Batgirl

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Context

This profile is about a modernized/rebooted version of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon). This new take on her origins was published in a 2003 Limited Series, as a “Year One” sequence for Barbara.

This iteration of Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) *might* have been the one that existed between Zero Hour and the New 52 (or at least the Infinite Crisis). I’d need to check all the material in detail for discrepancies. Which is out of scope for now – we’ll just cover the 2003 material.

For other versions of Batgirl, you can check our guide to Batgirls.

Background

Powers & Abilities

Barbara was an unusually brilliant student in computer science and data retrieval. She finished her Master’s Degree by age 18 — or perhaps even 17.

She was also trained as a librarian, and took pre-law.

Let’s get physical

Babs has apparently been physically training since her mid-teens.

Though she only took normal, commercially available classes (particularly in the martial arts) she is athletically gifted. She is :

Between her acrobatics, small size and superior speed, Batgirl excels at evading gunfire.

Other assets

Somehow, she’s also an excellent motorcyclist, able to do some stunt riding if necessary. She was markedly under Robin (Richard Grayson)’s level of crotch rocket mastery, though.

Barbara also trains as a hacker and computer intrusion expert. She is capable of defeating common levels of computer security.

Whether this version of Batgirl has a photographic memory is unclear. Upon re-re-re-reading a specific scene it would seem that she does.

Gear

See the game stats, mate.

Soundtrack

Something fitting that was big in 2003, for chronological atmosphere….

Let’s go with Missy Elliott. First, because it’s never a bad choice to go with Missy Elliott. Second because she’s less than tall, nerdy, and brilliant at her thing.

History

Though it is not mentioned, it is likely that the following facts still hold for this version :

Barbara was a brilliant student. She skipped multiple years, and obtained scholarships that supported her through college.

After completing her first Master’s Degree, she became the Head Reference Librarian at the Gotham Public Library.

(The GCPL seems similar to the New York Public Library  in size and architecture. So we can assume that it has dozens of millions of physical documents on its mighty, mighty shelves.)

And you, you will be queen

Even as a teenager, the fiery Barbara wanted to become a cop.

However, Jim refused to allow his daughter in, presumably out of concern for her safety. Since he was by that point on the short list to make commissioner, he could lock her out of the GCPD.

Furthermore, the petite Barbara couldn’t meet the height requirement of local, state or Federal agencies. She was essentially barred from law enforcement.

(In the real world, height restrictions were lifted circa 1983 for being discriminatory. What this implies in terms of timeline for this version of Batgirl is left as an exercise for the reader.)

As she got older and began her career as a librarian, Babs grew even more determined to escape the tedium. She wanted to fight the good fight, and be in the thick of it.

Training montage

During her teenage years, Barbara had kept physically training to make it easier to join the police.

She even studied for a time under Philip “Dragoncat” Parsons. He was a shady McDojoA poor quality martial arts school that only seeks to make money. owner who later turned out to be a criminal.

As doors closed before her, she heightened her training. She also began dealing with the hacking underworld in Gotham to learn about computer network intrusion, social engineering, etc..

Years later, she would considerably up her hacking game by working with Jack Marshall.

I’m gon’ handle my business in the name of the law

This all was meant to facilitate her new plan. Since she was out of better options, she would become a vigilante super-hero, like Batman.

Barbara eventually duplicated her father’s secret access codes to the JSA’s Gotham City headquarters. She used these to break in, break out and erase access records. This allowed her to leave a letter for Black Canary (Dinah Lance) of the JLA, asking to become her apprentice.

However, the JSA did not forward her “application”. Wildcat (Ted Grant) shooed her away when she came back.

Where do you come from, where do you go ?

As Barbara’s disappointments made her moody and cranky, Jim gave her an invitation to a big masquerade event. It was his clumsy attempt at cheering her up.

Resenting him, she cattily decided to wear a homemade “Batgirl” costume to the ball.

Barbara had seen several of Jim Gordon’s night-time encounters with the Batman (Bruce Wayne) on the roof of the precinct. Though that stopped when Jim noticed that young Robin (Richard Grayson) was ogling Barbara, she espied at least one further meeting.

Thus, she knew how uneasy Jim was when working with Batman. Though they were on good terms, the cop felt that needing a vigilante was a sign of how lacking the GCPD was. The Batgirl disguise was an attempt to rub his face in that.

Barbara apparently intended to demonstrate her skills during the masquerade, to show her father how much he had been underestimating her. Perhaps she wanted to give a surprise acrobatics performance.

What actually happened was that the Killer Moth (Drury Walker) attacked. He sought to kidnap Bruce Wayne.

What’s your scene baby, we just gotta know !

In her “Batgirl” costume and cowl, Barbara instinctively leapt into action after Killer Moth shot her responding father with a tranq dart.

Though the Moth was well-armed and came with pistol-packing henchmen, “Batgirl” routed them. This debacle broke Killer Moth’s modest criminal career.

Barbara was then confronted by Batman and Robin. But she could flee when Moth opened fire on them all from an helicopter.

Crime in the city

Jim Gordon soon deduced that his daughter likely was Batgirl. But he never mentioned it for lack of solid proof. Barbara maintained the pretence that he didn’t know.

