female team of agents that she sent out into the field while she manned the computer as Oracle. While Barbara missed being able to be on the streets herself, she knew deep down that she was more helpful as Oracle than she’d ever been as Batgirl. Oracle had become a necessary and invaluable resource to her friends out in the field, and she was happy to still be in the game. Barbara maintained her anonymity, only a select few of her operatives and Justice League members knowing the face behind the voice that was Oracle. Barbara was sitting at the Big Kid’s Table now, with the Birds of Prey being a part of the Justice League and her operation growing exponentially.