Batgirl persisted as a vigilante. She foiled an armed robbery at a corner store by three armed men, then bought weapons and equipment via mail order.

Angrily wanting to prove she was a peer for Batman and Robin, she then attempted super-heroic acrobatics. She leapt from a tall building with inappropriate equipment, because smart people sometimes do stupid things.

She was narrowly saved by the dynamic duo. They took her to the Batcave and shoved her into one of their high-tempo combat simulation exercises, which she narrowly failed.

Hot pants and fishnets

The goal was to discourage Gordon from acting as a vigilante. But her defiance made it clear that it was impossible.

The Dynamic Duo decided to return her home, then mailed her some basic Batcave equipment. The package included de-celSpecific rope tech allowing for super-hero urban acrobatics. lines so she wouldn’t kill herself trying to do heroic acrobatics with normal climbing equipment.

Robin kept supporting Batgirl, mostly out of attraction. But Batman’s goal was simply to keep her alive until she’d quit.

That didn’t work. Especially when Batgirl learned that her father was being kidnapped by Killer Moth and Firefly (Garfield Lynns).

During this case, Batgirl ended up partnering with Black Canary. Dinah had assumed that Batgirl was endorsed by her colleague Batman.

Bats eat insects, you know

The pair clashed with Moth and Firefly, numerous mobsters, and two well-armed gangsters impersonating Firefly and Moth. Somewhat overwhelmed, Batgirl felt that she didn’t pull her weight. Black Canary saved her life several times.

Barbara saved her dad, but lost her brand-new batcycle.

Robin later took Batgirl along to stop Blockbuster (Roland Desmond), back when he was still a primitive brute.

In the heat of the moment, Robin stupidly kissed Batgirl. In the heat of the moment, Batgirl stupidly faced the mighty Blockbuster on her own, only surviving through dumb luck.

Batgirl later was instrumental in stopping Killer Moth and Firefly. The two were finally arrested by Batman and Robin after attempting to burn the Gotham Central precinct house to the ground.

Bat squad

As a result, Batman decided to fully take her onboard as an authorised vigilante, joining him and Robin when feasible. He revealed his secret identity to her and made her share his oath.

Robin then impersonated Batgirl, using Alfred’s coaching and a lightly padded costume, to throw off Lieutenant Gordon’s suspicions.

However, Barbara also broke Richard’s heart for a bit. Though she liked him well enough, she wasn’t interested in a 17-year old. Barbara was developing ties with Jason Bard, a former GCPD officer who had been partially disabled while protecting her father.

Now that she was a super-heroine and her need for action was assuaged, Barbara started considering her future in a calmer, less obsessive manner. In particular, she started thinking about campaigning for a public office.

Description

This version of Barbara is petite. This is a retconMaking changes to a character or story after the fact. compared to the immediate post-Crisis Barbara Gordon, who was listed as being 5’11” (1.80m).

The height listed in our Background block is thus eyeballed from the story, as often. She mentions that she’s 110 lbs. (50 kg), but she seems too smol to weigh that much, especially on the “handbook scale”.

Between her small stature, pretty features, basic hairdo and clothing, high energy level, skinny build, etc. it’s easy to underestimate her age. This tends to infuriate her.

Her “Batgirl” outfit for the costume party had boots with 2″ (5 cm) heels, one of which broke off in action. The “real” Batgirl costume intended for fighting had flat soles, soon supplemented by high-grip soles from rock-climbing shoes.

Personality

This version of Barbara has an aggressive, competitive, confrontational, serious personality.

She chafes under restrictions. The worst one being that as a petite lass she’s not taken seriously. And is often barred from physical action “for her own safety”.

She doesn’t want to be safe. She wants to slug it out, she wants to make herself fearless and she wants to fight crime. And she hates failing at anything.

She sometimes ascribes these fighting spirits to her Irish roots.

As she keeps being rejected, Barbara’s anger mounts and she becomes increasingly hostile and in-your-face. She refuses to be fated to a life of tedium.

As she runs out of normal possibilities to be an active crime-fighter (such as joining the FBI as a brick agentA low-ranking investigator who works in the field.), she’s forced to become a lone wolf costumed vigilante learning the trade under fire.

She’s a maniac, maniac on the floor

This hostility can make her so bull-headed as to bypass her otherwise high intelligence. She’ll become more concerned with proving that she has balls (figuratively speaking) than assessing the situation at hand using her brains.

This take on Batgirl is much more about her temper and determination than her high deductive intelligence.

Batgirl is remarkably courageous. Even as a beginner she never froze, panicked or got cold feet. She is not immune to fear, but she is determined to become fearless through experience.

Barbara enjoys the adrenaline rush and craves action *now*, but she also realises when she’s in over her head.

Batgirl isn’t the quipping sort. She’s focused on learning and on doing, and is generally a serious person determined to do serious things. She sometimes does a little nerdy humour, but that’s more a result of being part of that subculture than her personal nature.

The socially adept and particularly pretty Barbara has already been through a number of boyfriends. But she has yet to find one who meets her high standards.

She hopes that Mr. Bard will be the one. But in matters of love she seems more prone to a cerebral approach than to big bursts of romantic emotions.

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